Gordon Bennett makes robot sculptures out of old and new found objects.  “The parts are found in various places including garbage dumps, basements, construction sites, and garage sales. They are inspired by Norman Bel Gedes and Raymond Loewy whose visions of the “Modern Age” helped shape industrial design of the 40’s and 50’s.”

I love that each robot is unique and comes with its own numbered metal tag.  As a former metal sculptor and current robot-head, I’m also drawn to his mix of old and new design. The retro becomes modern and vice versa. Each robot has such personality.

Visit his site to purchase and see the current robots.

Every photo submitted to our Breakthrough theme will be displayed in the gallery in some fashion. Some will appear in a grid on the photo wall, some in a slideshow, and a select few will be printed and hung in the gallery. And you’re invited to attend the opening! It’ll take place at the gallery on April 20 at 6pm. We’ll also be participating in a panel discussion on the “art and practice of photography in the brave new digital age” on May 31 at 6pm at the Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Public Library.

Happy to say my photo below will be included in the show on display from April 20 - May 31.

Minimalism and thinking small meshes well with eco-friendly culture and attempts to live off the grid.  From an article at the NYTImes.

A wave of interest in such small dwellings — some to serve, like the Shepherds’ home, as temporary housing, others to become space-saving dwellings of a more permanent nature — has prompted designers and manufacturers to offer building plans, kits and factory-built houses to the growing number of small-thinking second-home shoppers. Seldom measuring much more than 500 square feet, the buildings offer sharp contrasts to the rambling houses that are commonplace as second homes.

[Via FujiSankei Business if you can read Japanese]

I am now rather keen on the word “pico” meaning 1. one trillionth, part of 2. very small.  I wonder if it’s smaller than “micro” which is also defined as “very small.”

If one of the largest retailers in the world is facing its demise from a failure to differentiate what chance do you think your small business stands doing the same. Even in the event of a power play, Edmonton could have a hard time beating Luongo to buy C-17 military cargo planes, CBC News has learned.

Those spambots are getting stranger every day.

This superflat mural is showing in the London Underground.  Each of the arches has a different part of the scene.  The artist is “chiho aoshima, born 1974, tokyo, japan. she uses computer technology to create detailed and complex images of fantasy worlds. hybridized creatures are participants in the composition’s narrative as well as elements in a decorative scheme.” More at designboom.

“Aurora borealis casting it’s glow over Seltún geothermal area in SW-Iceland.”
By Helga Kvam, All Rights Reserved.

Visit Helga’s flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hkvam/308089177/

The Cloud by Monica Forster is a portable room that can be used as a relaxing workplace retreat, a unique meeting place, for meditation, or as an ideal escape for creative brainstorming. A space of its own that can be used within any space, Cloud instantly defines an area and a mood apart.

Easily transported from place to place, when the Cloud is unpacked, a silent fan continuously keeps the chamber inflated as long as required. The room inflates in three minutes and stays inflated until its folded away into its connected carrying bag. Cloud is entered and exited via a self–closing slit door alowing ample ventilation. The Cloud is made of rip-stop nylon and includes the carrying bag with integral fan unit.

This combines so many elements that I’m drawn to into one functional environment - beyond object.  It’s meditative, ethereal, and draws from camping technology (rip-stop nylon, portable).  These concepts work well together.  Camping in my tent has always been highly meditative and creative for me.  At one point many years ago, we even had our tent set up in our living room as a getaway and sleep spot. 

See it at UrbanPeel.

The Democrats finally make the move to regain power and I couldn’t be more excited.  My parents live in Northen Virginia so it was a victory on many levels.  San Francisco’s Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman Speaker of the House.  She’s also the first speaker to post to a blog. 

In 100 hours, the top five oil companies will take in $4.3 billion in profits.

In 100 hours, $1.1 billion will be spent on the war in Iraq.

In 100 hours, the public debt will grow by $4.9 billion.

In 100 hours, the top 10 pharmaceutical companies will gain $2.6 billion in profits.

In 100 hours, the top CEOs will earn an average of $2 million each.

In 100 hours, a minimum wage worker working 8 hours a day will earn $171.67.

And if all goes as expected, in less than 100 hours my sixth grandchild will be born.

I want my grandchild to be born into an America where government is for and by the people. I want my grandchild to be born into an America that rewards and values hard work. I want my grandchild to be born into an America where you are not labeled a terrorist coddler when you honor the Constitution.

I want my grandchild to be born into an America where if the U.S. Central Command judges the situation in Iraq to be near chaos, with “violence at all-time high, spreading geographically”, if the top intelligence agencies tell you that the war in Iraq is inspiring the very terrorism it was purported to prevent, and if four highly respected military newspapers say of the Secretary of Defense that “his strategy has failed, and his ability to lead is compromised...[he] must go” that you fire your Secretary of Defense and change the course.

I want my grandchild to be born into an America whose government honors its duty for accountability and oversight.

I want my grandchild to be born into an America that inspires innovation, that leads with dignity and diplomacy, that rejects fear mongering, and whose leaders start each day remembering that the Constitution begins with the simple but revolutionary phrase “We the people,” which announced to the world that here, the people rule.

You can see her full post here - One Hundred Hours.