Photographers: Know Your Rights

Posted on February 16, 2012 by

Actor/activist Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the Gregory Brothers and the ACLU have produced an entertaining and informative little video , with the assistance of the animated ghost of Benjamin Franklin, to inform photographers about their legal rights. This timely film applies to amateur and professional photographers, and American citizens in general. It also has an impact for bloggers and anyone taking photos while traveling around the US. You can learn more at the ACLU photograhers’ rights page.

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Travel Guidebook News

Posted on February 15, 2012 by

Well it was inevitable, the co-stars and co-creators of the sweet and wacky sketch comedy show Portlandia Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen have a book deal. Grand Central Publishing, a Hachette imprint, will release PORTLANDIA: A Guide for Visitors this November. The book will be structured just like a traditional travel guidebook and will lead readers through Portland’s landmarks, sites, attractions, shops, bars, clubs and restaurants. I’m sure a string of apps will follow.

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A Valentine’s Day Kiss

Posted on February 14, 2012 by

As today is Valentine’s Day , I thought it would be an appropriate time to bring you the story of Auguste Rodin’s erotically charged masterpiece, The Kiss.

The video below from the Tate museums,  explains how The Kiss was originally conceived as a detail in an early version of Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, a monumental work that preoccupied the artist for the last 37 years of his life. The Kiss depicts the fateful embrace of Francesca and Paolo, adulterous lovers from Dante’s Inferno.

Rodin developed the theme of The Kiss in plaster and terracotta before creating a marble version for the French government in 1888. That version is now on display at the Musée Rodin in Paris. The version featured in the Tate video was commissioned in 1900 by an American art collector living in England, and is now part of the permanent collection of the Tate Modern in London.

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Running Paris

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

The very clever folks at Le3 Paris created this terrific video of a running tiger on the streets of Paris at night. They claim that it was accomplished with absolutely no post-production trickery whatsoever. I don’t know if that’s entirely true, but it’s an amazing video anyway. Take a look:

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All the Books in the World

Posted on February 12, 2012 by

This heartwarming short story by Croatian author/illustrator Darko Macan and Tihomir Celanovic will bring a tear to the eye of any bibliophile. All the books in the world, except for one:

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Hot Bagels for Breakfast

Posted on February 11, 2012 by
English: Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army...

Image via Wikipedia

Who doesn’t love a hot bagel? Never had a bagel? So sad for you. This wonderful short film is from the Brooklyn Public Library film archives. Filmed in the heart of Brooklyn, New York during the 1970s, the film is the story of how to make real bagels. It covers the entire process from making the dough, to baking and selling. The narrative offers a slice of life look at the changing nature of the bagel business and Brooklyn culture.

I’ll have a dozen everything.

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Mapping Charles Dickens

Posted on February 10, 2012 by

If you follow this blog you are well aware of the varied events, exhibitions and publications celebrating what would have been Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday. You can discover many of the happenings surrounding the Bicentenary by visiting the Museum of London (or the website) and the Charles Dickens Museum on Doughty Street London, where Dickens lived and wrote for two years in his twenties.

But if you are a true cartophile, as well as a Dickens fan, you should check-out this amazing Google map that picks out every location mentioned in Dickens’ novels.

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