It’s bubblicious
27 Jan 2010 4 Comments
in Art, Culture, Life, News Tags: Bubble Wrap, clothing, fashion
Bubble Wrap® brand cushioning is celebrating its 50th anniversary, a dubious celebration of this ubiquitous, useful and habit forming product. C’mon now, have you ever tried to pop just one? It’s as addictive as pistachios! Believe it or not, January 25th marked the 10th Annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.
Ever wonder how they make the stuff?
According to Fastpack Packaging Inc., Bubble Wrap® brand cushioning:
…starts as polyethylene (plastic) resin, in the form of beads about the size of pea gravel. The beads go into an extruder – a long cylinder with a screw inside that runs its entire length. As the screw is turned, heat builds up and the resin melts into a liquid that is squeezed out of the cylinder into two stacked sheets of clear plastic film. One layer of the film is wrapped around a drum with holes punched in it, and suction is applied drawing one web of film into the holes that form the bubbles. The second layer of film is then laminated over the first so that when the two films are joined, they stick together and trap the air in the bubbles.
What better way to celebrate than with a bubble wrap cake? This image is from the website of the Sealed Air Corporation, a leading global innovator and manufacturer of a wide range of packaging and performance-based materials and equipment systems, including Bubble Wrap®, that now serve an array of food, industrial, medical, and consumer applications.
According to Sealed Air (I love that name), the Bubble Wrap® brand
…has transcended its intended use of protecting valuables to become a “pop” culture phenomenon. Bubble Wrap® cushioning is most recognized for the satisfying release and gleeful joy that comes with the popping of each plastic cell. In addition, Bubble Wrap® cushioning has been used as a medium for creating works of art, as a fashion statement and as a central prop piece to movies and commercials.
Artist Marshall Dines uses acrylic paints on bubble wrap to create portraits:
ThreadBanger gives us the bubble wrap dress: 
pop * pop * pop * pop * pop!
Eat more chocolate
23 Jan 2010 2 Comments
in Culture, Life, News Tags: China, chocolate
Apparently in China chocolate is not as popular as it is in Western countries. But will a chocolate Great Wall change things?
According to NPR:
It’s a massive and delicious marketing ploy that’s part of an attraction at the World Chocolate Wonderland trade show opening later this month in Beijing. Chocolatiers hope to boost the confection’s popularity in China, where it is seen mostly as a treat for children. The 33-foot-long wall is made of dark chocolate bricks with white chocolate mortar — lined with 560 tiny chocolate replicas of the Terra-Cotta Warriors.
Check out these images of the Chinese Chocolate Wonderland.
The chocolate theme park will show creations such as the Great Wall, the Dunhuang Caves and Terracotta Warriors when it opens to the public on January 29th.
Image via Yahoo! News.
Happy New Year 2010 linkages
06 Jan 2010 4 Comments
in Blogroll, Life, links, Thoughts
2009 proved to be another good year for MadSilence. November was our busiest month ever with 25,284 views. Week 46 of 2009 (November 8th to the 14th) witnessed 6,829 views. Our busiest day: Tuesday, December 15, 2009, with 1,199 views. Thanks to all our visitors, viewers and MadFriends.
2009 also provided a plethora of interesting sites for us to visit. Here are profiles of just a few. So much to experience on the World Wide Web and so little time to do it…
Check out the delightful graphics of San Francisco Art & Design Lover. The “Anatomical red Heart plush” sets the theme for MadSilence in 2010…we plan to feature a lot of amazing textile art.
Six Orange Carrots is cutesy & fun, dedicated to “my very small chicken named Pocket. And the very silly things I fall in love with on eBay.” The “art of the hitch-y tchotchke” made us big fans of tin toy collectibles.
And speaking of tin toy collectibles, the blog The Invisible Agent continues to engage & astound, introducing us to Replogle Globes and vintage Children’s Tin Globe Toys.
Garden History Girl addresses an unusual topic, the history of the garden. Garden history “…is in fact a serious and scholarly ‘field’ of study; [...] much like architectural history, only about landscapes instead of buildings. [...] gardens were–are–so much more than just a pretty place. So much more than just a collection of plants. I hope to share what, and why, with this blog.” Check out the Garden of Caterpillars.
For those of us who love landscapes there is Some landscapes, a site that “concerns landscapes evoked, depicted or transformed in the arts: painting, literature, music, film, etc. It also discusses the creation or alteration of landscapes by architects, artists and garden designers.” We’ve always been great fans of landscape art.
Finally, there’s Found in Mom’s Basement, a site dedicated to “Vintage advertising — found in my mother’s basement, flea markets and various corners of the Internet — dusted off and displayed for your viewing pleasure.” Be sure to view the Soviet-era holiday cards.
Be sure to visit these sites, you’ll be glad you did, and tell them that “MadSilence sent me!”
Some landscapes
The ugliest cars, coolest sneakers, craziest shoes
03 Jan 2010 1 Comment
in Art, Culture, Life, Thoughts, Uncategorized Tags: fashion
Thanks to BusinessWeek.com, here are images of the Fifty Ugliest Cars of the Past 50 Years:
Also, The 25 Coolest Sneaker Designs of 2009:
The DailyMail gives us The Ridiculous Shoe as Art:
Knit Your Bit
02 Jan 2010 2 Comments
in Craft, Culture, Life, Thoughts Tags: charity knitting, knit for charity
Men's V-Neck Sweater from World War II via the American Red Cross
During World War I and again during World War II, the American Red Cross launched nationwide, volunteer-driven knitting campaigns to supply soldiers and war refugees with warm clothing. These volunteer knitters belonged to a Red Cross unit called the Production Corps that also produced bandages and sewn garments (such as pajamas) for veterans and civilian hospitals.
Military knitting patterns were designed to be compatible with soldiers’ and sailors’ uniforms and were required to be knitted in olive drab or navy blue. Production Corps volunteers would also knit from patterns designed for convalescing soldiers, such as the “Walking Cast Toe Sock,” the “Cap for the Bandaged Head” and the “Man’s Coat Sweater.”
Check out the selection of World War II-era knitting patterns from the archives of the American Red Cross and “knit your bit.”
Of course, the practice of “charity knitting” is still very much alive. Betty Christiansen, in her book, Knitting for peace: make the world a better place one stitch at a time, discussed the history of knitting for charity. 
The book was recently profiled on the WordPress blog, Blogging for a Good Book:
This book is a great blend of knitting writing, patterns, and personal narrative. Christiansen begins by exploring the historical nature of charity knitting, and highlights the Red Cross’s “Knit your Bit” program. After introducing the various modern charity projects, usually with some words from the organizers themselves, Christiansen provides fifteen patterns; most are specially designed to the donation specifications of the charities featured. These include a vest pattern for Afghans for Afghans (a program that provides hand-knitted wool items for warmth to Afghani orphanages, clinics, and children’s centers); a blanket pattern for Project Linus (which provides comfort blankets to critically ill and traumatized children); and a teddy bear pattern for the Mother Bear Project (which provides hand-knitted teddy bears to children orphaned by or infected with HIV/AIDS).
The Spartanburg Knitting Guild recently send over 100 hats, socks, neck gators and scarves to the soldiers in Iraq.
What a wonderful project and very much a labor of love. Think of the creative energy these knitters pour into their creations, such energy and beauty to be shared with the recipients. I’ve donated money and purchased phone cards to send to American troops in Iraq, but never had the courage nor the skill to offer such an intimate gift.
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