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Category / Editor’s Picks

Wild Card Destination du Jour: Southern Indiana’s Failed Utopia

What put Southern Indiana on our radar? Mysterious utopian experiments and end-of-the-world 19th century religious cults of course! The beautiful historic town called New Harmony was once home to a esoteric doomsday group of German pioneers called the Harmonists, who had a taste for quirky architecture and kooky modern ideas like equal rights and free…

The Resurrection of a Sleeping Art Nouveau Palace

Gatsby’s mansion has nothing on Chateau Laurens. Perched majestically on a river bend on the outskirts of Agde, a former Ancient Greek colony in the south of France, this exceptional place lost in time has spawned countless stories and speculation about what went on behind its mysterious walls. Some say that the lavish villa was…

Has Paris overlooked one of its most gifted artists of the Belle Epoque?

We all know Toulouse-Lautrec, but how about Georges Bottini? You won’t find a single plaque or street name commemorating his memory, but if there were any artist eponymous with life in bohemian Montmartre, it’s him. He was a true creature of the Montmartre underworld, an artist whose colourful and expressive snapshots inspired Picasso. So scoot…

Muse du Jour: Gabriella Crespi

Hit pause on reality for a moment and step into the fabulous shoes of a bohemian design diva whose life reads much like a fairy tale. With looks straight from the glossy pages of Vogue Italia; classy, sassy, smart, uber-talented and spiritually-minded. Gabriella Crespi is one of those designers who isn’t necessarily a household name,…

A Breezy Hike through Laurel Canyon’s 1960s Music Mecca

Imagine popping out for groceries and running into The Doors frontman Jim Morrison or Canadian rocker Neil Young, maybe scoring an invite to Joni Mitchell’s house for dinner or a BBQ at Jimi Hendrix’s. If you’d lived in a small community in the Hollywood Hills in the 1960’s, the idea wasn’t so far-fetched. Throw on…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 675)

1. A record of 1960s Lebanese life, long hidden from view At the height of his popularity in the 60s and 70s, Studio Shehrazade, run by local man Hashem El Madani, would have up to 100 customers a day passing through in the upmarket Shehrazade building, in the port city of Saida. Not only did…

The Messy Nessy Personality-Curated Gift Guide

“Remember, the big stores don’t do ‘a little Jig’ when they make a sale. Make someone ‘jig’ this year.” I’ve always put a lot of thought into finding unique gifts at the holidays and if you’re a long-time reader, chances are we probably share similar tastes. So without further ado, let’s go gift-shopping… For the…

Virtually Unknown in the West, But She’s an Icon of the Arab World

The best way to make fast friends with a taxi driver in the Middle East? Ask them a simple question: “Fairuz or Umm Kulthum?” Sensational diva, singer, songwriter and actress, affectionately called ‘Egypt’s fourth pyramid’ and ‘mother of the Arabs’, Rolling Stones magazine ranked Umm Kulthum at number 61 of the 200 greatest singers of…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 674)

1. How to do a Picnic in the Mountains Found via the Hobnob Journal / Hobnob Mountain Club. 2. These surreal clocks by Mexican designer Pedro Friedeberg (circa 1980s) Found here. 3. The World’s First Portable Record Player (1924) Found on Open Culture. 4. Elvis & Frank Sinatra singing “Love me Tender & Witchcraft” in 1960 5. Imagine…

Guitars, Wash Boards, and Tea Chests: How Skiffle Became the 1950s Punk

Before rock and roll would sweep through the landscape and the consciousness of the youth, a forgotten musical genre held a nation in its grip. A rhythmic, urgent music of expression and movement that was simple and accessible due to the addition of improvised homemade instrumentation, it let anyone form a band, and many did. In…

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