Lego and who else but Stephen Hawking. Genius.
Streetscapes.
Pink? Interesting. I wonder if this is a genuine paint job because somebody thought it looked good or if it's an artistic statement, considering the way hotels like these are often portrayed in film (as I'm sure they are in life). 
Stage Fright! I couldn't do it.
Brave. Unusual in the least.
Please sign this urgent petition urging Aussie PM Kevin Rudd to stand up to the Chinese on his upcoming visit to China. It takes less than a minute. Visit GetUp! I have lived among Tibetan refugees so I don't take this issue lightly. For more information visit the Australia Tibet Council.
Image via Time Magazine. Tibetan Buddhist monks lead protesters carrying the Tibetan national flag in China's Gansu Province, home to many ethnic Tibetans, as protests erupted in Lhasa on March 14.
Dumplings wrapped in bamboo grass.
Bamboo stem covered with a sasa (bamboo grass) leaf.
Natto in a boat shaped package. The inside is made of a natural wood shaving.
Natto wrapped and unwrapped in a natural wood shaving. 
A lunch set wrapped in a natural bamboo sheath with bamboo ribbon. Inside are three delicious onigiri rice balls. 
Straw wrapped natto. No spills here!A website devoted to the values, motivation and inspiration of designers. Go see>>
Thanks to some scanning by a certain Mr_Carl on Flickr, there's a nice collection of Vintage Logos from the 70's book 'World of Logotypes' right here.
This Life Clock is measured in years, not minutes and hours. I wonder how I'd go with this on my wall? Would it motivate me more or would I feel like I'm counting down the hours to my inevitable death?...
I discovered this today but I don't know who the poignant genius is that created it (Apologies).
MPREIS is a family-owned supermarket chain in Austria. Instead of using the same generic blueprints for each new store, MPREIS employs the skill of up and coming architects to create site-specific stores that are in harmony with their environment. Each store is unique, with an unusual attention to detail inside and out. Super.
Via Bad Banana Blog
If you're not a knitter but you need something knitted, check out the dolls at NetGranny! They'll do you a mean skivvy. This is Annelies, currently working on 3 pairs of socks.
_You cannot NOT have a user experience.
Lou Carbone
_Easy is Hard.
Peter Lewis, NY Times
_The user is NOT a lower life form.
Ken Becker
_The details are not the details. They make the design.
Charles Eames
_Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving, not about personal preference or unsupported opinion.
Bob Baxley, 2003
_Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
Steve Jobs, 2003
_Just because nobody complains doesn’t mean all parachutes are perfect.
Benny Hill
More user experience quotes>>
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God; your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so others won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in EVERYONE. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
The North London design and illustrator duo, Present&Correct are creators of paper based goods– both vintage and new — whose desire is to “celebrate all thing British.” The chart “aims to raise awareness of the flora and fauna in the UK and to do it in a fun way that is appealing to both children and adults.” I L for Love it.
The 4Treehouse by Lukasz Kos - posing as a Japanese lantern on stilts, Kos’ creation floats within the fir trees on Lake Muskoka, Ontario. I'll take five.
This doesn't really belong here on this blog. Maybe 50%. However - it makes an interesting collage doesn't it?
Faux Academic record sleeves by Nikolay Savaliev for Pop Matters, Brilliantly simple, iconic, beautiful. Snuck onto new and used record store shelves. Click on pic for a larger view.
This is an updated version of Ken Wilbers AQAL (All Quadrants All Levels) Map which may well be the best theory to date that outlines all dimensions of the human experience. And it's all nicely laid out in a free download available from Formless Mountain.
Enlightenment is not imagining figures of light but making the darkness conscious.
