Stamp Books/Book Stamps

The Liverpool-based design studio Dorothy has created a wonderful series of colorful stamps based on 20th century literary works. Their Modern Classics collection, above, reimagines the covers of the 42 titles in clever and imaginative ways.

They have reimagined the 42 essential modern books as a series of oversized postage stamps beginning with James Joyce’s extraordinary Ulysses and finishing with Colson Whitehead’s brutal and beautiful Pulitzer Prizewinning The Underground Railroad.

Other modern classics include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Beloved by Toni Morrison, American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis, The Road by Cormac McCarthy and White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

Each stamp features a graphic inspired by the book and the date of publication (in book form). Dorothy’s stamp prints of Modern Classics are available for purchase on their website.

 

 

Posted in Art, Books | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

When Dali Met Disney

Destino is an animated short film released in 2003 by Walt Disney Feature Animation. What makes this short animated film noteworthy is that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion in 2003. The project was originally a collaboration between Walt Disney and Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, and features music written by Mexican songwriter Armando Domínguez and performed by Mexican singer Dora Luz. It was included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2003. The film is just as wonderfully strange as you’d hope it to be.

NB: if the video above fails to play, please click the short url at the bottom.

Posted in Art, Europe, Film, movies, USA | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Brilliant Bookshops

You would be hard pressed to discover a bookshop in a more beautiful setting than the charming Atlantis Books in the tiny village of Oia on the stunning Greek island of Santorini. But it’s just one of the wonderful bookshops that you will find in this article. The Financial Times has a lovely gallery of “brilliant bookshops”, each with a short but substantial caption about its history written by a nominated contributor.

And just in time for leaf peeping season, check out all these great-looking bookstores scattered across New England. including the inviting White Birch Books in Conway, New Hampshire.

Fans of the beloved American sitcom Seinfeld will appreciate the recently opened New Mags Bookstore in Copenhagen, Denmark, which is the flagship shop for a Scandinavian distributor of coffee table books.

I have never been to Hanoi, but if I do visit, I won’t miss the Mao Bookstore, the oldest on Dinh Le Street .

The New York Times profiled The Mysterious Bookshop owner, Otto Penzler, who built a customized house for his book collection. Do not miss this shop if you visit NYC.

 

Posted in Books, Bookstore Tourism, Tourism, Travel Writing, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Día de los Muertos in NYC

For countless generations the indigenous people of what is now the nation of Mexico  have celebrated Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The exhuberant celebration of life and death occurs annually during the first two days of November. Celebrants create ofrendas — altars in private homes or cemeteries featuring offerings, food, family photographs, and candles to invite the souls of the dead back to the material world, as a life-affirming rejection of the notion of the finality of death.

This year, visitors to New York City’s famed  Rockefeller Center can see a fabulous exhibtion of Día de los Muertos related Mexican folk art. Works by Atelier Jacobo and María Angeles in Oaxaca and by Menchaca Studio, a Mexico City-based organization specializing in Huichol art and crafts, will be on display. Among the colorful works are two towering alebrijes, vibrantly-colored sculptures of animals and mythical creatures meant to serve as spiritual guides: an 11-foot dragon and a 13.5-foot feathered jaguar, both rendered in fiberglass.

At the entrance to the world famous 30 Rockefeller Plaza are two catrinas, skeleton figures representing the Aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl, by Menchaca Studio. The elegant skulls donning floral hats are perhaps the most recognizable symbols of Day of the Dead, inspiring the distinctive make-up, elaborate costumes, and even the pan de muerto (“bread of the dead”) found on many altars during the festivities.

 

 

Posted in Architecture, Art, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Tell-Tale Heart

What better time than Halloween for a story from America’s father of psychological horror. And what better example than The Tell-Tale Heart. Among the numerous of Poe adaptations for stage, screen and television, there are at least 20 versions of The Tell-Tale Heart. The UPA version from 1954 is a surprising take on Poe’s story from a studio better known more for its cartoons. This animated adaptations has an almost Expressionist feel to it. And the topper is a chilling narration by the great James Mason.

NB: If the video does not play, please click on the short url at the bottom of the post.

 

Posted in Animation, Art, Books, Film, movies, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

the world dies over and over again

 

Posted in Books, USA, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Just in time for Halloween

I have no intention of ever setting foot inside the Salem, Massachusetts Salem Witch Board Museum but this spooky little museum in the historic town seems like the perfect spot for Halloween. The attraction located in the town that’s famous for the notorious witch trials, has a unique angle: ouija boards, ouija boards, and nothing but Ouija boards. Here’s what the Boston Globe has to say about it:

All in all, the museum collection totals 300 to 500 boards.Kozik said his grandmother used her board alone — a feat some would consider bad luck, according to Ouija superstitions. Though a young Kozik was never allowed to be in the same room as her when she used it, he tried to spy from a top stair or through her window hoping to catch a glimpse of which letters and numbers her fingers darted across.

Kozik searches high and low for additions to his Ouija board collection and has built up a large network of fans and friends who help steer him toward his next find. Typically, he finds boards at estate sales, yard sales, or flea markets. Whether it’s conversing at the local dry cleaners, convenience store, or even worldwide, Kozik said he leaves “no stone unturned.”

 

Posted in History, Museums, Tourism, Uncategorized, USA | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Samhain Is Upon Us

In Ireland Samhain was an ancient pagan festival that marked the end of summer and the beginning of the Celtic new year and long winter ahead. (Samhain translates to “summer’s end” in Gaelic.) Begining at sundown on October 31 and continuing through November 1, Samhain ushered in the transition from the autumn equinox to the winter solstice. Over those two days, early Celts believed that the veil between life and death was at its thinest, allowing spirits to roam  between both realms.

Each year the people of Ireland entered this pivotal time with both anticipation and dread. They feared that they would encounter wayward spirits, fairies, or otherworldly creatures.  An especially frightening being was Stingy Jack, who was believed to have tricked the devil. Because of this, God banned him from heaven, and the devil banned him from hell, forcing him to roam earth forever.

To protect themselves from Stingy Jack and other malevolent spirits, Celtic  people began carving faces into root vegetables—particularly turnips. During Samhain, folks placed lit candles inside the cavities, similar to the pumpkin jack-o-lanterns of contemporary Halloween. They believed leaving the carvings outside their house or carrying them as lanterns would protect them from harm.

These spooky talisman lanterns were just one part of Samhain celebrations. Celtic people also built bonfires and used food and drinks as offerings to spirits, ghouls, and creatures. Some also wore costumes to disguise themselves during seasonal celebrations.

Over the years, Samhain turned into All Hallows’ Eve, the evening before November 1 and what’s now called Halloween. But the practice of carving jack-o’-lanterns stuck—and remains an iconic part of the autumn holiday.

Posted in Art, Europe, History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Stare hard enough at the fabric of night

FIELD OF SKULLS

Mary Karr
Stare hard enough at the fabric of night,
and if you’re predisposed to dark—let’s say
the window you’ve picked is a black
postage stamp you spend hours at,
sleepless, drinking gin after the I Love
Lucy reruns have gone off—stare
like your eyes have force, and behind
any night’s taut scrim will come the forms
you expect pressing from the other side.
For you: a field of skulls, angled jaws
and eye-sockets, a zillion scooped-out crania.
They’re plain once you think to look.
You know such fields exist, for criminals
roam your very block, and even history lists
monsters like Adolf and Uncle Joe
who stalk the earth’s orb, plus minor baby-eaters
unidentified, probably in your very midst. Perhaps
that disgruntled mail clerk from your job
has already scratched your name on a bullet—that’s him
rustling in the azaleas. You caress the thought,
for it proves there’s no better spot for you
than here, your square-yard of chintz sofa, hearing
the bad news piped steady from your head. The night
is black. You stare and furious stare,
confident there are no gods out there. In this way,
you’re blind to your own eye’s intricate machine
and to the light it sees by, to the luck of birth and all
your remembered loves. If the skulls are there—
let’s say they do press toward you
against night’s scrim—could they not stare
with slack jawed envy at the fine flesh
that covers your scalp, the numbered hairs,
at the force your hands hold?
Posted in Books, USA, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

I’m an open book

 

Posted in Art, Books, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment