The Gnat’s Whistle
Sheiks and shebas take heed: not one but two guides to 1920s slang. For all those times you’re frustrated with dull explitives, insults and the like.
Boul Mich by Rocco D. Navigato
This poster, buy viagra along with over a hundred others, nurse was commissioned in the 1920s by the Chicago Transit Company in order to encourage people to use rapid transit. My heart skips a beat at the stylized depiction of North Michigan Avenue and the surrounding metropolis. I only lived in Chicago for a year but I love it all the same.
More posters from this project at Chicago-L.org
A frame of metal, a platform of pulleys
On the morning of Sunday 7th May the little girl giant woke up at Horseguards Parade in London, took a shower from the time-traveling elephant and wandered off to play in the park…
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/qBXr15K2uSc" width="400" height="330" wmode="transparent" /]
Watching this immense puppet filled me with all the awe that watching the awkward rubbery Japanese androids never could. She is absolutely alive, curious and..hungry. What’s interesting is that both the Little Girl Giant and the skinjobs are essentially human-operated, though the robots are programmed beforehand. Wearing pseudo futuristic outfits, some of them even eerily emulate human expressions with facial “muscles”, while the little girl can only blink and open her huge accordion mouth. To me it’s almost disappointing – I want amazing robots! I want technology sophisticated enough to impress me with its humanoids! I know the day this happens can’t be too far off [right?], but until then this Little Girl Giant PWNS.
Well-postured lady.
Posture collar. Found on romantasy.com
While this may not be a corset I would choose for her, this is exactly the sort of lady that needs to wear more corsets.
I can’t help but feel almost a little dirty looking at her, invasive – as if I’d found a trunk of old boudoir photos in someone’s room. That’s what makes this so great – her refined face and hair allude to a privileged matron; equestrian socialite by day, secret fetishist by night.
Rick Owens, friend of post-goth fashionistas
You’ve discarded your crushed velvets. You’ve cast aside your zippered, D-ringed, and safety-pinned garments and long for something new. Where do you go from here? You require sophistication. You want drama without the bell sleeves. We understand.
Allow us to suggest you closely examine the work of Rick Owens. While his designs are not exactly pocket-book friendly, they do wonders for the imagination. Even if you won’t shell out for his stuff, you’ll certainly learn a thing or two about layering, proportion and structure. No matter how odd a garment, his tailoring is spot-on every time, flattering to most bodies, and, above all, painfully hot. This is style, damn it.
Vurdalak
????????, originally uploaded by Coilhouse.
Just a season’s reminder of the unspeakable horror lurking outside your wooden hovel’s window, as you huddle atop a clay oven wrapped in ragged shawls and quilts for warmth. Beware, the vurdalak!
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O sorrow! I am small and weak;
The fiend will eat me whole,
Unless I eat dirt from a grave
Along with prayer I’ll speak.
A.S. Pushkin
Sweet dreams, we hope your gravedirt is most delectable.
Jusaburo Puppet Museum — Tokyo
*media, originally uploaded by Coilhouse.
By far the most charming place I visited during my recent Japan-o-dventure was the Jusaburo puppet museum.
Nestled between bigger buildings in Ningyocho [literally translated to City of Dolls], a less busy district in Tokyo, this place is something of a landmark – signs and maps point to its location starting at the train station. Jusaburo Tsujimura’s early life story reads like a novel – he was born to a geisha mother from an unknown father and spent his childhood in a geisha house surrounded by the colorful rustling silk which inspires him to this day. Today, after a lifetime of achievement he is one of many puppeteers living in Ningyocho, his atelier-museum and impressive gamut of work attracting recognition since its opening in 1996.
Entering the place I was instantly entranced. We seemed to be the only visitors at first. A helpful employee led us past cabinets filled with tiny figurines, past a small work area with dolls and puppets in varying levels of completion to the back room where an assortment of cabaret music played and an elaborate set took up the entirety of the back wall. An homage to Moulin Rouge, a miniature multi-tiered stage illuminated by a twinkling color light show and adorned by several rows of chorus girls, with their gorgeous blue-feathered Prima Donna at the forefront. By the time i took it all in my jaw had begun its decent.
The price of your excesses
The price of your vile excesses, capsule originally uploaded by Coilhouse.
“The end of the Green Fairy”, via Musee Absinthe.
Curious Absinthe prohibition posters from early 20th century France.
Chaliapin as Mephistopheles
Famed Russian singer Fyodor Chaliapin as Mephistopheles. Chalyapin was known for his deep baritone and powerful on-stage presence, but in this image is something incredibly comical, he’s almost apologetic.
Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge
In a devastating turn of events Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge has died due to a “previously undiagnosed heart condition.” She died in the arms of her other half, legendary industrial music pioneer Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.
The sad news was broken yesterday but we didn’t find out until today and I’m honestly heartbroken. Thanks to my once-spooky brother I grew up with Psychic TV and later, of my own accord, Throbbing Gristle, so Genesis’ dealings have always been on my brain’s periphery. My interest was especially re-kindled in 2003 when he and his partner of over 10 years, Lady Jaye, embarked on their radical body modification mission known as Breaking Sex or the Breyer P-Orridge Project. I saw them perform here in Hollywood just a couple of short years ago and witnessed their physical progress first-hand. Redefining gender and becoming of the same & superior sex, a physical representation of their psychological bond as well as a potential new step in human evolution.
Few grander testaments of love have been made, in my humble opinion, ever.
We extend our sympathy and condolences to Genesis and offer you a few links to information about Breaking Sex.