The moose walked over and presented its antlers, as if it were asking for help.
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
In 1965 a scientist claimed the moon was plasma
Mr Foster claimed that once his ‘profound and decisive’ investigations were proven, a complete re-investigation of the laws of nature would be necessary. (They were not proven)
Cinta Vidal’s Oil Paintings
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| Cinta Vidal “Eames”(2023) Oil on canvas |
Cohabit, a pop up exhibition (Oct 18-21) of interiors by Cinta Vidal, explored the ways we interact within architecture.
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| Cinta Vidal “Hotel” (2023) Oil on canvas |
I’m intrigued by the relationship that people establish between themselves and their immediate surroundings, and now I’m zooming in to find out what’s going on in there - Vidal
via Colossal
Making Contact Lenses in 1948
The idea behind contact lenses dates all the way back to Leonardo da Vinci but it wasn’t until 1948 that a smaller lens that only covered the cornea was developed. This allowed people to wear lenses for longer periods of time.
Monday, October 30, 2023
Le Fétiche (the Mascot) In The Devil’s Ball
This animated short from pioneering stop-motion storyteller Władysław Starewicz from 1933 had many of the original segments missing but the film has been digitally restored and has used AI to help fill in the gaps.
Affairs of the Art
This NFB animated short film by Joanna Quinn tells the story of an eccentric family with some weird addictions.
(Sent to me by longtime blog buddy Hanan)
Skeleton Makes Tiny Pizza
Half and Half
A few years ago Makeup Artist Of the Year winner, Sarah Laidlaw, started a trend when when she made up just one side of model Indiah Lavers' face to show the difference a touch of foundation and lipstick can make to a woman's complexion.
Moon Sizes
A comparison of the relative sizes of the natural satellites orbiting around planets in our solar system.
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Season Of The Witch
Very Halloweeny. Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger & Trinity: Season of the Witch- Live. It was a favourite of mine when it came out. I haven’t had a turntable in decades and finally parted with the album recently (along with many others).
Sunday Links
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| Woman-Ochre - Willem de Kooning |
Private Collection Did a retired New York speech pathologist and her husband, a former schoolteacher, steal a $160 million painting (image above) and keep it for their own enjoyment for more than thirty years? (NYT Link)
The Sandown Clown Extra-terrestrial or folie à deux? (via Things Magazine)
Dave Hickey on Dolly Parton - a lovely bit of writing.
Can You Name the World’s Five Largest Islands? I could not.
A pair of Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian homes in a Kalamazoo neighbourhood conceived by the architect are on the market. Anyone want to go halfsies with me?
The Silent Treatment: Solitary confinement’s unlikely origins.
Broken Zipper? France Will Pay to Get It Fixed Cheap, disposable clothing is causing an environmental disaster and billions of dollars are lost each year because of under-wearing and failure to recycle clothes. (via Things Magazine)
Historic England is creating an online map of ghost signs I love these faded beauties.
Sleep well my love - Letters of Note Stationed in North Africa, two soldiers met, fell in love, and imagined one day returning home together. Sadly, that never happened—only Brian made the journey. He wrote this love letter long after leaving the war.
Father & Son Build their Dream Log Cabin in the Canadian Wilderness (without a single cuss word) The Outsider Channel has more videos about completing the interior. Thanks Bruce!
More Zombie Icons than you can shake a stick at. And they’re free! via my blog sister everlasting blort.
The evening gown-clad women of Soft-Weve
Are you worried that bugs might crawl into your ears when you’re sleeping? Wearing these Ear Guards might alleviate that concern. (Moving to a place that isn’t infested with bugs is another solution.)
Elevate your wardrobe with the Keyboard Puffer Jacket.
An Egyptologist partially mummified herself to find out what recently deceased ancient Egyptians actually smelled like. The embalming fragrance smelled disturbingly delicious.
The owners of iconic Lahaina eatery Cheeseburgers In Paradise have decided to call it quits in the wake of the recent wildfire.
Does a police officer have the right to search your car if you don't laugh when he asks you if you have any "firearms, drugs, cats, dogs, alligators, and weapons" in your car? Find the answer here
No thanks, I’m afraid of heights.
Experts predict the number of people living with dementia will more than double by the year 2050. People in charge of dementia care are looking to places like The Hogeweyk in the Netherlands, where people with dementia can live as normally as possible, until the very end, as a model for how to do things differently. Read more
Take a walk through the Woods Of Despair, best watched alone in the dark on Halloween. (repost)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
The Black Gold Tapestry
The Black Gold Tapestry is 67 metres of wonderment by visual artist and embroiderist Sandra M Sawatzky that tells the story of oil from the age of dinosaurs to our utter dependence on fossil fuels. Inspired by the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry, it took nine years to complete.
Friday, October 27, 2023
An Autumnal Hazard
Ignore their piteous pleas to come in. Keep your frozen pumpkins outside where they belong.
Cell Worlds (2022)
This amazing project by the Explorers collective takes us on a tour of the ‘strangers housed in each and every one of us’.
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Internet Artifacts
I check neal.fun regularly for some new internet wonderment. Today my patience was rewarded with this excellent timeline. The first spam email, Les Horribles Cernettes, PizzaNet, the first Amazon order and more…
Gorgeous Mushrooms
These watercolour illustrations of mushrooms by amateur mycologist Hans Walty were the go-to reference on mushroom identification in the 1940s through the 70s “especially in Switzerland.”
Images: Wikimedia Commons
See more: Kottke
The Sidewalk Artist
A documentary film crew follows Juan Manuel Portillo, a contractor who leaves his mark on concrete sites throughout a North Texas town. Mock or not? Read the Q and A with directors David Velez and Brandon Rivera after you watch the film.
The Sidewalk Artist from WATCHALE on Vimeo.
Living The Dream - Hope Is The Last Thing To Die
In this musical animation by Ben Meinhardt a young man remains cheerful despite setbacks as he makes his way in today's world.
The Story of a Woman Hollywood Tried to Forget
The Story of a Woman Hollywood Tried to Forget Aurora’s Sunrise (2022) arrives on PBS just a month after the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, and the timing could not be more chilling.
Aurora’s Sunrise, directed by Inna Sahakyan, premiered on PBS’s POV on October 23 and is available for streaming on all PBS platforms until January 24, 2024.
At 14, Aurora Madriganian survived the Armenian Genocide and escaped to New York, where her story became a media sensation. Her newfound fame led to her starring in Auction of Souls, one of Hollywood's earliest blockbusters. Blending storybook animation, video testimony, and rediscovered footage from her lost silent epic, Aurora's Sunrise revives her forgotten story.
Here’s the trailer:
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Artwork Of The Day
Something autumnal from Group of Seven artist, Lawren Harris.
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| Lawren Harris, Northern Lake, 1923, oil on canvas |
Killers Of The Flower Moon - Trailer
This film by Martin Scorsese is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation.
News Item Of The Day: Brownies Gone Wild
This brutish pair of nine year olds were not taking no for an answer when told there was no more ice cream.
Link
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| Bristol Evening Post - Feb 1, 1978 |
Life Is A Particle Time Is A Wave
Harrods’ £28 Sandwich
If Harrods served these foods on a plate alongside some rocket and braised onions, the price would not make the news. But it is serving them in a sandwich. There’s nothing like putting stuff in bread to get British people riled.
That’s $46.72CAD! Is it worth the price? It depends on who you ask. A person on social assistance in Toronto receives $343 per month for food, clothing and personal needs. That sandwich would eat up 13.5% of that part of their monthly budget.
All that aside, the truffle butter was apparently too much even without the mushrooms and left the reviewer feeling a bit sick.
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| Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian |
All that aside, the truffle butter was apparently too much even without the mushrooms and left the reviewer feeling a bit sick.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Stop Making Sense
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| Jared Cowan/American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre (2023) |
A few nights ago we went to see the 40th anniversary restored version of the best concert film of all time (in St. Catharines, not at the Aero Theatre). It's held up better than I have.
While I’m in the groove I’m going to read Remain In Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina by the band’s drummer, Chris Frantz.
Ghost Crafting
Feeling crafty? Just in time for Halloween craft blogger Debbie Chapman demonstrates how to make cheesecloth ghosts and ghostly tea lights.
Who ya gonna call? Mythical discipline enforcers in (almost) every country
Sometimes kids are naughty and parents have to outsource discipline. Who do they call for help? It all depends on what country they live in. Apparently when it comes to enforcement many parents like to keep it local.
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| Click here for larger image |
I grew up in Quebec where, according to TheToyZone, badly behaved children were threatened with Bonhomme Sept Heures, a mean looking man with a sack and a watch who would carry children away if they weren’t in bed by 7 o’clock. (I never heard of him.) When it came to discipline, my mother was more than capable of handling it herself. The only mythical enforcer I remember being threatened with was the cheery guy in the red suit who could turn on a dime if you sassed your parents. My mother began about three months before Christmas (He sees you when you're sleeping, He knows when you're awake, He knows if you've been bad or good, So be good for goodness' sake.) The ever-vigilant Santa scared the living daylights out of me.
(via everlasting blort)
The Cambodian myth of lightning, thunder, and rain
Moni Mekhala Ream Eyso is a traditional Cambodian rain dance that explores the myth of thunder, lightning, and rain. It is the most sacred dance drama in Cambodia.
Monday, October 23, 2023
Japanese Playgrounds at Night
Startling Stories
Sunday, October 22, 2023
Patsy Is A Very Good Girl
Sunday Links
Espaces d'Abraxas (above): Set between a shopping centre car park and Boulevard du Mont-d’Est in Noisy-le-Grand outside of Paris, this high-density housing complex was designed in the late seventies by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill on behalf of the French government. It was inaugurated in 1983.
In a Word: A nomenclator was “a slave with a good memory who accompanied a public figure when he went out and whispered in his ear the name of anyone important he was about to meet.” (Anthony Everitt, Cicero) Much later, Franklin Roosevelt’s campaign manager, James Farley, would keep a file on everyone Roosevelt met so that the candidate might later ask after a spouse or child. Modern politicians maintain “Farley files” for the same purpose. (more words here)
The Amish Las Vegas: What happens in Pinecraft stays in Pinecraft
The happy dysfunction of Dover I had planned on staying in Dover for two nights, but by the time the police came to take John away, it was clear I’d been fooled by decades of tourist board propaganda. Read more (Thanks, Bruce)
October 13 is designated as Lancelot Jones Day in Florida. The Jones Family Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It includes the former home and farm of Israel Lafayette Jones and his family on Porgy and Totten Keys. Read the story
This has been the story of my life for the past few months (but we aimed for less, not zero, waste). It’s been pretty awful. How We Downsized and Sold Our House Without Creating Waste
Southampton Lair: a 1972 Hamptons home transformed into a James Bond-inspired bachelor pad.
Why are 500,000 people watching paint dry? Martijn Doolaard has released 83 videos documenting his restoration of an Alpine cabin and they have been hugely successful. via
The Era of the $44(US) Salad Has Arrived (but only if you toss a big hunk of meat on those greens)
Fifteen years ago I would have seriously considered this island on an island: A private island on a Vancouver Island lake.
Countless off-the-shelf office chairs, lounge chairs or car seats that appeared in Star Trek productions are commercially available. (via everlasting blort)
Leaving Twitter had no effect on NPR’s traffic: The brittle equilibrium of stage three enshittification.
Ladies on Records is a curatorial venture. Its primary focus is female music caught on dusty records and tapes, in the hidden archives and back catalogs of the music labels from around the world. (via Webcurios)
Milkshake neuroscience: Rich, high-fat foods such as ice cream are loved not only for their taste, but also for their ‘mouthfeel’.
The Mosely Folding Bathtub (endorsed by the Jobbing Trade)
Confessions of a Tableside Flambeur how the flambé became the ultimate tableside flex.
A simple guide to 15-minute cities No, the 15 minutes does not refer to how far you will be able to travel from your home. That’s just another viral conspiracy theory.
The most wounded yet unkillable soldier couldn’t stay away from battle.
Maximalist Cocktails: In this new era of maximalist drinking, every trend from the past 25 years is happening everywhere, all at once, sometimes in a single drink.
There are one-billion people living on this planet who are experiencing some form of disability. It’s time for design to consider their needs. These attractive toothbrush handles are designed for people with limited dexterity.
When I Worked for Fox News: Barbara Fischkin once wrote a liberal political column for Fox News that was at times decidedly leftist. (This is true-true and not fake news.)
Saturday, October 21, 2023
Welcome to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch - the best PR stunt of the 1860s
At 58 letters, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch is the longest town name in all of Europe. It wasn't always the town's name, though.
My mother was born in Wales and her mother used to sing me Welsh songs when I was little. I can vouch for the fact that the Welsh language is a real mouthful.
Don’t Play It Safe
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| Photograph: Paul Miller/AAP |
I’m a day late to this party but the Sydney Opera House was officially opened on October 20, 1973. To celebrate their 50th anniversary, they posted a music video with a song written and performed by Tim Minchin called "Play It Safe." It is a tongue -in-cheek reference to the fact that the project never played it safe and survived controversy to become Sydney’s most important landmark and a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Stareway
For a 2005 retrospective on Salvador Dalí, the Philadelphia Museum of Art painted its front steps.
Loudest purr by a domestic cat (living)
14-year-old feline, Bella, set a record when she registered a purr that measured 54.59 decibels.
Friday, October 20, 2023
Robotic Kitchen
I was hoping for a robot dude along the lines of C-3PO to make and serve my dinner but this kitchen does things on a much larger scale. The industrial robot from Eatch can cook up to 5,000 meals per day, with each meal prepared in its own small pot instead of one giant one - and it washes up afterwards.
Love Plus One: Found Photobooth Snapshots
The photobooth was a precursor to today’s selfie and social media culture. My friends, my sisters and I spent many quarters hoping to be rewarded with the perfect glamour shot but someone always moved or our hair was a mess so we were usually disappointed. Flashbak’s photobooth snapshot collection evokes many fond and goofy memories.
The found photobooth shot below is one that I came across in a cluttered drawer a few years ago. I was maybe 13 years old but probably thought that white lipstick and eyeliner made me look grownup. I plan to sort through old photos in the near future and may find hundreds more of these.
The found photobooth shot below is one that I came across in a cluttered drawer a few years ago. I was maybe 13 years old but probably thought that white lipstick and eyeliner made me look grownup. I plan to sort through old photos in the near future and may find hundreds more of these.
Calendula, a Linocut with six layers
This video takes you through the process of making a linocut with six colours.
Stan Freberg TV spots
Yesterday I posted a Stan Freberg ad. It was kind of crazy. Here's more of the same courtesy of FB pal Hal:
Books you wish existed
via Rusty's Electric Dreams@obvious_plant Returning library books with fake book covers
♬ original sound - Obvious Plant
Thursday, October 19, 2023
The Prettiest Gentleman About Town
The Nimble Pundit introduced me to Canadian seamster Vincent Briggs (aka The Prettiest Gentleman About Town) who does exquisite historic tailoring. In this post he demonstrates how he made an 1830s patchwork dressing gown, using almost 7000 pieces. The post includes an hour long video of the process that I found fascinating.
“I would get out the patchwork and plug away at it for several days, doing terrible damage to my already awful sleep schedule, and then I'd put it away again and forget about it for a month or several. One time I actually stayed up until sunrise working on it, but I was unemployed at the time so it was ok.”
Artwork of the day
Carp Ascending a Waterfall, by Keisai Eisen, early or mid-1830s#ukiyoe #printing pic.twitter.com/7Cr1jYQLGW
— Masterpieces of Japan (@JapanTraCul) October 18, 2023
Banquet Frozen Dinners!!!
Giblet gravy and sliced turkey together in the most significant dish of our time!
via Rusty's Electric Dreams (According to Rusty this is a real ad from 1968)
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Alice in Wonderland Trailer -1933
There have been many film adaptations made of Lewis Carrol’s children’s classic Alice In Wonderland but this 1933 version may be the creepiest one I’ve seen.
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