♥ SUPERMODEL DE MUSICAL
Exclusively here in Amsterdam on a limited engagement of “mooi” and fabulous.
Until April 5, 2009 at the theater in the NH Grand Hotel Kransnapolsky.
♥ PEACE THE SPORK OUT!
The “Bambu” company who make bamboo sporks (and utensils, and plates , and cookware that are available at Whole Foods), get a face life on one of their products.
♥ THE VOODOO THAT YOU DO
Tropenmuseum is still having their voodoo and Haitian art exhibit until May 10th, so everyone can wait until it gets a little warmer.
♥ MAKE YOUR OWN FONTS
Fontforge is free, but may not be as eazy and breezy as beautiful CoverGirl.
♥ OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO PAY MONEY FOR THIS
From June 16th you can download MP3 audio walking tours of three Chinese cities for $17. What this has to do with Louis Vuitton and the Olympic games, I have no idea.
Let’s continue on the illustration tip and go over one of the pride and joys of the Netherlands, Dick Bruna. Creator of Niintje and all kinds of other fantastic artworks, this little rabbit has been called everything from “Miffy” (in countries outside of the Netherlands) to the inspiration for Hello Kitty.
Nijntje’s name comes from the word “konijntje”, a Dutch word that means bunny and the name of a popular song here in the Netherlands by the AKA Junkies. Here in Amsterdam, you can get a plethera of her goods, including Dutch-style ceramic versions of her in the main tourist store located in Dam Square directly across from De Bijenkorf.
♥ THE DICK BRUNA HUIS (HOUSE)
One of the first things my Japanese friend Noelle did with her two year old daughter when they first arrived in the Netherlands was to run up to the Dick Bruna Huis in Utrecht which is a permanent space for all things Nintje at the Centraal Museum. According to her, “There was a giant, golden Miffy that Ima just stood in front of for like ten minutes and just said, ‘Woooooaaahhh…’”. If that doesn’t sell you on a train ticket up there, I don’t what will.
Included in the merchandising opportunities of Nijntje/Miffy is a real, live traveling musical show in Dutch. This last run was in Rotterdam. I’m not sure where the next one will be, but you can find tickets and dates here.
As much as I love Nijntje, I just don’t have the energy to comment positively on this. As a television show it’s adorable, but this display of human error is bordering on the way I felt about clowns as a child.
♥ DICK BRUNA’S ZWARTE BEERTJES AND OTHER DESIGNS Miffy might be Bruna’s most famous creation, but it’s definitely not the only one. In fact, as a graphic designer for his father’s publishing house, Bruna has put together a mighty collection of book covers which can be found at this site, which sells hard-to-find and highly sought after Bruna books.
Most of the covers designed by Bruna were for the “Zwarte Beetjes” (or Black Bears) book series in which titles like The Saint, James Bond, Maigret, Simeon, and Shakespeare were published in Dutch by Bruna & Zoon.
♥ WREEEEEETCHES!!!
Gears 2 Announced (from the site): “So by now there’s a slight chance you’ve heard something about…(blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah)… November 2008.” Yes, jeez, thank you.
♥ THE TEXTILE COLLECTION OF BENNO PREMSELA
Illustrator for such companies as De Bijenkorf (for display windows), and Van Besouw (for carpets), his designs will be on display at the Utrecht Centraal Museum from March 8th-12th. On side note, currently on exhibition is a collection of iconic fashion pieces throughout time as told by the medium of film.
♥ YOU HEARD IT HERE LAST, FIRST
An entire album of instrumental essentialness from YACHT which you can preview streaming on their site.
♥ TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
The Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht is inviting artists, designers, and other kunst bitches to submit proposals towards the departments of Fine Art, Design and Theory.
♥ BAPE SPONGEBOB
Now your kid can be as cool as your t-shirt collection.
♥ THE FORCE IS FULL OF HOT AIR
The only way to travel when trying to dump an airborne version of the plague on the Renaissance Fair because you know it will get into their eyes.
