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Category / Editor’s Picks

Why Not Tattoo Your Walls like the French?

At this very moment, a drunken Dionysus naps in the doorway of a villa overlooking the French Riviera. In another room, the head of Apollo keeps guard of a marble fireplace, and Diana the Huntress rounds up her nymphs in scenes of cosmic mischief dreamt up by the artist Jean Cocteau, and immortalised – tattooed,…

The Macaroni Club: Fashion History’s Forgotten Drag Subculture?

There’s a famous American song “Yankee Doodle” – you might’ve heard of it – the lyrics go like this: “Yankee Doodle went to town, A-riding on a pony, Stuck a feather in his cap, And called it macaroni.” The familiar patriotic tune was in fact created by the British to mock the Americans during the…

Bohemian Grove: The Secret Society Summer Camp

I just spent the morning finding out everything I can on the Bohemian Grove. For two weeks every summer, the 2,700 acre secured private camp in the Ancient Redwood Forest of Northern California, plays host to some of the most powerful men in the world. Every republican U.S. president since 1923 has been a member of club, including…

The Beautiful, Weird World of Japan’s Answer to David Lynch

If home is where the heart is, House (1977) is where the mind unravels. The experimental film by director Nobuhiko Obayashi is a beautiful, Surrealist venture into the horror genre that’s slowly but surely getting its due credit in the Western world. Where to even begin with Mr. Obayasi? His finger-eating piano? Ghostly watermelons? He’s…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 728)

1. Europe’s 19th Century Hippies Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach (1851–1913) is regarded as the “forefather of alternative movements” and one of the most important champions of life-reform, the peace movement and naturism, which caused him to clash in the prudish society of the Empire. Diefenbach (pictured standing) was not just an artist, but a cultural rebel through…

I Visited 18 Countries Today, How about You?

Not to brag, but I went all over the world today – before I’d even stopped for lunch! In addition to falling down the rabbit hole in our Don’t be a Tourist archives, I’d like to recommend one of my favourite rainy day pastimes: armchair travelling. Google Street View is one of the internet’s most…

The Forgotten Firsts: 10 Vintage Versions of Modern Technology

In this age of mobile, wireless, digital and whatchamacallit technology, nothing seems to surprise us nowadays. Unless they’re going to finally show us those flying cars we’ve been waiting for since The Jetsons aired on television, we’re hardly batting an eyelid at some of the latest gadgets. But if we take a look back, we might find some familiar but curious…

Wild Card Destination Du Jour: The Unsung Secrets of Sarajevo

Sarajevo might be quite unlike any other city in Europe. Nestled in a valley surrounded by the beautiful Dinaric Alps, it is a beguiling mix of old world cultures, where centuries of Ottoman Empire rule meet the grandeur and elegance of the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburgs. Wander through the maze of cobbled winding streets in the Old…

Artist du Jour: The Little-Known Legacy of a Bohemian Bloodline

Welcome back to my virtual art gallery, where I like to highlight painters, particularly Paris-inspired artists, that I’ve never heard of. When speaking of early 20th-century art in Paris, the usual household names like Picasso, Matisse, or Modigliani often spring to mind, yet within that lively milieu, there thrived another remarkable painter that has long-evaded…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 727)

1. A woman submerged five sets of her fine china underwater before evacuating due to the fires in Northern California in 2018 Found on Reddit. 2. Ueckert Circus Wardrobe Collection: over 1,200 artifacts, costuming, accessories & props from American circuses dating from the 1880s Now open for researching. 3. In Sardinia, the women of Desulo…

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