It’s Friday, so no shop talk about teak furniture or outdoor furniture of any kind. Instead, this Friday I have something I think you’ll find amazing. The photos below are of chalk drawings done by Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner. I’d like to thank impactlab.com for posting these and more on the web. Keep in mind, these are all TWO DIMENSIONAL DRAWINGS. The 3D effects are a result of how the images are drawn combined with the angle at which the photos are taken.

These photos of the same drawing but at different angles show how distorted the actual drawings must be in order to give the 3D effect when shot at the correct angle.

I’ll try to come up with some interesting teak furniture topic this weekend to talk about on Tuesday. Until then . . .

No teak furniture talk today. Instead take a look at this scary piece of furniture. Definitely not a fan.

It may make a nice piece for Hannibal Lecter, though.

As many of you who read the teak journAL know, Friday’s are not the day to discuss teak furniture. Instead I post something short, sweet, and hopefully enjoyable. Today I have a quote about alarm clocks.

The only thing worse than hearing the alarm clock in the morning is not hearing it.

- Unkown

What do word origins, optical illusions, or jokes have to do with teak furniture? Nothing, but there’s no need to discuss business all the time. Each Friday I will have an interesting item with little to do with teak or outdoor furniture. I hope you enjoy.

In frontier America, a person unable to write was often required to sign a document. Under such circumstances, in lieu of a name it was legal to sign an “X” on the form.

Often, a party to a contract agreed to it under pressure and didn’t want to observe its terms. Oral lore insisted that when crosses were doubled, one being placed over the other, the first was cancelled or made null. This double-cross was common enough to give its name to any act of deception or betrayal.
Source: “Why You Say It” by Webb Garrison (1992).

What do cartoons, “best of” lists, or short stories have to do with teak furniture? Not much, but lighten up. On Fridays I’ll post something interesting that probably has very little to do with teak or outdoor furniture, but it should at least make you smile or think.

I ran across this on the Internet today and thought it was cute.

On Fridays I’ll post something fun that most likely has nothing to do with teak furniture, but it should at least make you think or laugh. Here’s a fun little brain teaser for this week.

The man who invented it doesn’t want it. The man who bought it doesn’t need it. The man who needs it doesn’t know it. What is it?

The answer . . . in next week’s post.

Jokes don’t have a whole lot to do with teak furniture, but that’s okay. We don’t have to talk about teak or outdoor furniture all the time. At the end of each week I’ll post something that will hopefully start your weekend off right.

A young sailor was sitting in a bar having a few drinks when he looks over and sees a pirate. The pirate has a wooden peg-leg, a hook for a hand, and patch over his eye. Unable to resist, the sailor asks “How’d you end up with a peg-leg?”

“I was swept overboard during a fierce storm,” says the pirate. “and a bloody shark bit off me whole darn leg!”

“Holy cow!” said the sailor. “What about the hook, how’d you get that?”

“Me crew and I were boarding an enemy ship, a fierce sword battle ensued. One of them cut me darn arm!”

“Absolutely incredible!” gasped the sailor. “And the eye patch, tell me how you got that?”

“A bloody seagull dropping fell into me eye,” replied the pirate.

“Umm, you lost your eye to a seagull dropping?” asked the sailor, admonished.

Embarrassed, the pirate answered “It was me first day with the hook.”

Talk to you next week.

They’re not teak, but wow. Being a manufacturer of outdoor teak furniture, we don’t get to discuss beds all that much. So I thought I’d take this Fun Friday opportunity to show you a few very unique beds that I’m sure you’ve never seen before.

2001, A Space Odyssey

The Ultimate Futon

Not for those with Restless Leg Syndrome

There are even more examples of these interesting beds at http://freshome.com/2008/03/18/16-of-the-most-extreme-modern-beds-youll-ever-see/. This blog, Freshome, has a fantastic array of other unique home décor items. You may want to make it part of your daily web routine.

How are quotes, logic puzzles, or oddities related to teak furniture? They’re not, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a some fun each week. On Fridays I will post something that has little to do with teak or outdoor furniture, but it should make you think or smile.

Today I’ll introduce you to one of my favorite things. No, not teak furniture. Quotes. I have always loved a good quote, whether from famous historical figures or unknown historical footnotes.

I am a big fan of brevity. The faster people can get to the point, the faster I can understand the core of what they’re saying. Thus my passion for quotes. They can sum up an entire philosophical position in as little as one sentence. Plus they can run the gamut from thought provoking to just plain hysterical. Where else can you get that kind of range in less than 50 words?

So, without further ado, here is a rather eloquent quote regarding child rearing:

If you would have your son to walk honourably through the world, you must not attempt to clear the stones from his path, but teach him to walk firmly over them - not insist upon leading him by the hand, but let him learn to go alone.

- Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Today’s Fun Friday post is actually a bit of trivia related to teak furniture.

Did you know that even today, elephants are used to haul teak? Moving teak has always been a tough proposition because of its weight and density. The lumber is so dense that it will not float down the rivers. Instead elephants drag the teak logs through the rain forests to the coast where they are then transported to teak mills. The elephants have even been trained to stack the logs in symmetrical piles, and when a bell sounds at the end of the day, the elephants stop working without any human intervention.