Category Archives: Global

Berlin pop-up restaurant: Diners pay in time, not money

April 24, 2012 – 2:36 pm

by Inga Seidler WHAT’S HAPPENING The German chapter of the Time/Bank artist collective recently opened Time/Food, a pop-up restaurant in Berlin (E-flux.com, 17 February 2012). The restaurant serves lunch every other Sunday, in exchange for time currency, earned by helping others in the Time/Bank community. The price of a meal at Time/Food is half an […]

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Spain: Crash Therapy helps consumers de-stress by destroying things

April 3, 2012 – 11:40 am

by Saricia Rose WHAT’S HAPPENING Spain’s Crash Therapy lets consumers unleash their inner beast and smash a selection of household items in the name of catharsis (Abc.es, 16 February 2012). The frazzled and the fraught can drop by the firm’s premises in Valencia and, for a basic fee of €20, let rip on 25 everyday […]

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MEAT Podcast, Episode 8: China and the motion picture industry

March 15, 2012 – 7:20 am

by Nancy Robinson and Michael T. McCune Consumer Strategists discuss the recent US/China trade agreement and how it will affect the motion picture industry as well as the internationalization of film. To listen to the podcast, click here.

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Russian “nano-rallies” employ toys as protesters

March 13, 2012 – 10:15 am

by Anna Coppola WHAT’S HAPPENING A wave of toy protests dubbed “nano-rallies”, organised by those who disagree with the government, is sweeping across Russia. Small teddy bears, Lego people, and South Park characters were positioned in the snow in the city of Barnaul, holding signs saying: “I’m for clean elections” (Jezebel.com, 26 January 2012). Cuddly […]

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Russia: Coffee shop holds alternative presidential elections

March 6, 2012 – 1:18 pm

by Anna Coppola WHAT’S HAPPENING Koffein, a Moscow coffee-shop chain famous for its creative promotions, has launched a “Vote and don’t lose” campaign, offering clients the opportunity to take part in alternative presidential elections (The-Village.ru, 31 January 2012). Five portraits of the official candidates in Russia’s presidential elections (scheduled for 4 March, 2012) are “printed” onto the […]

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MUCH ADO ABOUT BABYCCINOS

March 6, 2012 – 1:07 pm

by Becky Sun The preschool set in Brooklyn is foaming at the mouth, apparently, and so are some indignant adults. The hot story that was brewing in February started when the Brooklyn Paper  published a story about how parents in fashionable neighborhoods are ordering babyccinos — small cups of decaf lattes or steamed milk — for […]

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British women take to the streets in anti-diet protest

February 28, 2012 – 12:06 pm

by Nancy Ludwig WHAT’S HAPPENING Anti-dieting women staged a protest against the slimming industry outside London’s Houses of Parliament (Guardian.co.uk, 15 January 2012). Called Ditching Dieting, the women-only campaign against the likes of Slimming World, Weight Watchers, et al., invited women to dump their diet plans, slimming mags and calorie counters into a giant hazardous-waste […]

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Sliding scale: Spain gets its first fish vending machine

February 28, 2012 – 11:58 am

by Sairica Rose WHAT’S HAPPENING A fishmonger in Spain’s Basque region has come up with a novel way to serve fresh fish in a flash. By installing a vending machine in the doorway to their shop, the owners of Pescadería Martín Arrandegia invite customers to stop by round the clock (ABC.es, 12 January 2012). Whether […]

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Burgers go dark in France

February 21, 2012 – 1:53 pm

by Lindsay Paterson WHAT’S HAPPENING Burger chain Quick — McDonald’s biggest competitor in France — has launched a set of three original burgers to mark the launch of Star Wars in 3D in France and Belgium (BusinessInsider.com, 6 January 2012). The most innovative is the Dark Vador, which is served in a black bun coloured […]

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Germany: Got milk and style?

December 6, 2011 – 2:10 pm

by Kimberly Ochs WHAT’S HAPPENING Mademoiselle Chi Chi is a new clothing line made from powdered milk. Developed by a Hanover microbiologist and fashion designer in partnership with the Bremen Fibre Institute, the cloth, called Qmilch, is reported to have positive effects on the skin. The milk powder is mixed together with other ingredients in […]

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Recycled plastic waste builds bridges in Wales

November 22, 2011 – 3:46 pm

by Rebecca de Vaux WHAT’S HAPPENING Europe’s first road bridge made from recycled plastic has been erected over the River Tweed in Wales (GreenWiseBusiness.co.uk, 21 October 2011). Created by Welsh startup Vertech Ltd, the 30-metre bridge was built using recycled thermoplastic technology and 500 tons of recycled plastic bottles. The eco-friendly bridge is rust-proof and […]

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“TO HAVE OR NOT TO HAVE” IS NOT THE QUESTION

November 16, 2011 – 7:17 am

  by Hillary Plank Today in the United States of America, income inequality is the worst it has been since the 1920s. The CIA World Factbook ranks the US the 42nd most unequal country in the world, relative to income. Economic theorists blame the gap on income stagnation among most American households and soaring income […]

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Final frontier in fragrance? Dutch swallowable scent

November 8, 2011 – 2:10 pm

by Sairica Rose WHAT’S HAPPENING If beauty comes from within, why can’t fragrance? Swallowable Parfum is an ingestible perfume capsule that is said to emanate fragrance from within. The Dutch-designed capsule contains synthetic fragrant lipid molecules that mimic the structure of the fat molecules naturally found in the body. These lipids are metabolised by the […]

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7 BILLION PEOPLE TODAY, 9.2 BILLION TOMORROW

November 1, 2011 – 11:10 am

by Becky Sun The United Nations estimates that yesterday was the day that planet Earth reached 7 billion people. (The US Census Bureau’s population clock, which runs a little slower, puts today’s number at 6,972,015,442.) It’s hard to know just what to make of 7 billion humans. Pro-natalists and optimists say that the world can […]

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Canadians flock to freeze at the spa

October 18, 2011 – 12:50 pm

by Michelle Auer WHAT’S HAPPENING A sauna is usually synonymous with extreme heat, but at Sparkling Hill Resort in British Columbia, visitors get to experience the “polar” opposite. This resort offers a cold sauna, the first of its kind in North America. Called cryotherapy, patrons spend up to three minutes in –110°C (–166°F). Popular in […]

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