Within a Sky Full of Earth

We know, this is old, we don't come here for a while and our website redesign is taking longer that expected. Anyway, we're still alive and we want to wish you all the best for now and then!

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

First is the whole environment where this architectonic project is build, a green area, full of trees and just the sky to watch. It moves and it's called the Sliding House. It's an amazing home created by London architects studio dRMM. The brief was simple: to build a house to retire to in order to grow food, entertain and enjoy the East Anglia landscape. The outcome was as unconventional as they come. A structure that has the ability to vary or connect the overall building's composition and character according to season, weather or simply a desire to delight. The part-prefab home consists of a glasshouse, main house, open space and annexe aligned on a track. A garage, off the track, adjoins the open space, creating a courtyard. This is a video from Wallpaper* Magazine who captured the physical phenomenon in the only medium that serves it justice - film. See by yourself and give us your opinion. We know that Macau is not the spot for these wonders but anyhow we dream with such a place.EXTRA LINKS:
• dRMM Website
• Sliding House at Dezeen
• Detailed project in PDF
• At bdonline
• Stephen Bayley writes about it on The Observer
• Finally another great one!
[CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE VIDEO © WALLPAPER*][BACK TO BLOOMLAND]

With over 100 projects, this book is an encyclopedic look at the cutting edge in garden design and offers an inspirational archive for practitioners and enthusiasts. Contemporary garden design has embraced the latest thinking in science and materials, architecture and product design – redefining the border between nature and the man-made.
One indication of the rise in popularity – and controversy – of these gardens has been the growing number of conceptual garden festivals, which have become the premier international showcases for new ideas.
Avant Gardeners presents the fifty most exciting and innovative contemporary garden- and landscape-design practices from around the world, profiling the work of each designer through informative texts, photographs and plans.
Topical essays explore the underlying principles, and show how a rising generation has rejected the tradition of Western garden design, favouring instead the influences of Modernism, Postmodernism, Pop Art and Land Art.

Tim Richardson is an internationally respected landscape critic. Former landscape editor at Wallpaper*, gardens editor at Country Life and founding editor of New Eden magazine, he is the author of several books, including The Vanguard Landscapes and Gardens of Martha Schwartz and, most recently, The Arcadian Friends: Inventing the English Landscape Garden.

Avant Gardeners • 50 Visionaries of the Contemporary Landscape
By Tim Richardson • Foreword by Martha Schwartz • Introduction by Tim Richardson • THAMES AND HUDSON

Two years ago after lunch time with nobody watching and with no special happening, we opened our doors for business. Just like that. The birds were on the trees, people were coming out of the temple, the motorbikes from the shop in the corner were all there doing their job, shinning. That was the official opening day of Bloom * Creative Network, culminating a long process of bringing up a bookshop to town. It happened near the Inner Harbour, quite near of San Ma Lou and just in front of the big hole that would come to be the Ponte 16.
Well, Ponte 16 is still there, like a wall crawling upwards from the river banks. We're not. In between these two instants, the Opening in 2007 and Today, something happened. For a while a big hand of water was in the wrong moment in the wrong place. It was on the night of the 23rd of September last year. Suddenly reality gave a jump into fiction and from then till now we still can't differ one from another.
Did we have a bookstore in Hong Kung Miu Square? Did we sell books? Are we on the book business? What's Bloom anyway? Can't we remember? These are questions we can answer easily but in a way we can always tell that random response because now it just doesn't matter. We're out of the field. What matters is what will come next and we're still on the last lines of the period of disaster drawing the scratches of the whole new scenario. Fast and furious fiction passing on into a real frame again. Like the pages of a book that were just thorned aside. By water.
"What's next for Bloom?", you might ask.
First we have to deal with what we're doing in the present time when present time doesn't exist. Are we solving things? Are we on the way up? Are we back in town? The thing is that we still have a sattelite of what was left of Bloom enterprise. It's at Old Ladies House, now renamed Albergue. We called it Bloom Yellow, because of the colour of the building, but even that we've dismissed and we're there only on weekends or when the sun shines bright. But a sattelite without a planet to orbit what is it? Could be a ship adrift on the vast ocean of stars? An orphan crying for help? Perhaps a stray dog lost in the alleys of a city when it should be on the country side. Barely, we don't know.
We're on the future already and we have to wait for the world to rejoin. We're calling our strenghts to go forward and to push everyone aboard. Things changed and we're connected now to all the Natural Causes. Big things we want to do like helping to save the Planet. To enforce the endangerous blindness of our human fellows to come across on a different path. To be conscious and endure. This is not about books, or selling them, or about beautiful stories or some sort of miraculous creativity. This is not about Chinese, about Portuguese or English speaking commuters. It's not about the form. This is about us. This is about what's underneath and what's left of the Darwin evolution. It's not the economic crisis, this is much ahead. And what's in front of our eyes is a delightful Bloomland. This is the deal of our Nature and not about the gambling of what we are. We're not impaired or alone here. It's just the same flesh and blood. The same feet where you can put a pair of shoes. Even if we pretend by repeating the same acts everyday now, we're not kids anymore, we should've been grown-ups by now and we should step at the fore and not in the back.
That's what we stand for, to make a better place to live.
Today, the day of our second anniversary, we were not open. Neither on any colour. We loosened ourselves to the greener part of this land and we're just there making time flow. No candles, no sail. No one to watch. No special happenings. Just the birds, the dogs, the trees on the wind and the power of nature showing its force. And for this instant, day after day, we think everything will go on its place, sooner or later. But what's today if tomorrow's already gone?

Apart from all we'd like to thank you for your patience and apologize for all the flaws we might sourced. As soon as we stitch all the bits of our sail, Bloom 2.0 will come soon to an harbour near you. Don't need to tune it, we'll came just like that, as a natural cause.
[ON THE PHOTO BLOOM RED ONE YEAR AGO]

MX-LIBRIS is a new kind of taxi vehicle for the Latin American region. With zero-emissions and an iconic form, it aims for a friendly urban appeal.

MX-LIBRIS is a zero-emissions vehicle incorporating a range of selected technologies from the transportation industry that are appropriate to the Latin American region. The vehicle has been specifically designed as a taxi, taking into consideration the cultural, urban transit, demographic and climate conditions of cities in Latin America. The use of technologies such as fuel cells and “drive-by-wire” make a more optimised use of space by replacing mechanical components with electronic ones and therefore providing more interior space. The vehicle is compact but high to facilitate access for passengers and driver.

The exterior design, which strictly follows its functionality, has been designed to intentionally become an icon of Latin America. Its asymmetric and sui-generis (or unique) form – moving away from typical car styling – make it a memorable object that locals and tourists will recognise as a forward-thinking icon, as opposed to a follower of car trends. The interior design, also asymmetric, responds to the functional needs of both passengers and driver. The interior layout maximises the use of space and promotes interaction between passengers by placing the fourth one facing the other three as well as leaving a central hallway for access.
In terms of sustainability, the design considers several aspects – from the no-emissions technologies to material selection and energy consumption. The aesthetic design does not follow either a sports or family car look because it deliberately aims to create a new segment of public transport with a friendly urban appeal.
[SOURCE RED-DOT]
• CREATED BY ZANIC DESIGN

Macau should just address the importance of these matters and help to create solutions to solve the serious problem of polution in the city. Build a MX-LIBRIS made in Macau, we have everything to learn with this project and use it to carry on, building a bright future. That's why BLOOM is here, to help creating better worlds. Come with us!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fundação Oriente inaugura exposição fotográfica sobre Timor - verbas revertem a favor de projecto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Baucau, Timor-Leste

Uma exposição fotográfica sobre as gentes e paisagens de Timor-Leste vai estar patente na Galeria da Casa Garden da Fundação Oriente durante um mês, com inauguração marcada já para esta sexta-feira, dia 19, pelas 18:30. As fotografias de “Timor-Leste – Olhares Emergentes de uma Terra” são da autoria de Fernando Madeira, um conhecido fotógrafo de Macau e membro da associação “naTerra – Associação de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável”.
Com esta mostra pretende-se angariar verbas para a próxima iniciativa da associação “naTerra”: “Raio de Sol – um projecto de sustentabilidade em Timor Leste”, em que o grupo se propõe a construir um Centro Comunitário de Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável em Baucau, contribuindo para que a população se torne mais auto-suficiente através do desenvolvimento de infra-estruturas, educação e partilha de competências. Conseguindo reunir as verbas necessárias, cinco dos elementos da associação partem para Timor em finais de Fevereiro do próximo ano.
“naTerra” é uma associação sem fins lucrativos que desenvolve projectos na área da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Fundada em Macau, surge da união de várias pessoas com o objectivo comum de criar soluções ecologicamente saudáveis, economicamente viáveis e socialmente justas, particularmente a nível comunitário.
A “naTerra” participou recentemente no Festival da Lusofonia apresentando, no Auditório do Carmo, o projecto “Raio de Sol” e uma colecção de fotografias de Timor. São estas fotografias que ficam agora à venda na Casa Garden até dia 19 de Janeiro de 2009. A exposição está aberta todos os dias entre as 10h00 e as 19h00. As receitas revertem inteiramente a favor do projecto “Raio de Sol”.
• Para mais informações consulte a página www.naterra.org ou contacte a associação através de info@naterra.org.
• Artigo no Hoje Macau, por José Manuel Simões, sobre este projecto.
[A presente exposição conta ainda com o patrocínio do Café Ou Mu]

Obama is close to a big win in USA. According to CNN's latest projections, Obama has 207 electoral votes and McCain has 135. There were projections that Obama will win Ohio, a key battleground state with 20 electoral votes. No Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio. Going into the election, polls showed Obama with a 3-point lead there. All the country is on the move and close to a state jubilation. It's all for the coutry but is also all for the world. What the admisnistration Bush did along these years will be hard to account. The damage is beyond repair and the action will start from scratch. Nothing better to start and do it neat. It's not just the President, from the Senate to the states the republicans will have a huge loss. We know that most of the time ideas drown on politics, but we're hopeful of a change. It's a revolution!
Bloom is happy for the world!

Passámos o fim de semana a deitar livros fora. Uma espécie de esponja feita de pasta de papel. Capas moles. Imagens coladas para sempre. Folhas de cinco ou seis páginas. Até se começaram a tecer teorias à volta dos livros. Porque é que uns colavam mais do que os outros. A nossa colecção de autores lusófonos foi toda. Não importa muito se sobrou um ou outro, porque conseguiu nadar até ao cimo de um dos contraplacados das estantes - malditos contraplacados! - e ficar à espera de auxílio. Podem-se ler, é certo, mas as águas, sabe-se lá de onde vêm.
A primeira coisa que notei, logo no primeiro dia, foi o cheiro. Nunca cheirei um morto em decomposição, mas achei que aquele cheiro a papel podre, das águas meio salgadas, completamente impuras, era em tudo semelhante. Livros mortos que, de dia para dia, se iam aprofundando no seu estado pútrido. É difícil contabilizar o que perdemos. Não é só o volume, o objecto e as suas folhas impressas. É todo o processo de construção de uma ideia louca, a de ter uma livraria à nossa medida num território como Macau. Um espaço que fomos construindo. Uma colecção que se foi multiplicando. Porque se à partida apostámos tudo. Tudo o que ganhámos continuámos a apostar. É, Macau é uma verdadeira terra de jogo, nós fomos apostando. Apostando. Apostando... Sem medo, é certo, mas no final aconteceu-nos exactamente o que acontece a todos os viciados do jogo. Perdeu-se!
Os amigos apareceram, recebemos mensagens daqui e dali., para nos dar alento. Sugeriram-nos soluções. Pôr o que restava à venda, o que fizemos. O que restava eram apenas 'meia dúzia' de livros. O cheiro continuava lá, nos livros, as águas que antes passaram por toda a cidade afectada, como um pequeno plano de aniquilação, apesar de se manterem no seu estado húmido, deixaram um rasto de guerra. Pensei, por momentos, que não ia conseguir nunca mais pôr tudo aquilo de pé, não por falta de motivação mas por puro enjoo. Repugnância de livros, se isso existe. É tudo uma questão de sentimento, e isso flutua para trás e para a frente. Na verdade não sabemos bem o que vamos fazer.
E como vieram os amigos, para ajudar, vieram também os que nunca antes tinham vindo, porque ouviram falar que ali se estavam a dar livros. De repente não se percebe muito o que se está a fazer, de que lado se está e, na verdade, tudo deixa de ter importância. No final é tudo papel deitado ao rio.

enact |enˈakt|
verb [ trans. ]
1 put into practice (a belief, idea, or suggestion).
2 act out (a role or play) on stage.
3 to strive to make a story come true.

Did you ever saw any of these videos about making pop-corn with a mobile phone? Well, they seem to be true. Do you believe them? Try it yourself and you'll see what happens.
Growing concerns about the use of these devices, relayed on recent scientific studies, are disturbing all users around the world. Does your cell phone affects your brain, putting your health in danger? Probably yes. You can read it on the fresh issue of Best Life magazine. They put the finger on all the keys flowing down through these matters.
Did you ever heard about Specific Absorption Rate, commonly known as SAR number? It's another SAR different from the one you are used to, nothing to do with special regions. This is the rate that measures the absorbed radiation by the human body. And some phones are more danger than others, iPhones, for instance, are on the middle range on this. Maybe you believe that for the hours you've already spend on a cell phone probably you wouldn't be here reading this and you don't care much. Perhaps this is not truly scientific confirmed yet but for your own sake you should take a look about it. First rule: don't let your kids use it! Second rule: always use a wired headset (even the Bluetooth devices can be harmful with long time use).

The truth about the cell-phone–cancer link and what it means for you and your kids

When Vini Khurana, PhD, an Australian (and Mayo Clinic–trained) neurosurgeon, announced that the link between cell-phone use and cancer was irrefutable—the result of his analysis of more than 100 studies—it set off alarm bells around the world. Use a cell phone, he said, and you increase your risk of developing a malignant brain tumor by two to four times. Until recently, the majority of research indicated little or no link between cell phones and cancer (the World Health Organization and the American Cancer Society maintain that cell phones pose no threat), but several new long-term studies have cast doubt about their safety. Given that cell phones and PDAs serve as lifelines for so many people—24 percent of 10- and 11-year-olds carry them—it raises urgent questions. To find out what precautions you should take when using your cell phone, we dialed the nation's leading experts.

Do cell phones cause cancer?
Maybe…with extended use. Mobile-phone users are twice as likely to develop malignant, difficult-to-treat brain tumors called gilomas, according to a first-of-its-kind study that analyzed the effects of cell-phone use over 10 years or more and was published last year in the journal Occupational Environmental Medicine. The Bioinitiative Working Group, an international coalition of scientists and public-health experts, recently published a hefty report detailing the link between the nonionizing radiation caused by a cell phone's electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and cancer, DNA damage, Alzheimer's, and other diseases. "The cells in the body react to EMFs in cell phones just like they do to other environmental toxins, including heavy metals and chemicals," says Martin Blank, PhD, a professor in bioelectromagnetics at Columbia University and one of the report's authors. The study found that risk from cell-phone use starts at 260 lifetime hours.

Do cell phones emit radiation only when you are talking?
No. "Cell phones give off radiation any time they're turned on so that they can communicate with base stations," says Lou Bloomfield, PhD, professor of physics at the University of Virginia and author of How Everything Works: Making Physics Out of the Ordinary. "The radiation emitted, however, is stronger and more frequent when you're talking or messaging." Also, the greater distance you are from a base station, the more radiation your phone must emit in order to get a signal, which is why your phone feels hot when you have low reception. That heat you feel is radiation. The Bioinitiative study found that adverse effects to DNA can also occur before the phone heats up. To reduce your exposure, make calls only when you have strong reception, hang up before your phone heats up, and store your phone away from your body when it's not in use.

What is the range of the radiation?
Exposure to radiation from your cell phone drops off slowly for the first three to four inches from your body, and then it falls dramatically, says Bloomfield. To reduce your exposure, invest in a hands-free headset and limit the amount of time you spend talking on the phone. Khurana recommends using the speaker mode and holding the phone about eight inches away from you. Also, limit your use of Bluetooth devices. While it's true that they emit the least amount of radiation (one study found they can operate as low as 0.001 watts per kilogram), even that can add up fast.

Is it risky to carry a cell phone in your pants pocket?
Maybe. One 2006 study found no link to testicular cancer, but other researchers suspect a link to male infertility. Ashok Agarwal, PhD, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, recently completed a study in which cell phones were set down for one hour in talk mode, next to sperm samples in test tubes. He found that the sperm's motility and viability were significantly reduced, and levels of harmful free radicals increased after exposure. Agarwal suggests storing the phone in your jacket pocket to reduce exposure to cell-phone radiation. Pregnant women need to take precautions too, because a recent study found that cell-phone use while pregnant is linked to behavioral problems in children.
[Julie A. Evans on BEST LIFE MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER ISSUE • FOLLOW IT HERE OR BUY IT AT BLOOM YELLOW TODAY OR TOMORROW]

RELATED LINKS: WIKIPEDIA • TRUTHOUT • THE NEW YORK TIMES

On the last issue of The New Yorker Macau gets a big highlight on a ten page feature about the mogul of casinos and the Venetian, Sheldon Adelson, the third-richest man in the United States. There you can find a deep investigation on the man and his world quest to power and to leadership.
Come by to Bloom and get this unique magazine. As we have limited stock you can send us an email for reservations, so we can order one more for you. You can also follow the online version.

«Last October, Sheldon Adelson, the gaming multibillionaire, accompanied a group of Republican donors to the White House to meet with George W. Bush. They wanted to talk to the President about Israel. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was organizing a major conference in the United States, in an effort to re-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and her initiative had provoked consternation among many rightward-leaning American Jews and their Christian evangelical allies. Most had seen Bush as a reliable friend of Israel, and one who had not pressured Israel to pursue the peace process. Adelson, who is seventy-four, owns two of Las Vegas’s giant casino resorts, the Venetian and the Palazzo, and is the third-richest person in the United States, according to Forbes. He is fiercely opposed to a two-state solution; and he had contributed so generously to Bush’s reëlection campaign that he qualified as a Bush Pioneer. A short, rotund man, with sparse reddish hair and a pale countenance that colors when he is angered, Adelson protested to Bush that Rice was thinking of her legacy, not the President’s, and that she would ruin him if she continued to pursue this disastrous course. Then, as Adelson later told an acquaintance, Bush put one arm around his shoulder and another around that of his wife, Miriam, who was born in Israel, and said to her, “You tell your Prime Minister that I need to know what’s right for your people—because at the end of the day it’s going to be my policy, not Condi’s. But I can’t be more Catholic than the Pope.” (The White House denies this account.)
Perhaps this exchange contributed to a growing resolve on Adelson’s part to try to force the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, out of office. Adelson and Olmert had been friendly since the nineteen-nineties, when Olmert was a member of the hard-line Likud Party. Olmert became Prime Minister in January, 2006, following Ariel Sharon’s stroke. He, like Sharon, came to recognize the inexorability of Jewish-Arab demographic trends. Olmert declared that a two-state solution was the only way of preserving Israel as a democratic state with a Jewish majority, and he said that he was ready to negotiate with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Adelson saw Olmert’s actions as a betrayal of principle. He had long wanted to see the Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu returned as Prime Minister, but a revived peace process gave that goal new urgency.»
THE BRASS RING • BY CONNIE BRUCK IN THE NEW YORKER / PHOTO BY BLOOMLAND.CN
[READ IT ALL HERE]

Typhoon Neoguri was here just a step away from Macau. What it seemed like an inoffensive trajectory, going through Hainan Island, what is still faraway from us, it suddenly changed its course and turned its head changing the dailylife in Macau.
Neoguri was the first typhoon of the year in south China and had winds estimated at 160 kilometers per hour. The storm is now loosing its strength and was forecast to weaken as it moved over the South China Sea to eastern Hainan and mainland China, where it waved Macau and Hong Kong up in the North.
As usual, sea ferry services between the two SAR's were suspended starting from early Saturday afternoon. The bridges between Macau and Taipa were closed and all public places and stores were also shut down. A number of ferry services within Hong Kong waters were also suspended. Bloom went home at one o'clock. Better days will come.

«Since Beijing was awarded the Olympic Games in 2001, the city has been pelting itself into modernity. By the opening of the games, it will have added five new subway lines, 300 kilometres of road, 37 new sports venues, and uncounted millions of square metres of retail, residence and office space. Hundreds of skyscrapers have been built in the past 15 years.
Cranes have long been considered sacred in China, cherished by Buddhists, Taoists and the Manchu: black-necked, sandhill, red-crowned. Now a different type of crane dominates Beijing's skyline: Positech, Manitowoc, Pegasus.More than half of the world's construction cranes are presently in China. I can count 34 of them from the windows of my apartment alone.
Human labour is so abundant here, planning restrictions so loose and safety regulations so scant that buildings can be knocked down and thrown up in astonishing times. Beijing's population of migrant workers is estimated at five million; thousands more arrive from the countryside every week.»
[ROBERT MACFARLANE IN THE TELEGRAPH • READ THE WHOLE THING HERE]

Since we opened our store we've been using an amazing application for our sales management. We started almost together as the software was very new at the time. It's called Checkout, a powerful and easy to use Point of Sale (POS) system for Mac. It's made by Sofa a design studio from the Netherlands, that builds up interfaces and user-friendly software who's giving rise to happy users. Sofa battles to delight people with beautiful and great interaction models and stunning interface design.
Now an update version 2.0 comes to light with a lot of new features. The new version introduces credit card processing, multi-user capability, and integration with popular accounting software and an even better designed platform with many more enhancements.
“Checkout 2.0 is a powerful Point of Sale system with tons of new customer-requested features, but what’s most gratifying is that we were able to improve ease-of-use even further,” says Dirk Stoop, Partner, Werck BV, a joint venture between Sofa and MYOB US famous for the award-winning small business accounting and management software. “It’s a more mature product, and we stand by our mantra that you can get a Mac, start a store, and be up and running in 15 minutes.”
Use Checkout to take orders, make sales, print invoices and accept payments. Checkout records all in-store transactions to generate a range of interactive reports. No matter what you sell, from denim to poetry, from bikes to cigars, this can make your life a little bit easier.
Don't forget to see the profiles page to read about how Checkout makes a difference for a variety of retailers all over the world. You'll get a surprise! ;-)
Checkout 2.0 is priced at 399 US$ and you if you like you can join us and test drive it at Bloom. We'll show you everything.
MORE INFO AT: www.checkoutapp.com

Macau is a city that moves at a sedate pace. After the frenetic pace of Hong Kong, it comes as a blissful reprieve. With its lush landscapes, sandy shores, heritage buildings, beautiful gardens, cross-continental cuisine, Macau has emerged as a tourist hot spot.
[in Mad About Macau by Tanushree Podder @ The Hindu]

How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint is the world citizen's guide to pushing back the advance of global warming. This colorful handbook offers 500 practical, easily achievable ideas that conserve energy, prevent pollution, and save money. Did you know that unplugging appliances and cell phone chargers when not in use can reduce electricity bills by 10 percent? Or that recycling just one glass bottle saves enough power to run a computer for 30 minutes? Whether the subject is jet travel, dishwashing, or any of the 50 topics in the book, surprising statistics and innovative graphics will inspire action and demonstrate that simple habits can lead to big results.

Joanna Yarrow is a United Kingdom-based expert on sustainable living and the author of 1,001 Ways to Save the Earth. She is a frequent media commentator on environmental issues.

How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint 500 Simple Ways to Save Energy, Resources and Money, by Joanna Yarrow
CHRONICLE BOOKS • 128 PAGES • PAPERBACK


The world is changing, and along with it, so must our eating habits. Author and restaurateur Jesse Ziff Cool has compiled over 30 years of knowledge about organic, local, and sustainable food into one magnificent cookbook. With 150 enticing recipes, Simply Organic encourages home cooks to embrace organics as a lifestyle rather than a fad. Cool organizes her chapters seasonally to ensure that the freshest, ripest ingredients enhance the flavors of dishes like Filet Mignon with mashed Potatoes and Leek Sauce in early spring to Pumpkin Raisin Bread Pudding in autumn. Inspiring profiles on farmers and producers reveal how these individuals are working to create a sustainable future every day.

Jesse Ziff Cool is dedicated to sustainable agriculture as a writer, spokesperson, and restaurateur. Her books include The Really, Truly, Honest-to-Goodness One-Pot Cookbook.
France Ruffenach is a San Francisco-based photographer whose work includes Tartine.

Simply Organic A Cookbook for Sustainable, Seasonal, and Local Ingredients, by Jesse Ziff Cool • Photographs by France Ruffenach
CHRONICLE BOOKS • 248 PAGES • PAPERBACK


When Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan founded Method, the environmentally friendly brand of cleaning products, they used packaging stylish enough to showcase on the countertop and pleasant aromas such as green tea and cucumber to transform household products into must-have lifestyle accessories. And when they coined the phrase "People Against Dirty," they weren't just talking about the stuff you track in on your shoes—they also meant the toxic chemicals that make up many household detergents. Packed with helpful tips and surprising facts, their first book, Squeaky Green, is a totally informative and completely entertaining room-by-room guide to giving dirty the boot. Squeaky Green is rehab for chemically dependant homes.

Chemical engineer Adam Lowry and marketing guru Eric Ryan are the founders of Method, the innovative manufacturer of consumer goods sold in over 25,000 retail locations in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. They live in San Francisco with their families.

Squeaky Green The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home, by Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan
CHRONICLE BOOKS • 158 PAGES • CONCEALED WIRE-O BINDING • PAPERBACK


Record numbers of parents are choosing organic foods and non-toxic products that are healthier for their children and gentler on the planet—to the tune of $50 billion dollars spent worldwide last year. Now it's easier than ever to create an eco-friendly environment for little ones without sacrificing comfort and style. Author of The Healthy Home Workbook, interior designer and new mother Kimberly Rider offers parents dozens of solutions that fit their priorities and their lifestyle—and their budget. From cribs to bubble bath to baby's first foods, Rider highlights health concerns, navigates the range of available products, and guides the way to safe and appealing choices. Colorful photos, smart tips and guidelines, and tabbed sections make this an inspirational and practical handbook. In Organic Baby, Mother Nature truly knows best.

Kimberly Rider is a frequent guest on HGTV's Curb Appeal and a host of its 100 Sizzling Summer Ideas. She lives in Marin County, California, with her family.
Thayer Allyson Gowdy is a San Francisco-based photographer.

Organic Baby Simple Steps for Healthy Living, by Kimberly Rider • Photographs by Thayer Allyson Gowdy
CHRONICLE BOOKS • 176 PAGES • CONCEALED WIRE-O BINDING • TABBED PAGES • HARDCOVER

Unite For Children

60 artists and graphic designers from all over the world (19 countries) are gather together on behalf of Childhood.

With the objective to inspire the creativity and the commitment to every human being and to participate on the UNICEF's actions. This cultural and social project, realized by APAG Editions with the partnership of UNICEF, goes beyond the ambition of any other book.
"In December 2006, UNICEF celebrated its sixty years of existence. We wanted to avail ourselves of this anniversary to pay homage to this institution through the making of the present book. To that end, we contacted sixty recognized or up-and-coming artists and digital designers from every corner of the world, whom we invited to join in our project.
Our initiative found an echo among them and they kindly agreed to participate in it, convinced that Childhood is worth illustrating, as pictures may sometimes have a stronger impact than words. However, the project's goal has never been to realize a commercial catalogue but definitively a graphics creation anthology.
That is why all potential participants have been selected by APAG members behind the project and by professional in graphics community on very specifics criteria. Our intention was to vary as much as possible the graphic styles appearing in this book.
With this in mind, we approached designers from diverse crafts : advertising, cinema, comic strips, webdesign, photography..."

Through 180 pages, you will discover various creations, some of them will be abstract, others more explicit; some will be radiant, others dark and pessimistic. Given that each artwork corresponds to the picture its author has of the world, it is obvious that all of them cannot reflect every artist’s ideal. The pages express the feeling about each artist and their work. As a "philosophical aspect" each work comes with a short text from its author.
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[SOURCE DEXIGNER.COM]