Prettocraig

As much as Eddie Money’s song makes me want to cringe, I can’t help but sing “Two Tickets To Paradise” because that’s all I want right now when I view the photos of the Dusit Thani Maldives. The resort takes up beautiful Mudhdhoo Island, which is surrounded by white sandy beaches and a turquoise lagoon, making it a no-brainer for this month’s Destination Design.

Just 35 minutes away by seaplane from the capital Malé or 10 minutes by speedboat from Baa Atoll, this dream resort houses 94 villa and residences that boast the luxury of the Maldives with a healthy dose of Thai hospitality.

The accommodations are clearly influenced by Maldivian architecture but come complete with modern amenities and subtle Thai touches that might just make you want to forward your mail.

Could you not just live right there?!

Whether you’re in a Beach Villa or a Two-Bedroom Villa, you’ll be spoiled with butler service while surrounded by indigenous tropical greenery or even crystal blue and green waters.

Many of the villas come with private pools, like the Water Villa where you’ll have not only your own pool, but a private deck to relax on.

Imagine relaxing in this 2-Bedroom Ocean Pavilion perched above the ocean, giving you the feeling of a floating slice of paradise. They’re even built to face the sun so you can watch it set on the horizon.

Two-Bedroom Ocean Pavilion bedroom

Two-Bedroom Ocean Pavilion pool

If you need more space, there’s always the two-story Beach Residences that will give you the feeling of home. A home that’s been transplanted to paradise.

Ocean Villa Bedroom

Ocean Villa

Ocean Villa plunge pool

Beach Villa bedroom

Beach Villa with pool

Resort’s main swimming pool

Sand Bar

Benjarong Thai Restaurant

Private dining deck at the restaurant

Are you packed yet?

What: Dusit Thani Maldives
Where: Mudhdhoo Island, Baa Atoll, Republic of Maldives
How much: Starting at $900 per night for a Beach Villa up to $6,500 per night for a Two-Bedroom Private Beach Residence.
Highlights: Private villas with plunge pools that overlook white sandy beaches, against a backdrop of crystal blue/green waters.
Design draw: Contemporary Thai interiors with traditional Maldivian architecture, complete with modern amenities.
Book it: Call +960 660 8888

Photos copyright © Dusit International.

Iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz has been teaming up with Disney since 2007 to create fantasy shoots for her Disney Dream Portraits series.  Stars including Taylor Swift, Will Ferrell, Jessica Chastain, […]

The post Celebrities recreate scenes from Disney movies appeared first on Vancity Buzz | Vancouver Events, News, Food, Lifestyle and More.

Google is always up to something, and their latest dally into the tech space with their Smart Contact Lens proves that they’re not slowing down any time soon. Google is starting to become known for their products that slightly (or explicitly) blur the lines between tech and the human body and the way we live. Take their latest acquisition of Nest, which sees the giant moving into our homes to improve productivity and even comfort. Google’s new Smart Lens Project aims to follow suit.

What makes this project so unique is its goal to help those with diabetes to better manage the disease. One out of every 19 people on the planet has diabetes, and when uncontrolled it can lead to other serious health problems. Google has taken the challenge of finding a better way to manage diabetes with a person’s tears. Yes, tears. They’re increasingly becoming a better way to measure glucose levels. Google’s smart contact lens prototypes are made with a network of miniature chips and sensors that are the size of a speck of glitter.

The Smart Lens prototypes are currently under testing. Right now, they’re able to produce a reading every second, and feature microscopic LED lights that can indicate when glucose levels have crossed above or below certain thresholds.

While there’s a lot more to do, Google is definitely moving in the right direction with a smart design solution for an age-old problem.

Adam Lister, an 8-bit-inspired artist, and Isaac Budmen, an artist working mainly with 3D printing, joined together to produce 8 Bits, 3 Dimensions, a collection of 2D and 3D “prints” of various iconic images from art and culture. Using a combination of 3D printing technology and watercolor hand work, the duo has crafted a series of unique and highly recognizable interpretations of famous pieces of art and pop culture scenes.

Lister does the original watercolor work, then the piece is made digital by hand and meticulously modeled by Budmen. It’s then 3D printed out of colored sandstone into the finished product that you see.

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

Magritte’s Son of Man

Breaking Bad

Android/iOS: Flash on your mobile phone isn't nearly as necessary as it once was, but if you find yourself wishing you had it now and again, Puffin is a web browser that not only brings you Flash, but also an incredibly speedy browser experience overall.

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UBC’s engineering students are ending their engineering week festivities by topping it off at the campus clock tower, literally. The students have brought back a long-running, annual engineering prank of […]

The post Volkswagen Beetle placed atop UBC clock tower by engineering students appeared first on Vancity Buzz | Vancouver Events, News, Food, Lifestyle and More.

madam-cj-says-relax:

Omfg

Source?

We already introduced the ‘Dear blank, please blank’ project in 2011. Today we visited the page again, curious if we got to find new submissions that would lighten up our day. Unfortunately we had to find out that people got quite frustrated, rather using the project to let off steam or make political statements. Not sure if you feel the same, but we miss the creativity. Too bad actually as the project started out so nice. In memoriam of ‘Dear blank, please blank’ when it was still fun, here a few highlights. You can purchase the cards for $4,50 here or by clicking on the card.

Alberta, Canada-based landscape photographer Paul Zizka has embarked on a new way to capture the absolutely breathtaking natural environment that surrounds him in the Canadian Rockies. Instead of simply snapping shots of the environment, the photographer prepares his camera on its tripod, sets the timer, and quickly runs into the shot for a spectacular selfie.

Unlike other typical selfies, often presenting a low-quality image of someone with their extended arm holding onto the photographing device (most likely a phone), Zizka's images are first-rate photos of man and nature. He shares the spotlight with the landscape, usually serving as a secondary subject himself to the magnificence of the environment. His silhouette sits peacefully below the Aurora Borealis, allowing its green and purple hues to captivate viewers.

Zizka says, "I never get tired of shooting the aurora borealis, and a lot of my favorite self-portraits were taken during particularly intense northern lights displays… The aurora has an amazing way to renew itself and show ever-different combinations of color and textures." He adds, "My hope is that through my photography people will rediscover the precious connection they can have with the wonders of our planet.”

Paul Zizka website
Paul Zizka on Facebook
via [Co.Design]

According to Metro News (via The Sports Junkies) Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will be in Vancouver this weekend for personal reasons.  He and his family will be in Vancouver for […]

The post Rob Ford Coming to Vancouver appeared first on Vancity Buzz | Vancouver Events, News, Food, Lifestyle and More.

A Vancouver time travelogue brought to you by Past Tense.

The Cave Supper Club was a Western Canadian chain of clubs in Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Edmonton. The first one opened in Winnipeg in 1935. Two years later the Vancouver location opened at 626 Hornby Street. This is the one that became legendary, surviving more than four decades and hosting the top entertainers in show business.

Like something from the town of Bedrock, The Cave was decorated with stalactites fashioned out of burlap and plaster, and the walls were made similarly cave-like. In the early days, it was a supper club with floor shows and so-and-so and his orchestra. Any alcohol that was consumed was discreetly brought in by patrons because liquor laws at the time forbade the sinful combination of drinking and entertainment.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that The Cave really hit its stride. It was the first night club in town to receive a liquor licence in 1954, which allowed it to afford top notch acts. Many performers viewed Vancouver in general and The Cave in particular as a good place to warm up before playing shows in Las Vegas. Crowds at The Cave were notoriously hard to please, making the venue a good test run before attempting higher profile shows south of the line.

The clientele in the ’50s dressed to the nines, even though many nights The Cave served as a strip club. Mainly white burlesque performers danced at The Cave (more “exotic” dancers of colour were booked into east side clubs), though such racial divisions were being challenged by the mid-fifties by people like the legendary Josephine Baker, who appeared at The Cave in 1955 and led the charge against racial discrimination in American night clubs.

The range of performers that graced The Cave’s stage in its four decade existence is mind-boggling. A partial list includes Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Lenny Bruce, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves, Louis Prima, Wayne Newton, Sonny and Cher, Lena Horne, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Everly Brothers, Peggy Lee, Roy Orbison, Buddy Rich, Doug and the Slugs, the Village People, the Pointed Sticks, the Modernettes, the Police, and Ella Fitzgerald, whose 1968 show at The Cave can be heard here.

The Cave closed its doors in 1981 and the stalactites were sold off for $20 each.

Source: Library and Archives Canada #4328679

Archipad is a new iPad sketching app by Urban Design that’s ideal for architects, interior and product designers. While there are many sketching apps on the market, what makes Archipad unique is that it’s scale aware. Once you set the scale of your drawing sheet, the drawings will be completely scaled to the real world, even down to the line thickness.

In addition, Archipad has many other features that cater to architects and designers, including layer rotations, shape and freehand drawing tools and more. Archipad is easy enough to use for professionals and non-professionals alike. Similarly, it has a tiered pricing structure—it’s free to download for small projects. As projects become more complex, the user can buy a subscription for however long or short they need the app for. Download it here.

It started with an adventure.  David and his fiancé, Nicole, had just graduated from University, and like many young people, decided to do some travelling before settling down. They booked […]

The post Waffle Gone Wild! appeared first on Vancity Buzz | Vancouver Events, News, Food, Lifestyle and More.

Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan filmed scenes today in Coal Harbour and along the seawall. His character Christian Grey kept up his immaculate shape by going for a […]

The post Jamie Dornan jogs the Vancouver seawall (PHOTOS) appeared first on Vancity Buzz | Vancouver Events, News, Food, Lifestyle and More.

Not sure how 2014 is treating you, but here in New York it’s COLD outside! To help keep us warm we decided to dedicate this month’s column to… you guessed it, RAMEN.

Whether waiting on line at Totto Ramen in Hell’s Kitchen, or gathering all the ingredients to make one from scratch at home, it’s undeniable how an umami blast of broth and noodles can make everything OK.

But wait, this is not just another article about ramen, its origins and several ways to “take it to the next level,” whatever that means. This is Design Milk. We want to dive into how the world’s chicken noodle soup with endless cultural combinations of flavors and textures, is influencing the design industry.

But in case you’re looking for a few fun facts, here is an infographic to catch you up to speed.

Now that that’s out of the way, here are some of our favorite inspiring design contributions to the kinky-noodle-eating world…

First, Julian Lechner’s Soup Sticks - chopsticks that are also straws. A functional product aimed at improving the eating experience by allowing solids and liquids to be easily consumed with a single implement.

The Anti-Loneliness Ramen Bowl by MisoSoupDesign. Allowing one to enjoy their favorite movie and their ramen. OR better yet, turning dinner-for-one into ramen-for-four, with one Skype call.

Auckland-based artist Seung Yul Oh sculpts a series of traditional Korean dishes from silicone and resin. Adapting both cultural and culinary influences, he creates varying lengths of strands and types of noodles — hanging 12 feet from the surface of the floor. The noodles stretch from space and dangle down into pots and bowls filled with modeled vegetables and broth. The hyper-realistically crafted egg yolks, carrots, seafood, and meats seemingly extrude from the faux-liquid, materializing as actual ingredients drifting in the dish. A pair of chopsticks float at the sculpture’s crown, creating a surrealistic illusion that the elongated fine fibers are weightlessly hanging in mid-air.

Seung Yul Oh

Seung Yul Oh

Industrial designer Sherwood Forlee’s Sink Bowl is an ingenious crockery item devised for eating instant ramen. When you get to the point where you are frantically chasing just a few noodles swimming around in an ocean of broth, simply pop the plug in the top bowl and the soup drains into the bottom bowl, leaving you with just the remaining noodles. The hole is just thin enough to let your soup drain but prevent your noodles from escaping. The bowl also deals with the thorny issue of soggy cereal – no one likes mushy cornflakes for breakfast. With this bowl, simply allow your milk to soak your cereal for the requisite time and then pull the plug and drain.

Sink Bowl

Photo source

“3 minute bangle” by Masao Takahashi. Made with instant noodles, cashew lacquer, and resin.

Aissa Logerot’s SpoonPlus is a utensil hybrid that functions as both a spoon and a set of chopsticks. It’s easy to use as well; simply slip the head of the spoon attachment onto the front of the chopsticks and now you’ve got a functional scooper in your grasp. Suppose you want to revert back to the traditional utensil, just take it off and you can use the spoon as a vessel for sauce.

SpoonPlus

I had a rare Twitter username, @N. Yep, just one letter. I've been offered as much as $50,000 for it. People have tried to steal it. Password reset instructions are a regular sight in my email inbox. As of today, I no longer control @N. I was extorted into giving it up.

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Rob Ford isn’t the only Canadian mayor making headlines down south. On Monday’s episode of Chelsea Lately, host Chelsea Handler was chatting about Sochi mayor Anatoly Pakhomov and his notion that […]

The post Mayor Gregor Robertson Mistaken for Mayor of Sochi appeared first on Vancity Buzz | Vancouver Events, News, Food, Lifestyle and More.

Keys are large and have a tendency to destroy pockets. If you're sick of carrying around your bulk of a keychain, Redditor mattfrancis13 cut off the top of his keys to make them a lot smaller.

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There is not a single gay person living in the host city of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, according to Sochi mayor Anatoly Pakhomv. SEE ALSO: Orca whales captured for […]

The post Sochi mayor claims there are no gays in Olympic host city (VIDEO) appeared first on Vancity Buzz | Vancouver Events, News, Food, Lifestyle and More.

Got an old baking sheet that is all blackened and battered from overuse? Don't throw it out just yet—this is exactly what you need for perfect roasted veggies in the oven, says The Kitchn. And there's the added advantage of not having to thoroughly clean them each time either.

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Oof, that was a rough one, I know.

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Preparations for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games have been mired by controversy, and the latest cause for outrage is a temporary exhibit of two orca whales that were recently captured specifically for […]

The post Orca whales captured for temporary display during Sochi Olympics appeared first on Vancity Buzz | Vancouver Events, News, Food, Lifestyle and More.

Vancouver fog photos are always fascinating to browse as we soak in rare views of life outside a wall of cloud that lingers for days. Waterways are covered in a misty blanket, skyscrapers try their best to peek out through the white ceiling, and the city’s bright lights become eerily muted.

“Fogcouver” or “Fogmageddon” happens every now and then in Vancouver so it’s fun to put together a collection of photos like these from December 2009, January 2013, October 2013, and this fog video series. Here are a few images submitted to the Miss604 Flickr Pool that capture this month’s temperature inversion.

Vancouver Fog Photos

Photo credit: gherringer on Flickr

Photo credit: fotoeins & fotoeins on Flickr

Photo credit: Danielle Bauer & azcangal on Flickr

Photo credit: Tim Shields BC on Flickr

Photo credit: bcbusinesshub on Flickr

Photo credit: Ruth and Dave & Clayton Perry Photoworks on Flickr

Photo credit: gherringer & Clayton Perry Photoworks & DJ Greer on Flickr

Photo credit: NeilPanda on Flickr

Photo credit: azcangal on Flickr

Photo credit:Mark Faviell Photos & Mark Faviell Photos on Flickr

Photo credit: Monochromca on Flickr

Photo credit: bcbusinesshub on Flickr

Photo credit: & bcbusinesshub on Flickr

Photo credit: bcbusinesshub on Flickr

Photo credit: azcangal on Flickr

Photo credit: Outdoor Express on Flickr

Photo credit: wynonna on Flickr

As always, please click through on these images to view more work from the photographers and feel free to share your own photos with the Miss604 Flickr Pool. View all photo collections here.

The post Vancouver Fog Photos January 2014 appeared first on Vancouver Blog Miss604.