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Sprezzatura

November 3rd 2008 02:11
Sprezzatura is a word meaning, roughly, effortless grace. It is essentially the act of making the difficult look easy. The term comes from ‘The Book of the Courtier’ by Baldassare Castiglione, where it is stated that ‘It is an art which does not seem to be an art. One must avoid affectation and practice in all things a certain sprezzatura, disdain or carelessness, so as to conceal art, and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it ... obvious effort is the antithesis of grace.’


One of the most common given examples is of Da Vincis Mona Lisa, designed to look simple, but made with fathomless complexity. Another more modern example might be Hip Hop dancing, where profoundly difficult moves are made to look effortless.



The term also fits with writing, trying to make carefully crafter words look effortless, especially where work is designed to emulate diary format, or similar casual style.

Finally Sprezzatura is a term that essentially describes ‘coolness’ itself – the façade of effortlessness. Yes two people might have the same mad hair, but the cool one is the one that looks simply effortless.
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Aerogel is Awesome

August 19th 2008 06:46
The lightest solid on the planet, the best insulating material in existence, areogel is basically a foam that’s made from gel that replaces water with air. The video says it a bit better.


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Great Dane vs Finger Traps

August 17th 2008 11:29
Finger trap great dane
Moo Ha Ha
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Rain Stars

August 12th 2008 02:53
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1. Solar Panel Bag.
I saw this and fell in love. See, I’m a sucker for Solar power, when it can be used efficiently. And this is pretty efficient. As is, it won’t charge a laptop (you can get some extra bits and pieces apparently that will fix this though) but anything else; your phone, ipod, whatever, and it works a treat. Six or seven hours in the sun and bam! Battery charged and ready to fill your phone.

[ Click here to read more ]
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32 Fantastic Songs

March 31st 2008 14:13
I would regard myself as a bit of a music snob. The grand upside of this is that I have a fairly awesome variety of music.

I would recommend you have a look at this page here, provided you have Itunes. A delicious list of songs that should introduce you to some of the finest, most innovative and varied talents of the music industry


[ Click here to read more ]
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A - Z of Awesome

March 3rd 2008 12:00
A - Andy Kaufman. Andy Kaufman was a famous American comedian and prankster. He is featured as the subject of the film Man on the Moon, played by Jim Carey.

Andi Sexgang - Deeply trippy music artist from the spawn of Gothic music


[ Click here to read more ]
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Safety Pin Vest

December 5th 2007 04:28
Continuing the theme of unconventionality, it's worth looking at the kinds of materials popularly used to make clothing.

The thing is, there is rarely any reson that we should be limited in our choice of material. One Material I have experimented with personally - Safety Pins. Here are some images


[ Click here to read more ]
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The USB Fan

November 16th 2007 06:03
When it's 32 degrees in the shade and you're sweating like crazy in front of your melting computer you will of course wish you bought one of these:

USB Fan Yay

[ Click here to read more ]
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Screen Printing

October 20th 2007 13:11
Screen Printing is the most fun thing ever. It’s awesome.
I got a screen-printing kit for my birthday this year. Here’s a few shirts I’ve made.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Invisible Llama

August 14th 2007 02:16
Invisible Llama
w00t


If you're clumsy, don't worry. It's not because you're tripping over yourself. It's just that you emit a distinct yet not unpleasant body odor that is found to be deeply attractive by invisible llama's. Then the damn things get in your way, and you trip over. To the casual observer it seems like clumsiness, but to the seasoned Invisible Llama spotter, you are just another victim of the human races over dependence on sight.
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