Arts! Lots of arts.
1. Did you know that Edward Gorey created illustrations for H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds? I didn't. Did you know that they are awesome? I bet you could have figured that out on your own.
Not pictured: Tom Hanks.
2. Some artist named A. Paul Weber created this fantasy piece with a staggering level of fine detail (view in Gigapan, it's neat) back in 1953.
If you know anything about this guy, do fill us in.
3. If you have a few hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket, Adrian Tomine is selling prints of his recent New Yorker covers and some other things.
Buying an expensive print of a New Yorker cover is the final boss one must defeat to find the Triforce of Whiteness.
4. A new book, A Map of the World: The World According to Illustrators and Storytellers delivers…what the title promises. A bunch of artists, designers, and illustrators offer some remarkably colorful takes on the world (scroll down here for a nice gallery).
5. Oh don't worry, I'll work some Cold War shit in here. Here's a large gallery from Dutch photographer David Galjaard's prize-winning series on Albania's national network of concrete pillbox bunkers courtesy of ex-dictator Enver Hoxha. They built 700,000 of these cement pimples, a sort of Albanian Maginot Line.
They're everywhere and no one really knows what to do with them. Fortunately they were built with all the expertise, craftsmanship, know-how, and quality materials of communist Albania. So the odds are they will turn into dust soon if we're patient.