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Monday , February 22, 2010
Sarah Tomlinson Wants To Take You To Morocco With Keith Richards In 1967
Sarah Tomlinson was spirited into my life last month at the beautiful boutique Tavin, where I helped myself to way too much of the free chocolate and wine while Sarah read an excerpt from her upcoming third novel The Year of Mr. Nobody. The story, in Sarah's words, centers on three characters: "a free-spirited poetess, who chases Keith Richards to Morocco in 1967 after a brief fling; her adult daughter, who is nearly undone by the magic and tragedy of her mom's life; and the daughter's boyfriend, who befriends a mysterious young boy as his relationship begins to unravel." It also contains a passage that gave me some of the most intense sentence envy I've ever endured, which was painful at first but ultimately inspired me to send Sarah an email with the subject line "CAN'T WAIT TO READ YOUR BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!", only with fewer exclamation points and less capitalization. And then she wrote back, and it was cool. Hurrah.
So: Sarah's going to be on the scene tomorrow night at The Lit Thing: Book Bash, an event at which she and fellow authors K. Kvashay Boyle, Tod Goldberg, Justine Musk, Mara Shapshay, and some guy named Blake Nelson whom we're kinda into will "rant/rave/rage about books that wormed their way into their brains." It's happening at 8 p.m. at M Bar (1253 N. Vine St. in L.A.); peruse the flyer for more info.
In the meanwhile, read our little Q & A with Sarah, check out her website, add her on Twitter, send her fawning emails, and totally believe her every word about the beauteousness of "Cloudbursting" by Kate Bush, which I really need to hear right now. And here I go...
+ Continue reading "Sarah Tomlinson Wants To Take You To Morocco With Keith Richards In 1967"
Tags: 1967, Bob Dylan, books, free wine, interviews, Kate Bush, L.A goings-on, lions, makeout records, Marc Bolan, Morocco, Sarah Tomlinson, sentence envy, Tavin, taxi drivers, The Rolling Stones, writers we love
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Saturday , December 5, 2009
Love: Boy Meets Girl (A Q&A With Designer Stacy M. Igel)
Boy Meets Girl and its distinctively adorable logo first caught my eagle eye on "Gossip Girl," when Jenny Humphrey slings a Boy Meets Girl tote on a clothing rack on one of the episodes where she interns for Eleanor Waldorf. (Is it just me, or do I kind of miss Eleanor Waldorf and Wallace Shawn as the stepfather on the show? And does anyone remember the first Eleanor Waldorf on the pilot, the less clucky-motherly one?) Even a committed Goth appreciator and dark side denizen couldn't resist such playful, sweet and beautifully fun his-n-hers profile silhouettes -- I carted a canvas Boy Meets Girl logo tote everywhere till it finally died an ignoble death in the middle of a flash thunderstorm last summer. The logo and company is the love-and-brainchild of designer Stacy M. Igel, a fellow hardworking Chicago girl (like yours truly) who found her way to NYC and began building her company slowly but steadily. It's been eight years since she founded her company, and she's been expanding from t-shirts, totes and tops into a full collection of clothing that retains the lighthearted spirit while adding a bit of sophistication and citified sharpness in the line and detailing. (Seriously -- have you seen that leather jacket? It's off the hook, and only $154! Crikey, that's an insane price point!) It goes without saying that I think all three members of the nogoodforme troika could sport something from the line and look completely awesome in our own way. (I think I would give Liz a hoodie, LJ the taker/giver t-shirt, I want the honeybee one or the sweater, and we can all Sisterhood-of-the-Traveling-Pants it with that leather jacket.) She's doing it ethically as possible, too, using organic and sustainable materials and manufacturing whenever she can, and she's a big supporter of various causes. (I also have to say, it's great to see a fashion company that shows its clothing on girls who look cute and normalish and not emaciated.) Read on to learn more about Stacy, how she came up with her genius logo and her dream to be on Oprah, that patron saint of hardworking Midwestern girls everywhere.
+ Tell us a little bit about yourself -- where you grew up, were you a creative kid, what was your first fashion memory? How did you become interested in fashion? Did you always know you would do fashion or was this path a surprise for you?
I grew up in Chicago. I told my mom at the age of 4 that I would only wear dresses to nursery. I also told her I would move to NYC and start my own fashion line. So I began my life as a fashionista at the ripe old age of 4! I outfitted my pre-K classmates and staged fashion shows in my school cafeteria. I even made and sold charm necklaces to my friends in 1st grade! My mom was an entrepreneur and I believe it was transported to me in the womb! It's been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember...
+ How did Boy Meets Girl get started? How did you get the idea? What was the initial vision, and how has it grown and changed since its beginnings?
I designed and sewed some of my first tops in my NYC apartment that I shared with my college girlfriends. I was sewing and designing for holiday gifts, birthdays and special events in my free time while working full time as a designer at Izod. I kept my poor roommates up while sewing all night. But they were amazing and always my best promoters. They would wear my stuff out and inevitably someone would ask them, "Where d'ya get that"? From that point I started taking orders from friends of friends.
I knew I wanted to design a different line that spoke to an energetic, edgy and playful young woman with a confident and carefree spirit. During the process of creating this vision I knew I needed a logo that encapsulated that girl. One day my boyfriend at the time (now my husband) invited me to his parent's house for dinner and I noticed a picture frame containing silhouettes of their three children from when they were younger. My parents had a similar picture of my mom, my sister and I when we were about the same age. I thought about us and how we still both had these young, playful, carefree versions of ourselves inside of us and I knew right then and there my brand would be called Boy Meets Girl® and that I'd use our silhouettes for the logo.
In the beginning I was working out of my apartment. I was sewing, selling, promoting (even my first "showroom" photo shoot for Lucky Magazine's "One to Watch" was actually shot in my bedroom), shipping and doing basically everything by myself. Slowly (and I mean really slowly), I was able to afford to bring on a small team but we still worked out of my house. When I was finally able to afford my own space it was the size of a closet in Union City, New Jersey. I took a small bus from Port Authority everyday with my computer on my back to a rundown building with no running water. (The building has since been condemned!) Needless to say I appreciate my current space in the Garment District, complete with track lighting and a working elevator among other plush amenities! So that's how I've grown. I really have not changed all that much...I still love to create, it's just that now I am creating a larger and more complex collection with many more moving pieces and personnel involved.
+ Who's the ideal Boy Meets Girl customer? Who are you designing for?
She's an energetic, edgy and playful young woman with a confident and carefree spirit. She is an influencer/tastemaker who appreciates, but isn't defined by, trends. She is a doer - no wallflowers here. Life is not a dress rehearsal!
+ Boy Meets Girl has been spotted in shows and movies like Gossip Girl, Sex and The City and others. What would be the all-time ultimate movie or show that you'd love to see your clothes in?
A fashion show on OPRAH definitely! Oprah, can you hear me? Chicago girl here making waves in the fashion world. Have your people call me!
+ Who are your inspirations in terms of life, fashion, business, etc?
I am inspired by so many different types of people. If I had to pick a designer, right now, it would have to be Coco Chanel. "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." I believe absolutely in this quote.
As far as business mentors/role models: Elie Tahari, Zandra Rhodes and Elsa Klensch, all of whom I've worked for, were all hard workers even after they'd "made it" so that was an eye opener for me. I was smart enough to recognize that the hard workers were usually the individuals who got the big opportunities in life. They were also the ones who were prepared to capitalize on those opportunities.
+ What's your personal favorite item from your line, and why?
I love my faux leather jacket & reversible vest. Not only are the affordable but they are also sexy while at the same time totally wearable. They look great over my signature Boy Meets Girl logo organic tees and they pair well with many of the BMG dresses too.
I also love my cotton/cashmere "confession" vest that is mixed with faux leather detailing and BMG snaps and my taker/giver v neck tee!
I am also really excited about what's coming out in Dec/Jan in stores. Check out the studded jersey blazer! (You can see pics from my recent fashion show too at www.boymeetsgirlusa.com)
+ Whose closet would you personally like to raid?
Kate Moss.
+ Tell us a beauty/style secret...
Beauty: I've tried all the other stuff but a simple tube of toothpaste is the absolute best remedy for preventing blemishes.
Style: you can take any old t-shirt and recycle it, making it new, by filling up your bathtub with pomegranate seeds, herbal teas or other natural juices. What you'll come out with will be a vibrant, environmentally conscious new look for yourself.
+ What are some of your all-time favorite musicians, books, movies, tv shows?
Musicians: Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Patti Smith, Santigold
Books: The Catcher in the Rye, The Fountain Head, The Hottest State
Movies: Singles, Harold and Maude, Airplane, Reality Bites
TV shows: My So Called Life, Dawson's Creek, Charlie Rose
+ What advice would you give to an aspiring fashion designer or entrepreneur? What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started out?
I learned the importance of hard work and customer service. There are a lot of amazing people in this world. While you may not always be the most creative, charming or brilliant person in the room, you can be the hardest working and most dedicated -- that is something that is totally within your own control. By working hard, my bosses took notice at my earlier jobs and my employees take notice now. It's leadership by example and I think it fosters loyalty and camaraderie.
Also I got this from a fortune cookie tonight and it fits in so well here:
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."
+ Give us a hint of what's in store in the future for Boy Meets Girl...
Expect more cool collaborations. This year I collaborated with the Soho House to design fashion forward uniforms for the servers. I also joined forces with the Cooper Square Hotel to add to their brand-name selection of goods for sale in the hotel room mini-bars. I created an exclusive line for Urban Outfitters which sold in all UO stores and online this year. On the charity front, I developed a limited edition tee to help spread the word on saving the bees (please check out www.vanishingbees.com and http://vanishingbees.co.uk/about/sponsors_and_supporters/). I also joined forces with teen actress Sammi Hanratty to help fight bullying in schools (proceeds of the shirt sale go to www.bullybust.org) and Boy Meets Girl sponsored the Young Survival Coalition In Living Pink gala by providing BMG gift bags for 500 attendees. Two areas I would love to collaborate on for sure this year are shoes and hosiery!
Tags: awesome logos, Boy Meets Girl, hardworking midwestern girls, Oprah, Stacy M. Igel
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Wednesday , December 10, 2008
Love (and a Q&A): complexgeometries
The first time I saw work by complexgeometries, I was amazed at how they took the simple, humble idea of a t-shirt and turned it into something infinitely more dramatic and intense. Putting on something by complexgeometries is an equally transformative experience: it's as full of ease and comfort as wearing a t-shirt or tank top, but you feel ten times more mysterious and poetic due to the beautiful draping and lines in many of the garments. It's perfect clothes for a sophisticated nomad or a couture skateboarder: wonderfully comfortable but genuinely compelling from a design point-of-view. Based in Montreal, complexgeometries is a relatively young operation, but they've found a good deal of success during their short time in existence thus far -- their clothes are carried in cool places all over the place, including my own beloved Oak in New York. (You can also buy from their own website online.) Clayton, the designer of complexgeometries, was super-kind enough to answer a few questions for us -- you can read more after the jump about the role that Buckminster Fuller played in the company, the importance of random Google searches and the beauty of Italian disco.
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Tags: Buckminster Fuller, complexgeometries, couture skateboarders, Google, Italian disco, sophisticated nomads, t-shirts, The Sound of Music
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Wednesday , October 29, 2008
Love Yr Blog: Erica of Royal Quiet DeLuxe
(In which our most beloved bloggers expound upon undying crushes, spirit animals, and les objets du awesome you need to know about right now. In this edition: the lovely and succinct Erica of Royal Quiet DeLuxe.)
Tell us one thing you're really into at the moment that you want the whole world to know about. The library, I love the library. It's like going shopping. We have a beautiful new library in SF, in Glen Park, right across the street La Corneta Taqueria. Today I walked over and got The Complete Maus and two fish tacos.
Who is your all-time number-one music crush? Patti Smith.
What's one item in your closet that you couldn't live without? My impossibly thin black t-shirt, so I can pretend I'm Patti Smith.
What's your spirit animal? A courageous lion.
Tags: blogs, fish tacos, interviews, libraries, lions, Patti Smith, San Francisco
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by Liz in Interviews
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Monday , October 27, 2008
Love Yr Blog: Mimi & Minh-Ha of Threadbared (In which our most beloved bloggers expound upon undying crushes, spirit animals, and les objets du awesome you need to know about right now. In this edition: Mimi and Minh-Ha, the stylish brainiacs over at Threadbared.) Tell us one thing you're really into at the moment that you want the whole world to know about. Mimi: The one thing I'm really into right now is the new Maximumrocknroll Radio call-in advice show called "You've Got A Problem." Maximumrocknroll stalwarts Erin Yankee and Arwen Curry host the show, taking questions like, "How do I keep from spilling my martini in the pit?" in a completely serious, but also tongue-in-cheek, manner. (Arwen suggests bringing a mason jar for your martini, making it both instantly punk and easily protected.) So far, there's only been one show, and most of the questions are "older punk" questions about not turning into the "back in the day" creep at the all ages-show, or finding punks to date who aren't teenagers as more and more punks turn into ex-punks. Although I'm pretty much an ex-punk, and I'd be the one to ask Arwen if she wanted to go dancing, at which point she'd avoid any night-time activities with me for something more neutral, like going to the beach, or discussing the genius of Ursula LeGuin (about whom Arwen is filming a documentary). Who is your all-time number-one music crush? Mimi: Besides my awesome, amazing girlfriend Fiona, it would have to be a three-way tie between my first punk rock love Blatz, Mary Weiss from The Shangri-Las, and the eternally effervescent Cyndi Lauper. What three albums do you want accompanying you on a hypothetical lifelong desert island exile? Mimi: These are hard! The Ex's Scrabbling at the Lock; Gang of Four's A Brief History of Time; and The Shangri-Las' Myrmidons Of Melodrama. I totally cheated there and picked two giant compilation albums. I should probably pick something a little poppier, though, like The Rezillos or T. Rex ("poppier" is maybe the wrong word...). Three is too small a number! What's one item in your closet that you couldn't live without? Mimi: Practically, black turtlenecks are a lifesaver for putting together a teaching outfit when inspiration fails. But otherwise, my 18th Amendment Colbert wide-legged, high-waisted jeans. I love, love, love these jeans! I wear them to teach, to write, to sit around, whatever. I'm resigned to the fact that sartorially, I am a '70s Vietnamese refugee slash art teacher slash Lynda Carter's non-Wonder Woman alter-ego Diana Prince. What's your spirit animal? Mimi: This one is easy - unicorn. I want to be able to fix everything that's terrible and unjust with a touch (or a stab) of my gleaming, magical horn. (l to r: Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las, a super-cuddly wombat, a unicorn!)
Minh-Ha: La Garconne, the online store. I want almost everything on this site! I check it everyday the way some people keep an eye on gas prices or the weather. I even wrote them a fan letter! (The last one I wrote was to Michael Jackson in 1984.)
Minh-Ha: There has never been anyone other than Sinead O'Connor for me. Yes, there were flings here and there (Blondie, Cyndi Lauper, Sting in the Police years) but Sinead circa "Drink Before the War" had me at and will always have me with "Somebody cut out your eyes/You refuse to see /Somebody cut out your heart /You refuse to feel"
Minh-Ha: Without hesitation - English Beat's Special Beat Service!! Every song feeds my inner Rude Girl but Ackee 123 is my favorite. The other two are Sinead O' Connor's The Lion and the Cobra (for the days I'm angry about the political economic structures that forced me into exile in the first place) and Tom Waits' Anthology (for the melancholic days when my spearfishing skills fail me).
Minh-Ha: Right now, my black Soia and Kyo funnel neck coat. We went from Summer to Winter over night! But I'm looking for a thick chunky dark gray cocoon sweater to be my next "one item"!
Minh-Ha: The oft overlooked wombat -- small, powerful, and deceptively cuddly. 
Tags: blogs, Maximumrocknroll, Sinead O'Connor, spirit animals, Threadbared, unicorns, wombats
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by Kat in Love Yr Blog
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Wednesday , October 22, 2008
Love Yr Blog: Ann of Annplified (In which our most beloved bloggers expound upon undying crushes, spirit animals, and les objets du awesome you need to know about right now. In this edition: Ann from Annplified.) Tell us one thing you're really into right now that you want the whole world to know about. The Showtime TV series "Dexter." I Netflix'd seasons 1 & 2 and my boyfriend and I watched each in a weekend. I'm already a TV-on-DVD glutton, but this show is outrageously addictive. Michael C. Hall is amazing as a compulsive serial killer (he only kills violent criminals who've gotten away with their crimes), and the plot just keeps getting more intense and brilliant each season. I'm usually a big scaredy cat of all things gruesome/horror, but I have a fear/fascination with serial killers (it's a know-thine-enemy kind of thing?) and Michael C. Hall is completely loveable as one. You HAVE to watch it. Who's your all-time number-one music crush? Jenny Lewis - my all-time number-one girlcrush! She's adorable (and teeny like me!), has the most crushworthy closet, and rocks the gorgeous red/wavy hair I'd love to have. Plus her/Rilo Kiley's music always seems to be the soundtrack to my life. Name one item in your closet you couldn't live without. Slips - vintage and new. They're perfect for making sure you're not showing a mismatching or bright bra underneath all the tissue-thin clothes that are prevalent nowadays - and they easily freshen up an old outfit when you let 'em peek out from underneath or around the collar. What's your spirit animal? Right now it's an owl. Works mostly in the night, perceptive, clever, sneaky...I didn't feel very sneaky much in my life until recently - when I had to balance a daytime work life and a personal life! (Oh my, that's starting to sound salacious...I promise it's not, but let's just say this more private period will pass when my daytime work life and personal life merge once again.) When I graduated college, I seriously considered getting an owl tattoo on my right shoulder blade to symbolize Athena's owl...but then I got lazy, and it probably would have been too trendy for me anyway.
(Cutely predatory: Michael C. Hall on "Dexter," owls.)
Tags: blogs, interviews, Jenny Lewis, Michael C. Hall, owls
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by Liz in Interviews
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Tuesday , October 14, 2008
Love Yr Blog: Larry "Fuzz-O" Dolman of Blastitude (In which our most beloved bloggers expound upon undying crushes, spirit animals, and les objets du awesome you need to know about right now. In this edition: Larry Dolman, founder/writer/editor (like Kat, Liz and Laura Jane, all rolled into one!) of BLASTITUDE and BLOGSTITUDE) Tell us one thing you're really into at the moment that you want the whole world to know about. This could go a couple hundred different ways, but I'm gonna say the books of Octavia Butler. She's a science fiction writer, and her books are straight-up harsh because they usually deal with two things: the breakdown of civilization as we know it, and humans undergoing changes into more 'animalistic' roles and behaviors. The crux is that these changes aren't presented as good or bad, simply as necessities, and in some cases improvements. Her book Clay's Ark is like Mad Max meets David Cronenberg but actually more intense than either one... the Parable books (Parable of the Sowers and Parable of the Talents) are a very harsh civilization collapse story (because it's mostly very plausible)... the Xenogenesis Trilogy (compiled as Lilith's Brood) is probably her deepest work of all. Who's your all-time number-one music crush? Dude-crush alert: the entire early-80's SST Records crew... Ginn, Dukowski, Dez, Spot, Mugger, Pettibon, Rollins, Boon, Watt, Carducci, Naomi, Davo, more.... they worked their asses off and made so much possible, musically, culturally, everything... total heroes... handsome too, especially D. Boon... What three albums would you want accompanying you on a hypothetical lifelong desert island exile? 1. The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack (Not their greatest live stuff but it's still very good, and more importantly, it's 5 discs, and I'm going for quantity) What's your spirit animal? Well considering that you don't choose your animal, it chooses you, it would have to be the DRAGONFLY. My son had some temporary tattoos of bugs, and I put a dragonfly on my inner wrist and it felt RIGHT. I called it "insect solidarity" because I consider humans to be basically as significant as insects as far as the cosmos goes... and Wikipedia just told me that, in Japan, dragonflies are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness, and, "It is said in some Native American beliefs that dragonflies are a symbol of renewal after a time of great hardship," which is interesting and may become appropriate... LAURA JANE'S POST-INTERVIEW WRAP-UP: Blastitude RULES. I wanted to make some sort of "this one's for the dudes!" reference here, but what-the-Helen-Keller-ever. If that crap was my attitude towards life, I would NOT be Laura Jane of nogoodforme.com. Point being: I'm SO not a dude, and I love Blastitude and its baby-sister blogspot with all my heart. Blastitude has given me so much in my life: this Rod Stewart Youtube extravaganza (complete with witty commentary), about 234309483984392 zillion psych bands, and many an "Aww!" moment, ie. whenever he talks about reading Winnie the Pooh with his kids. In conclusion: Larry Dolman is a) TOO DUDE FOR YOU, and b) officially nogooodforme.com-endorsed forevs.
2. Can - Tago Mago
3. One of the "Radio" discs on the Sublime Frequencies label... maybe the Radio India 2-disc. After about a year on the island I might be able to sing along with it!
(from left: Radio India; Greg Ginn (also a big-time music crush of my own! Gemini? Weirdly tall? Raymond Pettibon's brother? DONE DEAL. His presence turned "This Band Could Be Your Life" into a daydream date fantasy); a dragonfly)
Tags: Blastitude, bloggers we love, dragonflies, music, Rod Stewart, spirit animals, SST Records, TOO DUDE FOR YOU
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Thursday , October 9, 2008
Love Yr Blog: Juliet Small Ernst of Touch Touch Publishing
(In which our most beloved bloggers expound upon undying crushes, spirit animals, and les objets du awesome you need to know about right now. In this edition: Juliet Small Ernst from the Touch Touch Publishing blog.)
Tell us one thing you're really into at the moment that you want the whole world to know about. Frederick Wiseman. He is an American documentary filmmaker in the "direct cinema" tradition: no voiceover, no interviews, no music, no nonsense. He has devoted his career to exploring pretty daunting institutions (as in Law and Order, Welfare, and Hospital) and some more ordinary ones (like Aspen and Zoo) but don't let the titles fool you: This is energetic, provocative stuff. He edits everything himself and has had something of my dream career: His work is largely financed through grants and public funding (with the exception of his debut, Titicut Follies), and he has been able to produce his films regularly, and on his own terms, since the 1960s. The man is a walking public service. (P.S. His movies are finally available on DVD at reasonable prices!)
Who's your all-time number-one music crush? Most of my celebrity crushes are in the movies, but I'll give this a go: Andrew Bird. His voice is beautiful. He plays the violin. He has a warbley whistle. He is tall, lean, a bit scruffed up. His lyrics are beautiful and morose. And a friend of Rhan's, who had the privilege of playing with him, testifies wholeheartedly that Andrew Bird is the most talented musician he has ever met. The Mysterious Production of Eggs is one of my favorite albums in recent memory, and his takeaway show ("Spare-Ohs") will stop your heart. We're seeing him again at Largo in a couple of weeks. Boy Howdy.
Name one item in your closet you couldn't live without. Here's the honest answer: I've grown to rely almost exclusively on my Royal Elastics Flonicas in the last year or so; they are my work (coffee shop) shoe of choice. Springy, cute, comfortable as hell. I've worn them into stink, and the stink is real. Is that not love?
What's your spirit animal? The elephant. I have loved elephants since I was a child. They are slow-moving, long-remembering, and dangerous when provoked. They lumber, though they get more miles-per-gallon (so to speak) than any other land mammal on earth. They grieve and anger. They're grey and leathery. I could go on and on.
(Equally adorable: Andrew Bird and a baby elephant.)
Tags: Andrew Bird, bloggers we love, elephants, film, Frederick Wiseman, music, Royal Elastics, shoes, spirit animals
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Thursday , September 4, 2008
the nogoodforme.com interview: Nut and Bee! OMG!
One thing I can safely say I'll never get over is my childlike preoccupation with baby animals. I'm a total sucker for cuteness; sometimes I feel a bit nerdy about it, but then I reflect upon the heaps of satisfaction I have derived from the existence of wee lil' "aminals" over the course of my twenty-three years, and the only emotion I feel is GRATITUDE.
Short only of Lisa Frank puppies and my longtime love Pochacco on the MAXIMUM CUTENESS front (and not by very much!), New Zealand's Nut and Bee has been charming the Helter Skelter out of me thrice-weekly since I first discovered its existence this past August. Nut and Bee illustrator Annette Lauder is insanely prolific (she's kind of like the nogoodforme.com of the cartoon-animalsphere!); anyone with any interest in cuteness at all whatsoever NEEDS to add her Sketchbook Sweeties blog to their Booksmark Bar ASAP. Every couple of days, Annette gifts the world with a new Sweetie: my personal favorites of late are Panda Takes A Tumble (oh, who am I kidding? This lil' guy makes Pochacco look like Christopher Walken!) and my latest and greatest style inspiration, Miss Fruit Hat Surprise.
Annette has also adapted her super-charming drawings to fulfil more practical purposes: her website sells adorable and affordable lettersets, notepads, recipe cards, and MORE!
Lucky-ducky for nogoodforme.com, Spirit Animal House donees PAWS/LA, ARK II, & the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition, and most of all, YOU, Annette has kindly contributed some highly precious goodies to the Spirit Animal House Raffle!
(at left: Cloudkin sticker set; at right: Magnolia Snooze notepad)
(set of 8 Warmosaur write-on labels)
As always, all you have to do to save some animals and win some cute prizes is CLICK HERE:
Super-sweet Annette is clearly the type of gal who understands the importance of a spirit animal! Click behind the jump to find out about how she built Nut and Bee into a business, why she digs John Lennon, honey, hibernation and more (including some really killer fiction recommendations)!
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Tags: interviews, Lisa Frank, MAXIMUM CUTENESS, Nut and Bee, Pochacco, raffle tickets, Spirit Animal House, spirit animals
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Thursday , August 21, 2008
the nogoodforme.com Interview: Shock Cinema Essentially Shock Cinema came to Brooklyn via Atlanta, but with their stylish, dark, unapologetically arty sound, the band fits right into their adopted hometown's gritty yet sleek milieu. From the immaculate production of their records to the tautness of their songwriting, their brand of noise is supremely poised and even a bit mysterious, but this never gets in the way of tantalizing pop hooks or real human emotion. While I wouldn't call them raw (in the sense of wailing-shards-of-brutal-noise-and-agonized-screaming raw), there's certainly a controlled ferocity behind some of their songs, especially on a track like "Wax Wings," off of their excellent debut full-length release, Hell and High Water, which came out earlier this summer on Kanine Records. In a town where half the bands are more concerned with perfecting their look than writing a masterful song, Shock Cinema's sense of craft stand out. (Although, don't get me wrong, they're certainly quite stylish -- they thankfully sound as good as they look.) It's this care and precision that seems to be emerging from their earlier, rougher sound, making them more cinematic and expansive. I caught them earlier this summer at a show at The Annex in Manhattan, and even with some fairly dodgy sound and live mixing at some points, the strength of their musicianship still came through loud and clear: stellar guitarwork (care of Autry Fulbright) that's equal parts New Wave, Krautrock and straight-up rock, along with stately, intriguing vocals courtesy of singer Destiny Montague. Shock Cinema are playing a few shows in NYC in the next few weeks, including one this Friday at the former Club Midway space in Manhattan (now called Rehab) and next Monday at Santos Party House with ...Trail of Dead. They put on a great, energetic live show, and they're super-cute as well -- don't miss them! And they were sweet enough to answer our usual cheeky mix of questions.
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Tags: Brooklyn bands, music, Shock Cinema
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by Kat in Interviews
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