A few years ago I saw historical horologist Brittany Nicole Cox at one of her fascinating lectures on automaton and mechanical curiosities here in Seattle where she has her workshop.… Read the rest of the article: "Watch" this upcoming clockmaker docu

There are three amazing murals by Diego Rivera in San Francisco. "Allegory of California" is at the The City Club (tours closed for now), "The Making of a Fresco Showing… Read the rest of the article: Free Frisco fresco 

I have fond memories of a family tip in 1964 to NYC to see the World's Fair. It was exciting as a kid to see all the big city attractions,… Read the rest of the article: Remembering the Automat

1961's "The Connection" is director Shirley Clarke's film of a play about making a cinema verite film—got that? In a dingy flat, some junkies await their "connection" to score a… Read the rest of the article: Watch this 1960's jazzy junkie flick

While we fans wait for the upcoming documentary  "Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters," we can enjoy these sketches Mignola made for a cancelled Thor animated series back in the '90s. The… Read the rest of the article: Old Thor in new Mignola documentary

In addition to everything else that Putins's invasion of Ukraine has wrought, rock and roll guitarists may loose their tone. The owner of Electro-Harmonix, Mike Matthews, announced Russian-made audio vacuum… Read the rest of the article: No tubes for you, komrad

While you're waiting for the final season of "Better Call Saul," check out the trailer. "Whatever happens next, it's not gonna go down the way you think it is." I… Read the rest of the article: Trailer for the final season of "Better Call Saul"

It's hard to describe Toni Erdmann, a 2016 German movie from director Maren Ade. Imagine an aging father hoping to re-connect with his very busy adult daughter. Add in a… Read the rest of the article: A weird and wonderful father-daughter movie you may have missed

The Apple App Store has just released designer Stan Resnicoff's latest game: TACTX. I was a beta tester on this clever twist on Go, Pente, and other place-a-stone games. This… Read the rest of the article: Try this new vexing twist on the game of Go: TACTX.

Fender and Mattel are teaming up on a line of custom, one-of-a-kind guitars themed around the Mattel Hot Wheels brand. Not for kids as these guitars are priced at over… Read the rest of the article: Fender and Mattel team up

I posted recently about a fascinating online lecture from the Museum of Anthropology at he University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Now the companion book is out: "Where the Power… Read the rest of the article: See more extraordinary Northwest Coast art

Let's all remember Ed Roth, the creator of Ratfink, monster Tshirts, and endless custom cars on his birthday. Born Beverly Hills, March 4, 1932. When I was a little fink… Read the rest of the article: Happy Birthday, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth!

We're members at Seattle's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and visit often now that things are re-opening. During the shutdowns, the Burke has hosted many on-line talks and… Read the rest of the article: See amazing Northwest Coast Native artwork from Canada

I always enjoy the special music issues of Oxford America and Volume 23 is no exception. It features special articles focusing on the musical creators from the South, with essays… Read the rest of the article: Southern culture magazine is a musical delight

There are plenty of books about Jimi Hendrix so why did I like this new one? Rock journalists and brothers Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik  have assembled a wonderful timeline-in-a-box full… Read the rest of the article: Great stories and details in new Hendrix book

I found this obscure pilot for a TV show by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, the creators of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" and the very first Cap'n Crunch commercials. It's called… Read the rest of the article: The nutty Jay Ward TV show you never saw

When I went to industrial design school in the 70's, we were among the last students to learn arcane techniques of creating cool drawings of concept cars. For me, this… Read the rest of the article: Cool book of old school car renderings

I enjoyed this graphic novel telling the story of French painter Claude Monet. That this book was created by a team of a screenwriter and an artist really shows: the… Read the rest of the article: Painterly panels in Monet graphic novel

This fantastic 2020 graphic novel [Amazon] by Italian film director and artist Gipi (aka Gianni Pacinotti) interweaves multiple storylines to tell the tale of an institutionalized writer and his great… Read the rest of the article: Read Italian film director Gipi's graphic novel

My wife and I like watching Sinichi and Satoshi on their YouTube channel TabiEats. It's the next best thing to traveling to Japan with lots of great unboxing/tasting reviews, Japanese… Read the rest of the article: We love these artisanal treats from Japan