who could best play jean claude van damme?

This is a brilliant clip of a casting session for a new movie about Jean Claude van Damme. I've never seen him in anything so clever. Respect!

say it isn't so!

Philippe Starck tells magazine design is dead

Philippe Starck, one of my favourite designers, has managed to wipe away all credibility with a single sweeping statement:

“I was a producer of materiality and I am ashamed of this fact. Everything I designed was unnecessary. I will definitely give up in two years’ time. I want to do something else, but I don’t know what yet. I want to find a new way of expressing myself …design is a dreadful form of expression…. In future there will be no more designers. The designers of the future will be the personal coach, the gym trainer, the diet consultant.”

According to reports, Starck has changed his entire outlook on design calling it a sorry state of affairs that luxury has begun to rule our lives and that he's sorry he's been partly to blame.

While I don't think it's ruined his career in any way, I do personally feel it's tarnished some of his work. Why would you want to own a product you know the designer holds no affecion for or pride in? Why do I want a Starck chair that he doesn't even want?
In a way, it points to how closely the designer is sometimes tied to his designs. Do Starck's designs now fall in value somewhat because he's removing himself from them and doesn't see the value in them himself? Why should we if he doesn't?

It's an odd one to ponder, and one to which my hubby says "Great, maybe we can get his Ghost chairs at discount now!"



Starck: Design Is Dead, Sorry

treasuring our past

The idea is simple: Take modern products and advertise them in a vintage way, or take vintage products and advertise them in a modern way.

But the results are fantastic:




See more vintage ads here.

my tv interview

This is an interview I did on GO Stuff - a tech segment.



See more of my videos on @ngel on film.

my battery is dying

random & weird

I've been tagged by noodle in blogger-tag. Idea is to put up random or weird facts about yourself. I think you're meant to do 50, but that's a bit tough, so I've done 10.

Here are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
• Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
• Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

Ok, here goes...

Random facts about @ngel

1. I've never been through the SA border into any other African country.
2. In junior school my friend Nadia and I were always paired into the most boring of roles for our school plays, the worst of them being two standing cards (in tights and cardboard and not much else) in an Alice in Wonderland adaptation. For some reason our teachers claimed they "couldn't tell us apart"...
3. I have never had measles, mumps or chicken pox or broken a bone.
4. I used to scratch in the cupboards at my gran's house when she wasn't around, always believing I'd find some sort of treasure. At the time, the best I found were a collection of old reading glasses without the glass, so I could use them for dress up. Now, I realise almost everything I touched was a treasure.
5. My first "after school job" was at a German butchery in the cold meat section. I worked there Saturdays and holidays for 2 years. I still don't eat frankfurters.
6. My cat recently decided he longer wanted to live with me. He's moved two houses up the road. I'm not sure how to take this.
7. I never used to put books down without finishing them - no matter how bad they were. Now I've learned life's too short. I only read good books dammit!
8. I would rather email or SMS someone than call them.
9. I don't like aubergine.
10. I can't wear hats - thy make me look silly and pretentious.

I have tagged Paula.