Goodbye 2011...

What will 2012 bring?

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

La Toussaint 2011

Today is La Toussaint in France, a national holiday. Although the word is a combination of the word tous ("all" in French) and saint, meaning "All Saint's Day," it is also "All Soul's Day." La Toussaint is closely related to the Día de los Muertos (Days of the Dead) in Latin cultures. It is a day to remember, celebrate, and honor departed loved ones and ancestors.

In France, people visit cemeteries to tend to the graves of family members and decorate them with chrysanthemums, a flower symbolizing death; generally, the French do not use this flower for any other purpose.

In honor of the day, I present some lovely images of the most famous cemetery in France, possibly the world: Père Lachaise in Paris.


There are many famous people--writers, actors, composers, public figures, even rock stars (Jim Morrison)--buried at Père Lachaise. Below are the graves and monuments for Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde (a very interesting, very Streamline Moderne monolith for him!), and Chopin.


Visit the Père Lachaise website for an absolutely fantastic virtual tour. You can wander around the beautiful serene avenues, admire the sculptural tombstones, or search graves by name!
http://www.pere-lachaise.com/

Happy Cherokee New Year, 2011!

Happy Cherokee New Year!


The Cherokee people ended their year and started the new year in autumn. It’s interesting—and makes sense—that they chose the harvest to mark the end of the year. The earth had gone through a cycle: the food had grown from spring, through summer, and then was harvested in the fall. The cycle was finished; time to start anew. The New Year was celebrated with a festival that featured purifications, dancing, prayers and offerings, and food such as corn, beans, squash, and meat.

Since the Cherokee calendar was and still is extremely tied to the phases of the moon, the timing of the New Year observation is somewhat up for debate. Some sources say that it was observed on the first full moon after the start of autumn. Other sources report that the New Year was observed ten days after the first full moon (the ten days probably being a period of fasting and preparation for the festival). Still other sources cite the first full moon in the Cherokee month of Nvdadequa or Nvwatitequa—which happens during our month of November—as the true Cherokee New Year.

Whenever it was celebrated, it was surely around this time... when the earth turns, the days grow shorter, the nights grow longer, and the weather turns cold. We prepare for the introspection that comes with winter, when the ground sleeps under the snow. That is the beginning of the year, the beginning of time: from darkness and cold springs life, new growth.

I wish you all "alihelisdi itse udetiyvsadisvi" or Happy New Year!


http://www.cherokee.org/

"Here Come July" by Scritti Politti 2011

The incredible Green Gartside and Scritti Politti.

"Here come July
The world is there for me to share
Here come July
It sort of feels so hyper-real

Here come July
To test you all before the fall
Here come July
The end of school, the death of cool

Here come July now
And everybody's burning
My summer's high now
The world has never been so happy in its heart of hearts

Here come July
To sort the men from boys again
Here come July
To melt away the need to say

Here come July now
The heat'll hurt your feelings
It's beautified now
The sun will scorch the pavements of all piety and sin

It doesn't mean nothing, it doesn't mean sh*t
How can I be a part of it?
It doesn't mean nothing, it doesn't mean spit
How can I be a part of it?

It doesn't mean nothing
Some things never do to me

I'll mean the world to you
Maybe I could double all the negatives we know

Here come July
I love it makes it hard to take
So why d'you lie?
To me about the truth will out

Here come July now
And I can't hear your lipgloss
No case to try now
The sun will be on subterfuge, iniquity and you

It doesn't mean nothing, it doesn't mean sh*t
How can I be a part of it?
It doesn't mean nothing, it doesn't mean spit
How can I be a part of it?

Here come July now
Here it comes (woah)
Here we come
I'm gonna crash, gonna burn, gonna watch as the worlds collide
I'm gonna crash, gonna burn, gonna watch as the worlds collide

(It doesn't mean nothing)
Here come July now (it doesn't mean nothing)
Here come July now."

http://www.scritti.net/
http://www.myspace.com/scrittipolittiofficial

The Peacocks of Pitti Uomo, June 2011

The look on the street at Pitti Uomo and Milano Moda Uomo is about shorts, often with blazers and ties, or as a whole suit. The first five pictures are from Pitti Uomo and Milan, and leading us off is one of my sartorial heroes, the heavily-tattooed Nick Wooster, sporting a light khaki version (with a matching tie!) and a darker suit-styled version. This is a look I will definitely be "rocking," as the kids say, this summer...

Goodbye 2010

What will 2011 bring?