An inspirational interview in Salon that has me eyeing the disused planters at the end of a neighbouring street. Here’s an excerpt but reading the whole thing, which includes a Q&A with ‘guerilla gardener’ Richard Reynolds, is very much recommended.
Entries from July 2008
‘Is Alan Titchmarsh culpable for Churchill’s turf mohican?’
July 30th, 2008 · No Comments · A bit of politics, The great outdoors
Tags: guerrilla gardening·Martin Newell·Richard Reynolds·weekly muse
It’s not about you…
July 29th, 2008 · No Comments · Bizarre news, Conspiracy theories, Weird and wonderful
This is one for anyone who has ever felt that a certain film starring Jim Carrey has a particular resonance for them: two Canadian psychiatrists have identified a new syndrome - people who believe their lives are a reality TV show.
Tags: delusions·The Truman Show
Tales of a forger
July 28th, 2008 · No Comments · Bizarre news, But is it Art?, Smoke and mirrors
Here’s a cautionary tale about how a life of crime can be turned to the good. This forger of letters by Noel Coward, Dorothy Parker and even Humphrey Bogart has now found success with an original work telling her story.
Tags: Lee Israel·Noel Coward
Carry on carrying on
July 27th, 2008 · 1 Comment · But is it Art?
A few years ago, the process of reclaiming the Carry On oeuvre was launched in fine fashion. No less an institution than The Barbican Cinema in London decided to have a retrospective of the full 30 films.
Tags: Andy Medhurst·Barbican Cinema·Carry On
The nature of Monkey is irrepressible
July 27th, 2008 · No Comments · A bit of politics, But is it Art?
It’s a fine moment when cult TV from your childhood and cult comics artists from your teens and 20s come together. It’s just regrettable that the Beijing Olympics are also involved.
Tags: Jamie Hewlett·Monkey
The risk-taker who outlived an icon
July 26th, 2008 · No Comments · But is it Art?, Fascinated and yet repelled, Speechless
On the subject of crazy, illegal art projects.. you’d have to go some way to beat the one detailed in the new documentary Man on Wire. But this film reveals a pathos completely unintended by the artist at the point of creation.
Tags: James Marsh·Man on Wire·Phillipe Petit·wire walking·World Trade Centre
Mall life: living the dream
July 26th, 2008 · No Comments · Bizarre news, But is it Art?, Serendipitous, Speechless, Weird and wonderful
Artists Michael Townsend and Adriana Yoto, and six of their friends, noticed an architectural anomaly in the giant shopping mall being built in their town - Providence, Rhode Island, USA. As the project progressed, it became clear that this added up to “750 square feet of underutilized space inside of the mall.”
Tags: Adriana Yoto·Make magazine·mall apartment·Michael Townsend·Providence Place mall
Mental cruelty?
July 25th, 2008 · No Comments · Bizarre news, The Queen's English
It’s very hard to understand why parents would saddle their child with a ridiculous name. And, in New Zealand, a judge agrees. Read this and boggle.
Tags: crazy names·New Zealand
Why we love Dana Scully
July 24th, 2008 · No Comments · The truth is out there
This, from Rebecca Traister in Salon, is just the latest in a series of articles reminding us why what it was about the wonderful Dana Scully that made us all get in touch with our sceptical side. And with the X-Files movie upcoming, we’re about to get her back, even if it’s just for a brief couple of hours.
Tags: Dana Scully·Gillian Anderson·X-Files
Even if they are bolted down…
July 23rd, 2008 · No Comments · Bizarre news
The price of scrap metal is rising in the US as well as the UK. Over here it’s church roofs and railways being targeted. Even a Henry Moore sculpture is thought to have been melted down.
Tags: Philadelphia·street furniture