http://www.ultraswank.net Retro Living and Design from the 50s, 60s and 70s Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:56:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/destination-berlin/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/destination-berlin/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:18 +0000 Oline Eaton http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3650 Sometimes, the city in which a movie is set plays a role more important than that of the main characters and, over the years, New York and Paris and London have provided lively settings for many popular films. But what of Berlin? With its combination of old world glitzy decadence and the stark deprivation of [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/destination-berlin/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/science/our-friend-the-atom-%e2%80%93-part-1/ http://www.ultraswank.net/science/our-friend-the-atom-%e2%80%93-part-1/#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:32:06 +0000 James Vaughan http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3163 No modern technology has ever had such a schizophrenic and complicated identity as Atomic Energy. It is often presented in mystical terms. A Pandora’s Box of knowledge that cannot be unlearned. The magical Genie that can do both help or harm but cannot be returned to his bottle. Nuclear Power is the ultimate parable of [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/science/our-friend-the-atom-%e2%80%93-part-1/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/music/swingin-basie-beats/ http://www.ultraswank.net/music/swingin-basie-beats/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 05:14:01 +0000 Steven Padal http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2443 Count Basie had been performing different jazz styles from the early 30’s to the late 70’s. There were many performances that included vocalists during the early 60’s to gain more attraction. But it was in the late 60’s when Basie returned to a more standard jazz format. After 30 years, he created two great recording [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/music/swingin-basie-beats/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/classic-film-noir-posters/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/classic-film-noir-posters/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:32:18 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1279 Film noir was used to describe a particular type of Hollywood crime movies that was made popular in the 1940s and 1950s. It usually centered around murders, damsels in distress and private investigators and set in a heavy black and white contrast – creating the famous visual style with long shadows and very little light. [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/classic-film-noir-posters/feed/ 5 http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/californian-vintage-photos-redux/ http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/californian-vintage-photos-redux/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 06:53:06 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=771 Digital painter Melvin Hale uses modern technology to make old black and white photos come alive again. Melvin’s studio is located in Palm Springs, California where he has been working on refining his technology of digitally colorizing and restoring vintage black and white images of mid-century America – including roadside attractions, portraits, buildings and a [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/californian-vintage-photos-redux/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/beautiful-end-titles/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/beautiful-end-titles/#comments Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:11:40 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=759 Stumbled upon these fabulous end titles from various classic mid-century movies. Above “My Fair Lady” directed by George Cukor from 1964 and at the bottom the end title from a MGM cartoon produced in the 1940s. It seems that these kind of end titles are a long lost art form and all we can do [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/beautiful-end-titles/feed/ 4 http://www.ultraswank.net/architecture/twin-palms-for-sale/ http://www.ultraswank.net/architecture/twin-palms-for-sale/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:09:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/twin-palms-for-sale/ Frank Sinatra’s old desert hideaway, Twin Palms in Palm Springs, California is up for sale. In the late 1940s Frank had just made his first million and he wanted to celebrate in style, so he commissioned architect E. Stewart Williams to design a lush weekend getaway house for throwing parties and lounging by the pool [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/architecture/twin-palms-for-sale/feed/ 14