Category: WWWhat?

Posted in WWWhat?

Anything is Pozible…

Posted on by Cate

I was having a look at the Pozible website this morning – it’s another crowdfunding website (like Kickstarter), specifically for creative projects and ideas. There are always some interesting people and plans on there, looking for some cash to turn their dream into reality. Today, I noticed the pitch of a lady called Skye from Sydney – it was entitled: Are you brave enough to eat a BUG?

Apparently, Skye runs the Edible Bug Shop and is looking for funding to help expand her range of buggy treats. Skye has degrees in Entomology and Food Science, making this business the perfect marriage of her two skillsets.  In promoting bug eating, Skye says: “Edible insects are high in protein, low in fat and have various essential vitamins and minerals (depending on the actual bug itself). Crickets (which are one of our best sellers) are high in calcium for example.” Indeed.

Skye’s shop has been selling Creepy Creature Candy since 2009 and Skye assures us that it is a very popular product. Here is a photo of some of the Creepy Creature Candy range. I don’t know about you, but it’s the kind of lollipop I would take straight back to the shop as some sort of health & safety breach, asking for a refund.

Skye has developed a new range of products – Rocky Roach, Bug-O-Nut Rough, Buggy Brownies and Energy Bars. Apparently, “ some of these products contain invisible insects (you can’t see the bugs but they are ground up inside), and some are obviously have insects inside, so there is something for every level of bug eater”. Yummy.

If you’re brave enough to eat a bug, or you would like to read more about Skye’s business proposition, or you would just like to check out the freaky bug shop, Skye’s Pozible pitch is here. And you have 50 days to get on board with the bugs (and Skye).

Posted in WWWhat?

Arrr, me hearties

Posted on by Cate

Let’s all be sure to mark Wednesday 19 September on our calendars with a big X. Because in case you didn’t already know, 19 September is officially International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Uh huh. Apparently, this day began ten years ago, when John Baur and Mark Summers were playing racquetball in the US and started speaking to each other like pirates. No, they don’t know why, either. But they decided they were on to something and started to spread the word and encourage everyone to talk like a pirate on that day. It seems that it took off and was covered extensively by international media outlets, bloggers and scurvy dogs. Savvy?

The boys called themselves Cap’n Slappy and Ol’ Chumbucket and started the Talk Like a Pirate website, which features everything you could possibly need to prepare for the big day – a shop, a translator, posters, songs, some craft activities and a link to a Pirate Name Generator. My pirate name is allegedly Dirty Anne Bonney, so I’m not sure how that works.

Whatever you’re doing on 19 September, be sure to punctuate your everyday speech with an ‘ahoy there’ or an ‘aye aye, Cap’n’ or maybe even a ‘shiver me timbers’. I’m giving you plenty of notice so that you can check out all of the info you need here before you plan your festivities. Arrrrrrrrrr!

Posted in Arty sparks, WWWhat?

Word up

Posted on by Cate

I always love to hear new words or expressions and, although I don’t catch on too quickly to the YOLO, OMG, ROFLMAO kinda acronyms used by the kids of today, it’s interesting to hear another language and try to appreciate what it all means. Even more so when it is actually a real language, with culture and history attached. And although the English language seems to have quite a lot of words to choose from, sometimes you’ll hear a word or expression from another land and think: bingo! That really captures it perfectly – I wish we had a word like that. 

In honour of some of those types of words, artist Fuchsia Macaree put together an alphabet of expressive words that are missing from the English language. Here are some examples…

By Fuchsia Macaree
By Fuchsia Macaree
By Fuchsia Macaree
By Fuchsia Macaree

You can check out the rest of this clever collection at the Fast Company magazine Co. Create site here. While you’re enhancing your vocabulary, just remember that you can’t use these words in Scrabble, no matter how tempted you may be…

Posted in Home sparks, WWWhat?

Using big words

Posted on by Cate

I love word games. Yes, I’m a dork like that. And of course Scrabble is the daddy (or mummy, in the case of my family) of all word games. It gives you the chance to trot out all of those strange words you’ve read over the years and not really understood, while you try and block your opponent from getting their tiles anywhere near a triple word opportunity. And now there’s Words with Friends, which is sort of like Scrabble with a much higher tolerance for fake words, and you can play on your iphone as you sit on the bus or wait for the Doctor or pretend to work.

But whether you’re playing on the board or on the screen, there comes a time when you’re just staring vacantly, with no clue about what to do with the tiles in your rack. You need a different perspective – a fresh view of your options. Though I don’t think you’d have that same problem with this particular version of Scrabble that I found for sale at Hammacher Schlemmer.

For only $12,000 you could own this giant Scrabble set that’s sure to both impress and frighten your friends. According to the website, it’s the world’s largest wall-mounted Scrabble game – one of only nine that was handmade by artist John Kahn. It even comes with giant racks for your tiles. The product blurb says that it’s “nearly 5x the size of the original” – now, I’m not sure if that man in the photo is a pixie, but it seems a lot bigger than 5x the original to me!   

Anyways, you can read more about this interactive work of art at the Hammacher Schlemmer website here. Although if you’re like me – closer to the floor than the ceiling – then you might need to consider a step-ladder to make sure that those triple word scores are still within reach. Cos I reckon it’d be so much sweeter to beat your opponent with a giant triple word than a normal triple word. Game on.

Posted in WWWhat?

The Doctor is in…

Posted on by Cate

Today I’m struggling a little for motivation and inspiration. Just a little bit blah. At such times, some people look to Tony Robbins to guide them. Or perhaps the Dalai Lama. Or even Oprah Winfrey. Not me. Dr Seuss is my go-to guy for motivation and inspiration.

And this morning I remembered a great You Tube clip that my friend Naomi showed me earlier this year. It’s a short film of my favourite book, recorded with a cast of colourful characters from the Burning Man festival in the USA last year.

I often think that I’d love to experience Burning Man just once, but am pretty sure I’d stick out like a sore thumb amongst these very cool cats…

Hope you have a great day today, on your way to the places you’ll go!