Spurred on by my recent missive about internet culture and the cult of cuteness, I moved very quickly down the rabbit hole into the depths of cat worship on the internet. Cats Galore is an art book with a difference. It’s what happens when internet culture gets mashed up and combined with the prominent artContinue reading “Book Review: Cats Galore, prominent cats throughout history”
Category Archives: History
An exploration of the aesthetics of cuteness
The answer to why dogs and tiny horses can be used in therapy for PTSD and why cats rule the internet lays squarely in the pulling power of cuteness. But why do we find things cute and what are the commonly shared criteria for cuteness all over the world? According to psychologist Dr. Sandra Pimentel,Continue reading “An exploration of the aesthetics of cuteness”
Amazing Human-Crustacean Architectural Collaborations
If you thought that the Auckland or NYC property market was hot right now, spare a thought for the tiny and unpredictable housing market of the hermit crab. They have a complex and sometimes cooperative and sometimes aggressive strategies for occupying shells aka homes for their fragile little bodies. Some of these strategies involve hostileContinue reading “Amazing Human-Crustacean Architectural Collaborations”
Thibaut Kinder’s exhumed photographs from abandoned SD cards
What happened to reels of photos from old Kodak cameras of the 80’s and 90’s? They very well may end up in an Internet K-Hole, I’ve written about that strange website before. It’s a repository of old photos from people’s personal and public collections that squashed together and left to coexist in a creepy digitalContinue reading “Thibaut Kinder’s exhumed photographs from abandoned SD cards”
Book Review: ‘Les Diners de Gala’ Salvadore Dali’s delectable and twisted psychedelic cook-book
Salvador Dalí isn’t generally remembered for his culinary prowess. Although he was a secret admirer of gastronomy for all of its transformative and monstrous properties. In his rare and 1973 cookbook Les Diners de Gala, just reissued by Taschen. the late iconic artist celebrates dream-like and surreal flavour combinations. Chapter titles include Prime Lilliputian malaises’ (meat)Continue reading “Book Review: ‘Les Diners de Gala’ Salvadore Dali’s delectable and twisted psychedelic cook-book”
Classic Russian Animation: Hedgehog in the Fog
Hedgehog in the Fog is the Russian equivalent of Winnie the Pooh, Paddington or Beatrix Potter stories. This delightful cartoon was made in 1975 by Yuriy Borisovich Norshteyn and introduced the world to a hedgehog that becomes bewitched by different shapes obscured by thick fog. Yuriy Borisovich Norshteyn is one of the most respected animators inContinue reading “Classic Russian Animation: Hedgehog in the Fog”
Have a Creepy Haloween Won’t You
Here are some curated images from Reddit’s Creepy Old Pics a subreddit that will give you the creeps for sure. Haloween is really about the Pagan ritual of Sammhuin, although some people claim that Haloween has Christian roots, there is no denying that the two Haloween and Sammhuin are culturally interrelated. The idea of aContinue reading “Have a Creepy Haloween Won’t You”
Train and tram-spotting in Melbourne back in the olden days
Here are two handsome maps of Melbourne’s public transport from the previous century. In equal parts loved and loathed by locals, public transport in Melbourne is slow, expensive and unreliable and yet anyone who has ever lived in Melbourne (and who has moved away for long enough to not deal with it on a dailyContinue reading “Train and tram-spotting in Melbourne back in the olden days”
Memories of Studio 54: Halcyon & on & on
For the relatively short time of 33 months in the late 1970’s, Studio 54 was the decadent soft centre of 70s hedonism in NYC. Naysayers called it a sleazy and dangerous place. But for famous people and completely unknown but beautiful young things, it was a place where people could get up to whatever theyContinue reading “Memories of Studio 54: Halcyon & on & on”
Travel: Krakow Summer Opera Season at Wawel Castle
In the walls of Wawel castle on the night of midsummer, an atmosphere of enchantment abounded. The mauve and violet light of the sky melted into the golden lamps that fell onto the cobble-stone pathways, this skimmed and bounced across gabled iron rooftops of the castle. The light from the opera ballet performance stage shoneContinue reading “Travel: Krakow Summer Opera Season at Wawel Castle”

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