moleskinerie

Featured Artist: Alberto Meda

Alberto Meda represents the fusion of art and science, reason and imagination, technical innovation and formal virtuosity that characterizes the best of Italian design. He is among the young designers whose individual talents became visible as early as the 1970’s and have continued to grow through the end of the century, making design a force that affects every aspect of modern life.    …more

Play Video

Learn more about the new Moleskine City Notebook.

Learn more about Detour Exhibitions.

Dealer List (.pdf)

Discover and join our Moleskine communities on LiveJournal, MySpace,  Moleskinerie FLICKR, FACEBOOK and Meal Moles. Get out - have a life and write about it. See you on Monday.

Update: Those of you who may have heard of my little adventure can join a mini contest here.

Moleskine in Mecca

I took along my Moleskine to record my umrah (pilgrimage) activities while in  Mecca and Medina  this Ramadhan.

Mohd Adib Noh

Visit his blog, "The Reader"

Image link
© All rights reserved

Writers need to get out of the house.

1940: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre take up residence, almost, in the Café de Flore in Paris. They work in the morning, see friends in the afternoon and write more in the evening. The café is warm and provides succour for body and mind during the Occupation.

2007: I sit in my local café and feel like a knob. The café itself is great: it's situated in the road where the district I live in gets posher (Lower Highgate, or Lo-Hi as no doubt an estate agent will soon refer to it). But I still feel like a knob. Perhaps it's because they sell organic rye bread and fresh anchovies to passing sophisticates. Maybe it's because I often see food critic and Birds Eye peas fan Giles Coren having his eggs benedict, or Noel Fielding from the Mighty Boosh sipping a latte in his rock star sunglasses. It might be because I'm sitting here, paying real (what my grandmother would have called good) money for pots of tea when there's PG tips at home. Six pounds spent in a couple of hours, five days a week, plus a newspaper and fizzy pop for the way home. Even more if you add a quick spot of lunch. That's £70 a week, easy. Would sharing an office be cheaper? Or moving to Deptford where you can get a cuppa for 30p?

"How to get your creative juices flowing"
By Sian Pattenden
Read more at Guardian Unlimited

Inexpensive Pens With Good Ink

My current favorite, the uni-ball 207, uses an ink that contains color pigments which are absorbed into the paper fibers. The ink is in effect trapped on the paper fibres and can’t be washed off, as some forgers do to alter cheques. Refills are available. Uni-ball 207 is sold worldwide in stationery and office supply stores and other outlets. Mike Shea did some interesting tests of the ink in the uni-ball 207 and the G-2 and three other inks. The G-2 survived water but not soap and bleach. The uni-ball ink survived all the tests.

The Pilot G-Tec-C4 or the G-TEC-C writes with a very fine line. I use it for corrections and margin notes. They are so thin they write like mechanical pencils. The G-TEC-C seems to have a more durable ink, but it is hard to find in North America.

If your handwritten records have to survive intact for a long time, then you have to carefully consider the ink used to produce them. It seems I’ll be using the uni-ball 207 a lot more from now on.

The Confidential Resource
Investigate further.

Sleepless in NY

"The Tired, Sleepless Huddled Masses"

I just returned from NY. Got stuck on a plane at LaGuardia runway for more than 4 hours, returned to the gate to refuel only to be told that the flight was canceled. Spent the night sleepless in a freezing lounge without even a blanket (ORD would at least lend you one and a cot). Thank God I'm home. Will be back to normal posting tomorrow. I just need some sleep. Thanks for your patience.

- Armand

All images © 2007 ABF

Update: Something good has to come out of this so here goes:

The first person to correctly guess (or closest) my outbound flight (ORD-LGA) seat number (AA MD S80) wins a mystery gift. Deadline is this Sunday, Sept. 30 at 11P Central.. Just write your entry as a comment and include your active email address for confirmation. Enter only once, please. I'll announce the winner on Monday.Good luck!

Update:10.1.07

The correct answer is 17B. The closest guess is  Jim's (17D). Congratulations! I'll email you for confirmation

Japan sketchbook

A Moleskine of inspired sketches by Emma in Scotland. You gotta love all those details.

"This has been an ongoing project for many months. I want to fill a whole Moleskine sketchbook and turn it into my own little encyclopaedia of Japanese culture. I've been doing a bit of work on it over the past week, so I thought I would post some of my favourite pages. It's about a third full at the moment, so it will be a long time before it is finished! I have lots more ideas of things to go in it, though..."

Emma
Visit her blog

Images © 2007 Emma

Note: I'll be out of town until Tuesday (9.25) evening. Comments and emails may take time to be responded to. Please be patient. -ABF

Featured Artist: Gordon Cheung

Gordon Cheung was born in London in 1975 where he lives and works.

He studied at the Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design between 1994-98 and he graduated at the Royal College of Art in 2001.

His exhibitions include:
- “NLK”, Soho House, New York in 2005;
- “The British Art Show 6”, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead in 2005-06 (touring).
- He features in “Arrivals/Departures”, Urbis Museum, Manchester in 2007.
To see forthcoming solo exhibitions click here.

Play Video

Learn more about the new Moleskine City Notebook.

Learn more about Detour Exhibitions.

Dealer List (.pdf)

Be Happy

I'll be going to NY for yet another meeting so comments and emails will take a while to be attended to. Please be patient.

Before I go, here's a short video clip by H.E. Situ Rinpoche.

As we always say, "Get out! Have a life - and write about it."

- Armand

Watch the video

[via NotCot]

Discover and join our Moleskine communities on LiveJournal, MySpace,  Moleskinerie FLICKR, FACEBOOK and Meal Moles.

1000 Stories: On The Road meets The Motorcycle Diaries

GERMAN FILMMAKER SAYS: "AMERICANS WANTED"
AS HE EMBARKS ON TRIP TO GATHER 1000 STORIES

On The Road meets The Motorcycle Diaries, remixed for the 21st century

NEW YORK (September 17)-- The Goethe-Institut New York, a branch of the Federal Republic of Germany's famed global cultural institution, today announced the launch of its most innovative artistic endeavor to date, 1000Stories. On Thursday, September 27, from 6:30pm – 9pm, the Goethe-Institut New York will host "New Yorkers Wanted: the 1000Stories Launch Party," featuring filmmaker Florian Thalhofer, DJ Maxx Klaxon (SPLICE, Popular Front Records), projections by video artist Katja Loher ( www.katjaloher.com ), and more. Admission is free, and all are invited (RSVP to LCERAND@gmail.com). The Goethe-Institut New York is located at 1014 Fifth Avenue at 83rd Street, tel. (212) 439-8700.

Starting in New York on October 1, Florian Thalhofer, a new-media artist and documentary filmmaker from Berlin, will travel all over the United States by motorcycle (provided by BMW), while U.S. filmmaker Mark Simon will travel throughout Germany by car. During their month-long journeys, each filmmaker will write about his experiences, collect stories, and conduct interviews, posted daily as a video weblog, or "vlog," at 1000stories.com . Their route will be determined by interested folks in the U.S. and in Germany who reply to their "Americans wanted"/ "Germans wanted" online ad. Readers are invited to get in touch via 1000stories.com to suggest itineraries and potential interview candidates and to comment on the project. Members of the media can download hi-res photographs, etc. at 1000stories.com/press.

This fall, as Americans celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, a paean to the restless spirit and innate desire to explore the unknown that thread their way through popular culture, a German filmmaker embarks on a "social experiment" that marries this legacy with technological innovation and harnesses the best of social media to determine and document his experience.  Influences such as Easy Rider, jazz, and abstract expressionism will become even more apparent as we discover what lies at the heart of America and how it continues to evolve today.

Florian Thalhofer (thalhofer.com) was born in 1972, and lives and works in Berlin. He is a documentary filmmaker and new-media artist who invented the [Korsakow system] ( korsakow.com/ksy ) to suit his unique form of expression, based on the principle that in reality, things occur simultaneously rather than in succession. With this software, Thalhofer has conceived an effective nonlinear way to tell his stories that utilizes the computer as an ideal medium. Like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" novel, the highly interactive Korsakow system allows the user to navigate the film as a series of individual choices. Thalhofer has been the recipient of the Literatur.digital award, the reddot design award, and the Werkleitz Award, among others. He studied at Universität der Künste Berlin, where he lectured after obtaining his degree. He was a visiting professor at the Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig and teaches at the Mediamatic-Institut Amsterdam. Several of Thalhofer's [Korsakow] films are available on DVD, and [13thShop] and [Forgotten Flags] are scheduled for release by mairisch-Verlag, Hamburg, and Mediamatic, Amsterdam, respectively.

Moleskine Morph

"Here’s a practical solution of sorts that occurred to me about three weeks ago. Often needing a notebook and my planner simultaneously, they were rarely in the same place and oftentimes I wouldn’t even have my planner with me at all. It would be at home, on my desk, buried at the bottom of my bag, in the car, etc. Frankly, I was not very good at keeping track of it properly. However, I had made a habit of essentially always having at least a small pocket notebook with me.

The solution that has proven to be very effective has been to simply take the two and tape them together. Yes, that’s right, tape them together..."

David R. Munson
Visit his blog, "Convergence Factor"

Image & Text © 2007 DRM

Book: American Writers at Home

As he wrote Moby-Dick, Herman Melville imagined that his study had become a whaling ship's cabin. In pencil tracings still visible today, William Faulkner plotted the intricate webs of his fiction on his walls. In these and myriad other ways the imaginations of the twenty-one writers profiled in this book transformed their surroundings, even as those surroundings shaped the character and context of their classic works. The photographic and literary portraits in this elegant and engaging book reveal as never before how important place—a sense of home—has been in the creation of our greatest writing.

Ranging from Big Sur to coastal Maine, and including writers as diverse as Ernest Hemingway, Frederick Douglass, and Louisa May Alcott, American Writers at Home takes readers on a tour of the American literary heritage that is at once grand and intimate. We ramble through the turn of the century estates of Edith Wharton and Mark Twain and nestle into the humbler homes of Robert Frost and Walt Whitman. We are admitted into private—and in most cases remarkably unchanged—spaces that bore witness to genius, where Edna St. Vincent Millay's dresses still hang in the closet and Nathaniel Hawthorne's thoughts remain inscribed on the windowpane in his study. Throughout, we see how the personal passions, creative idiosyncrasies, and often profound sorrows of these writers have shaped the books we love most.

The Library Association of America

American Writers at Home
By J. D. McClatchy (Author)
Erica Lennard (Photographer)

BOOK LINK

[Thanks Johnny!]

Response to the M.bian Project

Remember that M. Bian concept by Patrick Ng? Somebody should fund this thing.

"Wow, the response is great, thanks you all Moleskine fans for the support of the idea. Here's some more pictures taken in 2005 to quench your thirst.

The limited edition Moleskine was bought from Japan a few years ago, you can never find them anymore. This just shows how black is not just black. With help of patterns, black is beautiful.

Yup, Reporters can be used like this, just like a Rhodia pad in a notepad cover. Although I don't like the Reporter format and prefer to use traditional pocket Moleskine horizontally, I found this horizontal pocket can be a double feature: a pocket by itself or a holder for Reporter.

Anyway, I am doing all these just for the fun of it and the love of Moleskine. Most of all, make something useful for myself. Your responses are tremendous, thanks again! My full time job takes most of my energy but I'm glad you all like it so much. Still a larger MOQ is required to get the price down to a level I myself will buy, not to mention that a product which supports a gloabl product like Moleskine will have world-wide demands I can't refuse, so I definitely won't do it in smaller quantity and limited offer, it hurts people you know :) Not a perfectionist but I still want it to have more asthetic value and material in higher quality. Takes time, which I don't have."

Visit his blog, "Scription"

Cool Tool: Leather Moleskine Notebook Cover

I have used Moleskine journals for years, but more often than not, by the time I've filled a journal, the spine is torn and in tatters. And because I write the journal number and date on the spine before putting my filled journals on my library shelf, this is a problem. The obvious solution is a nice leather slip-on cover, but I couldn't find one that met my specs. In particular, I wanted a cover that wouldn't interfere with use of the signature Moleskine elastic band or rear ticket pocket. And above all, it had to be sturdy and elegant, just like my otherwise-stout Moleskine. So I turned to Steve Derricott at Gfeller Casemakers, who made me a custom cover that works great, and now Gfeller is offering a slip-on cover that meets my high specs and more (note: I have NO financial interest in any of this, of course).

Paul Saffo at Kevin Kelly's Cool Tool
LINK

Gfeller

GoogleMole?

"I sometimes go nuts looking for stuff in my notebook from months past…
When is Google going to introduce “Google Notebook?”

- John Federico
BrandBrains

LINK

[Originally posted 10.13.06]

Project: My First Screen Printing

The RISO B6 was designed to be an affordable home screen printing kit for school children and novices alike. But its simplicity allows for so much. Sure you can't make a screen printing to fill a tshirt with but its still cool for marking things like the Moleskine Cahiers below. :)

Needless to say my screen printing urge/curiosity had been sparked and with Andrew's warning that the B6 had been discontinued and could be found on eBay for like US$400, i still set out to find a B6.

In all my searching i finally found that the P5 was the replacement to the discontinued B6 and RISO had made a few improvements making the unit even more usable. With a price just over US$100 i can afford to embark on my own screen printing mischief. :)

Brian DeWitt
Learn more at his blog.

© All rights reserved

Philippines: WeeWillDoodle Moleskine Exhibit

Fresh from their recent doodling stints at Powerplant Mall and Embassy, the WeeWillDoodle group is again taking its doodling to a whole new level. This time it’s at Fully Booked, where their drawings will be exhibited on Moleskine Pocket Japanese books, those oh-so-lovely accordion-type notebooks.

The exhibit opens on September 21, Friday, 7 p.m. at the atrium of Fully Booked in Serendra, Bonifacio Global City.

The WeeWillDoodle group will be drawing on your T-shirts too, so if you want a piece of their work, don’t forget to bring your own shirt!

Fifty goodie bags will also be given out to some lucky folks.

This exhibit was put together by Fully Booked, PinoyCentric, and Ricky Manzano of Project Manila.

Please head on over to Project Manila for registration.

A Map of the Truelove River

This early 20th century postcard, Shewing the Course of the Truelove River, charts that stream from its two headlands in the Fancy Free Plateau (Angelina River) and at Indifference Hill (Edwin River). Those two flows unite at the Falls of Dislike, follow a united course as the Truelove River through the Valley of Disdain – between the Mountains of Melancholy and Determination Hills.

After the Evasion Rapids, a river branch dead-ends at Despair Marsh, while its main flow turns sharply south at Pity Bend, then avoiding Friendship Corner to reach Tenderness Crossing, Kissing Ford and eventually Trothplight.

Then Opposition Bend, Angrysire, Separation Deep and Misery Marsh complete the encirclement of Sentimental Meadow. When the river flows out of Misery Marsh via Correspondence Outlet, it manages to slide by Richrival Bend, Sickbed and Sinking.

More at strange maps

Menorca on Moleskine

A set of sun-drenched goodness from 4ojos' recent trip to Menorca.

"Minorca (Menorca both in Catalan and Spanish; from Latin Balearis Minor, later Minorica "minor island") is one of the Balearic Islands (Illes Balears Catalan official name, Islas Baleares in Spanish) located in the Mediterranean Sea and belongs to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than nearby island of Majorca. Minorca has a population of approximately 88,000. It is located around 39°47' to 40°00'N, 3°52' to 4°24'E. Its highest point, called Monte Toro, is 358 m/1174 ft above sea level..." Wikipedia

Check out the video.

Greetings to our friends in Chungnam, El Burgo De Osma, Fox And Geese, Eppelheim, Hershey, PA.,Saint-Genis-Laval, La Paz, New Delhi, Malvern, Buenos Aires, Nigadoo, Rio De Janeiro, Shimizu, Cebu, Dubai,     Berlaar, Raikkla, Tetovo, Guadalajara, Glarus and Nairobi.

What’s in Savannah Miller's bag?

Photo:ViewImages

I love Luella’s bags – they are beautifully made and you don’t see them everywhere. Inside is my BlackBerry, which has changed my life; Ruby & Millie Face Gloss, which gives a natural glow and stops you looking like a dog’s dinner; Airborne Formula, a fizzy vitamin thing that is amazing for avoiding bugs on planes; Oyster card; pictures of my family; and a Moleskine sketchbook.

Joni bag, £1,795, by Luella. Face Gloss, £12, by Ruby & Millie, from Boots. Sketchbook, £12.50, by Moleskine, from www.mojolondon.co.uk.

What's in your bag?
Times Online

LINK

Featured Artist:Giorgio Vigna

Giorgio Vigna is an Italian artist and designer, especially known for his jewellery and sculptures. He extended his interest into the world of glass creating special projects and collaborating with Venini, Iittala and Salviati. His works have been shown internationally in solo and group exhibitions and it is in public and private collection. Giorgio Vigna teaches, gives conferences and presides over workshops in Italy and abroad.

Giorgio Vigna was present at the Festival of the Mind. He attended a first conference on Saturday entitled: “Objects for the body and for space. A look at design“. During the conference, illustrated with images and objects, he showed his audience shapes and materials that conjure up the primary and primordial elements of nature. More at MoleskineCity.

Play Video

Learn more about the new Moleskine City Notebook.

Learn more about Detour Exhibitions.

Dealer List (.pdf)

Discover and join our Moleskine communities on LiveJournal, MySpace,  Moleskinerie FLICKR, FACEBOOK and Meal Moles. Get out - have a life and write about it. See you on Monday.

Ramadhan Journal

"Starting yesterday,the first day of Ramadhan 1428 I have started a daily journal what I have done and what I have failed to do in relation to what I should have been doing everyday as a good Muslim in holy month of Ramadhan. This will become my personal scoreboard-to be updated and reviewed on the daily basis by me.

By writing this daily journal,I hope it will remind me of my obligations.."

Mohd Adib Noh,
Malaysia
Visit his blog, "The Reader"

DIY Portable Art Kit

Sure, there are tons of ready-made art kits out there but nothing beats one that you assemble yourself - with the materials you prefer. Here's what Martha over at Tumpetvine did.

"After trying virtually every art supply one can buy :) , I finally settled on a stable set of tools. My kit goes everywhere with me so that I can always do a quick sketch when the opportunity arises. To realistically achieve this portability the components must be small. This requirement has largely dictated my choices:

Sketchbook: I do all my sketching in small (”Pocket”, 3.5 x 5 inch) Moleskine notebooks that I rebind with 90lb hot press watercolor paper. I use the thicker (1 inch) “Planner” model because it holds more pages: 44 spreads to be exact. Occasionally a sketch fills only one side of a spread but usually I use the full (7 x 5 inch) page.

For the last few years I have filled at least three books a year. And, I am just finishing up Volume #4 for 2007 right now. Each year on January 1st I always start a new book: it can be a struggle to finish that last book by December 31st!.."

Visit Trumpetvine

© 2007 Text and photo by the author

[Thanks Julie P. in Baltimore, MD]

Sighting: Paulo Coelho

The Brazilian author PAULO COELHO was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as theatre director and actor, lyricist and journalist.

Coelho wrote song lyrics for many famous performers in Brazilian music, such as Elis Regina and Rita Lee. Yet his most well known work has been done with Raul Seixas. Together they wrote such successes as Eu nasci há dez mil anos atrás (I was born ten thousand years ago), Gita and Al Capone, amongst other 60 songs.

His fascination with the spiritual quest dates back to his hippie days, when he travelled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions, etc.

Paulo Coelho
Alchemist of Words

HP LINK

Pauolo Coelho Official Site

[Muito Obrigado Ana]

Inspiration: Shadow Monsters

Philip Worthington's Shadow Monsters was on display at GC07, and it may have been—no, definitely was—the most amazing thing I saw at the whole show. Essentially, it's a projector that adds extra animations and sounds to your shadow puppets. And it's a lot of raw, unadulterated fun.

Kotaku

[via Design Observer]

Declutter Your Desk

If you’re looking to declutter your work setup, and create a minimalist surrounding area, read on.

1. Notebook and pen. I suggest that in a minimalist setup, the notebook and pen are the two most essential tools. You could use other, more complicated tools, but nothing is simpler or more useful than the simple notebook and pen. I use a Moleskine pocket notebook, for aesthetic reasons, but any cheap notebook will do. It’s good for easy note-taking, capturing ideas on the go, capturing follow-up tasks from meetings, project planning, and writing down your to-do list, among other uses. These two simple tools can be the start and end of your minimalist setup, if you let it.

Web Worker Daily

LINK

Image by Ann D @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© All rights reserved

[Thanks Chris!]

Rosh Hashanah Planner 2007 / 5768

This is my Rosh Hashanah meal planner in use, printed and pasted in my Moleskine notebook.

As described in this blog post about planning for the Tishrei holidays, we do "one company meal between sleeps". Each day's company meal is highlighted in yellow.

The "guests" section of the other meals have "family only" written in them.

By CLKL

LINK

Visit her blog.

© All rights reserved. Juggling Frogs

M.bian Moleskine Case

M.bian Moleskine Case was my original design back in 2005.  Dozens of prototyping and refinement were done and I even created a POP system for display in retail stores.  However the production quantity required to get price down to consumer acceptable level couldn't be met.  I had some opportunities to be able to have U.S. large distribution network to help lower the cost but turned out because of their Moleskine distributorship prevented them to sell products that could potentially harm the Moleskine business, I lost the chance to make it happen.  Time flies, it is already two years passed.

Patrick Ng
More at his blog.

[Thanks Joyce and Leslie}

In Memory

We remember all those who perished on September 11 and victims of terrorism all over the world.

Sighting: COACD

Reader Fiona Voss alerted us to a quick cameo  of our favorite notebook at COACD.

More here.

Greetings to our friends in Naarden, Shanghai, Athens, Irkutsk, Pak Wan, City of Bristol, Osaka, Johannesburg, Kelowna, BC, Netherlands Antilles, Muscat, Franco Da Rocha, Kamuning, Riga, Islamabad, Barbados, Tamil Nadu,  Enugu, Azerbaijan, Al Qahirah, Kepong Cubitt Forest Village, Ap Long Phu, Moldova, Sri Lanka, Rostokino, Ash Shu`aybah, Makawao, HI. and Marseille.

Frankenskine

The modification has so far gone well. The stubborn curve is starting to come out of the pages and I’ve enjoyed the versatility and portability of this “frankenskine.” But shortly after starting to use it, I became aware that I did NOT refill this moleskine with the same paper I tested out in the weeks prior.

The paper I originally used seemed thinner and slightly off-white, whereas the paper I put into the book was a bright white and somewhat thicker (and as a result, stiffer).

Lee-Roy

Related post

Photo © 2007 By the author

Featured Artist: Han Bing

Han Bing Born in Jiangsu in 1974, Han Bing now lives and works in Beijing. After attaining a B.A. in Art from Xuzhou Normal University, Bing showed in several galleries and Museums. Solo Exhibitions & Selected Performances include: 2006 China + Japan Dual Solo Exhibition: Han Bing “Quotidian Iconic ” and Orimoto Tatsumi “Quotidian Holy Mother”; Jing Art, Shanghai Love in the Age of Big Construction: Han Bing; Center for Chinese Studies and IEAS Gallery, University of California, Berkeley, Other Modernities: HanBing Solo Exhibition; Bamboo Lane Gallery, Los Angeles, The Other Shore of Desire: Han Bing; UCLA Center for Chinese Studies, Los Angeles, The Fatalistic Language of Things: Han Bing; University of Southern Carolina, Center for Asian Studies Local Geographic, Site Specific Performance Installation, Echigo Tsumari, Japan and Hanhu Village, Jiangsu; and Walking the Cabbage, an ongoing performance commenced in 2000. Walking the Cabbage is a Social Intervention Performance that has taken place across the world, including Beijing, Yunnan, Shandong, Guangzhou, Jiangsu, Hebei (PRC), Harajuku, Shinjuku, Ginza, Shin Tokurazawa, Ikebukuro, and Miami, FL. Han Bing is a good example of someone born in 1970s China. As a member of the “postrevolutionary” generation, he experienced personally China’s drastic social transformation throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Born in a small and impoverished village, Han Bing helped his parents farm the land when he was a child. He was the only student in his class who had the opportunity to attend university. After studying oil painting at Xuzhou Normal University, he pursued advanced studies at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. He is one of many Chinese artists who have encountered a series of awkward contrasts brought by China’s national initiatives to modernize and urbanize. He is also one among many who seriously reflects on the multitude of social problems that have resulted from the emergence of a consumer society and capitalistic market system, which were introduced to resolve the former problems embedded in China’s socialist modernization project. Han Bing employs various artistic languages and media such as performance, multimedia installations, and photography to investigate and problematize modernization in China today. In his talk for the Center, Han described how his artistic impetus and his philosophical and ethical speculations are the subjects of his work. His memories of the small rural town where he grew up and of his early days as an artist in Beijing fluidly interweave with his anxiety about the rapid changes in China’s cities as they undergo the wrenching processes of modernization, urbanization, and globalization. His artistic pieces often capture the most poignant and paradoxical moments of the Chinese common people, both rural migrants and urbanites alike, as they are inextricably involved in the “Chinese dream” and the dramatic, if not devastating, urban transformation of the nation. The walking “happenings” on the UCLA campus echoed Han’s performance art series Walking the Cabbage, in which he has crossed several regions of China, “from his home village in rural Jiangsu to Tiananmen Square, from the Yunnanese minority village in China’s Southwest to the Westernized Bund in Shanghai.” Part of the purpose of Han’s series is to encourage both the performer and spectators to redefine the meaning of “performance.”

Play Video

Learn more about the new Moleskine City Notebook.

Learn more about Detour Exhibitions.

Dealer List (.pdf)

Discover and join our Moleskine communities on LiveJournal, MySpace,  Moleskinerie FLICKR, FACEBOOK and Meal Moles. Get out - have a life and write about it. See you on Monday.

 

Yerba mate and writing

I know there's at least a yerba mate lover in the group. For those who don't know what mate is, I have put some pics in my profile with some of my moleskines

Mate is drunk in many places in SouthAmerica, although it's usually asociated with Argentina and Uruguay. Drinking mate is a ritual in its own. I've noticed there's 2 "schools of thought": The Argentinean in which you put yerba in the mate, add water and drink, and then the Uruguayan which makes the Japanese tea ceremony look like using a lipton teabag. I belong to the latter group.

Caveat: mate is strong stuff; I have it neat ("amargo" or "cimarrón")

Juan in Andalucía

Join this discussion @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR

Photo by SharonNYC
Copyright © 2007

Writing Letters to Get Your Words Flowing

D*I*Y Planner has a nice article on jumpstarting your writing process:

I write all the time; for my occupation, for pleasure, for daily communication. When the purpose is functional, or as part of a workday's activities, it's straightforward to begin putting words in order, moving toward a collection of thoughts that achieves a certain goal. It's only when I want to write something less well-defined, with a more personal purpose such as exploring a world that exists only inside my imagination, that there seems to be difficulty in getting the words out. So I approach the whole thing sideways - I write letters. The act of picking up a pen and creating a narrative, with the intention of sharing a moment or a string of thoughts with someone I know, has made it easier to write other things as well.

Here's what I recommend to get going. Pick a friend, a good friend, as someone to write to on a regular basis. They should be someone with whom you feel relaxed enough to depart from the normal narrative flow if you wish, who can keep up if you switch your tack part-way through. Then, with a good pen on nice paper, write to them. Often. Your first few letters, if you're like me, may be of the 'well, here's what's happening this week' variety, which is a fine start. Then, updates out of the way, really write them a letter, one that connects your mind to theirs, that flows, that speaks clearly across the miles in your voice. You'll know it works when you stop thinking about writing, and just let words appear on the paper as they will.

After that, write more. There are as many reasons to write as there are people to write to. Reconnection with friends who may now live far from your common origin. A note of shared sorrow or concern. Congratulations to someone who has hit a milestone, or achieved some notable thing. Comments or thoughts to your elected representative, or your local dictator (whichever applies to where you live). A quick note to a company which makes something you use and like, or use and wish to improve. Hand-written letters are increasingly uncommon in this age of e-mail and instant messages, and are a very human artifact in the seemingly-endless stream of catalogs, credit card offers, and bills that seem to fill most mailboxes now.

Read the full article

In Memoriam

Luciano Pavarotti
1935-2007

True story:

When I was 12 years old, we were on a trip out West, and stopped in Old El Paso, Texas. My dad, my sister and I rode a cable car to the top of a mesa with an amazing view of Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. This big guy with a beard and an accent started talking to us about how beautiful it was. Then he said 'Let me introduce myself. My name is Luciano Pavarotti. I will sing for you!' Then he proceeded to belt out some vocals that blew my 12-year-old mind. I only wish I knew then what I know now. I would have paid more attention and tried to remember the song!

Jonathon McKitrick

The New Limited Edition Red Diaries

Is it possible to use the remobable booklet from previous agendas with the new ones? I mean using both in a single moleskine. Will I damage the binding?

I already have the new ones, but I want to keep them wrapped until next December, because knowing myself I'll start doodling on them. I'd like to keep the booklet in my 2007 agendas (don't want to transfer all the phone numbers and addresses, but it would be nice to have another booklet for different stuff.

Juan in Andalucía

Join the discussion at Moleskinerie/FLICKR

A Tour of ProBlogger HQ

Blogging guru Darren Rowse takes us through his home office set up which includes a familiar notebook.

“What does your blogging setup look like?”

This is a question I get quite a lot - so today I want to invite you to come along for a short tour of my home office.

It’s a fairly simple setup really although I do try to make it reasonably comfortable as I’m sitting in it for long periods of time each day.



Products mentioned during the video include:

    * Herman Miller Aeron Chair
    * Apple Cinema 23″ HD Flat-Panel Display
    * Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop (mine is a 2 Ghz - G5)
    * Apple MacBook Pro (although I have an older 2.16 Ghz Intel Core Duo)
    * Moleskine Notebook
    * Fischer Space Pen (I love these pens)

More at Darren's blog.

A walk through Paris with Joanna Walsh

Joanna Walsh, otherwise known as Badaude, runs a blog about life in Paris and the UK. She's a starer, a doodler, an eavesdropper, a gawper, an dawdler, an urban randonneuse. She's a writer and illustrator, a regular contributor to The Idler and The Walrus as well as many other national and international publications. She's currently writing a book about escaping to Paris. 

What is your relationship with the city?

Appropriately perhaps, considering it's Paris, it's a bit like an affair. I first went there secretly, without telling either family or friends. I have many friends in Paris now, but I still have a personal relationship with the city which I - sometimes - don't have to share with anyone else. People have always come to the city to reinvent themselves (and again to revient - or return): So many famous 'Parisians' you care to name were actually from elsewhere, from James Joyce, Josephine Baker and Picasso to - now - Manu Chao, Charlotte Rampling, even Nicolas Sarkozy. Paris is a city of expats - of fortunate dépaysement.

Read more at Moleskine City Blogs

Sketchbook in Tuscania

This summer students from RISD, Montserrat College of Art, UVA, the North Dakota State University , Wheaton College and others joined me on my trip to draw in Viterbo, Italy an hour or so northwest of Rome for pleasure and/or college credit.

Great work from my fellow travelers will also be featured in the coming months on this blog.

Fred Lynch is a professor and chair of the Illustration Deptartment at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts. Fred is also an adjunct professor in the Illustration Department at Rhode Island School of Design where he has taught since 1989. Fred graduated from RISD in 1986.

View his works on FLICKR
Visit his blog.

© 2007 FL

The Most...

Photograph ©MMII Austin Burbridge. All rights reserved

". . . the most astonishing, the most surprising, the most marvellous, the most miraculous, the most magnificent, the most confounding, the most unheard-of, the most singular, the most extraordinary, the most incredible, the most unforeseen, the greatest, the least, the rarest, the most common, the most public, the most private til today . . . I cannot bring myself to tell you: guess what it is."

Marie de Sévigné
1626-1696. Letter to M. de Coulanges.
Letters of Mme. de Sévigné to her Daughter and Friends. 1811.

via Austin Burbridge's Sprezzatura

Photograph ©MMII Austin Burbridge. All rights reserved

". . . the most astonishing, the most surprising, the most marvellous, the most miraculous, the most magnificent, the most confounding, the most unheard-of, the most singular, the most extraordinary, the most incredible, the most unforeseen, the greatest, the least, the rarest, the most common, the most public, the most private til today . . . I cannot bring myself to tell you: guess what it is."

Marie de Sévigné
1626-1696. Letter to M. de Coulanges.
Letters of Mme. de Sévigné to her Daughter and Friends. 1811.

via Austin Burbridge's Sprezzatura

Solvent Transfers

One of the coolest and easiest ways to transfer images to another medium (paper, wood, shirt, etc.) is by using the solvent transfer method. Utilizing cheap, easily attainable materials, this process is a good alternative to the time-extensive silk screening method. Solvent transfers can be done in a variety of different ways, producing a nearly limitless array of results, but we'll focus on the most straight-forward approach in today's how-to.

Dan Chilton
DIY Life

Image: "pandora's suitcase" by the3robbers

 

Photographic Notes

Today was my first chance to shoot with this collapsible Summicron 50mm f/2 lens on my Leica M2. My normal 50 on this camera is a Hexanon-M 50mm f/2. Isn't the Summi a beautiful piece of engineering? The M2 is wearing a Mr Zhou half-case, now sold through cameraquest.com. Sitting atop my Moleskine notebook.

Oh ... did I mention I'm a lens junkie?

In addition to using my pocket-size ruled Moleskine for personal journaling, I use it to track my film photography. I record what camera body was loaded with what film and, when possible, the dates pictures were taken and maybe some exposure information. If they're B&W shots, I later add which developer I used and the time/temperature of the development. My journal runs from front to back and my photo notes run from back to front. When they meet, I start a new Moleskine..."

StarbuckGuy @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
"Collapsible Summicron"

The Manliest Man Bag Ever

"In the 90's, the world of man was rocked by the introduction of the "man bag" or the "man purse". The first time I saw it was on NBC's must-see-TV show Friends. Joey, "the ladies man" chose to don the bag and then faced ridicule from the rest of the group. Some might call Joey a pioneer. Although, his pioneering went too far with the unwatchable spin-off, Joey, after the cancellation of Friends.

Ten years later, I want one. I am not briefcase guy. I am not backpack guy. But am I man bag guy?...

.... Then I saw the man bag I had to have on an episode of 24. If Jack Bauer, can shoot the bad guys, rescue the president, and save the world while wearing THIS man bag...it is good enough for me! And for only $20 it was a no brainer."

Matt Mehaffey
More at his blog.

Discussion Update: Fountain Pen Recommendation

Hi, I was wondering if any of you fellow moleskiners use fountain pens. If so, can you recommend some brand names for me? I will likely need to buy one on the net. I'm in Australia but as long as the store sells overaseas I don't mind if they aren't local.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Redhead Rachel says:

My Parker Vector (really basic Parker, about £5, but I love it!) is great on my moley. I just use Parker quink cartridges in black. Simple, basic, but brilliant.

ssossatt says:

thanks, Sophie_vf. in fact, i did not realize i was using different ink in the lamy pens than in all of my other pens - namely the original lamy cartridges! i have just replaced the cartridge in one of them (the one that was by far the worst in drying out, perhaps due to the relatively broad MK nib) with a converter and filled it with my habitual ink and (knock on wood!) it seems to write well now!

Join the discussion in progress

Collage No.17

I bought an entire album of old vintage photos at the dirtmall last weekend for $20. I don't know if the woman who sold me the pictures was selling off her family or a bunch of strangers. It makes me sad to know that no one cares about these people anymore. But I care! I care enough to give them a permanent home and a collage in my Moleskine. I especially love the old woman on the lower-right.

Collage No. 17
By stOOpidgErL @ Moleskinerie/FLICKR
© All rights reserved

Greetings to our friends in Houston, TX, Belfast, Murska Sobota, Muntinlupa, Fukuoka, Muttenz, Linda-a-Velha, Aberdeen, Sechelt, Dominica, Florence, Maldives, Guatemala, Macau, Chile, Surprise, AZ,     Islamabad, Gorinchem, Coimbatore, Parow, SA and Moscow.

Wine tasting and Note-taking

Psst! Want to learn a wine-tasting secret from the pros? This advice is simple and easy to follow, and you don't need to dial an 800 number or pay a cent to hear it: Simply get into the habit of jotting down a quick summary of your observations whenever you enjoy a glass of wine.

Don't get nervous ... I'm not talking about anything really complicated. There's no need to worry about neat handwriting or even careful spelling or grammar. There's no required format, and you don't even have to show your notes to anyone (although I'll say more about that in just a moment).

All you have to do is get your hands on a legal tablet or steno pad - or, if it pleases you, a fancy journal or one of those trendy Moleskine notebooks with the leather-look cover - and when you taste wine, record your reactions. I suggest starting with the front and back label: Write down the name of the wine, where it's from, the vintage, and other information such as the grapes it's made from (if disclosed), the alcohol content and anything else that seems important. I like to add the price I paid and the shop I bought it from. On the other hand, lyrical back-label language from the winery's PR office can usually safely be ignored.

Then jot down your comments on the wine, step-by-step as you go through the tasting process: Observations about the color, hue, glints of light; is it cloudy or hazy, clear or transparent? Then the aromas, using whatever descriptions pop into your head. Your first impression is usually the best impression, even if it seems silly. (My wife is a master at discovering notes of "shampoo" or "modeling clay" or "silage in my father's dairy barn.") And she's usually right.

The 30 second Wine Advisor

Learn more.

[Thanks Chris!]

Related link: "How to Make a Killer Wine Journal"
Photo by Pinot Blogger

FREE MOLESKINE GIVEAWAY FINAL BATCH OF WINNERS

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a

Congratulations to our last batch winners for the 2007 Moleskinerie Summer Giveways.

Ana de Almeida
Rua da Adiça
Lisboa
Portugal

Juan Navarro
Hialeah
Florida
USA

Sally Price
SE Linden Place
Gresham
Oregon

Please check your email and reply to the notification so we can send your prizes soonest.

Thanks to Kikkerland Design, Inc, US Moleskine distributor for their support and to everyone who participated.  The next contest will be held during the Christmas holidays with even more prizes, just like last year:) See you then.

Note: As promised, a