one piece

"Hoppity Goes to Town"

WALL-E isn’t the only dystopic animated feature to tackle humankind’s destruction of the planet. Forty-seven years before Pixar’s social critique, there was

brothers  Max and Dave Fleischer's Hoppity Goes to Town (1941), a Capra-esque tale of a young, idealistic grasshopper, Hoppity, who must not only confront the scheming, lecherous C. Bagley Beetle, but also save his bug community from the ever-expanding populace of Manhattan. Rising taxes have caused a once-lush garden to fall into disarray, leaving Hoppity and his insect-pals defenseless against cigar butts, pollution and other signs of human excess which pose daily threats to their way of life — not to mention the unruly children who stampede through their village like some uncontrollable herd of rhinos. And then comes word that a skyscraper is going up on the site of their home (sound familiar, anyone?), leaving them no choice but to find a new home. But where, oh where, in the midst of the aspha lt jungle of Manhattan, will they ever find one! 

link: The L Magazine

Ruling the Roost

On 30 June 1559, the young Florentine bride of the French King Henri II suddenly found herself a widow. In the failing light, her dashing and headstrong 40-year-old husband was killed in a friendly joust by the young captain of his Scottish guard whose lance accidentally pierced the king’s eye through his metal visor. In a tragedy said to have been foretold by Nostradamus, Caterina de’ Medici lost a husband and was surrounded by enemies, the Dukes of Guise and Montmorency, each vying for power over her frail 15-year-old son Francis II, the new King of France. As her own childhood had been shaped by intrigues and assassination attempts, Caterina knew how important it was to keep and exercise power. Palazzo Strozzi presents Women in Power: Caterina and Maria de’ Medici - The Return to Florence of Two Queens of France, on view through 8 February 2009. ...More

Merry Christmas

Seeing is Believing?

The Met's installation of works from the permanent collection—the third in the Museum’s new gallery for contemporary photographs—surveys the ways in which artists exploit photography’s fundamental illusionism to create a sense of ambiguity about what is real and what is not. Among the works featured are photographs of staged scenarios or constructed environments that appear to be real, as well as real scenes or landscapes that appear strangely artificial.

Reality Check: Truth and Illusion in Contemporary Photography 
November 4, 2008–March 22, 2009

See, swirl, sip (don't spit), swallow.

Sommelier Glass

Designer: Maxim Velcovsky for Qubus

Material: Glass

Dimensions: 6.5 x 2.75 inches

"White Darkness"

Whether this is time or snow, passing

Through the night, earthward,

Who can tell—

Each particle only an illusion; yet massing,

Mounting over all,

Hushing the footfall,

Silencing the bell.

“I am confused,”

Said the traveler, “hearing no sound

Though my feet touch the ground

As they are used.”

Soft as a shadow on fur

The filling places

Where his footsteps were;

Lost without shape or grime

His path through the level spaces.

How can we certainly know

If this is time

Falling, or snow?

BY VIRGINIA HAMILTON ADAIR

Photograph: Dennis Stock - New York - 1950

Tankbank

Designer:

Larry Dinkelman

Manufacturer:

Hero Enterprises

Materials:

Wood, Steel, Plastic 7" high

Notes:

The Tankbank is a seven inch tall replica of the water towers most often seen on the rooftops of many New York City buildings.

The prototype was completed in the fall of 2005 and was built by the designer's stepfather, a retired percision machinist. As a side note, he has never been to New York city.

There are over 10,000 water tanks in the city of New York alone.

via: The Shop at Cooper - Hewitt, National Design Museum

By Hand

They say that a gesture is worth a thousand words, and when it comes to speaking with your hands, the Italians speak volumes. Speak Italian: The Fine Art Of The Gesture, first published in 1958 by renowned Milanese artist and graphic designer Bruno Munari, will help the phalange-phobic decipher the unspoken language of gestures a language not found in any dictionary. Charming black-and-white photos and wry captions evoke an Italy of days gone by. "Speak Italian" gives a little hand to anyone who has ever been at a loss for words.

Above Gesture Meaning: Pay attention, be careful, watch your back, etc.

" I don't know what bipolar is -- you think it's like a gay bear from Antarctica." Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher grew up as the daughter of Hollywood royalty, she came of age on the set of

 "Star Wars," and became a cultural icon - all before the age of 20. She's also struggled with addiction and mental illness. Her new memoir is Wishful Drinking.

Listen to Carrie Fisher on the

Leonard Lopate Show on December 10, 2008.

"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

What can America expect of a new President’s first months in office? How might the new administration gain support from the public? What social, economic and political forces might be in play as the President frames an agenda and puts it into action? 

With questions such as these occupying people’s minds as America looks ahead to January 2009, the New-York Historical Society offers a fascinating and compelling parallel to the past. Beginning December 13, the Historical Society will present the exhibition A New President Takes Command, exploring President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s history-making First Hundred Days in office. 

“No President in the past century took office in such difficult circumstances as did Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and no President moved ahead more quickly and forcefully,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. “This new exhibition provides much-needed perspective on what we ourselves might see during the first months of President Obama’s administration, and can help the public understand how we have succeeded as a nation, in spite of dispiriting times.”