Bruce Branit (Emmy nominee for his work on Star Trek) brings us this stunning little video about a man who develops an entire world for his love. You’ve really got to watch it til the end; I wasn’t sure whether I was saddened or stunned or what but it makes you think. Mr. Branit is also the creator of the film 405.

Not on someone’s car, thank you very much, but rather this weekend is Easter and Cadbury’s Creme Eggs have been running a contest called Creme that Egg! for fans of the gooey little things to come up with user-created videos around the theme of more or less creaming your egg in creative ways. Some of the entries are amusing but this one takes the cake: it’s basically a much better thought out game of Mousetrap and the poor egg gets it in the end. If you’re in America and reading this, you’ll remember Cadbury’s clucking bunny adverts- it would seem they have moved on!

Fore-edge paintings are fancy versions of those swear words you used to draw on the ends of your school book pages as a kid and turn sideways to impress or insult little Susie on the other side of the room without the teacher knowing.

This isn’t a new practise so sorry to burst any bubbles out there- the practise of painting detailed scenes on the page edges of a book dates back to possibly the 10th Century but most of the ones remembered come from the English in the 14th Century and seems to have had its heyday in the late 19th-early 20th centuries.

There are several different varieties of this particular artform:

1. single: the painting is only on one side of the book and often the binder would cover up the scene with gilding.

2. double: both side of the fore-edges are painting so if the pages are fanned one way, one scene appears and if fanned the opposite; another.

3. triple: same as the double but a third painting is applied instead of gilt on the edges so that it is visible

4. panoramic: painting on the top or bottom edges  (source: Wikipedia)

An excellent video example can be see at ForeEdgeFrost and many shots of this curious artform at Flickr by the Boston Public Library

That’s scintillating, not tittilating (get your minds up from it). Xavier Chassaing delights and amazes with his experimental film Scintillation. This gorgeous work features a relaxing, ambient soundtrack and over 35,000 photographs combining stop motion and live projection mapping. Please enjoy on Vimeo!!

How sweet- Mr. Neil Barrett isn’t one of those guys who burns bridges and walks out on the job with his middle finger up at the jerks who gave him the crappy locker and drank up all the fresh coffee every morning. He presented his resignation on a cake large enough for the boss to serve at his going-away party.

Apparently Mr. Barrett’s decision to leave was for family reasons and so I’m sure his boss was charmed into giving him a nice recommendation letter (hopefully on paper- cakes don’t last long in a portfolio.)  A side note from Mr. Barrett- he did submit a paper version of the cake because “It’s hard to file away a cake.”  Sure is. And props to whomever neatly piped out the eloquent resignation on the cake!

If you’re a Vicar of Dibley fan you likely remember the Christmas special where the Vicar meets a handsome stranger she thinks is proposing to her and when she meets his Irish fiance, makes a crack about Irish names using up all the vowels and leaving none for anyone else. Not entirely true- the name was missing a U.

Christian Bok has attempted to do just the opposite- use up all the consonants in his book Eunoia. I can’t wait to read this book- the author uses one vowel per chapter and the sample I’ve seen is very visual and well-written (should be, took him 7 years to work it out!). The title fits it all too- Eunoia means ‘beautiful thinking’ and is the shortest word in english to employ all of the vowels- and for you typographers out there, the cover is just bliss.

I don’t even know what comes to mind when I hear the term Mummering but the UK tradition once involved participants in Cornwall ‘blackening up’ their faces in disguise on Boxing Day and New Year’s day to celebrate midwinter in contrast to other regions’ ‘white’ days. Though the festival has nothing to do with any history of slavery, it was originally called Darkie Day and in response to protests in the 1970s renamed Mummers Day.

In England itself Mummers are those who mask and perform Christmas plays in towns and villain a tradition dating back to the middle ages.

Closer to home, Philadelphia boasts a spectacular Mummer’s Parade every year on New Year’s Day with costumes to rival those of our UK friends. The practise came to Philly in the late 1700s by Swedish immigrants who isited friends on 26th December (Boxing Day), known to them as Second Day Christmas. The celebration was lengthened up to New Year’s being welcomed with masquerades and parades. Combining this and other immigrant traditions such as Greek, British and Italian and you get the start of the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia ongoing in style today.

Last year my husband saw the Rockettes for the first time on television. Where has he been all these years? Dunno but his eyes were immediately on their famous legs (groan ladies, go ahead). My eyes were on their spectacular costumes and since we’re having a look at dress finery this month, let’s have a look at the long history of some of the most spectacularly dressed women in the country.

Not that this will surprise you but according to the Rockettes homesite the skirts on their costumes have been hiked up since the 1960s and those wooden soldier outfits have been around since the Radio City show’s beginning in 1933. Recently the company has added 2 more to show off those famous legs: a white Christmas in New York piece by Barbara Matera features mirrors and white wigs and a gold, hand-dyed spandex number for the Carole of the Bells designed by Pete Menefee. Featuring prominently are golden helmets festooned by ostrich plumes costing a whopping $900 each.

Other famous designers for the gleaming gals have been Bob Mackie (Dancing in Diamonds), Frank Spencer (Crowning Glory), and Vincente Minelli (Bolero).  During the annual Christmas Spectacular each Rockette goes through 8 costume changes during the performance (that gives each sometimes as little as 80 seconds to change). And those famous wooden soldier suits? Each takes about 12 hours to make specially for each dancer.

For Mardi Gras lovers and general romantics, the Venice Carnival is the place to be. Every Carnival celebration around the world has distinctive costumes and events related to this unique season of celebration before Lent. Feathery, glittering costumes and ornate masks feature in Italy’s Carnival and play and events such as the Volo dell’Angelo (Angel’s Flight) round out the Italian party.

Ending the festivities is the Volo dell’Angelo, featuring a different celebrity every year taking ‘flight’ from the belltower of St. Mark Basilica to the square, followed by the parade of the Doge and Dogessa.  Originally called the Flight of the Turk, this stunning event captures the italian imagination and photos of this year’s flight can be viewed here.

   Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras have just passed with a bang led in by Super Sunday and the krewe of the Mardi Gras Indians rolled in with its usual splendour. My all-time favorite krewe, the Indians outdo themselves every year with their feathery costumes painstakingly created throughout the previous year. Who are the Indians?

   According to mardigras.com, “Mardi Gras Indians are secretive because only certain people participated in masking — people with questionable character. In the old day, the Indians were violent; Indians would meet on Mardi Gras, it was a day to settle scores.”  -Larry Bannock, President, New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council. The fascinating account of this krewe’s history can be found on their official page. View gorgeous photos of Indian costumes by Matt Duke and Barbara Baldwin on flickr.