small and fabulous

"The world is getting hotter and more crowded every day, and modular, prefab housing is just what the doctor ordered. When you go small, it's not just about energy efficiency and carbon footprints -- it's also about being strange, cool and beautiful. We've chosen our favorite houses that meld style with globally conscious living. Enjoy."

WIRED.com

i want a car pod

Driving home in the BMW the other night, I turned to look around me in the car - it's a big car. I was surrounded by all this empty space, and it was quite strange to think of myself manoevering this machine around. Kinda like being the only guy at the helm in a tank - you must get awful lonely.
Then I looked out my window and a man was waiting at the traffic light next to me in a people-carrier - one of those big soccer-mom cars. He was alone. Completely alone. Imagine all the space surrounding him.

And so I got to thinking, wasn't this a complete waste? Not only of space and energy and petrol, but of your buying power too. When you buy a car, you always end up buying it for what you MAY need it for. So a soccer mom buys her big car, but she really only carries the team once a week. And yet you can't buy smaller, because then you have a predicament when you suddently do need more space (a la smart car trying to fetch an aunt from the airport - laughable)

Hence my idea of PodCars. You buy your basic driving pod (the piece with the steering wheel etc), and thereafter you can add as many or as few as you want. So me and my handbag don't take out the full complement of car, but just the driving pod piece that I need. Going grocery shopping? I add another pod on for more space. And you could get specifically designed pods too - one for dogs, bicycles, canoes, kids - or the generic more-space-needed version. You then always have the choice of how many and what types of pods you own.

And not to take away the status that comes with any car - pods will still be designed with status in mind. An Audi pod for example, is very different from a Toyota pod. And I'm not talking about making everyone's cars look like the Smart car either - that's just ugly. They need to be decently designed like the ones we have now. Think Zaha Hadid's Z Car...

Yes, I know, the idea of having to assemble or disassemble your car after each trip is a pain, but that's a problem I'll let the car think tanks solve (maybe our garages need to be modified). Either way, I've given them the idea, they just need to perfect it.

I call it podular.

ps: great link from vanoodle which illustrates the why...

david goldblatt

On Christmas Eve we each decided to open just one gift before going to bed and "waiting for santa". Robin bought me a beautiful book on the works of David Goldblatt - a piece taken out of each of his published works over the years as he documented the rise of the National party and the plight of the black workers.

It's astounding. It gives a view in to South African history few have seen, and none are taught in history class. While not always technically perfect, his work strikes a chord - he's seen such incredible things.

And I think more than that, why this book is so special, is it's inspired me to take up photography again. I've seen such amazing places in the last two years, and had such opportunities, but have turned little of it into more than a happy-snap.

So one of my aims for this year (lets not call it a resolution shall we), is to invest in a new camera, relearn my art, and start improving, with the aim to one day setting up my own dark room and generating my work - a dream I had so long ago.

*tingle tingle*

Plot-holder family at lunch - 1962

A commando of National Party supporters escorting Dr Hendrik Verwoerd to the party’s 50th Anniversary celebrations - 1964

driving home today...

...the sun was shining through the rain, and a bright rainbow broke out over the city. I was trying to take the pic, but was obviously shakey - still, it was lovely

No One Could Save Benazir Bhutto.

This week's TIME magazine cover story:

Benazir Bhutto's assassination has plunged the Muslim nuclear power into chaos. Now the Bush Administration must help undo decades of flawed U.S. policy to save Pakistan
Full Story.

a story update

Here's an update on the aftermath of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto:

Ministry backtracks on Bhutto sunroof claims
"Pakistan's Interior Ministry backtracked Tuesday on its statement that Benazir Bhutto died because she hit her head on a sunroof latch during a shooting and bomb attack."
Full Story

Pakistan Elections Delayed by a Month
Elections will be delayed by one month following the turmoil sparked by Benazir Bhutto's assassination, despite opposition threats of street protests unless the crucial vote is held Jan. 8 as originally planned, a top official said Tuesday.

A senior Election Commission official told The Associated Press that the commission has agreed on a new date. He indicated it would not be before the second week of February, but refused to disclose the exact schedule before the formal announcement on Wednesday.
Full Story

Bhutto’s Son and Husband to Lead Party
Three days after the death of Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistan People’s Party on Sunday chose her 19-year-old son, Bilawal, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, as co-leaders of the party, the biggest and most potent in Pakistan.
Full Story

Scotland Yard to join Bhutto slaying probe
President Pervez Musharraf invited Britain's Scotland Yard on Wednesday to help investigate the slaying of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, but his effort to defuse widespread suspicions of government complicity seemed unlikely to convince an angry nation.
Full Story