Liberation...Liberate Me

It's on. September 2nd, Hammerstein Ballroom. This extravaganza is only for those that appreciate beauty, rhythm and coloured lights.

Trend Spotting

Harper's magazine says that 94% of all blogs in existence have not been updated in the last four months. While I did not hit the four month mark, I easily could have...too much "stuff" going on to sit my gorgeous ass down and write.

From Ecstacy To Agony

Today I got word that the legendary DJ Dimitri From Paris was going to be playing tomorrow night at LOVE. Instantly I am super-excited. Even though it is a "school night", it will be worth it to walk five blocks to the club, serve the dancefloor, then walk home...

Five minutes after receiving this info and making all the time/fun calculation I learn that the party has been cancelled....damn, Universe, don't pull the rug out from me quick like that.

Anyways, I'll have to console myself with another listening of Dimitri's new compilation which is brilliant as usual.

Future

With events like this...Summer 2009 is going to be on Fy-ahh!

Pure Trip

The incomparable DJ Harvey is at Love this Saturday. If you don't enjoy fun and smiles, please stay away. He will bring it dead on the heavy funk.

Forever Eternal

Say what you will about the death of couture...the fact that the artisans are dying off, the fact that the clientele is getting downsized, the fact that it is basically a commercial for the designers more plebian lines...whatever. As long as there are visionaries like McQueen churning out auto-rimmed influenced creations like this, then I will be paying attention.

He probably owes Amanda residuals for the lip-heavy maquillage, but I am sure she will accept the hat as payment.

Mother Who?

Since Mama Nature will not give us sunshine, I am obligated to drive you to this site.

The World We Could Live In

Never underestimate the healing power of unadulterated CAMP

Heavy Duty Lightness

Let's forget that it is the first day of spring and that it is snowing. Get into the lightness of this track and let it guide you to a prettier future.

My List Of Demands

I need to have this in my life right this second. If I am forced to endure another grey wintry day I think I might pull a Liza and lose my very mind. I must have colour and freshness and I must have it toot sweet.

Image Is Everything

Would anyone have given Microsoft the time of day had they kept there original logo? My guess is "No". Helvetica italic is the only way to inspire confidence.

Pitch Blackness

Hank Willis Thomas now on view at Jack Shainman Gallery. A must-see show if you appreciate politics and social commentary added to creativity.

Merciful Release

It is bad enough enduring a snowstorm in March...but the real reason I am praying that the winter ends immediately is that I don't know if I can withstand seeing another person wearing one of those gay-assed shiny Moncler jackets



Rarely does an item of clothing so boldly scream a "I-am-a-person-who-follows-trends-and-this-is-an-expensive-item-so-it-must-be-good" mentality

Spring, please come soon so I do not have to gouge my eyes out...

The Only Solution...

...after an exhausting day in the rat race there is only one thing to do. Kick out the jams...

Sweet Sounds Of Sweden

All you have to do is click right here and you will automagically be connected to the RollerBoys myspace page, wherein their delightful Beats In Space mix will begin emitting from your soundsystem.

It has never been simpler to hear what the Swedes are jackin' to right now.

Touch Me With Your Sunshine

Dedicated to all the LOVERS out there....I want your love, I want your kisses on my face.

Game Changers

Martha Graham. Learn it. Know it. Take it to the Ball.

Today's Info

Finally the internet has some useful information.

This Is Art

I will never stop loving John Waters. Don't even attempt to make me try.

I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

Ann Peebles gives to those that deserve it...act like 'ya know.

Puzzlement

"...the grim but edifying realization that a complete picture of reality is not to be had. If we realize that, we can begin to be realistic. Thinking otherwise, we doom ourselves to spinning fantasies, which might well be fluent, but could equally be lethal. Stalin and Hitler both thought they could see the whole picture, and look what happened."

The above is taken from Clive James' Cultural Amnesia, which is blowing me away on several different levels.




This quote in resonates with what I am perceiving in life right now. The sensation of never having the total picture, of having all the information. It is as if you are piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, every bit broadens the picture, then a moment later you realize that you are working on the wrong puzzle. Then you start over amassing bits of information hoping to see what the final image might be...

Right now, I am enduring a sort of chaos, of believing that "Up" is "Up" only to become aware that "Up" is now "Down" and all my suppositions were incorrect.

The Right Angles

This beautifulness is so beautiful in it's simplicity that it boggles the mind. Thank Yahweh that there are those out there kickin' the creative jams.

Perpetual Moments

Collier Schorr's photographs are so awesome, the gorgeousness levels so high, that sometimes your retinas get burned.

While based in reality, she knows how to visualize and capture the "otherworldly" in a very concrete manner.

Her 2007 show "There I Was" at 303 Gallery almost had me in tears...

Never Leave Home Again

Thanks to Billy,
you no longer have to go outside to find out what
The Children are brangin'

Be A Part Of It, Feel The Heart Of It....City Of Excitement...

This MicroChip League classic was unleashed on the world in 1987, the same year I made my initial visit to the NYC.

During that visit I was overwhelmed, feeling the feel of a place that had occupied my dreams for years yet seemed so foreign. It was as if you had grown up looking at photographs of lions, then in a split second you had your head in the mouth of a real live roaring one.

This track resonates in my head because offers a peek into the dirtiness that is this city. A dirtiness that can become intoxicating.

Spring 2009 Preview...A Return To Awesomeness

V Magazine Spring 2009 has enough insight to know that Grace defines Legend, but if you couple her with Jean-Paul Goude she is literally unstoppable.

Unprecedented

Nicholas Kirkwood continues to destroy The Children with creations such as these. It would be an honor to be bludgeoned to death with one of these joints.

New York...Home Of The Lemon Creme Facial

Unless Obama can invent a time machine to take us back to this New York, then he is wurfless...

Watch And Learn

The clothes are by Built By Wendy, the awesomeness is provided by Amy Sedaris.

Wish

Let me be the last to wish you a Happy New Year. L. S. I. is my prayer for the lives of all reading this blog...

Make it happen!

Reality

Anyone who still does not believe that truth is stranger than fiction...I suggest you read this obituary.

This is american history y'all.

Rent "Witness" And Learn The Functions!

Times are hard. The geniuses behind N. Hoolywood understand that you must go back to the roots. There is nothing more root-ier than the Amish for s/s 2009.

Get ready for this look to sweep the streets (literally). For those that cannot afford a plane ticket to Asia to pick up these thread, just hack up a quilt and sew it onto whatever you are delivering right now.

One Piece

A visual shard from my dreams last night...In a perfect world you could jack into my brain and share my spectral wavelengths.

ADVANCE

This is officially my theme song for 2009. Feel free to borrow it and make it your choon as well...

Stay Positive, Stay Strong, Stay Beautiful

Everyday Grace

Last autumn, I woke up one Saturday morning to discover that the pipes under my kitchen sink had burst. Well, technically the pipes did not "burst" as that implies some sort of action. Perhaps more accurately I should say that the pipes failed to exist in such a way that would allow liquids to run through them.

The pipes failed to exist because years of rust and corrosion had eaten away at the metallic properties that make pipes pipes.

Obviously, the situation needed some attention. A wise person would have picked up the phone and called a plumber. But, then a wise person would have to pay for the services of a plumber...something that I did not wish to do.

In an instant it was decided that I would repair and replace the pipes myself.

At this point, anyone who has spent more than thirty seconds in my presence should know that this scenario does not bode well.

As a child I was frequently in the midst of my dad fixing something around our homestead. While I don't explicitly remember him giving concrete tutorials on "do-it-your-self" jobs, I am sure he spread his wisdom to his children in some fashion.

Despite being cognizant of the fact that someday I would be an adult and would some day have to "fend for myself", including doing some of the same repairs, I apparently assumed that as an adult, should something need to be fixed I would be wealthy enough to pick up a phone and call someone to fix the problem.

Alas, this was not the case...

I searched to find some sort of "wrenching apparatus" that would let me disassemble the bad piping. Then I would have to go to a hardware store and hopefully find the correct replacement parts. Plus, if that hardware store also had a plumbing apprentice program that could bring me up to speed on how to adequately replace pipes that would be swell too, as it goes without saying that I did not technically have the skills to complete this project.

Heading to the hardware store I decided that I needed to just slightly pretend that I knew what I was doing when interacting with the customer service reps. so as to 1) not be sold some things that I did not need, yet would run up my tab and 2) not to embarrass myself as a male in his extremely late thirties who did not know how to replace a metal pipe.

After getting the run-around from 3 or 4 of my local hardware purveyors (didn't have the right parts, couldn't offer any surreptious assistance in the project, etc. etc.) it was suggested that I visit Garber Hardware.

It had been years since I had been to this place and if memory served me correctly, it was a place I did not want to go. My memory said it was one of those stores where you could cut the testosterone with a knife. A place where burly men talked in burly voices about burly things. Not exactly my desired "scene". Not a place where I could bluff my way through a home improvement project.



Nonetheless, I entered the doors reluctantly. My only hope was to beg for mercy, admit my ineptitude and hope they could help.

As I approached the counter I verbally let it all out..."I didn't have a clue what I was doing"..."I've never replaced a pipe before"...ad infinitum.

I prepared for a lashing. "How could a grown-ass adult creature with X and Y chromosomes not know how to do this?" I envisioned the man saying.

After my soul-baring acknowlegement of idiocy I was met with nothing but kindness and concern. The man behind the counter seemed non-plussed with my inexperience. He answered a million of my basic-level questions, offered valuble insight on the project and generally made me feel a sense of confidence that I hadn't entered the store with.

I was expecting belittlement and instead I was met with grace and patience. Instead of feeling small, I felt empowered...my faith in humanity restored with simple acts of decency.

Investment Popportunity

Going forward I am only investing my money in Bjork.

Event Horizon

Now that we are beyond the winter solstice, I am not a bit ashamed to let my spring fever blossom.

Soon birds, flowers, and colour in general will be part of everyday life...and I won't want to be in bed at 5:45.

Keep your eyes on the prize.

Balance

The gilded age is over (and just after I invested my life savings in gild!). How does one balance the new austerity with panache? Well just hop on an aeroplane to Buenos Aires and pick up some of these Lucila Iotti joints.

Grey with a shock of yellow...so "right now" that it makes today feel like tomorrow's yesterday.

Needless To Say...

...if you are not dressing to match your living space you are just not trying hard enough. Give up and try again next lifetime. Hopefully then you will understand synergy.

With Beats All Things Are Possible

Right now we are facing multiple crises in this country. We have most of the tools to overcome these challenges and come out stronger on the other side.

What is missing is an all-star pop song to rally the nation in a unified direction.

It is unlikely that we could come up with something as spectacular as this Arthur Baker produced slice of heaven, but for godsake let's try.

If anyone knows how to make contact with the remaining Fat Boys, I am sure they would be willing to make another appearance for such a noble cause

Untraditional Tradition

Was lucky enough to witness another of Jackie Hoffman's tour de fierce holiday shows at Joe's Pub.

She definitely displayed what The Times referred to as "her lovable air of aggrieved bitterness"...which, needless to say makes her shows the perfect antidote to the holiday insanity that pervades our society around this time every year.

Sunday Shoutin'

2009 is going to be a sick-diculous year for me. In order to mentally, spiritually and physically prepare I will need an hours long sweat session at Body&Soul.

Work it out!

A Progression Of Beauty

This song is a definite uplift on a not so uplifting day...but wait, here is a better version...now hold steady, add a choir and some discofication and this song is unstoppable.

Definitive Geniusness

After my initial listening...my life has never been the same.

Parts Unknown

Due to a completely unexpected sixty-five degree day, I simply had to exploit this meteorological good fortune by taking a walk around the city.

Although I had tons of items on my to-do list that were going to go undone, it was mentally necessary just to meander aimlessly through the streets. As I walk ideas/concepts/philosophies flit through my head. I am thinking of ten million things at once, but instead of feeling overburdened or exhausted, I am revived.

Long ago I acknowledged that I am addicted to "input". I yearn to see new things and am comforted by the familiar...that's what a walk without a destination does for me. Entertains and enlightens while also reassuring me.

Quote of The Day

From Siggy "Stardust" Freud:

Experience consists of experiencing that which one does not wish to experience

Pretty much sums up my year...

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

...this one goes out to all the laydeez who never let me forget I'm a man.

Trendscouts Agree!

The Right Now is all about MANIFESTING. Click HERE and start being the billionaire you know you were meant to be.

Enjoy your New Age!

Imprint

Everything I know about graphic design came from this logo.

Study it. Learn it. Revere it....

Wisdom From All Eras

Want to know how to survive in the New Economy? Observe the gameplan of my Homie John Wesley:

Make all you can,
Save all you can,
Give all you can.

All the Methodists in 'da house...Make some NOISE!

The Ease of Fashion

You know I give much love to Mr. Walter van Beirendonck. And now with his collection for 2009 he has made visiting the gymnasium a thing of the past.

Now you can simply have the musculature sewn into the wardrobe. Visionary, yet I venture he will not make much money after paying royalties to this trailblazer.

Where Are You-ou-ou? Sound Factory

The absolute definition of a vicious Factory track.

The vocal interlude that begins around the 3:45 mark simply destroys.The outsider searches for the temple, waiting to be "wowed". The silence...the anticpation...then the blare of the sirens. A clarion call to submit to the power of the dance floor.

The twinkling of the house piano keys sends chills up the spine. You feel the intensity, yet are fully aware that release will follow.

Now that was "27th between 11th and 10th"

Get Up On The Get Up

Due to work snob-ligations I will not be able to return to the heartland this holiday season. I will miss mi familia's bi-annual tribal gathering. However that does not mean I will not mean I will not be celebrating.

Case in point, the return of The Godfather to the friendly confines of Cielo. Anticipation levels are at an all-time high

At This Time Of Year...

....I need to give thanks to the good folks behind the Bradley Group Showerhead. Your vision to group showerheads together so that leering at your fellow fellows genatalia was unavoidable fuelled a thousand adolescent fantasies. High School would not have been the same without your wisdom and foresight...Thank You

Out There (Original Mix)

This is my third attempt to post this bit of awesomeness from YouTube. Sadly the beautiful retro-futuristic video will not post, so you will have to make due with looking at the white label while this track burrows permanently into your skull.

Enjoy

House Your Body

If you need some uplift in your life, may I suggest this mix by the one and only Joey Negro. Only positive vibes for positive people.

Uncalled For

Can you believe in a society where this level of heresy is allowed to exist? Let's put out an A.P.B. and find this perp...

Yes We Can Can...

Did you hear that Obama has finished his inauguration speech? He is simply going to recite the lyrics to this Pointer Sisters jam from 1973:

Now's the time for all good men
to get together with one another.
We got to iron out our problems
and iron out our quarrels
and try to live as brothers.
And try to find a piece of land
without stepping on one another.
And do respect the women of the world.
Remember you all have mothers.
We got to make this land a better land
than the world in which we live.
And we got to help each man be a better man
with the kindness that we give.
I know we can make it.
I know darn well we can work it out.
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can't we?
If we wanna get together we can work it out.

And we gotta take care of all the children,
the little children of the world.
'cause they're our strongest hope for the future,
the little bitty boys and girls.

We got to make this land a better land
than the world in which we live.
And we got to help each man be a better man
with the kindness that we give.
I know we can make it.
I know darn well we can work it out.
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
yes we can can, why can't we?
If we wanna, yes we can can.

Punishment Of Stillness

Last week my right knee began to hurt. With my hectic go-getter lifestyle, physical pains are not infrequent. However this pain was a little too reminiscent of the pain that eventually led to my surgery a few years ago.

So, even though the pain subsided, I decided to take a break from my gym routine. Let me tell you, a week of not going to the gym is more psycho-logically painful than the injury itself. I have felt, in a word, lifeless. Perhaps there is an endporpin addiction that is very real and needs acknowlegement...perhaps it is the fear that taking a few days off will lead to a slippery slope of slothfullness.

Brang It!

Desi shows us how to deliver it to the future. Escandalo! Indeed!

Devil Inside

The new Dazed&Confused features Miss Grace Jones photographed by Chris Cunningham. Do yourself a flavor and run to your local newsstand to pick it up. It's gorgeousness has to be seen to be believed. Views on a computer monitor cannnot do them justice.

Think Of The Animals...And Then Of Me

So you've decided to go vegan...well congrats, I guess. Don't let your love of animals overtake your love of the humans. Nothing says love like giving...so how 'bout giving me a pair of these handsome non-leather chaussures from NOHARM. At only 275 dollars U.S. they are quite the bargain. Buy me a pair and I promise to attend one PETA rally on your behalf.

Approval Given

Since we are all in a post-election halcyon haze, it is officially okay to fall in love with the photography of Tim Walker. Let's hope this dreamy fantastical phase lasts forever-ever.

Inspirational Approach

If you live in New York City, the United States or the Planet Earth you simply must read this piece. Mr. Henry Alford has politely and maturely struck back at the retardedness that one encounters on the streets of this fair city.

We could all learn from the strength of his approach to reviving civility.

Change The Style

If there ever was a time to listen to a gentleman named Son Of Bazerk it is right now. "Change The Style " indeed! Channel your inner 1991 and make it happen.

...And They Said I Was A Nerd...

...Got to meet my boy Paul on Saturday. Ain't no shame in my nerd game!

Theme From My Young Skull

To say that as a youngster the Phil Donahue show blew my mind is an understatement. He would sometimes air topics so controversial that I would be embarrassed to be in the same room as the television.

Of course, I grew attracted to the naughtiness factor of a show about trannies, Nazis, or Athiest superstar Madalyn Murray O'Hair and could not take my eyes off of the set.

Phil was way ahead of his time...sadly, in some aspects, we have failed to catch up.

A Request...

If anyone has a spare copy of the Split Enz album with the laser-etching in the vinyl...Please send it to me immediately. I want to worship the colors that are released from the blackness.

Save Yourself!

Due to the current economic sitch, feel free to clip this coupon and present to your local retailer.

This one's on me....

All Eras

It doesn't matter if you enjoy the music, you have to give a shout to Johnny Bond and his band for the style lessons they deliver to us in 2008...The emphasis on fit and tailoring, and because of the severe environment we live in...spangles only accents, not submerging an ensemble.

Work Diva!

Mental Landmark

Shout to the Joyo Theater in downtown Havelock, Nebraska. My formative cinematic experiences are centered around this temple of light and motion.

From an early age "The Wizard of Oz" was my favorite movie, as with most people of my generation I grew up watching it on television. I was probably seven or eight years old when the Joyo did a showing of the classic.

It was the first time I had ever seen it on a big screen and my mind was absolutely shatttered. The colors seemed more colorful and Wicked Witch seemed much more evil-er. Even though I had probably seen it a few times already, seeing it in such a large format literally brought me to tears (of horror and of witnessing the majestic beauty of OZ)

Later on, of course, multiplexes took over. But in my mind this is where a film can be seered into your skull

Autumn...

...It's football season!

Atheists, Give Up

Finally, proof of the existence of God...and She is one benevolent motherscratcher for giving this to the world.

Love Assault

Christopher Meloni was in today. I should have attacked him and demanded information on Wonder Showzen and working with The Chosen One on that Nickelodeon movie they made last summer.

Maybe next time.

...So Many Nights, So Many Days...

In 1983 I was not old enough nor wise enough to realize that in Italy they were concocting disco jams so infectious that I would be salivating over them a quarter of a century later.

Cannot (and will not) get this track out of my head

Believe

Pet Shop

Amazingly I have failed to write about Banksy's genius-level installation Village Pet Store and Grill.

If you are in the tri-state area and do not make a point of checking this out you will seriously live to regret it. People will be talking this for years. The idea is brilliant and the production value that went into producing it are astounding.

Plus it is phab to see crowds of people lined up to see some next-level art.

Go. Savor. Spread the gospel.

Autumn...

It's football season!

Disco Donuts!

Who is up for breakfast at Disco Donuts?.....Oh wait, it is not 1982 and New York has been overrun by Flunkin' Donuts. Okay...who is up for inventing a time machine so that we can go back to a time when Disco Donuts served the "burger of the year"?