Recently, in Heaven

In Vienna, there is a place called Heaven. It's pretty heavenly indeed, particularly on a sunny April Sunday.

Honey, I shrunk the house

After an extensive session of clearing-away-the-summer-bags and unearthing-the-scarves-and-gloves-from-their-summer-hideaway, I decided to venture out into the cold All Saints' air. I'd seen pictures of the Erwin Wurm exhibition Keep a Cool Head at MUMOK and if the temporary installation of an upended house on top of the museum was anything to go by, I knew I was in for an art-experience of the entertaining kind. It really was a good exhibition (as was the Franz Gertsch retrospective) and afterwards I roamed the various museum shops, leaving with a postcard saying "I shop therefore I am". Too true.

This morning, I woke up to the sight of cars covered with frost. Just as well I had the gloves and scarves on standby!

diamonds are forever?

Vienna's municipal burial service, Wien Bestattung have introduced a new service. You can have the ashes of your dear departed pressed into a diamond for less than € 5,000 if you feel so inclined according to this article (in German).

My morbid and filthy imagination is running wild: I envisage plots where men get rid of their cantankerous old wives, have the remains of the missus made into a sparkler and use the selfsame ring to propose to their barely legal new plaything. Genius!