A big h/t to Brooklyn writer/blogger/cartoonist Kate Gavino for these wonderful literary breakfast cereals.
I readily admit that my language skills are atrocious. Wherever I travel, I always manage to awkwardly mangle any attempts at spoken communication in the local language. Oddly, my written understanding and comprehension can be adequate, but it all goes south as soon as I open my gob.
The only limited success that I sometimes achieve is with my woefully inadequate high school French. Although once when I was staying in Paris a neighborhood shopkeeper called the entire store staff out from the back room to hear me humiliate myself placing an order. Maybe I can use some of the tips in this hilarious video on faking French fluency.
Philadelphia-based freelance artist and illustrator David Palumbo is widely known for his terrific book and comic cover illustrations. The former publishing art director has created an exciting new project called “Re-cover”, where he reimagines his own take on cover art for iconic and popular books.
If you are visiting NYC, and you are a true movie fanatic, be sure to swing by the actual Ghostbusters firehouse in Tribeca at Hudson and N. Moore streets. The crew of the functioning station recently updated their sidewalk artwork.
In this season’s finale to Jerry Seinfeld’s fantastic web series Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, he and the inimitable Stephen Colbert not only get coffee—at the Bluestone Coffee Co. in Montclair, N.J.— they also pop in at Watchung Booksellers to talk books. You can see the entire episode right here.
It’s been way to long since we’ve had a look at the always clever shenanigans of my favorite street art collective Luzinterruptus. The anonymous group of Spanish guerilla environmental/political art activists recently turned their attention to the Spanish Government’s new Protection of Public Safety Bill which aims to gag political dissent online and in the streets.
Luzinterruptus’ installation of glowing toilets in Madrid’s Plaza de la Constitucion humorously conveys their message that “the Government don’t give a shit about the Spanish Constitution”. You can see more and read about the protest on the group’s website.
I love Barcelona—and who doesn’t—but I’m more than a bit ambivalent about newly-elected Mayor Ada Colau’s plans to try and limit tourist visits to the Catalan capital. A recent city hall press statement indicated that Barcelona was halting all new licenses for tourist accommodations. The ruling applies to hotels, hostels, short term apartment rentals, and private accommodations in homes, including Airbnb.
Anyone who has visited Barcelona in recent years is well aware that the city of 1.6 million residents is overwhelmed by the 27 million tourists who come each year. Clearly, the mobs of visitors have altered the character and culture of the city. But instead of limiting travelers who actually contribute to the struggling economy by paying for food, beverages, accommodations, entertainment, transportation, admission fees, taxes, etc., why not stop the proliferation of cruise ship tourists. The typical cruiser eats, sleeps, and is entertained on the massive ships while spending little in the city.
Barcelona’s tourist office could also do a better job of getting visitors to venture out of the tourist hubs of the Barri Gotic and El Raval, and into other neighborhoods. What do you think ?
I’m a big fan of Grant Snider’s clever cartoons. “A Reader’s Manifesto” is one of my favorites and it’s even available for purchase as a poster at Grant’s website Incidental Comics.
The late design icon Massimo Vignelli, who died last year, will always be remembered for his visually powerful and timeless graphic art. To honor his memory, the Spanish design studio Husmee Estudio Graphique asked a diverse group of international graphic artists to create posters commemorating Vignelli’s life and work. The result is a wonderful show appropriately called Timeless, which will be on display through August in Barcelona and online here.
Years before it was called “street art”, Dan Witz was painting images of colorful humming birds on walls in New York City. In more recent years, the renowned artist has been working with PETA to raise awareness about the plight of abused and exploited animals.
Last week, Witz began scattering heartbreaking paintings of caged baby monkeys around the Washington, D.C. area to protest the gruesome experiments by the National Institute of Health on infant primates.
The NIH admits using monkeys to study the effects of stress on infant primate development, but claims to take steps to ensure the ethical treatment of the monkeys. Well. Dan Witz and PETA disagree, and hope to encourage the American public to protest the abuse.
Each painting in the D.C. project comes with hashtags so that viewers can search social media for more information on NIH treatment of animals. You can find out more about the issue here.
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