This has been one of Luna’s favourite books, so I had to share it, first published in 1967.  Moon Man saw everyone dancing and having a great time on Earth, and he wanted a piece of the action, unfortunately, humans panicked and called him an invader!

The illustrations are cool too, bold and stylised.

I found this pine cone while walking around Taupiro Point in Katikati.  It caught my attention in under the pines, bright, dry and lacey I just couldn’t pass it by.

So beautiful, and it absorbs me, lichen gently covering the bumps and curves, in some places more than one layer of lichen. The light in this photo is quite warm too.

So into lichen these days!

The sea gardens crochet coral reef that started this year at Auckland Museum will be setting down for the summer at The Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa, the opening is this coming Saturday.  I will be there and I’m planning on make some more crochet pieces for it, it’s probably one of my favourite projects, I’m so pleased to be a part of it.

So get hooking and make something to contribute!  Check out this website for the how-to’s and other info on the international Crochet Coral Reef project, The Institute for Figuring.

Also worth a look is Daina Taimina’s blog, Hyperbolic Crochet, she has also published a book on the mathematics involved with loads of beautiful photos.

The Crochet Coral Reef installation is over and has been taken down…  good news is it is not over!  Glenys is keeping our Seagardens Aotearoa project alive. 

A bit low res, but here is a photo of the Crochet Coral Reef at the Auckland Museum.  The exhibition will close on the 16th of May so you have a few more weeks to contribute and go and visit, also entry is free until the end of May this year for lucky Aucklanders.

I’m just so excited about this one, the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project is at Auckland Museum right now!  This afternoon I dropped in to do some work with the lovely ladies busily hooking away and spreading the stitchy love.  I brought in with me the little one above, I had finished it off today and couldn’t wait to see how the project was growing.

So if you are even slightly crafty and nerdy, or into maths or art, or craftsy community projects, or the environment and ecology (that should actually be all of you) best you get yourself along to the Auckland Museum over the next few weeks to have a look at the crochet coral reef that is growing on a wall in the oceans gallery.  Better yet, take your crochet hook and some fibre and get making!

For a really good clip about this international project (and a much better explanation about the mathematics behind the hyperbolic plane than I can give you!) go to this TED talk.

If you or anyone you know is in Tauranga over the next few weeks go and take a look at this exhibition at The Laundromat Art Project Space.

The exhibition will run from 18^th March 2010 – 6^th April 2010

War 
Installation

‘Aces in the sky, Spitfire and Hurricane,  Fokke-Wulf and Messcherschmidt.

The defining battle of one generation in the western world and we called it a world war.

Vietnam another generation. And the cold war. Goodies and Baddies. Black hats and White. Right and wrong always relative and perspective dependent.

So far its always been just one lot of people vs another lot; battles of willpower, tenacity, inventiveness and technology. There are individual triumphs and tragedies, strategic gains and losses, but it has been the overall massed effect that prevails, numbers, commitment, sacrifice, leadership, working together for a common goal, Oh and maybe some luck? How much have we been prepared to lose to gain victory?

Now its global more than ever, the sides are less defined but the stakes are very high. We could call it the earth war.

 

There are no sidelines, we just think there are.  Our actions are cumulative.

 

Its all of us, but most are sleepers.’

 

- Susan Crow (nee Pickernell)

My Shell Club is hosting the New Zealand Shell Show this weekend, it includes sale tables as well as an auction, fun fun fun!

It is being held at Te Tuhi, Centre for the Arts, 13 Reeves Road, Pakuranga, on 27-29th March 2009. 
A Shell Auction on Saturday, 5 – 7pm is sure to be a highlight with a large number of high quality New Zealand and World Wide shells up for grabs.  The show is open to the public from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and 10am – 4pm on Sunday.

Depending on your timezone, the first artificial satellite, Sputnik was launched by the Soviets fifty years ago today, on October the 4th 1957.

Pretty exciting stuff considering this kicked off the space race, apparently the satellite passed over the USA twice before they were aware of it. Well before I was born people had been to the moon (or had they?) and space travel was not such a new and crazy idea. Interesting to think how this would have gone down in the midst of movies and novels that painted a picture of the future full of interstellar travel and life in colonies on distant planets.y years ago today, on October the 4th 1957.

There’s not much info out there at the moment but it’s still pretty exciting stuff!

It seems that the tenticles were badlyy damaged and the mantle itself is approximately 2 metres long.

On the Reuters website there is a short clip of the animal as it is briefly examined.
And on the News.com.au….