Air France

Anouk Aimee in La Dolce Vita.
You can have your Seth Rogen movies, I'll take Fellini in-flight anytime.

Bouroullec Brothers

Photo: Paul Tahon/NYTimes

Vegetal chairs by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra; $555, vitra.com.

Andrew Sullivan

"I know how Specter feels. I've never been a Republican but they have come to make me feel sick to my stomach."

Illustrator: Yarek Waszul

Athens and all that

Photos: DH

Vagia, Patmos

Photo: DH
The view from James's building site.

Harvey Milk Day

Please sign the petition to Governor Schwarzenegger urging him to sign the legislation making May 22 “Harvey Milk Day” in the state of California, paying tribute to the sacrifices he made to advance equality.

Endangered Places

Photo: National Trust for Historic Preservation
via NYTimes:

When the National Trust for Historic Preservation assembles its annual roster of America’s most endangered historic places, it looks for more than aesthetic distinction. Each year the trust selects what it considers important examples of the nation’s architectural, cultural and natural heritage that are at risk of being destroyed or irreparably damaged.

This year the trust made a point of highlighting the threat to Modernist buildings. Thus the inclusion of the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

On Patmos

Photos and sketch by DH

Ciao, Grecia

Photo: DH
Leaving the port of Skala: Sunday, 26 April

I go to Greece for three weeks...

Senator Arlen Specter to Switch Parties
via NYTimes:

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said on Tuesday he would switch to the Democratic party, presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters as they try to advance the Obama administration’s new agenda.

In a statement issued about noon as the Capitol was digesting the stunning turn of events, Mr. Specter said he had concluded that his party had moved too far to the right, a fact demonstrated by the migration of 200,000 Pennsylvania Republicans to the Democratic Party. “I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,” Mr. Specter said, acknowledging that his decision was certain to disappoint colleagues and supporters.

If Al Franken prevails in his ongoing court case in Minnesota and Mr. Specter begins caucusing with Democrats, Democrats would have 60 votes and the ability to deny Republicans the chance to stall legislation. Mr. Specter was one of only three Republicans to support President Obama’s economic recovery legislation.

Isermann

Four Paintings
April 18 – May 16, 2009
Richard Telles Fine Art
7380 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
T: +1 323 965 5578
F: +1 323 965 5579
www.tellesfineart.com

Patmos

Check my Twitpics for recent news.

Character Study

Photo: Walt Disney Family Museum

NYTimes: In the late '30s, Disney developed a Character Model Department that produced three-dimensional models of major characters, which let animators look at and study the characters from any angle. Pinocchio character model statue.

The Walt Disney Family Museum will open in October in San Francisco.

Havana, Cuba

Photo: Jose Goitia for The New York Times
NYTimes: “New Mount Rushmore” by Long-Bin Chen, a sculpture made out of New York telephone books, adds President Obama to the usual quartet of presidents. Part of the "Chelsea Visits Havana” show, which opened on Saturday as part of the 10th Havana Biennial, "Integration and Resistance in the Global Age."

10 Downing Street

Photo: Todd Heisler/The New York Times

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were greeted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah Brown at 10 Downing Street.

NYTimes:

The rapid political rise of Barack Obama can be gauged in many ways, but one of the best measures can perhaps be found in London, on the front stoop of No. 10 Downing Street.

Mr. Obama walked through the famous doorway for the first time less than four years ago. A dozen reporters were on hand that afternoon in August 2005, at least half of whom were waiting for someone else. After speaking for a moment, Mr. Obama climbed into a white van, along with the rest of a Congressional delegation, and was soon walking through the streets of London alone, on his way to meet his older sister for dinner.

When Mr. Obama came back last summer for a Downing Street appearance on the final leg of an overseas campaign trip, the pack of journalists had swelled by a few hundred. The tabloid reporters, along with adoring crowds, screamed his name. That scene was magnified yet again on Wednesday. This time, after meeting for two hours inside No. 10 with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr. Obama held forth at a press conference that was televised live on both sides of the Atlantic.

“I came here to listen, not to lecture,” Mr. Obama said, standing before a row of American and British flags. Before leaving, he added: “There’s one last thing I should mention I love about Great Britain and that is the Queen. I’m very much looking forward to meeting her.”

On Mr. Obama’s first journey abroad as an American president, the eyes of the world are upon him as never before.