Saturday, March 26, 2011

Hangining on the telephone

Most people do not know that The Nerves wrote this song and Blondie's cover made it big.



The Nerves were the founding group of the pop and punk scene in LA in the mid-70's. They only produced one self-titled EP, which is my personal favorite, before they split up. Peter Case (bassist) and Paul Collins (drummer) later joined The Plimsouls-- you can recognize"A Million Miles Away" in this scene of Valley Girl(video link).

In 2008 Alive Records release a compilation of The Nerves' self-titled album (remastered) along with unreleased demos and songs. You can download "One Way Ticket" here for free.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Pink Crow

When making jewelry I do my best to avoid intricate hand piercing and riveting-- especially rivetting multiple layers in multiple places. This would explain why I am so captivated by Carrie Boucher's work. Everything she makes is so delicate yet so strong, both visually and physically. She uses precious objects like antique US stock certificates and places them behind vintage glass finds. These items are held together by intricately pierced and formed metal that emulates the same motifs used in the stock certificates. To hold everything in place and finish her product she meticulously rivets all the layers together.

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In my research I found that Carrie Boucher has a darker more industrial side.. She has a small line of works called "Parts Lite" that have a rougher more mechanical feel.

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You can find these works, as well as other great pieces from the same artist here, on etsy.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Happy 200th and other oddities

In remembrance of Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter's 200th birthday I made a treasury on etsy of antique medical equipment and furniture, anatomical imagery,and apothecary objects.

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Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter donated his collection of medical oddities, anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models and antique medical equipment to the College of Physicians in 1858, which is located in Philadelphia, PA. His collection was originally used for medical studies and research, but now is viewable on the lower levels of The College of Physicians, in The Mütter Museum.


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The museum is filled with goodies, such as: the Hyrtl skull collection, the conjoined liver of Chang and Ang, the body of the soap lady, and many other preserved forms in jars and cases. If you are ever in the area I highly suggest you take a visit!

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If you like collecting vintage oddities and unusual photographs definitely check out diabolus on etsy.

I'm obsessed with their vast collection of 19th Century post-mortem, mourning, medical, and freakish photography. Such as the great images below of the Tocci brothers and the disturbing postcard of thousands of human skulls and bones pouring out of the open door of an ossuary. (both photos are property of diabolus and can be purchased on diabolus's etsy) If you want to see more you can go to The Thanatos Archive's website and become a member to view their digital archive.
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Photo shoot by Lydia Hudgen

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Photos by: Lydia Hudgens

Styled by: Mel Eligon

Model: Chanel

Most of the rings are mine! More amazing photos from this shoot soon!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

No More Midnight Movies

I like things. I have a million of them. Mostly books. On the verge of insanity, my collection will one day overwhelm me. But until then, I’ll keep going. There’s no sign of it slowing. Adding to my ailment is Port Richmond Books. The greatest used book store I’ve ever stepped foot. And I’ve been to a lot. From San Francisco shops in the Mission to basements on St. Mark’s NYC. They may come close. But not really. I’m lucky to have found a place so near.

Located on Richmond Street right off of Allegheny, this part of the neighborhood gets the absolute minimum amount of foot traffic. So your chances of stumbling upon it are virtually zero. Surrounded by row homes the store is pretty unassuming. It almost looks closed. Fortunately the door was unlocked. I was in.

You start off in a front entrance room. Books are piled everywhere. I was kinda worried because it all looked like shit. But almost right away I found a sweet 1960 Mafia paperback and I knew everything would be alright. Open a door and you’re sucked into a bigger room. A decent selection of art books to the right as well as a bathroom and a shower. To your left is literature/classics/the good fiction, whatever you wanna call it. Way too much to choose from. I could come back ten more times and still spend 50 bucks each trip. Stacks of Kerouac on the floor. Early editions of the Great Gatsby, Hemingway, Richard Wright. Stuff I’ve never even seen before. Lots of cool William Faulkner covers. First editions by William Burroughs that I can’t afford. Lists go on and on.

Strapped for time, I breezed through a walk-in closet sized annex stocked entirely of pulp fiction and dime novels looking like they were just stolen wholesale from a 1954 drug store. Down a hall of all Irish related pages, I had one more door to check out. I said, “Fuck” as I opened it because this next room wasn’t even a room at all, it was an emptied out movie theater. Instead of seats there were shelves. Tall, too. Like ten feet high. I nearly ran down the aisles, scanning the titles, hoping for something to jump out.

Port Richmond Books is at 3037 Richmond Street, Philadelphia. Hours vary but they’re probably there.