Cupcakes Take The Cake

Pork Stuffed Bacon Roll

You know, a lot of people look at a latticed sheet of bacon with ground pork rolled up inside of it as an unnecessarily extreme indulgence, sure to cause an instantaneous heart attack, but I look at that slab of protein and fat as — I’ll say it — health food. Ok, bear with me, please. I just read the book Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes. I know it sounds like a crazy fad diet book due to its unfortunate title, but it’s actually an obsessively researched tome that documents the history of the nutrition debates between doctors and scientists, and how the ‘fat is bad’ hypothesis won out more for political reasons than for hard scientific and medical reasons. Citing dozens of studies and dissenting researchers from the past century of medicine as well as describing clearly the physiology and science behind their claims, Taubes asserts that the increased consumption of refined carbohydrates such as bleached white flour and high fructose corn syrup are the real culprits behind the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Read more

New York’s 71 Irving Place Cafe

71 is the kind of place which is small enough to miss, but once you see it, you realize everyone somehow knows about it. It’s set three steps down from the sidewalk level, and it’s always packed, except for week late nights and mid-mornings. Even though their service is not the friendliest — like any other spot in New York that’s too cool for school — 71 has a noticeably loyal clientele. Lots of writers hang out with their computers, while photographers check out the scene, and artists meet up with their reps. Besides hot and cold drinks, including their own coffee, they also offer a great selection of pastries, sandwiches and my friend Nicolas’ favorite chicken soup ever.

Alan Warburton’s food and politics series

Cambridge artist Alan Warburton collaborated with a non-art audience to produce this series of work in which he asked volunteers to use fruit to explain politics: ‘In Caracas, Venezuela, volunteers explained the complex and lively political scene using melons, and in Cambridge, diverse residents used locally picked apples to explain the issues that affect the city’, he says of how the series unfolded. Read more

Crimea X’s Secret Playlist

Crimea X is the coming together of two offbeat, disparate characters, DJ Rocca (Ajello, Super Sonic Lovers, Maffia Sound System) and Jukka Reverberi from 90s Italian glam cult rockers, Giardini di Mirò, who have often have been compared with the sound of Mogwai, Arab Strap, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. We asked them about their favourite music and they started with The Smiths song, Ask [listen below] ‘I saw them playing live on Italian TV. It was during the 80s when I was extremely young, and I’ve never stopped listening to this song’. Read the rest of Crimea X’s Secret Playlist.

Abandoned Swimming Pools

I love the curated selection of abandoned swimming pool photos on Feature Shoot today, featuring work by Carlo Van de Roer and Albert Jodar, amongst others.

Win a set of Sony personal audio prizes

Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more