I'm Fucking Cool

Remember this post from a few weeks ago, featuring the video for Justice's "DVNO"?

Well, the music blogger over at the Wired mag website just posted about it today:

Music Video Shows Utter Mastery of Title Sequence Technology

....................................
Remember this one, about rickrolling, the greatest internet-message-board-prank in ages?

and did I tell you that I convinced the DJ to rickroll everyone at MEX (in PowerPlant Live!) last Thursday night?

Well, the same aformentioned Wired music blogger posted some quotes from an AMAZING interview with the man himself, Mr. Rick Astley. It's fucking priceless.

Rick says:

I am aware of it obviously...

It's weird, really, because I don't perform much anymore... I'm going to do a few gigs later this year with some other people from the '80s... [ML says: WE NEED TO BE THERE]

It's a bit strange anyway, to be honest, to have videos of when you were a young guy out on the internet, do you know what I mean? I'm 42 years old now, so it's a little bit weird anyway... It makes me laugh -- I'm sure it really annoys a lot of other people -- but it's made me laugh occasionally.

The moral of the story is, I feel validated in my hipsteryness.

I'd Do Your Mom If She Looked Like An Aston Martin

One of luxury auto brand Aston Martin's latest ads:



[as discovered on Adrants]


NICE.

Paris Changes Everything

Who else watched the season premiere of The Hills on Monday?!!
& who else is just dying to get to Paris now??! & hopefully be taken on a romantic midnight tour of the City of Lights on a vespa by an indie rocker??!

While I could write pages upon novels about the episode, I'll just share an interesting news item:

Whitney Port (the darling, perfect-skinny Teen Vogue intern) is launching her own fashion line, as reported by Fashionista, reporting on a clip in WWD.

PORT OF CALL: "The Hills" star Whitney Port is the third cast member (after Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag) to jump into the fashion fray: She's launching a young contemporary line called Eve & A for fall... a 17-piece collection of convertible dresses, tops and jackets that will wholesale for $40 to $250 ... Port designs cocktail and partywear, much of which should be appropriate to don at her next gig as an intern at the public relations firm People's Revolution. Women's Wear Daily, Friday March 14th

That means that 3 of the 4 main Hills cast members (the others being Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag and Audrina Patridge) now have their hands in/names on some sort of apparel.

So now when they're not fighting for screen time, they'll be fighting for shelf space at retailers...



............
More News from The Hills

- Nude pictures of Audrina (from post-high school, pre-The Hills days) have recently hit the net [links to a TMZ article]


- Heidi will be putting her name all over clothes to be sold at Anchor Blue stores under the name "Heidiwood," retailing at $10-$60. She will also be a brand "spokesmodel." ...keep it classy, Ms. Montag.

And While We're on the Topic....

I got yet ANOTHER bloomingdale's catalog at work today! Seriously, they need to chill out with the paper waste.

I wasn't even going to read this one - rather deposit it directly in the recycling bin - but my boss wanted to check it out.

Reading this catalog basically consisted of us flipping pages and going "that's sooo cute" or "that's SOOO UGLY!!!" at every picture.

One picture warranted an OMG:


Stuart Weitzman "Indiana" Jelly Flip Flop, $155 @ bloomingdales.com

First of all, they are jellies. Why do shoe designers insist on trying to bring these back every Spring/Summer season?? Seriously, they are jellies. Uncomfortable, childish, and they make your feet smell.

and secondly, they are obvious knockoffs of a classic:


Jack Rogers "Navajo" Thong, $88.95 @ Nordstrom.com

These are the iconic resort sandal, and arguably distinctive. Down in Florida, all of the fashionable rock these with their designer bikinis and sundresses. The not-so-fashionable match them with their silly Lilly Pulitzer dresses*.



and I recently got this exact pair (silver) and can't wait to wear them next week on Spring Break in Ft. Lauderdale yahoooooooo:D

*p.s. - Lilly Pulitzer's tag line is "Via Palm Beach," but they are based in King of Prussia, PA. I find this hilarious.

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Jessica Simpson Strikes Back

...her shoes do at least.

Remember these, from a post way back in November of '07?



They remain a favorite pair of shoes (despite a lack of any practicality).

So of course I was shocked (SHOCKED!) to see this ad for H&M in the latest issue of Nylon.




Hey now! Check out the platforms on that model!
I feel so trendy. The H&M shoes are Sp2008, and I got mine around xmas 2006...

Thank you Jessica Simpson <3


p.s. from far away, doesn't the H&M model kind of look like Jenah from ANTM cycle 09??

I Don't Celebrate Easter, But Have a Happy One Anyways

Jigsaw Fashions

Bloomingdale's has been bombarding me with catalogs ever since they got my work address (from a failed online order...looong story).

The catalogs are oddly disappointing, and honestly, a waste of paper. They usually go into the recycling bin after a quick flip-through.

But the catalog I received today caught my eye, with these adorable flats on the back cover:


Kate Spade "Puzzle" Leather Ballet, $295

So whimsical! So clever!
I feel like these could amuse me for hours. Which is probably a bad things because (1) I'd be looking at my feet all day and (2) a puzzle with 2 pieces should probably be above my intellect. And yet I can't help but want them.

and check out their cousins, the puzzle-themed sandal:


Kate Spade "Frannie" Puzzle Sandal, $350

Kate Spade is way too preppy for me, but I give her serious props for the creativity. Jigsaw puzzle pieces get their 15 minutes of fabulousness!

Nerds in Real Life (or, 1337s IRL)

I saw this on Fells Point on Sunday, and had to share:




hahaha

Urban Cowgirl Style

This handbag is absolutely gorgeous, especially in the Red Dirt color. It's not garishly primary, not quite brown, neutral but not boring, and hippie-western in the most posh and uptown way. It's timeless and seasonless... definitely the kind of bag that makes your other bags jealous of how much you use it.





Bella Large Satchel by Frye, Red Dirt, $495 USD






Can I borrow $500??

Nerd Bling

It's no secret that I am a huge nerd and hugely obsessed with fashion & glamour.

Today on NotCouture I discovered something that fabulously combines my two loves:
precious metal rings, bearing the periodic table icon for their material.

The Periodic Rings from INN: It's No Name.




Love the self-referential nerd-fashion irony. And educational too!
They are available for purchase, and I'm seriously falling in love with the silver one...especially because it's the only one I could possibly afford.

Silver (Ag) $205 USD
14K Gold (Au)$2200 USD
Platinum (Pt)$6500 USD

I'd also love to see some more exotic elements in the future: Titanium, Palladium, Copper, Tungsten (actually this wouldn't really work for this ring, as Tungsten is only safe/useful in jewelry as Tungsten Carbide, which is obviously not the pure element).


BTW, these would have been really fantastic in Chem101.

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday

Sunday:
The Justice show was absolutely incredible. It exceeded my expectations in every possible way.

Imagine the best dj in the world, times a million.

Sonar was a cool venue. The room wasn't huge (much smaller than Roseland, bigger than 8x10). The stage is low, and you can get fairly close. Lots of bars around, and easy to get to. My main complaint is that they don't allow cameras (apparently ever, not just for certain shows), so my only pictures are on my phone (read: shitty). I'm not sure they are even worth posting. There is one where you can kind of make out the cross-shaped light that makes up their main stage setup, let me know if you want to see :)

Jamie, Kevin and I had a ton of fun. The energy was way up, the music was awesome (of course), the crowd was chill, and I even got a compliment on my outfit from 2 random stranger girls.

For the record, I was wearing: hotpink & black stripe cardigan,black As Cities Burn t-shirt with syringe doodle on it (they used to be screamo and now kind of suck - they played a Take the Mic show at Delaware once), jeans cuffed up to show my hotpink Chuck Taylor high-tops (the "Notebook" style), and (the best part) a piece of hotpink lame that I tied on my head as a headband, Native American style. I looked fucking rediculous, and I fit right in
(did I mention this tour was sponsored by MySpace?).

We danced & drank & just had a rediculous amount of fun. It was a-fucking-mazing.

Monday:
I was super-sick, and had to call out of work.




But it was worth it ;)


Wednesday:

Finally went for my way-overdue hair appointment. For color I wanted to go black, but my stylist (Angel) talked me out of it for a number of reasons (my hair is damaged, the spring sun will ruin it, you'll never get back to your original color, etc.).

And for the cut, I brought in this picture of Ashlee Simpson:



And these are the results (please don't judge me, this is right before bedtime!):






I'm obsessed with the new cut and color. You like??

4 Capital Letters

As of Wednesday I am officially going to the Justice show on Sunday at Sonar!

Obvi I'm superstoked.
& right now I'm even more excited because Jamie just sent me their latest video, for DVNO.

Definitely check it out...even if Justice isn't your thing, watch the video - the graphics are fantastic. Probably one of the best videos I've seen in a long time (actually, who sees videos anymore? they certainly aren't on MTV). I am loving all the imagery - but I don't want to give anything away, so you'll have to check it out.

So give it a watch and let me know you thoughts, because I'm a big fan :D

Never Gonna Say Goodbye

If I said "Never Gonna Give You Up"...would you start singing the whole song? Because I definitely did.

Apparently there is an internet prank going around, called being "Rick Rolled"... and it's actually kind of hilarious:

"...in a rickroll a poster provides a link they claim is relevant to the topic at hand which actually takes any one [sic] who clicks it to the Rick Astley video...In connection with the online meme, "Never Gonna Give You Up" was played and performed at some of the February 2008 protests against the Church of Scientology." - wikipedia

(I think the very last part of that is actually the most hilarious)

Ben mentioned this song/meme to me tonight, so I did a little YouTube-ing. And found the VH1 PopUp video for the song. POP UP VIDEO! I LOVE THAT SHOW!

So I just had to share the glory of a Rick Astley Pop Up video.




You can thank me later.

Bitching Stitching

Way back in the day (middle school-ish), I took a class on cross stitch, a traditional form of embroidery (I was about as cool then as I am now).

I never really finished that sampler (of a house & a tree & some other things), and never really kept up with embroidery. But I think it might be coming back into my life - maybe as a warm-weather alternative to yarn crafts (knitting, crochet)?

There are two main motivations for this renewed interest:

1 - my synagogue (at home in NY) is making a commemorative quilt, with each family given a muslin square to decorate. being the resident crafty, i was put in charge of my family's quilt square, and ended up embroidering it (free hand) using some basic supplies from AC Moore. it wasn't great, but definitely a fun project.

2 - more importantly, my boss shared this website with me: Sublime Stitching...
they specialize in hand embroidery patterns, and fucking AWESOME ones. They have everything from monkeys to cherries to skulls, and the pattern sets are so adorable. With names like "Unicorn Believer," "Viva Las Vegas," and "Om Sweet Om," they are freaking irresistible!








I'm seriously thinking about ordering some patterns or checking them out at a local retailer... this could be really addictive. The pattern sets are only $3.50 - or 4 for $12.50. They are iron-on patterns too, making life a whole lot easier (especially for someone who HATES counting stitches). Plus embroidery thread comes in a huge spectrum of colors - lots of deep, saturated colors which i adore - so the same pattern can be re-thought in a completely new color story. You can get a great idea of the color variety on the DMC website.

I keep thinking of all the great projects that could be born from these fantastic embroideries - T-shirts, tote bags, pillow cases, scarf details - all handmade, one of a kind, and exactly my style.

I'm already getting excited!

I Got My Name From Rock and Roll.

On Wednesday, Ben & I went down to the 930 Club in DC to see Wilco.
I had bought the tickets ages ago and it was finally here. On top of that, I had been waiting about 2 years to see Wilco, after I was unable to join Ben for their show at Penn's Landing (because of my stupid retail job). So needless to say, I was pretty stoked.

& they did not disappoint.
Unlike a lot of other acts, they sounded just as good (if not better) live as they do on their albums. Nels, the guitarist, was phenomenal and of course Jeff Tweedy was fantastic. His voice is haunting... and he even warmed to the crowd for some witty banter. But not too much witty banter, which I appreciated, because I usually find such patter contrived and frankly, stupid. But Jeff Tweedy is way too cool to be contrived.



&& the best part? They played for TWO AND HALF HOURS.

FUCKING AWESOME. And they played a really good 2.5 hour set, mixing new tracks from Sky Blue Sky with older songs. All really great songs (not that there are any bad Wilco songs). And two encores. Overall it was just AMAZING.



I wasn't sure if this video would just come out as a garbled mess, but it's pretty decent quality for a point-and-shoot digital camera...and you can get a feel for how great the show was:


"Jesus, etc." from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (which also happens to be one of my favorite songs)

Set list:
"Sunken Treasure"
"Mountain Bed"
"Company in My Back"
"You Are My Face"
"Side with the Seeds"
"She's a Jar"
"Shot in the Arm"
"Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again)"
"Handshake Drugs"
"Pot Kettle Black"
"Roses Bloom"
"Impossible Germany"
"Simple"
"Someday Soon"
"Box Full of Letters"
"Always in Love"
"Pieholden Suite"
"Jesus Etc."
"Hate It Here"
"Walken"
"I'm the Man"
"Humming Bird"
"On and On and On"
"Via Chicago"
"California Stars"
"Casino Queen"
"I'm a Wheel"
"Monday"


I really, really, really want to see them again.

[setlist from NPR]