Larry Johnson – renowned photographer, specialising in feline portraiture. That’s right, and here he is taking pictures of show cats. Much better than your Instagram feed.
Latest Whisky Reviews
You know the score. I blog way more – and put way more digital effort – into my whisky site these days. So here’s what I’ve been up to on there.
Firstly, I was invited to an exclusive tasting of two whiskies from The Dalmore Constellation series a little while ago. One whisky is being sold at £550 a glass, and the other – if it was on sale (it isn’t yet) – cost £22,000 a bottle. I also got to meet the guy who made them.
I wrote a piece on whisky flavour wheels. If you’re new to whisky and want to get into it more, you’ll hopefully find it interesting. One of my favourite distilleries, Bruichladdich, sent me three whiskies to enjoy as part of an online tasting. They were brilliant and all very different. And finally, a little distillery from Campbeltown made one of the best whiskies of the year, in my opinion. Just great-value old-fashioned stuff.
Incidentally, if you’re only casually into whisky and sometimes pop by that site, then let me know what you think of it. I’m aware that whisky can be a complex subject, and that not everyone who reads it is a whisky nerd, so I’m keen to improve the quality of the posts.
Forgotten French Ghost Signs
There’s a Tumblr and Instagram account called Pixdar photographies, which is dedicated to forgotten french signs, faded shop fronts and old-fashioned typography. It’s rather nice to see this stuff still around. In the UK it tends to be more northern towns where you see a few of the ghost signs, where hasty development hasn’t erased them entirely.
Books Build Children
“Books Build Children” an advertising campaign that’s recently been launched by the Yokahama City Board of Education. They need more librarians to pass on their love of reading. Take a look at their site to see more book-child sculptures.
Miniature Books Collection
Take a look at Jozsef Tari’s collection of miniature books. It’s certainly one way of saving on space, although I bet reading them isn’t easy.
Latest Whisky Reviews
My whisky site is still where I do most of my blogging now, and I spend a lot of time in that online community. I get samples sent quite frequently, and I find that world still very interesting to explore. Recently I’ve tried some very good things. First up is a 24 year old Dalmore from an independent bottler. This Macallan travel retail release is nice too, and worth picking up.
The Glenrothes Vintage Reserve isn’t that good, but this new blend from Suntory is really tasty and at the cheaper end of modern whisky releases.
The Lexus Hoverboard
The hoverboard is here, more or less on schedule. It’s not quite as you’d imagine, but it’s kind of nice to know that what’s become a popular science fictional meme has been worked on by actual boffins in the lab.
The Chase
There’s always something very primal about the weather. Especially extremes of weather. It’s one of those rare moments the environment invades your life and makes you realise you’re part of other systems, which aren’t artificial. Just for a moment. I think, watching videos like this, it also reminds me of being young again, when I would constantly mesmerised by storm footage. I even liked that ridiculous Twister film at the time.
Talisk – Abyss
Talisk – winners of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award. Watch the fingers on that concertina!