(The) Absolute

“Anime Architecture,” a New Exhibit on Display at the Museum for Architectural Drawing

The exhibition ‘Anime Architecture’ presents original drawings from famous Japanese animation films. The show focuses on virtuosic renderings of urban architecture. In drawings made for the films Patlabor (1989), Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Innocence (2004), the megalopolis skyline is seen to be crushing in on what remains of traditional wooden housing. Industrial sites with endless labyrinths of cables and piping and utopian science-fiction constructions form backdrops for the dynamic film plots.

#TBT Here’s What The Media Thought About “Twin Peaks” In The 90s

It’s been 20 years, but Twin Peaks is back in the media again. David Lynch’s bizarre crime series about a murder in a small logging town has been a cult hit since its 1991 debut. But now that’s it returning next year on Showtime, the media gets to obsess over the show again — in a more Internet-y way, of course.

I was too young to remember the original hoopla of Twin Peaks‘ 90s debut, and so I found this media roundup of interviews and news promos from 1991 to 1992 to be really interesting. People were just as perplexed by it then as they were today, but their most passionate obsession was with the show’s originality. In the ’90s television was dominated by sitcoms and crappy network crime dramas. A show like Twin Peaks blew everyone’s minds. “It’s SO unusual,” beamed Kathie Lee of Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee (before it was Live! With Kelly and Michael). Donahue — remember him? — even dedicated a cheesy whole show to the TV show, barking at the cast to explain the plot to him because he didn’t get it.

"At Home with Monsters,” a Look at Guillermo del Toro’s Collection

“Fifteen Dogs,” The Talking Dog Novel That’s Definitely Not For Kids

Fifteen Dogs is a hard book to sell. In words, its premise sounds silly: a bunch of dogs are given human intelligence via a wager between two Greek Gods. The wager? If dogs have the same intellect as humans, would they live happier lives? Typically “what if dogs were as smart as humans” is a hypothetical scenario more fit for Disney than literary adult fiction. But Canadian author André Alexis takes a more philosophical approach, exploring morality, depression, and our perceived “places” in society. Oh yeah, and there’s lots of doggy deaths, too.

Although there are fifteen dogs in the book, the novel focuses on just a core handful: Prince, the poet; Majnoun, the fair leader; Atticus, the religious enemy; and Benji, the conniving Beagle. The fifteen initially start off as a pack, even inventing their own language that only they can understand. But when a rift splits the pack in two sides, the dogs quickly realize that this new consciousness might be more a curse than a blessing.

Funky Gif Illustrations by Veronyka Jelinek