John and I visit the juggernaut of Dutch floral tourism, Keukenhof, in Lisse, Holland, to witness tulipmania up close. This vlog is an unvarnished recap of the show, the garden, the experience. If you’re a gardener — or Instagrammer, it’s definitely worthwhile. But despite the moniker “garden”, Keukenhof isn’t a real garden: it’s a commercial showcase for Dutch tulip industry.
This vlog documents my first visit to an antiques fair in the UK with John. The reasons I loved rummaging around there highlight the problems with today’s consumerism and shopping experiences.
Sighted during a recent visit to the Hong Kong campus of SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design), these handbag artworks by recent graduate, artist Jameid Ferrin, more than caught my eye: they stopped me in my tracks because they were an ironic and highly effective commentary on the excesses of consumer culture.
This is just the first in what will inevitably become a series! Hong Kong’s entrepreneurs are masters of making a silk purse out of sow’s ear. Case in point: the new Elephant Grounds cafe on Caine Road.
Do you spend way too much time worrying about how you look in social media pictures? Not only we should stop trying to control every facet of our appearance. But simply recognize that aging is OUT OF OUR CONTROL and remember that the sexiest thing about us is our minds. It’s always been the case — and even more so as we get older.
Classically trained pianist, artist and conductor, David Greilsammer is only 36 years old but his pioneering solo piano performances deftly interweaving music from different composers and eras challenge our conventional understanding of classical music. I met with Greilsammer (in Marylebone’s loud Marouche restaurant) after his recital at Wigmore Hall and we talked about Cage:Scarlatti (a Sony Classical album, hailed by the New York Times, as “One of the Best” of 2013), besides lots of other things, including John Cage, musical genius and what it’s going to take to get this generation turned on to classical music. I meet and know a LOT of classical musicians but Greilsammer stands apart from virtually all of them — because of his willingness, indeed, mission — to break from convention and delight us with new musical forms.
This vlog is about my extremely personal reaction to last year’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel, The Sellout by Paul Beatty. This novel is a caustic and hilarious condemnation of political correctness. Reading it allowed me to understand (in the most backwards-ass fashion possible) why the righteous, high-minded condemnation of historical oppressions by do-gooding, white, liberal progressives bugs the crap out of me. I say “the most backwards-ass fashion possible” because it took the absurd character of Beatty’s “Me”, an over-educated, young black farmer from East LA, who reinstates segregation and takes on a slave, to understand why white people have no standing, by definition, to pronounce, let alone act upon, the prejudice experienced by black, brown, yellow, orange or dusk-colored people. By the way, it is because I read this defining book that I revised my personal mission to “vlog in a post-PC world without apologies). Now, if only I could write 1/10 as well as Beatty!
I recap the Viktor & Rolf retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne in unreservedly GLOWING terms. If you watched Vlog #5, you will certainly understand why this tribute is well justified.
I explain why fashion is in terminal decline. (I made this video after seeing the retrospective of Viktor & Rolf at the National Gallery of Victoria — because this design duo has resolutely refused to bow to the usual commercial pressures and social media echo chamber of 99% of the fashion industry.)
