Random Bits

• via 2 Blowhards — Counter Culture: Parisian Cabarets and the Avant Garde, 1875-1905

  A quite interesting look at café culture prior to the World Wars. Of course, it is credited as a response to the Franco Prussian War (1870). I wonder if there is any cultural phenomenon that cannot be connected as a reaction to war? It seems to me that we need a new model for forging cultures.

• New Walker Evans prints discovered

  Of course, they found them in the backroom of a bar in Key West. CNN news story here. Cubanet news story here. Florida Keys news story here. The thank you, in this case, goes to the girlfriend.

• via datacloud — Early Visual Media.

  This one kind of pissed me off a little, because it is yet another attempt to lock-up vintage imagery behind modern copyright. However it is a great site with lots of interesting images and is very well done.

• via Kairosnews — Hey Hey 16k thanks Matt!

  Unfortunately, I actually remember most of this quite clearly. “For N = 0 to 2; those were the days, indeed.”

Just trying to clear out my “surflog” links into a more archive friendly form.