Bring the world with you

Amrita Takhar, Museum Chair. Via MoCo Loco

This Eastlake chair was rescued from the streets of Toronto. After much primping and cleaning its original cane seat was returned and encased to prevent any further damage.

A recent curiosity of mine has been why goats are a part of Satanic iconography. I had been casually asking around, no one really knew, but a recent 5-part series on VBS.tv covering the Norwegian Black Metal band Gorgoroth cleared it up for me.

While Christ is the Lamb of God that died for the sins of humanity, and the image of the sheep in its flock is one that is symbolically innocent as a loyal follower of its Shepherd, the goat represents the contrary because it has its own “free will”. It also represents the ontology of the word “scapegoat” (or escape goat), when historically the Azazel goat was laid with the sins of the people and released into the wilderness, much like Satan’s release into the abyss. The “devil horns” hand-sign also represents the horns of the goat, as the devil is often represented as taking a form with goat attributes. In fact, the goat is the only other animal capable of growing a beard.

Here’s part 1/5 of the series. The last segment of the show finally launched today, if you’re interested in watching the whole thing. Despite the rampant beer ads on the site, I would recommend it as I’ve been obsessively following it all week.

The “10/6″ tag depicted on the Mad Hatter’s hat relates to ten shillings six pence, the price of the hat in pre-decimalisation British money. Showing off newness is definitely not “old hat” with caps today and it’s nice to know that contemporary hatters are “in this style”.

In a time where the magazine industry seems fucked already, publishing powerhouse Condé Nast has decided to come out with a new high-profile magazine slated for May 2007. Portfolio is a business magazine created to compete with Fortune while bringing in the glamour that’s comparable to their other staples like Vanity Fair or Vogue, complete with luxury advertising pages printed on quality paper stock. You can read more here, but here’s an exerpt that perked my interest:

Between all those ad pages, readers will find business executives treated like celebrities and the kind of matching of writer and subject they might find in Vanity Fair: Tom Wolfe on hedge funds (with photographs by Annie Leibovitz); Betsey Morris on the Ford family; and Michael Lewis on “jock exchanges,” which trade in athletes.

“Business remains at the heart of our culture, nationally and globally,” he said. “The traditional business magazines have had trouble capturing and expressing that excitement in recent years, and the ad market has reflected that, but I think the tide is turning.”

R.I.P Sol LeWitt.

This

Really reminds me of this

In a bizarre turn of events, I’m now the Co-Editor in Chief at The Strand. My main focus next year is working on a re-design of the paper and I’m really looking forward to it. The honorarium will help with my trip to Berlin, which is a relief.

In other good news, I’m really into DeerHunter right now. They’re playing the Horseshoe Tavern on the 23rd this month and hopefully I won’t be too broke to go. Here’s a video for “Fantasy Lights” off their 2007 release Cryptograms.

This is a blog after all, so here are some mp3s:
Deerhunter - Strange Lights
Deerhunter - Adorno