Joy to the world

Thank you all from around this beautiful planet we call home, for supporting and engaging in Shiftazine.  
I truly hope it has brought you all a little joy.  
Soon a new year is upon us and I am sure it will be filled with more inventive, and witty ideas soon to be realised.  
A wonderful and joyful time to you all.  Love Shiftazine.

Blue: “Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again”

Blue is a colour that is constant in all our lives.
Australia is defined by its unbelievable blue sky, and is only rivalled by a Cretan blue sky.
One longs to dive into this blueness if only gravity did not get in the way.  
No matter where you are in the world, it is always there. 
It is associated with the notion of reliability, and therefore the colour is a part of the fine Australian expression 'true blue' which is self explanatory.

The information below is but a small selection of interesting facts concerning this primary colour. 
If you want to know more about blue and all the other colours, read a great book called 'Color' (American spelling) by Victoria Finlay. 
It is full of delightful insights that will deepen your love and curiosity for all the colours in the spectrum.  

The modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from the Old French bleu, a word of Germanic origin, related to the Old High German word blao. 
In heraldry, the word azure is used for blue.
In Russian and some other languages, there is no single word for blue, but rather different words for light blue (голубой, goluboy) and dark blue (синий, siniy).

Several languages, including Japanese, Thai, Korean, and Lakota Sioux, use the same word to describe blue and green. 

For example, in Vietnamese the colour of both tree leaves and the sky is xanh. 

In Japanese, the word for blue is often used for colours that English speakers would refer to as green, such as the colour of a traffic signal meaning "go".

Blue is traditionally associated with the sea and the sky, with infinity and distance. 

The uniforms of sailors are usually dark blue, those of air forces lighter blue. 

The expression "The wild blue yonder refers to the sky.

Blue is associated with cold water taps which are traditionally marked with blue.

Bluestocking was an unflattering expression in the 18th century for upper-class women who cared about culture and intellectual life and disregarded fashion. 

It originally referred to men and women who wore plain blue wool stockings instead of the black silk stockings worn in society.

Blue is often associated with melancholy- having the "blues".

In the late Roman Empire, during the time of Caligula, Nero and the emperors who followed, the Blues were a popular chariot racing team which competed in the Circus Maximus in Rome against the Greens, the Reds and Whites.

In the Byzantine Empire, The Blues and Greens were the two most popular chariot racing teams which competed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. 

Each was connected with a powerful political faction, and disputes between the Green and Blue supporters often became violent. 

After one competition in 532 AD, during the reign of the Emperor Justinian, riots between the two factions broke out, during which the cathedral and much of the centre of Constantinople were burned, and more than thirty thousand people were killed.

 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue#cite_note-7)

Angel food season

Summer days are finally upon us here in the great Southern land. 

'Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur 
of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.' John Lubbock 

The sky is blue, the days are long, the thunder storms roll over us with energy and huge drops of rain and the fruit is sweet and plentiful. 

Watermelons are stacked high and await our greedy hands to grab them and take them home to devour with great haste.

'When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat.'
Mark Twain

'That beautiful season the Summer! 
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; 
and the landscape 
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.' 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I love Summer. Enjoy every moment of it...it is gone too soon.

Shift the way you get your groove on.

Post by Maurizio Inzaghi.

This video is an exercise in creativity and fun and shifting our perception of what is cool. Lady Gaga watch out!

Walls stare at us

The word ‘Anthropomorphism’ is a noun. It means to attribute human characteristics or behavior to a god, an animal, or an object.

We tend to give inanimate objects personalities. Maybe that behaviour comes from our childhoods, when we played with inanimate toys in search of a playmate and company. 

We project human qualities onto our animals. Maybe that is to create a more intimate connection...attempting to bridge the obvious gaps between us.

To anthropomorphize something often works well as a metaphoric vehicle to communicate a thought, a notion, a statement.

The two images above are really good examples of this metaphoric communication. 

Just love what people do on walls. How the street at all times can be a vehicle for art of the rawest.

Naked Sunflowers

It is hard to let go of a bunch of sunflowers, but when the petals turn brown and limp, it’s time to go...or is it?

Just take the petals off and see what appears. 

Short, green petals surround the deep brown centers.  They are reborn and have extended their shelf / table life. 

This inventive idea was imparted to shiftazine by the beautiful Peta, whose delightful wedding snaps including the BEST wedding dress (ever) 

was featured in shiftazine June 2013 ‘Love Blossoms’.

Issue No.12 : Art is a necessity

Art is universal. Art is a link to everything. Art is omnipresent. Art is free. Art is without boundaries. Art is important. Art is without a use by date. Art is..

A belated JOYDAY

Now we know that JOYDAY is the 25th of November every year. 
And we also know that the 25th of November was last week.  
But the fact remains that there is something that brings us a little piece of JOY in our lives every day.  
So celebrate that thing today or tomorrow or whenever it suits, but do celebrate it, it will make you smile...promise.

The light fills the already full space

The overview of this delightful store describes it as, “Imported from the cold French seaside to balmy Brisbane, Australia.”

When shiftazine first entered this once-was light industrial huge shed, it was a very hot, humid day outside.  

Inside the space, the air was cool and calm, and the light was soft and filled the area.

The first part of this experience found shiftazine inside a beautiful cafe space that has the capacity to transports you immediately to somewhere in the south France. 

A lightness, a sense of the relaxed, a place where one can sit and just be has been created here.  

The coffee is fine and there is some talk of cider (perhaps) eventually being offered...just perfect on a Brisbane Summer’s day.

Behind the cafe the space opens out to reveal a selection of objects ranging from French antiques and vintage fabrics, 

such as wonderful old linen sheets and bedspreads, through to funky fifties and sixties lounge room furniture.

Large, glass flagons float from the roof, as do authentic bench wood chairs.  

This is a 360 degree experience that is more than a store or a cafe...its a destination.

Sit yourself down, as there is a story to be told

This image of the latest 'Street Chair' observation was created by a fine young designer Luke Cooper. (Shiftazine thanks him for the use of it ). 
It speaks volumes about how strange real life is. How on earth did this love seat get here?

Where do all the street chairs go? Hopefully not all go to landfill, although on this occasion I would not be surprise.
The streets are full of visual curiosities and delights and useful stuff.
Keep your eyes peeled...take it all in.

A snappy combo

It was the colour of the laces that first attracted attention, then the saffron yellow of the skirt, which complemented the jaunty purple and blue combo of the shoes’ soles, made the story complete.