The BLT Episode 22: Skip The Crap
From treasure to tragedy, art to the amoral, we’ve crammed a lot into this week’s BLT. It’s a sandwich Scooby Doo and Shaggy would be proud of.
As ever, we’ve done our best to season everything with a few references that popped into our heads. Find out more about the stories covered in this blog.
We’re pretty sure that every week we write at least one sentence that has never existed before, and this week we think it's, "I'm thinking of making the little turds dance in tutus."
Do you have some news that’s perfect for the BLT that we’ve missed? Tell us, and find out more about how we work by getting in contact today!
This place is a tip!
No longer is this only true of a teenager’s bedroom. Artist Harrison Marshall has converted a skip into a house, and plans to live there for a year to protest the cost of living in London. After initial building costs of £4000, the monthly rent will be just £50!
Known as ‘The Skip House,’ Harrison’s new home is part of the public art initiative Skip Gallery. By living in it, Harrison hopes to highlight ‘just how crazy it is to live in central London.’
Dammit, Thanet!
Last week we mentioned graffiti writer 10 Foot. This week, Banksy is in the spotlight. The new piece, “Valentine’s day mascara”, has made headlines for several reasons. Not least because within hours of appearing, part of it disappeared.
A freezer dumped in the Margate alley the new Banksy calls home was removed by Thanet District Council. The council has insisted that the freezer will be returned once it has been made safe. We couldn’t resist a quick reference to that infamous moment when Boris Johnson hid in a fridge to avoid an interview.
Guantanamo gives back
It’s not all loss this week, though. Detainees at Guantánamo Bay have won the right to exhibit artwork they made taking part in the Art from Guantánamo project.
Speaking about their art, the detainees explained, “it was born from the ordeal we lived through. Each painting holds moments of our lives, secrets, tears, pain, and hope. Our artworks are parts of ourselves.” And at one point, the UN even wrote to the State Department in support of the detainees.
Lost but not forgotten
It’s a difficult time for Lilt lovers. The iconic brand is being scrapped and rebranded as Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit. While the ‘totally tropical taste’ isn’t going anywhere, fans of the brand are less than impressed.
One Lilt devotee tweeted that they will still call it Lilt, while another wished Lilt farewell. It won’t have been a surprise to everyone though; some keen-eyed fans noticed the Fanta font on rebranded cans last year.
Anyone wanting to get hold of Lilt before it’s too late needs to act quickly, however. One bottle recently sold for £100.
Give cats your crappy exes
Nothing says getting over being dumped by letting a pet dump on your ex. Well, their name at least. Thanks to Animal Friends Humane Society, based in Ohio, you can make this happen for just $5. So far, some 480 people have found relief in letting felines relieve themselves over the name of their ex-partners.
This approach is more common than you might think. San Antonio Zoo lets you name a cockroach after an ex, and then watch it being fed to another animal.
Review revenge
No one likes a bad review, but how far would you go to get revenge? German ballet director Marco Goecke is now under investigation on suspicion of bodily harm and slander after he smeared dog faeces in the face of critic Wiebke Huester.
Mr. Goecke says he acted in the heat of the moment, but Ms. Huester has said the attack was premeditated.
We’re always amazed at how many links form between the random selection of stories brought to the meeting each week, although you can guarantee there will be an animal story! Which story is your favourite? We’ll see you next week for another delicious visual sandwich.
We love using visual thinking and visual storytelling to create connected and layered whiteboard animations like this. We’re always here to talk to you about how your message could look as a whiteboard animation, contact us today!
Give us the week’s offbeat news stories, and we’ll sum them up in an image, bringing them into the same universe.