Monday, May 31, 2010

Obsessed with this song, thanks to my good friend over at Enjoy Music



Momma's Boy by Chromeo

Saturday, May 29, 2010

excellent recent eBay purchases:
cat-eye sunglasses, to replace the one's I lost in Brooklyn

Live To Ride leather and denim vest
does this need an explanation?
Go America

Friday, May 28, 2010

Wildfox Couture makes videos as well as they make clothes. Which is, to say, very very well.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Sex and the City 2: Adventures in Failure

Let's be honest. When they announced a sequel to the first Sex movie was in the works more than a few of you had some reservations. Sequels are usually terrible and slightly diminish the appeal of the first one that maybe you actually liked. Call me crazy, but there's something about taking a good thing and just raking it over the coals to capitalize on its prior success that just doesn't work.
This is what happened with Sex2.
I'll preface this review by saying that I love the series AND the first movie. I own the pink collector box set of all the seasons, I'm a Samantha, whateverdon'tjudgeme. But I was not at all excited for this movie, least of all when I saw the revoltingly airbrushed posters and anti-climactic trailer. I knew this would be bad, so I went in with not a single expectation to avoid disappointment.
Yet somehow I was still let down.
I won't go into a full break down of the film, I do not have the patience to relive it. But a few key points beg addressing:
1) WHY DID STANFORD MARRY ANTHONY WHEN THEY ALWAYS HATED EACH OTHER.
This makes no sense to me (and if you weren't a fan of the series.... skip this, you won't know what I'm talking about); remember when they were first set up together and it was so bad they didn't speak for like the next 3 seasons? Remember how Stanford always called Anthony 'that bitchy queen' and Anthony called him fat? This seemed to me a very sad, thrown-together union that Michael Patrick King came up with because there weren't any other minor characters to force into marriage/excessive pageantry. We have no one else... oh hey, wait there's two gay characters LET'S DO A GAY WEDDING!!! Even though it contradicts basically everything except in the first movie when they're randomly friends!! This upset me, a lot.
2) There was no plot to this movie. If you had to sum it up.... Carrie has minor mid-life crisis that is really just her being bored and unsatisfied with her perfectly amazing and well-provided for life (and frankly a huge spoiled diva - you don't need to go out every night to have 'sparkle' in a marraige, you wastrel), creates a 'problem' for her and her marriage (more boredom), makes fake problem a real problem by (SPOILER ALERT) kissing Aiden (Ok, like you really didn't see that coming? please, the trailer was too transparent for words), has cliche revelation when she thinks she might lose Big and realizes hey, my life was pretty awesome and I fucked it all up by being whiny and high maintenance. But even that is a stretch. It was more like a bunch of random scenes thrown together and geld by the rehashing of Charlotte's anxieties about Harry and the hot Irish nanny and Samantha's impending menopause problems.
3) We get it, Samantha, you are really going to miss your sex drive when menopause fully sets in. It was funny at first; no one appreciates a really terrible sex pun more than me - Lawrence of MyLabia? pure gold - but after awhile it gets really old. Like you. I'm sorry, I really am, you were always my favorite and I usually think you're actually funny, unlike Carrie who is just insipid and begging for a slap 90% of the time. But as the movie dragged on you were a huge contributor to my next off-color point which is...
4) The movie perpetuates the American idea that we can go to foreign countries, ignore the local customs and traditions, be huge overbearing assholes, and get away with it. Miranda spends the entire trip to Abu Dhabi (which was basically the whole film) trying to teach the girls about Arab culture, failing the whole time. Carrie repeatedly wears Eastern-looking clothes that make her seem shallow - a metallic rainbow head wrap? really? that's all you got from this culture? And Samantha has blatant disregard for every possible Arab social custom, even getting arrested for kissing on the beach. What is usually just her headstrong independence translates to "bigoted American tourist" here; every move she makes induces cringes.
5) Racism. It has to be said. The stereotypes of Arab people and culture keep on coming here, and it's really unsettling. Burkas and the veiling of womens' mouths is a big conversation topic - the women watch, gaping and laughing, as they see a veiled woman eat french fries. She is a spectacle. They then attempt to launch into a spiel on women's rights, talking about how 'it's like they just want their women silent, like objects or property'. oh, how insightful ladies. regular feminists over here everyone! Oh, and that last part, where the Arab women "rescue" our four heroines from a mob of men angry that Samantha spilled her condoms all over the market (totally irrational, right?) and end up having Louis Vuitton under their burkas? Definitely not egotistical at all. All cultures bow to the U.S. Of course people would wear another layer of clothing resembling American dress underneath their robes; who cares if no one sees it, deep down, they know they're conforming!
6) Why even bring Smith back if you're just going to have him go to the premier with Samantha and then never show him again?! You can't tease us like that; Smith is too beautiful and too close to the perfect man. I wanted that to work HARDCORE. This little cocktease of a cameo was BULSHIT.


There were a few things I did like. Miranda and Charlotte get drunk and have a bonding sesh about motherhood, which not only let's us see Charlotte as a fallible human (not comically flawed, like usual, but with real emotions!) but has two women ONE OF WHOM IS NOT CARRIE talking about real things. It is really really rare to see any of the four doing anything, least of all have a serious discussion, without Carrie, and this gave us a welcome break from the Bradshaw Show. Miranda was generally my favorite in this film, which is NEVER the case. Shes the only normal one here, without any of her usual high-strung uber bitchiness, and her jokes are on-point without being repetative (cough, Samantha). Also, despite my problems with the idea of the Stanford/Anthony union, the wedding scene was awesome. So many Liza Minelli jokes. So much Liza in general! She does the Single Ladies DANCE for her cover. The woman is in her 60s! That's amazing. Kudos.
The fashion was unremarkable. A lot of Halston, which makes sense given SJP's involvement with the brand. Too many sparkles. Carrie wore a tux to the wedding, which I really loved. But there was too many attempts to look 'Arabic' or 'Eastern' or whatever (camel scene, when they walk over the dune. Never have I been more upset with a costume department. Although making Samantha look like Cleopatra, complete with white hat-that-looked-like-a-wig, was so crazy it almost worked). As always with Carrie, there were hits - generally anything she was wearing in her apartment, especially the white suit she came back from Abu Dhabi in - and there were misses - that weird green striped sweater during the wedding brunch? that enormous straw hat on the plane? - so for her character... pretty typical. Everything else... eh, more of the same. There was basically no emphasis on fashion, unlike the first movie. If the movie had had a strong plot this would have been understandable but it didn't, so including more (or better) fashion would have at least given it a boost.

Overall... total bomb. Shoulda kept it buried; now it's only going to leave that bad-sequel aftertaste on top of an otherwise-successful run.
For shame, ladies.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Get In My Belly, pt.1

cosmopolitan cupcakes (in honor of SATC2)

seared sesame tuna with avocado and citrus mayo


mexican chicken with corn on the cob

all images: foodgawker.com

Tuesday, May 25, 2010


shamelessly pilfered from Tavi, but whatever - this is for anyone who asks why I like fedoras so much.

truth, as I continue to slog through Infinite Jest.

Monday, May 24, 2010

the best

from Kingdom of Fear

"I haven't found a drug yet that can get you anywhere near as high as sitting at a desk writing, trying to imagine a stroy no matter how bizarre it is, as much as going out and getting into the weirdness of reality and doing a little time on The Proud Highway."

"I was sitting here all alone, thinking, for good or ill, about the Good Old Days.
We were Poor. But we were Happy. Because we knew Tricks. We were Smart. Not Crazy, like they said. (No. But they never called us late for dinner, eh?"
-letter to Jann Werner, Rolling Stone

Hunter S. Thompson

Monday round-up

Because it's foggy and gray and there's nothing to do but INTERNET!

1. Though the new Sex and the City looks ultra heinous, this got me amped like none other. Liza Minnelli covering 'Single Ladies'. Yeah, it's just as awesome as it sounds.

2. Chirp Radio. This Chicago-based indie radio station has a really amazing mix of little-known, local, or foreign bands as well as more popular tracks (the past 5 minutues: The Dead Weather, The Hussys, Lali Puna, The Futureheads). Each of their DJs keeps a frequently-updated playlist and the site has a podcast available to stream. Great source for random new tracks.

3. Toothpaste for Dinner

4. Famous artist temporary tattoos!


sweet tooth

I've got a ridiculous sweet tooth, and now that I have a kitchen again, this is first on my list:


Little Debbie oatmeal creme pies are my all-time-fav packaged snack. I buy one every time I walk home from the bar, and sometimes make midnight runs to the gas station for one. These look about 80 times better, and aren't full of preservatives and/or aspertame.
Props to my baking-inclined friends Caroline for this. Check her blog as well!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

While you wait...

check out how amazing my brother is! This is a skate deck he turned into a sign for an art show featuring pieces made from blank decks.
Give you $100 if you can guess what the quote is from (without googling it!).Don't you want to hang it outside instead of a tacky welcome mat?

Saturday, May 22, 2010

orange is the new pink

I used to hate orange. As a kid I classified it as an "ugly color", along with brown, grey, and army green. Coincidentally, those four colors have marked both SS10 and AW10 with spring's neon everything and the utilitarian revival in both spring and fall. Even so, I hadn't really thought much about the color this winter - February in New York doesn't exactly scream citrus - until on one of my tri-weekly visits to Walgreens to feed my nail polish addiction I stumbled upon this gem by one of my trusted favs, Wet n' Wild.
Instantly converted. I started craving orange; my found favorites from a two-day NYC shopping binge were from Uniqlo: a denim mini-skirt and pair of shorts (see bottom) in an almost identical shade, as well as a less neon linen button-down with tiny white pinstripes that made me think of creamsicles

I'm not the only one. SS10 was ripe with OJ, clementine, tangerine, nectarine, and occasionally their cousin peach. Lanvin and Blumarine were big fans, as were a few streetwear brands. Below, examples you can't afford, followed by those you potentially can.


Lanvin SS10


Blumarine SS10


Anna Sui SS10




MaxMara SS10 advertising campaign



Karen Walker Eyewear


And for not just wishful thinking:

romper by Insight Summer'10

sweatshirt by Wildfox Couture; 80'sPurple.com

romper by Roxy; roxy.com


shorts by Uniqlo; Uniqlo stores



Thursday, May 20, 2010

On a Scale of 1 to Disappointed...



American Apparel is really annoying. Their advertising campaigns are porn people with eating disorders, they charge upwards of $30 for cropped Ts you could make yourself with a Hanes and a paint pen, and their stores are always run by uber stuck-up hipster bitches. They have somehow managed to take an awesome idea - sweatshop free, U.S. made clothing - and turned it into the bastion of all that is condescending and overpriced. They also kinda hate women; recently a "best ass" competition was held and... need I mention the ad campaigns again? Yes, they're (likely) consented to but they are also definitely not helping to promote the image of women in the media. Needless to say, I dislike that store a lot. However, I'm also a huge hypocrite; every once in awhile I really need a gold lame´ bandeau bra, and with one on every corner in New York it's like the drug store of random clothing necessities (I hate myself every time I check out but... what are you gonna do?).
So although I don't condone the way they run their company or operate their stores... would I like to see them shutter their doors forever?
AA is running entirely in loans right now, and their latest - a paltry $80 mil - needs to be paid off by June. And with a reported 7% decrease in sales for the first quarter as compared to last year's figures, it doesn't look like a lemonade stand and some discounted v-necks will pull them out. Especially as their stocks fell 40% yesterday, when multiple news stories came out revealing the company's serious financial woes.
Is the company totally fucked? ehhh. Probably not. As a 20-something fashion-conscious female, I'm well aware of just how much money that pit of despair rakes in; they got my money, they got my best friends' money, and they got all the paychecks of the residents of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And that's just in New York. Maybe sales are down but they still make tons of cash and the founding idea isn't too far down the tubes to be saved; re-structure their budget and make a few tweaks to their body image promotion and they could be back on track. Someone out there with enough cash to invest knows this. It's doubtful that everyone in the financial world is unaware of the potential market this place harbors; I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that come June, AA will be just as brazenly nude-tastic as ever.

But if not, on a scale of 1 to disapppointed... I'd give it a 3.





Americana: the best color scheme.
necklace: Obey. ring: Stussy. shoes: Melissa.
all 80spurple.com

Go America

I'm sure as hell not a Republican, but I have to appreciate this Alabama man's ad campaign. Pure manipulative imagery at it's finest. The gun, the horse, the accent - makes me want to eat a hot dog and wash it down with some fine JD.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010





A few gentle orchestral notes, a smattering of applause… and a pushy violin breaks the still air, a gong sounds. Operatic chants begins, tinkling reminiscent of computer-speak in old sci-fi movies resonates. 30 seconds in and Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid is heralding itself with the oddest amalgamation this side of the Y2K scare.

In pre-release interviews Monae has cited Hitchcock, bad robot invasion movies, and famous hair styles (Princess Leia’s buns?) as influences, as well as verifying the album’s namesake: “I think androids are sexy”. But whether or not you’re a fan of mechanical humans, you can and should be a fan of her. Delving deep into the archives of deep South jazz and soul, her music infuses these with technologic – not electronica, as this bares no resemblance to house or pop music – jingles and warbles. Her debut EP, Metropolis: The Chase and an accompanying tour with the doyennes of all weird shit, of Montreal (who also add vocals to a track on ArchAndroid), helped put her on the map, but it was her unbelievably strong vocals belting from a pint-sized tuxedoed frame that garnered her acclaim. Considering the small number of songs released prior to this album, the hype over The ArchAndroid was substantial. And it’s definitely been met – the album is not only a fearless blend of genres and styles that resonates loudly and smoothly throughout but also a very welcome new voice and style that isn’t like anything currently being produced.

The mix is more than odd: it’s ultimately soul with parts jazz, R&B, and classical, but the overriding theme is futurism: the android’s voice is a wavering lazer, his laugh an electric xylophone, and he is not to be overshadowed by this mere human. This first track is purely instrumental but the second, ‘Dance or Die’ ft. Saul Williams, is a tango of snares and computed riffs where she asserts what is to come: “Baby can you understand the clock will never rewind”. There is no pause into the next, appropriately named Faster. The drums are incessant and are actually the frontrunner to the gently accompanying electric guitar. The repetitious chorus of “Faster and faster I should run” combines with that incessant beat to assert that this album will be anything but langorous. Time moves fast, the future is now. “I’m a weirdo” she interjects. Perhaps. But that’s the appeal; in this age of the cyclical female pop star (Lily Allen, Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse, Ke$ha) a ‘new’ voice is barely deserving of that adjective as it usually sounds the same as last year’s chart-topper.

This first half of the album, Suite II, does not center on a shattered or budding romance, unless you’d like to stretch out an analogy to humanity’s love for technology. She makes statements on the reality of living in today’s world, saying “in this life you spend time running from depravity/ This is a cold war/ you better know what you’re fighting for” in ‘Cold War’ and “so much hurt/ in this Earth” in ‘Oh, Maker’. Suite III is a bit slower, the emphatic drums taking, if not a back seat at least a middle, to purer trumpets in ‘Neon Valley Street’, unaltered guitar chords in ‘57821’, and a generally more prevalent keyboard and xylophone. Her wails descend to croons but do not lose the heart for a minute. Here we feel her step away from the futurism for a moment, touching upon tender togetherness in ‘Say You’ll Go’. It’s a more classically based second half, which poses a beautiful contrast to the punches and gyrations of the first. If Suite II was Monae’s iconic dance moves – combinations of the twist, Michael Jackson’s toe-stands and Elvis’s hips, all struck by lightenting – Suite III is the crisp cleanliness of her white tuxedo and wide, long-lashed eyes.

The combination is her social commentary, saying in an interview: “People think, ‘Oh god, robots are going to kill us!’ I don't want us to think that because I want my music to unite as many different species and humans and everything as possible. I don't want my future kids living in fear of anything”. She’s taken her Southern and Midwestern roots and made them modern, literally: technology is the future. She’s banishing stereotypes and breaking the female singer/songwriter mold all in one. Expect (even) big(er) things from Monae in the future.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Everyone's favorite Canadian pseudo-family-band the Arcade Fire have finally tickled our anticipatory fancies with this little postcard signaling an upcoming release, posted on their website this morning:


Amazon has a single listed for a June 1st debut, but their website also had the banner "The Arcade Fire Presents: The Suburbs" for a few days before suddenly taking it down. New LP name, perhaps? Is that the single? Don't know, but my heart's a flutter anyway (along with all you Funeral lovers).

exams are finished...





just replace taxes with school.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Things and Stuff

Let's just jump right in, shall we?

It's Friday, get some ants in your pants.



Janelle Monae's Tightrope ft. Big Boi, her latest single from the almost-released album The ArchAndroids (which I have already and will post a review of later), is absolutely fantastic. This video is ultimate Monae, the hair, the hip gyrations, the off-beat tux; she's a pint-size Elvis on speed. It's one of those videos that make imitation - subsequent white kids dancing to soul - almost acceptable.
But for serious, check this. And all you neophytes who have yet to grab the download...make sure to mark May 18th when the album debuts for real.