Cool Chewing Gum Art

In a way you could call it eco-friendly as what this artist uses as his canvas, is something people literally spit out and throw away, right on the street – chewing gum!

Artist Ben Wilson is the creator of these clever works of art on the street, transforming what was once unsightly blobs, into whimsical, funny and interesting miniature paintings on a unique canvas. A native of London’s Muswell Hill, Wilson’s work has been featured repeatedly by the British press and two short films have been made.

Ben Wilson at work

Ben was actually a pavement artist (something I’ve always enjoyed looking at ever since I saw that scene in Mary Poppins age 6), and when he realised it was illegal to paint on the pavement, he resourcefully thought to paint directly on the gum, which is obviously ok. He’s caught a lot of attention doing it, and now Ben is a known as a local hero in his suburban neighborhood. How I wish he’s do that to all the gum around!

Will Life Be Worth Living in 2000 AD?

Ok, so this isn’t exactly what you’d call news, but I just had to share this amusing article written in 1961.

Some things slightly ring true, the bit where kids learn from TV (not entirely, but which parent hasn’t bought and educational DVD, CD rom or system like Leapfrog?), indoor swimming pools and tv telephones, juice powders (Tang), tablets for energy and overall healthier people (the eco-friendly organic craze worldwide).

But largely, the article proves to me that scientists really can’t predict the future after all, or we would have floating roofs on our houses by now!

The article was the the July 22 issue of Weekend Magazine (printed where? I have no idea, I doubt it still exists) found on the web in the Pixelmatic website.

Will Life Be Worth Living in 2000 AD?

What sort of life will you be living 39 years from now? Scientists have looked into the future and they can tell you.

It looks as if everything will be so easy that people will probably die from sheer boredom.

You will be whisked around in monorail vehicles at 200 miles an hour and you will think nothing of taking a fortnight’s holiday in outer space.

Your house will probably have air walls, and a floating roof, adjustable to the angle of the sun.

Doors will open automatically, and clothing will be put away by remote control. The heating and cooling systems will be built into the furniture and rugs.

You’ll have a home control room – an electronics centre, where messages will be recorded when you’re away from home. This will play back when you return, and also give you up-to-the minute world news, and transcribe your latest mail.

You’ll have wall-to-wall global TV, an indoor swimming pool, TV-telephones and room-to-room TV. Press a button and you can change the décor of a room.

The status symbol of the year 2000 will be the home computer help, which will help mother tend the children, cook the meals and issue reminders of appointments.

Cooking will be in solar ovens with microwave controls. Garbage will be refrigerated, and pressed into fertiliser pellets.

Food won’t be very different from 1961, but there will be a few new dishes – instant bread, sugar made from sawdust, foodless foods (minus nutritional properties), juice powders and synthetic tea and cocoa. Energy will come in tablet form.

At work, Dad will operate on a 24 hour week. The office will be air-conditioned with stimulating scents and extra oxygen – to give a physical and psychological lift.

Mail and newspapers will be reproduced instantly anywhere in the world by facsimile.

There will be machines doing the work of clerks, shorthand writers and translators. Machines will “talk” to each other.

It will be the age of press-button transportation. Rocket belts will increase a man’s stride to 30 feet, and bus-type helicopters will travel along crowded air skyways. There will be moving plastic-covered pavements, individual hoppicopters, and 200 m.p.h. monorail trains operating in all large cities.

The family car will be soundless, vibrationless and self-propelled thermostatically. The engine will be smaller than a typewriter. Cars will travel overland on an 18 inch air cushion.

Railways will have one central dispatcher, who will control a whole nation’s traffic. Jet trains will be guided by electronic brains.

In commercial transportation, there will be travel at 1000 m.p.h. at a penny a mile. Hypersonic passenger planes, using solid fuels, will reach any part of the world in an hour.

By the year 2020, five per cent of the world’s population will have emigrated into space. Many will have visited the moon and beyond.

Our children will learn from TV, recorders and teaching machines. They will get pills to make them learn faster. We shall be healthier, too. There will be no common colds, cancer, tooth decay or mental illness.

Medically induced growth of amputated limbs will be possible. Rejuvenation will be in the middle stages of research, and people will live, healthily, to 85 or 100.

There’s a lot more besides to make H.G. Wells and George Orwell sound like they’re getting left behind.

And this isn’t science fiction. It’s science fact – futuristic ideas, conceived by imaginative young men, whose crazy-sounding schemes have got the nod from the scientists.

It’s the way they think the world will live in the next century – if there’s any world left!

Starting the Day with the Morning Paper

It has been routine to find the morning paper at the doorsteps and bring it in to the house while breakfast meals are being prepared. First thing that people would check out is of course the front page, usually focusing on current events locally and the world. It is important for people to know what is going on in the world today mainly because it affects everyone today. The impact that published news provide is really something that will surely gather various reactions and opinions for current events and issues.
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Finland’s Passion For Latin

Since the Finnish have been in the spotlight due to their taking the reigns in the European Union’s presidency, a startling passion of the Finns has been revealed to the world – a penchant for Latin.

Latin is far from dead in Finland apparently, where even Elvis songs have been translated into the language and gets played, translated, in public places like hotel bars. Dr.Jukka Ammondt, an academic who translated and sings some of the ing’s hits, like “Can’t Help Falling In Love” – or “Non adamare non possum” explained:

“The legend of Elvis Presley lives for ever, and it’s of course very important to sing Elvis Presley’s songs in the Latin language, because Latin is the eternal language”

In Finland, the passion for Latin also extends to the news, where national broadcasts are also made in Latin. Apparently, its gets quite a good audience of around 75,000 listeners, which is more than some radio shows on the BBC.

Would You Give a Cheating Wife Another Chance?

We all know that in this world, infidelity would usually be instigated by husbands. But coming across this article where a wife would cheat and decide to go with another man, would the hubby give her a second chance despite moving on?

Women are always given the benefit of the doubt of being categorized under being battered but cheating on their part and then suddenly wanting to get back to their old lives is like walking on a thin line. In most cases, husbands would close the door and would rather carry on what is left. Focusing on career and the children is what mature men would normally do, not leaving any room for reconciliation between them?

It is in these cases where a man would decide. Should he choose his heart or just leave it to God�s Will. Whatever the decision would be, the final one made would be for the best of everyone. Lost trust is something that cannot be easily rebuilt and mature men know this all too well.