Movie Nights are the New Cocktail Parties: Here’s 50 Films to Gather Around

Keep the guest list cozy, say 10 or under, but make an event out of it. Set up the projector with a few twinkle lights, get the movie snacks ready, maybe a few bottles of vino, but most importantly, have a fun movie prepared. We’re talking movies that keep spirits high, trigger memories of the…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 726)

1. Paris, 1957 A random selection of photographs found on Live Journal. 2. Manhattan NYC, 1931 This is an aerial photo of Manhattan taken circa 1931. You can see all the way from 125th Street in Harlem down to the tip of Manhattan and beyond. That tall spike 25 blocks south of Central Park is…

Hunting for Harold Lloyd’s Legendary Christmas Ornaments

Harold Lloyd probably isn’t a name that rings many bells in the 21st century, but spoiler – he’s one of the most influential film comedians of the silent era, making up the the first trio of the silver screen’s laugh-makers, alongside Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. With his signature straw boater and round horn-rimmed glasses,…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 725)

1. Shakespeare’s “King Lear”, staged in a burnt out theatre in Peru, 1999 In 1999, architect Luis Longhi transformed the fire-damaged Teatro Municipal de Lima into a unique setting for “King Lear.” Utilizing the theater’s ruins, he installed a steel ramp traversing the roofless stage, integrating the stalls and boxes to create an immersive experience…

The Vault

Vintage Pocket Guides to Syria & Beyond for the WW II American Soldier

As someone who writes a guide about the city of Paris and searches for off-beat travel, I can relate to the language of pocket guides. I guess you could say it’s kinda my thing. But what if I wasn’t writing for the leisurely wanderer? What if instead, I was writing for a young, newly-enlisted soldier headed off to war…

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A Time Traveller’s Guide to Savannah, Georgia

As 2020 comes to a close, it would appear that Georgia really is ‘on our minds’ as the southern state is set to determine which party will control the American Senate on January 5th of early next year. But how about we remove politics from the conversation and turn our attention to one of the…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 723)

1. Japan’s Love Hotels Feature in François Prost Definitely need to stock this one at the Cabinet. 2. These paintings of Paris by a lesser known impressionist By Norwegian painter Frits Thaulow (1847-1906). 3. Camille Claudel sculpture discovered in abandoned Paris apartment Camille Claudel was the lover, co-worker and muse of sculptor Auguste Rodin. She was…

A Brief Compendium of Forgotten Christmas Specials

This Christmas is surely all about finding comfort where we can, and for many, that means looking back on old times. For me, it started with the discovery of a Dolly Parton Christmas special buried in the archives of Youtube, which got me wondering. Sure, there’s the infamous ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ Star Wars Special of ’78, but…

What’s Up with all the Lady Parts in Medieval Prayer Books?

Let’s say you’re flipping through a medieval Christian prayer book (as you do), and suddenly you come across a curious illustration amongst the prayers and psalms of something that looks unmistakably like female genitalia. A scolding voice in your head tells you to get your mind out of the gutter. But you wouldn’t be alone.…

Churches and their Hidden Basement Bowling Alleys

Churches have bowling alleys? Yes, they do, but they’re a dying breed. There are thought to be less than 200 churches with bowling lanes left in America today, but as early as the 1860s, they were quite common across the Midwest and parts of the Northeast. It’s not the kind of thing you expect to find…