ART: MONSTERS!!!!

When we think of monsters today, we perhaps think of digitally rendered behemoths in the latest Hollywood summer movie. Or perhaps of real-life monsters lurking in the oceans - and we know there are real monsters down there. Yet there's been a tradition of depicting monsters in art, long before movies were invented. For example, an early 'trope' involved lurid depictions of hell - Christian or otherwise - with all the nasty creatures therein...

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THIS POD LIFE: WEST COAST LIVING

Never been to California, but like most everyone in the developed world, I have a collection of ideas about the place and its culture through the various movies, TV series and video games I've consumed over the years. I suspect that if I do ever visit a California beach, I'll probably feel there's too many damn people. This may come from living in New Zealand where it's still possible to walk a beach and have miles of coastline to yourself. Anyway,...

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HISTORY: COFFEE MUGS

It's the year 1475 and the great city of Constantinople has been under Ottoman control for over twenty years. The dome of the Church of the Holy Wisdom - the Hagia Sofia - is now a place for muslim worship. But that is not your concern today - instead you stroll through the narrow streets in search of a newly opened establishment - the Kiva Han - possibly the world's first coffee shop. You smell the aroma of the strong Turkish coffee before...

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HISTORY: LOUIS WAIN AND THE VICTORIAN CAT MEME

Dogs are ok, but cats are my sort of thing. As such they're fertile ground for new tees, stickers and other gifts. Have recently discovered a British artist from Victorian times by the name of Louis Wain (lived from 1860 to 1939). Wain's specialty was to draw anthropomorphized cats in various (human) social situations - or even just jolly single portraits. His work was extremely popular. Unfortunately in his later years he may have suffered from...

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