1. The Japanese Subculture Where People Wear Giant Cyclops Masks
Introducing tanganmen, one of the more underground movements in Japanese style. Photographer Irwin Wong came across them on social media, and understandably thought they would make a worthy addition to his 2022 book, The Obsessed: Otaku, Tribes, and Subcultures of Japan. More photos found on VICE.
2. Are we living in the Age of Average?
“I called this style “AirSpace”. It’s marked by an easily recognisable mix of symbols – like reclaimed wood, Edison bulbs, and refurbished industrial lighting – that’s meant to provide familiar, comforting surroundings for a wealthy, mobile elite, who want to feel like they’re visiting somewhere “authentic” while they travel, but who actually just crave more of the same: more rustic interiors and sans-serif logos and splashes of cliche accent colours on rugs and walls.”
Architecture’s march towards blank homogeneity is perhaps most obvious in the quick build, low-cost apartment blocks that have rapidly spread across the United States.
“There was a time when you could identify the country the car came from. But today, basically every company makes cars for basically every country (…). Cars are now designed for the broadest possible audience, across the broadest number of countries, to be manufactured in the most efficient possible way.”
You can see this creative convergence for yourself when you next visit a bookstore. In fiction you’ll see many popular books following a “girl with…” naming convention. Of course, there’s Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, but we’ve also seen Paula Hawkins’ “The Girl on the Train”, M. R. Carey’s “The Girl With all the Gifts” and A. J. Grayson’s “The Girl in the Water”.
In non-fiction, if you visit the self-help category, you’ll notice that every book title seems to include a swear word. We have Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of not Giving a Fuck”, Sarah Knight’s “The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck” and Alexis Rockley’s “Find your Fuck Yeah.”
The Instagram pictures we post, the tweets we read, the TV we watch, the app icons we click, the skylines we see, the websites we visit and the illustrations which adorn them all look the same. The list goes on, and on, and on.
But it’s not all bad news.
Alex Murrell believe that the age of average is the age of opportunity. Find out why and read the full article here.
3. The mobile phone museum
There’s an option to search the “ugliest” phones. Visit here. (found via)
4. A “Grand Trunk car ferry crossing the Detroit River in winter” circa 1905
Found on Old Photographs.
5. In 17th century Paris, transfusing animal blood into human veins was the trendy anti-ageing “cure-all”
During the late 1660s in Paris, transfusing the blood of calves and lambs into human veins held the promise of renewed youth and vigour …The Transfusion Affair was the dramatic climax of an international rivalry for national scientific precedence, a veritable “blood race” between England and France, instigated by two kings at a moment when the “scientific community” was being built across political boundaries.
Read the full article on the Public Domain Review.
6. Saucy Secrets About Napoleon’s Favorite Sister
7. Basra, Iraq, once the “Venice of the East”, Then & Now
Iraq’s great port city of Basra in the 1950s and now. If you’re curious to know more, I couldn’t stop watching this documentary about how Iraq was before and the destruction of the country’s cultural and intellectual society. Eye-opening.
Photos found via Reddit.
8. A Street Corner in Rome
Photography by Val Molière.
9. Italy’s Abandoned 1980s Discotheques
Discover more from the series Paradise Discotheque by Antonia La Grotta
10. In case you didn’t yet catch the trailer for the latest Wes Anderson movie…
11. You can Eat Lunch inside British Parliament
Every year the House of Lords restaurant is opened to the public for a limited period during the Easter recess, which this year is from 4-8 April.
The lunch is priced at £45 per head for three courses with tea/coffee included.
Make a reservation by calling the Peers’ Dining Room Team on 020 7219 3395 (Monday-Thursday 10am-3pm) or book tickets via the website here.
12. Shopkeepers
A photo series by Netherlands-based photographer Niels Helmink. See all the photos here.
