Coca-Cola "Bird's Nest" Commercial

This is the CUTEST Olympic-themed commercial I've seen recently. Can't help watching it over and over again :)

China Doll Club Beijing

It's the final countdown for the Beijing Olympic Games. I happened to see these eye-catching images at Coolhunter: a cool night club named China Doll in Beijing, owned by Chinese-american actress Ai Wan and designed by her studio E.P.I.C. Design. The interior is so sexy, mysterious and futuristic. Will check it out next time I go back!

Radiohead LED Stage Lighting

Last night's Radiohead concert was truly amazing! After so many years, they still remain the most innovative British rock band. The performance was certainly fantastic, but something else got me even more excited: the cutting-edge LED stage lighting!! Radiohead is the first band ever to tour with only LED lighting. By hanging strips of lights over the stage, seemingly infinite patterns and colors were produced which were constantly transforming like auroras.

How great such an influential band is going GREEN. The dazzling visual effects of their show prove that LED is really the future!

Here are some videos showing the lighting -

Mowercycle!

I was chatting with a friend about redesigning everyday objects a moment ago, and then I saw this mowercycle photo at Inhabitat. What a bright idea to transform the tedious yardwork into personal workout! Needless to say, you can stay away from the air pollution produced by gas-powered lawn mowers. I hope such mowercycles can be manufactured.

Shopping Cart Chair

When I looked at the shopping carts at a supermarket last night, I suddenly noticed the proportion of the shopping cart resembles that of a chair. Why not design a shopping cart chair or convert a shopping cart into a chair? Would that be fun?

Later I did an internet search and found someone already had this idea. The following are ANNIE shopping cart chairs by UK designer Max McMurdo. He turned old unwanted shopping carts into beautiful and functional chairs. I wonder if they offer the option with wheels, 'cause some people may want an exhilarating ride:)

Eames Stamps!

My husband bought me the last 2 sheets of the newly released Eames Stamps from a downtown post office. These stamps are gorgeous!! If you wanna collect them, hurry up 'cause only some post offices carry them.

Toronto Arch Tour

As a water-front metropolis, Toronto is not as appealing as New York, Chicago or Seattle. My initial purpose of the trip was to see several new buildings in town and to visit the spectacular Niagrara Falls the 4th time.

Our first stop was the Royal Ontario Museum by Libeskind. I was so eager to see a Libeskind’s building, but felt a bit disappointed when I got there. Maybe I’m no longer strongly attracted by striking forms. The play of form here didn’t invent a new model for exhibition or offer the visitors a new way to experience a museum, almost the same feeling I had when visiting Akron Art Museum by Coop Himmelblau. To me, the only interesting space is the Stair of Wonders which combines the sculptural form with fascinating object display at each level. However, I still want to visit Berlin Jewish Museum since the spatial sequence generates deeper meaning.

Gehry’s new addition to the Art Gallery of Ontario is under construction right now. Unlike his signature sculptural exterior, this building has a simple linear transparent skin while the crazy forms are kept inside.

Ontario College of Art & Design by Will Alsop is such a playful and structurally challenging building. I really hoped to get to the top, unfortunately it closed during the weekend.

Later we walked by the Graduate House by Morphosis and Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building by Norman Foster on Univeristy of Toronto campus, the last two stops of my architectural tour.