MUSEYON BOOKS Smart City Guides for Travel, History, Art and Film Lovers

Today via Shaghiist comes an extraordinary video from American designer, animator and Shanghai resident, Abram Hodgens. Hodgens spent two months travelling across China, going to Beijing, Xi’an, Xiahe, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, Tulufan, Urumqi, Kanasi, Kashgar, Chengdu, Leshan, Litang, Danba, Shangri-la (Zhongdian) and Dali, creating this video using timelapse photography along the way. Musicphiles might recognize the song used in the background, ... Read More »

  The already controversial, and very successful, Indian film “My Name is Khan”, is facing a new round of raging protests after one of its stars made comments seen as “pro-Pakistani” by the opposition. When was the last time you found yourself picketing a Joel Silver film, hunh? [Guardian UK]   Why is your hotel bar so crowded? Januted explains ... Read More »

  Back when “Avatar” was just a gleam in James Cameron’s eye, a photographer took some shots of China’s “Southern Sky Column” (above, right), a series of finger-like mountain peaks in Zhangjiajie in the country’s southern Hunan province. Somehow, the story goes, pictures of this natural wonder and UNESCO World Heritage site made their way to the director, who recycled ... Read More »

<Excerpt from New York Offbeat Walks: Civic Center, Chinatown & Little Italy> Follow the map (north), looking to your right (1) for the imposing David N. Dinkins Municipal Building. One of the biggest public buildings in the world, it has been home to many New York City public offices since 1913. It combines a variety of architectural styles, from Imperial ... Read More »

RANSHIN: In 1266, Kublai Khan sent envoys to Japan with a letter addressed to the “King of Japan.” In 1266, Kublai Khan (1215–1294), the new Mongol emperor of China, sent envoys to Japan with a letter addressed to the “King of Japan”—a title guaranteed to offend the Japanese emperor. The letter itself was equally unpalatable. The Great Khan “invited” Japan ... Read More »

Ranshin: Literally meaning “divine wind,” the term kamikaze was coined in honor of the 1281 typhoon, as it was perceived to be a gift from the gods Nippon (Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Archaeological evidence indicates that humans have lived in Japan since at least 30,000 BCE. During Japan’s long history, several communities have invaded the nation, ... Read More »

TED TAKASHIMA Berlin, July 2008. After giving a lecture, Max Knight, a Nobel Prize candidate and professor of genetic research, is kidnapped. His captors show him part of a corpse, a left hand, discovered when a bomb exploded at a neo-Nazi rally. Although the hand appears to be that of a male in his forties, it actually belongs to a ... Read More »

Not only is it one of the greatest movies of all time, one of the most quoted film in history (“[he] sleeps with the fishes”), and an epic tribute to mafia romance and tragedy, The Godfather is also a dedication to the back alleys and glamorous landmarks of New York. Before filming began, the movie on its way to Hollywood ... Read More »