Tintin TIME

TIME magazine's 31 October issue featured a Tintin cover in the Europe, Asia and South Pacific editions.

The United States edition was unique

Evidence that the United States doesn't get Tintin the way the rest of the world does.

Saving canines

Two interesting articles this week.

Global Post has a pictorial of pet dogs in Bangkok also being saved/evacuated from the flooding.

Der Spiegel reports whether the German Shepherd breed can be saved from show-breeders who have deformed the standard so that the lower back and hind-legs now slope down, making those dogs impractical for police work.

Tintin update

The Tintin film was released in Belgium and France on 26 October 2011 (link for other release dates elsewhere).

Reported in Euronews



Read Euronews report.

Reporting in the Belgian and French media have been glowing.

Behind the face and voice of Elmo

From ABC Nightline



Fascinating story.

Kevin Clash has been behind (underneath?) Elmo since late 1985 on Sesame Street.

More on Elmo

Measuring up. The Martians are here. The Sydney Story Factory.

Inspired by 826 Valencia, a writing centre in San Francisco for children founded by novelist Dave Eggers and educator Ninive Caligari, the Sydney Story Factory is scheduled to open late in 2011 in Redfern, Sydney. From their website

The Sydney Story Factory is a not-for-profit creative writing centre for children. Volunteer tutors offer free help to tell stories of all kinds. Programs are targeted at disadvantaged children, especially those from indigenous and non-English speaking backgrounds, but are open to all.

Sydney Story Factory programs are project-based, and every child walks away with a published piece of work. At the end of a one-off, two-hour workshop, children might have a bound and illustrated chap book to take home. At the end of a longer program, they may have produced a book, zine, school newspaper or short animated film. They might have had an article published in The Sydney Morning Herald, our media partner.

The Sydney Story Factory is dedicated to developing creativity. There is growing global awareness that the ability to think creatively and flexibly is key to preparing children for a future we cannot yet imagine. All programs at the Sydney Story Factory are designed to nurture the creativity that is innate to every child. Programs will increase children's abilities to express their thoughts and feelings, and give them new ways of understanding the world around them.

Read more.

The proposed work of the Sydney Story Factory is best shown in the video Measuring Up


The most powerful tool a child has is his or her imagination.

See reporting in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Tintin update

New trailer (UK) via MSN UK

Evelyn Grace Academy

The Evelyn Grace Academy, is a new secondary school in Brixton, south London located at 255 Shakespeare Road. It opened in September 2008. The building was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, which was awarded the £20,000 RIBA Stirling Prize 2011 for the best new European building built or designed in the United Kingdom. From Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announcement

A highly stylized zig-zag of steel and glass, the Evelyn Grace Academy is squeezed onto the tightest of urban sites (1.4 hectares - the average secondary school is 8/9 hectares). The architects received a complex brief: four schools under a single academy umbrella with the need to express both independence and unity. The architects were strongly encouraged by the client to 'think outside the box'. With such a small space and with sport being one of the Academy's 'special subjects' (each Academy school has one), the architects needed to be highly inventive. They succeeded, for instance by cleverly inserting a 100m running track into the heart of the site taking pupils right up to the front door. By dramatically celebrating the school's specialism, the RIBA Stirling Prize judges noted 'this is a design that literally makes kids run to get into school in the morning'.

The Evelyn Grace Academy is the first school to win the RIBA Stirling Prize, with seven schools shortlisted in previous years. It is the first time that Zaha Hadid Architects have designed a school and their first large-scale project in the UK. Previously they designed a Maggie's Centre in Scotland and more recently they have completed the Riverside Museum in Glasgow and the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics.

Read more.

Design as described by the architect

Following the principle of ‘schools within schools’, the design generates natural patterns of division within highly functional spaces which give each of the four smaller schools a distinct identity, both internally and externally.

Photo by Luke Hayes (via Zaha Hadid Architects website)

Video by RIBA


See reporting by BBC News.

It is an inspiring building, which hopefully will in turn inspire students in what is considered to be a disadvantaged socio-economic area.