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Category / Inspiration Vault

Tips, Tricks & Takeaways from a 15th Century Arabic Sex Manual

Lucky you – today we’re signing you up for some sex ed from the Arab world 600 years ago, courtesy of a 15th century sex manual that, despite most of the general population having never heard of it, once attained status similar to that of The Arabian Nights. Commissioned in present day Tunisia, during what…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 658)

1. This Historic Home and Shop in Bath, England, is For Sale Biscuit factory, apothecary, emporium, and pub, this Bath property lived many lives before being converted into a house and shop by husband and wife duo, Patrick and Neri Williams, founders of Berdoulat. The Georgian live/work space has spectacular heritage bones and Inigo is marketing the historic…

I Went to Rome’s Last Surviving Adult Theatre So You Don’t Have To

The Romans are famous for a lot of things – building and conquering empires, trade, art, food – and don’t forget sex! Pompeii was excavated at the end of the 19th century and the archeologists who uncovered the city found themselves surrounded by erotic images at every turn. For more than a hundred years, there…

Vacationing with Wes Anderson: The American Motel Edition

Wes Anderson did it again with another eye-feast of aesthetics in “Asteroid City”, set in futuristic quasi-mid-century Southwestern United States, a barren desert setting reminiscent of New Mexico or Arizona. He’s made us want to pack some hard-sided suitcases, load up the station wagon, and get our kicks back on Route 66. After watching Asteroid…

The Forgotten Housewife who Invented your Dishwasher

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Case in point: there’s a certain 19th century American housewife and single mother we should thank for giving us the mechanical dishwasher. You’ve probably never heard of her but Mrs. Cochrane forever changed the landscape of household chores and revolutionised the kitchen. Fed up of…

The Famous Parisian Potheads of the Belle Epoque

Ah, Belle Epoque Paris: a lost world of artists, writers, dancers, philosophers and …. potheads? Today, we’re getting acquainted with the long forgotten Club des Hashischins, “Club of the Hashish-Eaters”, a 19th century gang of Parisians dedicated to drug-induced experiences, whose members included a gaggle of the most prolific intellectual names, including Victor Hugo, Alexandre…

A Forgotten Pioneer of Surrealism: Alberto Martini and his Monde Macabre

Welcome to the curious world of Artist Alberto Martini, an obscure original visionary and precursor of surrealism. An illustrator, painter, sculptor, propagandist, and possessor of the graphic macabre. He would go on to influence an art movement, visualise the dark and grotesque for Edgar Allan Poe, and journey to the depths of the underworld with…

Meet the President’s Daughter, a “Wild Animal That Had Been Put Into Good Clothes”

In a world rife with lifestyle influencers and “content houses,” where building one’s own notoriety is big business, it’s tempting to dismiss being famous for being famous as the most banal and basic kind of renown. But there was a time, with a burgeoning American press beginning to define itself and a brash and pithy…

From Corsets to Culottes: The Women who Dared to Change Wimbledon

Wimbledon today is known for showcasing the tennis talents of both male and female competitors, but in the tournament’s earlier days, one does wonder how women were expected to make a decent serve dressed in full-length skirts, corsets, and fiddly blouses: the ‘tennis whites’ of the time. It took some real champions to make a…

A Taste of Vintage Italia

Let’s not pretend that a summer in Italy doesn’t revolve around food, food … and food, discovering charming family-run restaurants and uncovering the secret pasta recipes of Italian grandmothers from Milan to the caves of Matera. But this is not your stereotypical Italian story of family and good food. At Osteria del Castello, housed inside an old court of a…

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