marianne moore

in 1955, eccentric and brilliant poet Marianne Moore found a letter in her Brooklyn mailbox from Robert Young of the Ford Motors Company.  Mr. Young was interested in having Marianne conjure up names for their newest automobile.  he wanted the name to establish, “some visceral feeling of elegance, fleetness, advanced features and design. a name, in short, that flashes a dramatically desirable picture in people’s minds.”  Moore instantaneously agreed, and from the end of October through December of that year she came up with a list of names she wanted to include. her final choice was, “utopian turtletop” which unfortunately did not make the cut.  Young decided on “the Edsel” instead, which completely flopped!  serves him right for not listening to a wordsmith. you can read the rest of marianne’s list here. my personal favorite is the thunderbender.  who wouldn’t want to drive a car that can alter the state of sonic shock waves? by sv

CATEGORIES: cars, read

not everybody was kung fu fighting

the last place I would expect to find a place like this would be a tiny street in the heart of chinatown. why? because it’s mexican to begin with. since there is no sign saying pulqueria at the door, you have to ask the bouncers of apotheke next door: where the hell is pulqueria? and then they point to the vietnamese restaurant sign that you’ve passed by 10 times within the last 5 minutes. but its all worth it once you go downstairs to see an exciting list of cocktails and micheladas (beer with lime, canlentina spices, chili-salt rim!). oh and it gets better- the kitchen is open till 12, so if you got too excited with the drinks, you can have something delicious to eat. the name comes from the native beverage of central mexico, “pulque” a milk colored drink that’s made from fermented sap of the maguey plant. they offer you a shot of it when you sit at the bar.  pulqueria is on 11 doyers street near bowery. by ak

CATEGORIES: ny places

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot


i so want that car…. and bardot looks pretty good too… but too bad she turned out to be a fascist freak in her later days, and with her looks faded there was simply nothing else left? maybe just a few cats. by dd

CATEGORIES: eye candy

hooray for perfectionism


jason lucas is a photographer and creative many times over in his own right.  lucas’ work is centered on exploring the paradigms between the typical and unexpected, territory like dark matter, that which exists but is often inexplicable.  all the while, incorporating beauty and its imperfections that are often neglected in common discussions of visuality. he provokes a visceral angst that exercises both meaning and intuition.  I find myself most often interested when the artist overcomes me, and it is a serene feeling of satisfaction.  the same feeling is evident in all of jason’s photographs, in each shot there is a visible spectrum of stability.  more of his beautiful work can be seen here  by sv

 

CATEGORIES: photography