EDIBLE PEN

Do you chew on your pen when concentrating?

Me too!!! ...and so does young Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, who has recently come up with a pen which you can chew on and entirely eat.

"When looking at the pen I noticed that you only use the ink, the other stuff is just there to hold filling more comfortably. Isn’t it possible to eat the whole cover?" He says of the starting point for his idea.

Hakkens gathered a number of pens and looked closely at which ones were the best ones to chew on.

Armed with that information, he then made three different molds and started testing out different types of candy; investigating crucial pen chewing considerations such as the breaking points, flavours and which designs and textures 'chew' the best.

"When I found the shape and candy, I made a final model in peppermint flavour. The candy which is used doesn’t stick on anything and doesn't feel dirty when you hold it in your hands or when eating it afterwards" he says.

Dave's edible pen contains twenty pieces of candy and is filled with edible ink - the only thing which isn't edible is the small point which you write with - and when it's finished you throw this nib away or put it in a new re-fill pen.

Tasty.

Shabby Chic

By now, it’s probably no secret: One of my passions is for the country. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ‘City’, but the country oozes quintessentially British-ness in abundance.

I also definitely have a thing for old houses. I have relationships with them, I will build entire trips around them, I study their crevices and crown moldings and broken floor tiles, making up stories about the people who spent lifetimes living and dreaming in the rooms.

The Lodge, my Devonshire residence, is a pretty 4 bed cottage positioned deep in a tree-filled cleft on the fringe of Dartmoor. Encompassed by fields filled with calves, lambs and miniature ponies, it’s a farmers heaven, and it’s my haven.

The Lodge itself is a 16th-century stone building (originally a 2 up, 2 down, now with a few extensions here and there), located at the foot of the long, windy driveway which takes you to the impressive, yet slightly imposing, Hall. Both the Hall, which is a candidate for the ficticious Baskerville Hall featured in Conan Doyle’s ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, and the Lodge are totally isolated, accessible only by a narrow lane edged by overgrown hedges and not so strategically placed blind bends, followed by a dirt track. It’s edge of your seat stuff, so generally a rambling old pick-up truck is needed!

As a family we’ve fixed up, furnished and decorated the space (but not too much), turning the historical stone house into the most amazingly simple and pared-down retreat–for the inner artists and writer, anyone else who appreciates scaling back, and you know, channeling their inner Laura Ingalls Wilder (is that just me?).

Inside, there’s open fires, well-worn vintage furniture, ancient books scattered across window ledges and a collections of paraffin lamps. Outside you’ll see a ‘wild garden’, a self-made pond (oh yes, we hired a digger and a dumper and got our hands dirty!), rolling hills, moor and a compostable barn with stables and sheep/cow pens). It’s a boon for those who agree that the ultimate luxury these days is peace, solitude and a dreamy old house on a big swath of pretty land.

This is where I shall be hiding out during the long 11 day Easter break. Go forth!

Sheenism: Comedy or tragedy?

Like any good Internet meme, there comes a point of saturation where sheer delight turns to absolute disgust and overload. Take that sheer disgust and multiply it by three and there you have it: Charlie Sheen.

So, putting it simply, I’ve totally bought into the, freshly freed of the burden of making a television show, Charlie Sheen hype.

I have to admit that I’m loathe to pay any attention to celebrity meltdowns, but it would seem that Sheen has been sweeping our nation, invading our homes and businesses, spreading like a fog via seemingly innocuous sites.

In the latest sign of the coming apocalypse, the “unemployed” actor has announced via Twitter that he is “looking to hire a “#winning social media intern with #TigerBlood.” That lucky someone will help him keep his more than 2 million new followers up-to-date — and likely be asked to assist Sheen in a plethora of illegal and incriminating activities.

Unlike Sheen, if you weren’t born with Adonis DNA, and don’t really have tiger blood coursing through your veins, then this Tiger Blood image will allow you to compensate….

So to all you brave men and certifiably insane women who want to get in on the hell-train that is Charlie Sheen — and obviously there will be a staggering number of you — feel free to apply here. The deadline is March 11. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

As a member of the Internet community, all I know is that as long as Sheen keeps cranking out amazing quotes like, “I’m so tired of pretending my life isn’t perfect and bitching and just winning every second and I’m not perfect and bitchin,” he will have a home in my Twitter feed.

#FAIL

Misery Bear needs YOU.

Comic Relief is just around the corner (18 March), and supermodel and former Stylist cover star Kate Moss has become the latest celebrity to 'do something funny for money', starring in the hilarious video above in which she meets Misery Bear.

The notoriously private supermodel is currently planning the year's (second) most spectacular wedding - however, if this vid is to be believed, fiancé Jamie Hince isn't the only man in her life...

Watch the video here

Lest we forget...

The new Serpo exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery has opened this week.

Nancy Serpo, a leading pioneer of feminist art, made her mark on paper with pen and pencil, ink and gouache, stencil and collage, and while one might argue that many men have done so too, Spero is unequivocal.

To describe her creations as simply as works on paper, for instance, is to ignore a central point. Spero made no other kind of work. She did not paint with oil on canvas, the typical medium for the typical artist (principally male), and she did not sculpt.

The works on display explore issues of subjugation, brutality and the abuse of power and uses a broad range of visual sources, including Etruscan and Roman frescos, mythology, fashion magazines and feminist history.

War, torture, violence against women: These prominent words speak for themselves and are clearly a form of political expression, no matter that they offer no opinions and propose no solutions.

Where Serpo really finds form is in the imagination, in the delicate but horrifying figments formed using gouache (which is so diluted, it lies pale on the page.) She produced these year after year, all through the Vietnam war, her rage and despair ceases to diminish.

These images on display are unforgettable and this is the way Serpo intended them. They represent her at her strongest: a conscience making art to an absolute and unmistaken purpose.

The exhibition is the first major presentation of the American artists work since she died in 2009.

Lest we ever forget the horrors of war.

Follow the link to Aesthetica Magazine's blog to read a memoir of Nancy Spero by fellow American feminist artist, Kiki Smith.

A Spotify Milestone - Cracking the US

When Spotify launched in the autumn of 2008, it was greeted with delight by music fans. The idea of a comprehensive, free and legal digital jukebox seemed almost too good to be true.

It’s been a strange old ride over here in the UK for Spotify.

Everyone's had it.

Everyone's felt a little bit of anger at the adverts (...mainly because they didn’t want to pay for it...and if you pay for it it's not free music right?)

Spotify now has 10 million users, and this web of premium, unlimited (15% are now paying customers)and open users is thickening. This on-line music service is officially the largest of its kind in the world.

Shortly the co-founded Swedish company will move to the US and is currently on the verge of a deal with Universal Music Group. Pretty cool for a recent start-up eh?!

The Wonderman

Tinie Tempah, the wonderman who can apparently do anything, has done something else. He's only gone and launched an online game. What next!?!

The Brit Award winner and man that charms everyones hearts stars within the game as a super hero and uses all sounds created by the man himself. Make Tinie run, jump and blast through 7 levels to get your name on a leader board of players. Other highlights of the game include Tinie Tempah being given the option to ‘risk it for a chocolate biscuit’, become invincible when he puts on his crazy sun protectors and running past collaborators Ellie Goulding and Kelly Rowland.

The game is free and can be found here.

Is there nothing this boy won’t turn his hand to, and turn it well?