Cartographic Dresses and Tea-Stained Maps

by Justin Glow on

Susan Stockwell is a London-based artist whose bizarre “map art” collection is truly a site to see. Take for example this Cartographic Dress, a “life-size dress made from two World Atlas’s with Central America fashioned into a shoulder strap and Brazil as the back piece,” or this map of India made with stitched-together tea bags. Neither are practical, per se, but they — along with the entire collection — are truly unique in that “hmm…” sort of way.

Other quirky pieces that stood out include “South London Arteries,” a lace pattern made from cutting just the roads out of a London city map. Last but certainly not least, her “Empire Dress” (pictured), a Victorian-style dress made from maps of the British Isles, is beautifully crafted and quite ornate.

Who knows, maybe we’ll see celebrities walking the red carpet in this one day.

The Bad House?

by Iva Skoch on

Feeling trapped in your day-to-day life? How about a visit to the house of pain? The big house? The Malmaison Oxford is a former prison which has been converted into a luxury hotel.

This building served as a prison for 125 years before being shuttered in 1996 and converted into a boutique hotel by the London-based chain, Malmaison (which takes its name–literally, “bad house”–from Napoleon’s Paris chateau). The Oxford former prison has retained many of its fixtures, and most rooms are made up of three cells combined.

The site itself has been a prison since the 12th century, but the current prison was built in 1870. Fortunately for guests, the prison was considered particularly “airy” and “light.” It also served as a set for Michael Caine’s The Italian Job.

Protecting Your Home While You’re Away

by Dave Luna on

It’s always a safe bet to pause newspaper and mail delivery to your home while you’re on an extended holiday. You could even go a step further and use outlet timers to turn your lights on at night for the illusion of occupancy. While these tips may ward off criminals, what do you do if the unthinkable does occur while you’re thousands of miles away?

Well, one Brazilian man must’ve been glad he added a burglar alarm fitted with a webcam. His alarm system notified him of a break-in while he was away on business in Germany. He popped out his laptop and watched the robbery live over the Internet. Meanwhile, he phoned his hometown’s police department, and they nabbed the crook while he was still packing up the booty.

Also, a British sporting goods store had their wares saved by a keen-eyed American via the Internet. The man phoned British authorities when he spotted — via a webcam — men breaking into the store. Again, the police showed up in time, and caught the culprits.

Perhaps before your next long voyage, you might want to invest in a cheap webcam to keep an eye on your home. Many brands come with motion detection software that can notify you of possible activity. There’s also a specialized package called HomeWatcher written to keep your valuables safe.

Surf Nation

by Erik Olsen on

As frequent Gadling commenter and Brit (and superb photographer) localsurfer frequently points out, there IS fine board riding to be done in Great Britain. You just gotta know the right spots. Well, along these lines, I also just discovered an excellent surf blog from the good folks at the Times of London.

The blog is run by writer/surfer/all-around-dude Alex Wade, whose comment a while back directed me to the site. Wade’s blog says it will bring you up-to-date news of the British surf scene.

He tells us “what’s on and where to surf, as well as the best of contemporary surfing writing from around Britain”. Wade is also working on a book called Surf Nation that promises to improve the image of the coasts of Britain and Ireland as surf spots extraordinaire which might, as we suggest, come as news to some people.

Actually, in his blog, Wade ranges far beyond the British surf scene to cover such epic spots as Hawaii and Australia, but we’re not going to nit-pick. It’s a great little blog for surfers from all nations.

Youngest Person to Sail Atlantic

by Dave Luna on

Earlier today at 14:00 GMT, 14-year-old Michael Perham navigated into Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua where he became the youngest person to sail the Atlantic Ocean single-handedly. He began the challenging six-week, 3,500 mile voyage in Gibraltar and ended up in the record books.

Though, he didn’t sail away without any backup. His father, Peter, tailed Michael’s yacht — named Cheeky Monkey — to keep an eye on the lad. The two Perhams kept in touch via VHF radio between their boats, and kept in close contact with land via satellite phone.

The trip may be over, but you can still follow the odyssey. Michael kept a travel blog in which he detailed life at sea, technical difficulties, and animal encounters. (And I know how much you like blogs, dear reader.)

I have a lot of respect for Michael’s Atlantic accomplishment. When I was 14, I don’t think I’d even crossed my own street by myself. Well, that was probably just because I was locked in my room transfixed by Jenny McCarthy on MTV’s Singled Out.