Funeral Moth

WE'RE SUPPORTING

Stephen Doitschinoff, aka Calma (a Lost At E Minor banner artist), recently opened a solo exhibit entitled Novo Mundo at New York’s Jonathan Levine Gallery. The Brazilian street artist’s work is somewhat unusual and exudes an appealing spiritual vibe as he embraces the fantastical and dark imagery of churches painted in female wombs. Calma has developed his own unique language and style through imagery that creatively blends Afro-Brazilian folklore with Baroque religious iconography. ‘I personally see the church as an archaic institution that always aimed to control the masses. I think it is an appropriate symbol for corrupt modern institutions like big corporations, media channels and governments,’ he Calma. Novo Mundo is on show through until December 22.

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

My town is one of foghorns at five am, the smell of salty air and the sound of seagulls, Peets coffee, steep hills and die hard fans and loyalists. For those of us who have been here in San Francisco for some time now, we know all the secret gems of this small city — from Clarion Alley, to Army Street, from Irving to Broadway. Read more

WE'RE WEARING

The latest in the Stephanie Simek jewellery collection is the Powder necklace, a pearlized Turbo Cinereus shell with tiny holes drilled into the bottom and filled with a sparkling silver-colored powder. Read more

WE'RE THINKING

If anyone ever asks you to define the word “schadenfreude,” show him or her these pictures of a poor skier hanging from a ski lift with his junk exposed to the alpine chill. If the person viewing the pictures laughs, he or she now understands the particularly useful German term.

WE'RE READING

I am really into Hong Kong action flicks from the 1980s and 90s. When I first moved to New York, there were a handful of curious friends who were also interested in watching movies such as City on Fire by Ringo Lam, which Reservoir Dogs was based on. How did they find videos like thus? At the legendary Kim’s Video in New York City. These days, City on Fire can be find online, and Kim’s is history. But all the videos that entertained the film geeks of this city for more than twenty years have found a new home in, wait for it, Salemi, Sicily. Yes, the southern island of Italy. Kim has recently relocated there, as this sad but heartwarming story about him in yesterday’s New York Times reveals.

Rarely is a film politically poignant as well as wonderfully written, acted and shot. The second feature from director Kimberly Peirce of Boys Don’t Cry was inspired by her brother, who joined the army, and was only possible after months of meticulous research. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

It’s pretty bold to release a 25 track double CD as your first album, but singer-songwriter Benji Hughes doesn’t care. Themes of love and heartbreak run though the album and his folk-tinged pop draws comparisons to Beck, The Eels and The Magnetic Fields. [portrait by Vanessa Prager]