redesigning the mundane

rethinking the mundane . . . well let’s begin here with the lowly ladder. i actually acquired the very first ladder of my life this year - an aluminum stepladder that has returned to me the dignity i lost whilst standing crane-like (and i mean the bird not the machine) atop a wobbly dining-room chair on my driveway trying to hook a christmas light to an eavestrough. now i proudly ascend my not-so-wobbly ladder and cast my eyes across the entire expanse of eavestrough, pull winter toys down from their previously almost-impossible-to-reach summer storage place, and generally look much more together.
so imagine if you will, the size of my eyes when i saw this rethinking of the whole ladder idea!

this product has me all excited about getting another ladder - if only because it’s so different, so obvious in its revised design, and then so cool because it’s made out of carbon fibre! from the clever hands and mind of George Papadogiannis of Spain comes the cima ladder.

peeling vegetables, a bit of a struggle for me and frankly, the paring knife i use is as low tech as they come. the metal in it is almost certainly some revibrated automobile steel from the fourties. as for its plastic handle? i figure it was one of the first. but it works - well let’s say it clears good sized chunks of peel off. so here’s something i’m tempted by. at five bucks it’s not going to break the bank and it has something intriguing about it that i can’t put into words but take a look for yourself and see. palm peeler .


a little - well alright, a lot higher end in terms of purpose and price is this beautiful cabinet in which you can house your ipod (notice i said “you” because i still do not own an ipod!). ipod after-market items tend towards the “i” moniker as well as being wrapped in the ubiquitous and almost mandatory shiny white plastic housings that aesthetically mate them to their ipod masters. this is a little different . wanna buy one or look at some other tasty audio bits? then don’t even stop to take a breath and wander over to neural net to have a browse around at all the lovely wonders or go directly here and click on “add to cart”!


now let’s say that you have a wish to hear music on your ipod and worry about the damage you are causing - albeit relatively minor - each time you charge up the “pod”. here’s a solution for not only your ipod but your cellphone and countless other portable electronic devices. a handheld universal charger/adaptor that uses windpower and solar power to help you pack away those batteries and plug in only when necessary: have a wander ’round the site and if you really like it or just plain have to have it, then buy it here .


i love fire in almost all its forms. warm, soothing, reflective, reminding, fire changes a space and connects us to our cave dwelling predecessors. one of the more interesting companies making fire a work of art is ecosmartfire who create a wide range of products for the home. start here for a wander through their product line and then have a look here at my favourite model the fire and ice model.

the motion light takes a worthy old idea - the motion sensor light and places it squarely in the consumer’s house as a replacement for lights that are in areas which are visited but not actually lived in such as storage rooms, garages, laundry rooms, and so on. if you go here , you can watch a really bad classic tv infomercial. the good news? this light uses 20 watts to replace an 80 watt bulb, last 5 years with normal use, and can be programmed to turn itself off after a prescribed time, details that mean this bulb will not only pay back the twenty dollar investment you will make to own one but more importantly, the benefits to the environment are very obvious.