This Is Just Cool!

Jim Denevan is:

• A surfer
• A chef
• A cyclist
• A food artist
• And the creator of amazing temporary works of art

Denevan’s art is drawn into sand as well as ice and other forms of earth. Some of the reasons that this art is cool include:

• He puts a lot of detail into it. Many people don’t take their time to create something beautiful if it’s not going to last for a long time. Denevan knows that the art he makes in the sand will be washed away rapidly by ocean waves. In spite of this, he puts a lot of time, attention and care into making the art beautiful.
• The designs are primarily geometric. Circles, rectangles, diamonds and other common geometric designs are prominent in his art. There’s something really cool about the juxtaposition of this precise geometry against the chaos of nature.
• Some of the two dimensional designs look three dimensional. It is always cool when artists are able to achieve this effect and Denevan manages to do it when his only medium is sand.
• It’s green art. Denevan uses his body and sometimes his bicycle to create the art. The drawings take nothing from the earth. They don’t create waste. Everything about the way they are created and displayed is green.
• The art is created and destroyed by the same thing. Wind, water and other forces of nature create the materials that Jim works with and also destroy his creations. There’s something very intriguing about this artistic concept.
• The art is smart. For example, the Fibonacci curve is something that he has used in creating the lines of his artwork.
• It’s a really large scale. For example:

Condor-Paris is a company that makes some amazing luxury items. What they do best is Haute Couture bathtubs. These are the types of bathtubs that you only see in very pricey boutique hotels and amazing designer mansions. We may not be able to afford these terrific tubs but we surely can enjoy looking at them! Here are five of the designs by this cool company:

1. The Suitcase Tub. This bathtub has been making headlines lately because of how incredibly cool it is. Designed for people who love to travel, it looks like a luxury leather suitcase. In fact, the outside of the tub really is leather which is pretty cool. A leather headrest and brass jets add to the fun luxury of this tub.

2. The Ultra Modern Tub. This sleek white geometric design is gorgeous, isn’t it? It’s not right for all homes but it’s definitely got a great sense of style about it.

3.The Basket Tub. In contrast to the modern tub above, this one looks like something that belongs in a country house. One thing it may remind you of is the baskets used when stomping grapes to make wine! Perhaps you can see yourself sipping wine while relaxing in this little tub instead!

4. The Classic Clawfoot. The clawfoot tub is a very popular design. This version of the tub takes the best of the vintage style and adds modern flair to it. The perfect wallpaper certainly helps to make the tub stand out but it’s a cool piece just on its own.

5. Pretty Inside. This tub, called the Carla, is designed with two names on the inside of it, As you can see, it also has a heart shaped decoration inside. This might work in a honeymoon suite in a hotel or in a home for a couple that is truly in love.

Woman’s Day recently posted a great article about fifteen hotels that offer perks beyond what you normally would expect to get from your accommodations. The 15 cool hotels featured in the article were:

1. The Algonquin Hotel in New York City. This hotel lets you borrow e-readers to enjoy during your stay.
2. The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Toronto. Zen perks at this hotel include your choice of incense for your room, a yoga mat and meditation CD for use during your stay and an energy stone on your pillow.
3. The Curtis Doubletree Hotel in Denver, Colorado. This hotel offers perks for your pet. Perks include dog treats, walking the dog for you and even a pet-friendly themed floor in the hotel.
4. The Desires Hotel, various locations. This hotel assigns you a personal assistant who can give you a variety of perks.
5. The Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu on Big Island, Hawaii. Poolside perks here range from popsicles to free SPF.
6. The Heathman Hotel in Kirkland, Washington. The perk here is that you get to choose the type of mattress that you want to sleep on. Try a Tempur-pedic mattress or European feather mattress. And you can even pick a special mattress for your dog at this pet-friendly hotel.
7. The Holiday Inn UK. Want a live person to come warm up your bed for you? That’s free of charge at these hotels.
8. The Hotel Le Meurice in Paris. Another pet-friendly hotel, this one gives your pet a goodie basket upon arrival.
9. The Kimpton Hotels, various locations. One perk of many of the Kimpton hotels is that you can borrow a pet to keep you company during your stay.
10. The Mandarin Oriental in New York City. If you like tea then you’ll love the in-room tea service that this hotel offers as a perk.
11. The Naumi Hotel in Singapore. This hotel offers a females-only floor for guests who feel safer just being with the girls.
12. The Plaza Hotel in New York City. Want to enjoy a complimentary ride in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a car worth almost half a million dollars? This hotel offers that.
13. The Seven Hotel in Bangkok. When you check in you will receive a mobile phone that is preloaded with information about local favorite hotspots.
14. The Taj Boston Hotel in Boston. You not only get a fireplace in your room here but also get to call up a fireplace butler to come make your fire for you.
15. TheWit Hotel in Chicago. The perk here is a silly wakeup call from a person doing an impersonation of a famous comedian.

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One of the coolest things that you can find on YouTube is stop motion video art. Of course, there is a lot of stop motion work out there that isn’t all that interesting at all. You do have to sift through a lot of amateur work to get to the good stuff. The good stuff is worth it when you find it, though. For example, this stop motion video called The PEN Story is an absolutely amazing work of art.

Some interesting things about this stop motion video:

• The main goal of the video is to use pictures to describe the concept of “a journey through time”.
• Before any work was even done on the video itself the artists took 60,000 photographs. They edited this down, developing 9,600 prints and shooting 1,800 pictures over for a second time.
• It was inspired in part by the stop motion work of Mr. Taijin Takeuchi who did a video called “A Wolf Loves Pork”. His work is quoted in the video.
• It was also inspired by the work of many other stop motion artists.
• It depicts many different modes of transportation including bicycles, trains and planes.

The artistry and effort that went into producing this video are what make it really cool. However, the message of the video itself is also really cool. It shows how we journey through life and how many different adventures we can have as time passes. It shows travel and falling in love and trying out new activities. There are many different ways to look at life but the best way to see it is as a joyful adventure that includes many different experiences. This video celebrates that and that is what is really cool about it!

There is a new type of blog that has been popping up around the Internet lately. It’s a photo-rich blog that is designed just for people who love books. Oddly, these blogs for readers have very few words. Instead, they rely on gorgeous photos of books to attract viewers. And attract them they do.

Two examples of this increasingly common type of blog are Bookshelf Porn and Book Lovers Never Go To Bed Alone. In both cases, when you get to the blog what you’ll find is a series of daily post images that show off books in all of their glory. You may see a reader in a few shots, sitting in a field stacked with books or reaching into an amazing bookshelf display to see what’s there. However, it is the books themselves that are the object of your attention; the reader is just an accessory to the books in these photos.

If you aren’t a reader then you may be wondering what’s so hot about photos of a bunch of books. But if you’re the kind of person who can’t give up your library card even though you can see the convenience of owning a Kindle then you know exactly what the point of these book lover blogs is. You know that the smell of a new book, the touch of a well-worn book and the hunt for the right book in a musty old bookstore are all more alluring than anything else you’ve ever experienced.

Books are meant to be tactile. They are meant to introduce you to worlds of fantasy. They are meant to inspire passionate feelings in you as you read them. Read enough books and you will feel these things without even needing their words; you will feel these emotions just by seeing an amazing array of books on display. That’s why these types of blogs are so very cool.

It is tough to find new jewelry that is truly creative and yet still beautiful. Most of the traditional forms of jewelry have been done in so many different colors, materials and shapes that there is nothing left to find. The new jewelry that is interesting tends to also be unappealing – made into strange shapes or from odd materials that you wouldn’t want to wear. That’s why it’s so cool when you come across a jewelry company that is actually making a new style of jewelry that is beautiful and yet unique.

That’s what’s so cool about the body chains being made by Chains of Love. These chains take the traditional jewelry that you’re used to seeing – such as a necklace – and change the placement of the piece on the body. While we’ve all heard of belly chains, this jewelry maker takes things to a much bigger level. A quick perusal of the company’s website will allow you to see gorgeous arm chains (which are not bracelets but instead jewelry for the shoulder and upper arm) as well as chains that embrace your body and add to the design of your shirt.

The chains are all very simple in their design. There are no flashy jewels or intricate details to most of these pieces. This is important because combining a flashy look with unique placement of jewelry would probably take most styles overboard. Instead, you just get something subtly interesting when you look at a traditional piece of chain jewelry on a part of the body that is not normally adorned.