"The past does not repeat itself but it sure does rhyme" (Mark Twain)

(photo: Blasts by Naoya Hatakeyama)

niwraD

Sea-sourced toothpaste.
Are we headed back to where we came from?

Daniel's homegrown tomatoes

Including the world-famous "Solange cocktail tomatoes" specie, grown & sold exclusively on the Golfe du Morbihan.

Advertising

As a kid I loved watching advertising films, maybe more so than classic children movies. Some commercials from the 1980s have left me a strong impression. These films mesmerized me, like a window into a glamorous adulthood. I remember very vividly two in particular:
-the 1980 (I was 4!) Nestlé Dessert chocolat ad where images alternated between a couple shown in Chinese shadows and chocolate melting over a brioche with a rapid raspy music like a cooking whisk on a drum (as shown above)
-the 1982 Heineken film featuring Robert Palmer's music, where the women looked just so self-assured and strong. I think this film became quite culte although it's almost impossible to find it online..(see link)
I realize now how sensual these were for the time..

Il Bussetto coin case

Il Bussetto is specialized in handmade fine leather items such as these elegant coin cases, completely void of any visible seam and dyed using organic substances such as chestnut and mimosa.

Picky support

A Picky Freaks friend shows support by sending me regularly what she calls "presque Picky" ("almost Picky") postcards and notes. She is quite the educated eye, her interest is very flatering.
(Photo: Bernard Plossu)

Delphi Lodge & Fishery

I recently had a very picky freaks/James Ivory/sartoria(rea)listic experience in Ireland, precisely in Delphi, a small and reclusive mountainous region and North frontier of Connemara.
A typical large and classic mansion-lodge owned and run but some fly-fishing celebrity (who was busy fishing in the Bahamas during our stay), it opens year long a few bedrooms to fly-fishing enthousiasts. The landscape around is breathtaking. We arrived on a very grey day to witness three men, dressed head to toe in the proper fly-fishing attire (see below in Picky Freaks), struggling against rain and wind and strong currents on the river in front of the lodge's lawn, the "gullie" bravely driving the boat back in the current again & again until the salmon would accept to bite (apparently the salmon bites the bait because of some defense mechanism and not to eat the bait as salmon refrains from eating when swiming upcurrent in fresh waters-so I was told that evening by a Bavarian gentleman).
The house has a wet room for outdoors clothing (and toweling the dogs..) and tables to weight, clean and wrap your daily catch.
I didn't fish but I did take part in the evening drinks (7:30 pm by the fireplace) and dinner (8:30 around the large dinning room table) at which I was served the largest lobster I had ever seen.

Paul Outerbridge

Simrane

Simrane, located rue Jacob in Paris, sells all kinds of linen products made from Indian printed cotton. The quality and variety of prints are surprising, the shop stacks them from floor to ceiling, it's hard to pick among all the "pareos" (sarongs) and tableclothes, dresses, bed covers. The clientele seems very faithful to the shop, which has been there for ages, at least for as long as I can remember. I have a pareo who's just travelled on it's 20th summer journey!

Korres Yogurt Gel

Korres -the first homeopathic pharmacy of Athens- makes wonderful natural products based on Greek flora. The cooling after sun yogurt gel is divine in texture and in smell.

Mylayne's birds

Jean-Luc Mylayne's photography of common European birds, published by Twin Palms Publishers for his 2007 Houston exhibit, is beautiful. The artist shoots very little, dedicating his time to observing and getting acquainted with his models until he can shoot them from very close, once they are no longer afraid of his busy self. Each photography is patiently composed and shot to achieve a pictural effect, after which the bird usually flies away, never be seen again.

(photo: Jean-Luc Mylayne)

Custom LLBean Tote

My summer 09 custom version of the classic tote: blue body, black bottom, yellow handles & monograming.

The Big Easy

Unlike any other city in the United States, New Orleans is a refuge from the visual, moral and social aggressiveness of America’s best friends: “textbook middle class” standards & corporate consumption.
New Orleans is poor, wild, hot, haunted, free, proud; nicknamed the third world of the US, it houses the most extreme people, the freaks, the hard-core liberals, the music junkies, and generally all those who chose the road less traveled. The Beat generation was here, shooting in the garden district. Any local will tell you the city is haunted, and not just by the ghosts of Faulkner, Tennessee Williams or Anne Rice.
You can drive in decrepit neighborhoods where people still live as in 1950 and end in the best bar you could imagine, better than a nightmare experience by David Lynch, the music, the light, the pool table, the whole thing will blow your mind. Every street corner is a visual experience.
I lived in New Orleans from 1998 to 2000 and it remains one of my most moving memories. This is my first trip back.
(art by Banksy in New Orleans)

Embossing

Instead of corresponding with traditional printed cards and stationary, I like to apply a "dry seal" using a clamp-like embossing device, which creates a permanent relief on any paper, card or book. It looks beautiful, enhances the texture of paper, like a Braille drawing, and feels much more mysterious and unique.

Futura & Garamond

The original Garamond typeface became widespread when the French court of Francis I started using it for their printing, in the 1540's. It was originally commissioned as a Greek typeface and known as the "Grec du Roi". Obviously, the typeface has travelled throughout Europe and has been copied many times, offering today an array of various Garamond type.
The futura typeface was create by Paul Renner in the 1920's. It was said to be Stanley Kubrick's favorite font.

Shiso

I planted my own shiso recently with seeds sent to me from Japan. It's quite the patience test, it grows very slowly and will surely be eaten very quickly. Even the tomatoes and figs outside my windows are growing faster!

Shells

While waiting for the real stuff (in August)...

Flip Flops

The French company La Sarraizienne was the original maker of the famous "méduse" (jellyfish) shoes worn by kids since the 50s and reproduced by others ever since. My mom had found the weirdest style, she would actually wear them with socks in the summer, and it looked quite interesting.
La Sarraizienne also manufactured these all rubber flip flops which are by far the finest I've found. The rubber is very soft and flexible, the sole is perfectly shaped, the colors are great. I bought my first pair, in all white, on a farmers market in Bretagne. The old man warned me that the company had closed since 2003 and these were the very last pairs. He didn't lie, it took me forever to find an old stock, sold by a British website (link included).

Moon

Today the moon is full in Paris. My poetic iphone widget "Moonphase" gave out the werewolf alert.

Bumper stickers

I ♥ bumper stickers.