Web Sites »Monster Brains

A never ending celebration of monsters

What a wonderful world. There’s always something new to become completely obsessed with. I give you my latest: Mexican pulp art which is on display at Monster Brains.

But wait! Monster Brains has even more cool stuff for your perusal. Like: grotesque animals, creepy vintage ads, D&D books, sci-fi covers and other generally disturbing, wild or scary pieces of art.

It’s way excellent!

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Posted on January 20, 2012

Spend a Couple Hours »Selected Shorts with Miranda July

at Symphony Space

Miranda July is a marvel. Her work is poignant, funny,personal and universal.

She recently read along with some superb actors excerpts from her non fiction book It Chooses You as part of the Selected Shorts series.

By way of procrastination, July began reading the Penny Saver and eventually called and met sellers, documenting it all with a photographer.

The resulting conversations are at times silly, creepy, hilarious, touching, heart breaking and exhilarating.
Not only did the evening strengthen my respect for her but it introduced me to the Selected Shorts radio program whose archives I plan to explore soon.

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Posted on November 18, 2011

Web Sites »Brain Pickings

Curating eclectic interestingness from culture’s collective brain

And look! Already my first great discovery via Twitter, the fascinating Brain Pickings blog, brain child of writer Maria Popova.

Within the eclectic collection of interesting articles you’ll find lovely design, must read books, interesting thoughts, provocative photography and lots of lovely maps. It’s an amazing hodgepodge of all sorts of things I love.

Most lovable about the site though, is that in a sea of snark, it retains a real sense of wonder at the world. Nothing’s worse than someone who is bored by things, and Popova and her team find inspiration everywhere. I dare you to scroll one page without joining in their enthusiasm and stopping to read more.

BP also distinguishes itself from many sites by offering unique finds and information that hasn’t been re-linked from a million other places.

I’ve only browsed a portion of the archives, because doing too much more would be ignoring the life I have to lead today. Definitely be prepared to be sucked in to the awesomeness.

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Posted on October 1, 2011

Laughs »The Record Books

Music As Literature

These clever, funny, and amazingly rendered albums reinterpreted as novels are fantastic! There are so many great ones, but of course a science fiction cover for Purple Rain ranks among my very favorites.

London designer Christophe Gowans has also done a bang up job reinterpreting classic art as classic album covers. Just check out that Black Sabbath/Nude Descending a Staircase mashup. Genius!

Thanks to Will from The Stencil for posting these on FB…

Which in turn posted a link to these Pelican Book versions of classic albums.

These pretty much made my day.

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Posted on August 3, 2011

Web Sites »Atelier Pour Enfants

Amazing Collection of Children’s Books

Oh my goodness I am in LOVE with the blog Atelier Pour Enfants, in love. I can’t read a word of it, but who needs to with all the adorable, interesting, beautiful artwork.

I’ve spent hours looking through the entire archive getting all kinds of inspired. In fact, I’ve started a whole new project with all the new ideas these wonderful books have inflamed in my brain.

An absolute must for lovers of illustration or really anybody that enjoys looking at cute, great design. I would love to find some of the books for Mr. Van – will have to keep an eye out.

Found this site through another great site (and previous Brix Pick) called Vintage Kids’ Books My Kid Loves.

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Posted on August 2, 2011

Web Sites »Pulp Artists

A Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists

Thanks so much to my mom for letting me know about the amazing site, Pulp Artists that not only boasts a seemingly inexhaustible collection of dime store mystery and sci fi art, but does a great job of giving the artists their due with biographies and even photos.

It’s wild to see how many artists did work for the pulp market, from the famous (Norman Rockwell) to the home town heroes (Zoe Mozart was born in Colorado Springs!).

I am impressed that David Saunders was able to get so much information and present it in such an organized, easy to browse manner (more sites could take his queues).

Give yourself some time to look through it all. By the end you’ll be itching to read stories about blackmail and alien robots.

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Posted on May 31, 2011

Web Sites »Retrospace

Fab Blog

Retrospace is a new discovery for me and a great, constantly updated treasure trove of all things retro: from long forgotten magazines, catalogues, found photographs, TV shows and books. There are also Podcasts that feature old radio ads, novelty songs and other intriguing oddities.

The archives go back three years, so I have only really scratched the surface but I am in love already. Any blog where you can find Mexican porno mags from the 70’s and a history of stewardess outfits through the decades is alright with me. Do set aside some real time to go through it all.

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Posted on April 18, 2011

Laughs »On the Bro’d

Every Sentence of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, Retold for Bros.

Most of you may have already seen On The Bro’d, an ingenious retelling of On the Road for today’s bro: Full of references to Bud Light Limes, Axe Body Spray, Big Dog tees, and beer bongs.

The author, Mike Lacher, is featured in McSweeney’s, The Huffington Post, and more and his web design is just as funny as his prose (see the The Geocities-izer). His other work can be found here – where you too can become an instant fan.

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Posted on November 23, 2010

Laughs »The 15 Best Quotes From Justin Bieber’s Autobiography

Pizza, Pranks, Chuck Norris!

I know this brilliantly presented collection of quotes on Buzzfeed is supposed to make you glad you didn’t have to read the autobiography Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story, but it just endears me to him (for the first time – I wasn’t even swayed by his CSI appearance and I’ve never heard a song of his that wasn’t slowed down 800%). I mean he LOVES pizza, pranks, and Chuck Norris sooooo much!! It reminds me of another great personal story, Ice by Ice: The Vanilla Ice Story in His Own Words (now I am wondering where my copy of that went to). Honestly, I just added it to my amazon wish list.

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Posted on October 15, 2010

Web Sites »French Book Covers

A Lovely Collection

While I can’t read any of the information on the lovely French Book Covers website, the gallery of images ranging from sci-fi to noir, classic literature to smut is intriguing to browse through. I’ve added a few favorites here, but any lover of design should take a look at the extensive (and growing) site. I only wish there were more.

Click here for the rest of French Book Covers

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Posted on October 10, 2010

Web Sites »Awful Library Books

Librarians, bibliophiles and lovers of nostalgia are all welcome here.

I ran across Awful Library Books during a random image search and was instantly hooked. The amazing collection of dated, funny, and amusing libraries books are compiled by two actual librarians from Michigan who I have to thank for entertaining me with books like Make Your Own Vests: 90 Ways to Jazz Up Your Wardrobe, Will Dad Ever Move Back Home?, To Be Old and Sad: Understanding Depression in the Elderly, and Born to Run: The O.J. Simpson Story.

Click here for the rest of Awful Library Books

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Posted on May 23, 2010

Spend a Couple Minutes »Ivanhoe Books

1618 Silverlake Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

Right next door to the La Mill Coffee shop is Ivanhoe Books, an art and design specialty store filled with tons of great stuff. We had a lovely time browsing the collection of design, fashion, and art books and, while we were hesitant to bring any over-sized books back in our luggage, the shop introduced me to a book called Handmade Woodstock Houses that I couldn’t get out of my head and ended up finding on eBay.

While some of the books they offer can be purchased for slightly less online if you’re willing to shop around for awhile, others (like the Ossie Clark book that I really want) are priced better than other book sites. You can find some selections from their very select and tasteful collection on their site as well as on their blog which just informed me of a Soho Deborah Tubeville exhibit that I’ll try to swing by on my lunch hour next week.

Click here for the rest of Ivanhoe Books

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Posted on March 14, 2010

Web Sites »Violet Books

violet books the braceletThe treasure trove of gorgeous, vintage dust jackets of supernatural, fantasy, western, adventure and mystery novels to gaze upon on the exhaustive website Violet Books is remarkable. I've posted a mere small portion of my favorites at RC, please take a look at the original website for many more.

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Posted on September 28, 2009

Web Sites »Vintage Kids Books My Kid Loves

vintage kids books my kid lovesIf you're my age, you'll find yourself on the most pleasant stroll down memory lane with Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves. If you can recall a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day“, or you too have had “Too Much Birthday Party“, or just plain like the sound of the name Berenstain, then you'll love digging through the past with the fantastic work of William Steig, Maurice Sendak, Theo LeSieg, and the lighter side of Edward Gorey.

The blogger, who authors charming write ups of the books, is a:?/p>

“Writer. Mother. Wife. Born Floridian. Reared South Carolinian. Schooled Virginian. One time New Yorker. Semi-new Texan. I write about life's little highs and woes for the hub/bub and me, here. And I write about seeking vintage children's books from thrift shops, library sales, book stores, online and elsewhere to share with my son.”

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Posted on May 25, 2009

Web Sites »Rotating Corpse

rotating corpseWell it certainly took long enough, but Rotating Corpse is finally here! It's a new collaborative blog Jim and I put together with a number of our most awesomest friends. It's updated daily with amazing things to delight your mind. It's tons of fun to be a part of and just as fun to browse. Please, please stop by, subscribe to the feed and feel free to leave comments!

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Posted on April 6, 2009

Web Sites »Nieves Books

Nieves Books You can browse for hours.
It's very inspiring.

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Posted on November 7, 2005