Author Archives: Content Catnip

The Art of Illusion: The Panorama of the Battle of Racławice

The Panorama of the Battle of Racławice (Panorama Racławicka) is a definite must on any trip to the city of Wrocław. The panorama is as iconic to Wrocław as Wawel Castle is to Kraków. The Wrocław Panorama is a gigantic 114 metre long and 15 metre high painting that depicts the battle of Racławice. This was an epic battle ofContinue reading “The Art of Illusion: The Panorama of the Battle of Racławice”

Every Picture Tells A Story: David Bowie Plays the Cello (1983)

“I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human.” . . . “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.” David Bowie. 1983  

Book Review: Their Lips Talk of Mischief by Alan Warner

Scottish writer Alan Warner’s novel Their Lips Talk of Mischief is a boisterous, vigorous and energetic novel about two literary wannabes (Lou and Douglas) living in a glum 80’s Thatcherite slumland in Britain. The pair share an interest in Lou’s enigmatic and sexy girlfriend Aoife. Thus develops a complex menage a trois that follows. The yearContinue reading “Book Review: Their Lips Talk of Mischief by Alan Warner”

Every Picture Tells A Story: Teens in Brooklyn (1980’s)

A booming melting pot of ethnicities and a kaleidoscope of cool new music and art, Brooklyn before the hipsters arrived there must have been a cool place to hang out in the 1980’s. Here teens show off their Trans Am car in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, circa 1983. The vampish make-up and neon, that chrome hood gleamingContinue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: Teens in Brooklyn (1980’s)”

Arctic foxes are the artisans of their own vibrant gardens

Beyond cutely frolicking through meadows in Iceland and Scandinavia, arctic foxes are also aiding the local ecological balance in the way they keep house underground. Their dens are often a century old and topped with lush gardens and dune grass. The domains of arctic foxes are a splash of colour in an otherwise dull brownContinue reading “Arctic foxes are the artisans of their own vibrant gardens”

Every Picture Tells A Story: Samurai Warrior, 19th Century

Who were the Samurai?  For roughly a thousand years, from about the 800s to the late 1800s, warfare in Japan was dominated by an elite class of warriors known as the samurai. Horses were their special weapons: only samurai were allowed to ride horses in battle. Like European knights, the samurai served a lord (daimyo).Continue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: Samurai Warrior, 19th Century”

Album Review: January Tapes by Cut Copy (2016)

Cut Copy are electro-pop icons of Australia. The band is  known primarily for glitchy, synth-laden and uplifting beats that are perfect background music for pool-side BBQs in the endless Australian summer. Although quite unexpectedly this September, Cut Copy released a limited edition, 44 minute collection of ambient music entitled the January Tapes. It’s their firstContinue reading “Album Review: January Tapes by Cut Copy (2016)”

Every Picture Tells A Story: Le Monocle of Montmartre during the roaring 20’s

If you lived in Paris and particularly Montmartre during the 20’s and 30’s of last century then you were in for a night of debauchery and decadence after dark at a bar called Le Monocle. This part of Paris was where artists, bohemians, can-can dancers from the Moulin Rouge, business men, and the queer community allContinue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: Le Monocle of Montmartre during the roaring 20’s”