Things that have been keeping me sane through a very nasty cold:
GLIMPSE (above). An awesome AVANT Magazine fashion editorial/video (which, unfortunately, I can’t embed) set to Sigur Rós’s “Glósóli.” Go, click, watch it. I am totally in love.
Coloring books. Disney Princesses + colored pencils = love. I feel like a kid again.
Metric. I am going to see them perform with Band of Skulls at Mr. Smalls Theatre two days before Thanksgiving. YES! I can’t even describe how excited I am.
Pontypool. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, go find it. It’s scary AND it makes you think.
Buying plane tickets. All my old friends will be here in early to mid-December—score!
Three days of chili—the best of the best—from my roommate, and corn muffins.
Matthieu reading to me, playing Rummy with me, sitting through first-season ER (mmm…George Clooney), and carrying me to bed. Every night.
All these things got me through the week, and I am thankful for them. There were probably more, and if I forgot what they were, I am sorry…my sense of time has been a little off.
P.S. It has come to my attention that post comments were recently unavailable (I’m not sure for how long). It’s fixed temporarily for now, so comment away—and I’ll keep an eye on it in the future.
For those who are ill, get well. The rest of you—stay the course.
Guess what tonight is? Thrill the World! Just in time for Halloween. That means that after midnight on Sunday, October 25 (precisely 12:30am GMT/UTC–please correct for your time zone), thousands of people will be dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” at the same time! Clearly, you should too. Visit the website for more info, including plenty of info and videos on learning the dance.
P.S. If you have trouble loading any pages on the website, try again–they’re up and running, and are probably suffering from too many visitors.
And as if that weren’t enough: for those of you who haven’t heard it, here is the official, previously unreleased “This Is It,” which Jackson originally recorded in 1983 (permanent video link here and here):
For those interested, the new album will be available worldwide on October 26 & 27. Check out the official website for more info.
Did you notice this is turning into an MJ post? It’s out of my hands now.
On another note, here is a fascinating article about Michael Jackson’s children, and the life they shared with him. This also offers a brief look into Jackson’s life before his death and what will follow for everyone involved. It’s unbiased, informative, telling, interesting, and at times lighthearted–definitely worth a read.
And speaking of Bazaar, Janet Jackson did their October cover shoot–and there’s a great interview with her (her first since Michael’s death), which details her current projects and future plans, as well as a glimpse of her last days with Michael, their relationship from childhood to adulthood, and how she’s dealing with his passing. A brief read, but a worthy one.
Can you guess who I’m being for Halloween? Let’s pray my glove gets here in time. I promise photos.
And so, in the spirit of Halloween and all that is good-hearted, I must share with you the Cult of Michael Jackson–based on the teachings of MJ, with a chapel for Jacksonites in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Visit the website to gawk, check out the artwork, view and download the scripture (it’s hilarious and spiritual), and partake in the 10 Laws of the Boogie. I sure did.
Hawksley Workman–for those of you who don’t know, a little Canadian gem of a musician–has had me enamored watching old music videos all night. I remember well (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves in 2001, when “Striptease” came out. Those were good times. Here are a few of my faves.
Toybox is back after a two-week hiatus (courtesy of grad school and other issues). This past week was especially overwhelming and bittersweet, so I’m keeping this brief and including a few of my favorite Smashing Pumpkins videos for old-school, angsty atmosphere. Here’s to sharing our sorrow and wonder.
At sixteen I was so vulnerable to every influence
That the overcast light, making the trash of addicts & sunbathers suddenly clearer
On the paths of the city park, seemed death itself spreading its shade
Over the leaves, the swan boats, the gum wrappers, and the quarreling ducks.
It took nothing more than a few clouds straying over the sun,
And I would begin falling through myself like an anvil or a girl’s comb or a feather
Dropped, tossed, or spiraling by pure chance down the silent air shaft of a warehouse,
The spiderweb in one fourth-floor window catching, in that moment, the sunset…
(read the entire poem here)
And that’s it. Thanks for bearing with me, and please do watch those videos. They are the breath of me right now.
Grad school has just started up again, and I’m finding that I missed it a bit (but not too much). Here are some cool/sexy/nerdy links that have carried me through the week (and will hopefully do the same for you through the weekend).
Remember that post I made about unobtainable shoes? It seems we’re moving toward a solution, for some: if you’re outside the United States, and want something here which you can’t have shipped to you, GIMME GIMME has got you covered.
Created by Andrei Gheorghe of Romania, The Longest Poem in the World is composed entirely of rhyming twitter updates, aggregated in real-time. Growing at over 4,000 verses a day, this behemoth is no fine literary work, but it’s interesting nonetheless. (Thanks, Matthieu!)
Anonymous confessions are mailed in on postcards for your viewing pleasure at Post Secret. Great for voyeurs (or you could mail one in yourself). Some of these are intense.
The Impossible Project is teaming up with Urban Outfitters in a mission to bring back the polaroid. Awesome! You can also support this project with a t-shirt.
Speaking of Urban Outfitters–in the mood for free indie music streaming and downloads? Go have fun listening to strange music (past and present!)–I’m loving this lately.
Happy Friday! I hope your weekend is filled with many adventures and much weirdness.
Welcome to the new Toybox (now free from the constraints of Tuesday). I’m playing around with posting days/methods, so bear with me. Here are some awesome things I’m loving this week.
Luxirare’s last post on an MJ-inspired outfit was jaw-dropping–now check out these homemade potato chips, and tell me she’s not an artist. I love this blog!
Check out this aerial New York alphabet created by British researcher Rachel Young with Google Maps. (Thanks Nubby!)
How great is this fantastically colorful vintage Moschino “Union” jacket at Nasty Gal? I’m green-eyed at whoever buys and pulls that off–j’adore.
Remember the Yellow Bird Project? In addition to their awesome indie rock charity t-shirts, they’ve just released an Indie Rock Coloring Book, “with over 25 hand-illustrated designs dedicated to indie and YBP musicians.” It can be yours for $10, and the proceeds go to YBP and supported charities. Not to mention they’re having an indie rock tour to kick it all off. Definitely check it out!
Joshua Langlais of Denver, CO loves strangers–so much, in fact, that he snaps photos of them and features one every day of the week. Check out his project at I Heart Strangers.
“The Edge” by Bob Hicok:
One day the kid showed up with a tattoo of a stapler
on his shoulder. The others had tattoos of geckos
and fish and the Incredible Hulk, an emerald
Lou Ferrigno against a background of fire. He’d
have been beaten up except they were dazed by it,
not just the precise cursive of the word Swingline
or the luster of the striking plate but the fact
of the stapler itself. He got the last pizza
at lunch and was touched on the wrist by a girl
at the fountain. This made him believe he was real
in a way breathing never had. Over the next
few months he stopped feeling he lived
on the wrong side of the mirror. There
was an election & his name was penciled in
on a few ballots. The guy with the red Camaro
gave him a ride home and let him pick the music.
In second-period French he stood to ask
what Harcourt Brace knew all men wanted to know,
if Monique and Evette would join him Saturday
on the sailboat. First the teacher cried,
then the students sang the Marseillaise
because in four years all he’d ever said
was comment allez-vous? No one questioned the tattoo.
Who’d believe he got up to pee and it was there,
just as the image of the body of Christ
appeared one morning on the thigh
of St. Barthelme of Flours. Otherwise
their stories differ. St. Barthelme was stoned
to death. The kid went to homecoming in a tux
with blue cumulus cuffs and a girl
embarrassed by anything but the slowest dance.
And that’s it! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It may take me a while to get into my new posting groove, but I’ll be riding the wave regardless; thanks for coming along. Until next time.
Lots of fashion links this week–I won’t lie, I’m in a shopping kind of mood, and nothing else. The hard-edge glamor of the 80s is something I’ve always admired, and it’s coming on strong right now–but with feminine cuts, modern shapes, and some retro influences mixed in. Here’s what’s inspiring my wardrobe right now:
The lovely Natasha Khan, and her song:
80s Purple:
Nasty Gal:
Urban Outfitters:
Spanish Moss Vintage:
Recent ad campaigns at Bebe (click images for more). Fall 2009:
“Pin-up” Collection 2009:
Balmain (of course):
…and last but not least, MJ. I nearly wet my pants from excitement when I saw this post at Luxirare. Check it out–you will not be disappointed:
Garlands by Head Case. Flower crowns for everyone!
Okay, so I’ve had some of this stuff around for a while, but it all deserved a home. This is the only kind of stuff I want to think about right now. I hope you all continue to have a lovely, dreamy summer.
](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4344568559_13909b8ca6_s.jpg "yyellowbird posted a photo:should i do a 365 thing, guys?i've kindof been thinking about it lately, but i have some reservations. i already have well over 365 pictures of myself, so i'm not sure what i'd need more for, so i'm just thinking about it, and i'd like your opinions, if you have any.i'm not sure i'd have the time to keep up with it, but i'm looking for something to challenge myself with this year. i know taking self-portraits isn't that hard for me, so i'm wondering if there's a way i could make it more interesting. i could do 365 pictures of not-myself, but i'm sure a lot of these will be done in my house when i get home from school/work late at night, so taking pictures of objects around my house might get old. plus, there's usually more options for pictures with people in them.or i could do 365 not-photoshopped pictures, but i <3 photoshop lots and i don't feel like it's that much of a crutch for me (though i assume lots of people might think otherwise). plus the whole bragging about \"sooc\" is kindof lame, ngl.i could also try to write a small something to go along with each picture.so i don't know.also, where would i post them? on this flickr, i imagine, but then where would i post pictures that were not-365 related? i know it's generally better to post as little as possible each day and not bombard flickr, but that's difficult enough for me as it is. i could make another flickr for a 365, i guess.so, yeah, what do you guys think (assuming anyone cares)? any ideas to how i could liven up a 365 project? how do you guys approach it, if you do at all? what are your reasons for doing it? do you think it's kindof a boring/generic thing to do? if i were to do one, do you think i should post it here, or make a new, 365-exclusive flickr/tumblr/something else? i would like to know your thoughts on anything, if you wouldn't mind telling me. :](for the record this picture is a few weeks old, not the beginning of a 365.)")
