Esquire through the years

Sander's Children | in costume

From a recent exhibition at Danzigers Projects, NYC

Below: DIANE ARBUS, "LADY AT A MASKED BALL WITH TWO ROSES ON HER DRESS"
Bottom: HIROH KIKAI,"CELEBRATING SHICHI-GO-SAN, A GALA DAY FOR GIRLS AT AGES THREE AND SEVEN"

I think you will love this: Kermit | Bale

and there's more! See these sites
I Heart Photograph
ohnotheydidnt

The New Republic hands Canada a zinger

From "Neighbors Without Benefits" (The New Republic, Jan 27, 2009):

"If Canada does collapse--and the parliamentary crisis is pointing us in that direction--the U.S. will end up with something like a Balkans to the North.

"Canada has become ungovernable, entering a period of Italian-style instability."

Regarding Obama's upcoming visit to Canada:

"Canada needs to see what a unifying leader looks like, and the new president needs to have a look at a country which may turn out to be yet another mess dropped on his doorstep."

NYT Loophole

I've discovered a pretty big flaw in the New York Times website registration system. The Grey Lady's website requires that readers register online and log-in to read any articles older than 1 day. I suppose this is so the webmaster and marketing team can log whatever you're reading and your patterns, and survey you in whatever other ways they can imagine.

Well, I've discovered another way in. Just Google the article name and "nytimes." This works for virtually any article. If something is more than one page, just click the single page option to read the whole thing.

Ok, that's it. Keep under the radar.

Forgotten Treasure from the Tina Fey Oeuvre

The H is O, a short by Adam Mckay from Adam "Ghost Panther" McKay

Pagan Love

Kyrie Kristmanson - Song X

Desire for Ryan McGinley

Ryan McGinley's photography graces the cover of this week's New York Times Magazine. The feature is probably one of the longest essays featured in my recent memory of the Times magazine. This extended piece comes to no conclusions, and the point it finally reaches is so frustrating you wish you never started reading the article.

The artwork, however, is pretty compelling--and so is the story behind it. Here's a spacy diary written for Interview by photographer Ryan McGinley, during his most recent trip across America with young naked people.

This guy!

He just kills me

Happy Chinese New Year

The day in pictures from around the world:
*All photos from Flickr

Taiping, Malaysia


Chinatown - London, UK


Gung Haggis Fat Choy - Vancouver, BC


Los Angeles, California


Brooklyn, New York


Chinatown - Liverpool, UK


Helsinki, Finland

I love this idea that a Really Interesting Group put out last year. Should we create the North American version?

More about the project here.

Playmobil Security Check Point

Read the reviews for this fun product on Amazon:


Like this one:

Women's Bodies: the ultimate ping pong match

Hat tip: Aaron Leaf

On Friday, the new US administration reverse[d] rules on U.S. abortion aid. Obama rescinded the rules that "restricted federal money for international organizations that promote or provide abortions overseas, sweeping aside a pillar of the social policy architecture of George W. Bush’s presidency."

As promising as this news is, I look back at the history of this policy and I want to cry: "President Ronald Reagan first imposed the ban in 1984 when it was announced at a conference in Mexico City. President Bill Clinton lifted it a couple of days after taking office in 1993. Mr. Bush restored it a couple of days after he took office in 2001, and advocates on both sides expected Mr. Obama to lift it again."

So what happens four or eight years from now when Republicans take power again? Without a public debate, this back and forth continues quietly in the halls of power, as the fallout happens on women's bodies and reproductive rights.

They're Watching Us: The Google Edition

I started uploading personal information on Google about two years ago when I opened up a photo sharing account. Since then, I have my resume uploaded, created a small personal website for professional purposes, and used Google docs for school and work. Between this blog and my email, Google probably knows everything about me aside from my birthday and social security number. They have my credit card information and my employment background and obviously, they know where I live since I plug it into my computer for transit information nearly everyday.

This all got me thinking about what sort of risk we all are at as Google extends its reach farther into our private lives. This year--or sometime in the near future, Google plans to make PCs (as in personal computers... we're not talking macs vs. PCs, though Google and Apple are in this together) obsolete. Your home computer will just be a portal into your Google world.

According to an article from The Guardian:

The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of Google's operating system for mobile phones, Android. Users would think of their computer as software rather than hardware. It is this prospect that alarms critics of Google's ambitions. Peter Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, a charity defending computer users' liberties, did not dispute the convenience offered, but said: "It's a little bit like saying, 'we're in a dictatorship, the trains are running on time.' But does it matter to you that someone can see everything on your computer? Does it matter that Google can be subpoenaed at any time to hand over all your data to the American government?"

Google refused to confirm the GDrive, but acknowledged the growing demand for cloud computing. Dave Armstrong, head of product and marketing for Google Enterprise, said: "There's a clear direction ... away from people thinking, 'This is my PC, this is my hard drive,' to 'This is how I interact with information, this is how I interact with the web.'"

Beware the GDrive! I would caution against giving your life to Google because they make everything so easy and free.

If you're not already convinced that they may be working against us, see the video below, animated with great graphics and narrated with British-accented gravitas.

Also, a Simpsons clips below because everything in life has a Simpsons reference.

The Publishing Biz: Based on a True Story

From the wizards in digital marketing at MacMillan

Today's One Cool Thing

I know, you're sick of Obama-mania (or is it Obamania?) but consider this a photography- and tech- related post. Here's a 1,474 Megapixel shot of the inauguration, that took a MacBook Pro 6 hours (!!!) to stitch together. You can see everything!

* Full-screen link to the stunning photograph

You can't write this stuff

From Kanye West's blog:



[said photograph]:

Two more years! Two more years!

It's official: AMC Mad Men has renewed Matthew Weiner's contract for two more seasons.

[Source: IGN.com]