High Quality

Very interesting thread over at Ask Metafilter - identical products presented as premium or budget.

Perfume

Christopher Brosius concocts unique perfumes and sells them from a small shop in New York. His creations aren't traditional fare - he's based his business around the idea that evocative and pleasing odors can come from anywhere, not just a flower garden. "Wet Pavement" and "At the Beach 1966" are two of the more interesting products he carries.

Official website.

Socotra Island

Out in the Indian Ocean, 250 km from Somalia and 340 km from Yemen, sits Socotra Island. The climate is hot, harsh and dry. The landscape is incredibly beautiful and mysterious.

Dead Moose with Lipstick

This New Yorker jab at Sarah Palin is fantastic.

Stormy

A great collection of rain-related photography. Bad weather can be beautiful.

Real World

Peter Gabriel's engineer, Richard Chappell, provides a video tour of Gabriel's main writing and recording room at Real World Studios. I'm a fan, so it's nice to see where so much of his music came to life. Part two.

Reading between the lines, I get the sense that the "boss" and employee roles are very clearly defined in this space.

A tour of the entire Real World complex.

Here Again

The sun shines high above
The sounds of laughter
The birds swoop down upon
The crosses of old grey churches

We say that we're in love
While secretly wishing for rain
Sipping Coke and playing games

September's here again
September's here again

- David Sylvian