This week's links. Enjoy.
Charles and Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter
You can now watch the full documentary film about these two extraordinary people online through American Masters on PBS. Looking forward to this one.
The Language of Stamps
You have to see this lovely and wonderfully illustrated post on the blog Poemas del río Wang about the now-vanished delicate art of stamp placement. Depending on how you placed a stamp on an envelope, it told an informed recipient you sent a kiss, you were thinking of them — or (sadly) that you were not free. Fascinating — and something it would be charming to revive for Valentine's Day, I think.
Vintage Views of London
Slide show of gritty and beautiful black and white photos of London, from the 1950s to mid 2000. Via things magazine.
450 Free Online Movies
Open Culture has assembled a great list of links to free online films arranged according to genre — check out Comedy & Drama; Film Noir, Horror & Hitchcock; Westerns & John Wayne; Silent Films; Documentaries, and Animation. Lots of really interesting stuff.
Charles Dickens's Inner Child
A lovely, meditative essay on Dickens by Christopher Hitchens — his last one for Vanity Fair before his untimely passing last month.
Corner Portraits by Irving Penn
Love this striking black and white portrait series by Irving Penn — the stark, angled backdrops (a bit reminiscent of the Expressionist sets in the German silent film The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari) really make the personalities of the subjects stand out. Included here are Marlene Dietrich, Salvador Dali, Georgia O'Keefe, Igor Stravinsky and the Duchess of Windsor among others — though it's the last photo of the Ballet Society that really strikes my eye (that amazing dancer!).
Dana Tanamachi
Watch designer/typographer Dana Tanamachi create her beautiful hand lettered chalk signage in these time lapse videos. Lovely work. Via BOOOOOOOM!
Date Recipes
Guardian cookery writer Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall serves up some inspired sweet and savoury recipes for dates. There's one particularly delicious-sounding one, Spiced Chicken With Dates, that I'm definitely going to try out.
(lovely photo by fryd + design)