Yes, for once, NC is getting some major attention in a national election campaign, and being described as a battleground state! Not only are Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin all regularly visiting us, but we’ve got famous people entertaining us where the only price for admission is listening to a li’l plug for a candidate.

Today, James Taylor played a free concert in Moore Square in downtown Raleigh. It was a beautiful day and a perfect mid-day lunch excursion. And despite the minimal advertising and notice given, he played his music and his “Vote Obama” message to a full crowd.

Thanks, Dan, for the pix!

First, a primer: SPARKcon is a festival celebrating and nurturing the local creativity of Raleigh and the Triangle region of NC. It’s 100% volunteer… everyone involved runs entirely on enthusiasm, passion and talent, with a bit of support from some wonderful sponsors! This past weekend was the third year for SPARKcon, and it showcased all sorts of talent communities, including breakdancers, yogis, craftspeople, spoken word artists, hoola hoopers, music of all kinds, art, film, fashion and more.

FashionSPARK is an outdoor runway show which featured 13 local fashion designers’ work, as well as fabulous hair and makeup by local stylists. The show was beautifully directed by Allison Beale.

fabulous hair by Jesse and Carla of Marigold Parlour, makeup also by Marigold, fashion by Domino

woodland nymph fashion by Domino

doggy designs by Montage

fashion by Lllavender, hair by Salon Blu

fashion by Metallic Spiral, styled by Marigold Parlour

fashion by Marie Cordella, styled by Atomic Salon

The SPARKcon website is in a constant state of being updated. Check it for more pictures, designer info and links.

  ‘In 1970 Gordon B Holcombe a pioneer in the design and construction of buildings utilizing coated fabrics predicted that,’ “Before the year 2000 the house you live in may come in a can of liquid and a roll of fabric-and be inflated like a balloon. And by the end of this decade, everything from your drinking water and the pools your children swim in and acre-size farms will be protected by air-supported domes.” Speciality Fabrics Review August 2008

As part of the Art on the Edge Festival which was held at the Progress Energy Performing Arts Center in Raleigh this past weekend, the Architects of Air put up a 10,000 sq ft installation called Levity III which brought to reality all the possibilities imagined by Mr. Holcombe more than 35 years ago. This was truly one of the highlights of my summer as I was inspired by the captivating color scape and the energy that playfully moved within. It was great to see the potential of material through imaginative architecture. Now my vision of an inflatable ‘Nap Pod’ seems a bit more feasible.

mascots of 2008 Beijing Olympics

I read a lot about the FUWA when they were first unveiled as the 2008 Beijing Olympic mascots about a year ago. Thought now, on this opening day might be a good time to review how the mascots came to be.

According to the Olympic site, each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China: Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing.”

Beibei: fish and water are symbols of prosperity and harvest, as well as having a surplus for a good year and good life. According to the site, “Beibei is known to be gentle and pure. Strong in water sports, she reflects the blue Olympic ring.”

Jingjing: a symbol of happpiness. The Panda is loved and protected throughout China. He and the lotus’s on his head symbolize the lush green of the Panda’s environment and the desire to protect nature’s gifts. “Jingjing is charmingly naïve and optimistic. He is an athlete noted for strength who represents the black Olympic ring.”

Huanhuan: “In the intimate circle of Fuwa, Huanhuan is the big brother. He is a child of fire, symbolizing the Olympic Flame and the passion of sport. Huanhuan is outgoing and enthusiastic. He excels at all the ball games and represents the red Olympic ring.”

Yingying: a fast and agile antelope, she symbolizes China’s great and huge landscape. “Strong in track and field events, Yingying is a quick-witted and agile boy who represents the yellow Olympic ring.”

Nini: represents the golden winged swallow – the most popular kite design in China. “Nini is as innocent and joyful as a swallow. She is strong in gymnastics and represents the green Olympic ring.

Han Meilin designed the mascots, went through many renditions (bureacracy is everywhere, after all), and infused the mascots with meaning and depth. they are not just a bunch of cute little dolls. He got his original idea from the five factors making up the world, including gold, wood, water, fire and earth.

Han Meilin was given an original concept by another person involved with the Olympics. His design team came up with over 4000 iterations of the characters and over 60 changes to the prototypes

Here is a sampling of what some of the other mascot ideas were:

Read this great interview with Han Meilin from the China Daily about how he came up with the characters.
Or see the Official Olympics Site to get more details about the mascots and their final meanings.

This morning I was reading through my morning blog routine, and came across this tidbit of info. 2008 has been named the International Year of the Potato by the United Nations. “The celebration of the International Year of the Potato (IYP) will raise awareness of the importance of the potato—and of agriculture in general—in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment.” You can find out more info here.

Check out Casey’s latest work, featured in a show at The Morning Times in Raleigh this month. Opening night is tonight! She’s been a favorite artist of mine for the past few years, and Designbox has had a number of very successful shows with her. Casey started painting Chihuahuas but has since developed her creature collection, adding other dogs, does, dinosaurs and even squids!

She is also one of the artists in our Mila Art Jackets Collection
(Paul Friedrich did the cowboy. We’ll be bloggin ’bout him later) .

To see more of her work, go here.

• 5am EST (New York or Raleigh) = The first 01-01 of 2008 in Christmas Island (Kiritimati)
• 6am EST = Midnight in South Pole
• 7am EST = Midnight at Fiji
• 8am EST = Midnight in Sydney, Australia
• 9am EST = Midnight in Guam
• 10am EST = Midnight in Tokyo
• 11am EST = Midnight in Singapore
• Noon EST = Midnight in Bangkok
• 1pm EST = Midnight in Bangladesh or Kazakhstan
• 2pm EST = Midnight in Islamabad, Pakistan
• 3pm EST = Midnight in Dubai
• 4pm EST = Midnight in Moskow
• 5pm EST = Midnight in Cairo, Istanbul, Athens
• 6pm EST = Midnight in Berlin, Rome, Paris, Vienna, Warsaw
• 7pm EST = GMT Midnight! – London, Dublin
• 8pm EST = Midnight in Greenland
• 9pm EST = Midnight in South Sandwich Islands
• 10pm EST = Midnight in Rio de Janeiro
• 11pm EST = Midnight in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Bermuda
• 12 MIDNIGHT EST = Midnight in Raleigh, NYC, Wash DC
• 1am EST 1/1 = Midnight in New Orleans, Mexico City
• 2am EST 1/1 = Midnight in Denver, Baja, Calgary
• 3am EST 1/1 = Midnight in LA, Seattle, Vancouver
• 4am EST 1/1 = Midnight in Alaska
• 5am EST 1/1 = Midnight in Hawaii
• 6am EST 1/1 = LAST to enter New Year = Samoa

Check out this site to see all the places in different time zones and compare to wherever you are.

Recently I was having a conversation with Sonny Cheeba from Camp Lo. He says, “An outstanding album is one where every single song is great. Most musicians only have two to three good albums in them in a career. The exception is Stevie Wonder.” I happen to agree with Cheeba’s statement and tell him so.

A few days later, I received a phone call from my good friend Paul. Almost by divine providence, he offered me four FREE tickets in a private suite, to see…Stevie Wonder! Naturally, I accepted and I thought to myself, “I must be living right!”

Now here’s where I could give you a review of an amazing show, but really, David Menconi’s review in the News and Observer says it well.

Music is the soundtrack to my life. As an artist, it plays an integral, influential part of my design and fabrication process. As a musician, Stevie Wonder transcends beyond pure music and art to a place of social responsibility. He chooses to use his voice to spread a message of peace and universal love. By doing so, he shines a little light into the dark corners of the world.

He used the concert as a platform to talk about what really matters to him. He opened the concert by saying that war, weapons of mass destruction, global warming, poverty, the lack of universal healthcare and discrimination are all unacceptable. He closed the concert by talking about ending hate; and he told us that our hearts are for loving the whole world. Best of all, he challenged us to do something about the injustices in the world that are unacceptable to us.

I attended the Stevie Wonder concert because of a conversation, and the kindness of a friend. I could tell you that concert was about boogeying down to “Superstition”, but I left a bit more inspired and with my heart a little more open. Perhaps I will rise to Stevie’s challenge.

Somebody set the dumpster on fire. What’s up with that?
Despite the safety issues of something being on fire right outside the building, we found the overall spectacle rather amusing. And as designers, we found the post-fire makeover to be much improved. Britt and Joey spent some time capturing it in a photo, which I will title “Newfound Beauty of a Dumpster.”

I guess, to reference Kelly’s earlier entry “Fun Facts about Raleigh” which maps out different danger areas that surround the office (as labeled by a CCBI officer), we can now call our back parking lot a “Hot Spot.”