Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Home

You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone. It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist. You won't have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.


-Garden State



to do list

Break the mold.

Turn the tables.

Buck the trend.

Raise the bar.

Up the ante.

Tip the scales.

Shuffle the deck.

Jerk the chain.

Lead the charge.

Roll the dice.

Bet the ranch.

Beat the odds.

ripped from a magazine at salon

Mr. Please Please dies at 73

I got the somethin' that makes me wanna shout
I got that thing, tell me what it's all about
I got soul, ha, and I'm super bad, heh!
Got the move that tells me what to do
Sometimes I feel so nice, I said
I wanna tie myself to a fuse, huh, I
I, I, I got soul, heh, and I'm super bad!

My father grew up in St. Louis worshiping this man - the blues, the songs, the energy above all else. He used to tell me stories about going to the Firehouse to see James and being the only white kid in the crowd. I can understand it. Crazy he may be, but listening to Livin' in America on full blast in the living room while your usually stiff and serious father lets loose on the floor just gives you a sense of just how magical music is.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Friday, December 22, 2006

research + fashion =

benjamin cho's spring 2007 collection

*fabulous*

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Regina Spektor

New and original music out of New York's hybrid scene. I heard these today and fell instantly in love.

Conversation

todd andrew melville says:
If your actions affected millions of people...
what would you say?

Couture Cowgirl says:
people aren't judging you.
you are judging yourself.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Extraordinary Machine


Fiona channels old world Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland in her new Extraordinary Machine.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Monday, December 04, 2006

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

moi new york


Making diamonds obsolete


B6/5

Today I learned how to play cribbage from a schizophrenic man. He alternated between giving me instructions, and reading from an upsidedown biochemistry textbook. Which he scribbled in incoherently.

He was an excellent cribbage teacher.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Damage Control


We all go through life like bulls in a china shop. A chip here, a crack there. Doing damage to ourselves, to other people. The problem is trying to figure out how to control the damage we've done, or that's been done to us. Sometimes the damage catches us by surprise. Sometimes we think we can fix the damage. And sometimes the damage is something we can't even see.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

i love shoes

stupid boy
let's get some shoes

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Friday, November 10, 2006



We cannot prevent what we cannot predict.


Sunday, November 05, 2006


While I look at the whole dulux colour chart of emotions,
he has the unique ability to see things in black and white.

the coffee shop series

10:52
in the morning and

snowing.

i stare between the wipers
and wonder if it will stop

or continue.

i close my eyes
and i think about how

ambiguity has never been
a state

i could
tolerate.

i need to know now.
It is necessary to suffer to be beautiful.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Indie Rockers Hate Halloween



Written to benefit UNICEF's Halloween Trick or Treat Fund

North American Halloween Prevention Initiative:
Arcade Fire's Win & Regine + Redd Kross' Steve McDonald + Beck + R.E.M.'s + Joey Waronker + Buck 65 + Rilo Kiley's Jenny & Black + David Cross + Roky Erickson + Devendra Banhart + Sloan's Chris Murphy + Elvira, Mistress of the Dark + Smoosh's Asya & Chloe + Feist + Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore + Gino Washington + Sparks' Russel Mael + Les Savy Fav's Syd Butler + Subtitle + Islands' J'aime + Sum 41's Stevo + Malcolm Mclaren + Tagaq + Peaches + That Dog's Anna Waronker + Postal Service's Jimmy Tamborello + Wolf Parade's Dan & Spencer + Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O

Monday, October 30, 2006

masks - happy halloween


"People had a habit of looking at me as if I were some kind of mirror instead of a person. They didnt see me, they saw their own lewd thoughts, then they white-masked themselves by calling me the lewd one."

Marilyn Monroe
1926-1962

Nelly Furtado - All Good Things


Madly in love with this song.

Dogs were whistling a new tune
Barking at the new moon
Hoping it would come soon so that they could die

Honestly what will become of me
I don't like reality
It's way too clear to me
But really life is daily
We are what we don't see
We missed everything daydreaming

Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end

Travelling I always stop at exits
Wondering if I'll stay
Young and restless
Living this way I stress less
I want to pull away when the dream dies
The pain sets it and I don't cry
I only feel gravity and I wonder why

And the sun was wondering if it should stay away for a day until the feeling went away
And the clouds were dropping and the...
The rain forgot how to bring salvation
The dogs were whistling a new tune barking at the new moon
Hoping it would come soon so that they could die

Sunday, October 29, 2006

outlets


People need outlets. Outlets for sex, jealously, love, greed, affection, violence.
Anyone who studies the subject knows that energy cannot be reduced or annihilated; if denied outlet in one form, it soon finds it in another. However, in these substitue forms it is more insistent and obsessive in character than when normally expressed.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Fascination (2005)


Deleted scenes from 'Fascination' featuring Adam Garcia, henceforth referred to as "he of the fabulous ass".

unbalanced?

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Good Charlotte's video for "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl"




Let the record play,
Let the record play,
Let the record play.

The way that you dance,
The way that you move,
The way that you stare at me across the room,
You carry Dior bags,
And you got your Chanel,
You wear Louis Vuitton, HG, and YSL,
Now I got what you need,
I got DCMA
I got brass knuckles hanging,
From my neck in my chain,
I got a model 26,
But she stays in her place,
I got a curve shirt neatly,
Tucked inside in my waist.

sometimes i feel like i am just a well-dressed caboose on a train full of leaders.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006


"As far as socially redeeming value, I hope I don't have any.
Sometimes I wish I was a woman, just so that I could get an abortion.
If you can make someone laugh who's dead set against you,
that's the first step to winning them over to your side."

~filmaker John Waters

Monday, October 23, 2006

Lily Allen - Littlest Things

Flawless Lily from the U.K. Very 30's Hitchcock. Great melody, voice, piano, and overall execution.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

signs


"People break down into two groups when they experience something lucky. Group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck. Just a happy turn of chance. I'm sure the people in Group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in very suspicious way. For them, the situation isn't fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own. And that fills them with fear."

From Signs,
M. Night Shyamalan

[figure text: first fate, then luck]

Friday, October 20, 2006

wake up


wake up, baby. virtual ipod player.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

the W


wishes wanderlust wonderful whatever whenever
i've made the same wish on the same star every week since i've been 12
.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Friday, October 13, 2006

letting go of the familiar

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

We like familiarity don’t we? People, places and things that we have knowledge of or have encountered or seen bring us some form of comfort, safety, security and an element of control. I think of how many folks stay stuck in relationships, jobs, geographically etc. simply because they are familiar with their surroundings. For some it means giving up control of their life and to trust in fate. Sometimes the unfamiliar is just so cold, aloof, unfriendly, and leaves that empty homesick feeling in the pit of our stomach.

-
French writer Andre Gide

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

i am sick of hearing

"Wow, you're really nice. I thought you were such a bitch."
Conclusion: smile more.

"Has anyone ever told you you look like Jodie Foster??"

Conclusion: kill. and kill again.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

"What about my brain? What about my heart? What about my kidneys and my gallbladder?"
Scarlett Johansson, voted Esquire's Sexiest Woman Alive, on her other attributes

Friday, October 06, 2006

impulses


At any given moment, the brain has 14 billion neurons firing at a speed of 450 miles per hour. We don’t have control over most of them. When we get a chill...goose bumps. When we get excited...adrenaline. The body naturally follows it’s impulses, which I think is part of what makes it so hard for us to control ours. Of course, sometimes we have impulses we would rather not control, that we later wish we had.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Parkour - acrobatic fantastic

Parkour as featured in the "JUMP" video:
Parkour (IPA: [paʁ.'kuʁ], often abbreviated PK) is a physical discipline of French origin in which the participant — called a traceur (/tʁa.'sœʁ/) — attempts to pass obstacles in the fastest and most direct manner possible, using skills such as jumping, vaulting and climbing, or the more specific parkour moves. The obstacles can be anything in the environment, so parkour is often practiced in urban areas because of many suitable public structures, such as buildings, rails, and walls.

Madonna - Jump (preview)


There’s only so much you can learn in one place
The more that I wait, the more time that I waste

I haven’t got much time to waste, it’s time to make my way
I’m not afraid of what I’ll face, but I’m afraid to stay
I’m going down my own road and I can make it alone
I'll work and I'll fight, Till I find a place of my own

Are you ready to jump?
Get ready to jump
Don’t ever look back, oh baby,
Yes, I’m ready to jump
Just take my hands
Get ready to jump

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

today i hate complainers, the idea of falling, green foods, silence, and the color orange when not used appropriately.

second art post

Monday, October 02, 2006

All Saints - Europop


Stylish, pure, delicious pop from the U.K.

Monday, September 25, 2006

How to Act Crazy


SOURCE
You never know what situation might call for you to act completely wild. Maybe you need a day off, or maybe your relationship is bad and you need an out. Whether you're acting for stage or film, or just acting for the effect, here's how to pull off looking crazy without actually going nuts.

Steps

  1. Always reply, no matter what you have just done, that you are "okay" or "fine." Repeating this over and over at various volumes of voice can really enhance your effect. Never say "I feel crazy." That is a dead giveaway.
  2. Be subtle. Don't overdo it. Instead of screaming swear words at people and claiming to be "seeing" things, maybe talk in a low whisper and look at "someone" next to you who isn't there. Imagine that the person is 2 feet tall and blue with green polka dots--but never reveal that.
  3. Pick a theme. If you are all over the place, anyone with a minimum amount of education will be able to discern that you are acting out too many diagnosable maladies, outing you instantly. Pick one central theme and stick with it - people are after you or talking about you, or you are capable of some superhuman ability (e.g. hearing thoughts, seeing pictures in dogs' minds, reading the future using alphabet soup). Keep it consistent and again, subtle. Don't go overboard or be comedic.
  4. Don't appear harmful. This is important. Don't threaten yourself, nor anyone else. Should superhuman ability be part of your "psychosis," make it be super speed or smell; flying will only make people think you're a jumper. Anything you do that violates this rule can get you locked up; you don't want that--it's a bad way to spend your free time.
  5. Avoid using any psychological terms. Don't say words like psychosis or delusion because - let's face it - if you have a clear understanding of those afflictions - you're probably not afflicted by them. Although, some mentally ill individuals may know what these terms are, they are usually are in treatment and on medication, therefore, stable, which is something you want to avoid when acting crazy.
  6. Wait for the desired effect. Don't make it apparent that you want to go home or need something for what is going on with you. If you are doing a good job, what you want will be suggested in due time. You will know this is happening when someone says "Do you need to lie down?" or "Maybe you should head home for the day."
  7. Practice. You'll feel silly, but crazy practice does make crazy perfect. You can do it in a few ways, at home in front of the mirror, or out in untested public - just make sure it's not the environment you plan on being 'crazy' in when you go to do it for real.

    • At home, find an area of your body that you have never had to itch. Now, scratch it. Now, look off and upwards in a random direction and scratch that part of your body like a flea was biting it. Now stop suddenly and remain motionless.
    • Next, practice looking at objects nearby like they had said something either a) evil about your mother, or b) terrifying. When you look at the object, cast your glance at it like you were looking directly, but actually look at something 5 or 6 feet behind it. Do this several times.
  8. Be creative and research. A good "crazy" has many aspects to it, and when they come to you at random and in high frequency, you will find yourself able to fit the role of insane quickly and comfortably. Plenty of TV shows and movies are great resources to get new ideas from.
  9. Use caution. When the time comes to be serious, do it. What you do want is the ability to "act crazy." What you don't want is to actually be crazy. And just in case the situation doesn't go as you expected, you want to still be able to get it together and reassure someone that you were just fooling around. See the Warnings below.
  10. Know when to use your new found power. Someone asking for your wallet? Not a bad time to mumble under your breath about drinking the urine with just a little blood mixed in. A cop asking for your license? Give him your license and keep crazy under wraps.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

i do not work too much

" They say the #1 killer of old people is retirement. People got'em a job to do, they tend to live a little longer so they can do it." -Kill Bill
.

cake overload

My 27th has arrived. I am not the person I thought I'd be. In some ways I am more, in others I am less, but either way I am content.

Friday, September 22, 2006

One of my all time favorite books

"Running With Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs has been turned into a movie. Watch the Trailer here
.

Monday, September 18, 2006

You Are A Martini

You are the kind of drinker who appreciates a nice hard drink.
And for you, only quality alcohol. You don't waste your time on the cheap stuff.
Obviously, you're usually found with a martini in your hand. But sometimes you mix it up with a gin and tonic.
And you'd never, ever consider one of those flavored martinis. They're hardly a drink! Take the quiz

Sunday, September 17, 2006


these are the days i crave all year. window open, dusk, smell of someone's fireplace drifting in.
i smell rain coming leaves falling
the air is shifting, cooling towards another season.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

work featured on BBC

Anticipation 'boosts bad memory'
Brain image
Volunteers had their brains scanned
Anticipating a gruesome or traumatic event makes it more vivid and deeply imprinted in the memory, a study says.

Researchers found if people were aware something was going to happen, a key memory-forming part of the brain fired.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison said the findings may have implications in the treatment of conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study, based on 36 people, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

click to read the rest of the study done in our lab.

Friday, September 15, 2006

warning: grey's anatomy season 3 spoilers

how to save a life

artist: The Fray
title: How To Save A Life

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

How to save a life
How to save a life

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Valeze - Search and Destroy

Iggy Pop's '70s hit classic punk song "Search and Destroy" got a facelift recently from Chick-fronted Brooklyn Electro-Rock band, Valeze.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Monday, September 11, 2006

September 11

In commendation of the day our country meant something.
when people focused on surviving and helping and healing
and crying never forgetting that they have seen the worst of humanity,
and the best of humanity.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Bob Dylan - When The Deal Goes Down

Simple and original, also starring Scarlett. Dylan tops the charts with #1 from Modern Times.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

first art post: paris, 1998




one of my first paintings. watercolor on white board, circa 1998

Monday, September 04, 2006

Friday, September 01, 2006

My favorite actress has given me a cameo: second to last line

Well Played: Scarlett Johansson

View source

"Yesterday, we expressed displeasure for Scarlett Johansson's choice of activewear at the Venice Film Festival. So we were delighted to see that when she changed for the premiere of her film The Black Dahlia, she went with something we were far less likely to be found between the covers of Land's End.

She's switched to a red lip, but it's a rich, dark one, rather than a bright, knock-you-backwards red that rarely works unless if a bunch of really hot firemen are adjacent to it.

And the dress is actually really interesting -- it's not something that would ever have attracted me personally, yet I think Scarlett looks smashing in it. The cut and the fit combine to create a very sleek and tall figure indeed; the cinched waist gives the illusion that her legs go on for days. And with her new hair and her healthy (and natural-looking, miracle of miracles) skin color and tone don't allow themselves to be washed out or overshadowed by the pale fabric hue. If, say, Nicole Kidman wore this, she'd disappear and/or risk looking sickly, but on ScarJo the gown isn't wearing her -- she is wearing the hell out of the gown.

In all, it's very old-movie chic, a welcome dash of Deborah Kerr in this day and age.

Now I need to go wash the good cheer off my hands."

MORE SCARLETT: STARRING IN BOB DYLAN'S NEW VIDEO

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

truth


sometimes i think i am an analyst because i would rather observe than participate with everyone in life.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Damage Control


We all go through life like bulls in a china shop. A chip here, a crack there. Doing damage to ourselves, to other people. The problem is trying to figure out how to control the damage we've done, or that's been done to us. Sometimes the damage catches us by surprise. Sometimes we think we can fix the damage. And sometimes the damage is something we can't even see.

Things I love today


Hummingbirds
The swirl of silk
on bare legs the smell of grass
Leaves
Dark clouds freckled with light

Wet noses
Fuzzy blankets
Wind
Laughing
Fall

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Hard Fi -

From the dead boring outer ring of London's suburbs comes Hard-Fi. They merge disco, punk and dub until they sound like the late seventies post-punk scene having a fist fight with itself.

air



i am sick sick sick sick
of being the prodigy child
the charming host
the laughing
talented musician
the brooding artist
i just want to stretch out
my fingers and toes
on the grass
feel hot sun
nap
think about nothing
and everything

or nothing

Monday, August 14, 2006

there's no stature in it



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Bob Dylan says the quality of modern recordings is "atrocious," and even the songs on his new album sounded much better in the studio than on disc.

"I don't know anybody who's made a record that sounds decent in the past 20 years, really," the 65-year-old rocker said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Dylan, who released eight studio albums in the past two decades, returns with his first recording in five years, "Modern Times," next Tuesday.

"You listen to these modern records, they're atrocious, they have sound all over them," he added. "There's no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like ... static."

Dylan said he does his best to fight technology, but it's a losing battle.

"Even these songs probably sounded ten times better in the studio when we recorded 'em. CDs are small. There's no stature to it."

Orwellian Neuroscience


"Your worst enemy, he reflected, was your nervous system. At any moment, the tension inside you was liable to translate itself into some visible symptom."

-George Orwell, 1984

Sunday, August 13, 2006

WHY FAT IS BACK IN HOLLYWOOD
"In an industry rife with painfully thin stick figures, women with some meat on their bones are—lucky for us—rising to the top. PLUS: A visual smorgasbord of the sexiest plate-scrapers ever." Original article in Men's Style Magazine




“The curve,” Mae West observed, “is more powerful than the sword.” Measuring 38-24-38, the five-foot-one sex goddess spoke from experience—lots of it. West’s bodacious successors—women like Catherine Zeta-Jones, Drew Barrymore, Rachel Weisz, and Kate Winslet, who hold fast to their cushioned curves even as their peers downsize more aggressively than General Motors—understand that maxim. Their faminista sisters do not. Now, the bigger-(relatively speaking)-is-better argument could easily be made with logic. But a growing faction of actresses who appear to have a healthy relationship with carbohydrates are making the point better than any polemicizing ever could.

Line Hollywood’s wispy players up next to the lush likes of Scarlett Johansson, Lost siren Evangeline Lilly, Liv Tyler, Big Love star Ginnifer Goodwin, and an increasingly curvy Mandy Moore. Who would you rather slow-dance with? Seriously, would you prefer to get a Grey’s Anatomy lesson from an hourglassed Katherine Heigl or a reedy Ellen Pompeo? Nicole Richie or Nicole Richie at 50 percent off? Madonna “Like a Virgin” or Madonna “Hung Up” on Yogilates? Here’s a one-woman argument for roundness: Gretchen Mol. After going virtually unnoticed in some 20 films, the cherubic starlet put on a few pounds, took off her clothes, and gave a breakout performance as the world’s most famous pinup in The Notorious Bettie Page.

“The pinups didn’t have ‘perfect’ bodies. They didn’t go to the gym. They did Jack LaLanne exercises, those lazy leg lifts,” says Mary Harron, the biopic’s cowriter and director. “It was a more forgiving era. I think constant dieting makes people crazy. It gives them this strained look.”

You see that look in the faces of formerly fleshy sexpots who have morphed into pinched, prematurely aged superwaifs. What do they do for fun? Food and sex are appetites inextricably linked in the human psyche. One could speculate that for those obsessed with not eating, even the boyfriend’s salami goes the way of the bread basket.

A certain young actress whose figure has been closely scrutinized by the tabloids recently came out in defense of padded bones. “You want to be called sexy, and you want to have tits and an ass,” she said. Perhaps those of her peers still busy whittling themselves down to a size zero should adopt that statement as a mantra.

“Curves are all good from where I stand,” says writer and director Neil LaBute, whose plays—The Shape of Things, Fat Pig—have occasionally been inspired by the subject of weight. “I’m working with Maura Tierney right now, and she’s a picture of what a great American girl looks like. It’s not even that she’s particularly curvy. But you get the sense she never spends time worrying about what anybody else thinks about her weight. She appears incredibly comfortable in her skin.” Which, as everyone knows, is sexy as hell.

“In Hollywood, there’s a domino effect of envy and competition among women,” says Adrienne Ressler, a body-image specialist with the Renfrew Center in Philadelphia who identifies the prevailing ethos as: The skinniest girl wins. And indeed, when so many actresses make millions, rake in designer clothes, and land modeling contracts, the thinnest of the thin always stand out from the pack. We just hope that the Goodwins, Moores, and Mols taking to the screen flip that paradigm on its head—and represent the shape of things to come.


Rose McGowan


Monica Bellucci


Katherine Heigl



Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita)


Elizabeth Taylor