"Hannibal"

If you find yourself in Sölden, Austria this April 12, 2013, for heaven's sake, see the stupendous theatrical extravaganza "Hannibal" which takes place on a staggeringly large outdoor stage made of the Alps and snow. The stylized, conceptual show memorializes Carthaginian military commander Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 B.C.E. along with 38,000 infantrymen, 8,000 cavalry, and 37 elephants. This modern breathtaking spectacle, performed nearly 3,000 feet above sea level, reenacts the crossing with more than 500 actors, dancers, acrobatic skiers as warriors, snow grooming machines standing in for war elephants, base jumpers, helicopters, artificial avalanches, explosions, state of the art projection and lighting effects, and fireworks.

For more info, visit:
http://www.soelden.com/main/EN/SD/MS/hannibal/index.html

It must be March...

...because here in northern California, the wild daffodils are blooming, right on time. They grow in clumps, dotting the hills all around. And they look so beautiful against the green of the emerald grass. Soon enough, the hills will dry and turn golden for the summer.

I love daffodils. The classic yellow kind. They remind me of my grandmother, The Good Grandma of the North, as I referred to her (and yes, I actually did have a Wicked Grandma of the South, too... for real, believe me). The Good Grandma of the North believed in decorating for the holidays--I credit her with my love for interior design--and for spring and Easter, she would set out huge panoramic sugar Easter eggs, the kind with a little idyllic scene inside, and lots of daffodils...

Foxes love them too.

Cire Trudon

For years, I have been walking by the Paris storefront of Cire Trudon, the oldest wax manufacturer in the world, and admiring their bust candles. Founded in 1643 by wax merchant Claude Trudon, this venerable company made candles for Versailles, Louis XIV, and through the end of the monarchy with Louis XVI. They subsequently provided candles for Napoleon and the Empire. In fact, Napoleon gifted his newborn son a single Cire Trudon pillar candle adorned with three gold pieces featuring the profile of the Emperor. That candle is still available; called The Imperial Pillar Candle, it is in the fourth image down. And their bust candles come in different designs: Marie-Antoinette, Napoleon, Louise, Alexandre, and the figure of a slave. The windows of the Paris store often feature busts burning down, melting into drips and puddles...

Above photos by JEF

Above photos from Cire Trudon

http://www.ciretrudon.com/

BEAUTY: Art--Hanna Ilczyszyn

Hanna Ilczyszyn captures the ambiguity of childhood as a state of being. My friend, the late Maurice Sendak used to talk about this: childhood is actually a time of great stress. Children are new to everything. They are learning a language, words, how to communicate, how to maneuver an unpredictable world in which they are surrounded by much larger creatures who appear to act rashly and arbitrarily (adults), how to find their place as they develop a sense of self, and how to interact with others. It is a confusing, anxious time when everything matters so much.. even the little things, because, really, that is all we have when we are children (it is a similar story when we are grown but for other reasons and issues not relevant to this thread). Ilczyszyn mines this uncertainty and the black-or-white, make-or-break world children inhabit.

Top to bottom: Ball; Boy; Dance; Girl With A Toy; I Like Cats; Stop; Teddybear

http://www.fajnahanna.com/

DREAM 3.3.13: The Orange Ghost Chair

I am in a department store looking at a sweater I like, but I also see a cream colored navy blue pin-striped suit that I love, too. I walk further into the store and it becomes the Museum of Modern Art. I am looking for a Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Chair in orange for my current interior design clients, exactly like I am in outer life. I think that I will buy one to show them, and if they do not like it, I will keep it because the Louis Ghost chair is just cool.

BEAUTY: Painting--Stephen Lack

The suburbs have always creeped me out a little. It seems like they hide a side of people that is the opposite of what the suburbs often pretend to be. I am not the only one who has ever felt this. One of the greatest examples of this kind of duality is David Lynch's film "Blue Velvet." And artist Stephen Lack feels it as well. His naïve, colorful, neo-expressionist paintings of suburban neighborhoods and the people who live there show the kind of violence percolating under the surface.

Top to bottom: Suburban Asteroid; Suburban House Halifax; L.I. Oil Tanks; Our Home; Teenagers Hanging Out By The Pool; Boy Kills Friend; Suburban Hunting Party

Aside from his art and impressive residency and teaching positions at institutes the world over, Lack is best remembered as the star of David Cronenberg's 1980 film "Scanners."

http://stephenlackart.com/

Parfum de Dead Writers

Seattle's Sweet Tea Apothecary, owned and operated by J.T.Siems, has formulated Dead Writers Perfume, a unisex blend that “evokes the feeling of sitting in an old library chair paging through yellowed copies of Hemingway, Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Poe, and more.” It sounds fascinating with a nice blend of top and bottom notes of heliotrope, vetiver, black tea, clove, tobacco, musk, and vanilla. More bottom than top, but the very sweet heliotrope and vanilla should balance nicely...

Buy it on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SweetTeaApothecary

BEAUTY: Ceramic--Johnson Tsang

Ceramicist Johnson Tsang creates lovely, whimsical pieces that look like liquid, not ceramic! In fact, he was awarded Grand Prize at the 2012 Taiwan Ceramics Biennale for his humorous and unexpected piece Splash of Wonder seen below in the final four images.

The liquid in the piece above is actually stainless steel as Tsang wanted a material that would look even more like liquid!

Top to bottom:Yuanyang; three views of Yuanyang 2; four views of Splash of Wonder

http://johnsontsang.wordpress.com/#

BEAUTY: Man--Stephan Stephensen, a.k.a President Bongo

Regular readers know that I have quite a thing for Stephan Stephensen, the Icelandic musician who is one of the core members of Gus Gus. Also known as President Bongo, or sometimes President Penis (I could get used to calling him that), his newest musical project is Gluteus Maximus, a remix/DJ/band with fellow DJ Margeir. Here they are strutting their stuff... and the President has so much to strut. They bill themselves as "the big guns. An arsenal of rotating musical mass." I mean, really, for crying out loud, this man's sheer beauty is gonna kill me someday...

Here is their original song "Everlasting" featuring mellifluous vocals by fellow Icelander Högni Egilsson.

http://www.gluteus-maximus.com/#_