THE FLUTE OF SHAVE

Happy New Year. Does everyone has already a new calendar? I don't have one yet, but january is for me good time to look in the past diary - what need to be transfer to the new one. Recently I found several unusual vintage calendars...This is a mini set of pocket calendars which were particularly popular in the 70's and 80's. Their work as practical business cards. These images I found very attractive- elegant champagne shave is quite unique these days, so it is good to refresh this sexual habit.

This set was made for the company called XICO MARTINS from Porto in Portugal. The calendar itself is dated for 1985.

enjoy ;)

PIN UP calendars

Perpetual Calendars

ANTHONY MCCALL & ANDREW TYNDALL - ARGUMENT (1978)

Thank you ubu and Lux for putting this out....

Argument is a dense and provocative feature-length essay examining one issue of the New York Times magazine to investigate the ideology of news, the language of fashion and the construction of masculinity.

"The twin principles of modernism and marketing: seeing fresh promise in familiar things."

Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall's legendary and provocative essay film Argument, first screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1978, has been almost unseen for the last twenty years. LUX has now made a new High Definition restoration of the film, and its trenchant analysis of media ideology seems more pertinent than ever. Three male voices dissect one edition of the New York Times through a series of locked-off shots, revealing the prejudice and latent content of news and advertisements, reading images as texts and presenting text as an image. Fashion photographs are used as a starting point for a political investigation of news, advertising, and images of masculinity - while at the same time, the filmmakers reflect on their own position and the possibility of radical film practice. Influenced by both the America and European avant-gardes, notably Godard and Hollis Frampton, Argument is stylistically beautiful and relentless in its enquiry.

http://www.ubu.com/film/mccall_argument.html

BILLY BLOOD DROP'S ACTIVITY BOOK

Front Cover

The Billy Blood Drops Activity Book, is a 16 page childrens fun time educational leaflet, available to download from the UK National Blood Service website (www.blood.co.uk). It features a wide array of activities including, word searches, join-the-dots, and colouring-in pages. The leaflet is focused on the fictional character Billy-Blood-Drop.

Spot the difference, page 7

How many, page 15

This is the real Photo-Love Story. We found this magazine on the famous Thief Market in Lisbon in last week. Aesthetically is similar to the British equivalent - MY GUY. However Portuguese FOTONOVELAS contains more attractive photos and stories involve more characters- exactly like in latino telenovelas:) Also our treat from Lisbon focus only on photo-stories, when My Guy was a real pop movement  with references to rock stars and letter advices.

Mladen Stilinović - ODUZIMANJE NULA

This small, poetic book was picked up at the poetry marathon at The Serpentine in London where the Croatian artist Mladen Stilinović's poetry was being performed. The work performed was a poem listing a word from each letter of the alphabet in turn and following it with the word 'pain'. It's power derived from the simplicity and beauty of the word pairings.

Simple in design, it has a plain grey cover only featuring the artists name and the title of the work 'oduzimanje nula' which translates as 'subtract zero'. The fourteen internal pages, made of semi-transparent tracing paper, each have a hand written sum/equation made up of only 0's, each subsequent page, has the same sum with one less zero , until there is nothing left on the final page.

Stilinović, is an experimental filmmaker, photographer and gallerist, most famous for his work “An Artist who Cannot Speak English is no Artist”, (1992). His work continually examines and questions language and the ideological signs and structures that define the world around us.

Faesthetic

A neat artist publication, definite fans of their approach, and a cool blog to boot...http://www.faesthetic.com/index.html

Bruno Munari

We picked up this nice Bruno Munari book from the Fondazione Scientifica Querini Stamalia

in Venice, the book is simply pages of cut away block colours in diagonal shapes.

"Happiness is...finding your heart"

-Thai Pavilion, 53rd International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia

The Thai pavilion at this years Venice Biennale was a treat, one of the most entertaining Pavilions of the Biennale. It featured five artists, Michael Shaowanasai, Sakarin Krue-on, Sudsiri Pui-Ock, Suporn Shoosongdej and Wantanee Siripattananuntakul. The workeds played with Thailand's cultural identity outside of the county, picking up on Western perceptions of the country as a paradise of sun, beauty and sex. The exhibition featured a selection of postcards by Sakarin Krue-On. The cards featured fictional scenes promoting Thailand a as destination for love.

The Master Baiter

Troy Conway

Published 1970

by Top Sellers Ltd, London

.................................

The Master Baiters features the sexual adventures of the Rod Damon aka 'The Coxeman'. The first chapter sets the tone, it begins...

"Up against the wall, mother!"

I was busily directing Martha in the Lotus postion, with one particular

corner of my apartment as the shrine where we were worshipping

the great god of my favorite religion S-E-X.

I felt that I could call her "mother" if I wanted to; after all, she was a

divorcee with a ten-year old daugther(whom I'd probably get around

to in another six of seven years).

This is number 23 in a series of books featuring the adventures of 'The Coxeman'. As a secret agent and spy, Rod travels the world in order to save it, ending up in sitautions that would make James Bond blush.

Back of this post card says: SHAPES OF ISRAEL. It explains quite a lot ;)

Thanks a lot to Nathalie, who I got this item from. kx