Istanbul trip

another photo by Jean-Yves Lemoigne

Fun picture for the campaign of Meltin Pot Jeans

Jean-Yves Lemoigne

He calls them Pictograms in Photography, French photographer Jean-Yves Lemoigne.

I find them an even lonelier, scarier, and more alienated form of Edward Hopper's visual language

Industrial Revolution Sci-Fi Graphic Novels

Three graphic novel series that I would warmly recommend to anyone interested in... we'll let's call it the industrial revolution sci-fi genre... are The League of Extraodinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin o'Neill, Hauteville House by Duval, Gioux, Quent and Beau, and The Neptune by Jean-Yves Delitte.

Fantastic graphics, great storytelling, beautiful characters set in a 1870ish world of rapidly emerging mechanical technology. Re-creating the world of the industrial revolution, pushing the boundaries beyond the limits of what was technically possible then (or even now, for that matter). But these dreamed futuristic manics and machines are designed as if it was all possible in 1870. Fantastic submarines, airships and weaponry. At the same time there is the poverty, the pollution, the overpopulated cities, the struggle for Empire, and the politics of the day. Extremely well-researched all three of them. A must read for any true aficionado of the graphic novel.

A Single Man by Tom Ford

Colin Firth is a Single Man in Tom Ford's movie debut. When I first heard the news that Tom Ford was making a movie I thought "my God, are there no limits to the man's ambition?" Then after its release I read one glowing review after the other. Obviously the powers that be are pleased with the movie.

Colin Firth is praised for his acting, and is even nominated for an Oscar I understand, but in my opinion Colin Firth is once again portraying a rather Colin Firth-y character: a very pleasant introverted men who says a lot less than he thinks. A man with a deep and heavy soul. A man very much desirable in all his understatement. Firth portrays the main character of the movie, a gay college professor who recently and traumatically has lost his lover, beautifully. Only at two moments in the movie I found he over-acted his portrayal of a gay man: first there was the rather awkward dancing scene with leading lady Julianne Moore, then there was the contrived running on the beach (shoulders down but underarms up in the air) on the nightwsimming scene. But those details can be forgiven, I suppose.

During the first ten or so minutes of the movie I felt very much as if I was witnessing a Mad Men episode with new characters. The stylish early 1960s, the suits, the dresses, the perfect interiors are just amazing. If the movie were to be compared to a piece of knitwear it would be a Brunello Cuccinelli sweater: immaculate, perfect, luxurious, and understated down to the smallest detail. This Mad Men feel does leave one though, after some time. What did not leave me was the constant awareness of the fact that it was Tom Ford who made this movie. The sensibility of the clothes is so very Tom Ford. The dark suits, perfect white shirts. Unmistakenably and Unescapably Tom Ford. It would perhaps have been braver if he'd chosen another style of dressing for his movie debut than the very style of dressing that made him a world-famous fashion designer. For this reason I would also be very curious to see what he will choose as the clothing style for his inevitable second movie.

On the whole the one-day journey of mourning, suicidal planning, and eventual brightening that we witness is a most convincing one (flashbacks probably take up a third of the movie). In all it is a very good and memorable movie. A Single Man is well-paced, the dialogue is interesting and subtle, and the sexual tension tangible yet elegant, and although every now and then the imagery has a hint of fashion or fragrance advertising, on the whole it is magically beautiful.

Overall judgement: 3 stars out of 5

Werner Herzog on the set of Fitzcarraldo

Genius filmmaker Werner Herzog at the set of Fitzcarraldo. This is all very well. True greatness however is found in the piquet polo he's wearing. Wonder who made it...

Anyone?

Favorite Mad Men piece

...and while Mad Men is rapidly gaining fame for it's incredible stylish rendition of late 50s and early 60s dressing, I have my clear favorite among all the great pieces of fashion that have paraded by: from episode 11, season 2, "the jet set", this blue and orange one-piece bathing suit worn by one of the beautiful people. Nice!

Best TV Shows: Californication, Entourage, Mad Men and Breaking Bad

Californication, Entourage, Mad Men and Breaking Bad have for the past years been my absolutely favorite TV shows. I have seen all episodes and love the whole thing.

Just heard that a 3rd season of Breaking Bad is in preparation. Hurray!

Mad Men was just incredibly addictive and captivating, and is profoundly changing fashion trends as we speak. Season 3 finished with a bang: a double divorce with Don saying bye to both Betty and Sterling-Cooper. No doubt there will be a season 4 and no doubt it will be great, but the Don-Betty dynamic, if it's really over, will be sorely missed (...or perhaps not, who knows...)

Californication is a bit of a different story. The Life and Times of Mr. Hank Moody, misunderstood author and philanderer. Though perhaps it's the best TV Show of them all, and season 3 has just been shockingly concluded, it leaves me with a few big question marks. The whole Hank-Karen dynamic is increasingly lost on me. With all that's happening in his life, the aspirational nature of the Karen character is frankly losing credibility. But maybe worse is the fact that the closing episode of season 3 effectively killed off the last remaining undercurrent tension in the story. The Big Truth Untold has now escaped from Pandora's Box. Makes me wonder if this is a way to kill the show. How on earth any scriptwriter can get this one back on track in a credible way is a mystery to me. More likely there will not be a Season 4. Perhaps a pity, but probably not. Three fantastic seasons will be a memory to cherish, and will give Californication cult status forever. A 4th season may "Lost-ify" Californication, and that would be a true pity.

and Entourage is just a soft flowing miracle of chill out. This series is like Friends or Seinfeld. Just lots of feel good, not a hell of a lot going on, but always great fun to watch. Entourage as far as I'm concerned can just go on forever. That is, as long as Ari Gold is Ari Gold. The moment Ari Gold is gone or evolves into something else, they may as well close the whole thing down.

Thom Browne for Barack Obama for WWD

President Barack Obama chose to wear a Hart Schaffner Marx tuxedo for the evening festivities on his Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2009, but that did not stop WWD asking a number of men’s designers what they thought the new president should have worn. This is Thom Browne's contribution:

Buildings, flags and... well... people

Somehow we always focus on the wrong things. We all know this picture. It symbolises the Fall of Berlin in 1945. Germany defeated by the Red Army. The flag of the Soviet Union is hoisted on the German Reichstag. A world famous image.

But who is the soldier in the picture? You know, the human...?

On January 10, 2008, the 85 year old former Sergeant Michael Minin passed away. It was he who hoisted the flag of the Sovjet Union on the Reichstag in the early hours of May 1, 1945.

3 Views of a few February days in NYC

Sunday night. A Midtown street view of Manhattan. Time to jump in the taxi to the airport.

View from the terrace of our office on 55th St and 5th Avenue

View from the offices of our lower west side ad agency MD70

Inverallan Knit Cap

The Inverallan Knit Cap

Inverallan have been making some of the world's best knitwear for over 30 years in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. This red one I just love to pieces. I think my imaginary good old friend Jacques C. (also known as Zizou) would have agreed.

Although affordable at €80, it just seems impossible to get hold of!

Citroen DS

A few years ago I was the proud owner of one of the last remaining Citroen DS in Vietnam. Lucky me. Here some pics from Saigon.

Perhaps the most beautiful car ever designed. The Citroen DS features in the video of perhaps the most beautifully atmospheric songs ever: Mazzy Star - Fade into You

an American Classic: the Duluth Canoe Pack

A French Canadian named Camille Poirier first patented the now famous Duluth Pack on December 12th, 1882. Until this time, a pack of this type did not exist. Poirier had designed and built a new type of pack-sack that closed with a buckled flap, had new-fangled shoulder straps, a tumpline, a chest or sternum strap, and an umbrella holder (umbrellas were used as portable shade during the time of clear cutting in the Northland).

It comes with a lifetime guarantee

duluthpack.com

The day it stands ready is the day its decline begins

Mazzy Star - Fade into you

The End of Pretense

Israeli keffiyeh

A Keffiyeh with a Star of David pattern and the colors of the Israeli flag, rather than the traditional arab black and white or red and white. Yassir Arafat's signature fashion accessory (or as he probably saw it: signature national symbol) just got hijacked.

Nations without a Country

Anyone who can guess which flags these are?

They are all Nations without a Country.

Some hints: yes, there's Tibet, yes, there's Pays Basque.

But how about the other 10 flags?

left to right, top to bottom:

1. Scania (Skåne) - land of the Scanians

2. Kurdistan - land of the Kurds

3. Pays Basque - land of the Basques

4. Nunavut - land of the Inuit

5. Chechnya - land of the Chechens

6. Haven't got the foggiest. Anyone?

7. Romani - the flag of the Romani people (exonym: gypsies)

8. Friesland - land of the Frisians

9. Amazonas - land of the indigenous peoples of Venezuela

10. Sapmi - land of the Sami people in northern Scandinavia

11. Aborigine - the aborigine nation in Australia

12. Tibet - land of the Tibetans, occupied by China since 1950

Playlist January 2010

GANT Rugger - Spring/Summer 2010

The song is Every Summer by US Royalty

EU Flag by Rem Koolhaas

Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas designed this proposed European Union flag in 2001. It is composed of all the colors of all the member states. Actually on his website he has a cool simulation of how he got from the individual flags to this one:

http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=portal&Itemid=10&id=282

Though rejected it has featured in some EU events, and since it's so very beautiful, it won't be going away anytime soon is my guess.

Ara Güler

Ara Güler (1928) is Turkey's perhaps most famous photographer. Nicknamed "the Eye of Istanbul". I love his photographs. They beautifully capture the magnificent atmosphere of Istanbul as I got to know it in the 1980ies. Usually b/w, you feel the decay, the pollution, the beauty, the peoples (Ara is of Armenian descent himself) , the grand architecture. People are never absent from his photographs. Always alive.

www.araguler.com.tr

John le Carré

Since 1995 John le Carré has produced some truly excellent novels.

In earlier years he wrote what was in essence a number of great spy novels, which I also read with pleasure, but hey were spy novels, not more. Then with The Little Drummer Girl there was suddenly a different le Carré. He had somehow stopped writing bestselling spy thrillers and had started writing literature.

Although still mostly set in the shadow world of espionage, his novels have become darker, more complex, more human, and much more interesting. His characters evolve, are conflicted, and are mostly deeply tragic figures. And don't hope for anything even resembling a happy ending.

In my humble opinion John le Carré is underrated by many. His reputation is still that of "just" a thriller writer, but in my view he has evolved to become a great novellist. Read The Constant Gardener, Single & Single, A Most Wanted Man, or The Tailor of Panama and judge yourselves.