The Apprentice

The Apprentice

This really has nothing at all to do with my blog ........ but I'm hooked!  

I dislike almost all of the contestants and cant believe just how dim they've been.  This week's episode had a wonderful product - the baby's (1) back-pack-booster-seat  (2) -------  fantastic idea.  There must be an enormous market for this, and having taken a poll (4 people by Melody!) and no other proper research,  she decided, off her own bat,  that the product wouldn't sell!  I couldn't believe this stupidity!  She probably will do very well in business as she goes straight for the jugular! (but she is a bully.)  .................  I felt completely knocked out by their sheer dumbness.
The 'teapot' lamp was the typical sort of quirky thing that the French would go for, but personally I wouldn't give it tea room!
Anyone have a suspicion who's going to win?

PS: I love the judges - they definitely know what's what.http://www.amazon.co.uk/SitSac-Backpack-Booster-Seat-Combo/dp/B002RTM014

Portable Paint Palettes

I found this wonderful little travelling palette in the National Portrait Gallery shop - it's made by Koh-i-Noor - I thought the design was super. You would have to take your own brush & water, but it has it's own little mixing palette in the lid and one small water reservoir on each layer. Super compact design .... fits very nicely in my handbag!

This is the giant escalator at the National Portrait Gallery -
the Gallery is definitely worth a visit - wonderful stuff!
Not only modern portraits but rooms full of historic ones too, including my favourite Tudor/Elizabethan period.

Sewing Cafe in Paris

A new cafe has opened in Paris called the Sweat Shop (!) where you can have a cup of coffee, a piece of cake and a 'spin' on a sewing machine (at 6 euros an hr). It's near the Saint Martin Canal in the north-eastern corner of Paris - if you wanted to visit. It seems at the moment that mostly fashion students are using this cafe, and ordinary citizens have been a little reluctant to try it out.

I think it's basically a great idea and hope it takes off and maybe takes on over here in the UK.
(note les knitty cupcakes.)

(Article in The Times, 13.4.10)

Vincent - (1853-1890)

"must have a warm heart for his fellow men"

Great exhibition at the RA on Van Gogh (only on until the 18th April) and the letters he had written to his brother Theo. The exhibition was very very crowded, and it wasn't easy to read any of the translations of the letters, but his paintings are wonderful. He was extremely passionate about his work as a painter, and always seemed to be learning about his art. He was greatly influenced by Japanese art.

It is so sad that he didn't manage to sell much of his work during his lifetime, but his life and works today still attract millions of people. It seems he may have suffered from epilepsy, and at that time it wasn't known how to treat this condition, and he became increasingly mentally unstable. He was constantly subsidised by his brother, Theo, during his lifetime, and seemed to feel this as a great weight. He was 37 when he died.

Some of Vincent's words:

"To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace."

"There is no blue without yellow and without orange."

"It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to.... The feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures."

Henry VIII - The British Library

Went to a wonderful exhibition today about Henry VIII - at the British Library. The Library is well worth a visit. It's a very 'user-friendly' - place.

I'm very interested in historical portraits, many of which, in this exhibition, hadn't been seen before, and almost like looking through a family's photo album - you can put a face to Henry's parents, siblings, his wives, of course - and many other important personages in this period. (You can also check on family resemblances!)

There are love letters from Henry to Anne Boleyn and many historical documents and artefacts to browse. Politically this was not an easy time in which to live, with strong religious differences from north to south, but my interest lay in the creative side of their lives and I found the costume detail in the paintings just as fascinating as the actual history.

Catherine of Aragon - divorced - (but not according to some!)
Mother of Queen Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary).
Catherine was married to Henry for 24 yrs.

Anne Boleyn - married - (but not according to others!) - beheaded (poor thing) - Mother of Queen Elizabeth I

Jane Seymour - bore him the son Henry wanted, Edward, but she died shortly after the prince was born.

Anne of Cleves - Henry didn't like her one bit and kindly set her up in another palace -
a goodlie distance away!

Kathryn Howard - was rather flirty - beheaded too.

Katherine Parr - she seemed to give him some stability and outlived him.

More info. on The Wives
Elizabethan Embroidery link 1.
Elizabethan Embroidery Link 2.

Scraps!

Does anyone, apart from me, remember collecting 'Scraps' from their schooldays? ............. I know it was probably a generation thing, but when I was at primary school, as well as playing marbles, collecting and swapping cigarette cards (from candy cigarettes of course!), swapping beads and buttons from an old tin - we also collected 'Scraps' and kept the sheets in an old book in sets on different pages, and swapped them! There were crinoline ladies, (probably my favourites), flowers, historic portraits - and lots of other pretty things. It was a girly hobby of course.

New Online Knitting Magazines

Twist Collective

Knotions

Here are two new online knitting magazines with blogs & newsletters. They are both beautifully laid out and have lots of useful tips, techniques and information. "Knotions" has lots of free patterns too. Both well worth browsing. (Check my 'sidebar' for links.)

Quote of The Day - London Fashion Week

From article by Jan Moir - today's Daily Telegraph 20.2.08.
"....... A picture of some androgynous whey-face in a dustbin with a cat on her head reminds everyone that it is London Fashion Week"
- I love this - it's not necessarily true - but it is funny.

Link: http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/index.jhtml

Philosophy of Minimalism - "Grand Designs" Trade Secrets - Channel 4

I love this series of programmes - it's about people who decide to build their own unique homes from scratch. It's fascinating. There is now an added on series called Grand Designs Trade Secrets which covers the programme shown that evening plus other information. This is a quote from last night's programme - which I thought was fairly true -
"Minimalists are more likely to be introverted than extraverted. An extravert needs a lot of stimulation. External stimulation - colour, objects, people, noise. They need that to actually function. An introvert has a very active internal world - so the last thing they need is any other form of stimulation, and so from their perspective, the less is actually better"