Any Vacancies?

I've become a huge fan of Neatorama recently. It posts several times a day with bizarre, unique, and interesting news stories/articles from around the Internet. It will summarize the actual article, offer a picture, and then links directly to the source. I tend to prefer it over other sites because it doesn't just recycle others material as its own. The only problem I've found with the site, is that once I start clicking, the interesting stories seem to lead to more interesting stories. I can lose whole days just following their links.

A couple of days ago they had a link for some of the more unique hotels in the world. The story included information on a wine cask hotel in the Netherlands, a hotel in Costa Rica built out of plane, an undersea lodge in Puerto Rico, and the one I fixated on, Propeller Island City Lodge in Berlin, Germany. The image the site chose for an example wasn't the best but I was intrigued by the idea of a hotel where every room has a theme. Now you'll say that you've heard of these theme hotels before. Where one room is a fairy land with castle included, the next has a western theme, one has an undersea motif, and so on. This isn't like that. These are not motifs and they are certainly not cheesy.

All of the rooms are pretty tastefully appointed although some of them may not sit well with the more puritanical American ideas. Many of them are very simple rooms, a single bed in a spartan room with pictures of the ocean on either side, an interesting forest room where the bed is outlined with tree stumps. These are fun and unique. But many of the rooms have a bit of an edge to them. One room offers a stage along one of the walls with curtain and single chair set up in front. Another (pictured below) had a platform with a cage on it with a bit of a dungeon look.

My favorite room was a hammock type room where the bed was suspended well off the floor. The industrial look appealed to me although with all the wires and boards holding the bed up there was little room for anything else. Others have a more classic look. Or these was a prison cell complete with drop down bed and stand alone toilet. This is humorously named The Freedom Room.


One room was filled with mirrors tilted at every angle with a single bed in the middle. Another offered just a queen sized white bed lit entirely with blue lights. Others were a bit on the creepy side. This more interesting design offers a split bed that doesn't encourage cuddling. A gigantic guillotine rests right in the middle.

This is clearly a destination hotel and I would think would only be comfortable for a night or two. But I can easily see myself booking a night or two there. The only problems would be figuring out which room to choose. Too many choices!

Images pulled from Unique Hotels of the World. Click the hotel name above to see the rest of the rooms.

Strange and Wonderful Art

As you all know I've become something of an Art fanatic in the last couple years. I actively scour the internet for new and interesting artists. I read art blogs daily to find new artforms and new artists. In my desk at home I have stacks and stacks of post-it notes with artist names and still I look for more. And recently I've taken to hovering in the art section of the magazine racks looking for an art magazine that would offer some new and unique artists. I know that ArtNews tends to be the standard but only about half of the work they cover is stuff I'm interested in.

But I think I've finally found my magazine. Last weekend Jeff and I were at Barnes and Noble and I wandered over to the magazine rack just to check things out. I was glancing over the titles when this image below caught my eye.

This is the work of James Jean, whose work I was only slightly familiar with. I picked up the magazine, Hi Fructose, and flipped through the first couple pages. And by the time I actually reached the table of contents, I was hooked. I love modern art and this is modern at its most strange and wonderful. With a touch of creepy thrown in. Every artist interested me. The ads alone made me want to seek out the artists. It was filled with a nice mix of media. I learned a bit more about James Jean who might be my favorite out of the issue although the sculpture of Kate MacDowell is fascinating. See image below

It was strange because going to the website for Hi Fructose I remember that I picked up last months issue as well and was enchanted, although at that time I didn't have the cash to buy it. So I think I've found my art magazine. Strange, beautiful, modern, and unique. Everything I want in a magazine. And in an art style.