dunny doppelganger

My new dunny arrived in the mail this weekend - woo-hoo! And it's quite a curious one. It's from David Horvath's 2 Faced dunny series, which does two things I've not seen before - a) the artist has included himself and partner (Sun-Min Kim) in the series as dunnies, and b) there's a story to the series. This is David as he sees himself dunniefied:

@samthepenguin (a fellow dunny collector) has his very own custom dunny of himself, created by @lunarseablythe and it's too cute! Would love to see a series where the designers put themselves in to dunny form.

my top ipad apps

I figured it was only fitting to draft my post about my favourite iPad apps from within a blogging app. First time using it, so this should be interesting.

The iTunes store is filled with thousands of apps for iPhone and iPad, some extraordinary, some useful, some entertaining and some downright useless. It can be quite time consuming browsing through this vast library and I think people mostly rely on the "featured" pages to guided them on what's worthwhile. But a little peer suggestion also goes a long way, so this is my list of my current favourite/must have apps on the iPad for those of you out there lucky enough to be playing with one:

Blogshelf: follow your favorite blogs in a neat, bookshelf styled rss feed with images. It is $5 but I've found it well worth it. $5
iBook: this is an obvious one, and to me as given as the iPod app is on an iPod. Kindle competitor allowing you to read digital books from the iBooks store, much like iTunes. Slick, organized, user friendly, and people I've asked have said much better than Kindle app. Only waiting for the store to be stocked up now. Free

Converter: simple, well designed units converter, including currency. $1
Jumbo Calculator: free calculator based on the apple calculator on iPhones and dashboards. Free
Marvel/DC Comics: reading comics on the iPad is awe inspiring. Suffers from the same issue as iBooks (not enough material has been digitally converted yet), but an iPad without a comic book reader is nekkid I tell you. Free, with in-app comic purchases, $2 an issue
xkcd: everyone needs a good daily giggle. Free
Google analytics: keep track of your blog and site stats. Free
All subway HD: I have an unusual love of subway systems and riding trains. I love this one - every subway map in the world,  from Adelaide to Zurich. $1
eBay: with my recent vinyl toy hunting, this has served to heighten my addiction - beautiful layout of your watched items, clean easy communication with your sellers and lovely browsable search. Still missing some key features (saved sellers, saved searches), but there's little I go to ebay.com for now. Free
Flipboard: presents your personal Twitter and Facebook accounts in a magazine layout - like reading a mag of your favourite people - beautiful, if a little unreliable at this stage. Free
Twitter: the free, official app for twitter - best app I've used for managing multiple accounts. Free

So what are your favourite apps?

(While I used Blogpress to write the bulk of this post, I did find it a bit cumbersome. Look forward to the day Google/Blogger develop an actual blogger app. Better suggestions welcome.)

scavenger hunt

Since I discovered Kathie Olivas in Paris (yay for Artoyz!) I've been determined to find more of her figures. But they've been quite a rare species, bordering on extinct, with all online stores sold out of everything she's ever made.
In my recent eBay obsession though (which I'll elaborate on another time), I've managed to pick up some gems! (and at excellent prices, for those who suffer from shopping locally too)
These are the two latest additions to my collection: a rare (200 pieces worldwide) pink Masao (i like pink!) and Daisey from series 2.  

I'm also waiting on a limited edition blue Beaumont, and an orange Cosmic Penny.  *excited*

optimash prime

Yes, that is my new Transformer's Potato Head, otherwise known as OPTIMASH PRIME! dun-dun-dun

All the other hubbies on the cycling trip brought back chocolates and floral tops for their wives. I love mine much better ^_^

funny facebook

I got this from nadja, and it really made me giggle...

From Cool Material.

snoozes

kitty will sleep anywhere new and vaguely comfortable

even some places that aren't that comfortable

and some places that are downright strange

poor little fishy

Years ago I read a factoid that said every time you flush the loo, you're using 22 litres of water. 22 litres. Exactly. The number stuck with me, and I'm very aware every time I use the bathroom now of just how much water I'm flushing away. If hubby flushes a piece of tissue paper, it freaks me out. It's such a waste of water for something that could go in the bin. Little things stick and they help.

And thats the idea behind Poor Little Fish, a washing basin that makes you quite aware of how much water you're using every time you turn on the tap. Above the basin is a fish bowl with a little goldfish swimming in it. As you let the water run, some very clever piping makes fishy's water level go down in sync with your water use. Use too much, and fishy drowns! (if he can drown in air that is? suffocates?)

The water you're washing your hands with isn't the same as the water in the bowl, but its quantities are perfectly tied, so you cannot get away from the affect you're having on little fishy. Check out how it works here. It's very smart, and actually quite pretty. I'd put this in my restaurant bathroom...

rainy day dunny

A quick post on a dunny I never knew I wanted... This is Jon Burgerman's Rainy Day Dunny, released as a special item by Kid Robot, and only availble in stores on rainy days. How cool is that!?! Burgerman had already designed a rain-themed dunny for his contribution to the Ye Olde English series in 2009, and just introduced a deviation in colour, with some stylistic changes.

I so would have kept my galoshes by the door in the hopes of rain so that I could run out and get one. There are only 1000 of him out there, so if you stumble on one, you know where to send him :)  He's lovely.

what, me worry?

Those of you old enough to be familiar with the freckles and cross-eyed gaze of Alfred E. Neuman will be thrilled to know that there's a MAD cartoon starting! Underwire reports that a MAD Magazine cartoon starts on Adult Swim this week in the States, bringing to life all those crazy movie spoofs they're so well known for, as well as your favourite MAD characters and artists - Spy vs Spy, Don Martin and Sergio Aragones. I think this is a great addition to the Adult Swim line up, and with Robot Chicken's Kevin Shinick involved, it's bound to be wicked.

Click here to watch their Transformers short.

365 days to go!

Today it is exactly 365 days until the 2011 Rugby World Cup - colour me excited! I think the Soccer World Cup has gotten us in to World Cup fever, and anything will do. Not that I'm not a rugby fan, but honestly the Ryder Cup has me excited right now.

So our teams will travel to the furtherest corner of the globe and do battle - for that really is a battle field no footballer will ever understand. How I wish I could be there on the sidelines!

Sadly, the entire competition will take place over six weeks, which is an almost impossibly long time to be away. Who has that kind of time? And money? So I guess the Rugby World Cup will mirror the Soccer one in that it's only the world's elite who will be attending. And some Aussies. Meh.

cool hunter local

Recently I read a post on The Cool Hunter site that featured none other than our very own Mother City! Well, specifically, it featured a masterpiece of architecture designed and built for a "prestigious African client". I hate them already and I don't even know them :)

This is a sneak peek of one of the interiors I loved (on the left), but be sure to check out the almost-airport-like house itself on The Cool Hunter - it's somethng else.