{blog_title}

p. This “house(The Mushroom House, designed by Zube)”:http://www.themushroomhouse.com/ is completely wonderful—it would suit me perfectly. Ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to live in a tree. This house isn’t a tree, exactly, but it looks like one in all the important ways. And I love the fact that there isn’t a straight line in the place. The bendy balustrades and curvy mosaics reminded me a bit of the work of [“Gaudi(A biography of the Spanish architect, Antonio Gaudi)”:http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Antonio_Gaudi.html]. I look a bit like a hobbit, so why not live in a hobbit house? The Mushroom House if for sale, but there’s no price guide given—if you have to ask, you can’t afford it, I expect.

p. While I’m on the subject, I’ve noticed a very marked cultural difference between the UK and North America in how Estate Agents/Realtors present themselves. When travelling in the States, it seemed as if every advertisement for a Realtor had to sport a huge photo of the owner of the company, grinning inanely and trying to look trustworthy. I’ve never seen the same kind of advertising in the UK. This probably says something about the social standing (or lack of it) of the profession in the UK—they probably worry about people “hunting them down(…because of this)”:http://www.rousette.org.uk/mt-static/blog/archives/000491.html with pointy things.

p. [via BoingBoing]

p. Damn you [“TidBITS!(The excellent Mac eZine)”:http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-708.html] If it wasn’t for your article on iPod accessories, I might never have known about the [“Scott eVest(More pockets than you could ever need)”:http://www.scottevest.com/v3store/30pfinetex_shell.shtml], and I wouldn’t have wanted one. Gah.

p. I love pockets, and this jacket has 30 of them (a long and embarrassing search if you forget which you put your mobile phone into), and—get this—a Personal Area Network! I love the idea of a jacket so geeky that you need a several explanatory videos to point out all the features. This would be a great solution for me. Womens clothes are—for some reason that I’ve never been able to fathom—woefully ill-equipped in the pocket department, which is why we are always forced to borrow the pockets of our menfolk. I also have a pathological aversion to handbags[1], so I have to carry an non-handbag type bag to put all the essentials in. This also has to be compatible with carrying a rucksack (with my laptop in) when walking, and with riding my recumbent (so it can’t be on my back). It’s not an easy brief to fill.

fn1. I would like to point out that there’s a world of difference between a ‘handbag’ and a bag that you happen to carry in your hand. ‘Handbags’ are only big enough for one key and a lipstick, unless they are of the ‘Granny’ kind, in which case they can contain enough supplies to keep a family of four going for a week, and also double as a handy weapon against muggers.