The Robinson Crusoe Hotel

If Robinson Crusoe had washed up on a tropical island inhabited by eco-warriors rather than cannibals, this might have been what his life as a castaway would have looked like. That is of course, if deserted islands came complete with tropical huts perched over natural pools visible under your feet beneath the transparent flooring. Nearly ten years ago,…

The Old Butcher’s Bookshop, Paris

On the longest street in Paris, at the edge of the Luxembourg Gardens, sits a unique little bookshop that’s often overlooked. While the famous Shakespeare & Co is chock-full with tourists everyday, outside Le Pont Traversé at 62 Rue de Vaugirard, the lone passerby is occasionally browsing the bookstand at leisure. So I thought I’d…

The Groovy Imitation Bands of 1960s Japanese Rock

When the Beatles arrived in Japan in June of 1966, they caused as much pandemonium when they did when they triggered Beatlemania in the United States in 1964. A total of 8,400 policemen were mobilized for security at a cost of 90 million yen and more than 6,500 Japanese teenagers were taken into custody. They had been…

Lost in Lava Land: The Church that Rose from the Ashes

Under the black jagged valley of Western Mexico, was once an indigenous village that called this place their local church. Seemingly rising from the ashes itself, the church of San Juan Parangaricutiro is the only part of the village that was not swallowed by a near decade-long volcanic eruption. (c) Juan Rolando Like something out of…

My Teeny Tiny Antique Shop

On this small corner of the web, we’ve swooned over miniature versions of just about everything– a miniature Parisian café, micro vintage trailers, shrunken 1950s small town America, an underwater city, after-hours New York, bohemian ateliers, heck, I even dedicated an entire category on this blog to teeny tiny stuff. And since I’m guessing this is probably a…

So Jeff Goldblum has been playing a little-known Weekly Jazz Night for the last 15 Years

I had a pretty weird crush on Jeff Goldblum when I was a growing up. While other girls were buying teen pop magazines whose pages were filled with blonde, noodle-haired boy bands, I was picking up cigar aficionado magazines featuring interviews with the tall, stogy-loving actor, and renting his entire filmography at the video store on weekends. But that’s just…

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

1. The Last Brownstone “Construction in NYC, 1959, land being cleared for 20 story building in East 60s- still occupied brownstone is soon to go.” Changing New York photographed by Dmitri Kessel. 2. Flat Manhattan, 1883 The 1883 engraving by Captain Willard Glazier comes from his book “Peculiarities of American Cities“, found on Socks Studio.…

The Cave-Dwelling Flamenco Dancers of Andalucia

“Gypsy” conjures up all kinds of stereotypical images of a wandering foreign community that live in caravans and vardos on the outskirts of cities. But today I fished a rare photo story out of the LIFE archives that gives us a fascinating glimpse into their lesser-known heritage. Shot by Dmitri Kessel in 1949, we’re taken inside a mid-century…

My Bohemian Berlin Brasserie

The owner of Katz Orange (orange cat in German), was inspired by a trip he took to Peru where he met a spiritual priest who owned an orange cat. Upon entering the beautiful brasserie, you can imagine him sitting in this shaman’s mountain hut with an orange cat, surrounded by indigenous artifacts and kilim tapestries passed down from…

The Mythical Indigenous Australians Guarding their Rainforest

Through the ferns of an enchanted forest with tall gums and the call of wild birds all around, stoney eyes are watching in the land down under. At one with nature, fused with the rocks and the tree trunks, mysterious sculptures of a native people are all around, forever guarding and protecting their native paradise. We’re in…