We’re keeping today’s post short and sweet. And what is shorter and sweeter than haiku?

The haiku is by the famed poet Issa:

The dragonfly! … Distant mountains reflected in his eyes.”

Technorati Tags: tank, tank top, spring fashion, japanese, japan, haiku, dragonfly, dragonflies, calligraphy, rotem gear

We are about t-shirts here, as well as other things, and since it’s Earth Day and one of the hot topics is recycling, why not talk t-shirt recycling?

Today’s as good a time as any to pass on some cool links courtesy of Crafty Chica Kathy Cano Murillo, who wrote about this transformation craft in an article for the Arizona Republic and on her own blog, Diary of a Crafty Chica.

I find the topic interesting because so many cool tees we like often don’t come in styles that fit us well — especially men’s tees (”unisex” my eye.) But since the early 80s, lets face it, simply cutting off the sleeves and collar just doesn’t, um, cut it.

There are books out about how to transform ordinary tees when it’s time to give them a second life.

Author Megan Nicolay also provides tutorials on her website Generation T.

A couple of others the Crafty Chica recommends are Tease : Inspired T-shirt Transformations and
99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Trim, and Tie Your T-Shirt into Something Special:

While you’re there check out Kathy’s fun new book Crafty Chica’s Art de la Soul. Kathy also has a myspace page in addition to her blog and even if you are not into doing crafts, she always has fun and inspiring posts.

Meanwhile, recycle those tees!

Technorati Tags: t-shirts, tees, t-shirt sewing, t-shirt recycling, crafts, crafty chica, kathy cano murillo, geneeration T, earth day, fashion, Mega Nicolay, art de la soul

A few months ago I was walking around Venice and came across some people painting a a ratty old bus. I stopped to talk with them a bit and they told me they were part of an LA-based initiative to spread the word about vegetable-based diesel fuel. I had not known before then that the original successful diesel engine (invented by Rudolph Diesel and unveiled at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair) was originally fueled by peanut oil. After Diesel died, his original designs were modified, so that diesel engines would run on the cheapest most abundant fuel available: petroleum.

I also found out since then that this company, Lovecraft Biofuels, can convert diesel powered vehicles to run on 100% vegetable oil (new or waste), biodiesel, and/or regular diesel, in any combination. And an article ran today in the Napa Valley Register about the use of used vegetable oil as fuel. It may make your car smell like french fries or KFC, but it’s free (I’d want mine to smell like tempura.) When you consider the price of gasoline lately you would think even people not so concerned with green issues would be all over this.

Willie Nelson has his own biodiesel fuel company, too, and a website that provides a wealth of interesting information about the advantages of vegetable-based fuels. He’s also selling BioWillie bumper stickers and t-shirts, the sales of which go into a fund run in conjunction with the American Lung association, with the aim to help spread the availability of Biodiesel for retail consumers all over the country.

Willie Nelson Biodiesel Black T-Shirt

Clean Air USA T-Shirt: “Better Air from Better Fuel”

Willie Nelson Biodiesel Magnet

Technorati Tags: biodiesel, vegetable diesel, vegetable fuel, vegetable oil, peanut oil, diesel, Rudolph Diesel, Willie Nelson, BioWillie, alternative fuels, gasoline

This itty-bitty detail of the Bunny Mandala, a work of international artists created in France, does not do justice to the scope of the whole mandala.

According to the site, The Essence of Rabbit:

No other living creature features as heavily in contemporary character design and art as the humble hare. But what exactly makes bunnies so irresistible to artists, designers and illustrators worldwide? Depending on the viewers’cultural context rabbits can symbolise anything from insanity, alertness, defencelessness, all the way to promiscuity, magic powers and utter innocence. By condensing the endless variations of the rabbit motif into one ultimate system - a perfect bunny mandala - the true nature of the beast emerges: the eternal essence of rabbit.

Some five hundred plus internationally established and upcoming designers, illustrators and artists contributed their versions of rabbits, bunnies, hares and everything in between. The result is a full-scale bunny overdose, with far more than 1.500 individual rabbits.

The premiere presentation of the “Bunny Mandala” shrine took place on April 11th, at la Sous-Station Lebon, 22 passage Meyerbeer, Nice, France.

You can even order your own bunny mandala from the site. After all, some seek enlightenment, while others seek Easter eggs.

Technorati Tags: bunny, bunnies, rabbits, mandala, pictoplasma, art, shrine, france

There’s hot news from England just right for this time of year: Monster Rabbit Stalks U.K. Village (But No Signs of Wallace or Gromit)

The mega-muncher has been described as “the size of a dog,” “as big as a three-year-old,” “a monster!!” and “a brute of a thing, absolutely massive.”

The vegetarian interloper may be the same sort of rabbit as Herman the giant rabbit. Herman weighs a massive 7.7kg, and his ears are a lengthy 21cm - almost as long as most pet rabbits are tall. He is almost 1m tall, and eats 2kg of food a day.

Can’t you just picture Herman sitting at a bar next to Jimmy Stewart?

But never mind that. Can you imagine the size of the eggs they are going to lay on Easter?!!!

You can have some monstrous bunnies in your own life, and while they may not be larger than life, they certainly will express the darker side of rabbit-hood. At the Fluffy Bunnies of Doom shop, you can get tons of creepy bunnies to wear on shirts or to buy bedecked on journals in which to record your monster bunnie sightings.

Technorati Tags: easter, bunny, bunnies. rabbits, monster rabbits, giant rabbits

But sooo cool.
Nabaztag is a desktop companion that utilises WiFi technology to fetch information from the Internet and convey it in various charming ways. You’ll soon be relying on this cute little critter to tell you the time, wake you up, read the news, read you messages from friends, check the stock market and give you tomorrow’s weather forecast today.

Before long this brainy bunny will be able to receive traffic updates, alert you when you have SMS messages, tell you if your train is running late and broadcast ‘Nabcasts’ from fellow subscribers. The possibilities are truly endless.

The Nabaztag uses lights, sounds and cutesy ear movements to discreetly convey messages to anyone nearby.

Nabaztag can also signal specific information via coloured lights in his belly; so you can set him to glow yellow if the weather’s going to be sunny or red if an email from a loved one arrives. A wiggling ear could signify a falling stock price. You can see a little video here.

Not yet available in the U.S, though. Guess we’ll have to keep relying on bad kitties to wake us up in the a.m.
Props to Firebox.com

Technorati Tags: wi-fi, bunny, rabbit, computer, mp3, wireless, Nabaztag