Paris or Egypt? 100 Years Ago, It Was Hard to Tell the Difference

We could play a game here to start off. I could show you a series of ten vintage photographs and you guess which ones were taken in Paris and which ones were taken in Egypt. And to make it interesting, let’s say you get 2 seconds per photo to decide. Ready? Okay go – from…

These are the Real-Life Gardens of Earthly Delights

These are also the places that will confuse the heck out of aliens if they ever do land on this planet. From the forests of Finland to the subtropical mountains of Mexico, we’ve come across some many magical gardens over the years and thought it was about time to put them in one place… The…

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Weekend Like a Local in London

Most people know me for my Paris secrets, but London is the city that raised me for 25 years and you don’t forget an old friend that easily.I still remember my hidden Sunday pubs, my mother’s little go-to markets and all the urban secrets first discovered on field trips with my favourite history teacher. London…

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Behind the Curtain of New York’s Thriving Subculture of Fortune Tellers

Search “psychic” in New York City on Google Maps, and you’ll be flooded with addresses of not only psychics, but astrologers, tarot card readers, palm readers, and others invested in the business of the esoteric. This is a city where the supernatural thrives, where even in the midst of skyrocketing rent prices, a psychic –…

Snow White Is Real (and She’s a Chinese Vlogger)

“This is China? It looks like a fairyland,” was Nessy’s first reaction to Li Ziqi’s (李子柒) vlogs. Our team watched, entranced, as Ziqi scurried through the misty morning air of her village, dutifully followed by not one but three baby animals (two puppies and lamb); we observed her gather nuts and fruits in a dewy…

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

1. This Art Nouveau Sleeping Beauty in Cairo, Egypt This is an old castle was owned by Abdel Salam Khalil Pasha. It was designed by the famous Italian architect Antonio Lasciac, who designed a lot of castles in Egypt in different architectural style ranging from neo-Baroque to Art Nouveau, etc. I’d like to know more…

Famous Authors Are Writing Books for a Time Capsule Library None of Us Will Ever See

In the frosty forest of Nordmarka, Norway, the seeds have been quietly planted to save the future of the written word. Every year for the next 100 years, 100 famous authors have pledged to each write a novel that will remain unpublished until the 22nd Century, when they will be published as part of the…

A Shortlist of the Most Obscure Design Oddities

Life is simply too short not to explore the strangest depths of design, which, in all honesty, are usually the most innovative. Case in point: exploring the world of antique fish pulpits in Eastern Europe, reusing WWII stretchers as fences, or fashioning a coffin to look like a cow or taking a ride in France’s…

Her Legs Should’ve been Registered as Deadly Weapons

The first time I saw this Cyd Charisse dancing was on a VHS copy of Singing in the Rain that I’d been gleefully gifted by my parents. With a total of just seven minutes airtime and not a single line of dialogue spoken, she stole the show as Debbie Reynold’s mysterious stand-in; a nameless leading…

What the Movies Don’t Tell Us We’re Hearing

Sometimes, you hear what you wanna hear. Especially in Hollywood, where a coconut steps in for the hooves of a horse, and squishing canned dog food is meant to mimic the sounds of aliens and monsters. It’s all a part of “Foley” making, a term coined after Jack Foley, who pioneered post-production sound effects for…