6 Ways To Wood Floors (Without the Wood)

Wood floors or carpet?
Why choose one when you can have a carpet that looks like a wood floor?

Here are 6 different examples by six different designers.

From the new plynyl floor mats by Chilewich to the tromp de l'oeil look of Yvette Laduck's Woody Wood rug, you can have the look of wood made of anything but wood.

In vinyl. Or silk. Or leather. Or hand-tufted wool.

Click on the above rug for more information and a link to purchase.

prices vary wildly.

See more of my Fancy Friggen Flooring & Radical Rugs list at ThisNext.

Leopard's Blue Screen Of Death Installation Fix

Yes, I had pre-ordered Mac's new operating system, Leopard (10.5) so it would arrive oct. 26th and I could be an early adopter. Sure enough, it came yesterday via fed ex around approx 10:30 am.

Like an excited über goober, I immediately opened it and began the install process.

Okay, not true, I cleaned off my desktop first, tossed some useless files, and verified permissions, and then I began to load it.

In retrospect, I might have wanted to check the discussion boards on Apple first (always a smart move when a new piece of software hits the market) because I'd have seen the numerous posts from panicked mac users pleading for help with what turned out to be a big problem for thousands of new Leopard owners.

Because there's one mighty big bug when it comes to installing this puppy.... and that's the dreaded "Blue Screen" that appears and seemingly 'breaks' one's computer, rendering it unable to do anything else ...even eject the install disc). I can guarantee you that many a mac folk was desperately calling tech support and borrowing friend's computers to log onto the apple tech support.

And I was one of them.



Above: a screen grab of the tech support forum for the new Leopard Operating system shows that over 12,000 people have read the post regarding the dreaded "Blue Screen of death" as of 8:00 am california time this morning

It's pretty funny actually... sooo many people have experienced this during their initial install that it's already been given an acronym.... the BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) and appears on posts and discussions boards in numerous online forums.

The good news is the fix was relatively easy (if you call taking approx 6 hours to install a new OS easy).
Seems there are two ways to get past this.

One way, and the way that worked for me... was to simply re-install it as "Archive And Install" as opposed to the usual install which yeilded me the BSOD. (By the way, I did have to force eject the disc using the ol' paperclip method, insert it and start up holding down the alt key so i could choose the disc over the hard drive for my next install).

The other way is to go into UNIX through your terminal utility and remove a few files.


Now, I do not have an intel basd mac but instead have a dual 1.8 mHz G5, perhaps that's why the archive and install fix worked for me. I think the intel-based MAC users have to actually enter as single-user mode and delete some code.

If you are stuck on the blue screen and nothing seems to work (not even reboot or disc eject) do not fear, the fix is here.

That being said, there are a few other little bugs (like the inability to delete mail from an IMAP account), but other than that, it's pretty darn impressive.

Inked Oinkers: Tattooed Pigs by Wim Delvoye (UPDATED PICS)

Tattoos have become less of a taboo and far more mainstream in the past decade. Two reality shows are focused on tattoo artists, many magazines are published specifically about the craft and tons of products have hit the market that either sport tattoos or are tattoo-inspired, be them dishes, furniture or clothes. To see many available products with tattoos, real or otherwise, click here.



Belgian artist Wim Delvoye launched an Art Farm Pigs Growth Fund whereby people can invest in his swine farm outside Beijing in China. This farm, established in 2005, has nine boars and sows which are tattooed with a variety of designs created by Delvoye and three other tattooists in residence. “The pigs art fund will be an official Chinese company which I hope to launch in the next few weeks”, he says. “The new bonds and pig farm shares scheme make the mechanisms of the art market so transparent”, he added.


above: The gates to Wim Delvoye's Art Farm and some of the inked oinkers.

“This initiative is in its early stages”, said Mr Delvoye’s assistant Gianni Degryse. “We may set up a similar bond scheme for the pig farm. People may even be able to purchase one of the animals”.

A vegetarian who tattoos live pigs, in the name of art. Wim claims it's ‘Because they grow fast and they are so much better to tattoo than fish.’



above: Louise, a stuffed pig (yes, sorry folks, she's no longer with us) sporting her Louis Vuitton Tatts.

Below are live pigs with Wim's artwork permanently inked on their backs. Project and photos taken at Artfarm China in Yang Zhen, Shun Yi District Beijing, China.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF WIM DELVOYE











above: Wim at work

Jonathan West of Vice Magazine asked Wim a few questions:

Vice: Why did you start tattooing pigs?

Wim: I started tattooing pig hides, which I’d get from the slaughterhouses, in 1994. It was only in 1997 that I started to work on live sedated pigs. I tattoo pigs because they grow fast and they are so much better to tattoo than fish. I tattoo them when they are young and I like the way the artwork stretches and distorts over time. Essentially, we invest in small tattoos and we harvest large paintings.

Have you ever tattooed a person?

Yes, of course. I have tattooed art critics, art dealers and art collectors, and lots of butts. I come across my needlework everywhere I go. Some designs I try for the first time on people and, if they work, I will surely re-create the tattoo on a pig.

To the close observer your work is laden with contradictions. For example, aren’t you a vegetarian?

Yes, I am a vegetarian. I am also very, very clean. I wash my hands like 100 times a day.



See a more recent post about his tattooed stuffed pigs and tattooed pigskins for sale here.



PART 2: Updated post on more Pig tattoos and pigskin art by Wim Delvoye



Wim Delvoye has done several interesting art projects. Tattooed Swine is just one of them.
Visit the artists site here.
To see more of his work, visit the Sperone Westwater Gallery by clicking here.