Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
We've run out of candy...
Bear Dance
I saw a poster of this scene last year and really liked it. When I returned to purchase it the store had vapourized. I searched the internet for it to no avail. Now lo and behold it has appeared on John's wonderful blog!
Via Uncertain Times
More about this painting: This undated painting by William Holbrook Beard (1824-1900) depicts an exclusive party of bears dancing to a dip in the stockmarket in a forest clearing. This is one of the most popular paintings in the New York Historical Society's collection. It was told that a reproduction of it hangs in the nurseries of many babies born to those who work on Wall Street. But junior needn't know about the bulls and bears just yet -- like many viewers, small children might mistake this scene for a teddy bear picnic. This painting is also known as The Bears of Wall Street Celebrating a Drop in the Stock Market and The Wall Street Jubilee.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Birds on the Wires
Jarbas Agnelli took a picture of birds sitting on electric wires and designed a song using the birds as notes and the wires are the scale.
Via Transbuddha
Via Transbuddha
How Much People Pay for Health Care Around the World
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
In art the big birthday today is that of Francis...
I recently saw a Bacon exhibit at the Met. It gave me an appreciation of the artist that I hadn't experienced before.
Via Ordinary finds
The Story Behind the Grieving Chimps
On September 23, 2008, Dorothy, a female chimpanzee in her late 40s, died of congestive heart failure. A maternal and beloved figure, Dorothy spent eight years at Cameroon’s Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, which houses and rehabilitates chimps victimized by habitat loss and the illegal African bushmeat trade.
After a hunter killed her mother, Dorothy was sold as a “mascot” to an amusement park in Cameroon. For the next 25 years, she was tethered to the ground by a chain around her neck, taunted, teased, and taught to drink beer and smoke cigarettes for sport. In May 2000, Dorothy—obese from poor diet and lack of exercise—was rescued and relocated along with ten other primates. As her health improved, her deep kindness surfaced. Read the story at NGM Blog Central
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Little King
The other day while rooting through the detritus that fills our house Mr. Nag unearthed an Eddie Bauer down bathrobe he'd bought for me years ago when I was pregnant. He once made the off-handed comment that I resembled The Little King when I wore it. After hearing that remark I stored it in an old suitcase and forgot about it.
I'm wearing it right now; apparently Iooking like The Little King is no longer such a bad thing.
MARCHING ALONG (1933) The Little King
I'm wearing it right now; apparently Iooking like The Little King is no longer such a bad thing.
MARCHING ALONG (1933) The Little King
Monday, October 26, 2009
AA Gill is an asshole
Animal welfare groups voiced outrage today after the restaurant critic AA Gill said he shot a baboon on safari 'to get a sense of what it would be like to kill someone'.
In a Sunday Times column, Gill recounted in detail how he shot the creature from 250 yards while hunting in 'a truck full of guns and other blokes' in Tanzania. He said he felt the urge to be 'a recreational primate killer' before shooting the animal through the lung.
Good Night and Tough Luck
I have been trying to sleep with an insomniac for thirty years. I feel this guy's pain.
"Getting a good night’s sleep is actually a lot more complicated than one would think."Via
Dead Man's Bones
"This staggering new video from Californian band Dead Man’s Bones is probably more comfortable being referred to as a short film. The band (made up of actor Ryan Gosling and Zach Sheilds) employed the help of artist and mechanical wizard Arthur Ganson to create the star of the show – a walking wishbone. The track is appropriately a little more sombre and brooding than the rest of their music, and the seven minutes are a masterpiece."
Via It’s Nice That
Saturday, October 24, 2009
LA PRINCESSE HÉLÈNE DE YOUGOSLAVIE PRÉSENTE MR.CHAT
I would really like to see this show featuring my favourite chat. His cheery little face pops up all over Paris and I have taken lots of pictures of him.
Below are a couple of my photos of the little guy.
Link to the Galerie Pierre CardinLe cadre de mon travail est la ville, ses rues, ses murs, et le regard de ceux qui l’habitent. J’utilise la rue et l’environnement public comme une toile, cherchant à proposer aux passants des fenêtres imaginatives et colorées. Je marque mes parcours, ceux que j’imagine naturels et poétiques dans l’espace urbain. Je cherche à créer des supports à la narration de la ville pour ses habitants, participant à la naissance et à l’échange d’une culture de proximité. Il s’agit avant tout de rendre « beau » mon environnement quotidien en utilisant les moyens que je prends, ou que l’on me donne -Thomas VUILLE
Below are a couple of my photos of the little guy.
‘The Little Prince’ in Sao Paulo
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, has been turned into an interactive exhibit that opens today at the Oca Pavilion in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
It plays out like chapters in the book–with a plane ticket given to patrons upon entrance and each subsequent stop represented by events and characters the Little Prince encounters on his adventures.
See more of The Little Prince’ in Sao Paulo
The Velvet Underground: A New York Art
The Velvet Underground's association with Andy Warhol is well documented; perhaps what is less well known is the art that was actually made to promote the band's gigs and albums during the mid-to-late 60s. A new book documents the rise of their decidedly New York art...
New from Rizzoli books, The Velvet Underground: A New York Art (edited by Johan Kugelberg) collects together a wealth of early photography of the band, alongside a wonderful archive of posters and flyers.
Via Creative Review
San Francisco 1958
San Francisco 1958 from Jeff Altman on Vimeo.
San Francisco 1958 on Vimeo
Jeff Altman took some of his grandfather's 16mm Kodachrome home movies and made some really nice HD transfers out of them. A reel labeled 'Alameda 1958' happened to feature quite a few urban scenes set in San Francisco.
Via
Friday, October 23, 2009
The Lima Series
Carlos Jiménez Cahua's haunting photos of Lima, Peru
Via
I photographed the landscape of Lima with varying degrees of man's development present. Lima is a desert, but despite this, it has one of the largest populations of any city, and it's growing too rapidly, so much so that people are forced to make their home anywhere they can, yielding pueblos jóvenes, or young towns, in areas that were previously completely undeveloped. Yet because it's a desert, there where they develop, there is no removal of trees or brush, they make their home upon the raw earth itself. For the people of Lima, this makes their relationship to the land both more intimate and humbling than usual, particularly when compared to their first-world contemporaries.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Magpies 'feel grief and hold funerals'
Biosphere Farming
This kitchen skyscraper’s concept development is to explore the possibility of growing at least part of one’s daily calorific requirement at home, as explained by Philips. Using the synergies between fish, plants, vegetables and algae, the Biosphere home farm has been designed to stand up right, not only to minimize the amount of floor space required (great for small apartments or tiny kitchens) but to also enable the stacking of the various mini eco-systems to ease the flow of nutrients from one level to the next. Not only will this mini-at-home-farming system produce natural foods such as lettuce, cucumbers, spices and shellfish, the ability for it to operate without electricity using only water, organic waste and the sun’s energy to power up should also bring much appeal.Vidafine » Philips Design Probe-Biosphere Farming
Via
There's No Recovery Here
Big Finance may be breathing a sigh of relief these days, but what about the rest of the country? With foreclosures at a record high and the national unemployment rate at 9.8 percent, I went to talk with some of the people still waiting for their recovery, their bailout, at a massive homeowner relief event in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mother Jones
Left vs Right
"A concept-map exploring the Left vs Right political spectrum. A collaboration between David McCandless and information artist Stefanie Posavec, taken from my book The Visual Miscellaneum (out Nov 10th)."Via
MANHATTAN STREET CORNERS
A surprisingly engaging collection of photos of street corners - 11,000 of them!
Via
Richard Howe - THE MANHATTAN STREET CORNERS
"Manhattan’s street corners are our village squares. Almost anything that takes us out into the public space of our neighborhoods will take us to or through at least one street corner. Street corners are where we go whenever we go out to buy groceries, do laundry, see a movie, go to church, catch a bus, eat out, visit a friend, get a paper, go to school, get a haircut, find a taxi, have our nails done, go to work, take a walk, come back home. Jane Jacob’s human comedy of the urban street reaches its pinnacle on Manhattan’s street corners."
Above is the building in Chelsea where we rented an apartment recently.
Via
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Pictures From Wonderland
These photographs are absolutely beautiful.
"Cade Martin just recently collaborated with Design Army and the Washington Ballet to create a one-of-a-kind book commemorating Septime Webre's 10th year as the dance company's artistic director. With over fifty dancers performing in locations throughout Washington D.C., the commemorative book is a truly unique blend of art and fashion. It is aptly titled Wonderland."Via My Modern Metropolis
I'd recognize you anywhere - unless you shaved your eyebrows
No eyebrows = you’re less recognizable « Love, Sex, Attraction…and ScienceVia
"The study: Volunteers were asked to identify fifty famous faces, including that of former U.S. president Richard Nixon and actor Winona Ryder. The photos were digitally altered and shown either without eyebrows or without eyes. When celebrities lacked eyes, subjects could recognize them nearly 60 percent of the time. However, when celebrities lacked eyebrows, subjects recognized them only 46 percent of time."
Grocery Store Musical by Improv Everywhere
Nothing this exciting ever happens at the Valumart. Maybe I should make it happen.
Grocery Store Musical by Improv Everywhere
Grocery Store Musical by Improv Everywhere
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Project71 Dog Beds
"Robin Arouty devotes endless hours to the Houston shelter, BARC, and now has created a program to help dogs on a national scale. It's called Project71 and it's based on the finding that within the first 72 hours of an animal entering a shelter it will either:
1) be united with their owner
2) enter an adoption program
3) be euthanized
...so the first 71 hours are their most crucial. Robin designed these beds to comfort the dogs while volunteers like her work at reuniting or placing rescue dogs. To contribute to this amazing project you can purchase a bed for your own pup and know that all the proceeds go to animal rescues."
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Falcon
The Falcon, by The Shamptonian Institute is a wonderful short using misc metal and plastic parts from everyday items.
The Falcon from The Shamptonian Institute on Vimeo.
Via
A Nine Iron Saved My Life
I'm not a golfer so I never realized the risks they take every time they set foot on the green. This was a real eye opener and my heart goes out to them.
Most golfers know that they take their lives into their hands every time they tee off. And many have died in the pursuit of the perfect round. But, while stories of catastrophe abound, a responsible golfer can learn invaluable lessons from those who have gone before.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
A better way to learn language
It's easier to learn with sex, drugs, and fucking swearing.
See lots more at the fucking word of the day
Via Astatine
Turbid \TUR-bid\ , adjective:
1. Muddy; thick with or as if with roiled sediment; not clear; — used of liquids of any kind.
2. Thick; dense; dark; — used of clouds, air, fog, smoke, etc.
3. Disturbed; confused; disordered.
ex.
Hey shithead, change the fucking bong water, it’s turbid.
See lots more at the fucking word of the day
Via Astatine
Saturday, October 17, 2009
100 Facts About Pandas
For example, did you know that if a panda gets struck by lightning, its black hair turns white and its white hair black?
Another fact revealed by the book is that at the height of the cold war, American Special Forces deployed six robot pandas equipped with advanced surveillance equipment into the forest of eastern China to spy on rural military bases.
More at Creative Review
Jell-O and the Kewpies
This pamphlet, published in 1915, begins with an earnest introduction of the Kewpies. They are “cheery little imps, who are always doing something to lighten tasks and brighten the dull spots in life, to make the easy Jell-O way still plainer and easier” (emphasis added). Jell-O was selling a lifestyle, not just a dessert. They were also, just to be safe, attacking other desserts: “Twenty years ago everybody ate pie and nearly everybody had dyspepsia…. Now there is scarcely a housewife in America who does not make and serve Jell-O desserts, and stomach-ache is not so common as it used to be.” Jell-O was easily molded *and* cured stomach ailments–a wonder dessert!Via
Swinging 60s at the National Portrait Gallery
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