Most beautiful bookstore - Buenos Aires's Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid

Bueno Aires's Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid used to be a beautiful movie palace. Saved from the wrecker's ball, it is now one of the most majestic bookstores I've ever clapped eyes upon, a veritable temple to books.

Marilyn sez, "El Ateneo Grand Splendid in downtown Buenos Aires is a spectacular bookstore that retains all the glamour of its former life as a 1920s movie palace, with a original balconies, painted ceiling, ornate carvings and crimson stage curtains. Photo by Bob Krist for National Geographic Traveler. The Guardian named El Ateneo as one of the top ten bookshops in the world (along with Secret Headquarters):'Where else can you sit in a theater box and leisurely read a volume of Neruda, or sip a cortado where Carlos Gardel once performed?'"

Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Via: Boingboing

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU

The new short film by Blu: an ambiguous animation painted on public walls.
Made in Buenos Aires and in Baden (fantoche).
Music by Andrea Martignoni
produced by Mercurio Film
assistant: Sibe. LINK: Youtube

Natural ice dam finally breaks

A NATURAL ice dam in southern Argentina broke open.

The 60m high wall of ice from the Perito Moreno glacier that usually divides Lake Argentina in Patagonia bursts from time to time under the built-up pressure of the held-back water.

The event is one of the prime tourist attractions of Argentina.

But until now it had occurred in warmer seasons.

This year's breaking of the dam was forecast well in advance, though the exact day was unknown, so relatively few visitors - around 300 - were on hand to photograph the phenomenon.

Expert predictions that the rupture could still be days away meant Argentine television stations were caught unprepared and were forced to air images of the last collapse.

An internet broadcast, however, caught this year's rupture live for an estimated 150,000 viewers.



The Perito Moreno glacier is the largest of 356 rivers of ice in Los Glaciares National Park, which each year is visited by thousands of tourists.

It is one of the largest glaciers in the world, measuring 275 sq km and 5km wide at its mouth. It is 2800km southeast of Buenos Aires. LINK, Via: Youtube

Animated Graffiti MUTO by Blu

MUTO is a new short film by Blu: it’s a time-lapse "wall animation" made in Buenos Aires and Baden, guaranteed to be the best graffiti you’ll see today. LINK, Via: Youtube