Currently listening to...

..."The Universe Alone" by Duran Duran from their 2015 release "Paper Gods."
Wow.

It's beautiful, the dying sun
The end of everything and everyone
So shall we make a clan my friend
As if we have the chance to live it all again

I'll see you in some other lifetime
On the other side of what we'll never know
Together we have walked a fine line
Now we go to face the universe alone

In plain view, the mistakes we've made
But is there anything you'd really want to change?
To win and lose then win again
To have it all then throw it all away

I'll see you in some other lifetime
On the other side of what we'll never know
Together we have walked a fine line
Now we go to face the universe alone

How beautiful the closing down
The fading out, it spins and goes around
With darkness and the heart of man
And here we are back where it all began

I'll see you in some other lifetime
The universe alone
The universe alone
The universe alone

http://duranduran.warnereprise.com/

Words To Live By

I have been saying this for years...it's kind of my motto.

BEAUTY: Interior--Martyn Lawrence Bullard

Interior designer extraordinaire Martyn Lawrence Bullard and his partner Michael Green created a fabulous retro house for themselves in the prestigious Movie Colony area of Palm Springs. The 1963 house by modernist architect James McNaughton has a history. Bullard says, "Hugh Hefner supposedly owned it in the ’70s, then Roger Moore, who had it tricked out in fabulous James Bond finery. This place was built for relaxation and fun, so we use it in that spirit." The style he chose for the house is also in that spirit. Bullard described it to Architectural Digest as "a mix of swinging '60s with a touch of disco '70s."

The satisfyingly symmetrical house resembles a mini version of Wallace K. Harrison’s Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

What '70s-inspired home would be complete without Vladimir Kagan's kidney-shaped Serepntine Sofas (seen below on the zebra rugs)?

A Cole & Sons '70s geometric wallpaper covers a hallway...

...and the dining room. The silver mylar ceiling...

...continues into the kitchen.

The screening room is lacquered in emerald green with topographical de Sede Terrazza sofas covered in Ultrasuede. It looks like one of the VIP lounges at Studio 54 back in the day.

The master suite's mylar ceiling is complemented by a Charles Hollis Jones Lucite bed and an artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The master suite sitting area features a vintage Milo Baughman chair.

A guest room is covered with a period-perfect tropical palm-frond wallpaper from Schumacher that recalls the lively, jet-set, Slim Aarons days of Palm Springs.

http://www.martynlawrencebullard.com/

Images and details via Architectural Digest
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/martyn-lawrence-bullard-palm-spring-house

BEAUTY: Painting--Joshua Flint

Memory and the cognitive layers they create. This is the goal of painter Joshua Flint. His Artist Statement sums it up:

"My work is based on images curated from many sources such as digitized museum archives, vintage shops, and social media platforms. The paintings fluctuate between the familiar and the unknown while simultaneously including the past and present. By rearranging the hierarchy of elements the paintings become fictions that allow countless interpretations. Layered into works are references to liminality, ecological issues, neuroscience, psychological states, and the history of painting, among others.

The images sourced from out-of-date materials hold a special fascination. Much like observing the ruins of an old, grand building or a church in a state of decay, the characters and objects that populate his paintings are employed to create a sense of ephemerality, imbuing the work with a kind of fascination and disquiet, over the passage of time. Used in this way they serve as reminders that cutting edge trends and novelty will evolve into new iterations or be abandoned altogether. Using these sources for my paintings allows a certain distance to reinterpret as I see fit. I can see this person or place in a photograph but know nothing about what is going on beyond those paper borders. That ambiguity, between the seen and unseen, between the real and the imaginary, is where my paintings live."

Top to bottom: A Year of Soft Conversation; All The Falling Leaves; Carousel; Shorelines; Soft Preoccupations; The Assistant; The Banquet; The Catcher; The Volunteers; The World Between

http://joshuaflint.com

The Astronaut's New Boots

Well, here is a piece of information I did not know until now: the boots that are part of an astronaut's suit have not been updated or changed in the last 50 years! So athletic shoe manufacturer Reebok teamed up with aviation and aerospace headset manufacturer David Clark Company to design a new space boot. And the SB-01 is the stunning result. They look so good, I really want a pair to wear here on earth!

"Weight is a huge factor in space travel with just a single pound having big financial implications," says Matt Montross of Reebok Innovation. "Traditional space boots were made of rigid leather with firm soles and were not integrated into the actual space suit. Reebok Floatride Foam introduced three revolutionary elements to the space boot; it decreased the overall weight significantly, it brought the added comfort in a space boot and support that you would expect in a running shoe and it delivered a new level of sleekness and style."

https://www.reebok.com
http://www.davidclarkcompany.com/

BEAUTY: Illustration--Eizin Suzuki

The lovely, colorful work of Japanese illustrator Eizin Suzuki is perfect for summer. His images of California, Hawaii, and even the coasts of Italy and France are perfectly captured by Suzuki in clean, graphic lines (there's a slight 1980s reference when one thinks of the work of artists like Patrick Nagel) and bright colors--and the way he renders sunlight through trees and foliage is delightful. One can practically feel the humidity and smell the salt air.

http://eizin.co.jp/

"Where Do Ideas Come From?" by Andrew Norton

"Where Do Ideas Come From?", a short film by Andrew Norton.

https://andrew-norton.squarespace.com

The Roaming Camera

By Androo Robinson

"Awaken" by Tom Lowe

AWAKEN is a feature documentary film by director, cinematographer, editor, and producer Tom Lowe exploring humanity's relationship with technology and the natural world.

Shot over a 5-year period in more than 30 countries, the film pioneers new time-lapse, time-dilation, underwater, and aerial cinematography techniques to give audiences new eyes with which to see our world. Executive produced by Terrence Malick (auteur filmmaker, and creator of the experimental fim "Voyage Of Time, previously here) and Godfrey Reggio (director of the Qatsi trilogy of films: "Koyaanisqatsi," "Powaqqatsi," and "Naqoyqatsi"), AWAKEN is a celebration of the spirit of life, an exploration of the Earth, and an ode to the Cosmos.

http://awaken.film/

Products Of Tomorrow

The Nature Conservancy has designed what they are calling "Products Of Tomorrow."

Based on our current trajectory and climate change, land and drinkable water will be scarce, producing droughts and famines. Couple this with political and social calamities stemming from what is happening now. This is the likely outcome.

It doesn't have to be like this. Visit The Nature Conservancy website for more info.

https://www.nature.org/

BEAUTY: Ceramics--Niharika Hukku

Just look at these gorgeous ceramic pieces by Australian artist and ceramicist Niharika Hukku. She works in watercolor and translates that medium to glazed pieces portraying clouds, the moon, landscapes, and birds, fish, and natural objects...

http://www.niharikahukku.com/