90-Year-Old Watchman Turns Russian School into a Veritable Art Gallery

A gracious good day to you! Wonderful to see you...and I see by the mug in your hand that you are ready for some coffee and a virtual treat. Help yourself then c'mon over here to the VIP table as I tell you about a retired art teacher who just can't really retire...

After 25 years of teaching art at several schools, Valery Khramov finally retired from his job, but not from art. The 90-year-old spent the entire summer painting the walls at the school where he currently works as a watchman. He singlehandedly managed to transform the boring institution into an ethereal space, just in time for the new academic year. 

“I spent the last three months at school,” Valery told the local media. “All I did was paint and draw. It has been 10 days since I slept – it was necessary to have time to finish everything for the new academic year.” And now that the kids are back in school, they’re absolutely thrilled with the new decor. In fact, first graders are actually being taken on tours of the ‘gallery’. What a fantastic way to beat back-to-school blues!

 According to Valery, the paintings on each of the school’s three floors follow a different theme. The first floor, dedicated to seasons, is meant to teach students how to protect nature. The paintings capture natural scenes – like a mother bear catching fish to feed its cubs. They also depict the interaction between humans and nature – like a forest ranger monitoring the cleanliness and safety of the forest.

The theme on the second floor is geography – there are paintings of the earth’s various regions right from the Arctic Ocean to the tropics. Valery has also painted marine fauna in vivid colors on one section of the floor. The idea, he says, is to have students travel the world without having to leave the school. “Everything is thought out, you have no idea how long it took me to create a world of colors,” he said.

In the elementary section, Valery painted fairy tale characters and also the Siberian highway. And another section of the school contains references to world architecture – right from the Egyptian pyramids to the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and St. Basil’s Cathedral.

Valery, who has been painting since childhood, was only 16 years old when he first painted episodes of the Soviet-Finnish war on the walls of a two-bedroom apartment. But when he finished school, he decided to train to become a pilot instead of studying art. Life had other plans for him though – he suffered an injury that left him incapable of flying, and ended up going to art school after all. Since then, he’s been painting freehand on walls – he never makes any plans or sketches before he starts.

The school is his greatest project yet, because he thinks it is important for children to develop love for art and nature. “I did all this work to educate children with a sense of beauty,” he said. “To have a desire to read a book, go to the museum, the theater, go to the countryside or play sports.” So he’s ready to go paint at any school, if invited.

Wouldn't it have been inspiring if the schools we went to had been painted like that to bring art, geography, history, nature and science to life as we walked the halls of wisdom rather than the depressingly boring gray or green walls we faced every day. (No...I deliberately did not mention math though it does play an important part in each of the above subjects!)

Send my blog to every teacher, principal, professor, school board member and Minister of Education you know!

See ya, eh!

Bob

 

Pope Mania

Happy Labour Day to you if you 'celebrate' the day. To me it's just another day when all the dang stores are closed. In Asia, it is the exact opposite. ALL STORES are open on holidays - religious or not. It gives families the chance to get out and shop, play and eat together. Not everyone over there has Saturdays and Sundays off so an extra day off is not time to spend at home doing little. Hey...how are you this fine day. It's going to be another hot one here! Coffee's hot too so help yourself...and snag a viutual doughnut or muffin as well, why don't'cha! Speaking of religious...

Muslim clerics complain of the commercialization of the holy city of Mecca during the annual hajj pilgrimages, but for Pope Francis' visits to New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia in mid-September, shameless street vendors and entrepreneurs already appear to be eclipsing Mecca's experience. 

Merchants said they'd be selling, among other tacky items, mozzarella cheese statuettes of the pope ($20), a "pope toaster" to burnish Francis' image on bread, a Philly-themed bobblehead associating the pope with the movie boxer Rocky, local beers Papal Pleasure and YOPO (You Only Pope Once) and T-shirts ("Yo Pontiff!" and "The Pope Is My Homeboy"). 

The Wall Street Journal quoted a Philadelphia archdiocese spokesman admitting that "you kind of have to take it in stride." 

Ain't that the truth!

See ya, eh!

Bob

Source: Wall Street Journal, 8-26-2015; Washington Post, 8-24-2015

Japan’s New Girl Band Has an Average Age of 84

Konichi-wa! How are you today? Got a fresh pot of coffee and a whole array of virtual treats awaiting your pleasure so help yourself. Aha! You noticed my Japanese greeting, didn't you. I knew you would! Well speaking of Japan...

KBG84 is a one-of-a-kind girl band in Japan consisting of 33 singing and dancing grannies, with an average age of 84. The oldest member, Haru Yamashiro, is 97 years old!

The new band, based in the remote island of Kohama in Okinawa, is a huge hit in the country – so much so that the members are rather taken aback by their success. Their first single – titled Come on and Dance, Kohama Island – has made it to the top of the  charts, and they’ve just completed a sellout tour of Japan.

“When I first heard someone calling us ‘idols’ I thought an idol meant someone who has lived a long life and was at the gates of heaven,” said 92-year-old diva Tomi Menaka. “But in Tokyo they told me it was an entertainer – which was a relief because I thought it meant I was on my way to heaven.” 

“We felt like stars in Tokyo,” added 86-year-old Hideko Kedamori. “Everyone in the audience had a big smile, which gave us the energy to sing our hearts out. We’re blessed to have been born in Kohama. Our lyrics are about the island and nature – whales in the sea spouting or dolphins doing somersaults.”

Irrespective of the lyrics, these elderly women are incredibly cute when they perform. Their energy and enthusiasm is amazing, considering their age. In fact, no one under the age of 80 is allowed into the band. The name KBG84 itself is a play on the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. While ‘48’ refers to the number of members in the teeny bopper band, ‘84’ refers to the average age of the women in the grannies’ band. 

It turns out that the geriatric pop queens are blessed with incredible genes – Okinawan islanders have one of the highest life expectancies in the world. Their diet chiefly consists of vegetables and local purple-fleshed sweet potatoes, with practically no added sugar. Menaka said she isn’t fussy about her diet, but she does keep fit by doing housework.

“I look after my health by cleaning my home, wiping the floors, steaming rice,” she said. “I stay in the shade when it’s too hot. I don’t want to tan. I have to take care of my skin – I’m still young at heart!”

But the grannies’ bodies don’t always keep up with their seemingly tireless energy – and that’s why, backstage, you’ll find walking frames blocking entrances, blood pressure monitors strewn across tables, and defibrillators always on stand by.

KBG84 is the brainchild of Japanese musician Kikuo Tsuchida, who has lived in Kohama for 20 years. The band recently signed a record deal, and performs to full houses, mainly consisting of middle-aged or older audiences. The exuberant seniors are constantly followed around by camera crews, but despite their celebrity status, they do make time for ordinary things like enjoying chats over cups of tea.

“We still like to sit around gossipping about life,” said Kedamori. “If we fight, we quickly make up again, just like when we were kids. We are all together with the same heart. All for one and one for all.”

So there you go, eh! It's never tooo late to get out of your easy chair and do something you really want to do!

See ya, eh!

Bob

The BEEcosystem Lets You Keep Bees as Indoor Pets

Hi ya!   What'cha up to? Good to see you. Honey of a day isn't it? C'mon in and pour yourself a mugful of coffee. Grab a virtual muffin while you're at it. Hey...do you like bees? Nope, me neither. Sure, they do important work to pollinate everything so we have food and flowers. I totally understand that. But they sting like crazy and get enough of them mad at you and it can be lights out! But what if you could control their environment?

Growing bees indoors has never really been an option before, but an American startup called Living Interiors is changing that with their revolutionary new product – the BEEcosystem. 

The BEEcosystem is a hexagonal cedar observational hive, “small enough to be manageable in non traditional beekeeping spaces,” but also large enough to produce cut-comb honey. The viewing window on the hive allows people to see the bees at work on the hive. 

That’s sort of like a fish tank for bees, but the BEEcosystem is a lot friendlier to the winged insects. It is a wall installation that can be placed indoors or outdoors, and it comes with a red light filtering cover that helps maintain the bees’ natural cycles irrespective of artificial lighting in the room. It even comes with a transfer tube setup for sliding windows, so bees can leave or enter the hive as they please. The hive is modular, which means new ones can easily be attached as the colony expands. 

The BEEcosystem is incredibly user friendly too – the honey bees come pre-installed so all the end user needs to do is mount the hive on a wall using the wall bracket provided. The unit is pretty easy to maintain as well – it has a cleaning drawer that collects debris from the bottom of the hive, while keeping the bees safely away. A top feeder allows bees to be fed when certain flowers are in bloom.

The BEEcosystem is meant to create a “tangible way to connect people with honeybees.” Co-founder Mike Zaengle said that the product is mainly designed for residential, urban living. “BEEcosystem works well for renters because it features a window exit unit that fits into practically any sliding window,” he explained. “There’s a tube that the bees crawl through to get outside to fly, then they return through it to get back to the hive. You don’t have to drill a hole in your wall; you just need to mount a bracket. It’s very non-invasive.”

“This will be the first display hive we know of that will ship with the colony of bees already installed,” he added. “With other hives, the beekeeper purchases a package of bees that are delivered through the mail, and then pours them into the hive—which can be very intimidating for a first-time beekeeper! With BEEcosystem, your hive installation is simplified.”

Mike insists that the product is very safe, especially because honey bees are relatively docile. And the best thing about the hive, according to him, is that you can harvest your own honey. “You don’t even need a centrifuge to process it,” he said. “Like other top bar style hives, you can simply take a knife and cut a chunk of the honeycomb out.” Each hive can produce about half a kilogram of raw cut-comb honey.

Mike and his team have produced three BEEcosystem prototypes, and are currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise more funds. Each hive is currently priced at $450 – that’s a tad expensive, but worth it, I suppose, if you’re going to have bees in your home. Shipping starts in December. Interested? 

No way, José! But you go right ahead. Think of the stimulating conversation the next time you have folks over...

See ya, eh!

Bob

Women in Hong Kong Are Trying to Lose Weight by Staring at the Sun

Cho San! G'morning... or whatever time it is when you read this! How are you doing? I see by the mug in your hand that you are ready for coffee so help yourself. Add a virtual Chinese steamed bun or two to munch on as well...BBQ pork, Chicken and Mushroom, or Coconut while I tell you about a new diet craze in Hong Kong (Fragrant Harbour). 

Sun gazing is a bizarre new weight-loss trend in China – it has women staring directly at the sun, hoping to magically melt away the excess pounds! 

The therapy, believed to be of European origin, suggests that looking at the sun will provide you with enough solar energy to substitute for calories from real food. So dieters are hoping that if they stare at the sun long enough, they could skip eating entirely.

Coconuts Magazine reported that at least 10 women have been spotted staring directly at the sun for about 30 minutes just before sunset, at a beach in Sam Ka Village in Lei Yue Mun. According to Wing, a frequent beachgoer, a group of 10 women dressed in formal wear – all between the ages of 20 and 30 – apparently visit the beach at sunrise or sunset to stare directly at the sun.

Wing has observed the women take their shoes off, put on sunglasses, and set a timer on their phones before looking up at the sun. Sometimes they seem uncomfortable, as they try fanning themselves or covering their faces with napkins. 

Some sun gazers belonging to religious groups claim that the therapy isn’t only for weight loss, but also for overall health. “We practice sun-gazing as a substitute for eating,” said one gazer who was present at the beach. “Some of us who have finished the therapy now eat less, and others don’t have to eat at all!”

The practice of sun gazing seems to contradict every bit of scientific advice about not spending too much time in the sun, let alone staring at it directly. But the gazers say they’re able to protect themselves by using pinhole glasses, which they believe will minimize their exposure to UV rays. 

Doctors, of course, aren’t convinced, especially because of the sub-tropical location of Hong Kong and the sea bouncing back sun rays. Indeed, if history is any indication, these gazers are actually putting themselves at quite a risk by substituting meals for sunlight. A few years ago, a Swiss woman named Anna Gut starved to death while trying to live on light alone. 

Light is not enough. I mean...what do you do for snacks? Sneak into the basement and shine a flashligth on yourself? Actually, I remember reading that rays from a red LED light are helpful for treating pain. In fact, when we last lived in Thailand, we had a 'massage hammer' that included these lights. Oh well...

See ya, eh!

Bob

PS: Speaking of Chinese food (we were, weren't we?), Nong and I will be participating Sunday in the Martintown Mill Market offering Thai and other Asian foods including Thai Spring Rolls, Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Chinese/Thai Sala Bao (steamed and/or baked buns), Green Curry and Pad Thai. If you're in the area, c'mon by from 9:00-3:00 but come early as we expect to sell out by 1:00.

Thai Collector Uses Ancient Ritual to Create Souls for Creepy ‘Child God Dolls’

Hey there! How's it going? Another hot day here in BUCO (Beautiful Uptown Cornwall Ontario). Why don't you fill your empty coffee mug and grab a virtual Thai doughnut (Pa tong go) to go with it. While were on the subject of Thailand, most Thais are followers of Thai Buddhism which incorporates Theravada Buddhism with a liberal splash of Hinduism and the ancient practice of Animism or spirit worship so the following is not really too surprising...

A creepy new trend in Thailand has people caring for supposedly haunted dolls, for good luck and prosperity. 

The Look Thep (Child God) dolls are believed to be inhabited by children’s spirits, created through special rituals. They’re considered to be an updated version of the ancient kuman thong, the practice of worshiping human fetuses that died in the womb. Look Thep allows people to revere the spirits of children without having to actually obtain dead fetuses. 

Several locals, including Thai celebrities, are vouching for the effectiveness of Look Thep dolls. Like DJ Bookkoh Thannatchayapan from 94 FM, who claims that his doll Wansai has made him successful in show biz. “The first day I got him, I took him out shopping for clothes in the baby section,” Bookkoh said. “Right after I paid for his clothes, I got a call that my cancelled job was back on!”

Bookkoh then tried to further test the doll’s powers – he promised it a gold necklace if it would get him a bigger job. And instantly, he received a call asking him to audition for a role in a movie. “I feel like Wansai really exists,” he said. “I love him as my child.” 

But no one in Bangkok is quite as obsessed with Look Thep as Thai doll collector Mae Ning. She’s the founder of the online Look Thep club and the brains behind the latest version of the dolls. She started making them three years ago, as a way of dealing with her stubborn son. “I thought to myself, ‘How do I control him? How can I make him behave?’ So I was inspired to make a doll in his representation and created a soul for it,” she explained. “I put my son’s charms into the doll. That’s how it started.”

Mae Ning now makes thousands of dolls, each waiting to be adopted by a new mother or father. She modifies factory-made dolls by adding weight and styling their hair. Then she conducts a ritual, invoking the power of the Hindu goddess Parvati, to create new children’s souls to inhabit the dolls. All the dolls are then given names and she counts their age starting from the day they “came to life”. So all the dolls are under three years of age. Sometimes, customers leave dolls with her as well, for her to fill with new souls. 

“We treat them as if they’re really alive,” she said. “I created a soul into it. Can’t you see that he looks very alive? They’re not just spirits. They’re children’s souls. They are the souls I created by chanting incantation.” Mae Ning is quite particular about not using the souls of dead children, and denies adding dead fetuses. She says she fills her dolls with “abundance” and “seeds” that represent life’s essence.

“It’s like I have the goddess in my body,” she added. “I practice religious precepts. I don’t know how to explain it. I am the body of Parvati, and I collect and love the dolls. Look Thep came from the idea that I’m the body of Goddess Parvati. And this is my child.”

Mae Ning says that the dolls have filled a void in many people’s lives. “When we raise a child, some children are stubborn and give us a headache,” she said. “Some people never found love. Some lost their child. After they adopted a Look Thep, their life has changed. From a broken family where they argue, they now have a cute Look Thep. Suddenly, the family is full of love. This is the case for most of my customers.”

Putchraporn Kuntaku, who discovered the Look Thep dolls through Mae Ning’s Facebook page, says that the dolls don’t really come to life for everyone. “Mostly, it’s people who love dolls who can see and feel which one has a soul. It’s more about what we feel,” she said. 

“People who don’t love dolls would say all dolls are the same. They cannot tell the difference no matter how hard they try.” 

“Maybe it’s just my imagination, but when I have my doll with me, I feel like I have someone by my side,” she said.

Okay...whatever! If it works for Mae Ning (Mother Ning) and others, I am happy for them and who knows. This world is full of strange wonders. 

See ya, eh!

Bob

This Muzzle Will Turn the Cutest Dog into a Scary Werewolf

Здравствуйте!  

Zdravstvuyte 

means 'Hello!' 

in Russian. 

How the heck are you? Ready for a mug of coffee and a virtual muffin, doughnut or Russian pastry? Help yourself. Ya-dada-dada-dadada-da! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! 

A Russian company has created a menacing muzzle that can transform dogs into fierce-looking werewolves. Fitted with bloody, pointy, ginormous artificial teeth, the werewolf muzzle will make even the cutest poodle look so terrifying that no one’s ever going to try to pet it without your permission. 

One of the first users of the werewolf muzzle is Marina Kurulyova, who became an internet sensation after posting pictures of her dog, a giant Schnauzer, wearing the muzzle. Marina said she doesn’t use it to scare people away though. 

“This muzzle is just a comic alternative,” she said. “It is rather made for fun than for training. Our friend has bought the muzzle for her dog, a Doberman, and we just tried it. That’s how the photograph was made. The Schnauzer and the Doberman were photographed together, the muzzles amplifying their aggressive personalities.

The contraption features a realistic dog nose and snarling snout, apart from the realistic teeth. Made of non-toxic plastic, the muzzle is harmless to dogs and even allows them to breathe easily through the mouth. It was designed to scare away would-be attackers and protect dog owners during late night walks, especially those who are worried their dogs aren’t tough enough!

Yikes! Wouldn't want to meet a dog wearing one of those in a back alley. For sure, people would keep their distance if they saw one of these muzzles.

See ya, eh!

Bob
 

Dutch Students Turn Wasted Rotting Fruit into “Fruit Leather” Accessories

Hiya! How’s tricks? Thanks for clicking by today. As always, you’re right on time. Coffee’s brewed and the VTs are straight out of my virtual oven so help yourself! Good story today about an enterprising group of Dutch students...

A team of six undergrads in the Netherlands have come up with a brilliant use for wasted fruit – they’re converting it into leather! 

The eco-friendly project – titled ‘Fruitleather Rotterdam’ involves transforming rotten fruit into a durable, malleable, leather-like material. It started off as a school assignment at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, in which design students were supposed to set up a flash retail event. After brainstorming, this particular team decided to tackle the problem of food wastage as well. 

“The academy gives us a perfect view over Binnenrotte Square in Rotterdam, where they have a market each Tuesday and Saturday,” said Hugo de Boon, one of the students involved. “We saw how the square would be completely littered with food waste (at the end of the day), so we realised this was a problem we would want to solve from a designer’s point of view.”

After some research, they figured out that over 7,000 pounds of food were being wasted each day at the market, and lots or stand owners were dumping the food illegally to avoid paying for proper disposal. So the kids started collecting leftover fruit directly from the vendors – mangoes, oranges, nectarines, apples, and more – and used it to manufacture a leather-like material.

They’ve refused to reveal the exact manufacturing details, calling it a “group secret”, but de Boon broadly explained the process: they start by deseeding the fruit and mashing it all up. Then they boil it to kill bacteria and prevent it from rotting. After cooling it, they spread the paste on a “specific surface” that is “crucial in the drying process”. Once dried, the Fruitleather is ready for use.

For starters, the team created a bag completely out of fruitleather, to showcase its various properties. But according to de Boon, the versatile material can be used to make furniture, accessories, and clothing as well. “Many people make the mistake that we are currently just making bags,” he said. 

“We used the bag as a visual for the public to show that products can be made out of the material, but it is the material itself that we produce.”

Fruitleather has garnered lots of interest from various manufacturers. A car seat maker has already contacted the students about buying their product, but they’re now focused on improving their manufacturing process for more output and better quality. “The production process will need to increase for the demand as well, but before making that step, we first want to answer the questions that we as a team have about the material,” de Boon said.

“What we want to achieve with this project is to create awareness for the problem that is food waste, and show that there is a solution,’ the Fruitleather Rotterdam official website states. “Food isn’t trash, you just need to find a different purpose for the resisting material. We used our design background to come up with a solution.”

And, if you get tired of it or stuck in an elevator, you can always eat it, right?

See ya, eh!

Bob