The Extraordinary Ordinary - Blinds at the VCUQ ID Department...

A few photos taken of various blinded windows in the extended studios of the Interior Design Department here at VCUQ during different times of the day.

The Extraordinary Ordinary - Baseball Batting Range in Seoul, Korea...

A short video from, this time (see earlier related post by clicking here), below a baseball batting range in Seoul, Korea...

Small Bizarres No. 11 - The Chinese Dollar...

Ain't that da truth...

(Image taken off one of my daughters' card-packs)...

Small Bizarres No. 10 - Wrapped Wrapping...

Came across this strange, call it 'meta-wrapped' artifact at a Starbucks in Seoul...

The Extraordinary Ordinary - Golf Hitting Range in Seoul, Korea...

I've just returned from Korea a few day back, where I and a group of students and faculty from VCUQ visited this year's World Design Capital Seoul (next one will be my home-town-capital Helsinki, Finland in 2012). The included video was filmed from below a 'golf ball hitting range' (as I'm not a golfer - well, occasionally I play mini-golf - I'm not aware of the correct title for the locale in question) in Seoul. A car-park occupied the space below the range...

A number of future Extraordinary Ordinary as well as Small Bizarre submissions are going to be made on notions experienced whilst in Korea which, at least for me, were all quite curious events...

Vi Gillar Olika...

Vi gillar olika!

Ja sama Suomeksi/ and the same in English...

Singing Dunes - Qatar...

A few images of the 'Singing Dunes', located about an hours drive outside Doha... Apparently, when the wind is just right, the dunes generate a low, murmuring hum... Unfortunately their vocal-cords seemed to have been out of tune or sync on the day we visited, as the only remotely melodic sound I could hear was the distant growl of the highway... When we visited our 'team' of three SUV were the only ones there, but, as can be evidenced in some of the images below, we clearly hadn't been the only more recent visitors yo this regional landmark... I wonder what could be done to encourage people not to throw/ leave their trash behind at this, often all too rare, local visit-worthy natural phenomena..?

The Extraordinary Ordinary - Wave Patterns at Qurum Beach...

A short video taken of the subtly undulating swells at Muscat's Qurum beach... For related posts please click here and here...

A Zoo Worth a Visit...

A tiger in a setting inspired by its origins...

Unfortunately many of the Gulf region's zoos leave much to be desired. With their often excessively cramped and dirty cages and incessantly pacing or spasmodic animals they often seem more like a zoological loony-bin than a place for observing animals in quasi-natural environments. To some degree this also applies to zoos elsewhere in the world. Consequently I was very pleasantly surprised when I visited the zoo, or Bioparc as it's officially named, in Fuengirola, a town near Malaga in the southern tip of Spain. The first thing that struck me was how dignified, if that is a word that can be used when talking about animals in captivity, the various critters and creatures seemed to be. Many had exponentially larger cages compared to zoos elsewhere which allowed visual access to the animals without necessarily interrupting their play or daily routines too much. The zoo is also surprisingly intimate, with its winding routes and selection of nooks & crannies providing access to the various animal habitats. They\re all also flanked by vegetation that seemed to be originating from the locales to each animal's origins... It's core concept is well thought through. It has omitted including large animals such as elephants or giraffes which inevitably would need very large enclosures. The whole zoo can be walked/ strolled through in less than two hours, thus avoiding 'visit-fatigue' from settling in. The park is clean and well maintained. The Bioparc provides a useful template for how this form of enterprises can and should be realized...

Afternoon nap (or hunt)..?!

Hungry-Hippo...

Two become one...

Morning stretch...

Her domain...

Follow the (junior) leader...

Day-dreaming...

Full Moon...

Chillaxing...

The Extraordinary Ordinary - MIA Shadows...

Finally back after a two month summer R&R hiatus...

The included images were taken of various shadows cast by the displays at the MIA (Museum of Islamic Art) in Doha, Qatar (an earlier post on the smArchitecture blog of the museum can be accessed by clicking here). They have a nice, slightly faded, weathered and grainy (mid last century) feel, which I like...

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Henceforth blog-submissions should be more regular, albeit from now on considered from a more Qatar based and related perspective...

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The Extraordinary Ordinary - Oman Sunsets...

If not necessarily off to sunnier shores (as there's plenty of those along the local coastlands) this will, nevertheless, be my 'sunset'/ closing blog-post from Oman... Tonight I'm off to Europe for a stint of R&R, after which my family and I will be heading to Qatar in early August where I'll be taking up my new post at VCU-Qatar...

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The aim is, though (for better or worse) to keep on bloggin' over the summer...

The Extraordinary Ordinary - Nursing Lab (Humanoid) Props...

A heart, skeleton and a head (with a cold)...

The included photos were taken of various displays in some of the nursing classrooms at my university here in Oman... I find these humanoid, quasi-genderless, anatomical props quite fascinating...

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They're a bit Damien Hirsty but...

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Anorexica...

Burt...



A s/he...

Prop insomnia...

Small Bizarres No. 9 - Pocari Sweat...

Whatever kind of living thing a 'Pocari' is it has to be admired - as any creature that perspires enough to have its sweat bottled, and has the audacity and faith in people to actually be willing to drink it - has to be applauded...

The Extraordinary Ordinary - Concrete Bricks...

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Some pictures of a 'sea' (or neighborhood, landscape, forest, mountain range - pick your analogy) of concrete bricks stored on a back-lot of the university campus...

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