Rent a Tiny Sleepbox At Moscow Airport. For Sleeping.

Images credit Arch Group/Ivanov Ilya.
When I first wrote about the Sleepbox two years ago, I was dubious that it would ever see the light of day, noting "It is an interesting exercise in seeing how small a space one can comfortably live in, but one suspects that the opportunity for, um, misuse might keep this idea of the 15 minute hotel room from going mainstream."
But it has, with a working prototype set up in Moscow.

Designed by the Arch Group, about the only change from the original proposal is that it is made of wood instead of plastic (common for prototypes, and the minimum time has increased from 15 minutes to half an hour.

They appear to have given up on one my favourite features of the original concept, the automatic bed-changing system:

[bed] is equipped with automatic system of change of bed linen. Bed is soft, flexible strip of foamed polymer with the surface of the pulp tissue. Tape is rewound from one shaft to another, changing the bed.

Instead they have gone for conventional linen. I thought they were on to something there.

The architects write:

Imagine the situation where you are in a modern city, you are not a local resident, and you have not booked a hotel. It is not a comfortable situation because modern aggressive cities give you no opportunity to rest and relax. If you want to sleep while waiting for your plane or train, you face many security and hygiene problems.We believe that urban infrastructure should be more comfortable. For this purpose we have developed Sleepbox. It provides moments of quiet sleep and rest without wasting time in search for a hotel.

In mid-August 2011, the first Sleepbox was installed at the Aeroexpress terminal of Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia. It represents the base version made of MDF with a natural ash-tree veneer. This Sleepbox attracted such a great deal of interest from passengers and big companies that chances are first commercially operated boxes will be installed at airports and in the city by the end of this year.

The Tire Art of Wim Delvoye

For his series titled "Pneu", Belgian artist Wim Delvoye created a series of decorative objects by hand-carving intricate patterns and floral motifs on used car tires. Through his manipulation of found objects, Delvoye transforms things that seem useful in everyday life into sculptural pieces that carry a different value from their original intended purpose. Delvoye calls his own approach to art ‘glocal’, referring to ‘local’ and ‘global’, which is his own ironical way of describing art.

 Find out more about Wim's work here.

“The Art of Clean Up”

Twix Cheesecakes

JUNE 30, 2011 123 COMMENTS

In my humble opinion, desserts and candy belong together. Butterfingers make cupcakes a little more intriguing, blondies filled with peanut butter cups are even more irresistible, gummy worms taste better when they’re coming out of a cupcake and Twix in cheesecake….well that just makes me drool. How can I not drool when one of my favorite desserts, mini cheesecakes, are combined with my #3 favorite candy in the entire universe? Yes my friends, Twix are my #3 favorite candy. By the way if you’re curious, Butterfingers are #1 and Baby Ruth’s are #2. Now on with this candy filled recipe!

First make the crust for the mini cheesecakes. In a food processor, grind up 1/2 package of Oreos. I love Oreos just in case it wasn’t completely obvious. 

Add 1 Tablespoon of sugar and mix it up.

Pour in 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter and stir to coat all of the cookie crumbs with butter. Butter makes everything better.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Scoop 1 Tablespoon of cookie crumbs into each cupcake liner.

Press the crumbs down firmly with your hands. Set the cupcake pan aside while you make the cheesecake batter.

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix 1 pound of softened cream cheese until smooth.  Then pour in 1/2 cup sugar. Mix on medium low speed.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix mix!

Whisk 2 eggs and slowly pour them in while the mixer is on low speed. Then add in 1/2 cup sour cream and mix.

Set the bowl aside while you chop up the Twix bars. Mmm Twix how I love you.

Take 12 mini Twix bars and chop each one up into small pieces like so.

Throw them into the bowl.

Carefully fold them in. I could just bathe in that cheesecake batter. Actually I could bathe in all cheesecake batter.

Take an ice cream scooper and scoop the cheesecake batter into each cupcake liner.

Bake the cheesecakes at 275 degrees for 30 minutes. Now here comes the hard part, chill the cheesecakes in the refrigerator overnight. Yes we must wait overnight. A shame isn’t it? But oh so worth it.

Then devour the cheesecakes and eat some extra Twix bars on the side.

Twix Cheesecakes

makes 12 cheesecakes

Crust
1/2 package Oreos (26 Oreos)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Batter
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
12 mini Twix bars, chopped into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

In a food processor, grind up the Oreos into fine crumbs. Put the crumbs into a large bowl and add in the sugar. Mix to combine. Then pour in the melted butter and mix to coat all of the crumbs with butter.

Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Scoop a Tablespoon of the cookie crumbs into each cupcake liner. Using your hand, press the crumbs down firmly. Set the cupcake pan aside while you work the cheesecake filling.
(Sometimes I have some cookie crumb mixture left over. So if you do too, don’t worry.)

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese until smooth on medium low speed, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on medium low speed, add in the sugar and mix to combine. Then add in the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly pour in the lightly beaten eggs and mix until the eggs are incorporated. Add in the sour cream and combine.
Chop the mini Twix bars into small pieces. Add them into the cheesecake batter and gently fold them in.

Using an ice cream scooper, scoop the cheesecake batter into each cupcake liner. Bake the cheesecakes at 275 degrees  F for 30 minutes. Chill the cheesecakes overnight in the refrigerator. Then enjoy!

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Osaka Station fountain displays time, art in water

(Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)

The city of Osaka in Japan recently took the wraps off the largest shopping mall in the country, and it features a nifty fountain that can display the time as well as artwork with drops of water.

The attraction, located in the South Gate Building of the new Osaka Station City complex, is a large rectangular water display created by local firm Koei Industry.

As the vid below shows, Koei's Space Printer fountain shows a digital-style time readout, spitting out numbers three times, as well as scrolling patterns including floral motifs in 2D. It can also display text.

The "clock" started ticking in March, but the complex, home to two department stores, only opened last week.

The printer emits illuminated water droplets in carefully controlled patterns to reproduce images that are stored on a PC. Founded in 1987, Koei has produced entertainment fountains and landscape displays in various cities in Japan.

Ancient civilizations produced many water clocks such as the clepsydra, which were devices that measured time by the passage of water. I wonder if those inventors of yore would have reacted to the Space Printer like the kids in this video.

By: Tim Hornyak

Ice Age Sidewalk by Edgar Müller

Remember Julian Beever who is an English artist who is famous for his art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium?

This time is another artist named Edgar Muller.Edgar needed 5 days to compile this huge chalk drawing. With five of his assistants, he painted all day long from sunrise to sunset, which resulted with this incredibly realistic and 250 square meter painting.

Perspective Subway Art