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How often do you have time to stop and look at the clouds? How long can you afford the luxury of spending time watching the clouds move?  It may be, that next time when you see an unusual clusters of clouds of absolutely unbelievable shape, you’ll stop in your tracks and ask yourself: “Am I dreaming”?And the answer will be “Not at all”, because you’ll be watching an invention by Francisco Guerra and Brian Glover, called Flogos.

What are flogos? They are artificially made clouds in the shape of logos that fly.  Actually, not necessary in the shape of the logos, they come in any desired shape or custom produced sign.  They are milky-white, but the inventors are planning color-tinted versions as well.  Special machine produces a shape and forms a cloud of artificial foam, which is lighter than air, environmentally safe, and may float for a certain period of time without being dispersed by the wind.

The clouds are fun to watch and add a festive mood to any occasion.  Just imagine it hanging over an outdoor wedding party or at any company’s picnic. What a wonderful gift it would make for a child’s birtday celebration or a very interesting way for a surprise marriage proposal!

The flogos producing equipment may be rented by the corporation or by the individual, because prices while not cheap, are certainly reasonable.

You may find more information at the company’s FAQ page www.flogos.net/FAQ and from this MSN article.

Update 1
My visit to the same neighborhood liquor store revealed the following: no distribution of Special Edition Rémy Martin to CA is planned. I’ve contacted my friends in other states to see what can be done about purchasing a few bottles of this cognac. Then, of course, I’ll have to devise a way to receive it, because mailing of liquor by UPS is against the law.

 
About 15 years ago (or more) I walked into a nice liquor store in the neighbourhood to buy a bottle of cognac for a friend who, I knew, would appreciate it. Among many bottles on a shelf I choose one I liked: a somewhat pear-shaped decanter with an unusually designed label, which seemed to be painted on the front of the bottle and was vaguely familiar (all I remember now: small clusters of tiny blue flowers). The price, displayed underneath this decanter by little plastic digits, attached to the edge of the shelf, showed 499. I figured, while zero at the end of $49.90 is missing and the price range is a bit over my limit, the bottle is definitely intriguing and unusual, absolutely worth it, and I’ll buy it.

 
At that moment the proprietor of the store came over to help me. I pointed to the ornamented glass bottle, said I intended to buy it, and handed him $60. He looked at me questionably, and said something along this line: “The price of this fine cognac is $499.00″. I will omit the details of my reaction to this piece of information, except to say, that I was blushing and thought feverishly of the graceful ways to disquise my ignorance on this subject.

 
Then he proceeded to explain me, that said cognac was a collectible item, from the Courvoisier Collection created by Erte and ingraved with his work, and that in a couple of years the value of this decanter and its content will be estimated in thousands of dollars.
After the lesson, which I really appreciated, I bought a bottle of reasonably (for my needs) priced cognac and left.

 
Read about Courvoisier’s history and spirits.

 
See some of the available Courvoisier’s Erte Collection items at Bottleshop.

 
All 7 decanters of Courvoisier’s Erte Collection Cognac are pictured at
Luxury Reporter.
According to the research I’ve done for this article, the decanter from the 1st Courvoisier Erte Collection can be obtained today for $7,500.00.

 
That fateful visit was my first introduction to the collectible wines and spirits.
Why am I writing about it today?

 
The reason is, Remy Martin introducing “its first-ever limited-edition VSOP bottle by David LaChapelle.” Remy Martin VSOP cognac is the best-selling in the U.S. and David LaChapelle, who worked with Andy Warhol, directed Elton’s John show and Madonna’s video, who has 4 books of celebrities’ portraits published, seemed a logical choice for promoting company’s new product. The artist’s vibrant and intense style epitomizes the taste and vigor of the Remy Martin cognac.

 
The design on the bottle, inspired by Paris cabaret’s scene in 1927, depicts a women dancing in a jungle and a graceful movement of a leopard in the jump, both projecting a energy and sensuality in their lithe bodies motion. 

 
“No more than 150,000 of the Rémy Martin VSOP… will be available at spirits retailers nationwide beginning in June. Suggested retail price is $50.00 for a 750ml bottle…”
Only time will tell, if this venture by Remy Martin be as succsessful as Courvoisier’s Erte Collection, but I am going to buy a couple of bottles of this cognac anyway, because I like it in its present state just fine, and holding on to it for a couple of years to see the result of this offering may be fun, too. 

 
Read about and see work by David LaChapelle at Design Boom. (Images contained in the article may not be suitable for viewing at work).

 
Source article and the Picture of the new bottle at: Cocktail Times.

It came to this: don’t trust anyone, even if you know them. I am talking about your e-mails. Google had issued a warning, once again, about the e-mails we all get:”phishing e-mails”.  Sometimes, very official looking and warning of danger, it’s from the PayPal, sometimes - from your bank, sometimes - from other financial institution or the eBay. Have you opened it? Have you attempted to verify that sensitive information they ask for? Please, don’t. Banks don’t make these kinds of requests over the Internet, they would mail you a letter with a specific concern. If inclined to check up on it, type the bank’s address into the address bar yourself and proceed from there.

 
Same thing about telephone calls.  If you get a call regarding your credit card activity, hang up and call your bank’s branch or the number you have on the back of your credit card yourself: this way you know where you are calling and that you initiated the inquiry.  If a caller left a message with a number to call back, please, verify it first. I’ve learned to always keep my bill for at least until next one comes in: this way you may compare the charges and payments, and have a 1-800 phone number handy, if needed. If you make your payments electronically, please access all of your accounts and write down contact phone numbers or print out pages corresponding to each card: you may need it when you don’t have an access to your computer or traveling.

For more info read the article at cNet News.

If you ever been to Las Vegas you’ve seen the dancing fountains in front of the Bellagio Hotel, which never fail to stop the throngs of people in their tracks to pause and admire the beauty, the engineering solution and the aesthetical impact of uniquely presented water, lights and music, so it affects all senses. 

 
But did you go inside the hotel? Have you seen the stunning design of the glass ceiling in the lobby? In the daylight streaming sun rays transform the ceiling to even more beautiful, eerily fairy tale- like creation. The imagination and the delivery of this incredible artwork belongs to Dale Chihuly. If you walk straight through the lobby to the covered courtyard, you’ll see the more of his work and a store, where his smaller pieces can be bought.
Interesting thing, there aren’t many photographs I’ve seen, that deliver a true impact or make justice to the beauty, the colors and the lightness of the design of his glass sculptures. It’s one of those phenomenons, which you have to see to truly appreciate it.

  
Now, that said, I’d like to inform you about the upcoming exhibition in the de Young Museum.
“The full exhibition is at the de Young Museum from June 14–September 28, 2008, but two site-specific works will be installed outside of both the de Young and the Legion of Honor starting in April. At the de Young, a Saffron Neon Tower will be installed in the Pool of Enchantment on the building’s east side. A 15-foot diameter yellow orb called Yellow Sun will be installed at the Legion of Honor in the Court of Honor.”
Source: www.famsf.org

 
The exhibition includes eleven galleries of works, made in the course of the last 40 years and is accompanied by a catalogue written by curator Timothy Anglin Burgard.
Please, mark your calendar and plan to visit this exhibition. Even if you are not into art, you’ll be glad you went.

  
Meanwhile, here are a few sites to visit for more info.
Chihuly’s Biography. Wikipedia.

 
and Artist’s website www.chihuly.com/

Once again the news is About Banksy and his Graffiti Art.  

 
British graffiti artist Banksy did it again: under the cover of the night he managed to leave one of his works, believed to be the biggest one so far, on the wall of the Post Office in central London, right under the watchful eye of the camera.

 
To do this he had to erect (behind the security fence) three story scaffolding, use it to paint a huge sign and the figures of a boy on a ladder, a security guard and a dog watching him, then leave, without being noticed and stopped. The scaffolding were removed later, and again without being detected by the camera. Banksy’s message is tale telling: Big Brother, we know we are being watched and we know how to work around it.

 
I have to admit, I am warming up to his methods and his art. He is different, he is driven, he is unique. He is also a criminal, he is breaking the law. Do I really like him, or I fell under the influence of the media? How do you interpret and accept this somewhat a phenomenon, without feeling divided? Is there a middle of the road solution? Or, if compromise found, the whole concept will lose the appeal it delivers?

 
Here is my two cents on it:
I wonder if he could create his art with a kind of paint, that could be easily washed away? This way an unhappy owner gets rid of the graffiti with a minimum of a hustle: spraying a good deal of water on the graffiti will clean the wall and the memory of an unpleasant surprise at the same time.

 
Or, if the owner wants to profit from the graffiti, as happening more and more often with Banksy’s creations, the owner may spray a protective layer of whatever is used for it and go into a business of marketing and selling the painting on the eBay. Any profit realised will make happy at least 2 people: the seller and the buyer. The city would have to live fine-less or devise a new way to use a citation.

 
Would I want to have graffiti, painted by Banksy, on my property? Let’s see.
If I wake up finding it on the wall of my house, I’d have to pay a substantial fine within 30 days, or remove the graffiti. If I leave it there, my fine will grow, my home will attract attention of the media, the neighbours will call me names, I’ll have to come up with the reasons why I do what I do, I’ll be misquoted on several occasions…
All in all, at this point my liking the painting won’t be an issue. I’ll have to come up with a solution to remove it.

 
Then again, I could sell the piece of the wall with the painting on it as soon, as possible, since the price and the hustle seems to worth it.
Or, should I keep it hidden somewhere for a while? For that I would have to carefully remove the painting from the wall… No! I’d have to remove a piece of the wall, replace it with a new wall, paint. There.

 
Now, I am not knowledgeable enough to know how and where (providing I rent or have a space) to keep it, control the temperature, the light, the humidity, to do whatever you do with the painting to preserve it for a number of years. Isn’t it what you do with piece of art, when you hold it for the posterity or the near future?

 
Now, imagine, three years later I visit my piece of art, stored in some place, and find it all dried up, colors faded, stucco cracked, half of it in dust on the floor. No painting, no investment, money spent on the upkeep of this treasure is lost. Oh, no, the insurance! Do I have it?
And then, to add to an insult, I find out it was not even painted by Banksy. It was a copycat. But Banksy kept quiet, because he liked the message, the attention and the plight of the homeowner. What a bad dream! But I had fun writing it!

 
Now, seriously, how can someone, breaking the law become so popular, develop a following, command an outrageous price for the graffiti he leaves on the walls for free, and manage to stay invisible and untouchable to do it all by himself or with a very devoted team?.

 
He does all this to deliver his message: he is against the government? rules? laws? What is his solution? What should we, as a society, do?
Banksy is definitely a very talented and driven individual, but do we want every wall in town to feature a graffiti display, even if it’s popular among some individuals?

 
Maybe, Banksy should became a leader, organize a movement. He already proved his disdain for money by inventing a way to make it, give it away and not stopping the action by allowing himself being bought. He could start and keep disciplined an army of young people, teach them planning, delivering, following the agenda, hopefully, with a good cause, and other thing which the society could accept, embrace and agree with…And then…

 
Yahh, what a Utopian country I’ve described!!!
Anyone! Care to comment? On me or on Banksy.

 
See the picture and read the article with the comments at Daily Mail.

 
If you are on the page of this post and want to see more articles on Banksy, scroll down past the contact form. If you are on the home page, click on the title of the post to see the individual page of the post.

What do you favor more: your heart or your brain? This seems to be a question to ponder on, when you read new health findings on wine drinking.

 
For years we’ve heard about all the benefits wine drinking brings. 
Some studies disputing this claim were published earlier by CNN, but were given very little attention.
It said “…any benefit from light to moderate drinking is probably small and unlikely to outweigh the harm to health caused by alcohol.”

 
“While moderate to heavy drinking is probably coronary-protective, any benefit will be overwhelmed by the known harms,” say Dr. Jackson’s team.
…If so, the public health message is clear. Do not assume there is a window in which the health benefits of alcohol are greater than the harms — there is probably no free lunch.”

 
The new study is more particular:
“Drinking too much wine damages the brain more than beer or spirits, scientists have discovered.
…The ground-breaking study shows that the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved in memory, spatial tasks and many other functions, was more than 10 per cent smaller in those whose tipple was wine than in those who favoured beer.”

 
What about beer? “One theory is that there may be something in beer that partially protects the brain from the damage caused by wine.”

 
This new study is about the impact of the alcoholic beverage chosen and was conducted among the patients with alcohol dependence. Read more on it at Independent

 
Shall we listen? Shall we dismiss this info? Shall we follow our intuition?
Too many confusing studies, but moderation is still seems to be the key.

Guggenheim Museum in Las Vegas is closing its doors on May 11, 2008.
 
 
Initially, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation opened two Las Vegas locations in 2001, but mere 15 months later had to close the larger one, because of shortage of funds and the luckluster attendance.

  
“Guggenheim Hermitage, a partnership between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, was the smaller of the two”, located in the Venetian Hotel and stayed open for the next 7 years, until now.

  
Guggenheim Hermitage had 10 major exhibits in seven years. Visitors could see works by Degas, Picasso, Chagall, Kandinsky, Rothko, Modigliani, Klee and others.

  
“It’s a big loss to not have the great works of art on display and in our community,” said Libby Lumpkin, executive director of the Las Vegas Art Museum.
“…We sent our finest collections, our masterpieces,” she said, “masterworks that we committed to long periods of time in Las Vegas, things that were not available for loan to other museums anywhere in the world or even for us. I think that’s a pretty profound commitment to very high standards of exhibition in Las Vegas in a space designed by one of the world’s leading architects. I don’t see how that can be interpreted to anything but caring.”

  
Many factors, combined together, brought on the demise and the closure of this fine museum, which will be missed by many.

 
The museum will stay open until May 11 and will offer free admission.
Source: Art Knowledge News and Las Vegas Sun.

 
While Las Vegas has other art galleries, it will only have one on the Strip: the fine arts gallery at the Bellagio.

Do you drink 8 glasses of water a day to keep yourself hydrated? Do you think it helps you in any way? Do you look better? Do you feel better? Does it help you to curb your appetite? Not really?

 
If you are doubting the rule of 8 glasses of water a day - you are correct.
The article, published by Telegraph, is debunking this myth.

 
“…no studies have found any benefit to the organs of increased water intake.
no single study indicated average healthy people needed to drink this amount of water - a total of 3.3 pints - each day.

 
…The authors said that while dehydration can decrease skin stiffness, no studies have shown any clinical benefit to skin tone as a result of increased water intake.
This is replaced through drinks but a large amount is also contained in food, so it is not necessary to drink an equivalent amount to replace water levels.
Too much water can affect the balance of salts in the body causing “water intoxication”, which can be fatal.”
For more details read the article at Telegraph

 
In December of 2005 the Snopes pages posted an article, where drinking 8 glasses of water a day was pronounced a myth, but it remained largely ignored. 
Read this article at Snopes

 
Actually, there’s been cases, where people died from from water intoxication. The very high profile case involves a women, who died trying to drink as much water, as she could hold. It happened last year, when a radio station in Sacramento, CA organized a contest “How much water a person could drink without going to the bathroom”
Read about it at msnbc news.

Do you know what is Skype? 
For whatever reason I don’t see or hear much marketing of this great service from the media, but I do hear about it from friends.

 
Skype is a telephone service you can use for free. Yes, that is correct: talk with friend locally or in other states for free, make international calls any time, too. You may have a camera connected to your computer and have a video session as well. How does it work? Actually, easy.

 
The only requirement is: have a computer, an Internet connection and a free software, which you download from Skype. The person on the other end of the world or the city, should have it, too. That would be a Skype-to-Skype call. That’s it. Enjoy.

 
A headset and a microphone are recommended for better clarity. You may buy these things online, at RadioShack, or at any place, that sells electronics.
To make a call to a regular or mobile phone you’ll have pay, but the rates are very good.

  
Find out more by visiting  http://www.skype.com/getconnected/

 
P.S. I already wrote, that 1-800-FREE411 is available on Skype, too.
Get Directions by Text Messaging and Other Ways to Find Information/

ChaCha is a new service oriented on helping you find information without spending time on the research. The service is especially helpful, if you are on the go or visiting unfamiliar places.
Service is powered by human guides, so you may ask all kinds of questions: from  “what is the origin of a certain word?” to “Where is the most expensive restaurant in the this city?”.

 
“Simply text your question to 242-242 (spells ‘ChaCha’) or call 1-800-2ChaCha (800-224-2242) from your mobile phone to ask any question and you will receive the answer as a text message. If you have a web browser on your phone, just click on the short website link that’s also included with your answer to see a reference website with more information. Since ChaCha uses human guides, you can easily reply with follow-on questions as if you are exchanging messages with a friend.”

 
Find out more About ChaCha , see home page: ChaCha.com