Amanda Lear's "Alphabet"

I have a particular sensitivity to the letter "G."



Martiniano showed me this video tonight. It's fantastically campy. Amanda Lear, once romantically linked to David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Brian Jones and Salvador Dali(!) was the disco queen of Europe in the 80s.  Watch the video and you can't help but smile.

SKOOL DAZE (ABD)

Here are three outtakes from the photo shoot I had the pleasure of working on with my favorite dudes. The whole thing is at 01 Magazine. Real-life PhDs featuring the brutalist architecture of the UCLA campus.

Yard Sale Details

Repost from RFTH:

All the details for our Unknown Treasures yard sale now up on Craigslist (a small grab of my loot pictured above). Selling a bunch of things previously posted on R4TH plus other flea, antique mall finds and wardrobian exiles. Also dapper vintage clothing from Tim, kicks and vintage/designer ladies clothing from Les, Violet and Owley, + Indie records to boot. All in one place, do drop by.

Ooga Booga Mini Shop opens!

Unstoppable. This past weekend, two formidable figures of Los Angeles, Una and Wendy, joined forces to create the Ooga Booga Mini Shop within the Keep shop in West Hollywood. This just makes me so giddy. I love these girls. 'Tis the season...

Charley Harper goes well with baby Keep shoes.

Look Jeremy, it's the Atherton Lin 2010 Stand Up Straight Calendar prominently displayed!

Keep + Ooga Booga have made fresh fruit preserves and pickled beets in honor of their collaboration.  These limited edition jams and pickles used sustainable produce only.

The ever useful JanSport backpacks.

I learned about "Secret Male Hypotism" in Melissa Ip's zine.

The ribbon cutting ceremony courtesy of the Los Angeles Police department.

A Hottie: Ideal for Cold Winter Nights

I had such an unbelievable time in London Jeremy. Thank you.

You and Jamie completely spoiled me; it was so comforting waking up to homemade granola and the wonderful smell of coffee on those chilly mornings.

I told you that the one thing I wanted to get on this tour was a hot water bottle and London seemed like the perfect place to get something like this. As I much as I adore my Teddy, I need a hottie to keep me company for the coldest nights of the year.

You took me to Labour and Wait to see if there was a nice one. Sadly, my new favorite shop isn't carrying hotties this season (though I did find a lovely Armor Lux Breton red stripe top...)

But Boots have everything don't they? I found a nice basic red one and since I've been back in LA, it's been keeping me warm all week. No more earaches, backaches, muscle aches, tummy aches...

Hot water bottles are common in Europe but not so much in the States. I reckon it could be a liability if the thing pops and someone ends up suing someone else for cause of injury... So American of us innit? BUT a hot water bottle is a great energy-efficient way to stay warm during the winter months. It uses less energy than an electric blanket, a space heater or central heating... And in the mornings, I feed my plants with its lukewarm water. Nostalgically old-fashioned but thoroughly modern with its uses, it's a classic. When I go back to yours in a few weeks, I think I'll buy a few more as Xmas gifts...

An Englishman who is currently living in LA told me this week that the trick to keeping a hottie warm all night is to get all the air out of it before sealing it. His mum taught him that.

In my dreams, the best of both worlds...

Pandemonium

Jeremy, didn't it seem like another lifetime when we went to see Pet Shop Boys' Pandemonium Tour at the Greek Theatre? And that was around two weeks ago. It was a hot and humid Indian Summer's evening. Our timing was perfect. We made it to the Redwood Lounge and just had enough time for a drink and barely a second at the mediocre buffet. Then the show started. I'm sure it reminded you of how weird LA music fans can be. Similar to the phenomenon of Latino Morrissey obsessives in Southern California, the mix at the show consisted of drunken sorority girls dressed up to the nines which gave us a good chuckle and a nudge but mostly it was the bears and otters that I was most fascinated by... especially the one standing to your right.

But the show. What a show. We were wowed. We were giddy. The Greatest Hits Tour. The Greatest Art Installation. It was a proper show. True entertainers, Neil Tennant and Christ Lowe are masters at bringing together the high and low, the refined and camp, all with a fun sense of irony. The production value was like no other. It was a visual homage to the masters of contemporary art and their eccentricities. I saw obvious references to Gilbert and George, Derek Jarman, Ellsworth Kelly, Rei Kawakubo, Warhol, Albers, Hockney, Richter and Archigram. Phew. That's a nice nod to a major list.

 

Josef Albers, Study for the homage to the square

 Gilbert and George, Existers (1984)

 Gilbert and George, The Wall (1986)

Ellsworth Kelly, Colors on a grid, Screenprint (1976)

Rei Kawakubo's CDG Spring/Summer 09

David Hockney, Mother I, Yorkshire Moors (1984)

Archigram, Instant City Airships (1968)

 

Gerhard Richter, for the Köln Cathedral (2006)

 

Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

My friend Mary's blog is pretty cool. And her Still Life Installation was pretty cool too (from what friends told me). Too bad I'm too late in posting it but I truly feel that everyone needs some Slow and Steady in their life (especially me)...

You Showed Me

I've been obsessed with this classic song today:

The original demo version from Preflyte, penned by Clark + McGuinn of the Byrds in 1964 is well, very Byrdsian:



A bit more polished, this has been my favorite version made famous by The Turtles in 1969. Cute little kitty in the background:



As much as I love Ian Broudie, his cover and its accompanying video seriously blows:



But this has to be my new favorite interpretation. The set design, the styling, the art direction and the choreography are all amazing but what is mind-blowing is Keri Russell's rap:

"Words, Don't come easy"

Arrived into NY and was immediately taken to something that looked a bit Sinister and got dizzy from the circular motion of it all. I was literally walking and reading in circles. May I suggest purchasing this book, F.R. David, from its online bookshop (whose editor I had the pleasure of meeting a few months ago)?


Josef Albers and Henry Moore, two faves.
Randomly stumbled upon Left Bank Books, an excellent first edition bookshop in the West Village and the music geek in me could not resist listening to "Positively 4th Street." Here, covered by The Byrds.


I cringe every time I see Curb Your Enthusiasm but Woody Allen's new film, Whatever Works, makes me the biggest Larry David fan now... Loved it.

My new favorite subterranean NY store is Ale et Ange on Orchard. Been obsessing over nice thin cotton tees lately and found the loveliest pale shade of pink/salmon men's tee for this summer. Nice summer...

Supported the DVD trading B'Ling gals at the No Soul for Sale project hosted by the curiously interesting X Initiative.

And got seriously intense at the I.U.D. show before I headed back west...

à mes chéris...

This Valentine's weekend, it's going to be in NY with my east coast LOS. Two v v special events you must go to... Voyez-toi là?



Et mais oui, sans aucun doute, Giggles' show at Rachel Uffner Gallery:


Bonne Saint Valentin.
À toi, pour toujours,
x Owley

it's just casual

I'm not gonna consider this as the usual "serious" post but I cannot resist the temptation to blog tonight even though I have no time for this right now, especially this month... but I love my blog (j'adore!) so I'm making the time, I guess it's just that important? Well, yes it is... totalement indispensable! I'm actually using my old powerbook I am borrowing from Mr. Bickerson (can you believe it? what steps we've both taken!) as my precious macbook is somewhere in Appleland (i.e. Texas) getting mended and hopefully tomorrow, it'll be returned to moi in its original glory, all shiny and new. I really believe karma has bitten me in the ass... within the same week as me getting an iPhone (finally), my macbook acts up on me. I guess the lesson here is not to be hypocritical. I hate you Blackberry!

I've been pretty excited lately (it's been awesome with adventures) which I will go in further detail later this week when life resumes once my beloved mac is back in my arms. But I want to share a couple of quick things I've been obsessed with this week: (all superficial rather... again, I am being duplicitous as my purpose in life of late is trying to get rid of my material things but here I go again, wanting and wanting and wanting...)

1. Thursday is the day. I've already endlessly looked at the entire collection, mens and womens. CDG for H&M. OMFG. This will get its own post, a full analysis, a total discourse that will blow your mind. I swear. I promise...

2. The Margiela Gift Bow Ring. A gift in form of a gift! A double gift! The ultimate gift! Oh dear, I know I've been a good girl this year... this is number one on my list for Santa. Propose to me with this and I'll prolly say YES! I still believe! It's just that good! Yum yum piggy's bum...

Slow & Steady Wins the Race

It's been a while and I'm a bit rusty with my djing skills but am super excited to be helping Wiggles & Mary with their party tomorrow night. Mary, I'll play some of your requests but cannot accommodate your love for Sophie B Hawkins' "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" even though I really wish it is the case!

CdG

Don't know what compelled me to flip through my old Purple Mags last night but saw these CdG ads.

I've been to Hollywood, I've been to Redwood, I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold...

Things I learned while in Berlin:

1. There are quite a lot of Vietnamese people in this city. And proportionately, there are a lot of Vietnamese restaurants. Monsieur Vuong was my favorite; the nouveau fusion cuisine didn't bother me at all, as it was super fresh and tasty, a lovely yummy treat. I'm going to copy his delicious nut and soy smoothie. J'adore.

2. I have no proficiency for the language. Absolutely none. It was quite embarrassing rather.

3. I've never seen so much dyed hair concentrated in one city before: vibrant shades of hot pink, animated purple with bleached stripes (with a purple ensemble, 'natch), throbbing blood orange messiness with goth/punk attitude. The fashion sense is fantastically bad. Wow, so horrific, it's actually quite brilliant!

4. I know I'm generalizing here but German girls look like lesbians; they almost can't help it. They're prolly not I'm quite sure but they definitely exude that je ne sais quoi sensibility... Jens knows all about this... "A Postcard to Nina"

5. The beer is quite good. So is the wurst.


Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park. The pièce de résistance is the monument by Soviet sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich: a massive monument of a Soviet soldier with a sword holding a child, standing over a smashed swastika. You see, this memorial was not to honor the East German population but rather for the many Soviet soldiers who suffered at the hands of Germany. The Soviets liberated the Germans from the Nazis, hells yeah!

There are a lot of styles going on here which says a lot of what kind of propaganda they were trying to transmit: working class ceremonial, Neoclassicism & Art Deco, and socialist-realist Postconstructivism. Remarkable and outrageous.





One of the 16 sarcophagi. Pretty cool craved stone relief I have to admit.


I love the layout; even the trees leading up to the memorial seemed to be weeping. This dude is so my Heart of Gold. Just look at him: so focused, full of purpose, well suited (nice flannel), well protected, and in my age group!


Big headed Ernst Thälmann and his strong fist.


Dear Dean in Kreuzberg


Humana, the 4-story thrift shop in Friedrichshain. Just massive. The craziest fabric blends I've ever encountered. There was a sale; most things were only 1.5 Euro!!! Sadly, my mental hives which I usually get at these sort of "vintage" establishments started its attack and I walked away empty-handed...


Henne, best fried chicken in all of Europe. Almost missed the flight back to London but well worth the wait...

be no spring chicken

End of May, beginning of June. My first full weekend in LA in a long time. Sunset hikes, bbqs, brunches, farmer's market, cooking, yoga, gardening, wii fit(!), and straight up relaxing... sadly no sand and sea this time around but next weekend for sure?


Weekend started by meeting up with Wiggles at the book expo. Rather stuffy inkhorn affair but that Kuma Sutra booth kinda made it exciting for us.


Benne Anna & Colbs treated me to a late bday brunch at yummy Cliff's Edge. Got a bit tips on the moscato. Thanks for the owl guys...


Took them to the Keep sample sale afterwards where Colbs got 3 pairs of awesomeness...


...while Barr dj'ed really messed up tunes upstairs where no one could see him.


Made it to Anna's bbq before she headed back for her last summer at Bard...


Sargent Court view of downtown...


California sunset


OM underneath the golden trumpet allamandas at the Getty. Caught the last weekend of the California Video Show. I loved Suzanne Lacy's "Where Meat Comes From" (saw it 3x!) and the Target vids were as awesome. Sadly, I have to miss this amazing screening this Saturday for my cousin's wedding... Choices.. Choices... Choices!