Bill Eppridge for Life Magazine

I just spotted this over at Honestly WTF and thought it so fabulous that I had to share.

"From 1960 to 1963, over fifty million skateboards were sold in the US. Skateboarding was clearly becoming a growing sport and eventually in May of 1965, this fun-loving street activity landed on the cover of Life Magazine. These images, snapped by staff photographer Bill Eppridge in New York City, are as stylish and timeless as they were over 50 years ago. Wouldn’t you love to see more New Yorkers on skateboards these days?"

More Eppridge photos and an excellent blog: Honestly WTF

NYC Tweed Run

NYC's annual Tweed Run: "A bike ride with a bit of style" sponsored by Ralph Lauren. Super, super, super cute!More photos via From Me To You

Happy Holidays!!!

1950's How-To Vintage Eyeglass Selection

Fabulous!
Via Eye Heart Glasses

East Austin Art Tour

The East Austin Art Tour, or referred to as the EAST tour by locals, has been going on for six years now however, this past weekend was the first time I have ever attend myself. In the past I've had to work every weekend and missed it entirely but not this year. Along with SXSW, the EAST has got to be one of my favorite events in town--oh, and along with the city-wide Christmas caroling/tree lighting event at the Capitol and hosted by the public radio DJ John Ailey-a man who you either love or hate here in Austin.

So at the EAST tour I met two very cool ladies that I hope to meet up with again soon.

Lady #1-Denise Prince. Right after I worked on the multi-media project, Don't Bring Me Down: A Hypothetical Band, I found her work and loved it. On account of her theatrical and staged quality of her work, and how similar it was to DBMD, I had grand dreams of working with her in the future. And now what do you know, she and I talked at her gallery and she asked me to send her the link to DBMD, which I promptly delivered. (Smile!)
Lady #2-Sarah Wilson. Another photographer who takes rather staged-looking photos for magazines. I sure would like to be friends with her too. She created a photo, that I can't seem to find online, that was in Texas Monthly several years ago which was part of the HAMM Foundation's naked musicians calendar: Kinky Friedman sitting above an old-fashioned dunking booth with the bullseye right in front of his crotch, a cigar hanging from his lips, under a circus tent. Sarah said that she got the news that she had been assigned Kinky for the naked calendar and was distraught about having to shooting him naked. So she devised this dunking booth scenario so he wouldn't actually have to be naked and had to have the whole scene built...I thought that was pretty funny. She has done a series of photos on the annual prom thrown by Austin's School Of The Deaf. The one below is from that collection.
EAST will also be going on next weekend and you should totally go if you're in central Austin-it's great!

Gatsby Summer Afternoon

Hello fabulous!

I just read about the annual Gatsby Summer Afternoon festival in San Francisco. Who knew such a thing existed? I would absolutely love to attend this one year. This was the 26th year they've put on this shin-dig; every September 13th.
Via Dandyism.net

Ahh! There is an Art Deco Society of California! How freaking fabulous is that? Oh say no more, my heart has melted.

For Those Who Oppose Beauty Pagents

Here she comes: Saudi's Miss Beautiful Morals
By Donna Abu-Nasar

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Sukaina al-Zayer is an unlikely beauty queen hopeful. She covers her face and body in black robes and an Islamic veil, so no one can tell what she looks like. She also admits she's a little on the plump side.

But at Saudi Arabia's only beauty pageant, the judges don't care about a perfect figure or face. What they're looking for in the quest for "Miss Beautiful Morals" is the contestant who shows the most devotion and respect for her parents.

"The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants' commitment to Islamic morals... It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks," said pageant founder Khadra al-Mubarak.

"The winner won't necessarily be pretty," she added. "We care about the beauty of the soul and the morals."

So after the pageant opens Saturday, the nearly 200 contestants will spend the next 10 weeks attending classes and being quizzed on themes including "Discovering your inner strength," "The making of leaders" and "Mom, paradise is at your feet" — a saying attributed to Islam's Prophet Muhammad to underline that respect for parents is among the faith's most important tenets.
Pageant hopefuls will also spend a day at a country house with their mothers, where they will be observed by female judges and graded on how they interact with their mothers, al-Mubarak said. Since the pageant is not televised and no men are involved, contestants can take off the veils and black figure-hiding abayas they always wear in public.

The Miss Beautiful Morals pageant is the latest example of conservative Muslims co-opting Western-style formats to spread their message in the face of the onslaught of foreign influences flooding the region through the Internet and satellite television.~

Whole article here.

Dissolving Atoms & Molecules

It's been so slow at work today on account of the rain, and thus I have had ample time to watch TED tv online. Technology, Entertainment, Design is an annual conference that takes place in Long Beach where 5o people each year give an 18 minute talk of their choosing. Kat introduced me to the site and reccomended I watch this one first. Jill Bolte Taylor, brain researcher, talked about her own stroke that occured 15 years (?) ago. Actually really, really interesting in my opinion.

Right brain=all about the "right here, right now". Thinks and feels in images. Cyclical. Community oriented.
Left brain=linear think. Concerned with past and future. Connects current details and moments to future/past moments. Individually oriented.
What she says is eerily reminiscent of eastern religious rhetoric.

Oh Come On! It's Funny...

I just spotted this on the AOL 'news' site.

And guess where it happened?! In little ole' Austin. This is yet another reason why I love this place. Apparently some people broke into the sign's power box and reprogramed the message. I personally think this is awesome, however the City's officers say it's a serious crime and whatnot. I believe there have been some variations on the same theme..."Caution! Zombies!! Ahead!!!" and "Nazi Zombies! Run!"

Portfolio is Gone

I finally sent off my portfolio for school on Tuesday. It's such a relief to have at least one thing off of my list. I'm feeling terribly boring at the moment. I'm either thinking about portfolio/school, the fake band project, or my man. So now, at least one of those is scratched off my list, to free up a little room for mundane, "hey, I was reading about this crazy thing today..."--you know, simple fodder for dinner time conversation.

And to leave you with:

I read this really excellent essay by Henry Kissinger about needing to create a "New World Order or Retreat To Chaos". I thought it was rather good. Here you go.

We have a date!

I spoke with the venue manager this morning about our band art opening. It's all set. We have a date for Friday, February 27th! Yay!

Now that we have a definitive completion date, I think it'll be easy to make deadlines and such, along the way.

And something to leave you with...Thank You For Throwing Your Shoe.
(By way of the Fabulist)

"Muntadar al-Zaidi is the Iraqi journalist who was arrested for throwing his shoes at President Bush. This is a photo project devoted to letting al-Zaidi know that people from all over the world share in his outrage over the war in Iraq. We do not condone shoe-throwing, but we prefer it to war."

People from all over the world are taking photos to shwo solidarity with al-Zaidi...they're great. Chrissy, we need to do this!

Waraw, IN

Vancouver, Canada

Just

I know this is a bit old, but I was going clearing out all my old emails (I've kept them since 2004) and found that a friend had sent this to me ages ago when I was super into graffiti as an art historical movement. And well, it's held up over the years; it's still damn cool.



One of the great Radiohead tracks and drummer Phil Selway's favourite song on 'The Bends', 'Just' combines self-loathing lyrics, a particular viscous guitar riff and middle-eight to die for. For his cover Mark Ronson not only enlisted the help of the formidable Daptones horn section (The Dap Kings) but Alex Greenwald, the lead singer of Phantom Planet (best known for 'California', the theme to 'The OC').

A dynamite combination of snappy horns and dusty drum breaks, 'Just' belongs to the cover canon of Quantic Soul Orchestra's 'Get a Move On', Alice Russell's 'Seven Nation Army' and the Daptone's own 'What (Have You Done For Me Lately'. The man behind 'Just' is one of the most sought after DJs in the world and, as one half of AllIDo Records, Ronson is currently working with Chicago rapper Rhymefest, Australian soul singer Daniel Merryweather and fabulous pop goddess Christina Aguilera. His cover of 'Just' won early support from Gilles Peterson, Zane Lowe and Jo Whiley on Radio One as well as Eddy Temple-Morris on XFM, making this one of the most exciting BBE releases in years.

Interiors of Music Fame

K sent me a link to an article on apartment therapy that of course, I loved. It is 70's pop stars photographed in the homes of their parents/grandparents. I really do have a thing for 60/70's musicians. I especially love reading the biographies of their girlfriends (Marianne Faithfull, Suze Rotolo, Patti Boyd)

Frank Zappa

Grace Slick

Elton John

Donovan, Jackson 5

David Crosby

Eric Clapton

If I Got a New Tattoo

When I was growing up The Point was one of my 'videos' I got to watch when I visited my dad. When I got older I would ask my friends if they had ever seen the film but most people had never heard of it. This seemed strange to me because it is animated just like Yellow Submarine and is narrated by Ringo Starr--I thought these two points would cause The Point to live on forever in the psyche of a Beatle fan. Not until two years ago (?) when the film was re-released did I find it again! And then to find that Harry Nilson wrote the story and the music? It was heaven!

Here's the booklet from the CD I found at the UT library. I totally love the illustration style of the comic. I figure that IF I ever got another tattoo then I would have to have the image be in the style of another awesome graphic illustrator, and I think I have found a winner in these drawings below. Trick is finding a symbol I like. And also a special occasion, a reason, a place, etc, etc.







A sample from the film...really the soundtrack that Nilsson wrote is awesome. I think this is my favorite song right now. (ah! there was even a play of The Point in London starring two guys from The Monkees)

Won’t you bimah, bimah baby tonight.

I may have mentioned it in the past, but I'm a huge fan of pick-up lines. Some of them are hilarious and very inventive.
Examples from the latest batch of lines I just discovered...

want to go fiddle on a roof?

do you want to spin my dreidel?

You had me at Shalom

you must not be kosher for passover because you’re makeing my matza rise

Why don’t you slide your matzoh balls o’er here next to my gefilte fish.

hey whale, do you wanna swallow my jonah?

You know how it is with Jewish culture, everything begins at sundown!

Here's more...
But damn, some of them are cheekily lewd...I dig.

Sparks Like Flint

Among the things I have a giddy facination with, is stylized 1960/70 films...see Myra Breckinridge, Barbarella, or CQ. I love the soundtracks, the ludicriousness of it all, and the mod clothes and sets. I think it has to do more with the whole aesthetic than any deeper meaning. Too bad I can't think of any more movies that fall into this genre other than James Bond films. If anyone has ideas then let me know.

Anyhow, I mention all this because I think it would be a fun challenge to create some outfits based on these types of movies. Not based on outfits already seen in the films but more on the general zeitgeist, or maybe just on the movie posters themselves. Like the Flint movies. (and what's up with James Coburn having the exact same posture in both posters? maybe change it up a bit? or did they do that with putting different items in his hands?)

Indian Thriller

This is the most beautiful thing I have seen in three weeks. Priceless! Priceless!



My mom sent this to me today and I couldn't stop laughing. It's the Jackson moves interpreted in the Bollywood style that does me in.

Paris in the Year 2000

I found the Paleo-Future blog today. Fabulous. There are several more of these awesome French prints produced in 1910 that envision Paris in the year 2000. Attributed to Villemard. I need say no more.

Flying Policemen

At School

The Electric Train from Paris to Beijing

Car Shoes

Heating with Radium

Art On Buildings

Mural right down the street from my house. On the side of a independent graphic design studios.


Mural in London I liked. Shoreditch.

I'm a huge fan of art on buildings, of graffiti on buildings, of buildings just being buildings. I think that the argument that "stations and trains covered in graffiti make users of the railway think that the vandals are in control, not railway management or the police" is a bit extremist. But for some people I suppose that statement above is completely in line with the way they feel..."Graffiti is often the first element in a spiral of decline."

I first got interested in graffiti after reading Aerosol Kingdom in an art history class in college. I really liked the concept that it was the big democratic movement that grew out of a racially divided NYC; that if you could 'write' and were adventurous enough to break into rail-yards at night, then you were cool regardless of your ethnicity. There were all these Hispanic/Black, Jewish/White groups of kids running around painting, dancing, making music. I found out about one of my favorite writers that later became a well-known gallery artist, Doze Green, through this book.

When I Rule The Fashion Runways

In the debate over whether to emphasise the theatricality of a runway show or to keep it minimal and let the clothes speak for themselves I stand firmly in the camp of the former. If I were going to have a runway show then I would definitely try to...introduce opera singers into the fray (has this been done before?), or Gene Kelly-esque dancers to escort my models down the runway, or use a really excellent background like Dutch designer Henrik Vibskov used in the pictures below. And as far as the clothes, I would want to get political with it and reference obscure facts within the folds of the organza...it might be inevitable that I will become as a designer, like my friends in college who would trade off "oh have you heard of this obscure band?". And that is also why I cling to my Madonna fanclub so dearly--one must stay pedestrian in this day and age in order to not get beamed up in the anti-Wall-E ship...which reminds me, check this dude out, the hip-hop video blogger, Ill Doctrine (The Wall-E Theory).