Rocky Horror Picture Show in the Paris Catacombs

For our latest adventure on the Don’t be a Tourist in Paris web series, we go 30 feet beneath the city to discover the subculture of iconic midnight movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show just in time for Halloween. Below ground, we’re in the subterranean cinema of Alexander J E Bradley a photographer, filmmaker and catacomb-dweller (aka. cataphile).…

A Brief Compendium of the Iconic American Motel

Among my favourite things are mid-century kitsch and tiny houses. Put the two together and you basically send me into overload. I’m aware that the faded glamour of American motels is much more appealing to a European road-tripper like me who hasn’t stayed in enough of them yet to have encountered bed bugs. But what I wouldn’t give to go back…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CCCXIX)

1. A Wild West Ghost Town for Sale Located 40 minutes from Palm Springs, 20 minutes from Joshua Tree National Park, and not far from Pioneertown– Stargazing Desert Retreat, is currently on the market for $1,495,000. Built by Hollywood moguls as a permanent Wild West set—the property includes a main house with over 3,000 square feet, four…

You’re invited to a Messy Nessy Manhattan Tea Party

Save the date! You’re invited to the MessyNessy Manhattan Tea Party fit for a Mad Hatter. Mark you calendar to meet us at a secret location on October 28th, 2018 in New York City. Yours truly (that’s me Nessy) will be your host for the afternoon gathering, a chance to bring together our unusual tribe in a beautiful…

5 Little-Known Chateaux to Visit Near Paris

‘Tis the season for chateaux hunting! Of course, you won’t find us fighting our way through the selfie sticks at Versailles, and I thought we should round up a few of our go-to castles for fall day tripping around Paris… 1. The Three Musketeers Hideaway A forty minute drive west of the Notre Dame cathedral…

Painting the Apocalypse

Wow, where is that? I thought leaning in closer to my screen, squinting at the ghostly concrete towers. It wasn’t until I actually saved the image to my computer and put it through Google reverse image search, that I actually realised, I wasn’t looking at a photograph. This is the work of Simon Stålenhag– and if you’ve…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CCCXVIII)

1. A Time Capsule Airbnb Apartment in New York City In my arduous search to find accommodation for my upcoming stay in New York, I came across one of the city’s more unique and affordable options. You might have heard of the venerable Ear Inn, the grandfather of New York’s grand old saloons…. The upstairs apartment has…

The Vault

Trolling Nazis (and the world) with Forged Art

The accepted number of authenticated Vermeer paintings today is 34, but that number became mysteriously higher during World War II. Hermann Göring himself, a leader of the Nazi party and notorious art looter, traded 137 of his prized stolen paintings for a newly-discovered Vermeer, one of several 17th century works that had suddenly emerged in…

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Here’s the American Dream looking pretty Hungover by the 1970s

I would have liked to see America during its in-between period– somewhere in the seventies when the whole “Stepford Wives” thing and censorship and social compliance was over with (more or less), but they hadn’t yet starting tearing down all those wonderful and whimsical buildings. Sure, they might have been looking a little sorry for…

Stop Everything and Discover the World of 3D Cat Portraiture

I‘m not even a cat person and I just watched a 3m 45 second presentation on the mesmerising art form of three-dimensional felt kitty portraits. Mastered by a Japanese artist calling themselves Wakuneco (which actually means “frame cat”), the custom-order service has found a niche market in helping cat-owners cope with the loss of a beloved feline. Take a look…