Bio House

Shusaku Arakawa + Madeline Gins's visionary, boundary-defying art and architecture incorporates a wide-range of disciplines including experimental biology, neuroscience, quantum physics, experimental phenomenology, and medicine. Architectural projects have included residences (Reversible Destiny Houses, Bioscleave House, Shidami Resource Recycling Model House), parks (Site of Reversible Destiny-Yoro) and plans for housing complexes and neighborhoods (Isle of Reversible Destiny-Venice and Isle of Reversible Destiny-Fukuoka, Sensorium City, Tokyo). A definite must-visit. The designs are brilliant.

Useful links:

www.reversibledestiny.org
http://video.wired.com/?fr_story=FRdamp280097&rf=bm

Online Art Auctions In India

According to Dinesh Vazirani, co-founder and director of Saffronart, online auctions have grown more than 10 times in the last five years due to larger access, better transparency, cost effectiveness and easy participation. Online auctions have also transformed the landscape of modern and contemporary Indian art opening a wide spectrum of art lovers. Go to www.saffronart.com for further information.

Good Monsoon + Good Harvest = Good Jewelry Business

Jewelers in West-central and North India are praying hard for a good monsoon and a good harvest to boost their businesses. If the monsoon is good, then the jewelry trade can expect a rise of 30 -35 % in gold sales in the November-December period. The jewelers believe that good rains increase farmers’ disposable income, which they traditionally invest in gold jewelry. The harvests coincide with marriage season and festivals such as Navratri, Dussera, and Diwali. India’s inflation has risen to 11.5% in June affecting almost all the markets in the country.

Building In Motion

Italian architect David Fisher has unveiled the so-called Dynamic Tower, the world's first building in motion, in Dubai, with a second version planned for Moscow, with other locations planned worldwide.

Useful links:
www.dynamicarchitecture.net
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7472559.stm

It's amazing. I liked the design. It's an innovative architecture by David Fisher, but would the self-powered rotating skyscraper work? I hope it's a win-win case.

Chocolate Genome Project

Mars has announced that it is to decode the genetic structure of the cocoa tree via the Chocolate Genome Project, a joint research project with the US Department of Agriculture and IT firm IBM. They believe understanding the tree's DNA could make crop production more resistant to pests, diseases, and water shortages that may come from a warming climate. The experts believe it would take approximately five years to sequence, assemble, annotate and analyze the cocoa genome; the information would be available before then, as it is gathered, through the Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA). DNA sequence information would be publicly available for no charge and no information will be patented.

Useful links:
www.m-ms.com
www.usda.gov
www.pipra.org
www.watson.ibm.com
www.nri.org
www.jic.ac.uk

Atul Gawande

I found Atul Gawande's article on Itch @ http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/30/080630fa_fact_gawande/?currentPage=all educational and insightful. Itching is definitely a peculiar and diabolical sensation. What's amazing to me is despite centuries spent mapping the body’s nervous circuitry, we are still learning about the curious link between our brains and bodies.

The Colossus

According to José Luis Díez, the curator of 19th century art at Madrid's Prado Museum, the Colossus could have been painted by the little-known Asensio Juli, an assistant in Goya's workshop. Díez, who carried out a detailed analysis of the picture, claims the initials in the bottom left-hand corner read 'AJ'. Goya experts are split over the surprise claim. Go to www.museodelprado.es for further information.

Venezuelan Diamonds

The head of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) is calling on its 29 member bourses to avoid trading, directly or indirectly, in diamonds from Venezuela, after the South American country's declaration that it will suspend itself from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). Go to www.worldfed.com for further information.

One Perfect Day

One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead is a fascinating book on the wedding industry. According to Mead, America's wedding industry exceeds $161 billion annually -- an enormous sum that suggests how much weddings have become not only big business, but big fantasy. In my view, it has become a global phenomenon.

Useful link:
www.rebeccamead.com

Hirschsprung Museum

The Hirschsprung Collection is beautifully situated in the green parklands of the Østre Anlæg on the old ramparts of Copenhagen. The museum houses Heinrich and Pauline Hirschsprung's collection of Danish art and first opened its doors to the public in the summer of 1911. The 20 Major Works provides information about many of the museum's premier works, including paintings from the Danish Golden Age and works by the Skagen painters and Danish Symbolists. A must-visit.

Useful link:
http://hirschsprung.dynamicweb.dk

Coulée de Serrant

Nicolas Joly is one of France's most polemical vignerons and one of its best: his Coulée de Serrant, from a plot first tended by Cistercian monks in the 12th century, ranks among the world's top whites. Despite high prices, this estate has no trouble selling its wines - demand far outstrips supply. A must-visit.

Useful link:

www.coulee-de-serrant.com

The Shack

The Shack by William P. Young is an interesting book. He has written a remarkable tale in a fictional form that will continue to inspire people for years to come, really.

Useful link:

www.theshackbook.com

Word-of-mouth phenomenon = Blockbuster

Inspiring Note

I found Jack Novia's Global Ethics 101 + his insights @ http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2008/tc20080624_622859.htm inspiring. At the end of the day it's a company's behavior that determines its value. How true!

Charmed Forever

The 3-dimensional charms made by A Charming Life is spectacular. They can be worn on a bracelet, a pendant or brooch, and it's a perfect gift for any occasion. I liked it.

Useful link:

www.a-charminglife.com

Reality Mining

According to Gregory Skibiski + Tony Jebara, co-founders of Sense Networks, Macrosense (the analytical tool) applies complex statistical algorithms to sift through the growing heaps of data about location and to make predictions or recommendations on various questions — where a company should put its next store, for example, or predict tourism (they can tell you how confident consumers are + tell retailers about their competitors, who’s coming in from particular neighborhoods). Other companies in reality mining include Inrix, a Microsoft spin-off + Path Intelligence (Britain).

Useful links:
www.sensenetworks.com
www.inrix.com
www.pathintelligence.com

I think the technological innovations are great but what worries me is the privacy issues.

Test Your Green-energy IQ

How much do you know about solar power? Test your green-energy IQ and learn some surprising truths @ http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/quiz/2008/jun/24/energy.usa

Le Bassin Aux Nympheas

A Claude Monet painting, Le Bassin Aux Nympheas, has been sold by Christies, London, for a record £40.9m. Painted in 1919 in Giverny in France it has been seen in public just once in the past 80 years. http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5100003

Useful link:

www.christies.com

Lives Per Gallon

Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Oil Addiction by Terry Tamminen is an interesting book on true price of petroleum and a prescription for change. Great read.

Terry Tamminen was former chief policy advisor for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger + he is the operating advisor to Pegasus Capital Investors + the Cullman Senior Fellow with the New America Foundation. He spends his time advising world leaders on how to design and implement climate-change solutions.

Useful links:
www.livespergallon.org
www.terrytamminen.com

Where To See Famous Diamonds

- Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History
www.mnh.si.edu

- Jewel House, Tower of London
www.hrp.org.uk

- Galerie d'Apollon, Louvre
www.louvre.fr

- Armoury Chamber, Kremlin
www.kremlin.museum.ru

- Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul
www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr

- Green Vault, Dresden Royal Palace, Dresden
www.skd-dresden.de

- Condé Museum, Château de Chantilly, Chantilly
www.chateaudechantilly.com

Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer who is best known for elaborately staged, surreal scenes of American homes and neighborhoods. Kenneth R. Fletcher writes about the Crewdson's unique techniques or in-between moments @ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/gregory-crewdson.html

It's just about trying to find something elusive and beautiful and mysterious in the world.
- Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson's pictures definitely look like paintings. Brilliant! I liked it.