Lingua Flora

is the stunning range of cards just launched by my brilliant friend, Lisa Martinovic.

Flowers like you've never seen them, digitally re-imagined from Lisa's original photos. My current favourite is the ginger flower (pictured). Each time I look at it, I can smell the spicy, delicate fragrance - it makes my nostrils quiver.



I sent one to a friend who's about to have a mastectomy.

I sent one to my four-year-old nephew in England. When we play hide-and-seek, and he's the seeker, he loves to call out:

I can't see you, but I can smell you!

I wrote inside:

Look at this flower and guess what it smells like.

He took it to school for show-and-tell.

Buy a Lingua Flora card - or a whole set - today. Send to everyone you know who needs an infusion of beauty.

Lingua Flora is a trademark of Lisa Martinovic. Ginger flower images © Lisa Martinovic.

SF Performance this Friday

I'll perform in Shifted Focus at San Francisco's De Young Museum on Friday.

The line-up includes my brilliantly funny friend, Sam Chanse, and other fabulous artists.

6pm - 8.30pm. See you there.

Inauguration

Obama's speech:
Platitudes.
Tough Times.
Our Ancestors Lived Through Worse.
Sabre-rattle.
Platitudes.
Utterly sloppy equation of communism with fascism - McCarthy would be proud.
Land Of Hope And Glory.
Think Big.
Sabre-rattle.
Yes We Can.
Yawn.

Alexander's poem:
Lame to the nth degree.
Instantly forgettable.
Ouch.

Rick Warren:
Weird little goatee beard may go down at Saddleback church, but did you miss the "20th January: Shave" memo?
And what did Sasha Obama do to warrant that creepy sibilant vehemence on her name? Spill her drink on you backstage?

Moment of beauty:
Anthony McGill on clarinet. I'd have given him all three slots above too.