Tut tut, it looks like rain

I'm gobsmacked by the umbrella selection at London Undercover . 

Oh, that English breakfast will be mine!

English breakfast

London map

Brussel sprouts

It's important not to be bored

Wonderful things happen when your brain is empty. 

 —Maira Kalman

 

Freeform

I love the sublime graphic artistry of Moroccan boucherouite carpets. Without drawings or patterns, Berbere women use discarded scraps of cotton, nylon and wool to weave freeform, unique works of art. The carpets transcend their humble materials; there's poetry, playfulness and fantasy woven in too.

Rugs from Beldi

Title art

 Pablo Ferro has created some of the most memorable and visually exciting title sequences ever. He influenced a legion of graphic designers and filmmakers with his frame-within-frame approach to story telling, and his dramatic use of unusual typography.

3 for 1

My most recent acquisition: a vintage carnival game mat (burlap, paint).

I'm drawn to old carnival finds. Compared to circus memorabilia, it's rougher, simpler and 

edgier. 

Circus = G or PG. Carnival = PG13 or R. 

I'm not sure how I'll frame this bad boy yet,  but I think it's terrific.

Pyramids

The Great Pyramids of Giza, still on my bucket list.

Vintage postcard give-away from NYC merchant Arnstein & Bonne

Maira Kalman

Dovima, Great Pyraminds of Giza, Egypt ( 1951 ) by Richard Avedon

Summertime

All photos by Sally Mann

I love the dreamy quality of these images; you can sense the temperature,  

the humidity in the air, the fragrance of the water and foliage. 

Shop Space

Modern, elegant and inviting describe Gestalten Space in Berlin, Germany.  

An independent bookstore, publisher and gallery.

On the Road

Why think about that when all the golden land's ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen 

events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you're alive to see? 

 —Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Part 2, Chapter 6

Fishy

I saw a Caesar salad kit at the grocery store. The bag contained some browning

Romaine lettuce and 3 sealed bags containing Parmesan cheese, croutons and dressing. 

Maybe it tastes good, but by making my own dressing I can add anchovies! 

Caesar salad dressing (enough for 10 servings) 

1/2 cup olive oil 

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice 

4 anchovy filets 

4 to 6 small cloves garlic peeled 

1 Tablespoon mayonnaise 

Salt- to taste 

Pepper-few twists of a pepper mill 

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, blend for one minute. Keep in a lidded glass jar until ready to use. Shake before using on greens. Keep in refrigerator (use within 3-days).

Homemade croutons are easy to make too, and superior to store bought!

Reason and emotion

 From 1943, a Walt Disney short delivers wartime propaganda with amusing cartoons.

Why and how

Yes, I find recipes online. I read the tried and true reviews that mention 'too much salt' or 'bland' or 'dry' or 'my kids/boyfriend/spouse loved it!' But I still love cookbooks.

I scream

What a waste of a perfectly good ice cream cone.

Vintage photo of Sonia Romanoff and paparazzo, Rino Barillari

Come together

From Taschen, a collection of photos by Harry Benson from his time spent on the road with the Beatles.

Their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show made a mark in American history unlike anything in Britain. This signaled the end of mourning the loss of Jack Kennedy.

—Harry Benson

Lucky 13

13 Assassins, the 2010 period film directed by Takashi Miike is a remake of a 1963 film with the same title. Still, Miike's film has been unfairly compared to Akira Kurosowa's 1954 epic Seven Samurai. Yes, there are similarities, but really, could any Japanese filmmaker escape Kurosawa's influence? Like The Dirty Dozen, it is an homage and without doubt, a classic.

To die a noble death...

Glimmer

In the small town of Hannibal, Missouri, when I was a boy, everybody was poor and didn't know it, and everybody was comfortable and did know it. 

 —Mark Twain

 Thurston County, western Washington 1939

 Children of tenant farmers, 1936

Klamath County, Oregon 1939

Photos: Dorothea Lange 

 Photographer Dorothea Lange is best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration that captured so completely the desperate conditions of migrant workers and displaced farm families. The women in her photographs are especially iconic; worn and drawn yet tending to their children. There are other photos, the ones you don't see as often, that illustrate the scrappy optimism during hard times. The children are captured in their casual camaradery with 

genuine smiles and impish grins. 

Dreams of sushi

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, 

but when there is nothing left to take away. 

 —Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Jiro Ono, the 85-year old sushi master has given his life to his work. David Gelb's fine documentary film Jiro Dreams of Sushi is as much a meditation on Ono's singleminded, passionate focus, as it is of chasing perfection itself. Those vendors that Ono trusts, that select the choicest tuna and shrimp and provide extraordinary rice are equally possessed by excellence and quality. Repeatedly throughout the film you hear, "Money doesn't matter." There can be up to a 3-month wait for reservations at Ono's restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, in Tokyo, Japan. You won't find appetizers, not even a menu. Instead, Chef Jiro serves the highest quality sushi at the perfect temperature, one piece at a time.

I'll continue to climb, trying to reach the top. But no one knows where the top is.

—Jiro Ono

A flame in your heart

The 1979 Chanel 'Share the Fantasy' commercial directed by Ridley Scott. The use of the Ink Spots song I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire meshes the surreal imagery perfectly.

 

I don't want to set the world on fire 

I just want to start a flame in your heart 

In my heart I have but one desire 

And that one is you 

No other will do 

 I've lost all ambition for worldly acclaim 

I just want to be the one you love 

And with your admission that you feel the same 

I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of 

 Believe me

 I don't want to set the world on fire 

I just want to start a flame in your heart


 

From the film,  Pardon My Sarong (1942); The 4 Ink Spots (Charles Fugua,Hoppy Jones, Bill Kenny and Deek Watson) perform with dancers Tip, Tap and Toe (Samuel Green, Ted Fraser and Ray Winfield). Making it all look so effortless; that's the magic.

Test your strength

Vintage meter signs from a carnival 'test your strength' game. Samson is misspelled. Does hepcat's love of jazz make him weak? When was the last time you heard 'pantywaist' or 'creampuff' lobbed as an insult?

Use me

If you spend time cooking and baking, you're usually reaching for a towel every few minutes. Studiopatro delivers beauty with function.