By LinYee Yuan | May 14, 2009 | 0
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Michael Pollan | ||||
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The food and culture writer, Michael Pollan, visits one of our favorite satirists, Stephen Colbert for a quick plug for his upcoming book, In Defense of Food. After a tango with Sierra Mist and a conversation about Breast Milk (where we find out from Mama Dukes *gasp* that Pollan was not breastfed). Check out info about the upcoming book after the jump.
By LinYee Yuan | May 11, 2009 | 0
Listen to Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper talk about the global impact of Subway Art, 25 years later. Celebrating a quarter-century of graffiti, the two photographers are re-releasing this seminal book in a large format with Chronicle Books.
By LinYee Yuan | November 4, 2008 | 1
By LinYee Yuan | November 4, 2008 | 0
Gilbert Arenas, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant
Over the last four years, FreeDarko has established itself as the thinking man’s basketball blog with Q-tip references sitting comfortably next to political commentary tied together by a love for the Game. Now, the highly entertaining collective is set to release an all-inclusive illustrated compendium of their thoughts in the form of FreeDarko’s Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac.
With an opening manifesto announcing the “dissolution of the old league, a renewal of faith in individual players, the celebration of the new league in its full glory,” and a foreward from fellow blogger (and NBA player) Gilbert Arenas, the Almanac provides clever insight onto the best players in the game. Beautifully illustrated by Big Baby Belafonte aka Jacob Weinstein, and layered with statistical information conjured up in colorful and often hilarious graphics, the book breaks down the star players with smart analysis of their individual games. Sprinkled in between the players are added extras including my favorite section, “Jerseys for Every Occasion” (ever wonder who to rep at that Civil War Reenactment or your brother’s Bar Mitzvah) and tapping into a player’s true spirit animal (Yao Ming is a Giant Moa, Stephon Marbury is a Praire Vole).
Check out their book site here for full-screen preview chapters in their entirety, desktop wallpapers, a theme song and new shirts and posters from FreeDarko.
FreeDarko’s Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac is out on November 11th on Bloomsbury Press.
By Theme Staff | October 29, 2008 | 0
In Tao Nyeu’s first picture book Wonder Bear, the dreamy landscape and abundance of fantastical creatures are sure to captivate the imaginations of not only the intended age group of three to five year-olds, but adults as well. Wonder Bear tells the story of two children and the magical top hat wearing bear they befriend. The boy and girl are introduced to peculiar yet friendly flying monkeys, dolphins, octopi, and a multitude of other creatures that emerge from the bubble-blowing bear’s hat. Free from the limitations of text, the book’s bold, colorful illustrations and loveable characters invite the viewer to construct their own unique story. Wonder Bear is a wholly original vision of the author, who cites a delicious, yet “very odd looking gummy bear” with magic powers, as her inspiration. The former graphic designer created Wonder Bear for her thesis project as a graduate student at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Nyeu is currently working on a second picture book also to be published by Dial Books for Young Readers.
By Theme Staff | October 27, 2008 | 0
Ever wish you had a reliable food guide for your travels that was based on tasty dishes, rather than some elite system of recognizing star chefs? Well, The Miele Guide, sponsored by the German home-cooking appliances manufacturer of the same name, is releasing its inaugural issue this October, calling itself Asia’s first truly independent restaurant guide—they do not accept any advertising, sponsorship, or free meals for their reviews. The 2008/2009 edition will rank and feature in-depth profiles of Asia’s top 20 restaurants, plus a select list of other top restaurants, categorized by country, city, and cuisine. To reflect the tastes of the 16 Asian countries included, information has been compiled through several rounds of rigorous judging. The first opinions were gleaned from 84 of Asia’s most influential and respected restaurant critics, food, and wine professionals, while the second round is decided by public voting on Miele’s website, which includes Chinese and Japanese versions to encourage greater participation. Next year the site plans to include Korean and Thai. Once published, The Miele Guide will be slim, minimally designed, and affordable.
By LinYee Yuan | October 20, 2008 | 0
Victorian Mourning Dress, Givenchy Fall 2006, Naoto
Growing up Asian in Houston, going Goth was part of my coming-of-age destiny. I was listening to The Smiths by the age of 10, my first concert was The Cure, and I definitely had a “black” period that ended as quickly as it had begun. With Halloween right around the corner and dark and frilly Fall fashions finally hitting the streets of New York City, the release of GOTHIC: Dark Glamour tomorrow couldn’t be better timing.
Beautifully illustrated with fashion editorial, street, and runway photography, this book explores the influence of the gothic aesthetic on fashion through the ages. Exploring everything from Rei Kawakubo’s Dress becomes Body becomes Dress collection from Comme des Garcons’ S/S97 collection, to ‘70s British album art and Japanese cosplay Goths in Yoyogi Park, the book takes on a broad range of creative culture that has borrowed from the gothic aestheic. In addition to a select discography and bibliography, GOTHIC features interviews with fashion designer Rick Owens, gothic rockers Sisters of Mercy, and photographers like Sean Ellis.
By John H Lee | October 14, 2008 | 0
Did the Boredoms Make The List?
Have you ever wondered if there was a compendium somewhere that chronicles style of music that rock, but you’re not familiar with, or even just a list of some little known musicians you’ve never heard of? Well, Tom Moon, a writer and music lover has spent a vast amount of time doing just that.
“For the last three and a half years, award-winning music journalist Tom Moon has been searching out peak musical experiences from all genres and every corner of the earth. 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die, published by Workman Publishing in August 2008, is the result of his journey. Covering both acknowledged world-culture masterworks (J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations) and recordings that have been unfairly overlooked (Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left), the book is designed to encourage listeners to become explorers.
Its essays are arranged alphabetically, not by genre. Each entry contains suggestions for further listening within an artist’s catalog, as well as recommendations for similar or related recordings. In the back of the book are indexes that break out recordings by genre, and special “occasion” indexes containing playlist suggestions for various moods.”
Definitely worth a look if you’ve ever wondered how Bad Brains relates to punk and ska, or if you’ve always wondered what the heck “fusion” Jazz is.
More here.
By Theme Staff | October 6, 2008 | 0
Photo by Phillip Toledano
“My first night, there was a gentleman who called himself Bob,” begins one woman in Phillip Toledano’s new book Phonesex. Toledano shares the stories and photographs of people working behind 1-900 numbers—people who are usually heard but not seen by their clients (or even co-workers).
The photos are taken within their homes, which are often also their working spaces. There’s everyone that you might expect and then some: the bilingual guy who calls himself “a ladies’ man,” the married mother with a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University, the waifish young woman who describes herself as a manufacturer of fantasy. They pose in ripped jeans, tank tops, lingerie, and most often, T-shirts. Their stories are as disparate as the young woman’s combat boots below her white lacy skirt.
In Phonesex, Toledano seeks to explore the mutual self-delusion between caller and operator, the demands of being a “skilled verbal fantasist,” and in short, the theatre that is phone sex.
By LinYee Yuan | October 1, 2008 | 1
A new collaboration from Penguin, the world’s biggest publisher of English language books, and Bill Amberg, the British leathergoods accessories brand, hits stores in the UK, Australia and Canada in a holiday rollout stretching from November - January. The perfect Holiday travel companion, the collection of six Penguin classics—The Big Sleep, The Great Gatsby, Brideshead Revisited, A Room With a View, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s—is lovingly bound in leather in an easy, portable size. The folks over at Bill Amberg even included a great leather bookmark, avoiding any excuse for unsightliness like dogeared pages or my favorite, ATM receipts as bookmarks. Pick one up for yourself or for your favorite bibliophile...a book is a gift that keeps on giving.
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Issue 23 The Collectors