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Looks like "Silverlake" for some reason always has some sort of music connotation, even if we're talking about Silverlake in Pattaya, Thailand instead of my neighborhood of Silver Lake in Los Angeles! I did a double-take when I saw this flyer for the "Silver Lake Music Festival" the other day:
Not to be confused with Silver Lake Jubilee or the dormant Sunset Junction! :-)
A reader emailed this to me: simple logic and common sense you won't find in any parliament, congress, or religion.
This totally reminds me how social issues continue to be misused by political candidates as a way to relate to their naive voters, even though their opinions on these issues have absolutely zero relevance as to how they will actually function in their positions.
So the past several weeks we've been watching so many screeners at home, typical for this time of year, catching up on all the films of 2011 before the Oscars. Finally got around to viewing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the movie based on the hit novel. My main qualm with the film was the length -- movies over 2.5 hours usually feel a little long for me, even when I have the luxury of spending that time on a big couch at home.
But the graphic violence in the rape and torture scenes is what has riled the feathers of India's Central Board of Film Certification, which was banned the film from opening in India's massive market after director David Fincher refused to edit portions of the final product.
The movie still has lots of openings scheduled throughout the rest of Asia, so the ban will be pretty much pointless once everyone starts sharing their copies online (probably happening already!).
Looks like Disney's Mickey Mouse shirt "inspired" by Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album cover (1979) has been pulled once it was revealed the mega-company may not have had all their permissions in order after all.
Even Joy Division's bass player Peter Hook had some stinging words -- albeit gift wrapped in sugarcoat -- for Disney:
"...in a funny way, it's quite a compliment for a huge conglomerate like Disney to pick up on a poor little Manchester band that only existed for a couple of years, it's quite startling. I'm amazed they're that hard up that they need to prey on little indie bands, but I get the feeling that someone may have done it as a tongue in cheek compliment."
Well, Mr. Hook, obviously they are that "hard up"…aren't all predators these days?
Vegetarian fried rice in Ktown, made specially just for us! Thank you ajummas, we know you don't get too many of these requests! :-)
Online Dérive:
NK 3G: To counter the hordes of citizens escaping North Korea since Kim Jong-il's death, the government has imposed a 100 day ban on the use of cell phones -- or else be dealt with as a war criminal.
TRAIN: Images of female Chinese bodyguards in swimsuits training on the beach has caused a stir on online forums.
OSCARS: The Academy doesn't seem to like comedies too much (but Borat was way funnier than Bridesmaids).
ACTA: Read about the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement issue.
HANGOVER: USC deals with the commentary of James Franco's reality web show, Undergrads, a "Hangover-style" portrayal of the school.
JALLIKATTU: PETA supporters protest outside the Embassy of India in Washington to get the Indian government to enforce the national ban on using bulls as performance animals.
RED SOLES: Christian Louboutin continues his 20th anniversary celebration, this time with a design collaboration between alumni from Parsons and Bergorf Goodman.
NETWORK: This hopes to become the Facebook for the art world.
The worst is when you're in the car trying to make a turn and a pedestrian is hunched over his/her phone in the crosswalk like a pure genius...New York is not the only city that should have these signs! #petpeeve
Thanks to new Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi, the Big Island has joined Kauai and Maui in passing a bill that bans businesses from giving customers single-use plastic bags.
No doubt this will be good news for surfers and ocean lovers alike who deal with increasing amounts of floating debris around the islands' waters. The legislation takes effect in 2013.
Check out "Message in the Waves," a cool BBC documentary on the growing environmental challenges that Hawaiian people and wildlife face. Trailer below:
I could not care less if it’s a mosque or a temple filled with idols
Where my beloved lives, that is my Ka’aba
You religious fundamentalists stop this bloodshed
Humanity is the best religion; love, the best worship
Because of this war I despise the “dear mullah”
Love is my religion; unity is my faith—Zarin Pareshan (a Pashtun poet)
Not everyone around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border has been sucked in by the Taliban. After decades of enduring the Taliban's brutal campaign in the volatile border region (bombed schools, music shops, and targeted musicians, female dancers, and singers), a campaign which seeks to "deprive people of secular outlets in order to accelerate the spread of religious extremism," the Taliban's secular-nationalist opponents are actually using some of the very same vilified artistry to retaliate: modern Pashtun poetry. A pretty fascinating read.
Not being ignorant is the true luxury in life. I can't believe how many first world citizens are so pathetically blind when it comes to something so heinous like wearing fur in 2012. While one may think that worldwide success, experience, and millions of dollars would afford some folks the knowledge that animal fur goods are hardly something to brag about, obviously this is not the case.
Take a look at what these parochial heads (fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and music mogul Dr. Dre) came up with for their collaborative project for the Beats by Dre headphone line:
The "limited edition" (no, really?) design is covered in a plum-colored layer of fox fur and retails for $695 USD. (Of course, a letter from PETA to Dr. Dre has been unanswered.)
Geez, is this straight from the annals of illbred.com or what?! Maybe this is the perfect tacky gift for those poor, provincial souls who also think that covering their waxed bikini areas with fox fur will help them feel more sexy, no?
What's really ironic about all this fox fur nonsense (remember J.Lo's famous fox fur eyelashes?) is that its ubiquity is based upon its relative "cheapness" (above rabbit fur), yet is marketed as some sort of "luxury" product to those who don't know nor care about the gross reality behind the scenes.
I understand some people are still stuck in the increasingly embarrassing "bling-bling" (note the quotation marks) era of the late 90s/early 2000s -- abusing and killing animals in order to make these kinds of junky products will still make sense to them, sadly enough. A small price to pay to maintain the $30k-millionaire lifestyle, right?
What a lighting-fast way for older segments of the fashion and music industries to look utterly stupid. Please educate those around you and #GoFaux!
