Bill Cunningham Viewpoint

On the Street / Fashion Fireworks
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/02/fashion/20090705-street-feature/index.html?hp#

Gigantic fake jeweled necklaces — sparkling like fireworks — are just the thing to cheer up last year’s dress. Great imitations, really. Thanks Bill.

The Necklace

The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment That Transformed Their Lives by Cheryl Jarvis is an inspirational book about timesharing a diamond necklace + the emotional immersiveness + the remarkable social experiment. Brilliant. A must read.

Manolo Blahnik

Manolo Blahnik: the man who makes shoes so delicately, decoratively sensual – so caressing of the curve of a foot – that they don’t need a logo or a sole to identify them; they create their own walk (Vanessa Friedman). How true! He gives shape and meaning to shoes. And in many ways, he is his own best critic.
Check out the link www.manoloblahnik.com

Journey To The Stars

Academy Award–winning actress Whoopi Goldberg will narrate the American Museum of Natural History’s spectacular new Hayden Planetarium Space Show, Journey to the Stars, at the Museum’s Rose Center for Earth and Space on July 4, 2009. Check out the link www.haydenplanetarium.org

Jancis Robinson Viewpoint

New Zealand comes of age
www.ft.com/arts/columnists/robinson

Useful link:
www.jancisrobinson.com

Great review. Thanks Jancis.

Heard On The Street

Gem markets have created so much gemstones that we easily lose sight of an important fact: the real gem markets thrive on scarcity.

The Drunkard's Walk

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow is a fascinating book about the factor of chance. The book will make you think. A must read.

Useful link:

www.its.caltech.edu/~len

Herb & Dorothy

Herb & Dorothy tells the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. Check out the link www.herbanddorothy.com