House of Gerrish International » Weird & Wonderful

We should all wear Surgical Masks

ricky — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:47:17 +0000

The Chinese do it. And everybody knows they are on to something . The casual nature with which we in Europe and America treat everyday diseases, sharing them willy-nilly as if they were Christmas gifts, is somewhat worrying. Most Chinese wear surgical masks not to protect themselves from others’ communicable diseases, but to protect others from the disease they themselves have. This for me suddenly casts a much more noble light on the silly appearance they have as they go about their daily lives looking like a bunch of deranged surgeons.

Recently I worked on a film shoot at a…

The Polar Bear Club of Coney Island

Matt — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:07:47 +0000

I recently took the half-hour trip across Brooklyn to visit Coney Island. Over sprawling neighbourhoods and cemeteries the F train rattled until it reached its final destination, a platform suspended on stilts with the sound of gulls and sniff of sea air. To the beach I walked, along quiet streets, packed away for the Winter months, past empty markets, fairgrounds and beer gardens, till I hit the boardwalk, the wooden arc and beating heart of Coney Island. To my surprise, there in front of me, gathered on the boards was a small group of smiling, half-naked men, clad in rubber…