The Many Hats of Isabella Blow

Ya gotta love her.

Happy 78th Birthday Dame Elizabeth Taylor!

Born 27 February 1932

"The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues."

She truly is a national treasure, isn't she?

Her twitter account has been terribly quiet lately. I hope she is well.

One of my favorite onscreen couples. . .

Steve McQueen and Natalie Wood in Love With the Proper Stranger

Happy 169th Birthday Pierre-Auguste Renoir!

Born February 25, 1841
Died December 3, 1919

"The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself and carry you away. It is the means by which the artist conveys his passion. It is the current which he puts forth, which sweeps you along in his passion."

From Blip.fm - Joanna Newsom

Off her new album, Have One On Me. This woman makes the most beautiful music. ♫ http://blip.fm/~lq3i8

This makes me laugh.

Earth FROM SPACE

I've been following this astronaut named Soichi Noguchi on twitter because he has been posting the most amazing photos he has been taking of Earth FROM SPACE. What follows is a small sampling. Underneath each picture is what he tweeted when he posted it:
 

"Lake Pukaki in New Zealand. I love the color!"

 "Arabian desert.As I told you before, desert is beautiful." "Moon rise over Australia. Taken from Cupola side window."  "Oh, Paris! Lindbergh saw these nightlights 83 years ago, on 'the Spirit of St. Louis'." 

 "Northern Australia. Impressive river flow."

  "Night view of mid-Japan. The far left is Akashi, and the far right is Hamamatsu." 

"Bucharest, Romania"

 

"Molvides Island, Indian Ocean. Breathtakingly beatiful!"

You can link to his entire photostream HERE.

Ewan McGregor for Davidoff Adventure

How come I didn't know about this?? This commercial is so super cheeseball, but I don't care. I love anything Ewan does. I would buy this cologne for my boyfriend but he doesn't wear any. I guess I could always wear it myself. . .





Mmmmmm, yes please.

Happy 77th birthday Nina Simone!

Born February 21, 1933
Died April 21, 2003

"Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music."

Vampire Weekend - Contra - My Review

I’ve been listening and listening and listening to the new album from Vampire Weekend, Contra, and mulling over how I want to write about it. It’s really, really, really good. I had to warm up to their first album. At first I just didn’t get them. I grew up a huge Paul Simon fan – I even saw him in concert when I was 14 years old WITHOUT my parents – and at first listen VW sounded like some strange, young derivatives of his genius. But eventually I came to see them as being something entirely new. I still can’t really put what that "something new" is into words though. Sometimes I feel they could be described as the musical equivalent of Whit Stillman’s film Metropolitan but that’s not quite it either. Bah! I give up.

Their new album takes everything they did on their first one and punches it up tenfold while also adding in a bunch of romance and positivity. Lyrics like "I see you shine in your way, go on, go on, go on" and "Said never pick sides, never choose between two, but I just wanted you, I just wanted you" are absolutely dripping with good feelings. These good feelings are nice because the time in 2008 when I saw Vampire Weekend live they came off a little bit like elitist a-holes. At that time I didn't really care if I ever saw them live again, but with this new album my faith is restored. I'm eager to see them live! With this album they are not trying to maintain that Ivy League, Polo ad image that they projected with the first album, but despite NOT trying they are still achieving it, but not in an elitist a-hole way, but in a "Hey! This is who we ARE!" way. Does that make any sense?

Wow. I read over this and it's an awkward review. I can't corral my thoughts! Just take away this: their new album is fantastic with more fun, romance, and positivity and I really like it.

Here's their new bizarro video, guest starring a Jonas brother, Jake Gyllenhaal, and RZA (among others), for Giving Up the Gun:

Duckie Brown Fall 2010 Menswear

If I were a boy, I'd want to wear this entire line.











Originally posted on Tom & Lorenzo

Christina Hendricks on the cover of New York Magazine

Yes, please.
Love her.





Article: Woman of the Hourglass
On all the talk about her curves:
"It kind of hurt my feelings at first," she says. "Anytime someone talks about your figure constantly, you get nervous, you get really self-conscious. I was working my butt off on the show, and then all anyone was talking about was my body!"

On Mad Men:
"We’re really spoiled on Mad Men. Lots of television actors use the down season to go out and get creatively fulfilled, but I feel the opposite. Anything else I get to do is just icing."

One of my favorite real life couples. . .

Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull

I know they were terrible for one another, but their relationship sure inspired some amazing music.

Art I Love

The Exorcism of the Waves by Alessandro Magnasco, 1735

Violent. Beautiful.

Let's Go

Jean-Paul Pecqueur, photo by ME, July 2009

Let's Go by Jean-Paul Pecqueur

Patty wants me to write a poem titled
"Poem in Homage to this Poem" mostly
because it has always been about love with her,
about needing to explain away the obvious with her
with reference to the slightly more obvious—
hunger and its descending call notes,
fire’s recourse to flame.

With her it’s all let’s go to the store let’s go to the movies all the time.
It’s all round and round in some Rorschach’s pond
of spontaneous intent
like free falling in an empathic elevator.

If she wasn’t at work right now I would need to invent her.
If the stores ran out of sugar,
if the bees abandoned their hives,
if I wasn’t teaching right now I’d surely call her.

The classroom’s been set on fire, I’d say.
Someone spilt sun all over the desert.
And I’ve this pain in my head that aches like seltzer.
Let’s go and see about those shoes.




***I am lucky to know the Patty of which Jean-Paul speaks in this poem. I know Jean-Paul too, but not as well as I know his Patty. Reading this poem is like looking through a little window at their relationship and I appreciate the candor and smile at the love.

Jean-Paul has a book of poetry. You can buy it HERE.

You can also read more of his work HERE.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope someone gives you a big kiss today whether you like it or not!

MicMacs!

I don't know if they can top Amelie but I will be first in line to see this!

Dear John - My Review

I saw Dear John last weekend (apparently helping it topple Avatar’s perch at the top of the box office – booya!) and guess what? I didn’t hate it. There was a semi-positive review on Cinematical.com (by a man no less!) which in mentioning that the film was directed by Lasse Hallstrom, whose past films I have enjoyed, allayed my fears somewhat about seeing another Nicholas Sparks weepie (I had seen the last one, Nights in Rodanthe, just because Diane Lane starred in it, but it was AWFUL). So when my sister said that she was taking my niece to see it I decided to join them. Of course a well respected director was the last thing my fourteen year old niece and her girlfriend cared about in going to see this film. They were going for one thing and one thing only: Channing Tatum. They worship openly at the shrine to all things hot and buff that is Channing Tatum. Personally, I don’t get it. I’m not in the least bit attracted to him. He’s like a big monkey to me. Really. Look at him closely – he’s very simian. I have to admit the only movie I had ever seen him in was G.I. Joe which is not really the kind of movie that lets you gauge how good an actor one might be.

In Dear John I found him to be surprisingly affecting and genuine. It’s the typical Sparks formula: boy meets girl, boy and girl have a very, very short time together before life (he’s a soldier, she’s a student) drive them apart. Can their love survive the separation? Not if you want the entire movie theater to bawl their eyes out! Luckily this story had interesting side characters that populated these star crossed lovers lives and they were portrayed by actors as stellar as Richard Jenkins and Henry Thomas. Incidentally, as soon as he appeared on screen, my sister whispered to me, "Who is that actor, he’s familiar?" and I pointed my finger at the sky and said, "Ellllliiiiiooott!" She laughed. Sorry Henry Thomas but you will always be Elliott, doesn’t matter how old you are or how many different roles you play.

Richard Jenkins is a fantastic actor. As John’s quiet, possibly mildly mentally challenged father (at least I think that’s what the film was driving at), his veteran acting skills practically stole the entire movie away from his younger, inexperienced co-stars. And Henry Thomas played the over protective best friend role very well. I don’t think his character arc came as a surprise to viewers, but apparently it came as a huge surprise to Channing Tatum’s John. So silly.

I just realized I said nothing about our romantic leading lady Amanda Seyfried. She was ok. I bought her in the early scenes, but after the characters were supposed to have aged several years and lived their difficult lives, she was a little less convincing. She is uniquely beautiful though. I’ll give her that. Although that has nothing to do with her acting.

So yeah, this film was fairly predictable but under the assured hand of director Lasse Hallstrom it was well acted and showed some welcome restraint in the over manipulative weepie department. The music was great and I was pleased to hear The Swell Season during the love scene. Any movie that uses The Swell Season in critical moments is ok by me!

RIP Alexander McQueen

RIP Alexander McQueen.
The fashion world will miss you.