Latest Cool and Clever Finds...

With all of the hours I spend tweeting, facebooking, blogging and researching articles on the internet, I have to keep a little file with all of the fantastic finds and clever things that I find online. Here's some of the latest...

Ok, so first up, when I saw this, I nearly died. I have got to find out where this is and if it truly exists, because if it does, I am so there!

From www.ten-thousandfireflies.tumblr.com, photo by Louis Psyosos

Tree camping, people! How incredible does this look? I am starting to get the feeling its not for real, but oh, if it were!

Next up, an amazing calendar from designer and artist Oscar Diaz...

From www.oscardiaz.net

I am not sure how well this would really work, time-wise, but its a really cool concept. Using the capillary action of ink on the paper, the calendar uses the timed pace of the ink spreading on the paper, to indicate time. The ink is absorbed slowly and apparently, the numbers on the calendar are "printed" daily. I love how inventive and different this idea is.

Another amazing piece of art I stumbled on recently, is a giant installation at the 21st Century Museum of Art, in Japan, from artist Leandro Erlich.

It's a fake pool! 

The top surface is filled with 4-5 inches of water, so it appears from the top, to look like a realistic pool. The people underneath the swimming pool, can look up and see a realistic water effect above them, but the water layer is only about 10 centimeters deep and is suspended over transparent glass. Viewers enter the empty pool space beneath to experience the effect. I gotta say, I kinda love it. 

Finally, this last find makes me wish I worked for National Geographic, because its just such a cool thing to try. Just last month, they tried to create a real-life version of Pixar's animated film, "Up". 

The whole thing was apparently filmed for a series on the National Geographic Channel, called "How Hard Could it Be?" - set to premiere this coming fall. National Geographic got a team of scientists, engineers and two balloon pilots together and they successfully launched a 16x16 foot house that was 18 feet tall. Using 300 eight foot weather balloons, they sent the house up from a private airfield outside of Los Angeles.

Wouldn't that have been fun to see in person?

All images from www.mymodernmet.com

And off it goes...it was up in the air for about an hour. I have to remember to watch the actual episode when it premieres this fall!

All very clever and cool, no? 

xoxo