July 31, 2014
Laurin Döpfner - Verschleif (2012)
"With an edge sander, half a millimeter is sanded off each work piece (wood, walnut, transformer, skull or analogue camera) and photographed. About 650 photos are made into a short film, which contrasts the inner structure of nature and technology."
οὐ φροντὶς Ἱπποκλείδῃ
"A wine-cup believed to belong to ancient Greek politician Pericles was discovered on Wednesday in an ancient tomb, in Kifisia, northern Athens, Greece."
July 30, 2014
Tim Blanks - Inès de la Fressange
"Before the nineties supermodels there was Inès de la Fressange. Tim Blanks looks back on the career of the quintessentially French model who was a longtime muse to Karl Lagerfeld and served as the face of Chanel."
Et aussi: Flea Market Shopping with Inès de la Fressange.
Thaxton House
"Saved from subdivision-hungry developers and given a $1.5M restoration, the only Frank Lloyd Wright home in Houston has returned to the market."
July 29, 2014
How much is the prophet shaping the future to fit the prophecy?
"Prescience can be tedious for science-fiction writers. Being proven right about a piece of technology or a trend distracts from the main aim of the work: to show us how we live now. William Gibson knows this as well as anyone."
July 28, 2014
Guillermo Del Toro talks Alfred Hitchcock
"Acclaimed art-house turned megaplex director, Guillermo Del Toro makes time for Jian Ghomeshi in Studio Q between master class lectures on Alfred Hitchcock at the Toronto International Film Festival's Bell Lightbox theatre."
For two players: Spacewar!
The Hingham Institute Study Group on Space Warfare
"In 1961, MIT’s lab acquired a Program Data Processor-1. The PDP-1 was about three refrigerators wide—tiny compared to the giant room-spanning computers typical to the ‘60s. Steve Russell, a graduate student working in the lab, fell in love with the machine the moment he saw it.
"Russell gathered his study group together: J. Martin Gaetz, Alan Kotok, Peter Samson, Wayne Wiitanen and Dan Edwards. They called themselves 'The Hingham Institute Study Group on Space Warfare.' This motley group of proto-hackers would create the first video game."
July 27, 2014
The Ruling Class (1972)
"The Ruling Class is a 1972 British black comedy film. It is an adaptation of Peter Barnes' satirical stage play which tells the story of a paranoid schizophrenic British nobleman (played by Peter O'Toole) who inherits a peerage. The film co-stars Alastair Sim, William Mervyn, Coral Browne, Harry Andrews, Carolyn Seymour, James Villiers and Arthur Lowe. It was produced by Jules Buck and directed by Peter Medak.
"The film is a 'commercial failure [...that] has since become a cult classic'; Peter O'Toole described it as 'a comedy with tragic relief'."
July 26, 2014
BAFTA Guru - Daniel Radcliffe: On Acting
Why living in permanent fear can be a good thing and the importance of being a sponge to your environment.
Deleuze: 8 cours de philosophie (Université Paris-VII)
"Gilles Deleuze Appareils d'État et machines de guerre (1979-80) Sur Leibniz (1980) Anti-Oedipe et autres réflexions (1980) Sur Spinoza (1980-81) Foucault/Les formations historiques (1985) Foucault/Le pouvoir (1985-86) Leibniz I/Leibnitz et le baroque (1986-87) Leibniz II/Les principes et la liberté (1987) Université Paris-VIII."
The Clerk's Tale
James Franco's short film based on a poem by Spencer Reece, starring Charles Dance.
Vanessa Paradis private concert for Chanel
'Love Song' (Live) from the singer's concert on July 9th held at the Trianon venue in Paris.
July 25, 2014
A man's got to know his limitations
When Rick McGinnis photographed David Byrne.
Making of the CHANEL Fall-Winter 2014 ad campaign "Coco Coach"
Featuring Cara Delevingne & Binx Walton.
July 24, 2014
False negatives
The upside-down world of Joan Fontcuberta.
What Jiménez didn't realise is that "Ivan Istochnikov" is a Russian translation of "Joan Fontcuberta" (both surnames mean hidden fountain).
July 23, 2014
David Lynch - The Air is on Fire
"The body of work of filmmaker, photographer, musician, painter and designer David Lynch is polymorphic and dreamlike. Through these many artistic practices, he invents a mysterious, disturbing, strange and poetic world.
The Air is on Fire, his solo exhibition presented at the Fondation Cartier in 2007, created an element of surprise by combining the most diverse facets of his artistic expression."
July 22, 2014
Scent-Based Mobile Messaging
"The oPhone DUO is a 'Scent-Based Mobile Messaging' system readying for launch, offering users a selection of over 300,000 scents to attach onto emails, mobile messaging, or social network updates."
July 21, 2014
Luca Turin on Korrigan by Lubin
"Like some sedentary merchant at the receiving end of the Silk Road watching the caravans unpack, the perfume critic has to sift through hundreds of gewgaws of mixed provenance looking for treasure. Very occassionally it feels as if a new, previously unknown region has been opened to trade, whose existence is only revealed thorugh a handful of mysterious but clearly related artifacts, and the odd tall tale."
Edie Campbell For Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter 2014
"British model Edie Campbell appears in the London-based luxury brand’s latest ad campaign shot in London by Steven Klein and showing off the 'romantic and wild beauty' from the Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter 2014/15 show held earlier this year in Paris."
July 19, 2014
Max Fleischer - The Ouija Board (1920)
"Out of the Inkwell was a major animation series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929. They featured Fleischer's invention, the Rotoscope, which consisted of a film projector and easel used as an aid for achieving realistic movement for animated cartoons. The Rotoscope would project motion picture film through an opening in the easel, covered by a glass pane serving as a drawing surface. The image on the projected film was traced onto paper, advancing the film one frame at a time as each drawing would be made."
When your skin smells sandalwood
July 18, 2014
BAFTA Guru - In Focus: Acting
"'Don't worry about being famous or becoming a star - just do as much interesting work as you possibly can.' For acting advice from the best in the business, check out this episode from our In Focus series, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Farrell, Jim Broadbent, James McAvoy & Hugh Dancy."
You'll probably become liked. Maybe even respected.
"Now, as a female welder, you are going to be a novelty and a curiosity. But, in my experience, just about everyone you meet will be extremely kind and polite. The key here is to work, and work hard."
Guerlain - L'Homme Idéal
L'Homme Idéal est un mythe. Son parfum, une réalité.
July 17, 2014
Sir Terry Pratchett - The Science of Discworld
"The Science of Discworld - with Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen at Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland in June 2012, as part of Dublin City of Science 2012."
Arterial
"The creators of activity tracking app Human have visualised the routes taken by its users to create moving maps that show the world's cities throughout the day."
The Building- Toronto City Hall
"Take a look inside Toronto's iconic City Hall and discover how its creation almost 50 years ago signalled the start of a modern metropolis."
July 16, 2014
Introducing The Burberry Autumn/Winter 2014 Campaign
"A dynamic British cast in the new Burberry A/W14 campaign including Cara Delevingne, Suki Waterhouse, Malaika Firth, Callum Ball, Tarun Nijjer and Oli Green. Directed by Christopher Bailey and shot by Mario Testino."
Lev Grossman - The Tragedy of the English Country House
"... there’s something different about actual, genuine English country houses, and by that I mean the ones in novels. They envelop you and cocoon you."
July 15, 2014
Bouquet Opoponax
"The journey to re-create the 150-year-old perfume started in February 2011, when a winter storm exposed the bow section of the Mary Celestia, a Civil War blockade runner that had sunk off the south coast of Bermuda on the way to the American South in 1864. A seven-day excavation in June 2011 revealed several artifacts, including two intact bottles of perfume.
"The perfume was originally manufactured by Piesse & Lubin, a well-known London perfume house in the 19th century. G.W. Piesse is best known for writing the 'The Art of Perfumery,' the first modern book about making perfume, which was published in 1857. No other bottles of Piesse & Lubin perfume have ever been found, and research hasn't uncovered any formulas or perfume techniques used by the company."
Designer uniforms
'Don’t wear what fashion designers tell you to wear. Wear what they wear.'
July 14, 2014
Unsustainable
"Sandalwood grows naturally across much of the southern half of Western Australia, and is in big demand in Asia where it's used to make incense sticks or essential oils.
"It's a highly lucrative business, fetching up to $15,000 a tonne in a harvest system controlled by the state government. But there's also a dark side to the industry - a growing black market for illegally harvested sandalwood."
Bears Den - Elysium
"Sometimes music and life intersect in ways beyond words. Filmmaker James Marcus Haney set out to do two things, make a music video for the British trio Bear's Den and capture the last days of his little brothers carefree college days with friends."
Hat tip to Mr. MacLennan.
July 13, 2014
July 12, 2014
Terry Pratchett - Shaking Hands with Death (February 1, 2010)
The first novelist to give the Richard Dimbleby Lecture. Featuring Tony Robinson as a Stunt Pratchett.
The essence of smoke
"Peaty, feinty and woody flavors in whisky have an interesting connection to woody and oriental categories in perfumery."
Dior One Essential - Philosophy
Boost your essential salts and precious bodily fluids.
July 11, 2014
Paved with gold
"A Queens man has discovered enough hidden treasure — bits of diamonds, rubies, platinum and gold — on the gritty sidewalks of Midtown’s Diamond District to make a living."
Mara Kiek - Ondas do mar de Vigo. Cantigas de Amigo. Martín Codax. S.XIII
Ondas do mar de Vigo,
se vistes meu amigo?
E ai Deus!, se verra cedo?
Ondas do mar levado,
se vistes meu amado?
E ai Deus!, se verra cedo?
Se vistes meu amigo,
o por que eu sospiro?
E ai Deus!, se verra cedo?
Se vistes meu amado,
por que ei gran coidado?
E ai Deus!, se verra cedo?
July 10, 2014
Mary McBride Show - William Carlos Williams Interview (1950)
The First Lady of Radio: Mary McBride.
Concurrently with working as "Deane", in 1934 and 1935, she was the women's page editor for the Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicate. In 1937, she launched on the CBS radio network the first of a series of similar and successful shows, now as Mary Margaret McBride.
She interviewed figures well known in the world of arts and entertainment, and politics, with a style recognized as original to herself. She accepted advertising only for products she was prepared to endorse from her own experience, and turned down all tobacco or alcohol products.
After Heinlein
"Bob had picked her and she was his loyalest fan and ferociousest protector, and as long as he lived that was plenty good enough for me. But then he died, and Ginny didn’t stop protecting all that was left of him. Specifically his image — or rather her image of him, which I believe was of a chivalrous, well-mannered and quite refined Annapolis man."
Via Quotulatiousness.
Swiss Psalm, so passé
"More than 200 songwriters have entered a contest to compose a new national anthem for Switzerland."
Inspirational: "The 'National Anthem of Uruguay', also known by its first line 'Orientales, la Patria o la Tumba', is the longest national anthem in terms of duration with 105 bars of music (about six minutes)."
July 09, 2014
Chanel - Fall-Winter 2014/15 Haute Couture
And: Karl Lagerfeld interview.
Réenchanter le monde
"L’art et la politique peuvent-ils faire bon ménage et contribuer à changer le monde ? Oui répond Carmelo Zizzo."
July 08, 2014
Chasing Orwell's ghost
"I had come to Jura, a remote island on Scotland’s west coast, to find the solitude George Orwell had sought 65 years earlier to finish his classic, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Having been brought up in the Scottish countryside myself and subjected to both its unconscionable boredom and inexplicable beauty, I was interested to find out why a writer, who according to biographer Jeffery Meyers 'hated Scotland', chose to live in the part of the country most essential to its identity-the Highlands. I also wanted to understand why a man so accustomed to city life had come to an inaccessible island of only 190 souls to find inspiration for a novel about totalitarianism in an urbanised state—why a writer at the peak of his celebrity ensconced himself in an austere farmhouse hidden in an inhospitable Scottish landscape."
July 07, 2014
Paris Men’s Fashion Week Spring 2015 Street Style
"Graphic tees and simple slacks dominated the sidewalks of Paris this summer."
July 06, 2014
July 05, 2014
William S. Burroughs - When did I stop wanting to be President?
It's Burroughs so NSFW on a variety of levels.
Elements of contemporary life
"Caleb Brown paints real things — sharks, diving tigers, track stars — in a realistic manner. Deviation lies in the implausible situations he inserts his subjects into. Brown uses what he calls 'elements of contemporary life' to set the stage for a bigger, more interesting angle on current events."
July 04, 2014
Jimmy Choo Man with Kit Harington
From the comments, Myra Mitha: "As hot and elegant Kit is in this, i can't help but think how perfectly the woman is objectified in this ad...all legs and body. They don't even show her face good god"
My reply: "I had the same first thoughts. But, upon reflection, I think she is presented as a cipher for the same reason Stephanie Meyer avoids physical descriptions of Bella Swan while describing Edward Cullen in loving/excrutiating detail; this is a blank space for the intended reader to inhabit a phantasy (sic) world. In the world of a Jimmy Choo ad, the shoes are the vampire."
Messylin agrees: "Nicholas Packwood - exactly. The model is the girl that the viewer projects themselves to be. Kit takes the role of the 'objectified' here, I mean his expression is that of someone who is rather unsure and ill at ease around this leggy, hyper sexual model."
And: Behind the scenes.
July 03, 2014
Polizia veloce
"In a ceremony attended by Lambo CEO Stephan Winkelmann and Italian State Police Prefect Alessandro Pansa, the supercar maker pulled the wraps off a new Huracán LP 610-4 Polizia, complete with sirens and an piccolo LED light bar. The donated car, which replaces the Italian State Police's blue-and-white Gallardos, features a 5.2-litre V10 engine producing 610 horsepower, good for a maximum pursuit speed of 202mph."
July 02, 2014
Mulberry Autumn Winter 2014 - The Campaign
"Mulberry returns to its roots in the British countryside with a blast of fresh air to invigorate the brand's new and very British Autumn Winter 2014 collection with a campaign shot by Tim Walker and starring Cara Delevingne."
Music: Desired Effect by Atom Tree (featuring Fergus Cook) courtesy of Hotgem Tunes.
But wait: Mulberry - Introducing the Cara Delevingne Collection.
Rescuing Riley
"This guy was hiking alone, when he found a puppy at the bottom of a 350′ deep slot canyon in the Arizona desert. This video tells the story of the puppy’s rescue."
July 01, 2014
The Long Dark
"At night, the game becomes more difficult, as temperatures drop and wildlife becomes more active. A player who has failed to take the necessary precautions during daylight will not survive. This is the reality of living in the Canadian wilderness."