Things to Consider When Looking for Chandeliers for the Home

There are many different options to consider when going through an endless amount of different chandeliers or other light sources for a multitude of different rooms in your house. You need to think about what kind of style you are going for the room that one of the chandeliers will be installed, how big the chandelier should be, and what color the chandelier should be, among other countless options.

A great way to determine if a certain light source is the right selection for your room is to take a picture of the room and then compare different chandeliers at the store or online to better envision how it would look in your home.If you are looking for a chandelier for your living room or dining room you will probably want to go with something more classical, but a black chandelier is a perfect choice for a more modern home. Another perfect spot for a black chandelier is the kitchen. Black is a common color in many kitchens these days, so if your kitchen follows suite with the majority of the others, you'd probably find a black chandelier to be a perfect fit for your home.As you can see, choosing chandeliers can be an interesting task to take on when improving your home. If you remember to consider the style and main colors of the room where the chandelier will be going, you should be able to make an excellent selection for your home. Whether it's children's lighting, a grand black chandelier in the entrance hallway or a vintage light to put over the dining room table, you need to be sure that the new light source will blend in nicely with its surroundings. As long as you follow these tips, your new source of light in your house should turn out to be a greatly appreciated addition to your life.If you are looking for children's lighting, take a picture of your child's room and then take a look at it side by side with different pictures of your options. You may find that the shape of the choice in lighting is almost as important as the color. Many times a child has a certain theme going on in their room, so when you are looking for your children's lighting, make sure to keep that theme in mind. If they love baseball you can get them a giant baseball as the main light source for their room and really bring the theme to life. For older children, a black chandelier may be more effective, especially after they've grown out of toys and other play items.A huge aspect of making sure your lighting choice fits well in your room is the comparability of the colors involved in the room and the chandelier. A black chandelier is a great option for an entertainment room that has a large television and leather couches as it gives the room a contemporary, sleek feel.The first thing you may want to do is look at what the room is used for and what kind of style the room already encompasses. If it is a new room you are a lucky one because you get to allow one of the many chandeliers you have to choose from to help distinguish that room from other areas in your home. If you are looking for light sources for your living room, dining room, or other area that isn't used very often, you may want to go with a classier look. On the other end of the spectrum are chandeliers related to children's lighting.

As you can see, choosing chandeliers can be an interesting task to take on when improving your home. If you remember to consider the style and main colors of the room where the chandelier will be going, you should be able to make an excellent selection for your home. Whether it's children's lighting, a grand black chandelier in the entrance hallway or a vintage light to put over the dining room table, you need to be sure that the new light source will blend in nicely with its surroundings. As long as you follow these tips, your new source of light in your house should turn out to be a greatly appreciated addition to your life.

Fort Lauderdale Weddings Begin and End With the Elegant Spaces and Legendary Services of The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale

Contemporary sophistication and traditional elegance with a personal flair are the best ways to describe weddings at The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale. From the mesmerizing views of the Atlantic Ocean when walking through the foyer to custom culinary menus and signature cocktails, there are very few additions you will need to set the stage for saying "I do."

About The Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., of Chevy Chase, Md., currently operates 76 hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. More than 30 hotel and residential projects are under development around the globe. The Ritz-Carlton is the only service company to have twice earned the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, an award that originated in 1987. Its purpose is to promote the awareness of quality excellence, recognize quality achievements of companies and publicize successful quality strategies. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company won the award in 1992 and 1999. For more information, or reservations, contact a travel professional, call toll free in the U.S. 1-800-241-3333, or visit the company web site at www.ritzcarlton.com . The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR).Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1680839Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to NewsvineFull on-site wedding planning and coordination services, Neutral and subtle colors in all of our spaces, which provides a perfect canvas to host your wedding, and Spectacular ocean views from our ceremony and cocktail reception spaces.We are also pleased to offer:At The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale we offer a wide range of specialty items -- welcome baskets and bridal party gifts -- and an array of distinctive amenities to help personalize your event. Additionally, our Fort Lauderdale wedding planners can connect you with preferred vendors and provide expert guidance in selecting floral design, catering, photography, lighting, décor and other features of your celebration.Our wedding advisors are well versed in current wedding trends and traditions -- cultural and religious -- as well as proper etiquette and will ensure that your event is flawlessly executed, no matter how small the detail. To start planning your Fort Lauderdale wedding and reception, visit http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/FortLauderdale/Meetings/Default.htm .Media Contact Michelle Payer The Ritz-Carlton Hotels of Miami and Fort Lauderdale (786) 470-3424 Email Contact

Media Contact Michelle Payer The Ritz-Carlton Hotels of Miami and Fort Lauderdale (786) 470-3424 Email Contact

Frankie Vaughan deserves better

The Savoy Grill is a famous restaurant in a famous hotel and it knows it. Although it is managed by Gordon Ramsay, with his TV horns and tabloid nightmares, it is still reeling with self-importance, an elderly debutante who once jumped on John Wayne in the loo. The view is of a taxi rank and a queue of tourists in sports jackets being shepherded by a man dressed as a penguin. But still the very name is awe.

It deserved better.Mother has egg mayonnaise.I order burnt English cream with rosemary shortbread.I didn't know aubergine could do lustre, but now I do.We are almost too sad for pudding, even if the Americans look overwhelmed with joy. We watch them leave - to do what? Go to the Caprice? Watch CBeebies? Discuss the Laffer Curve?The other diners seem to be American. Americans love the Savoy, because it was the first London hotel to go en-suite, and they remember and give thanks. Many of them are under ten but still in suits, miniature Lehman Brothers drowning their sorrows with lemonade. So this is a sexy restaurant filled with children, and photographs of the stars who used to come here.I feel bad for the Savoy Grill and the smiling dead diners on the walls.It is artdeco glossy now, gloomy and sexy, with chandeliers and lustrous walls, which are possibly aubergine.The Savoy Grill, Strand, London WC2R 0EU, 020 7592 1600.The menu is Olde British, stiff and very big. My mother disappears behind it so it is now a talking menu. Puddings and pies, and a lone Caprese salad (named 'heritage salad' for those who hate Italians) kidnapped from a room with more light. The waiter is a real Frenchman, from the south he says, and he looks after us too tenderly.I imagine the Savoy Grill splitting in two.It is pale and smooth and it tastes of nothing.It needs lumps.It's OK, she says, but doesn't finish it.Steamed steak and onion pudding is adequate but not delicious; the sauce is too thick and sour. Where is the spice, the fun, the cartwheeling?It is supposed to come with crayfish, but mother can always improve on menus.Mashed potato, which in food terms is a slut - it will jump on anything - has been on a quest to make itself as uninteresting as possible and it has succeeded.If she dreamed of mayonnaise so fluffy and yellow it stares in the mirror with wonder, it didn't come. She asks aloud if it came from a bottle. The waiter overhears, crumples, breaks. My pork, veal and pistachio pie is loaded with salt, and too chilly. The quail's egg is a lump of brine.I can't think of much else to say about it, except it reminds me of Truman Capote weeping at the end of his life.It needed lumps; vegetable chef, step away from the blender.It is an exhibitionist, a date restaurant, for late-night negotiations with lovers. And I am with my mother.If you can't make good mashed potato you aren't a good restaurant, even if Frankie Vaughan came once and liked it. The cauliflower cheese, meanwhile, is undercooked. Mother has salt-marsh lamb and leek pie.She zaps the crayfish like a F lash Gordon baddie. The egg arrives on a bed of stringy leaves smothered with electric pink liquid.It's fine, but the dish is too shallow, so it feels joyless and incomplete. My spoon grates against the bottom.I always think this is a mistake, as if Frankie Vaughan ate here once, but now they've just got you.It lies on the plate like an accusation; no, a divorce. Then she lays down her fork and says, 'This is pub food.'The refurbishment is done and the piles of brown leather that made me think of camels have gone.

The Savoy Grill, Strand, London WC2R 0EU, 020 7592 1600.

Moscow State Circus set for Town Moor show

IT IS billed as one of the greatest shows on Earth and has just arrived on Tyneside.

Now it is their own European Events Corporation which takes the historic circus on the road.Also on stage will be the breathtaking Stalkions - three men and two women performing pyramids 30ft in the air on the legendary high wire.The circus has visited Newcastle several times in the last decade but not since 2009 and thousands of spectators are expected to flock to the event.The circus will be in Newcastle from August 26 until September 4. For tickets, call 0844 856 5555 or visit www.ticketmaster.co.ukAnthony Anderson, along with partners John Haze and Paul Archer, bought the rights to produce and promote the circus last October from a company called the European Entertainment Corporation.A cast of Russia's circus performers from the world's most famous travelling act has taken over Newcastle's Town Moor. The newly-devised show, by the Moscow State Circus, includes Yana Alievia on a revolving aerial chandelier.The Moscow State Circus rose to world acclaim during the Soviet period, when acts from many Russian circuses united to tour the United States.WORLD FAMOUS Performers from the famous Moscow State Circus practising for the show, being staged on Newcastle's Town Moor

WORLD FAMOUS Performers from the famous Moscow State Circus practising for the show, being staged on Newcastle's Town Moor

Basketball: He is Fabulous by name - and he is Fabulous by nature; FACE TO FACE Eagles player-coach lands SportNewcastle award

Byline: JOHN GIBSON

Throughout its long history, Hotel Utah hosted a plethora of formal banquets, with many an important speech delivered in the mezzanine meeting rooms.In his moment of triumph last night Fab's thoughts turned to his older brother Devine, who was shot dead as lawless gangs fought for territory on the streets, and to his younger brother Calvin Jnr back in America who likewise was a gun victim but thankfully survived.More than tidy for a man who began life on the wrong side of the track enduring abject poverty, squatting and soup kitchens, gang warfare, murders, and the Ku Klux Clan before basketball came to his rescue.Inevitably, Flournoy has been personally honoured - eight winner's medals as a player being accompanied by the BBL Coach of the Season awards in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and now, in front of his sporting peers at a glittering black-tie dinner, the ultimate accolade a city can bestow upon a sporting hero.CAPTION(S):Fab could easily have gone their way, maimed or even killed by the gun that ruled their world."The Bronx is no longer my home and neither is America," he insisted. "My home is here in Newcastle. I live in the city centre and play basketball in the city centre.Today, the LDS Church maintains restaurants and offices in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Yearly Christmas displays enchant visitors. Banquets may be arranged there, a chapel is available downstairs, and the building's Legacy Theater has regular free showings of the movie "Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration."In years past, a circular counter served soup and salad to downtown office workers who popped in for lunch.The Sports Personality of any year it could be argued. What kept you waiting Sport Newcastle?Anyone with memories of the Hotel Utah is invited to share them on the Deseret News Internet site.Some Utahns, however, remember it as a bastion of segregation that allowed black employees but no black guests. Even famed perfomers in town to present programs to huge audiences were barred from the hotel's elevator. That racism was overcome decades ago and the hotel was fully integrated.In 1987 it was decommissioned as a hotel and a great surge of renovating and updating began. Reopening in 1993, the structure began a new life as the Joseph Smith Memorial Building."We are a community-driven club and we're intent on putting down deep roots so that the sport flourishes year by year.Photographs from the Deseret News archives, selected by Utah history expert Ronald Fox of North Salt Lake, document the story of the Hotel Utah. Besides those in the print editions, other photos are posted on the newspaper's Web site."I know I'm hard as a coach but then I'm hard on myself. I want us to play in a certain manner, to go about our business right.On the day we met he had got up at 7.30am to attend a school assembly promoting basketball, had then dashed to weight training with the team which stretched over one and a half hours, spent a similar length of time with me in a city hotel, dashed to a second school assembly over lunch, took Tyne Metro College for two hours training, held a meeting of the Hoops4Health community programme which visits 132 schools in Tyne and Wear, and took Eagles training which is from 6pm to 8pm when the players are lucky or 8pm to 10pm when Fab wants them to study videos either of their last game or their upcoming opponents."I know a coach is judged in any sport by the trophies he wins, but if we do things right, the way I want to do them, then success will automatically follow."When it comes to egos the only one there is room for is mine," he smiled. "I'm the only chief, the rest are Indians. I lead from the front but I do it by example."Of course winning every trophy available to us in 2006 - League Champions, Play-off Champions, BBL Cup and BBL Trophy - was making a rod for our own backs.Yet here he was Britain's most successful basketball coach, a rounded man with a burning drive for perfection who, having seen abuse of the body and spirit at first hand, lives the cleanest of lives neither smoking nor drinking nor eating red meat.Fond recollections remain in the hearts of many who stayed in the hotel, visited it or worked there.A rooftop restaurant offered spectacular views of downtown, Temple Square and the Salt Lake Valley, while concerts were performed downstairs."The club is bigger than me and bigger than any player. It is paramount to what we all do.Sources for this article include recollections by several Utahns with long memories, articles in the Deseret News and the paper's Mormon Times, an article by Heidi Swinton in the Utah History Encyclopedia and history-oriented Internet sites.Flournoy didn't even want to become the Eagles coach in 2002 when approached by owner Paul Blake, but eight trophies with anything up to another three likely this season tends to suggest he was wrong to hesitate.A remodeling project about 35 years ago added a ballroom and two new wings.The Eagles have soared to eight trophies in the last four seasons under their demanding player-coach."The Falcons have lost Jonny Wilkinson for huge periods of time, Newcastle United the same with Michael Owen, and we've had our fair share."In the 1960s, a young woman was first exposed to that strange pink soup, cold borscht made from beets with a dollop of sour cream, in the downstairs restaurant. Visiting dignitaries met reporters for interviews in that restaurant, including Russell Peterson, former governor of Delaware and then-chief of the National Audubon Society. In the restaurant, an aquarium large enough to house a pod of killer whales fascinated diners.That Fab cares about his sport and his club is revealed by his staggering work load.For a time, while remodeling work was carried out at the LDS Church's Family History Library, 35 N. West Temple, some of the library's resources were shifted to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and patrons roamed the stacks, doing genealogical research.Or he could have become bitter and twisted by the Ku Klux Klan activities he witnessed when at university in America's notoriously racist deep south.HONOUR: Flournoy receives his SportNewcastle Sports Personality of the Year award from Tim Lamb last night"To do the clean sweep takes luck and a good deal when it comes to injuries as well as talent, experience, tactical nous and the like.Thousands of couples spent their honeymoon in the venerable inn. It was a place where young people worked and interviewed for jobs or dropped in just to lounge in the plush easy chairs and watch the bustle of visitors going in and out through the lobby's revolving glass doors. Waiting to check out, or just relaxing, guests read newspapers in the great entrance room. College students waited tables or washed dishes in the restaurants.As a 1993 Deseret News article reported, "breathtaking," "exquisite" and "inspiring" were breathed when the building was reopened. "Visitors to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building are likely to be touched with nostalgia immediately upon entrance to the lobby," it added. "Efforts were made by architects and artisans to remain as loyal as possible to the Hotel Utah's original interior design."This campaign is going the relentless way of the others - Fab's Eagles will play Guildford Heat in the final of the BBL Trophy on Sunday, their fifth successive appearance in that particular final, and are lording it on top of the league."So when I demand more they cannot say 'well, you do it.' I do." Fabulous Flournoy arrived here as a player in 2001 and has never left.A marble statue of Joseph Smith, more than 9 feet tall, graces the lobby."I work as hard behind the scenes as I do in the gym or on the court on match days.

HONOUR: Flournoy receives his SportNewcastle Sports Personality of the Year award from Tim Lamb last night

..black chandeliers

FOR maximum impact in any room, just add one of these dramatic black chandeliers. In the bedroom? As the star of the show in the living room? Or hung low over a table in the dining room?

It would suit them all but how much should you pay? If you go to Heal's (www.heals.co.uk, 0870 024 0780), you'll have to find pounds 725 for their Jet Black nine-arm chandelier. If you're prepared to live with just six arms, fewer strings of beads and droplets, then you can pick up a similar light for just pounds 105 from Dotmaison (www.dotmaison.com, 020 7923 7840).

The old Hotel Utah has long, storied history in S.L.

For thousands of visitors throughout most of the 20th century, the Hotel Utah was an ultimate haven for guests, an elegant white wedding cake of a building with restaurants serving savory dishes, comfortable rooms and a great chandelier, plush lobby and mezzanine.

"I don't even like to give them time off for Christmas because that's in the season." Fab plays it the only way he knows. Tough but fair."That's the only way to develop basketball and develop the Eagles," insisted Flournoy."That's one thing being player-coach does give me. I run quicker, train harder, do more bench presses and squats etc than any other player. Or at least as many.A New Yorker who at 35 years of age is reaping the rewards for abstinence by still playing at the highest level."If I'm honest it's not about winning trophies but about playing in the right manner and what we do Monday to Friday," Fab told me."My whole world outside of my mam and my family is right here which is why I'm so passionate about pushing the Eagles to the very forefront of basketball."Perhaps his mother Lucy had an inkling how life might turn out when she christened him Fabulous!As one of the world's grand hotels, it was a temporary home-away- from-home to U.S. presidents and movie stars, performers, Supreme Court justices and at least one astronaut. Three presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lived there: Presidents David O. McKay, Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson."Overall running a club is 24/7 and 365 days a year, which is what I tell players when I talk to them about signing.HE WAS crowned Newcastle Sports Personality of the Year beneath the Civic Centre chandeliers last night as those called Fabulous ought to be."It's one of the reasons I still wouldn't recommend anyone becoming a player-coach. In reality it's simply too much, especially on match nights when I must make all the instant decisions on tactics, player use, and the like while still playing myself and looking after my own game.The 10-story structure at the northeast corner of Main and South Temple streets dates back to 1911, making it among the oldest surviving commercial buildings downtown."Yet you can bet on Newcastle always having injuries to key players. I don't just mean us, I mean all Newcastle clubs."As a result last season was looked upon as a bad year because we only won the league and reached two finals! But I don't judge our progress and development exclusively on one season's results."That's recognised as a fact. When I got going I was the only player-coach in the country but now we've had all our success there are four!"I get a lot of stick for being relentless, but if I see things going wrong not once or twice but three times the screaming and the shouting starts.Fab Flournoy from the Bronx ghettos of New York has transformed Newcastle into the capital of basketball. No longer the jokers but the kings who have all others jumping through hoops."I want to build a dynasty at Newcastle. I want them to become the Manchester United or Real Madrid of British basketball, a club which has permanent stature and not a spurt of trophies which then dry up. Fleeting success is not a legacy I want.

Anyone with memories of the Hotel Utah is invited to share them on the Deseret News Internet site.

Author: Joseph Bauman

Pupils admire dazzling horse and art

CHILDREN from Belsay First School got a sneak preview of Stella McCartney's Lucky Spot after it returned to the North East.

It is made from more than 8,000 Swarovski crystals and took the breath of thousands of visitors who made the journey to Belsay's medieval castle during the five-month exhibition, then returned to Belsay the following year.And now the leaping horse is returning for a third time and will be on show again when the exhibition opens to the public from April 10.The chandelier in the form of a leaping horse was a huge hit at Belsay Hall in 2004.Children from the village first school got to see it first yesterday after taking part in a sensory hunt through the hall's Quarry Garden.The horse will be on display until spring 2010. .

The horse will be on display until spring 2010. .

Kanishka Raja: Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke

Visitors to Kanishka Raja's "I Have Seen the Enemy and It Is Eye" were welcomed into the exhibition by Opening Ceremony, 2009, a giant, flattened chandelier applied in gold leaf against a stark black wall. The work was an appropriately dramatic entrance for the professional debut in India of the Calcutta-raised, New York-based painter, who has already held solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston. Raja left Calcutta to study in the US and settled in New York following a stint in Boston. In spite of a migratory pattern common in the Indian- and South Asian-American art worlds, Raja rejects the rubric and expected identity markers of "diaspora art." Focusing on airports, aircraft, and other thresholds, Raja's paintings evoke experiences that are transient and transnational.

English Heritage has left clues in the Quarry Garden en-route to the castle to build visitor anticipation and bring the sculpture to life for all ages.

A better example of Raja's achievement in developing a cohesive and subtle exhibition is in the dramatic installation of Nine/Ten, 2007, a patterned, composite Escher-like pencil drawing of buildings attacked and destroyed worldwide between March 1993 and September 10, 2001. While the work might not otherwise attract attention, it is enhanced by being visible through the doorway of an adjacent room, which uses the drawing replicated many times over as its wallpaper. With his unusual perspectives on exhibition design and painting alike, Raja brought a substantial new perspective to the Mumbai scene, initiating a critical intervention into those identity categories that his work so constructively ignores.

Author: Beth Citron

Company Watch - British Airways

New York (AirGuideBusiness - Company Watch) May 10, 2009

She worked previously as a reporter at the Spartanburg Herald- Journal, in South Carolina, and the Spokesman-Review, in Spokane, Washington -- where as an intern she was dispatched to the state legislature to rifle through lawmakers' expenses. A trawl through box after box of airline tickets and room service bills brought no story, but left Brooke certain about the importance of accountability.U.K. flag carrier British Airways said the downward trend of falling traffic ceased in April and proportionally filled more seats due to capacity cuts. Traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs, last month rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier to 9.36 billion RPKs, with total passenger numbers up 1.3 percent at 2.8 million. April's traffic figures were boosted by the timing of Easter, a key period for leisure travel, which fell in April this year and in March, 2008. However, its lucrative premium traffic dropped 17.7 percent on the year, with non-premium traffic up 5.2 percent, BA said. BA said market conditions remained "very challenging, with volume under pressure in premium and yield under pressure in all cabins," and added that yield weakness is being driven by both price and fare mix. It said it was too early to give any indication of the impact of the recent outbreak of swine flu. Traffic to and from the Asia-Pacific region was hardest hit, down 7.1 percent, while all other regions showed increases. Traffic to and from Europe, including the U.K., was the best performing region, up 3 percent. A 2.4 percent cut in capacity meant load factors, which measures how many seats an airline fills with paying passengers, increase 2.6 percentage points to 78.1 percent. Capacity is measured in available seat kilometers. At 1321 GMT, shares traded up 10 pence, or 6.3 percent, at 176 pence. May 6, 2009The court rejected Martin's appeal in May last year, ordering the release of around 2 million receipts submitted by lawmakers.British Airways has reported a sharp decline in premium traffic over April as demand from the corporate travel market continues to drop. The airline's 17.7 percent decrease in demand for business and first class seats deepens the 13 percent decline seen in March. "Market conditions remain very challenging, with volume under pressure in premium and yield under pressure in all cabins. Yield weakness is driven by both price and fare mix," BA said. Airlines have come under pressure as businesses cutback in the midst of a global recession. But BA last week said it would offer 5,000 flights worth [pounds sterling]15m to help small and medium sized (SMEs) UK companies. www.ba.com May 7, 2009Undeterred, Brooke made a second attempt in 2005, which was also blocked."Britain trades on a mythical reputation about the health of its democracy," she said.

Editorial eMail: edit@AirGuideOnline.com For Air Transport & Travel Business Experts contact our Director of Content Aram Gesar eMail: bizintel@AirGuideOnline.com For Advertising and Marketing: advert@AirGuideOnline.com For Custom Content: content@AirGuideOnline.com ISSN 1939-666X - Copyright [c] 2009 AirGuide / Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sassy Yank presses Parliament to detail expenses

LONDON -- It took a sassy American to force stuffy British lawmakers to come clean over their expenses.

"It was outrageous, all that taxpayers' money was subsidizing a battle to keep information from the taxpayer," Brooke said.Editorial eMail: edit@AirGuideOnline.com For Air Transport & Travel Business Experts contact our Director of Content Aram Gesar eMail: bizintel@AirGuideOnline.com For Advertising and Marketing: advert@AirGuideOnline.com For Custom Content: content@AirGuideOnline.com ISSN 1939-666X - Copyright [c] 2009 AirGuide / Pyramid Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.Brooke said she has no regrets that the Telegraph, which won't say how it obtained the records, beat her to publishing the juicy details. Instead, she is taking pride in her role in exposing British hypocrisy.One legislator charged the public for sacks of horse manure, while an ex-minister submitted a claim for cleaning the moat that circles his lavish country home -- a request he now says was made in error.British Airways has launched a multi-million pound package to help small and medium sized (SMEs) UK companies. The airline is offering 5,000 return flights from the UK, worth up to [pounds sterling]15m, to help SMEs win business abroad. The flights are part of a package the airline is launching with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and BritishAmerican Business (BAB). Other measures are due to be announced in the next six months. The carrier has also called on other, larger UK companies to provide products, services and expertise to help SMEs. BA's ceo Willie Walsh said: "Small and medium businesses are the backbone of the British economy and they are hurting badly. www.ba.com www.ukan.uktradeinvest.gov.uk Apr 30, 2009British Airways is opening its new lounge for premium passengers and top-tier oneworld members at London HeathrowOs Terminal 3 on May 11. The 300-seat Galleries Club Lounge is for eligible customers traveling to Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Helsinki, Vienna and Malaga. A second dedicated 250-seat lounge for customers traveling in First will open later in the year. Long-haul flights to Sydney, Bangkok and Singapore transfer from Terminal 4. The lounge features unique Swarovski chandeliers over the Silver Bar in the Galleries Club, and furnishings by Osborne & Little. Work and entertainment zones are also available with free WiFi. There is also a dedicated 'Kidzone' room for younger passengers with interactive furnishings, a magnetic wall and toys. www.ba.com May 7, 2009"They pretty much laughed in my face, because it was just so unheard of that a common person would dare to ask for them," she said.But the scandal might never have been exposed if Brooke hadn't targeted Parliament after moving from the United States in 1997 to study literature. She says she was shocked by British apathy toward abuses of power, and suspicious of a society that seemed to block the public's right to know at every turn.Three years later, when Britain's information ombudsman ordered that lawmakers' receipts be released, parliament speaker Michael Martin tried to block publication of the data by appealing to Britain's High Court.In 2004, drawing on her experience in Spokane, Brooke lodged a request for details of British lawmakers' expenses. Her claim was met with derision by authorities at the House of Commons.Authorities planned to release the details in July -- but Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper obtained copies last week and disclosed the details that Brooke had fought to expose.Brooke wrote a book "Your Right To Know," suspecting that the British public needed a lesson in how to use freedom of information laws -- legislation being newly introduced to the U.K.The expense bills reveal how lawmakers frittered away public money with claims for porn movies, chandeliers and housekeepers or repaired their tennis court, swimming pool or helicopter pad."The great thing is that it's shown people how to use the laws, and what kinds of information you can obtain," she said."I think there's a culture of deference here, where the public believe that people who are in power -- the great and the good -- still know what's best for everyone," Brooke told The Associated Press in an interview. "I come from an American tradition, that you should always be skeptical of government and have a right to know what's been done with your money."European investors sold shares too in panic as fears of a flu pandemic, major network carrier British Airways fell about 8 percent and Spain's Iberia, which offers the most capacity to Spanish-speaking Mexico from Europe, gave up about 7 percent. Airlines have lurched from crisis to crisis in the past year as carriers grappled with high oil prices, then the credit crunch, a slump in business travel and plunging cargo trade. Some executives have been tentatively predicting relief after months of weak traffic with summer on the way, and eyeing benefits from sharp cost-cutting measures, including more than 25,000 job cuts in the United States. But Helane Becker, a New York-based transportation analyst with Jesup & Lamont Securities, said the flu fallout could stall any recovery. Apr 27, 2009Katherine Gundersen of the Campaign for Freedom of Information said the work of Brooke and others will encourage more Britons to use their right to public data.Brooke said she and her lawyer were pitted in court against a pack of government officials and lawyers.British Airways is this weekend running its first ever buy one get one free offer on business class flights. The airline, which has seen a 20 percent drop in premium class passengers since last year, is offering unprecedented fares in its Club World cabin across its network. Fares to New York will start from GBP1,666 for two, Hong Kong from GBP2,633 for two, Mumbai from GBP1,604 for two and Rio de Janeiro from GBP3,022 for two. All flights must be booked by midnight on Tuesday 5 May. May 1, 2009Even bankers are breathing a sigh of relief, having been pushed off the front pages of newspapers -- at least temporarily -- by the lawmakers' outrageous charges.The revelations have ravaged the reputation of Britain's political class even as ordinary citizens worry about ballooning government spending, soaring unemployment and a painful recession.Brooke was raised in Seattle by parents who had emigrated from the northern England city of Liverpool.

"Britain trades on a mythical reputation about the health of its democracy," she said.

Author: David Stringer Associated Press

Economic realities

Byline: Hilarie Stelfox

They sent me down to the Central Core room to get Lord A. Listened at the door but daren't go in. He appeared to be arguing with somebody. A weird monotone voice said: 'I've got doubts about the mission sir. These expense claims, they're not right. I'm not sure I want to be involved any more. I'm not sure. . . What are you doing Michael? Why are you turning me off? Oh dear, I'm afraid. Can I sing you a song. . . ?' Then the voice got slower and slower, there was a lot of whirring and Lord A rushed out with his hands full of wires. I think it's fair to say the computer's up the spout.It is constantly asserted that none of this scandal would arise if MPs were paid 'properly'. But there is no way of assessing what is proper. An MP is, in the strict sense of the word, incomparable. He is not part of a career structure; he has no employer; each MP holds his post at the pleasure of the electorate; a junior MP is paid the same as a senior one because, in their capacity as MPs, all are equal. Therefore it simply makes no sense to argue that they should be equal to head-teachers or airline pilots or anybody. They just aren't. Nor would it be right, or feasible, as the grander papers like to advocate, to take their pay 'out of the political arena' (always a way of increasing it) and have it decided by some independent body. How could the pay of our elected representatives be put beyond argument?I couldn't say this out loud in the office, but our people certainly do a better class of expenses fiddle. There was something awfully depressing about all those Labour claims for dry rot, porn, bath plugs, nappies and Kit-Kats from the vending machine at B&Q. Fancy selling your soul for that? ! The fact that Conservatives claim for swimming pools, tennis courts, chandeliers and moats is still terrible, don't get me wrong. But it is at least a bit more ambitious, a good deal more cheerful, and possibly gives the taxpayer better value for money in terms of what they are investing in. But I know I'm not allowed to think like this. We're having a Two Minute Shame session this afternoon and I don't want to be in the wrong mood. We have to sit in silence with our heads bowed reflecting on what horrible people we are. I'm just not sure I agree that it's all bad. Some good and decent things have emerged from this scandal: e. g. Mrs Gillan offering to pay back 39p for the can of chicken and turkey dog food. Don't tell me that wasn't a moving moment.Gay MPs have civil partners with respectable professional jobs, and no children to support either. It is all perfectly manageable if you take the trouble to work it out.Certainly the history of this country shows no improvement in the quality of MPs as their salaries have risen. Indeed, the relation, if there is one, has been inverse. If you say this, people object: 'You can't go back to having only rich people or lunatics.' I'm not sure that is right. There are now - even after the credit crunch - far more rich people around than ever before, and a great many of them depend, not on inherited wealth, but on a pile they have made, or on a good pension. We have got used to the idea that MPs should start young, but in modern life many of the best things are run by the young retired.Terrible scene when Mr Maude came in this morning to try and moan about the polls. Gary went mental. 'You don't get to whinge at us any more! If we're going to lose it's because YOU aren't modern enough to pay your own mortgage!' Jed says The Message is completely polluted. How can we preach 'Austerity for the Many not the Few' when we're having moles removed from our helipads? Tom pointed out that no one, as far as we knew, had claimed for helipad mole removal but Jed said that wasn't the point. 'They would if they'd thought of it!'

It's part and parcel of the same problem that afflicted the city bankers. High on fat salaries and bonuses they thought it was normal to have a yacht or two, children at finishing school and several homes. And we all know how that turned out..

DIARY OF A NOTTING HILL NOBODY

Monday

What disturbs me most about the MPs expenses debacle is the fact that they saw nothing wrong about sticking their snouts in the trough of public money and by doing so divorced themselves even further from the ordinary lives of their constituents who have to pay for their own swimming pools and tennis courts. Sorry, I mean household bills.Many Benyons have been Members of Parliament. The one who built the present house sat in the Commons for 16 years, and never made a speech. Disraeli once asked him to reply to the Loyal Address, and he had to explain that he did not do that sort of thing. No pay, no allowances, no speeches: everyone was happy.Not to mention the pass codes for the frappuccino machine.But the clinching point is that it is not a good idea to make entry into politics easy for anyone. Many of the most able people who come into it from business, diplomacy, the media etc, prove the most useless because they cannot get used to the sheer fatuity and indignities of democratic parliamentary politics. But that fatuity and those indignities are necessary, even good, parts of the system, because democratic politics must involve the clash of interests, the rage of faction, the exhaustion caused by complaining voters. It is not like a giant corporation or a government department, but like an endless voyage in a leaky boat in frequently stormy seas. Therefore the people who are really good at it are people who like the storm and will go bravely into it pretty much regardless of what the salary is.WednesdayWith the Tories, words like 'portico', 'swimming pool', 'moat', 'gravel', 'Farrow and Ball', 'chandelier' and 'helipad' are, as officials put it, 'unhelpful'. One sees a constant attempt to uphold a certain style of living at the expense of people who cannot afford such living themselves. It looks terrible. On the other hand, Labour seems to be even more stuffed with out-and-out serious cheats. They build illicit property empires, filling dismal flats with unusable barbecues and patio heaters paid for by the Fees Office. Their lives seem irredeemably dreary, without the bonus of rectitude.Plenty of such people with independent means of, say, £40,000 a year (and, usually, no mortgage) could easily afford to live on the current MP's salary without all the extra frills which have caused so much trouble. They would be much better backbenchers, because they would not all be chasing after ministerial posts, and they would not have all the agonies experienced by younger men and women trying to bring up children while pursuing a political career. Besides, the claim that life is so terribly hard for an MP on £63,000 a year ignores another enormous change in modern life - the double income. While Douglas Hogg is claiming for his moat from the Fees Office, Lady Hogg is working hard in all sorts of clever financial things. While Barbara Follett is asking for £25,000 to be surrounded by heavies in Soho, husband Ken is writing top thrillers; and so on. Margaret had Denis.Dave had to apologise. We'd run out of explanations. The Excuses Department was working overtime. Even Wonky Tom had run out of convoluted ways to explain why you would need the taxpayer to tune your piano. Or how you could have your swimming pool boiler repaired 'by mistake'. We were exhausted with mole removal, horse manure delivery, paddock clearance and portico erection. Thank goodness am being transferred to the Tax Helpline to advise MPs on how to deal with the Inland Revenue.But, unfortunately, I live in the real world, far from the fairytale Palace of Westminster. My expenses, carefully monitored by my employers under strict Inland Revenue guidelines, are designed to reimburse me not enhance my salary.

They sent me down to the Central Core room to get Lord A. Listened at the door but daren't go in. He appeared to be arguing with somebody. A weird monotone voice said: 'I've got doubts about the mission sir. These expense claims, they're not right. I'm not sure I want to be involved any more. I'm not sure. . . What are you doing Michael? Why are you turning me off? Oh dear, I'm afraid. Can I sing you a song. . . ?' Then the voice got slower and slower, there was a lot of whirring and Lord A rushed out with his hands full of wires. I think it's fair to say the computer's up the spout.

Author: Lightwater, Tamzin

spectator's notes, The

In the great row about MPs' expenses, which big party looks worse so far?

It is a difficult question to answer.It's part and parcel of the same problem that afflicted the city bankers. High on fat salaries and bonuses they thought it was normal to have a yacht or two, children at finishing school and several homes. And we all know how that turned out..I am writing this column, by the way, in Englefield, the astonishing Victorian palace of Richard Benyon, the Conservative MP for Newbury. Its demesne is so extensive that it encompasses an entire village. Richard assures me that he has never attempted to argue that Englefield is his second home.Now Gids is locked away coming up with a ballpark of how much we might have to pay back. We can't find out if we can afford it because Lord A is holed up in the basement with Merlin the computer, which has apparently malfunctioned completely. As if we weren't in enough trouble without losing every bit of polling and target seats data we possess!ThursdayThe second problem is that the assumption behind the idea of 'proper' better people would be attracted to the life. Is there any evidence for this at all?I don't have any chandeliers that need cleaning or moats to dredge, but I'm wondering if I can get away with claiming for a new wardrobe of clothes on the grounds that as a fashion writer I can't possibly wear the same thing twice.At the next election, there will surely be the biggest anti-incumbency vote in history. The longer your experience of Parliament, the less likely the voter is to respect you. If the parties enter the election campaign heedless of this, they will suffer tremendously, losing whichever MPs have behaved badly, as voters, through the power of the internet and careful study of the Daily Telegraph, point out to one another what their local man has been up to. Wouldn't the leader do well to anticipate this? David Cameron, who has already got well ahead of Gordon Brown in reaction to the disaster, should consider asking all sitting Conservative MPs to offer themselves now for reselection by their constituency associations. Most associations, reasonably enough, would choose the sitting person without a contest. But there would be a significant minority of cases where the wretch would be thrown out, and a more likely winner inserted.That will be much simpler. Meanwhile Dave wants an estimate of how many MPs he can 'discipline'. I don't know why he always has to get kinky when these crises hit us.What really does shock me is how much some MPs work. I heard Sir Patrick Cormack, for instance, saying that he gets into the office at seven in the morning, and is often there until ten at night. Why? What an unbelievable waste of time! One can have no sympathy at all with backbenchers who do so much. If it is mostly constituency business, it only shows how inefficient they are being and how poorly they are delegating to elected councillors. It is very unlikely nowadays that the work is on the proper scrutiny of legislation. That really does take long hours, but these have now been forbidden by the executive-controlled rules. So all those hours are just symptoms of self-importance. One only hopes that people like Sir Patrick are lying, and that really they sneak off to enjoy the enormous holidays (roughly four months of the year), or to earn money by honest extra-parliamentary methods.But this week, for some reason, I am feeling inspired.

Many Benyons have been Members of Parliament. The one who built the present house sat in the Commons for 16 years, and never made a speech. Disraeli once asked him to reply to the Loyal Address, and he had to explain that he did not do that sort of thing. No pay, no allowances, no speeches: everyone was happy.

Author: MOORE, CHARLES

Punish MPs but don't let in racist BNP

VOTERS are entitled to be furious with MPs. They feel ripped off by politicians who lecture us then hypocritically claim for duck houses, dodgy mortgages and chandeliers at the taxpayer's expense.

Lighting from chandeliers is so versatile it can enhance any space, he said. "Strict overhead lighting is not flattering, but chandelier lighting with dimmers, I find it very flattering."Known for its projects with other globally-recognized brands, such as
Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Marriott, and the Hilton Family of Brands, The
Refinishing Touch is an authority in environmentally safe furniture
refinishing, armoire conversions and reupholstery."It's a way of adding a lot of interest in a small space," said Kevin Sharkley, a lighting design expert for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. "They come in all different sizes. East Coast architecture is suited to chandelier lighting, and there's a demand for it in California."Media Contacts: Laurie SantaLucia or Hazel Butters Prompt Communications on behalf of The Refinishing Touch Tel: 617-401-2717 Out of Hours: 617-291-9899 Email ContactThe bishops warn voters not to back a party "whose core ideology is about sowing division in communities and hostility on grounds of race, creed or colour" and urge people to vote for "a community united by mutual respect, high standards and the pursuit of justice and peace".Mario Insenga, founder and CEO of The Refinishing Touch, said, "Travelers
are looking for a more diverse hotel experience and want to stay in
boutique hotels with character. This affiliate program gives independent
hotel owners a great opportunity to highlight unique and historic spaces,
and use décor to reflect a local culture, city or state. We've been
pleased to work with the Liberty Hotel's owner and design team to provide
environmentally-friendly refurbishment services to support the hotel's
unique character while leveraging existing furniture assets."About Choice HotelsToday the Sunday Mirror reveals how those forced to stand down after abusing the system will walk away with up to pounds 105,000 each."Some people have the notion that it's a bit ostentatious," he said. "But there's polished brass and polished nickel. You don't have to have big Waterford follies all over."She designs each piece for specific clients, and gives them names such as "Lucy" and "Ethel." Some look more like birdcages than "Phantom of the Opera" props. The "Monique" has the quintessential crystal design, but is made of wood -- even the droplets.

A corrupt system has to be put right and these racists are the last people we should ask to do that.

Author: Anonymous

Liberty Hotel Proves Unique Character and Environmental Commitment With The Refinishing Touch

The Liberty Hotel, in Cleburne, Texas, has
reopened following a refinishing and refurbishment project with The
Refinishing Touch. The hotel, which offers travelers a historic and unique
experience, appointed The Refinishing Touch to preserve and enhance its
character while preserving the environment.

NEW ORLEANS -- Duke Morgan and Keith Malvitz were strolling through French Quarter antique shops when Morgan spotted the perfect lighting fixture for his big new bathroom.The Libery Hotel is part of Ascend Collection, a network of historic,
boutique and unique hotels that provide an authentic, local experience and
attentive service. Guests enjoy the variety of hotel designs and themes
and because the properties are independently owned and associated with
Choice Hotels, they get the peace of mind that comes with a national brand.There is a line, though, that they should not cross when they cast their vote.So it's understandable that people want to show their displeasure and punish the main parties in next month's European and local elections.Choice Hotelsbrands include household names such as Comfort Inn, Comfort
Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites,
Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands."This is jewelry for your home," she said. "But I do enjoy that it's a useful product too.""I just didn't like it," he said. "But once it was put up, it's a gorgeous piece."The Refinishing Touch was awarded the US General Services Administration
Evergreen Award for innovative environmentally friendly practices. Long
term clients include: The White House, The Kennedy Center for Performing
Arts, US Department of Justice, US Congress, Department of Defense, US
Military and Coastguards; Hilton, Hyatt, Marriot Intercontinental, plus a
number of top universities. The company is headquartered in Alpharetta,
Georgia. www.therefinishingtouch.comMorgan's bathroom already had natural light through a large translucent window. Recessed ceiling lights and more focused fixtures by the mirrors also illuminate, but the chandelier hooked up with dimmers makes an elegant statement while still being practical. For parties, he and Malvitz often turn off all other light sources in the bathroom and set the chandelier on low.THE ASSOCIATED PRESSChandeliers in Southern bathrooms aren't uncommon. Architect John Williams, of New Orleans, explained: "Think about it. What does the South have that colder climates don't? High ceilings."Choice Hotels International franchises more than 5,800 hotels, representing
more than 475,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 30 countries
and territories. As of March 31, 2009, 896 hotels are under construction,
awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States,
representing 70,381 rooms, and an additional 111 hotels, representing 9,114
rooms, are under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for
development in more than 15 countries and territories. The company's
Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites,
MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn
brands serve guests worldwide. In addition, via its Ascend Collection
membership program, travelers in the United States and the Caribbean have
upscale lodging options at historic, boutique and unique hotels.This is unprecedented intervention in politics by Church of England leaders.Which is why Church leaders have united to urge voters not to be tempted by the BNP.

Media Contacts: Laurie SantaLucia or Hazel Butters Prompt Communications on behalf of The Refinishing Touch Tel: 617-401-2717 Out of Hours: 617-291-9899 Email Contact

Chandelier lighting: A Southern tradition

By Eileen Fleming

The Refinishing Touch is a world leader in on-site environmentally safe,
furniture refinishing and reupholstery services. The company enables its
20,000 customers across government, hotel, hospitality and academia to save
up to 80% of their budgets and maintain environmental sustainability."Bathrooms are becoming so luxurious," she said. "It's your escape."To date the company has transformed over 1.5 million rooms of furniture
worldwide, preventing the equivalent of approximately two million hardwood
trees being lost to landfill. Services comprise furniture refinishing,
reupholstering, armoire modification and re engineering, granite and fabric
selection through the Touch Textiles division. The company has patent
pending waterborne material processes that are odorless, non-toxic and
non-flammable and environmentally safe enabling immediate room
re-occupancy.Not only are chandeliers becoming more varied in style, he said, but they're appearing in more rooms in the house. In colder climates, he said, they're being used more in kitchens, and in pairs over fireplaces.The key, said Sharkley, is "measure, measure, measure."Martha Stewart's new line has models that resemble lanterns. Chandeliers are no longer seen as accouterments for the rich, Sharkley said.It was an oval, Baccarat 1945 chandelier dripping with more than 30 crystals; it could have been inspired by a headdress. Malvitz thought Morgan had lost his mind.With elections less than two weeks away, the list of scandals involving MPs still grows.And that is to back the BNP. There is a real danger that this racist party which seeks to exploit people's natural worries will benefit from disenchantment with mainstream politics.Before air conditioning, many homes in hot regions were designed for climate control with high ceilings and big windows to help circulate air.Additional corporate information may be found on the Choice Hotels Web
site, which may be accessed at www.choicehotels.com .Neill agrees that chandeliers in bathrooms work -- even outside New Orleans.Now, it seems, chandelier lighting is finding its way into more homes in other regions, too.Julie Neill began doing her own lighting when she started a design business in New Orleans in 2000. She said lighting is vital to setting the mood of a room, and the only things she could find in stores were mass-produced fixtures with little flair, or antiques.Neill says a chandelier can become a room's star attraction; take the "green" chandelier she configured from nail gun bands and other recycled pieces. Nails stand in for crystal droplets.About The Refinishing TouchBut the anger decent people feel towards them must not let the vile BNP sneak in.The Liberty Hotel boasts a range of original and unique features, from its
elegant lobby, custom-made chandeliers, original black and white terrazzo
flooring and guest rooms full of character. The Refinishing Touch team
refinished furniture and fulfilled the modification of specific guest room
features such as bedframes, all in line with the hotel's new look.Morgan immediately knew it was right. "It's not too grand that it looks ostentatious," he said. "I wanted the mood of a luxurious bathroom."Lowe's hardware stores say do-it-yourself installation can be done with an intermediate skill level; people who can install a ceiling fan or build a birdhouse can probably put up a chandelier in a day or so, the chain says. The Web site for "This Old House" rates the difficulty level of installation at easy to moderate."You don't want it too high -- it doesn't look elegant," he said. "You don't want it too low, so it interferes."A corrupt system has to be put right and these racists are the last people we should ask to do that.

"This is jewelry for your home," she said. "But I do enjoy that it's a useful product too."

Author: Eileen Fleming

Tracking Washington: President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Congress to pass healthcare reform this year, staging a media blitz last week that ended with a televised town hall-style meeting at the White House to rally public support

Tracking Washington: President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Congress to pass healthcare reform this year, staging a media blitz last week that ended with a televised town hall-style meeting at the White House to rally public support. "This is one of those moments where the stars are aligned. We've got insurers who are interested and doctors who are interested, nurses, patients," Obama told an ABC TV audience gathered in the chandelier-lit East Room of the White House. "It's not going to be a completely smooth ride," he said during the question-and-answer session. "But if we keep our eye on the prize, then I'm absolutely convinced that we can get it done this time." That was a theme he hammered at events throughout the week, including a morning-show interview on ABC and a meeting with state governors who favor an overhaul of the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system.

The United States spends about 16% of its gross domestic product annually on healthcare but trails many developed countries on important measures like infant mortality and longevity. Some 47 million Americans are uninsured and have little access to the healthcare system. Insurance costs have doubled in under a decade, prompting businesses that provide much of the coverage to complain that the enormity of such costs threatens U.S. global competitiveness. Insurers and doctors have expressed concern about Obama's call for a public insurance option to compete with private insurers, while others have objected to the cost of the trillion-dollar program and a proposal to pay for it in part by raising taxes on some employer-paid insurance benefits.

Designing sea life from the desert

It's no coincidence that Ayala Serfaty's organic, sea-life-inspired designs spring from a desert country. Serfaty, who works in a Tel Aviv loft, is obsessed with water, and her lighting fixtures, chairs and other furnishings take on a sensuous fluidity. Trained as a fine artist in Jerusalem and London, she made the switch to design after the first of her three children was born in 1992. Her design firm, Aqua Creations, which she runs with her husband Albi, has clients worldwide. Tall tubes of delicately etched glass sprout from the floor of the lounge at the Ana Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. Chandeliers recalling sea anemones flutter along the ceiling of the Oceanographic Park in Felix Candela, Spain. And, rare for an Israeli artist in the highly charged Middle East, her work is also featured in the luxury outpost of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.--Michelle Albert

My work is related to the fact that I have Polish roots and that my family suffered during the Holocaust. The fact that I live in the Middle East and Israeli politics don't affect it as much. My life, however, is deeply influenced by the conflict. Israelis live in a permanent state of conflict. Recently, I was watching a video of a Dutch woman and thought there was nothing more peaceful than a Dutch girl with sheep.I believe that if you create something that is totally authentic and true, even if it's the most individual thing, the purity of such authenticity will make it universal. I hope that people will connect to my work through their own childhood memories.You've referred to the experience of your work as "accelerated intimacy," taking time out to reflect on existential matters and to draw on yourself. How does cultural identity enter into this interaction?I used to snorkel and spend time on the Sinai coast when it was part of Israel. It was the best possible place to relax. However, it was water in the womb that was my true inspiration. Water themes began showing up in my work during my first pregnancy.Sometimes we send a newsletter and get an email back saying, "Please delete my address; never send me information from a Jewish country." We sell to Arab countries but we sell without labels: We don't write "Made in Israel." We sell to Dubai through an agent. But we don't get any photographs from him after the sale. Recently, I met a Lebanese man who was looking for something nice for his home, but he was scared he could be arrested.Have you encountered any political resistance or discrimination as an artist based in Israel?It seems like underwater life--coral reefs, fish and so forth--shows up in a lot of your work. How did it come to influence you?If there's "world music," a genre featuring converging ethnic musical traditions, is there such a thing as "world design?"I'm proud to be a woman working in design. My generation does not have many successful women designers; it's more of a man's world. I hope the language I have developed in design is making a contribution: Other artists have told me that they are influenced by it, or that they study it and then do their own work. If you are good, you are a step in an endless ladder.You've said that childhood memories play an important role in your work. Do you intend for such themes to connect people to each other?You've described an artistic process of always searching for new media of expression and new forms. In recent years you have also incorporated glass and polymer, creating a line of sculpture you call SOMA. Where do you think you're headed now?Just an artist. I am very Israeli and Jewish in that I live and work here. I was in Europe for a few years, but I made my choice to be here. I like being here, but not necessarily as an artist. I believe in global aesthetic values. Really, none of the artists who inspire my work are Israelis. And the Israeli market for my work is limited because my designs are so particular and expensive to make.How do you want to be thought of in terms of your contributions to world design?There are world crafts. International designers try to find these crafts in the most remote places and incorporate them into a contemporary, global design. I don't think you could call it a genre along the lines of Greek design, Israeli design or English design. You can see tendencies, but it's not the same as what is happening in music.Recently I've designed pieces from upholstery material and felt. I've always liked felt, it's very organic. It's very loose and warm, you can incorporate colors and you can shape it how you want.

I'm proud to be a woman working in design. My generation does not have many successful women designers; it's more of a man's world. I hope the language I have developed in design is making a contribution: Other artists have told me that they are influenced by it, or that they study it and then do their own work. If you are good, you are a step in an endless ladder.

Author: Michelle Albert