April 30, 2014
A Ferragamo Fairy Tale: White Shoe
"Join a young Salvatore Ferragamo as he embarks on a magical journey inspired by his own early life in the Ferragamo film premiere of White Shoe, written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mauro Borrelli."
Today I learned
"In Japanese mythology, if an umbrella is left alone long enough it becomes a one-eyed, one-legged hopping demon known as Kasa-Obake"
Sigur Rós - The Rains of Castamere
"From episode 'The Lion and the Rose' performed at King Joffrey's wedding ceremony."
April 29, 2014
Burberry Celebrates London in Shanghai, the full show
"Watch the full show and follow the journey from the streets of London to the A/W14 runway, amidst a dreamlike storm of beauty, design and colour as Burberry brought the spirit of London to Shanghai with a night of live performance, music and fashion on 24 April 2014.
"With performances from British musicians George Ezra, Ed Harcourt and Paloma Faith, we took guests on a journey from the streets of London to the A/W14 runway in Shanghai. Models included Cara Delevingne, Suki Waterhouse, Malaika Firth and Matilda Lowther.
"The event was attended by over 1,500 guests including actors Jamie Campbell Bower, Chen Kun, Vicki Zhao, Guey Lun Mei, Xia Yu, Chen Ran, Dou Xiao, Huo Siyan, Angelababy, Carine Lau, Ke Zheng Dong and Lin Chilling."
Burberry - London in Shanghai
"Burberry brought the spirit of London to Shanghai with a night of live performance, music and fashion on 24 April 2014.
"With performances from British musicians George Ezra, Ed Harcourt and Paloma Faith, we took guests on a journey from the streets of London to the A/W14 runway in Shanghai. Models included Cara Delevingne, Suki Waterhouse, Malaika Firth and Matilda Lowther.
"The event was attended by over 1,500 guests including actors Jamie Campbell Bower, Chen Kun, Vicki Zhao, Guey Lun Mei, Xia Yu, Chen Ran, Dou Xiao, Huo Siyan, Angelababy, Carine Lau, Ke Zheng Dong and Lin Chilling."
Paloma Faith - Only Love Can Hurt Like This
Hat tip to Mr. Percifield.
April 28, 2014
It seems to me that I am more to the Left than you, Mr. Stalin
"In 1934, H.G. Wells arrived in Moscow to meet a group of Soviet writers. While there Stalin granted him an interview."
April 27, 2014
Tom Ford Skyfall Tuxedo
"You almost feel like you could sleep in it."
April 26, 2014
Game of Thrones Panel: Arya Stark, Drogo & the Hound
"Game of Thrones panel at the Tampa Bay Comic Con on August 24th, 2013. Featuring Game of Thrones cast members: Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo) and Rory McCann (Sandor "the Hound" Clegane)."
The way of the masks
"Weighing in at one or two kilograms apiece, each of the artifacts represents a oval visage with glaring ocular cavities, toothy maws, and a set of holes along the outer edge. They were likely painted in antiquity, but only one has remnants of pigment. Each of the 12 is unique, and possibly depicts individuals."
Theory: "I have thus demonstrated that beings as different in appearance as the Salish Swaihwe and the Kwakiutl Dzonokwa, which no one would have dreamed of comparing, cannot be interpreted each for itself and considered in isolation. They are parts of a system within which they transform each other. As in the case with myths, masks (with their origin myths and the rites in which they appear) become intelligible only through the relationships which unite them."
Method: "I created ten masks of different states of being and of seeing. It’s a very shamanic form, though I try to avoid using the word shaman. Merlin is part of the whole mythology that I am creating around those ten masks. Each one allows him to experience the world in a different way. So he can travel as a dog, as a salmon, as a bird. He can see shadows of lost and destroyed forests. He can see the past in other words. He can see it through the eyes of a woman, he can see it through the eyes of a child. One of them is seeing the world through story. So there are ten masks in Lavondyss, and as you correctly say, Merlin discovers that these are part of his past…"
The Wolf and Ravens
"Ravens are sometimes known as 'wolf-birds' because they form social attachments with wolves. Where there are wolves, there are often ravens that follow wolves to grab leftovers from the hunt, and to tease the wolves. They play with the wolves by diving at them and then speeding away or pecking their tails to try to get the wolves to chase them."
April 25, 2014
Umberto Eco - The Library as a Model for Culture
"This is a lecture by renowned Italian author and scholar Umberto Eco, which he delivered at the Yale University Art Gallery on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013. The lecture's full title is The Library as a Model for Culture: Preserving, Filtering, Deleting and Recovering."
This strange illusion
Rolling Stone: A major concern in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones is power. Almost everybody – except maybe Daenerys, across the waters with her dragons – wields power badly.
George R.R. Martin: Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it's not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn't ask the question: What was Aragorn's tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs? By the end of the war, Sauron is gone but all of the orcs aren't gone – they're in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles?
April 24, 2014
Opening night of BBC2, 20 April 1964
"As a result of its criticisms of the populism of ITV, the 1962 Pilkington Report recommended that Britain's third television channel should be awarded to the BBC." Sound doesn't kick in for almost three minutes.
The channel was scheduled to begin at 19:20 on 20 April 1964 and show an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts, a performance from Soviet comedian Arkady Raikin, and a production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, culminating with a fireworks display.
However, at around 18:45 a huge power failure, originating from Battersea Power Station, caused Television Centre to lose all power. BBC1 was able to continue broadcasting via its facilities at Alexandra Palace, but all attempts to show the scheduled programmes on the new channel failed. Associated-Rediffusion, the London ITV franchise-holder, offered to transmit on the BBC's behalf, but their gesture was rejected, presumably for pride's sake.
However, at 22:00 BBC2 had no choice but to concede defeat and postpone programming until the following morning. As the BBC's news centre at Alexandra Palace was unaffected, they did in fact broadcast brief bulletins on BBC2 that evening, beginning with an announcement by the newsreader Gerald Priestland at around 19:25. There was believed to be no recording ever made of this bulletin, but one was discovered in early 2003.
By 11:00 on 21 April, power had been restored to the studios and programming began, thus making Play School the first programme to be shown officially on the channel. The launch schedule, postponed from the night before, was then successfully shown that evening, albeit with minor changes. In reference to the power cut, the transmission opened with a shot of a lit candle which was then sarcastically blown out by presenter Denis Tuohy.
How paperbacks transformed the way Americans read
"Half a century before e-books turned publishing upside down, a different format threatened to destroy the industry.."
But in just one day, Robert de Graff changed that.
April 23, 2014
Vladimir Sorokin
"How important it is, as it turns out, to let the past collapse at the right time."
April 22, 2014
Designers' Worlds: Jean Paul Gaultier and Antoine de Caunes
"Following on from last week's Jennifer Saunders special, today we're delighted to reunite the Eurotrash dream team of Jean Paul Gaultier and Antoine de Caunes; when I was a young boy living in the countryside they taught me everything I know about Parisian chic and sexual perversion!"
(nsfw: subject matter, French humour)
Private label
"'Brand' is something on which leading fashion labels, department stores, and specialty retailers are intensely focused. Every piece that’s produced and placed on the racks needs to carry and convey a brand message that’s true to the company’s 'DNA.' But what’s rarely disclosed is how much some of these companies rely on external suppliers to produce — and even design — their collections. In fashion, this is called 'private label' and it happens at every level of the business, from mass to luxury."
Ruben Fleischer - Vogue Original Shorts: Emma Stone stars in 'A Way In' (2014)
April 21, 2014
Cosmological Natural Selection
"It's tempting to think of the universe as a meaningless repository for celestial objects like planets and stars. But an intriguing theory suggests there's much more to the cosmos than meets the eye — and that black holes play an integral role in what our universe is actually trying to achieve."
April 19, 2014
Johan Renck - Valentino Uomo, the new fragrance (2014)
Behind the scenes.
Les non-dupes errent
"What a cynic who 'believes only his eyes' misses is the efficiency of the symbolic fiction, the way this fiction structures our experience of reality."
From Slavoj Zizek's "With or without passion: what's wrong with fundamentalism? Part I"
Rebels of sincerity
"David Foster Wallace called for art that redeems rather than simply ridicules."
Hat tip to Mr. Proctor.
April 18, 2014
Aparición | Juego de Tronos T4
"Soy el fuego que arde contra el frío, la luz que trae el amanecer, el cuerno que despierta a los durmientes, el escudo que protege los Reinos de los Hombres."
There's honey in the hollows
Secret Ostia is bigger than Pompeii.
They said the discovery, which spreads across 70,000 square metres, indicates that Rome was "split in two by the Tiber River in the First Century BC.”
April 16, 2014
FBI - Game of Pawns: The Glenn Duffie Shriver Story (2014)
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released a 28-minute video using the conviction of a 29-year-old Michigan man to warn college students about the dangers of being recruited to spy by foreign intelligence services."
Duck and/or cover
"If a nuclear bomb exploded in downtown Washington, what should you do?"
1. The WORST thing for someone to try to do, in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion that they survive, is to get in a car and drive away.
2. Unless you're within about a third to a half a mile radius of ground zero and the shelter options are poor, the BEST thing for someone to do is to find a stable location inside a well-built apartment or office building — the majority of which will remain standing outside that half mile radius — and stay there for 24 hours.
April 15, 2014
Much Ado About a Bear
"Center Stage confronts Shakespeare's most troublesome stage direction: 'Exit, pursued by a bear.'"
April 14, 2014
Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry - Blasphemy (2006)
"Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry at the 2006 Guardian Hay Festival. The discussion covered issues of freedom of speech, religious tolerance, multiculturalism and orthodoxy."
Careful what you wish for
"The plots of Sherlock and Doctor Who are being shaped by their fans – but hit shows must appeal to the widest possible audience as well as a narrow band of obsessives."
April 12, 2014
Slavoj Zizek - Pornography & Lemonade (2014)
"If everything is decided in advance, why don't I sit down, read pornography and drink lemonade?" - Slavoj Zizek
Mainlining television
"Atlantic Productions is bringing wildlife programming to the high-end world of virtual reality (VR), creating a version of its forthcoming Borneo-set, Sir David Attenborough-fronted production Conquest of the Skies for the much-buzzed Oculus Rift headset."
April 11, 2014
Hiroyuki Imaishi - Dead Leaves (デッド リーブス Deddo Rībusu) (2004)
"Retro and Pandy, two unlikely renegades, awaken naked on Earth with no recollection of their past, but with superior physical abilities. After embarking on a brief but devastating crime spree for food, clothing and transportation in downtown Tokyo, they are captured by authorities and sent to the infamous prison called Dead Leaves, on the half destroyed moon."
Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Rankings
"Given the growing frequency with which zombies appear in movies, TV shows, and your worst nightmares, it’s inevitable the zombie apocalypse will soon be upon us. When it comes to surviving this inevitable showdown with the undead, location is everything."
April 10, 2014
April 09, 2014
Philip K. Dick - Valisystem
"In August of 1974, Philip K. Dick had his arm in a splint due to shoulder surgery. Unable to write or type, he dictated notes for a proposed sequel to The Man in the High Castle into a tape recorder. The writer protagonist referred to on the tape is Hawthorne Abendsen. The book was not written, but evolved into Radio Free Albemuth and Valis. The tape is labelled Valisystem."
The chances of anything coming from Mars
"A strange light was visible in photos of Mars like the one above taken by the Curiosity rover last week."
Gucci Presents: Techno Color Sunglasses, a film by James Franco
"Directed by and starring James Franco, our new short film, shot at the legendary Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, turns the spotlight on spring's Techno Color Sunglasses Collection. Crafted from a special lightweight alloy, the shades pair minimal frames with boldly colored lenses."
April 08, 2014
The mark of a man
"Old Spice was founded in New York by William Lightfoot Schultz in 1934. He was a soap and toiletries maker, and his first fragrance was, ironically, a woman’s scent: Early American Old Spice. It is said that Shultz was inspired by his mother’s rose jar when creating this early version of Old Spice. A rose jar usually held a moist potpourri of rose petals, spices and herbs in a base of salt to preserve them. Those notes can still be detected in Old Spice’s products to this day."
April 07, 2014
Vice - Snake Island
"The highest concentration of one of the most venomous snakes in the world is located about 90 miles off the coast of Santos, Brazil, on a small, craggy chunk of otherwise uninhabitable land. It's known as Ilha da Queimada Grande, or Snake Island, and it's the only place you will find 2,000 or so of the wholly unique golden lancehead viper, or Bothrops insularis.
"When you step ashore, with a keen eye you spot one of these snakes roughly every 10 to 15 minutes after clearing the base of the island, and as many as one every six square yards in other parts of the island. This means, as you are walking through the waist-high brush, even with some good boots on, it's like walking through a minefield that moves and, instead of blowing you into chunks, slowly paralyzes you and liquefies your insides, as the golden lancehead does to the migrating birds it feeds on in the treetops."
True Detective as metafiction
This precisely misses the point. The force of Mythos fiction is not some post-modern/deconstructionist/sophomoric art where the characters come to understand they are characters confronted by an abyss of existential horror. The force of Mythos fiction is that, the more you read, the more you - the reader - realize you are a character confronted by an abyss of existential horror.
April 05, 2014
Sir Anthony Hopkins: A Life In Pictures Highlights
"On 9th December 2012, multi-BAFTA Award winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins was interviewed by Francine Stock for a BAFTA Life in Pictures interview. Watch highlights from the event."
Thoreau’s Desk (Concord, 1838)
"This simple desk was part of Henry David Thoreau’s furnishings in his house at Walden Pond from 1845 to 1847."
April 04, 2014
Dune: Eye of the Storm
"The legacy of Frank Herbert’s Dune has stretched across many different media and iterations over the nearly 50 years since the novel’s original publication. David Lynch’s film version is divisive at best, the Sci-Fi Channel’s miniseries adaptations were well done but remain obscure, and the road not traveled of director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s aborted film version has become the subject of an acclaimed documentary. But one incarnation that might never have hit your radar was a collectible card game put out during the mid ’90s. And it’s a collection worth revisiting, because the game's artwork was flat-out beautiful."
Jodorowsky' Dune
"Alejandro Jodorowsky ... had a vision for Frank Herbert’s masterwork Dune that was so over the top, so surreal (and, at times, so absurd), it probably would have blown the minds of critics before they had a chance to grumble.
"That is, if Jodorowsky’s translation and transmogrification of Dune had ever been made. It never was."
April 03, 2014
Inside UFO 54-40
"Trapped aboard a huge alien spaceship, you wander the corridors and meet weird aliens for all eternity, endlessly seeking a utopia you can never reach. Kind of heavy stuff for a 1980s Choose Your Own Adventure book. But it was real — and you could only win by cheating!"
April 02, 2014
NYT Style Intersection - Lisbon's stylish crossroads
"In the trendy Bairro Alto neighborhood of Lisbon, Rui Palma, a college student, wears a vintage look with shiny leather boots inspired by the Velvet Underground’s 'Venus in Furs'.”
April 01, 2014
The map is not the territory
"The former Agloe fishing lodge near the intersection of Morton Hill and Rockland Roads in the fictional town of Agloe, N.Y. Mapmakers invented the town in the 1920s to guard against copyright infringement."