Saturday, July 26, 2014

Roundup


Best photography blog perhaps of all time: Cereal Magazine's Journal. I think I fell into one the photos and am now on the other side of the world. What excellent work! They have such an interesting art magazine, someone please either buy me a subscription or let me work for them <3

If you're tired of the heat and can't wait for fall and winter, find a place with a/c and listen to Albano Berberi's great performance of 'Greensleeves', which he adapted for the harpsichord. You can almost imagine the crisp air that's coming. The seasons are immutable, and sometimes that's a positive.

The painting is Louis Welden Hawkin's [1849-1910] Les jardin de la pension Laurent, a usually Symbolist painter. This one is more old fashioned. Symbolism was a reaction in part to Impressionism, it focused on metaphor, fantasy and the unexplainable, like magic.



Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Art

For nature painting and art, I love Kelsey Garrity-Riley's months of the year illustrations--truly gorgeous with an art nouveau flair. July, or maybe November is my favorite. What a talent. I'm happy to see real artists are returning with their sense of beauty, holistic wholeness and radiance.

 


French

If you read French or love food photography with a exquisite French bent, be sure to look at the amazing, almost minimalist in loveliness photographs at Griottes. It's the place for gourmets.

You can also use it to practice your reading comprehension... or just scroll to see the next set of incredible photos. It's almost like an art installation, but most of the materials are either food, things from nature or china.

Gauguin

Gauguin [1848-1903] was a different, interesting painter whose work spans several areas. Look through his work here as it changed through time--he painted landscapes and people in a typical, pre-Impressionism 1880s style. He did more and more landscapes that seem to echo Van Gogh. He's worth looking at in depth, he didn't just paint nudes of Tahitians--he captures many peoples in many types of scenes. Gauguin was someone who painted in his own Post-Impressionist style, who went his own way. His hot, tropical use of color inspired some Symbolists to use the same.

Gauguin went to French Polynesia in 1891 because he was tired of the West. He lived in Tahiti particularly, and painted many scenes of the island and its people. Summer is a great time to be introduced to him because the use of hot colors seems more natural and inviting to people who don't live in a hot climate year round.

One of my favorite pieces of his work is his Trois Tahitiens, ou Conversation [1899], 'Three Tahitians, or Conversation'. It's lovely and has a real beauty to it.


Sweet

One of the best mood lifting things you can do is look at sweet, cute photos or read exquisite, delicate gourmet and culinary blogs. If you've read too much Verlaine [1844-1896] recently, ie. the French symbolist poet, don't overload on nihilistic poetry, relax and take a break.

For food and desserts, with recipes and photographs, the best is definitely BossaCafez--it has such a high level of detail, perfection and delicacy it makes you want to simply move and buy the food each day! Truly gorgeous.

Another truly excellent food and culinary blog is UneGamineDansLaCuisine. The photos are a cut above any other place online, and the writing is beautiful. It's quite poetic and has great ideas for a gourmet or a cook.

Two great cute, relaxing collections of adorable photos are CutestFood and KawaiiOnly, they are both sweet and light.


Monday, July 21, 2014

Music

If you want a fast-paced running song, or just like classical music reinterpretations [a la on Sarah Chang's Fire & Ice cd, where there are composer Sarasate's 'fantasies' pieces, in which he re-imagines Bizet's opera Carmen], try the 'Electric cello - Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata-inspired piece' by the great ThePianoGuys.

Also try their excellent, exciting 'Carol of the Bells [12 cellos]'. It transcends it's Christmas-like, old chord sound and is quite fun. Similarly, there's their incredible take on the Mission Impossible theme. Their work is often great for exercise or running.

If you like modern, fast-paced music, try composer Tim Jones's 'Chuck action theme' from the tv series Chuck. These pieces make even a grocery run fraught with urgency and fun. Music can change your entire attitude, either energizing or calming you, depending on the piece.


Sunday, July 20, 2014

Convivial

Some easy fun is watching Chuck, the tv show--for Firefly/Serenity browncoats fans, it has Jayne Cobb ie. Adam Baldwin! His performance is truly excellent. I regret not trying this show earlier, I was unaware he was on it.

A funny blog we just discovered is the very funny, fashion-oriented Man Repeller.

For fun, light reading, try the fashion focused Dead Fleurette; it's stopped new posting, but reading back through it is quite enjoyable.

For fashion lovers and sartorialists, try looking through the photos at Chictopia, which is really fun. For people who prefer The Sartorialist to Polyvore, it's the place to be. It's like a more focused version of a fashion-focused Pinterest.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Tasty

Summer loves:
-Maine blueberry pie [you can often buy Maine pie blueberry filling in expansive grocery stores], it makes me want to see the Atlantic coast in Acadia National Park by Bar Harbor, all huge dark green trees and ocean

-Sweet coconut-filled buns with a thin top layer of cookie [called メロンパン or 'melonpan' [Japan] or 菠蘿包 or 'bo luo bao', pineapple buns [China]], you can buy them in Montreal's Chinatown; the best are in Patisserie Harmonie [85 Rue de la Gauchetiere O.] Despite the nomenclature, there is no melon or pineapple involved most of the time.

-Pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice coffee, you can easily put pumpkin spice in with your coffee grounds [or cut open a kcup, just wipe off the grounds that escape after]; before autumn it often is even more refreshing and feels like a sweet blast of cool breezes from the future



Thursday, July 17, 2014

Photos

I love I like I wear for fashion photos, it makes me want to visit a big city just to see the sartorial splendor. It's like being in Florence. For flowers, frogs, crocs, animals, snakes and reptiles check out the inimitable photo blog MonitorKeeper. If you love modern, simple art that's lovely, there's often a lot of it on Curate1k. The watercolors of flowers are beautiful and reminiscent of Impressionism's best facets.

ThreeEyed has great nature photos, they're excellent. Especially the water and the sky. They make you want to go hiking.

Precise, almost geometrical food and interior photos from Montreal are found at MtlGangster. There's almost an essence of Bach within some of them.

Mind



Light reading is something close to my heart. I always recommend the rural French countryside of My French Country Home, which has incredible photos--they truly let you feel like you're there. Another one I always check with is the classic Paris blog from traveler/gourmet David Lebovitz.

A new one I love is Sam is Home, on fashion and lovely photographs of nature/places etc. One I was just reading is A Montrealer Abroad--they were linking to the best Montreal photography instagrams and I was hooked. The best for Montreal is Inayali, there are some excellent street/nature photos there that capture what Montreal is like.

For food photography, be sure go through Myfatguyprobs, who is a gourmet that loves Montreal. It's truly a mecca for food. A few of those photos and you're already planning your next vacation up there! If you're an urban explorer, you'll prefer Jfsavaria.

There are big, colorful city and landscape photos at LiveMontreal, they really show the great scope of the place. They're huge, excellent pieces. If you love flowers and sweet lovely photos, try Montreal360, which has quiet, intimate detail photos. GuillaumeBoily has a neat bike heavy perspective of the city.

And the song of the summer is: Tiesto's "Wasted [Ummet Ozcan Remix]", if you love dance music, edm, fast-paced stuff, this is great.

Trees


Montreal is a unique gem of a city, with surprises everywhere. This huge tree installation was spotted just a little while ago, it was even more beautiful in real life. We were just there, walking through the ancient stone streets of Old town, it's like being in France. The city often has the air of Vivaldi's 1725 Four Seasons piece "Spring" [it's "1. Allegro" from "La primavera" Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269]. In many places, in Montreal's special obscure churches this seems to hum behind you through the power lines.

But when you rush through the masses shopping gaily in the summer breezes, there's the low key emotion of the foxtrot 1920s style The Great Gatsby "Young and Beautiful", the version mixed from Lana del Rey's work.

You can hike up from Chinatown to several main shopping areas, all of which have great French delicacy shops and clothes boutiques in every niche category. And of course Oglivy's is fun, downstairs be sure to see the crazy big, extravagant Godiva counters and then go to Holt Renfrew to glide past the Prada and Chanel. They have an enormous Jo Malone counter for perfume buffs.

You also have to hike through the mountain, it's nature paradise. Truly beautiful. This summer many famous, jeweled Fabergé eggs will be at the museum, we're going.

But really, you need no excuse to go. It's that good.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Singing

Summer music, just like cuisine, is often lighter and different than that of the other seasons. One type of music to try is an interesting adaptation of classical music--even if you don't like it or know much about it, many people find they love the Swingle Singers take on famous pieces. Try their take on the famous piece 'Spring' from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. If you like Beethoven and Romantic music, try their take on the well-known 'Moonlight Sonata' and be sure to listen to their excellent 1963 take on J.S. Bach's 'Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major', [BWV 846].

Old stories


Old books have value beyond measure--whether you read them online or you get real copies for some favorite children. Try Legends and Stories of Italy by Amy Steedman, it's online to read here, with its great, old-fashioned illustrations by Scottish Katherine Cameron [1874-1965]. The image above is of Dianora de Bardi, from the story "A Tale of Old Florence", a happy type of Romeo and Juliet story. Here's a little excerpt:
From early morning the bells had rung out. Coloured cloths and gay carpets hung out from every window. In the great square the city banners were floating in the breeze, and throngs of country-people came hurrying through the gates, all dressed in holiday attire. The churches were hung with crimson silk and velvet hangings, and a blaze of candles lit up each altar in honour of the festa of the patron saint of Florence.



Reading

Blogs are written in many styles--two that are in the anecdote, picture load category are the great My French Country Home from rural Normandy and Dry Paddocks from a nature-focused life in New Zealand.

Usually I steer clear of heavily photographed blogs, but these have photos that allow yourself to 'see' everything. It's almost as if you're there. That's a quite unique effect. They are both fun, simple reads, and the pictures elevate them to excellence.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Alice


One great set of illustrations for Alice in Wonderland [there are the old classic ones by Sir John Tenniel or the more modern Arthur Rackham] is oddly enough by Salvador Dalí, look at it here. His 1969 version of the art work is incredible; often odd pairings of artists and texts can be interesting, like the Italian Renaissance's Botticelli for his work here on Dante's The Divine Comedy.

Even if you don't normally like post-Victorian or post-Impressionist art, it's quite interesting and sometimes beautiful. It's definitely psychedelic.


Tolkien

If you enjoy medieval art, Eastern European traditional art, Russian Orthodox style paintings or Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings, check out the incredible illustrations of Ukranian Sergei Iukhimov [or Yuhinov], article here or tons of his images at this tumblr here. His nazgul/ringwraiths are amazing so check them out, and I love this one piece above particularly. There is also a Tolkien site here with even more art, some from The Hobbit as well.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Sun

Summer is a unique time, when the sun and the heat change the appeal of different colors, places and music. Some songs to try are the great and mystical 'The Hidden Valley' from the early Hobbit score by Howard Shore. If you enjoy it, be sure to also watch the extended scene 'Arrival at Rivendell' for the audio, it's more slow and ethereal.

Summer is also the time of year when you can enjoy looking forward to the crisp of autumn, of winter and of spices. It seems like a relief to imagine it, without the annoying reality of the cold infringing. In this vein, many people like to listen to Christmas and associated music [like Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons'] during this time. Old cds of the Vienna Boys Choir are always great to try, as is famous folk singer Joan Baez's 1966 Noel. [Try her 'Ave maria' or 'I wonder as I wander' and 'Down in yon forest', a unique, excellent forgotten song.

Play the cd through once--some songs are just beautiful instrumentals]. This album is one of the great standards, like Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet score and Nat King Cole's and Bing Crosby's Christmas cds.

If you enjoy the song of choirs, try the great choir 'The Senior Choir of First Lutheran Church' from Omaha, NE on their cd 'Radio Station KFUO Presents Christmas Hymns & Carols'. They do all the classics well.