John Prine

Wikipedia - "John Prine (born October 10, 1946, in Maywood, Illinois) is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s."
Wikipedia, John Prine, last.fm, YouTube, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8)

Demons and Devotion: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves

Mouth of Hell (detail)
"The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is the most important and lavish of all Dutch manuscripts as well as one of the most beautiful among the Morgan's collection. Commissioned by Catherine of Cleves around 1440 and illustrated by an artist known as the Master of Catherine of Cleves, the work is an illustrated prayer book containing devotions that Catherine would recite throughout the day. The manuscript's two volumes have been disbound for the exhibition, which features nearly a hundred miniatures."
The Morgan Library & Museum, NYT

USA: Poetry - Frank O'Hara

Joe Brainard and Frank O'Hara, "Is That the Height of Your Ambition Johnny?" (1964)
"USA: Poetry was produced and directed by Richard O. Moore for National Education Television. The twelve part documentary series which was produced in 1965-66, showcased many poets including, Anne Sexton, John Wieners, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, John Ashbery, William Everson, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, Kenneth Koch, Ed Sanders, Michael McClure, Philip Whalen, Richard Wilbur, Denise Levertov, and Louis Zukofsky."
Frank O'Hara, (1), lingo 7, New Yorker - "Fast Company", "An Outside View: Frank O'Hara Scholar David Lehman on Meditations in an Emergency, A Frank O'Hara Exhibit", Frank O'Hara: Nothing Personal, YouTube

Blondie

Wikipedia - "Blondie is an American rock band founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American new wave and punk rock scenes of the mid-1970s. Their first two albums contained strong elements of these genres, and although successful in the United Kingdom and Australia, Blondie was regarded as an underground band in the United States until the release of Parallel Lines in 1978."
W - (1), Blondie, last.fm, YouTube, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8)

Thierry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash)

"While 'Exit Through The Gift Shop', Banksy's documentary about Thierry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash) debuts at the Berlin Film Festival, Thierry himself is opening 'Icons' his first solo show in New York."
Wooster Collective, Art is Alive, L.A. 'Street Artist' Mr. Brainwash Takes Manhattan (With a Velvet Rope, Of Course)

Spade Cooley

Wikipedia - "Donnell Clyde 'Spade' Cooley (December 17, 1910 – November 23, 1969) was an American Western Swing musician, big band leader, actor, and television personality. His career ended when he was arrested and convicted for the murder of his second wife, Ella Mae Evans."
Wikipedia, B-Westerns, YouTube, (1), (2), (3)

Vik Muniz

Waterlilies, after Claude Monet (Pictures of Magazines, Still-life), 2004
Wikipedia - "Vik Muniz (born 1961) is a Brazilian born, New York based artist who experiments with media. His works are fleeting and consist of objects arranged to make an image, he then photographs the arrangement resulting in the final piece."
Wikipedia, Vik Muniz, artnet, TED, Google

Nancy Spero

Israeli Women Soldiers, ca 1966-1970
Wikipedia - "As both artist and activist, Nancy Spero’s career has spanned fifty years. Her continuous engagement with contemporary political, social, and cultural concerns is renowned. She has chronicled wars and apocalyptic violence as well as articulating visions of ecstatic rebirth and the celebratory cycles of life."
Wikipedia, artnet, art21

Sam & Dave

Wikipedia - "Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues (R&B) duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Samuel David Moore (born Samuel David Hicks on October 12, 1935 in Winchester, Georgia), and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (May 9, 1937, Ocilla, Georgia – April 9, 1988, Sycamore, Georgia)."
Wikipedia, last.fm, YouTube, (1), (2), (3), (4)

Black Sparrow Books

Wikipedia - "Black Sparrow Books, formerly known as Black Sparrow Press, is a book publisher originally founded in 1966 by John Martin of Santa Rosa, California. He founded this company in order to publish the works of Charles Bukowski and other avant-garde authors. He initially financed this company by selling his large collection of rare first editions."
Wikipedia, Black Sparrow Books

Luis Egidio Meléndez

Wikipedia - "Luis Egidio Meléndez (Naples, 1716-Madrid, 1780) was a Spanish painter. Although he received little acclaim during his lifetime and died in poverty, Meléndez is recognized today as the greatest Spanish still-life painter of the eighteenth century. His mastery of composition and light, and his remarkable ability to convey the volume and texture of individual objects enabled him to transform the most mundane of kitchen fare into powerful images."
Wikipedia, MFA, Boston

Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris

"Images of sunny suburban landscapes and bustling streets enliven the Clark's galleries during Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris, the first exhibition in the United States in twenty years focused on Boldini. This vibrant exhibition, which premiered at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Boldini's hometown of Ferrara, Italy, follows the artist's early career, from his move to Paris where he absorbed the painting techniques of the Impressionists, to the development of his distinctive style of painting vivacious portraits of society figures."
The Clark

Buzzcocks

Wikipedia - "Buzzcocks are an English rock band formed in Bolton in 1976, led by singer–songwriter–guitarist Pete Shelley. They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock."
Wikipedia, Buzzcocks, YouTube, (1), (2), (3)

Art Spiegelman

Wikipedia - "Art Spiegelman (born February 15, 1948) is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. He is married to and frequently collaborates with artist and art editor Françoise Mouly."
Wikipedia, Google, Lambiek, Barclay Agency, RAW

Gerhard Richter

Seascape (Cloudy), 1969
"Gerhard Richter is an important artist in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries; his work spans nearly five decades. Here, you can view his work and learn about his life. Click on a work below to begin."
Gerhard Richter

Avant-Garde All the Time: The UbuWeb Poetry Foundation Podcast

"A short (11 minute) interview with UbuWeb founding editor Kenneth Goldsmith introducing the site to a general listenership, with a specific focus on UbuWeb’s sound archives."
Greylodge

2010 Winter Olympics

Cypress Mountain
Wikipedia - "The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, will be a major international multi-sport event held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the resort town of Whistler, British Columbia and in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond."
Wikipedia, NYT, NBC, Maps of World

Fernando Bryce

"Fernando Bryce lives in Berlin and in Lima. The idea of the panopticum inspires his work. Fernando Bryce combines copied images, drawings and abstract compositions with which he sets up large-scale visual fields of drawings on paper. His poetic method combines personal and collective histories and myths."
artnet, Fernando Bryce

Philippine-American War, 1899-1902

Battle of Paceo, Philippine-American War
"The Philippines (LEFT, 1898 map) was a colony of Spain from 1571 to 1898. Spanish rule came to an end as a result of the Philippine Revolution and US involvement with Spain's other major colony, Cuba. The Philippine archipelago, with a total land area of 300,000 sq km (115,831 sq mi), comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, located close to the present-day countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau and the island of Taiwan."
Philippine-American War, 1899-1902, Wikipedia

Moth Trails

"Different takes on a simple idea. The first example I ever saw shows the trail left by a bat as it hunts a moth. You can see it here. And here is another take on the idea, this time in video form."
flickr, vimeo

Arthur Baker

Wikipedia - "Arthur Baker (born April 22, 1955) is an American record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Planet Patrol and the British group New Order."
Wikipedia, Arthur Baker, MySpace, YouTube, (1), (2), (3), (4)

Miniature book

George Salomon of Paris
Wikipedia - "A miniature book is a very small book, sized from .5 inches square to roughly 2 by 3 inches — no larger than 3 inches in height, width or thickness. These books became more popular in the last few decades of the 19th century because they were portable and easy to conceal. One could carry a vast number of books in a small case for when one travelled."
Wikipedia, Indiana University, Miniature Book Society, Google, Mini Book

Roger Coleman

"Nature as ever remains the original source for inquiry. What other three-dimensional atmosphere poses questions to its inhabitants with leaps of mind back towards its own? How does nature make optimal use of mind? You might even say from the beginning something deep within our makeup rises to the surface like a kind of demand to record experience before it goes. We forget. We have organic needs toward process and relationship."
Roger Coleman

A Tribute to Cuban Baseball

"A great number of Cubans played on baseball Teams in the Professional, Semi-pro, Amateur and Sugar Mill Leagues in Cuba. Cubans have played abroad in just about all the baseball playing nations. In the United States, Cubans played proudly and with distinction in the Major Leagues, Minor Leagues, and Negro Leagues. Ballplayers like Esteban Bellán, José Méndez, Martín Dihigo, Adolfo Luque, Miguel González, Minnie Miñoso, Camilo Pascual, Tony Pérez, and Jose Contreras have had stellar careers in baseball. Several Cubans are listed among the greatest players in baseball History."
Cuban Baseball, a history of cuban baseball, Wikipedia - Cuban League, Stealing Home, Bjarkman: CUBAN LEAGUE BASEBALL CHRONICLE, Seamheads, "Commie Ball: A Journey to the End of a Revolution" - Vanity Fair, "My Cuban Baseball Experience" - Mopupduty, "The Havana Cuba Sugar Kings" - Mopupduty, "A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006" - amazon, "Smoke: The Romance and Lore of Cuban Baseball" - amazon

History of rail transport

New South Wales
Wikipedia - "The history of rail transport dates back nearly 500 years and includes systems with man or horse power and rails of wood or stone. Modern rail transport systems first appeared in England in the 1820s. These systems, which made use of the steam locomotive, were the first practical forms of mechanized land transport, and they remained the primary form of mechanized land transport for the next 100 years."
Wikipedia

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Le Pont-Neuf, Paris
Wikiedia - "Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841 – December 3, 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that 'Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau'."
Wikipedia, Art Browser

Tomorrow Never Knows

Wikipedia - "Tomorrow Never Knows is the final track of The Beatles' 1966 studio album Revolver but the first to be recorded. Credited as a Lennon/McCartney song, it was written primarily by John Lennon. An innovative recording, it contributed to Revolver's reputation as one of the group's most influential and expressive albums. Music critic Richie Unterberger of Allmusic said it was 'the most experimental and psychedelic track on Revolver, in both its structure and production.'"
Wikipedia, last.fm, U. Chicago, YouTube

Miniature sheet

Wikipedia - "A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many early stamps), or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary, philatelic exhibition, or government program."
Wikipedia, Wikimedia, The British Postal Museum & Archive, Google

mad cartographer (PoemTalk #28)

"Julia Bloch, CA Conrad, and Rachel Blau DuPlessis joined Al Filreis to talk about Jack Spicer’s early poem of 1949, 'Psychoanalysis: An Elegy.' Sections of the poem are framed by what is either meant to be an unironic prompt or a satirized annoyance: What are you thinking about? - What are you thinking? – What are you thinking now? The speaker is the analysand and the poem is the means by which the analysand talks his way through to the poem."
PoemTalk

Early world maps

Martayan Lan Fine Antique Maps and Rare Books
Wikipedia - "Early world maps cover depictions of the world from Classical times to the Age of Discovery and the emergence of modern Geography (6th century BC to 16th century)."
Wikipedia, Map History, GPS

On gospel, Abba and the death of the record: an audience with Brian Eno

"As an intellectually mobile loner, scene-setter, systems lover, obstinate rebel, techno-prophet, sensual philosopher, courteous progressive, close listener, gentle heretic, sound planner, adviser explorer, pedant and slick conceptual salesman, and devoted fan of the new, undrab and surprising, wherever it fell between John Cage and Little Richard, or Duchamp and doo wop, or Mondrian and Moog, Eno busily and bossily remodelled pop music during the 70s."
Guardian

Love

Wikipedia - "Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur Lee and the group's second songwriter, guitarist Bryan MacLean. One of the first racially diverse American pop bands, their music reflected different influences, combining elements of rock and roll, garage rock, folk and psychedelia."
Wikipedia, YouTube, (1), (2), (3), (4)

For Tapestry, One More Renaissance

Fred Tomaselli (b.1956), After Migrant Fruit Thugs
"When Chris and Suzanne Sharp conceived of their Banners of Persuasion tapestry project, the premise was fairly straightforward. 'In the Renaissance people would commission an artist to do a tapestry for them,' Mr. Sharp said in a phone interview, 'and then they’d commission a workshop to produce the design. We thought it would be interesting to return to the same format and that synergy between the commissioning person and the artist and the workshop'."
NYT

Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists 1958 - 1968

With Love to Jean Paul Belmondo, Pauline Boty, 1965
"Seductive Subversion features paintings and sculptures by Evelyne Axell, Pauline Boty, Vija Celmins, Chryssa, Niki de Saint Phalle, Rosalyn Drexler, Dorothy Grebenak, Kay Kurt, Yayoi Kusama, Lee Lozano, Marisol, Mara McAfee, Barbro Östlihn, Faith Ringgold, Martha Rosler, Marjorie Strider, Alina Szapocznikow, Idelle Weber, Joyce Wieland and May Wilson."
University of the Arts

Brattle Theatre

Wikipedia - "The Brattle Theatre is a repertory movie theater located in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States of America. The theatre is a small movie house with one screen. It is one of the few remaining movie theaters, if not the only one, that use a rear-projection system; the projector is located behind the screen rather than behind the audience."
Wikipedia, Brattle Theatre, Brattle Theatre - 100 Years of the Brattle