Glass Galore - Centrepiece, Serving platter, side dish, wall flower and more

A poorer and less glamorous cousin of crystal, hand-made and mouth-blown glass is no less charming. Creative craftsmen can transform simple glass into works of arts. It's an ancient skill that collectors and modest admirers never get tired of. 

Swedish : Kosta Boda - stunning and heavy weight

Italian floral platter and bowl

 

Villeroy and Boch mosaic colours

Maltese art glass is expensive but exudes an exquisite aura

 

Japanese inspired local artwork?

An American artist's masterpiece

Seriously, is it safe to shop for glass online? I suppose insurance will cover breakage and loss. But it's difficult to argue against imperfections of handmade products. You'd want to buy something you have scrutinized, felt and held in your hands. 

Shopping for Fabrics - Spring Interiors Makeover

Discard the dark sombre colours this spring? Some winter textiles on sale are suitable for spring, summer and autumn. Women shoppers tend to grab more than they need. Men are indifferent. Anything that is practical, not ugly and time-saving. 

The exotica - get ready to party! 

Paisley is classic

 The cottage garden - complementary contrasts

 

Million dollar executives - overpaid business executives - the case for equitable compensation

The ills of capitalism are best epitomised by the obscene salaries some CEOs are getting and the widening gap between the elite and the majority who are struggling to make ends meet. 

There is nothing wrong with paying high salaries for highly skilled, capable, intelligent and diligent people who take risks, put their career on the line, to drive the company to earn huge profits, reward shareholders, provide jobs for the people and make other social contributions.  

But CEOs getting hundreds of millions, of which only a fraction is declared as salary is ludicrous.  To justify high pay check, many executives resort to short term and short sighted business tactics that could in fact bring the company down in the longer term when they are no longer around to carry the baby. 

http://www.smh.com.au/national/milliondollar-men-what-ceos-are-really-paid-20120917-262yw.html

The Australian Council of  Superannuation Investors found the average chief executive's total pay package last year - $4.9 million - was up on 2009. Astonishingly, it was actually 9.3 per cent higher than the payouts chief executives received in the boom times of 2006.

http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/management/blogs/management-line/ceo-pay-is-it-out-of-control-20110906-1jvgi.html

Shareholders nowadays are better educated and ought to band together to check and restrict excesses in rewarding CEOs. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2012/06/20/highest-and-lowest-paid-bank-ceos-dimon-makes-15m-more-than-his-closest-rival/