Comment: Why I love/hate Madison Square Garden

The first time I visited Madison Square Garden and the surrounding Penn Station area, I was 15. It was my first in-person look at this insane city and , trust me, I did NOT like it AT ALL. I found New York filthy, repulsive and far too confusing to understand. I couldn't believe that people operated in such shocking squallor. Magnifying this contrast was the fact that I had just flown in from sunny synthetic Orlando that morning.

Needless to say, in my 15 year old Colorado teen mind: I was not impressed.

Cut to today, I LIVE in this neighborhood.. the neighborhood that I first saw and thought so ugly. I've never really loved being near Penn Station because it's more like living in a bus terminal than an actual residential neighborhood. There is little sunlight on my street, too much vehicle exhaust and since I began living here, I dress more and more like the neighborhood transients. And the air is AWFUL on my skin.

However, I shouldn't be so quick to criticize...K-Town, H& M, and D'aiuto's bakery are all just steps away.

Another reason I love the neighborhood today:

Scissor Sisters will be headlining at the legendary Madison Square Garden, two blocks away.


2 blocks from my place. Yummy. No fuss. Who else could say "hey, after the show at madison square, let's just pop by my place and unwind. I'm only two blocks away."








.

Films: Brilliant, Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins will never be the same for me again.

Comment: To Thine Own Self Be True

"Yet here, Laertes! Aboard, aboard for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for.
There ... my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg’d comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel but, being in,
Bear't that th' opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man;
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell; my blessing season this in thee!"

-- William Shakespeare

Now, this is great advice.

Art art art: Sara Van der Meulen

The part of me that loves Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland and the Ed Gorey illustrations is in love with her work.

I don't really know a thing about her except that she is from Belgium!

Her online portfolio is here: here

Retro: The Bugaloos!

This show used to leave me feeling queasy and uncomfortable. They still disturb me, but I find that I like them... I think it's the bright colors..

Animation: Maleficent!

Just because...

Animation: Michael Dudok de Wit

It's too cold to go outside anyway. French animation. GORGEOUS. "The Monk and the Fish" was the first film I saw by Michael Dudok de Wit. Here is another, "The Aroma of Tea"

Le Sigh: Audrey Hepburn

Interesting article from the BBC....

"She's again topped a 'most beautiful' poll. Yet many fans weren't even born when she started making movies. What's the enduring appeal of the original waif?

Audrey Hepburn. Lovely, wasn't she? And her old-school glamour has beaten off modern day pin-ups - she's been voted the most beautiful woman of all time in a poll for New Woman magazine. But why is she so popular, among film fans and fashionistas alike? "

Read the rest here

Comment: Double Whammy

NOOOO!

Cate Blanchett AND Jennifer Connelly made the list??? Nooooooooooooooooo! This is a cruel world.

Comment: Monday

prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......................................

Comment: Factory Girl Reshoots

Here is the trailer. I can't believe they're still shooting reshoots for this...Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgewick's nutty and brief co-dependent relationship, with Sienna Miller playing Edie.

hrrrm.

art art art: Makani

Fan art usually sucks, but DEFINETELY not in this case.

The artist known as Makani (real name Heather) is a Harry Potter fiend (with a charmingly strong interest in the villains) and she posts her very beautiful and very cool work on the site Accio brain!



She's a girl after my own heart, as she realizes her crushes on Snape, and Lucious Malfoy in these gorgeous sketches. THe above sketch is of younger portrait of Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco Malfoy's aunt.

I wish we could take an art class together at Hogwarts. *sigh* Her work makes me long for my days as an art school girl...

You can also find her work here: http://makani.deviantart.com/

Le Sigh: Charlize Theron & Stuart Townsend

Love them both. Why do they remind me of Popeye and Olive Oyl?

Real Life: London... A Pint and a Fight, a great British night

I LOVE London....

Marco & I were in town for a friend's lovely wedding...whose reception I think I may have had a bit too much to drink... regardless

I liked that some of the fashionistas seemed to be working a Rolling Stones groupie look-- primarily Marianne Faithful - or the Mod thing. The guys were typical beautiful British fodder, tall, great skin, smart clothing... rarely can you go wrong with that combo.

We stayed in Notting Hill this trip

When in London it is good to:
1. eat curry
2. eat chinese
3. drink beer in a pub
4. go shopping (unfortunately the dollar is pretty weak against the pound)
5. stroll

The local all girls school.. Later on in that night, M and I had an argument on that same corner.

When in London, it is NOT good to:

1)expect to find Korean food

2) lose your ticket before you exit the Tube

Out in the suburbs: Pinner

Hope to be back again soon.

Comment: Damnit, Andy

Andy Taylor has left the band.... AGAIN. This would be split number 2 from them.

"See you all again in twenty years for the next reunion..."

TV: Project Runway

Vincent is irritating me oh so much. Too neurotic...way too neurotic.

Mega Post: Kate Winslet

Films: The Order of the Phoenix

..I'm very sad that the twins cut their hair....

Pitch Perfect casting.

Harry Potter fever...soon soon soon...here's a doodle in the meantime!

Check out: Wine Nerd Game

For all you budding oenophiles, this is a WICKED game... You are a wine grower, and you must choose your region, your grape, when you will harvest, and what you will serve with it.... I did pretty well!!! Okay, I'm lying!

Click here to play this game

NYC: Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg

Then it hit me

i am not going to be famous

i won't get to be a rockstar

i am going to be stuck on the payroll

doing work that doesn't interest me

for a very long time

http://www.thenithitme.com/

Animation: Duran Duran Anime

If you've attended any of the recent Duran Duran concerts, you've probably seen this. I think that I thought it was really good at the time, but I was also high off my ass. I don't remember Nick having fangs and it's pretty violent ... The song is a live performance.... and gawd, I just don't understand all the FUCKING FANGS.....

Fashion: Punk Glam Grunge Rockabilly Goth

This is from Fashion Rocks 2006. First of all, I apologize profusely for the audio on this. The visuals are no better.... however, no geek has uploaded a better version of the clip on YouTube yet, and I don't know how to digitally grab from the television

Regardless, please know that while my intentions were good, my excitement so overwhelmed me that I would post anything, even tripe, for people to see what I found so uncontrollably compelling.

This clip is from the Fashion Rocks 2006 show last week--- I admit, I thought it pretty cool. I never thought I'd see a medley of literally all these in a fashion show. I think I loved it.

Funny moment: Watch for the long hair blond guy during the Grunge segment- he looks a little lost.



I know there's a high irony about the whole thing, but hearing the crowd cheering bananas for the grunge and the goth presentation cracked me up.

I'll keep looking for a better clip-- and does anyone know whose music they performed on the Goth segment of the show?

Pop Fantastic: CITY Magazine Summer 2006

If you haven't heard yet, I have an illustration in CITY Magazine's Summer 2006 issue. It's on newsstands now, and it's on page 32. Be sure to pick up a copy!

And as always, please check out www.popfantastic.com

The site has been redesigned, new layout, new work.. enjoy!

Comment: Gwyneth Paltrow's burkha

I think this is the best fashion choice she's made in a long time... *cackle*...oh, I kid. .The next thing you know she'll be credited for starting the "veil' trend among Hollywood actresses.

Retro: Book of Love

OMG. Does anyone remember Book of Love?

My fondest memory of Book of Love was going to one of their Gothic Theater performances back when I was in Colorado. We had a group of assholes in front of us during the show who thought thaty they were the shit because they scored backstage passes after the band threw them into the crowd. 15 minutes later, Tam has pickpocketed them, and when those idiots realized their tickets were gone, they immediately turned around and started yelling at Sharon, who, as usual, had NO idea what stunt one of us had pulled.

Anyway, they have a new site up and it looks wonderful...Book of Love influenced my art so much.. their sound was so dreamy and danceable.. *sigh*

I didn't know that they hailed from NYC....I always thought they were European or something.

bookoflovemusic.com

(I recommend turning the volume down because the website delivers the Susan Ottaviano "uh-huh" from Boy everytime you click a link, which you may or may not find annoying.)

Comment: Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes at the Oscars.What a standout!

Films: The Dark Crystal is getting a Makeover as well

Gennady Tartakovsky (that's Mr. Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack ) will be directing the remake of Jim Henson's Dark Crystal. It's not happening until it's happening. I, for one, do not think that the film needs to be remade. That was genius Henson Magic on screen-- there is no way to recapture that, you know.

source: Animation World Network

Films: The Notorious Bettie Page

IF you are a Bettie Page fan, you may want to check this out:

Photo from www.sneakpeektv.com

Click here to see the trailer, and then let's gab: The Notorious Bettie Page

Animation: Happy Little Puckered Faces

Disney Reportedly in Talks To Buy Pixar

Appearing to be carrying out the longstanding Hollywood maxim, "if you can't sign them, buy them," the Walt Disney Co. is reported in "serious discussions" to acquire Pixar Animation. According to today's (Thursday) Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the situation, the proposed all-stock deal would pay a nominal premium to Pixar's current market value of $6.7 billion, making Pixar chief Steve Jobs Disney's largest individual shareholder. The newspaper said that talks between Disney and Pixar "have gained momentum in recent months" and that they are now "at a sensitive stage."

Good Grief.

Also, it looks like the Pixar 20 year retrospective exhibit will go to LONDON, not San Francisco as previously thought. If you are in the NYC area, you have until Feb 6 to see this at the Museum of Modern Art. Don't miss it!

Animation: PIXAR 20th Retrospective

The best thing about Disney and Pixar visual development in animation:

1.There's something about seeing work that you can see the artist's hand on.
2. It's so very well done and, the best part,
3. it's usually a totally made up world.

I, unabashedly, very much still love Disney. Correction : I unabashedly still love Disney Classic Feature Animation. It's no secret, as a fan, that Disney Feature has, ahem, lost its coolness for sometime now. Pixar is the New Disney. This is not a new saying obviously, but coming from me, it's a huge thing. It's like Pixar holds the heavyweight championship belt for storytelling.

I recently read about the Disney Studio's "mandatory switch" from 2-D to 3-D. The animators were told to learn to draw using a computer, or they could leave the company. Quel horror, I'd imagine. Their next film is Rapunzel---a story I've been dying for Disney to tell . Glen Keane will be primarily directing, I believe, which is something he has always wanted to do (who doesn't?) but the caveat was that it must mostly be in 3-D and that he needed to learn how to animate on the computer.

Maybe you're thinking, so what? EVERYONE has to move on the 21st century at some point. And maybe you would have a point. But I don't think the Disney bosses get it. Switching over to 3-D is not going to make more people come to your movies. It'll just make your workers (who happen to be artists) hate you more since you're not really creating, you're imitating. Getting back to telling a GOOD STORY will do it, not trying to be like Pixar.

At the Pixar 20 Year Retrospective, I experienced the most magical of two floors that I ever did see at MOMA . It all unfolded in such a lovely way, I knew who all the characters were, it was like being greeted by an old fuzzy friend hanging out in a posh building. And Pixar just happens to makes some very good looking films that are extremely entertaining. There are an entire cast of uber-talented drafters, illustrators, sculptors behind the 'magic' you see on screen.

Everyone knows this, but have you actually seen one of these pieces? Up close? Unfortunately, we could not take photos of the exhibit)

Some artists gave me chills when I looked at their work. With some I couldn't even breathe. But on with my report:

I noticed that there were quite a few French names---I wonder if they were brought over as a result of Disney closing the Paris studios....I jotted a few names of those whose work stood out..

Teddy Newton: I liked his elegant line--his illustration of the Incredible's Frozone looked like it had been etched out by a brushpen that was an ice skate. It was that clean and crisp.

(<---------Here is my crappy rendering of the drawing. Don't you love the feet and cartoon chicken leg hands?)

Simon Vladmir Varela was another one whose work I loved. I seriously want to buy that charcoal he did for the scene where Nemo and his friend are standing right before the huge coral dropoff. Other favorites: Lou Romano, Nicolas Marlet, Nelson Ray Bohol, Robin Cooper, Tia Kratter. I don't know if you google these people if they would come up, but they really ought to, they are so damn talented. I'll be going back, so I'm hoping to drag a bunch of people with me. You should go see it too!