colorsofmadness.com

I’m such a fan of European culture. My husband and I started collecting European antiques and ornaments way back in 2000. Well, not really those very expensive antiques, more like stuff that looks like a European antique! That probably sounds a bit lame, but the fact is that real antiques, especially when it comes to large pieces of furniture, are simply way out of our price range. I’m talking tens of thousands of dollars and that’s before you consider transportation costs.

We just a bought a new house and we wanted to furnish it with European-inspired fixtures. Being a fanatic of that genre of furniture, I was very excited to go shopping! Then again, when you live in a country that’s literally half the world away from Europe, it’s often hard to look for furniture pieces. You can pretty much forget going to a shopping mall furniture shop and finding anything with any style at all. Our main aim was to track down a range of suitably classy canopy beds, as my husband and I have always wanted one in our main master bedroom. Shopping locally we were getting nowhere fast.

But thank God for internet shopping!!! I was able to find this great canopy bed that was the perfect fit for my new home’s theme! Wynwood Furniture’s Palencia California King Size Canopy Bed was just perfect — it was made of hardwood, it had intricate designs, and it was all for a very affordable price too. What’s even better is that it was literally delivered to my doorstep. I so love this bed! It’s worth every penny spent! Most importantly it has that great period look about it. It may not be a real antique but it looks a million bucks!

When we look at the sorts of foods that people are eating all over the country today we can see why there is so much obesity in the United States. That’s why I’ve started to eat more oriental foods. Even living in the U.S. this is actually quite easy. One of the things that’s required is a rice cooker. I know, you can make rice in a pot on the stove, but since getting my own Zojirushi NS-LAC05, I’ve found that I’m actually eating rice much more regularly. I took my time reading rice cooker reviews to make sure I was getting a decent appliance at a good price. The one that I chose has been serving me well so far. It’s not the most expensive one I could have got but neither is it the cheapest. The Zojirushi brand seem to get great reviews where ever you look. From my own research, they seem to be the best. I had considered purchasing the Zojirushi NP-GBC05 but it was just a bit too expensive for me.

What’s so good about eating rice? You probably know that it has not fat. It’s a great carbohydrate source and also has some amino acids too. Making it is real simple and it goes with tons of different foods. I sometimes even have it for my breakfast.

Click any of the images to see a larger view.

I’ve been to deserted beaches in Zanzibar. I’ve swum with dolphins in Praia de Pipa in Brazil. I’ve seen clouds of gulls over Mancora in Peru. I’ve travelled all over South East Asia looking for white sands and towering palm trees. I’ve spent too long on beaches in India watching fishermen hauling in their nets and women splashing in the waves in tight wet sarees. I’ve tried lake beaches in Malawi and Uganda. I’ve sunbathed on empty beaches strewn with coconut husks in Tanzania. I’ve camped on Caribbean beaches in Colombia and I’ve spent childhood holidays staying on forlorn and windswept beaches in Britain. I just can’t get enough of beaches. I really am a beach addict.

At one point I even lived on a beach for 18 months. It was kind of an experiment to see if I would drift into an enlightened state through being surpassingly relaxed. It was also an experiment to see if I would get bored of the Thai beach that I chose for the experiment. The answers are that sadly I’m still chained by desire to the wheel of life and death and that no, I never got bored of living on a beach.

I chose the beach of Thong Nai Pan Noi because for too long I have considered this particular beach to be the epitome of a great beach. More than that: I considered Thong Nai Pan to be the apotheosis of a great beach. Thus, if I’m going to try and define a great beach it should be with reference to Thong Nai Pan Noi.

The first thing about a great beach is that it should be relatively undiscovered. This is not only an environmental must, but also inherent to the experience of a perfect beach. You should ideally walk through majestic palm trees and onto the white sands and see nothing but clear turquoise waters merging into green waters. The sand should be so white it reflects the sun and makes you squint. There should be no madding crowds with canopies, beer coolers, big cars and loud music. No ridiculously defunct swimming pools on the beach. No Bablesque high rise hotels. Just nature at its stunning best is best for me.

The next most important thing about a great beach, in my opinion, is beachfront accommodation. From my cheap bungalow in Thong Nai Pan I could hear the ocean lapping on the shore. I could look out the hole that was my window and see the moon through the swaying coconut palms. Not only do I like cheap beach accommodation, but I also like accommodation that does not drive away nature: when towering concrete comes to a beach the animals retreat and the beauty of a place fades as convenience grows. Yes mosquitoes are a pain and having a snake slide into your bungalow is a heart stopper but it is worth it to feel part of God’s not man’s glorious creation.

My next ‘must’ for a great beach is great local people. There is nothing more addictive than island life. Months can literally slip through your fingers like the sand on the beach and you wonder what you achieved. There is no point being in a hurry. There’s always time to stop and chat and enjoy a drink. For those lucky locals who have imbibed the liberating elixir of island life from childhood there is a definite calmness and openness that we city slickers find both infuriating and enchanting. Time is measured by things infinitely more valuable than minutes and hours.

Finally, my definition of a great beach must include a beach with a beach bar; but not just any beach bar. It must be made of local materials such as bamboo and coconut and have a make shift feel; just a basic counter, a bit of shade and lots of cold drinks. A place mostly deserted except for a couple of locals. I like a bar where when somebody does come in, you have the chance to have a real conversation and make a real friend.

Thong Nai Pan used to have all of this and more. Sadly half the beach has been sold to developers from Bangkok who are trying desperately to turn sand into a high rate of return. While we stayed there they knocked down cheap $5 a night bungalows as soon as we vacated them. We watched the ominous fad of the swimming pool take hold. We saw granite boulders chiseled away and trees cut down. Clean wide views of nature became cluttered with man-made lines. The price of everything went up. The locals grew a hint of misplaced avarice, the police decided they needed to investigate parties and those beach bars became cluttered with iPods, Amazon Kindle 3 readers, smart phones, laptops and people with nothing to say.

These pictures were taken by Carl Glancey using a Canon 5D Mark2. He specializes in Surrey wedding photography.

Special kinds of landscape lighting are not only for the home and garden. To be honest, they can look the most impressive on larger public buildings when corporations or the government is paying for them! Suddenly, the cost is not the issue. These two night shots taken in London, England show two very different areas. The first shot was taken from Greenwich looking towards the new financial center of Canary Wharf. The second shot is even more impressive and shows the new Wembley Stadium. These pictures just go to show how outdoor landscape lighting can totally transform the night-time view.

Click on the pictures to see a larger view.

Pictures taken by Carl Glancey who specializes in wedding photography in the South East of England.

The EatSmart digital nutrition scale is one of the most popular weighing scales currently on the market. Partly because of the price but mainly because of all the features that it offers. We will find that if we are in the market for a set of electronic kitchen scales then the EatSmart nutrition scale may well be worth considering.

Rather than just buying a set of scales that weighs out your food it may be worth paying a little more and getting something that can also count the calories of your food.

At the simple press of a button we can get all the nutritional data that we need for any produce that we put on the scale. As well as calories it will offer us information on the levels of fiber, sodium, fats and even Vitamin K. All of this is invaluable for those on a diet or for anyone that simply wishes to ensure that they are eating healthily and with the correct ratios in their diet.

So, before you buy a cheap set of digital kitchen scales yo may like to consider the EatSmart Nutritional scale. It is one of those items that is extremely helpful in the kitchen and for the small extra price that you pay it means you will never need to invest in a new set of scales in the future if you want this feature at some point.

I have a dark room in my house because I still like to develop film. This might seem antiquated but sometimes I find the best way to capture the essence of a subject is to go about things in the old fashioned way. The colors can be manipulated in interesting ways with film photography and I find the sepia function on most digital cameras doesn’t have the same daguerreotype feel as using film.

One of the problems I had with developing film was that my dark room got incredibly hot in the summer. I really didn’t want to leave the dark room in the middle of using chemicals and risking ‘whiting out’ the pictures so I would sweat away in the little room until I was done.

I recently decided to do something about it. I read lots of reviews of programmable thermostats and then I bought a Honeywell thermostat for about $50. The digital thermostat was easy to install and easy to program because it had a large backlit display with a menu style of programming. I simply set a program for each day so that the heating or cooling is on when I’m usually at home. The thermostat does a really great job of keeping my apartment at a stable temperature and best of all makes working in my dark room much more comfortable.

An added bonus was when my bills came through. I’ve seen a considerable drop in my utility bills since I installed a programmable thermostat. I recommend getting a good digital programmable thermostat for anyone who like me who still develops photographic film.

I am trying to drink lots of fresh fruit and vegetable juices these days. It is definitely one of the best ways to stay hydrated and get plenty of vitamins and minerals into my system.

Some of my favorite drinks are really easy to make, or get from a juice store. There is quite a lot to be said for simplicity. Plain orange juice is great. Carrot and ginger juice is another one that I really like.

I treat myself to a smoothie once a week too. If I had my own blender I would probably spend quite a lot of time looking for the best smoothie recipes. There are quite a few raw food blogs that have some pretty good information. That’s one of the things I love about the internet, we can get so much info for free! I also came across a site that talks about a total cleanse. This seems to be a way to greatly improve the way that we feel and helps us to get rid of lots of toxins that build up over time in our bodies. I am going to give this a bit more investigation because it seems like it could be a great way to stay in the best shape.

Some other people say that drinking red wine is good for health. This seems like a bit of an excuse to keep on drinking alcohol Perhaps there is some truth to the statement that red wine contains lots of antioxidants. A nice glass of red does go down very well. There are lots of delicious Spanish wines that are worth tasting. Even if they’re not the best choice for health, they taste real good.

Have you heard about the Google Latitude application? I think this is a pretty cool way of staying in contact with people and it can certainly be used to increase your likelihood of bumping into one of your friends, or not bumping into them if you would prefer it that way!

You can use it on whatever mobile device you currently use. It works with lots of different models, for example, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Nokia and so on. In essence, it is a piece of phone tracker software that you simply install onto your handset. This then lets you share your location with your friends, or not. You still have full control over your privacy settings so if you want to go off the radar, you still can.