Wearelucky.
27th June 2012
Wearelucky could quite possibly be the coolest (and craziest) thing I’ve ever heard of.
Wearelucky was started by a guy who came into (a lot) of money, who decided that instead of spending it on a Virgin Galactic space flight, he would give away £1000 each, to a selection of people to spend on something good.
I’m super curious about the anonymous founder because his story was written in Cape Town (I think he must be a photographer), but he seems to be travelling all over the place – from Mumbai to Bermuda - finding Lucky people to give the money too.
“Wearelucky will pass luck and responsibility to others and record the outcome in a series of photographs. Recipients will be carefully selected and offered £1,000 (or equivalent). The only criteria is that the money must be spent on something good. Recipients must be willing to share their stories and agree for their ideas to be documented on www.we-are-lucky.com“
What a great story (and I love their letterpressed invite cards, beautiful!)
(Thanks Flo)
CommentThe Queen: Art and Image
27th June 2012
I had a lot of fun wandering around The Queen: Art and Image exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery yesterday.
From Freud to Warhol, the collection showed the many different faces of HRH Elizabeth II and the way her image has slowly become one of the most iconic and recognised in today’s society.
Olly Moss
27th June 2012
This Pokemon series by Olly Moss is ace (and his Twitter background image had me cracking up). Very clever.
Lonesome George
26th June 2012
It’s with a sad heart I write that Lonesome George, the Galápagos Islands most famous resident died on Sunday.
We were lucky enough to visit the Galápagos a few years ago and we saw him while we were there (he’s the one in the top photo and on the Galapagos Parks logo). He was a Pinta Tortoise and the last of his kind. Unfortunately all the best efforts to help him find a mate never came to pass. Giant Tortoises are the most amazing creatures, so peaceful and gentle – we need to do whatever we can to help them survive.
If you’d like to make a donation, The Intrepid Foundation works alongside The Charles Darwin Centre on the Galápagos Islands conducting research and conservation projects.
We ♥ Coffee
26th June 2012
So along with all the pop up Mexican places, London seems to have had an influx of coffee places too. And not just any old coffee shops, really cool coffee shops with weird and wonderful names, cool philosophies and creative project collaborations happening alongside the coffee making.
We’re pretty spoilt for coffee in Cape Town, so it’s nice to come here and also have amazing coffee options – even if we do have our AeroPress with us this time.
If you happen to be in the city, I can highly recommend the following places:
The Department of Coffee and Social Affairs
14-16 Leather Lane
Chancery Lane
EC1N 7SU
A coffee-focused social hub and part of The Coffeesmiths Collective.
dose espresso
70 Long Lane
Farringdon
EC1A 9EJ
Responsibly sourced, beautiful coffee and sexy latte art; these guys use a La Marzocco FB-80 semi automatic espresso machine; handmade in Florence to make their coffee.
Monmouth
27 Monmouth Street
Covent Garden
WC2H 9EU
The Granddaddy of London Coffee, Monmouth have been in Covent Garden since 1978, and also sell the most delicious selection of beans.
Kaffine
66 Great Titchfield Street
Oxford Street
W1W 7QJ
Antipodeans in London created this chilled (and beautiful) coffee space, based on the Australian coffee shop philosophy of great beans, cool tunes, good service and genuine hospitality.
Prufrock
23-25 Leather Lane
Chancery Lane
EC1N 7TE
These guys are into their coffee so much they want to share the love. London BRAT (London Barista Resource And Training Center) opened this year for Londoners who want to learn how it’s done – the right way.
Farm Collective
91 Cowcross Street
Farringdon
EC1A 9EJ
Great coffee and great food - straight from the farm.
Bradley Jay
26th June 2012
Bradley Jay is a rather cool, young British illustrator.
I found an article about him in Hound Magazine that I picked up from Magma. His work (which is a little bit twisted and supernatural) includes themes from “religion, alchemy, astrology, botany and folklore and is reminiscent of macabre art and medical illustration.”
His attention to detail is amazing and I love how often he slips skulls mingled with flowers into his designs.
Greggo Magnets
25th June 2012
If I had some space on my fridge I’d buy a pack of these Magnetic Day of Day squares, by Greggo Magnets.
They also do cool Magnetic Stripes.
Travelling Still
25th June 2012
Sigh.
Travelling Still is an ongoing photography project by Rob Carter – one half of British contemporary art couple, Rob and Nick Carter (who designed Metropolis for the Faberge Egg Hunt back in March).
I only discovered these photographs the other day after going for dinner at a friend’s and she had the book … and now I won’t be able to rest until I can own one of his prints!
All of the photographs are shot on a revolving-lens camera, which from what I can tell is more or less a panorama camera. The coolest thing though is that these shots have had no digital tweaking. What you see is what you get, whether it’s Mexico, Holland, Barbados, Tanzania, England, America, Sardinia, France, Japan, The Grenadines, Scotland, Mauritius or Hong Kong.
I’m so in love with this work – looking through all the different photos on has completely made my Monday morning. Now the only thing left to do is decide which one to buy!
London Calling
22nd June 2012
The new British Airways ad for the London Olympics is pretty cool… and I love The Clash soundtrack to go with it.
Rock n’ Roll.
Wahaca
21st June 2012
Is it just me or has there been a surge in good Mexican restaurants in London over the last 5 years? I’m sure there were never this many when we lived here.
So last night we went to Wahaca for dinner – it’s one of our favourites and we try to go at least once when we’re in town. They do great street style Mexican and although everything is pretty good, the tacos are best and their Michelada is also really yummy.
Actually, everything about Wahaca is pretty cool: sexy menu designs, colourful interiors with lots of skulls scattered around the place…and although there weren’t any this time, I usually pick up a matchbook packet of chilli seeds to grow in the summer!
Life Swimmer
21st June 2012
In keeping with the Spanish Surrealism theme this afternoon, I thought I’d share this piece by Spanish muralist and artist Remed.
Check out more of his awesome work here.
Peinture (Etoile Bleue)
21st June 2012
Peinture (Etoile Bleue) by my all time favourite painter Joan Miro, reached a Miro record of £23.5 million at Sotheby’s yesterday. Wow.
What’s more amazing though is that this painting has tripled in price since it was last sold 5 years ago. Incredible.
I’d hang it in our living room and look at it forever.
(Thanks Mum)
London
21st June 2012
As many of you know I love maps and I think this hand drawn, typographic Word Map of London by illustrator Alison Hardcastle is beautiful.
I would love one for our wall.
(Thanks Flo)
ZOMBIES, RUN!
20th June 2012
This made me laugh so much this morning!
Zombies, Run! is a Kickstarter funded app by London based Six to Start - a next-gen media game design company.
An immersive running game for your iPhone, iPod Touch or Android, you become a part of the zombie apocalypse and end up running for your life! The story is told through orders and voice recordings and you need to collect items and points along the way which you can use once you get home to build and grow your base. You can even add your own soundtrack.
If I was a runner, I would buy this for sure!
Post-Itable
20th June 2012
Post-Itable by Milan based Soupstudio is rather genius. Never lose your doodles or that important phone number again!
(via DesignTaxi)
Robin Hammond
19th June 2012
I’m SO excited to be able to write about our friend Robin winning the prestigious Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award. Hooray!
The award was established in 2009 and finances a photojournalism report lasting for several months on a proposed theme.
Robin’s work on the humanitarian crisis affecting Zimbabwe was dangerous and extremely risky but I know he’ll have taken the most amazing photos in the months he spent there, and hopefully the awareness raised through his photography will make it all worthwhile.
There will be an exhibition of his work at the Chapelle de l’Ecole des Beaux-arts in Paris from 9 November 2012 and a beautiful book to accompany the show.
If you’re lucky enough to be in Paris then, make sure you don’t miss it.
Russian Criminal Tattoos
18th June 2012
I’m digging these Russian Criminal Tattoos. Quirky and cool.
Book of Skulls
18th June 2012
Si bought me the Book of Skulls this weekend and it’s amazing. It’s packed full of all kinds of awesome skulls and it has an open spine which looks gorgeous.
The other book we saw at The Tate that I would’ve LOVED to buy was Skull Style: Skulls in contemporary art and design. It was beee-autiful, but weighed about 10kgs. What a shame.
Damien Hirst @ Tate Modern
18th June 2012
On Saturday we went to see Damien Hirst at The Tate Modern and it was amazing. Like really, really amazing.
I was surprised by how much I loved it actually. The only things that didn’t really do much for me were the Medicine Cabinets (which he actually developed concurrently with the Spot Paintings) and A Thousand Years.
Probably his most famous of the preserved animals series the shark, or The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living was incredible to see in person. It didn’t make me feel scared (which I think is the idea behind it), but I found it peaceful and beautiful.
The butterfly wing pieces were the ones I couldn’t get enough of though. I could’ve stared at them for hours. Sympathy in White Major – Absolution II (the round one above) was absolutely beautiful. It was intricate, delicate and peaceful and Doorways to the Kingdom of Heaven were just breath-taking. The detail and intricateness of these 3 pieces were unbelievable. Literally breath-taking.
I wrote about For the Love of God a couple of weeks ago and that was also amazing. Much, much better in real life than in the photos and far more delicate and tiny than the pictures lead you to believe.
All in all I would highly recommend a visit. It was one of the best exhibitions I’ve seen in a long time.
Happy Raindrops
15th June 2012
I refuse to let this London rain beat me!
Here are some happy raindrops to keep you all smiling.
Check out the rest of lil’sprout’s Weather Kids babygrows and tees here.
PS. How cute is little Cwen? She just turned 1!
