Praia Moçambique, sea, April 24, 2023

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Praia Moçambique, sea, April 24, 2023, watercolour, A3

Praia Moçambique, sea, April 24, 2023 - detail

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho: tall pines, April, 2023

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho: tall pines, April, 2023

 watercolour, A3

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho: tall pines, April, 2023 - detail

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho: tall pines, April, 2023- detail

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The bouncing shoe: a design prototype

  

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The bouncing shoe: a design prototype

 

 

the bouncing shoe

 

 

Experience the magic of bounce !

Who has not experienced a sense of frustration when walking with how much energy is expended and yet needlessly lost because shoe design fails to completely take advantage of the possibilities of bounce.

 

Finally a solution: the bouncing shoe.

The bouncing shoe allows the walker to fully capitalize on the reflexive results of his own footsteps.

This is the sketch for the prototype of the bouncing shoe. As yet, many details are still under consideration. But the basic concept is this: the user inserts their foot into the shoe which is made of a material spony and highly elastic and then proceeds to walk, only now, instead of the deadening footsteps they are accustomed to, now they experience a full and invigorating bounce, propelling them forward to further and further distances with less effort

A detail still in the research and development stage is how the foot will be received by the bouncing shoe

One solution is that the bouncing shoe is constructed similarly to an inflatable  balloon, with a nozzle for inflation, and an opening for the insertion of a foot. When inflated the ball  would close around the foot, securing it. The disadvantage of this is the issue of puncture.

 

A second idea proposes that the bouncing shoe is made of a more solid material, similar to that used for children`s bouncy balls. If so, the opening for the foot would be stiffer, and it would be necessary for the user to wear a spongy sock, cushioned within the hole ang protect them when walking .

 

Markets

It is believed that the market for the bouncing shoe is predominantly younger people living in urban areas, who are style-conscious and  aware of the need to preserve energy. There may also be a target market among senior walkers, who might appreciate its energy saving capacities.

A further market lies among sports people- most obviously court sports (volleyball, basketball, badminton) and gymnastics, and it is very possible that soccer players will also find this footwear advantageous.

There may also be interest in the contemporary dance and circus performance art communities.

The bouncing shoe should only be used with caution by disabled people.

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Praia Moçambique- watercolour

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Praia Moçambique, April 10, 2023- watercolour, A3

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique, April 10, 2023- watercolour - detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praia Moçambique, April 10, 2023- watercolour - detail 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Thank God- its cooler and I can now sit near a beach albeit, still mostly shaded.

 

 

 

 

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho,forest

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho,forest, April 5, 2023

 watercolour, A3

 

  

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho,forest, April 5, 2023- detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho,forest, April 5, 2023- detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My friend Spoon

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My friend

 In Vilcabamba, in magnificent mountainous southern Ecuador (a place I`d recommend despite being stuffed full of hippies). I drew a face on this plastic spoon. I`m not sure exactly where the spoon came from. I don`t buy take-away food. My best bet is that it was in the kitchen of the little hostel and it somehow found its way into my things. 

I don`t know exactly how. 

Maybe I was drunk*. I rediscovered drunkenness in Colombia at the end of last year and I absolutely love it. They produce various light lagers (Club Colombia, Aguila, Poker),  none of which are any great shakes but they all give just the right wooziness without making you feel too shabby the next day.

 Drunkenness is my favourite mental state by a long long mile (the next down on my list being how you feel arriving in a bright hotel room in a beautiful city and there are fresh towels and the sheets are crisp and clean and everything is orderly and you feel young and special).  I should add, by drunkenness, I mean mild-drunkenness, where everything goes soft focus and gilded and all women are gorgeous and conversation a good sight less tedious and your thoughts don`t have that jaggedness. I don`t mean the falling over, football hooligan vomiting sort.

The face is faint- that smooth plastic doesn`t really take ball-pen ink- but that`s fortuitous, surely?- that faintness adds to the sense of of spoon-faces reserve (it is surely a he, don`t you agree?). He is a listener, not a talker, and in a garrulous world that is something to be admired.

Later, I thought that the conical tip of the spoon very much suggests the presence of a hat- perhaps a fez, or maybe something more like a brimless bowler? -could  my friend be Pierrot?

Some see passivity in spoon-face's silence. Do they they not know the immense discipline that it takes too listen, calmly withholding?

 I may quote Jesus:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth

When I gaze into the eyes of  spoon-friend I sense deep understanding, a loving presence before which I never  need to justify myself. When I`m with spoon-face, the anxieties that so often haunt me are absent.  I know that that I am loved despite my flaws.

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*I know you think DUH you're British, of course you were I must protest: it`s not as it used to be, especially among the youth who hardly drink at all.

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A soft leaf

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A soft leaf

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