"Down To Earth" by Flight Facilities

"Down To Earth" by Flight Facilities (Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell).

A fun, smooth dance song, yes...but worth watching for the über-talented and utterly sexy Sam Rockwell dancing through a diner. Go Sam!!!

http://flightfacilities.com/

"Disco Ball" by Leal

"Disco Ball" by Leal.
Another smooth dance song. And another fun video.

And Leal can mooooove...

http://www.carloslealartist.com/

"Bunkerpop" by LoneLady

LoneLady (Julie Ann Campbell) performing "Bunkerpop."

I just can't let this one go... it is infectious, jittery, shifting. All the more remarkable for its blending of percussion and guitar into what would normally be some kind of synthpop moment.
Fascinating.

Her new album, "Hinterland" wil be out March 23, 2015. LoneLady says of the collection, "It’s channeling Parliament/Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder, Rufus, Prince, Arthur Russell...among others. A strange - but nonetheless real - meeting of funk and...me from Audenshaw, Manchester."

http://concrete-retreat.tumblr.com/

BEAUTY: Mixed Media--Alexis Arnold

Working with discarded books she has found in the street, San Francisco artist Alexis Arnold petrifies them in a crystal solution, making some rather lovely geode-like formations.

Arnold says, "The Crystallized Book Series addresses the materiality of the book versus the text or content of the book, in addition to commenting on the vulnerability of the printed book. The crystals remove the text and transform the books into aesthetic, non-functional objects. The books, frozen with crystal growth, have become artifacts or geologic specimens imbued with the history of time, use, and nostalgia. The series was prompted by repeatedly finding boxes of discarded books, by the onset of e-books, and by the shuttering of bookstores."

Top to bottom: The Alchemist's Handbook; All's Well That Ends Well; All's Well That Ends Well detail; Catcher In The Rye view and detail; Crime and Punishment; The Dictionary of Superstitions; Linux: The Complete Manual; The Autobiography of Benevuto Cellini

http://www.alexisarnold.com/

Federico says...

“All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography.”
--Federico Fellini

“I don’t like the idea of 'understanding' a film. I don’t believe that rational understanding is an essential element in the reception of any work of art. Either a film has something to say to you or it hasn’t. If you are moved by it, you don’t need it explained to you. If not, no explanation can make you moved by it.”
--Federico Fellini

“I’m just a storyteller, and the cinema happens to be my medium. I like it because it recreates life in movement, enlarges it, enhances it, distills it. For me, it’s far closer to the miraculous creation of life than, say, a painting or music or even literature. It’s not just an art form; it’s actually a new form of life, with its own rhythms, cadences, perspectives and transparencies. It’s my way of telling a story.”
--Federico Fellini

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”
--Federico Fellini

BEAUTY: Photography--Marius Vieth

Alone in the city at night. Photographer Marius Vieth wanders around Germany, New York, Seoul, with a camera, catching lone figures in the fog, snow, or rain... so evocative...

http://www.mariusvieth.com/

BEAUTY: Sculpture--Dominic Wilcox

War. What is it good for?
Absolutely nothin'.

Artist and inventor Dominic Wilcox is known for his whimsical, incongruous creations often using humor, irony, and satire. This is his War Bowl in two colorways.

Wilcox says, "The red Battle of Waterloo bowl is made with melted British Artillery and French Infantry figures. The black English Civil War bowl uses Royalists and Parliamentarians figures."

To see more of Wilcox's fun, sly, and engaging work, visit his website. I particularly liked the Stained Glass Driverless Sleeper Car of the Future and the Pre-Handshake Handshake Device.

http://dominicwilcox.com/

BEAUTY: Photography--Dietmar Eckell

I will let Dietmar Eckell, the photographer himself speak about his photo series Happy End:

"Happy End is a photo-project about miracles in aviation history - 15 airplanes that had forced landings but ALL on board survived and were rescued from remote locations. The planes have been abandoned in the middle of nowhere for 10 years and up to 70 years. It's part of my long term project 'restwert' (German for residual value) to document abandoned objects with fascinating backgrounds like cold war relicts [sic], Olympic sites, flooded churches, railroad tracks, never finished nuclear reactors, overgrown adventure parks etc. It started with my interest in the visual disruption of nostalgic technology in endless landscapes - but soon I got hooked on these planes/stories and spent over two years researching and documenting them. Aviation miracles are rare and the planes remaining out there are very remote - but the challenge was motivating and it was like a pilgrimage to get to these 'wonders' on 4 continents from Papua New Guinea to the Arctic Circle.  My photography is not about documenting the planes condition & details but how they are embedded in nature after so many years. I try to capture the surreal beauty of these settings using high viewpoints or shooting through layers. Inspired by the shipwreck painters of the romantic period I look for dramatic skies, late light or fall colors to 'glorify' these wonderful planes."

Douglas C-47, crashed February 1950, Yukon Canada

Grumman HU-16 Albatross, crashed August 2004, Mexico

Curtiss C-46 Commando, crashed November 1979, Manitoba Canada

Vought F4U Corsair, crashed 1948, Hawaii

Bristol 170, crashed May 1956, NWT Canada

Fairchild C-82, crashed January 1965, Alaska

Fairchild C-82, crashed January 1965, Alaska (rear view)

B-24 Liberator, crashed October 1943, Papua New Guinea

Douglas C-53, crashed February 1942, Australia

Avro Shackleton, crashed July 1994, Western Sahara

http://www.dietmareckell.com/

Whatever Happened To Liuquan?

The Drents Museum in The Netherlands recently sent one of their objects--a reliquary holding mummified remains--to the Meander Medical Center for a CT scan and endoscopy. They discovered the mummified remains of Liuquan, a Buddhist Master from the Chinese Meditation School, who died around 1100. And during the endoscopy, the medical staff who graciously donated their time to this project made another wonderful discovery: inside the body cavity where internal organs would have been were found scraps of paper with Chinese characters, presumably prayers to accompany Liuquan's spirit.

Photo by M. Elsevier Stokmans; Boeddhamummie (Drents Museum)

Photo by Jan van Esch, Meander Medical Center, NL

Photo by Jan van Esch, Meander Medical Center, NL

Photo by Jan van Esch, Meander Medical Center, NL

http://www.drentsmuseum.nl/

"Miradors" by Solomon Grey

Chilly, atmospheric, smooth, melancholy... "Miradors" by Solomon Grey (the duo of Tom Kingston and Joe Wilson).

http://solomongrey.net/

BEAUTY: Men--All that glitters...

Gung Hay Fat Choy--Happy Chinese New Year 2015!

Today marks the start of the Year of the Goat (some translations claim it to be a sheep and some claim a ram, despite the fact that these are very different animals, but hey, no one said folk lore is an exact science!). The Year of the Goat is supposed to be one of peace and kindness. Let's hope...

Here, kitty kitty...

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright. In the forests of the night,. What immortal hand or eye. Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?"
--William Blake

BEAUTY: Interior Design--Hueso Restaurant

Architect and designer Ignacio Cadena designed the stunning all (off) white restaurant Hueso for his brother, Chef Alfonso Cadena. Located in Guadalajara, Mexico, the walls in the space are collages of compartmentalized boxes that hold bleached bones and white cooking utensils. In fact, the name of the restaurant, Hueso means bone in Spanish. The concept is bold and starts on the outside of the renovated 1940s building which was clad in white ceramic tiles featuring graphic black lines that recall stitching. The name of the business is discreetly spelled out at the entrance. Even the bespoke plates are white with delicate black lines.

http://huesorestaurant.com/