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

1. The Shattered Remains of Afghanistan’s Versailles Photo: Bruce MacRae Darul Aman Palace (meaning “abode of peace”) is a European-style palace located about 16 kilometers from the center of Kabul. The palace was built during the 1920’s as part of the reformist King Amanullah Khan’s modernization drive. Photo: Carl Montgomery Darul Aman Palace was to be…

All Aboard the Streetcar Party, 1942

I‘ve been at it again, rummaging through the vault of treasures in the LIFE archives. This time I found these sassy snaps all the way from the jazz era taken by LIFE photographer Bob Landry. The only other details given for the photo essay however are simply: “Streetcar Party, May, 1942”. So it looks like…

The Last Globemaker

Ever wondered about the world behind those spinning globes that fascinated you so much as a kid?! No, me neither, but a mini documentary about Peter Bellerby and his London-based company that manufactures fine handcrafted globes is an unexpected delight. How does one get into the globe-making business? Bellerby, started out when he made one for his…

10 Unusually Cool Places to Sleep

This morning I had a bit of a field day on one of those websites that just you can’t understand how you never came across before… If I were a travel website, I would be Unusual Hotels of the World– it speaks my lingo when it comes to wanderlusting the globe, with a treasure chest of…

Family Fun at the California Alligator Farm

A very strange collection of postcards here; early 20th century halftone photographs applied with colour depicting at the Los Angeles Alligator Farm in the early 20th century. For a 25 cents admission fee, visitors could visit the most complete reptile collection in the world in its heyday. As the postcards show, children could enjoy a piggyback…

The Rooftop Pigeon Men: A New York Subculture

When I was about twelve or thirteen, I remember watching an episode of my favourite Nickelodeon cartoon, Hey Arnold, entitled “Pigeon Man”, about a mysterious hermit who lived on a New York rooftop with pigeons. Very few people had seen him and only rumours circulated amongst the neighbourhood kids about the ‘Legend of the Pigeon…

Trying to Sell the World’s Largest Record Collection

Five years ago, a young director made a documentary about a man named Paul Mawhinney who owns the largest record collection in the world. The short piece told the story of Paul’s struggle to keep his archive alive. In 2008, he had to close his store, Record-Rama, where he sold music and kept the last copies…

My Little Lighthouse Hotel

For anyone else who has ‘stay overnight at a lighthouse’ on their list of things to do, meet me at the Saugerties Lighthouse, a two hour drive from Manhattan in the Hudson Valley. Ditch the car and walk a half a mile up the peninsula where the lighthouse will finally emerge from the tall grass, cut…

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

1. Smokin’ Garciela It’s possible you may have seen this face before, perhaps in a photo album of someone that travelled to Cuba. This is the famous cigar lady from Havana, Garciela, in her late 80’s. She lets tourists take photographs of her for a few pesos. Found on the Flickr group, Smokin Garciela …

A Miniature New York State of Mind

Oh boy, look what I found. New York City has never looked more alluring than on a ½ inch to 1 foot scale– that’s half the size of ‘dollhouse scale’ by the way. Grit, graffiti, grime and all, Alan Wolfson‘s urban sculptures aren’t your typically ‘twee’ miniature artworks. A Brooklyn native, Alan is a night person…