M Dash

Stay tuned

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:45:00 +0000

Good things are on the way...

Together

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:54:00 +0000

Spring cleaning: blog drafts.

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Schiaparelli
Madeleine

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Grimes grimes grimes
Walking on a dream
Islands
Lust for life

(Driving songs, because we bought a car!)

Izzy Jarvis

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:47:00 +0000

Mural by Izzy Jarvis on a traffic control box for the city of Bloomington, Indiana as part of their Stop & Start project. She has a great tumblr.

Hey February

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:02:00 +0000

So that was fast.

- Vic put this together in a single (extra) day.
- Lillian Bassman died age 94. I went back and looked at this. It also made me think of the mourning after, via Something Changed.
- A work trip to Chiang Mai with 48 kids. The whole city and countryside was in bloom.
- Another eating tour of Seoul, courtesy of Katie's marvellous guide: yogurt gelato at La Bocca, peanut butter milkshakes at Burger B, the homemade ginger ale at Café Sukkara... I'd add Vatos (Korean Mexican—carne asada and kimchi fries) and Paul & Paulina (heartbreakingly good bread). Stayed at the adorably staffed Studio 41st.
- Almost finished 1Q84, enjoying the clever parchment cover on the hardback edition.

- This art installation, if you haven't seen it already.

- These cabins, ditto.

1. Photo by Lillian Bassman
2. Chiang Mai

Adieu

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:47:00 +0000

Sweetly retro styling in Cœur de pirate's Adieu.

Cheap thrills

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:19:00 +0000

Like pretty much everyone with an iPhone, I've been enjoying Instagram. Nothing special, but fun. These are from the holidays, when I visited my sister in Shanghai. Highlights: meeting my sister's fantastic friends and co-workers, visiting flea markets (those red glasses were sadly too expensive), a bourbon-cherry brown sugar pavlova (based on this recipe), homemade eggnog (we used forty-eight egg yolks!), wandering around the French concession, getting my Granddad's Nikon FE2 fixed, eating out, dinner at Miss Mary Ching's incredible warehouse apartment, wearing all of my sister's clothing (the scalloped white New Year's dress is hers), going crazy shopping on Tao Bao, and the very easy 80-minute direct flight.

Kelly's Favourite Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:51:00 +0000

So pleased to start off the new year with a lovely and to-the-point favourite dress post from Kelly of Halcyon Days (which, it goes without saying, is always a great read). Thank you for the beautiful illustration, Kelly!

Previously:

Nicole

Theodora

Katie

Bedroom Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:12:00 +0000

Always have time for the Dum Dum Girls.

Tipping Barrels

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:10:00 +0000

My brother sent me this incredibly beautiful surf/environmental journalism short by Ben Gulliver.
Required viewing for Canadians (British Columbians especially).
Pacific Wild

Tipping Barrels from Sitka on Vimeo

Phuket Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 06:18:00 +0000

Everyone I know is going to Phuket! Rightfully so, it is pretty great. Here are my picks (favourites marked with an asterisk):

Eat

- A perfect Phuket Town night out starts with dinner at La Gaetana* (eat whatever Gianni suggests, and share your mains), moves to drinks and dancing on tables at Ka Jok See*, then continues with live music and a bit more dancing at Timber Hut (nothing too special, but there's usually a good mix of people). La Gaetana is small, so it's best to make a reservation, especially on weekends: 076 250 523.

- Raya has Royal Thai food in an authentic Southern Thai house; some nights there’s a market on the opposite side of the street.

- Lemongrass and Natural are long-standing local Thai-food favourites.

- If deep-fried soft-shell crab interests you, I can direct you to the crab-eating monkey restaurant (it's out of the way—next to a mangrove forest, hence the crab-eating monkeys—and we don't know its real name).

- Phuket expats are obsessed with over-the-top Sunday brunches: my choice is Indigo Pearl's*. Book as far ahead as you can, because it does sell out; bring your swimsuit and spend the rest of the day hanging out in their pools. 076 327 006. Second place goes to Trisara's champagne brunch, where my 87-year-old grandpa jams on the piano—the views are incredible but it's close to double the price.

- Have lunch at Ko Ta Khao Man Gai* (pictured above; it's a few restaurants down the linked list) is possibly the cheapest and best meal you’ll have in Thailand—if nothing else, go here. Get the number one and also try the Thai ice tea or sugar cane juice.

- For a mid-morning or afternoon coffee break in Phuket Town, try Kaffe.

- Favourite foods to look out for: fried chicken from Muslim lady street vendors, som tam, phad siew (phad thai's underrated wide-noodle cousin), roti pancakes with condensed milk and sugar, rambutan, mangosteen, starfruit, pomelo, tamarind, little brown lychee-things, sour mango with chili sauce, Penang curry, and kanom krok (little coconut pancakes cooked in special griddles with round holes).

- The sea canoe day trip* is one of the best Phuket experiences around—I've gone at least five times (that's a photo of one of the stops above), and always love it.

- Beach-wise, I like Laem Singh (tiny and tucked away)*, Surin (pictured below—get a beachside massage, have sundowners at Catch), Bang Tao (less crowded; the Reggae bar is popular) and and Nai Harn (crowded but beautiful for sunset—you could then have great seafood at Kan Eng @Pier).

- Go on a walking tour of Phuket Town* (use this map): check out the market, Sino-Portuguese architecture, Soi Romanee (pictured below), Dibuk Road, and Chinese temples. The Governor's mansion has been beautifully restored as a restaurant, and its staff are happy to let you wander around inside.

- Elephant trekking with Siam Safari. Wat Chalong is also nearby.

- Spa package at Cannaceae Spa: you can mix and match—I like the sauna, salt scrub and traditional Thai massage*. Make an appointment the day before. 076 524 608.

- Splash jungle is expensive, but worth it if you're into water slides.

- My friend Mikey manages Flying Hanuman, a brand-new jungle zipline.

- For scuba diving, I like shark point and the King Cruiser wreck, and did my courses with Dive Asia and Scuba Cat. If you have the time and money, a liveaboard to the Similans is stunning.

- Drop in for a class with Tomasz at Hot Yoga Evolution.

- Get some food and beer (I'm a Leo fan), go to Rawai beach, rent a longtail boat, and go island hopping for the day.

- Patong is a mess (Travelfish accurately calls it a "an ugly tapestry of the surreal, debauched, and truly desperate" and "everything that tourism in Thailand should not have become"), but if you must: Scruffy Murphy’s on Soi Bangla has decent live music, the Ice Bar is a good place to do shots and cool down, and most people end up dancing at Seduction. On either side of the hill, there's Opus One and Stereolab, and Skylar bar in Kamala is kind of charming; if it's high tide you'll have to wade through the ocean to get there.

Shop

- The Talad Tai Rot weekend market* on Chao Fa West Road, near Central Festival mall, has tons of food vendors (try the classic mango/coconut/sticky rice), inexpensive everything and a nice atmosphere.

- I still haven't eaten at Siam Indigo, but the shop next door is cute.

- The little shop opposite Ko Ta Khao Man Gai sells lovely leather accessories.
- The second-hand shoe store next to La Gaetana has a strange and wonderful selection of footwear.

Sleep

It seems counterintuitive to visit a tropical island and not stay at the beach, but Phuket Town has more culture, interesting restaurants and markets, better prices and fewer touts. Public open-air buses (songthaews) leave from here, so visiting any beach for a day is easy and inexpensive. I like the look of 99 Old Town guesthouse and Chinotel.

If you do want to stay beachside, I'd look into Bang Tao, as it's less developed than other areas. Travel fish has some nice-looking recommendations (and it's a solid guide to use overall). Surin might be a more convenient location for going to Laem Singh, Patong and the like.

No logo

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 05:18:00 +0000

Very sharp scissors work best.

Inventory

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:27:00 +0000

Document everything you own,

and then destroy it.

'One of the last objects to be destroyed was his father's sheepskin coat. "The things I valued the most I left till last." The coat became a testament to his new value system as it circulated through those two weeks to its destruction. "One girl came up to me and wanted to swap it for what she had in her duffle bag. I said I couldn't give it to her, but she could try and steal it. I wanted someone to take it away but they didn't."'
–The Guardian

1. Everything I Have, 2008 by Simon Evans, via Sho & Tell
2. Break Down, 2001, Michael Landy

Two of a kind

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:56:00 +0000

Truman Capote's bedroom and Lily Donaldson by Jak & Jil.

Long Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Creams and blues from our four-day almost-circumnavigation of Jeju's coast by bike. We stopped at a café/carpentry shop where Tim literally sang for our tea and coffee, climbed four hundred metres up a mountain road, ate truck-stop ramen with gifted oranges, saw a few woman divers, drank soju, local beers and a godawful imported wine, devoured entire mackerel, found the mysterious contents of two peoples' wallets in our sea chalet (the only way to describe it), went on a night bike ride around Udo, warmed up with hot chocolate and black pork in the city, and finished with a one-meter long pizza (33.3 cm each!). I'm running out of synonyms for "wonderful."

Vegetable Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 14:42:00 +0000

Another afternoon at the botanical gardens—no cabbage patch kids sightings yet.

And the terrible twosome (my not-so-little brothers) turn 24 today!

Say yes to the dress

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 14:07:00 +0000

"...This is cream on cream. A woman's film! I feel ready to reject the film like a wrongly transplanted organ. But what was it I wanted? With a state of mind as my starting point, I desired to dive headlong into the abyss of German romanticism. Wagner in spades. That much I know. But is that not just another way of expressing defeat? Defeat to the lowest of cinematic common denominators? Romance is abused in all sorts of endlessly dull ways in mainstream products. ... I cling to the hope that there may be a bone splinter amid all the cream that may, after all, crack a fragile tooth..."

–Lars von Trier's director's statement on Melancholia

Hallim

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 08:15:00 +0000

A nice afternoon here; watched Miss Representation.

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Art of the Menu
Pear season
Clouds of scissors and dandelions

Bodies of Water

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 12:17:00 +0000

Went for a long bike ride along the coastline this afternoon. The water is beautiful, the air is warm and smells like salt and tangerines.

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Soviet-era bus stops
Totem (read this one aloud)
Sasha's blog

Photos 1, 2, 3, 4 by Randy P. Martin

Nicole's Favourite Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:51:00 +0000

Some sunshine and well-loved colour from Nicole, an interior styling assistant living in Australia.

"My favourite dress was found at a thrift store in Vancouver last (last) summer for 6 dollars. It's an incredible embroidered Mexican folk dress. I just love the vibrancy of it. It reminds me of Frida Kahlo; it is hand-dyed, the material is thick and the shape is quite boxy—something I would imagine her to have worn. I wore it on my birthday last year with a crown of flowers and felt like a bouquet of poppies :) The best part about this dress is it reminds me of being home with my family in Canada, moving my sister into her new apartment in Vancouver, and doing what my mom and I do best—hunting for treasure at the op shops!"

Thanks for sharing, Nicole!

Also: Nicole's dream dress
Previously: Theodora, Katie

P.S. Jessica and Nunor got it right, I've moved to Jeju—the carved stone was a red herring—so please send your addresses to michellegow at gmail dot com to receive the tackiest Grandfather postcard I can find!

Tangerine Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:13:00 +0000

Giving my point-and-shoot a workout while settling into a new island home.
Walking this evening, I pilfered a mandarin orange—delicious.
Free postcard for whoever can guess where I am...
Two hints: volcanoes and grandfathers.

Style, Substance

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle Gow) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:48:00 +0000

"The goal of this photostream is simply to educate. To entice others to want to do their own research. To introduce a group of people, places and events that many have never heard of or know very little about."

So much to see in Kicha's collection of vintage photos, posted with thoughtful details and historical contexts.

1. Winners (names unknown) of the Jitterbug contest held in NYC
2. African American Vernacular Photography; selections from the Daniel Cowin Collection
3. Two Friends, 1930s, photographed by Charles 'Teenie' Harris
4. Ms. Lois Harris, photographed by Addison N Scurlock
5. 4 Ways of Smiles, photographed by John W. Mosley for 'Posing Beauty' by Deborah Willis
6. Josephine Baker (1928)
7. Portrait of Mamie Luella Williams, Kansas Historical Society

Travel Diaries

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:02:00 +0000

Here's a feature I wrote and photographed for LOHAS China on sustainable travel in South Africa. You might recognise some of these good-looking people and places; it was pretty exciting to see my photos perfect bound and set in tip-top layouts. Thank you again to Sofia, my editor and translator for the piece! And one last favourite from Tsitsikamma:

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- Good Heavens now has an Etsy shop! Buy them for your boytjies (or meisies, I've been eyeing the Clovelly or Roffey for myself), Katrin and Matthew are the loveliest tie-makers I know.
- In case you missed it a million years ago, the photos from Other People's Houses are up.
- Portraits of Retail.
- Jon Rafman's 9 eyes series is really something [via a mirror with memory].
- Unique, just like everybody else: Exactitudes.
- Love the hairy pits club.

The Last Sweet Bite

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 05:18:00 +0000

"Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying,
eating of the last sweet bite."

–Perhaps the World Ends Here, Joy Harjo
Photo by Luis Valdizon of Marché St. George, my dream café.

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Then too there is this
Scumble
Space gold

Der Natur

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:30:00 +0000

Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen Der Natur, 1904.

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For William, For Kate

Video Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:56:00 +0000

Live the language in my native province with hockey, skiing, cycling and salmon.
Live The Language - Vancouver from Gustav Johansson [via otis & frank]

"I started baking when I was a child. My eyesight was so bad ... and then the first day that I got glasses, my mom took me to this pastry shop. The first thing I ever really saw was clearly was this pastry case."
Miette: A Video from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop from 4SP Films [via Kinfolk]

"In 1974, Elizabeth 'Connie' Converse wrote goodbye notes to her friends and family, packed her belongings into a Volkswagen and simply drove away. No one has seen or heard from her since. Throughout the 1950s, Connie filled tape after tape with the kinds of songs that, years later, would take hold of the New York scene - haunting, plaintive, and incredibly literary. As it was, the tapes were relegated to a filing cabinet in her brother’s garage."
Help release the recordings at Kickstart [via Unpretentious Bouquet of Parentheses].