New Gargoyles trade paperbacks are out!

After months of waiting, two new Gargoyles trade paperbacks were released last month. There are new books from both the main Gargoyles series, Clan Building Volume 2, which collects the last of the published single issues plus four more issues that were never released individually, and the spin-off, Bad Guys Volume 1, which collects all the single issues of Bad Guys plus one new one.

Disney raised the cost of the Gargoyles license in the middle of the production run and Slave Labor Graphics wasn't able to renew, so the previously unpublished issues were allowed to be released in the trades only through a fortunate loophole where they are included as "bonus material." No more issues are currently in production, and the future of the Gargoyles comics looks uncertain — but at last we have a complete set of the Clan Building and Bad Guys arcs, and we get to see the conclusion of Redemption, the Stone of Destiny arc, and the very first Timedancer story with Brooklyn's journey through time. This isn't a cheap knock-off or filler material, but the true, canon continuation of the story as penned by creator Greg Weisman. It's a great set of wonderful new material, required reading for any Gargoyles fan.

Get the full collection:

Gargoyles: Clan Building Volume 1
Gargoyles: Clan Building Volume 2
Bad Guys Volume 1

A great place for reconnecting with the Gargoyles universe is Station Eight, a hub which links an active comment room, info about the comics, a Q&A with Greg Weisman at Ask Greg, and the comprehensive GargWiki, which might be useful for keeping track of the comics' sprawling cast of characters if you can't remember your Canmores from your Constantines or need to brush up on the Battle of Bannockburn.

Around town in September

Saturday, September 19




EVENT: "The Cursed Circus" - DOV Vintage Circus Spectacular
TIME & DATE: Sat, September 19, 2009 - Doors at 9PM
LOCATION: 303 Bond Street Theater - 303 Bond St, Brooklyn
ADMISSION: $20 (TBC)

Behold! Behold! A circus of wonder and depravity awaits you at
Dances of Vice: The Cursed Circus, in a magnificent display of freaks, fools, fire, and frippery that will astonish and delight!

Abandon all virtue as ring-mistress GIOIA MARCHESE and her deadly cohorts at COMPANY XIV lead you through a world of sensuous marvels! Featuring ISENGART, the captivating libertine of the cabaret underworld - An arousing spectacle of flames by Priestess of Fire SKY CLAUDETTE and Vlad of Eros Fire - The salacious rapping of the tap-dancing MINSKY SISTERS - Magician and performance bizarrist MICHAEL CARBONARO - Raucous carnival melodies provided by BEN ICKIES' Ja Ja Jas Band, circus songbird SHIEN LEE and the GRANDPA MUSSELMAN TRIO - plus many more thrills to be announced!

Fiendish beasts of the natural world to astound the most stoic of hearts, winking beauties to set your blood aflame, devillish clowns and countless temptations await you this one sinful night at Dances of Vice. So come one, come all, to the most bewitching show on earth!


Sunday, September 27




FALL JAZZ AGE LAWN PARTY ON GOVERNORS ISLAND
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Michael Arenella and His Dreamland Orchestra invites you to join us on this hidden gem just off the southeastern tip of Manhattan, nestled in the heart of majestic New York Harbor.

Under a shady grove of centuries-old trees, caressed by fresh sea air, a sprawling green surrounded by historic officers' quarters and 18th century naval ramparts becomes the setting for a true Gatsby affair.

Widely anticipated by flappers, sporting gents and tiny tots alike, this event has been featured annually by The New York Times and the Sartorialist.

Around town in August

Saturday, August 15




EVENT: Dances of Vice Third Year Anniversary Party
TIME & DATE: Sat, August 15, 2009 - 9PM, show at 10PM
LOCATION: 303 Bond Street Theater - 303 Bond St, Brooklyn

Complimentary lashings of specialty HENDRICK'S GIN punch for the first 100 guests! Hendrick's cocktails offered throughout the evening at most unusually discounted prices.

Come, celebrate with us another year of jubilance, decadence and depravity amongst the finest of femmes and fellows at Dances of Vice. Entering our third year, a new saga of forgotten eras unfolds, as Dances of Vice joins forces with the sensual sophisticates of COMPANY XIV to continue our nocturnal phenomena at the "Dance Eden" that is their theater in Carroll Gardens.

Our Third Year Anniversary Party will feature a musical performance by Miss SHIEN LEE with the scintillating syncopations of GRANDPA MUSSELMAN and His Syncopators, and the exhilarating dramatics of COMPANY XIV.





"Ice Music" by Emily Lacy (Cabinet, 3­00 Nevins ­Street, Brooklyn; Saturday, August 15, 2009; 4-8 pm, and Sunday, August 16, 2-6 pm; reservations for 20-minute appointments are recommended). Working with time, music, color, and, temperature, "Ice Music" allows for fantasies of intimate visceral mischief with folk and electronic sound patterns. Performances made for 1-2 people will be available by Emily Lacy inside a small, freshly cooled homemade music environment, similar to an igloo or personal camping tent.


Thursday, August 20




Victor Houteff: "At the Eleventh Hour" (Cabinet, 3­00 Nevins ­Street, Brooklyn; August 21—September 16, 2009; opening on August 20, 7-9 pm). Cabinet is pleased to present “Victor Houteff: At the Eleventh Hour,” an exhibition of paintings by the founder of the Seventh-Day Adventist group that was later taken over by David Koresh in Waco, Texas. The exhibition is drawn from the collection of Los Angeles-based artist Jim Shaw.


Friday, August 21




An Iconography of the Flesh: The Bizarre Afterlife of Eva Perón
at Observatory

Date: Friday, August 21
Time: 8:00
Admission: $5

When Argentine First Lady Eva Perón died in 1952, the intent was to embalm her body for display in a monument to the Argentine worker: a fitting tribute for the martyred patron saint of the working classes. This ambitious project—it was to be three times the height of the Statue of Liberty—was never realized, and when Perón was overthrown in 1955, the embalmed corpse became the new regime’s most stubborn problem and potent secret. In its thirty years in search of a permanent resting place, the embalmed body left a trail of death, insanity, and corpse-napping in its wake as Evita sympathizers sought to find the body of their saint and Evita’s enemies tried to keep the body’s whereabouts a secret. Professor Margaret Schwartz tells the story of the corpse’s afterlife and shows how Evita has stubbornly refused to die a proper death, thus rendering her corpse one of the world’s most unique and potent objects.


Saturday, August 22




You are cordially invited to attend the Dreamland Gala - a fundraiser for the 2009 Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island in September.

The State of New York has cut funding for programming on Governors Island. While the island will thankfully remain open, there will be no funding provided for entertainment on the island. In order to raise funds for the Jazz Age Lawn Party, we are hosting the Dreamland Gala.

Featuring Michael Arenella and His 12-piece Dreamland Orchestra, this promises to be an enthralling night of music, dancing cocktails, and treats, as well as other attractions. A silent auction will be held showcasing an array of items donated by local high-end boutiques and restaurants, including Ellen Christine Millinery, House of MacGregor, Flatiron Lounge, Rock Love Jewelry, Magar Hatworks, Artikal Studios, and many more. Handmade chocolates will be sold from local chocolatier Chocolate Meurens.

Guests are encouraged to attend in their finest Roaring Twenties evening wear.


Monday, August 24




Poetry Lab: "Sappho in Fragments" (Cabinet, 3­00 Nevins ­Street, Brooklyn; August 24, 2009; 7-9 pm). This month, Cabinet’s Poetry Lab plays host to the ancient Greek poet Sappho and her gifted modern-day translator Anne Carson. Readings, performance, special guests, and the chance to put a scattered oeuvre back together for yourself. Roll up your sleeves and join us: free, as always, and as always, wine will be served.


Friday, August 28



The Coney Island Amateur Psychoanalytic Society and their Circle 1926-1972
at Observatory

Date: Friday August 28th
Time: 8:00 PM - Sharp
Admission: $5.00

A discussion with Zoe Beloff, artist and archivist and Aaron Beebe, Director of The Coney Island Museum

The Coney Island Amateur Psychoanalytic Society was a unique organization which flourished from 1926 through the early 1970s. Members, most of them working people from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, were filled with the desire to participate in one of the great intellectual movements of the 20th century. The exhibition currently on view at the Coney Island Museum presents a range of their activities which reveal an incredibly brave, unapologetic exploration of their inner lives. Beloff and Beebe will present an overview of the work of the Society including the long lost “Dream Films”, the Sunday lectures, plans for Dreamland and the controversy over the lost “Sigmund Freud” figure at the World in Wax Musée.

The book/DVD “The Coney Island Amateur Psychoanalytic Society and their Circle 1926-1972″ published by Christine Burgin (June 2009) will be available for purchase.


Saturday, August 29




Cynthia Sayer & Sparks Fly at Wit's End
Saturday, August 29
7-11 pm

Gin and jazz on the Bowery

Wit's End is a monthly 1920's jazz club held the last Saturday of every month from 7-11 at Antik, a cozy little spot on the Bowery perfect for sipping classic cocktails and dancing to hot jazz.

This month's event, this Saturday, features live music by Brooklyn band The Red Hook Ramblers, and a free Charleston lesson with Akemi Kinukawa of the Sandra Cameron Dance Center. As an extra treat, there will also be a special drawing to give away five pairs of tickets to the Squirrel Nut Zippers show on Sunday.





Wit's End is a great chance to don your vintage finery and be transported to the elegance and glamor of the Jazz Age nightlife. It's always a blast, so come on out, or check out Wit's End on Facebook and watch for upcoming events.

The Garden of Noisy Roses and other attractions

Radiant Copenhagen. An expansive alternate reality of future Copenhagen, as created through Google mapping and Wiki fiction.

Via io9.

No calendars, please

Earlier this year I wrote about how hard it was to find interesting, stylish, high-quality calendars year after year. Well, I wanted to warn you against showering me in calendar gifts this Christmas, because I found enough to tide me over for a few more years, at least.

Most exiting is the discovery that illustrator Steve Thomas, whose retrofuturistic space travel posters I showed off a while ago, offers a calendar of his shiny space art. I will have one for my wall.







For graphic inspiration, I adore the bold, bright prints in this Paper Source Art Calendar.






Etsy of course has loads of beautiful and unique art calendars, particularly of the postcard desktop variety. I like this charming Jardin Desk Calendar by MagnoliaMoonlight.






And this Objectification II Postcard Desk Calendar by SureAsBlue.






And this Screen Printed Botanical Calendar by annacote.






And this Animals of the Land, Sky, and Sea Desk Calendar by InkDropDesign.






And this Helvetica Typography Calendar by ovendoorowl.






And this Letterpressed and Silkscreened Calendar by ilee.






And this TTV Desk Calendar by ebonypaws.






And this Polaroid Calendar by AliciaBlock.






I'm in love with the stationary company Cavallini & Co., particularly their calendar offerings. They have great vintage art themes like travel, maps, plants, and animals.







I also made a few finds in photography calendars of abandoned places. In the slightly surreal category, there's the beautiful Retrospect Calendar by farhmboy, who explores out-of-the-way locales in his native Michigan.







In more moody ruins, there's the uplifting Abandoned Places Calendar by Richard Rizzo.







Then there's the beautifully photographed tribute to that ever-photogenic ruin, the Eastern State Penitentiary Calendar by 13 Black Cats Designs.







So please...no calendars! Unless you've found some great ones, too.

Modern vintage illustration

Mad Meg takes the dead, the weird, the natural, and the artifical, and mashes it all up in a fascinating curiosity cabinet sideshow that merges modern sensibilities and vintage aesthetics. The well-designed site will lead you through dream images, comic-strip tales, reimagined masterpieces, freak-show magazine covers, anatomical renderings, and a virtual natural history museum. At the end, you can snag some unique wallpapers to take away — provided you think you desktop would look good in, say, a nice insect-headed man or some dead rats.







Ben Tolman evidences influences from manuscript illumination, Northern Renaissance paintings, nineteenth-century engravings, early twentieth-century graphic design, and pulp-era science fiction in his intricate Boschian tableaux, which paint the modern psyche in dense, epic, riotous, symbolic visions.






Lorenzo Petrantoni is a commercial illustrator who applies his strong graphic talents to remix turn-of-the-century style into something both quaint and fresh. His new-old collages pop with a vibrancy that could only come from our era — and not just because of the occasional Nike logo and suchlike anachronisms.