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Posts Tagged ‘daily mail’

Watered Once in 53 Years, Doing Fine

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 1, 2015| 2 Comments »

David Wilkes has a great story at the Daily Mail about a self-contained garden that hasn’t had to be watered in decades.

“To look at this flourishing mass of plant life you’d think David Latimer was a green-fingered genius. Truth be told, however, his bottle garden – now almost in its 53rd year – hasn’t taken up much of his time. …

“For the last 40 years it has been completely sealed from the outside world. But the indoor variety of spiderworts (or Tradescantia, to give the plant species its scientific Latin name) within has thrived, filling its globular bottle home with healthy foliage.

“Yesterday Mr Latimer, 80, said: ‘It’s 6ft from a window so gets a bit of sunlight. It grows towards the light so it gets turned round every so often so it grows evenly. Otherwise, it’s the definition of low-maintenance. I’ve never pruned it, it just seems to have grown to the limits of the bottle.’

“The bottle garden has created its own miniature ecosystem. Despite being cut off from the outside world, because it is still absorbing light it can photosynthesise.”

More here.

Photo: BNPS.CO.UK
Still going strong: Pensioner David Latimer from Cranleigh, Surrey, with his bottle garden that was first planted 53 years ago and has not been watered since 1972 — yet continues to thrive in its sealed environment.

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Express Yourself on a Billboard

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 30, 2014| 4 Comments »

It’s not a completely new idea to put personal messages on a billboard, but I thought this iteration was especially fun.

Chris Pleasance writes at the Daily Mail, “With modern advertising boards showing video clips, messaging passersby and even interacting with viewers, it is difficult for a classic billboard to stand out.

“However, one board in Pennsylvania has been attracting attention after displaying odd slogans and messages as part of an art project.

“Jon Rubin, 50, and fellow academic Pablo Garcia contact an artist each month and ask them to write a message for their billboard, which is then displayed using heavy wooden letters.

“The notes, which have ranged from witty remarks to short poems and even two phone numbers, then stay up for a month before being replaced.

“One artist wrote the word ‘Poem’ in front of his phone number, then read verse to anyone who called or listened to poems they wanted to read to him. …

“While most of the submissions come by direct invitation from Jon or Pablo, they do occasionally take ideas via email, or directly from the internet.

“One of the most bizarre came from an 11-year-old girl who wrote: ‘Ideas for my new blog: Who invented tape, how were feelings discovered, when did “skinny” become fashionable?’ “

I especially like this one: “Think about all the hours forgotten plays were rehearsed.” I like it because I know it doesn’t matter that the plays are forgotten. It’s the rehearsing that counts.

More here.

Photo: Splash
Message by Charlie Humphrey

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Swap Clothes with Grandpa

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 26, 2014| 8 Comments »

My husband likes to watch Link TV, which brings random news programs from around the world into our living room.

That is where he learned about Rojak Site, a funny website that collects offbeat stories. We loved this one about swapping clothes between generations.

“Artist photographer, Qozop, asked Asian youths to swap clothes with their relatives who are generations apart. It’s interesting to see how the older generations can still be found dressed in traditional clothing while the youths have opted for more modern Westernised fashion.

“Speaking about his work, Qozop said: ‘Basically, this idea for Spring-Autumn came about from a notion that though Asia has become westernised to a large degree, it is still possible to witness its traditions and cultures. And as an Asian society, our cultural beliefs are often reflected in our dressing. Fashion (other than wrinkles) is one of the best telltales of how old a person is.’ ” (Rojak’s source, here, was the Daily Mail in the UK. Click to see more photos.)

Our grandchildren will have to grow up a bit before we can discuss swapping clothes. The oldest is not yet four. (When Suzanne was four, she asked if she could have all my clothes when she grew up. One thing worried her, however: “You don’t have much shorts,” she said. She is more than welcome to my old clothes now that she is grown up, but for some reason, she never asks for them.)

Photo: Qozop

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Kiev Subway Dancing

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

My husband heard that the Kiev subway is a popular place for older Russians and Ukrainians to go dancing. So I Googled around a bit and found stories at Odd Stuff Magazine, here, and the Daily Mail, here. And a video at YouTube. In today’s world, you can’t keep a good story down.

At the Daily Mail (which seems to favor bullet points) Helen Lawson writes, “Saturday night fever: The subway where Kiev’s pensioners dance and find love.

  •     The dancers cannot afford to pay for a venue so they use a metro subway
  •     The group meets every Saturday at 7 pm to socialise and dance
  •     About 20 couples are known to have met thanks to the meet-ups
  •     Reuters photographer Gleb Garanich documented the weekly gatherings

At Odd Stuff, photographer Garanichev Hleb (is that the same Reuters guy?) asks the subjects of his photos about the dance scene. “Milevsky Nicholas was born in 1938 and Natalia Stolyarchuk born in 1955 met at these dances and has since moved in together. This is one of the 20 couples who met at these clubs. ..

“Despite his age, both retired and still work together earn about 4,000 hryvnia per month. …

“These people do not communicate in social networks, but still remember all the holidays of childhood and youth, when put on the table, to visit friends and neighbors come, everywhere sounded cheerful sounds of accordion.” More.

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