Skeleton Porn

I was horrified by this. But then I read the article and it's actually very cute. A radiology company did this calendar as a give away. The model in the x-rays is posed in classic Betty Paige positions. Its sort of a high brow hat tip to the classic pin-up girl. I love it! I just home that girl didn't do too many of these shoots, it could be a short career.

Shop Stop

Next time you're in the Silver Lake / Echo Park / Sunset Blvd area stop by Spitfire Girl. They have a whole magic world of fun little accessories, like cermaic wall mounted deer heads, mini Ipod amplified speakers, art books, and antique doll heads. They are known for wood veneer creations like the cover on the notepad pictured here. You can also follow their blog, or shop on their website.

Monochromatic color schemes

I would like to thank Apartment Therapy for posting this Philadelphia loft. It exhibits a small space that was decorated on the cheap, but remains stylish. Why? A monochromatic color scheme. (Monochromatic: Having or consisting of one color or hue.) When decorating, a monochromatic scheme is one that incorporates only one color form the color wheel (neutrals like black, white, and taupe don’t count). In this case they chose a cheerful yellow. You could choose raspberry red, or shades of teal, or whatever your favorite color is.

A monochrome scheme is an easy inexpensive way to give your home a consistent well thought out look without a lot of thought or money. First of all, you can use the rule of threes… In each room all you have to do is incorporate three things that are the same color (and by same color, they just have to be close in color, not identical). So you only need to buy three things and they don’t need to be expensive pieces of furniture. Stores like IKEA and CB2 make this really easy because they tend to produce a lot of inexpensive merchandise in the same specific set of colors for this very reason. If you haven’t experienced CB2, check it out, they are stealing the spotlight from IKEA because of their slightly better quality, and more convenient stores and website.

For example lets say you have a hodge-podge of things in your home including some cheap stuff, and some hand-me-downs from mom and dad, and amongst that you have, lets say, an orange chair from grandma. As long as all else is neutral you can put it in the living room, and buy two things to go with it, and probably call it a day. Lets say you get an orange vase, put it on the coffee table. And maybe an orange clock, hang it across the room; done and done. If you need drapes, maybe you find something in white with an orange pattern. Then as you acquire more things and start to decorate other rooms you have a rule to follow – keep it neutral, or keep it orange. If you hate orange, this would be hell for you. But that’s why you’re going to choose a color you love. 

Harold and Maude

This is really one of the sweetest movies ever made. If you haven't seen it, I recommend that you run down to the local Blockbuster Video and rent a VHS tape. And be sure to go before p.m. on Friday afternoon or all the good movies will be checked out. Or you could just put it on your Netficks list.

Car wash music video

Ever go through the car wash and turn your music up really loud and look for things to sync up like a music video?

Real Estate

In the market for housing? If you live in LA there’s some awesome properties available. I can’t say they are a steal, but they’re not moving fast. Here's just one....Its an A frame on Sunset Plaza Drive. I love the chic 70’s vibe of this place. The interior is really cool too. I bet the giant curved sofas come with the house. Click the link below to see more pictures. 

http://guests.themls.com/Details/CA/LOS-ANGELES/2144-SUNSET-PLAZA-DR/90069/10-449099.aspx

Libraries

I was recently sent this article from the LA Times. Its about the budget cuts that the city had to make to it's libraries earlier this year. For those who don't know, the city of Los Angeles almost went bankrupt and made a number of cuts to a number of services to keep us all above water.

The article is scathing to say the least. Patrick Range McDonald attacks the mayor and the city council naming exactly who voted to pass the budget cuts. I thought this was a little mean. It had to be a hard decision to make. If he had written the same article about a similar action at the federal level he would have been called unpatriotic.

McDonald could have written the same article saying that the citizens of Los Angeles were wrong in passing the bond that they voted for in overwhelming numbers in 1998 that made our library system one of the largest in the nation. Unfortunately, the bond provided lots of money to build libraries but no new money to run them. Mr. McDonald could also have blamed all of the people who lost their jobs and are not spending as much money and therefore are not paying as much in sales tax. Or better yet, all the people who are not paying their property tax because their houses are foreclosed on. It was the citizens who voted for the libraries, the citizens who use them, why not blame them for the closures? Obviously I'm not serious here, but we do need to look at the bigger picture.

Why blame anyone? Why not present this as what it is....a time for change in libraries. McDonald starts his article by telling the story of Noel Alumit, a writer who grew up in Low Angeles. He would go to his library daily and one book in particular helped him through his crisis of being a gay teenager. If Alumit were growing up today there's a good chance that he would have had this experience on the internet at home. Or on his phone. Libraries do not have as much to offer people as they once did.

The cities that we have today do not need a huge building filled with books. We don't use books the same way that we once did. Learning and research can be done much more effectively through the internet. Libraries have internet stations, but most of them do not have enough, and the systems that they run are generally old and slow, and because of the high demand there are time limits and a long waiting list.

Of course libraries also provide fictional books, movies, and a place for young people to go after school. There's no doubt that all of the services that they provide are important to the community. But here is their fatal flaw: Libraries mainly serve the lower class members of the community, and they do nothing to bring the community together.

The library of today needs to be one that makes its self invaluable. The city has a number of newly built libraries that are fine examples of architecture, but not one is named after a donor. If I were running a library I would take it upon myself to find my own funding from the private sector. Rich people LOVE to put their names on libraries. And fundraising would not only bring in a library budget the can't be cut, it would be an excellent way to bring together the people who are not using libraries now and the people who are.

Another way that libraries can make themselves profitable and useful to a larger population is to offer classes for small fees. They could help students study for SATs, they could help unemployed people write resumes, or they could teach people to use computers. They could also offer meeting places for book clubs or other events. In our city now, we have meeting houses, we have unemployment centers, and we have after school programs, but they are all separated and funded separately. They need to be under one roof.

The real reason that our libraries lost a great deal of funding this year is not that no one cared, but that in a time of crises its easier to cut the programs that won't be missed. The city of West Hollywood - in this down economy - is in the process of building a new library. Their new library is tied into their park and other community services, and it's in a well designed building with donor names everywhere that allowed. And most importantly the stack rooms and reading rooms are only about half of the actual space. The rest of the building is internet rooms and meeting rooms.

The West Hollywood library is designed as a place for the community to come together. It's not a holy house of research; it's a vessel through which people can interact with one another. This is a service that if it really works will not be easily cut. My advise to the city of Los Angeles is to put the responsibility on the librarians to make their work more meaningful. And my advise to the librarians is to make their libraries a place that everyone values.

Boardwalk Empire

I'm looking forward to the new HBO show Boardwalk Empire. I think it's going to be like a prequel/creation story for The Sopranos. And my whole reason for never watching The Sopranos (I know that some of you liked that show, so please don't take this personally) was that it didn't take place in the hey day of organized crime, so it was not as fun as it could have been. All of that lamenting to a psychiatrist was just too real for me. This show promises to be a fun romp through a world of vaudeville, flappers, and cute choppy old time-y East Coast accents. My hope among hopes is that some of the Kennedy clan appear with all of their rum running and bootlegging.

Liz Taylor and Richard Burton

The  July issue of Vanity Fair featured a lengthy article on the tumultuous relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. As part of the article Taylor, for the first time ever, allowed letters that Burton had written to her to be published. To say that the letters were heart felt would be an injustice. These are letters that make Shakespeare's sonnets sound a little hollow. (And I've read Shakespeare's sonnets too.) In one letter he tells her that "it's no use to pretend that you are an ordinary woman." In another he tells her that she is the best actress in the world. My favorite moment was in an early letter where he said that the first time he saw her he thought that she was so beautiful that he laughed out loud. And he actually spelled out "laughed out loud," he didn't just write "LOL."

I'm too young to remember them together. Burton died in 1984. So everything in the story was news to me. If you too are not familiar with this tale, you should read up on it just to see what the rest of us have to live up to, or look forward to, or not look forward to, or out do. This couple was on again/off again for literally decades. In the end they were not together, but Taylor is so touched by him that she keeps the last letter that she got from him in her night table and takes it out from time to time. This was the only one that the VF staff were not allowed to print.

Bright White Underground

Last night a friend of mine invited me to an art opening. I rolled my eyes at the notion of standing around in a white room with overly effected people trying to seem interested in what is hanging on the wall or the pile of trash that they are calling "mixed media sculpture". But I agreed to go because she and I rarely have the opportunity to spend time together and there was the promise of gallery bate (AKA cheap white wine for free). 

The art gallery is called Country Club and it is in the Rudolph Schindler designed Buck House on the corner of Genesee and 8th, near LACMA. I turned a corner near the house and ran into a traffic jam, and a throng of people conversing outside. The place was packed. I parked about two blocks away and walked up to the house dreading the echoing chamber with no seating and too many people that I was expecting. Even as I approached the front door I noticed that the ceiling was extremely low and thought, how typical of architects at that time. Then I stepped inside. I was in a tiny room crammed with people, a pile of old boxes to my right, a beam running horizontally across the room at shoulder level directly in front of me, and a narrow hall to my left. Everything was trashed. The walls looked drab, the paint on the ceiling was peeling, and the carpet was thrashed. My first thought was that I had walked in on a party at an abandoned house.

The crowd was the typical art crowd, but maybe a little younger, and people were chatting and coming in and out of the house like your typical art gallery. This gave me some assuredness that I was in the right place so I glanced around deciding which way to go. There were people passing under the beam in front of me, but I thought the low height might be a clue that I was to go down the hall to the left, so I started down it. It took me around a corner to a dead end, but there was a big hole in the wall, big enough to step through and I could see people on the other side. By now there were people behind me in the hall as well, so I had to go for it – I stepped through the wall. On the other side was a fairly large room with a high ceiling. It was dark and the walls were covered in a collage of magazine pages. The beam from the foyer came through the walls into this room and ended in the center of the room. The end was open and people were looking through it. It was mirrored on the inside like a giant kaleidoscope.

Not knowing what to think I went back toward the front door and found the friend who had invited me standing near the door talking to some people. I said hello and then immediately asked “what’s the story with this place?” Then she explained it all to me. The installation is called Bright White Underground and it is by a duo name Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe. It is the second full immersion installation that they have done. The first was in New York and was based on a meth lab. From what I came to understand this installation is much larger and has a much fuller story. The house is the physical manifestation of a fictional narrative. In summary it’s the life of a mad scientist who develops a controversial drug called marasa. The story line is strikingly similar to the story of LSD (You can read more about that in a recent Vanity Fair article), with an inventor that intends the drug for medical use, but discovers interesting side effects, later there is secret government involvement, and eventually the drug finds its way to the hands and mouths of the glamorous Hollywood elite. Ultimately the inventor is pushed out and goes into hiding, and the drug is banned. What the viewers are left to contemplate are the decaying remains of a life lived for marasa. The various halls and rooms are a sort of living collage of all that happened in the story of this drug. Some are dark, some are bright, one room has radio equipment, another is a library where the artists have painstakingly made hundreds of prop books that all relate to the subject matter in the narrative. They even went so far as to stage an elaborate period photo shoot of the marasa hay day, so everywhere you go in the house there are black and white photos of people that are presumed to be characters in the tale having a great time at a 1950’s cocktail party. Many of the photos have a central character who is obviously experiencing the effects of marasa.

Needless to say I was very impressed with the installation. Freeman and Lowe put it together over the course of a couple of months, but clearly had some help (nothing wrong with that). There was evidence of years of man-hours involved in the making of this experience. And every detail was thoroughly fleshed out. It was art taken to a whole new level. In a world where media moves quickly, it was enjoyable to have an experience where you were immersed in a world that played to all of your sense at once. The experience was frightening, nostalgic, and fascinating all at the same time. Freeman/Lowe were not trying to impress us with a technical know how. They simply took their two hands and told a story that the rest of us could live through. And each viewer could take something different from it. You could go through quickly just getting an overview, or take your time and see each detail.

I highly recommend taking some time to see this exhibit. Its not like any other that you will come across for a long time. The exhibit is running through October 30^th. The gallery’s website is a little sketchy about their hours, so I recommend calling ahead.

Human Skin Lampshade

New York Magazine devoted a full nine pages of their September 13 issue to a story about a lampshade made of human skin said to be from a Nazi death camp. It turns out that they could only prove that its made of human skin, NOT that it came from a Nazi death camp. Their source for the human skin part was the very reputable medical examiner's office of the NYPD, who could only get enough DNA to prove that it was human, but nothing more specific like sex, race, or origin. The finding was confirmed by a number of experts in pathology, taxidermy, and drum making. Their ONLY source for the Nazi death camp part was the admitted drug addict who stole the lampshade from an abandoned house in the aftermath of Katrina, and later sold it on the sidewalk. 

Most of the story is still a good read. There is a brief history on a woman named Ilse Koch, who was the wife of a Nazi commandant, and was obsessed with objects made of human skin. She went so far as to inspect each prisoner and have the ones with interesting tattoos or markings executed so that she could use them in her macabre craft.

There is also a fascinated background on the man who found the lampshade. He had spent years working as a grave robber to fund a drug habit. His rock bottom moment was when he was so high that he slept through Katrina and didn't know about the storm until the next day when he SWAM to his drug dealer's house and found her dead.

The boring parts of the story are all about the author himself - MarK Jacobson. He goes on a long, boring, and cliche history about growing up and being picked on as a young Jewish boy in New York, only to make the point that all the gentile bullies would tell him they were going to make him into a lampshade. I can sympathize, kids are really mean, I just a lot more interested in the lampshade than his autobiography. But like I said, it's still a good read. You can read an excerpt here.

Ground Control to Major Tom

I have to say I get a little excited every time this Lincoln Commercial comes on. The visuals are beautiful, and it features a cover of David Bowie's (swoon) Ground Control To Major Tom done by Shiny Toy Guns.

Dirty Dancing Star Jennifer Grey to star on Dancing With the Stars

ABC says that one of the stars in the line up on Dancing with the Stars this season is Jennifer Grey actress of film and television!!!!!......Seriously though, we really only know her for one thing and that's Dirty Dancing. But who doesn't love it! Something I just learned (thank you Dennis) is that she also played Matthew Broderick's sister in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. What a classic 80's icon! Other stars in the line up are Margaret Cho, Bristol Palin, and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino. I can't wait to watch! First episode airs on Monday, September 20th.

Lady Killers

The above image is by photographer Maya Mercer. She is based in LA and Paris, and this series called Lady Killers depicts verile men in compromising, slightly perverse situations in nature. Sounds hot! If you likey and want to see more she is showing her work at Alt|Space in Mar Vista from September 24th to October 17th. I likey, I'm gonna check it out.

Alt|Space is at 

3815 Grand View Blvd.

Los Angeles, Ca 90066

altspace-la.com

New Beyonce video

If you haven't YouTubed the new Beyonce video for Why Don't You Love Me yet, I hightly recommend it. It has an AWESOME retro 60's vibe, lots of sexy scenes of a scantily clad B-lady, AND I hear that its her directorial debut.

Ever given yourself the stigmata by accident?

Prepare for Preppy

Simon Doonan, creative director of Barney’s, and long time partner of Jonathan Adler was recently on NPR, and declared that PREPPY IS BACK! And I for one couldn’t be more pleased. You can read a transcript or listen to a recording here, or I’ll just tell you all about it…..

Basically Doonan says that the preppy look of the 80’s is back as a reaction to all of the cracked out, shitty looking bitches that have been stumbling around drunk on our TVs for the past decade or so. I won’t mention any names, but I think we all know what East Coast seashore reality series is the epitome of this.

The new preppy has sub trends. You can be a classic prep in your current season Ralph Lauren that looks like it’s from the 30’s. Or you could be a hipster preppy in vintage high waters, loafers, and short sleeves with a bow tie. Or the Bettys out there could wear their little sundresses with a string of pearls to lunch at the club. Or a pair of slacks and their Todds moccasins for a day out on the boat with tea sandwiches. And remember, navy is neutral boating fans! (DON'T call it a yacht, that's a sure fire sign of new money.)

This is such a relief to me because I’ve always made an effort not to look “too preppy” but with my blond hair and fair skin it’s hard not to. I can make an old motorcycle jacket look like appropriate golf attire if I’m not careful trash up my look. So now I can just slip on my Sperry Top Siders, cuff my khaki slacks, and throw a cable knit sweater over the shoulders of my polo shirt (that is literally Polo By Ralph Lauren) and sip a mint julep feeling totally at ease with myself.

Eh Hem.....

Just a quick note to share this with you:

FuckYouAnthropologie.com

This is a great site where they trash current fashion, and all those retailers that are making us (mainly the ladies among us) into fools by asking us to pay outrageous prices for fashion that will only be en vogue for a couple of months if at all.

I'll be following this blog from now on, please join me because they deserve some attention.

A Chesty Trend

Dear Friends,

If you are looking for that "investment piece" that will also anchor and set the tone for your home, and you want some of my simple advice, you should buy one of these...

It's called a Chesterfield Sofa. Its name comes from the original manufacturer of this style of sofa. (Don't ask me when he/she/they originated it.) And it's my opinion that these bad boys will be gaining in popularity (read: value) in the near future.

The whole men's club thing has been going on for some time......cigar bars, clubs like Edison, and entertainment like Entourage...... This is right up the alley of the guys’ night out, skinny tie and fedora wearing set. They’re preppy, but not quite our grandparents.

There has also been a recent resurgence in distressed antiques. It's a little like, dare I say, Shabby Chic, but it's the darker side of it. See this room done by Kathleen Clements and published in Elle Decor. Or see this pair of electric blue Chesterfields on the set of Nip/Tuck.

A quick eBay search produced vintage leather Chesterfields for as little as $1700. Or you could get the same look with a brand new one from Horchow online. But I think you should all run out and find one that's really warn in.

MEAT DRESS

Did anyone else catch this on the VMAs? I know I missed it when I was watching.....

ITS A MEAT DRESS!!!!!!

And hat....And shoes...And bag (not pictured here).

According to Gaga on the Ellen DeGeneres show, ".......It is certainly no disrespect to anyone that is vegan or vegetarian. As you know, I am the most judgment-free human being on the earth. However, it has many interpretations, but for me this evening ... If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones. And I am not a piece of meat."

Sadly, I AM NOT the most judgement-free human on the earth, so I have a few things to say. One is this...Gaga, I love ya, but if you're going to make political statements you need to be a little more articulate and emphatic about them.......Two: I don't really get it. Does the meat on our bones not have rights?......And three is this: Cool dress! Very cool dress! You rock!

Thanks to Amanda for calling my attention to the meat dress.

My Blog

Dear Internet,

I've done it. I've started a blog! This is my first post. (Actually, it's my second. See the earlier post and the a-hole who commented.) At any rate, this is my first "official" post.....I know I'm not needed here, but I feel I have so much to say and no outlet. I really think that I have original thoughts to add to the whirling, spiraling, ever-growing tornado of information that you hold. There's always the possibility that no one will read the things that I write and it won't matter that I was here at all. I hope that's not the case. I hope people will read, absorb, respond, filter, and amplify.

What will I write about you ask, oh wise internet......In a word - stuff.......I want to share what I'm interested in. If I have an experience that I gleaned some new information from, I'll tell about it here. If I have a thought that I feel is original, I'll voice it here. If I come across a piece of music or an object that I think is worth telling about, I'll display it here. No doubt my posts will vary throughout the things that I'm interested in....design, pop culture, California living, real estate, travel, and who knows what else.....but they will also have the common thread of being from me.

Internet, I'd like to speak candidly with you...... I don't read everything you put out. I know it's very closed minded of me. I can't help it, I mean, I don't like to read THAT much, and there's so much of you that I'm just not interested it. I'm sorry. I hope I haven't hurt your feelings. But here's the bright side…..as I am pontificating on all of my various musings, I won't for a moment suspect that all of your readers are set in rapture of my every word. I believe that they will be like me, simply grazing across the surface of you taking up bits and pieces as they go. We are all taking in the breadth of you more often than the depth of you.

Having said all of that, Internet, I still hope that you will believe in me and your readers will take an interest in what I have to say. I hope that a few of them may even check back from time to time to see what I have to say. (Not too often though, I mean I do have a life!).

All right, internet, here I go. Adding to your breadth, and hopefully contributing some worth while depth.

As always your friend, and consistent late-adopter,

Jeremy

FIRST BLOG

This is my first blog.