Help find a cure

Today, join Seventh Generation to help save women's lives with the launch of their new initiative, Let's Talk ... Period to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. For every person that registers, $1 will be donated to the OCRF until they reach the funding goal of $22,000. Each year, 22,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Help make a change in just three clicks. And check out my new Seventh Generation blog!

Save it for a rainy day

It was one of those wet, indoor kinds of weekend, perfect for projects. I sold some clothes to Buffalo Exchange (for a whopping $16.37), painted my nails on the LIRR (last time I do that on a moving vehicle), and made a floral hair wreath for my mom's best friend's wedding.

The wreath was easier than I thought - wire, florist's tape, and a variety of seasonal sprigs (I used mini-orchids, lilacs, pink berries, and a few other white flowers). I wound the wire into a head-sized circle and secured the flowers by wrapping tape around stems, letting the petals overlap for a fuller effect.

The end draws near

Weekend before Labor Day marks the last of summer's free events. Today's highlights:

Grizzly Bear, Beach House and Vega at the Williamsburg Waterfront, 3pm. The finale to this year's JellyNYC Pool Parties is a monster - "Two Weeks" may well have been the anthem of Summer '09, and Beach House, well, let's just say I did my fair share of stalking when I lived in Charles Village, where I'll be returning tomorrow (wonder if Alex and Victoria ride the Bolt Bus...).

If crazy lines aren't your thing and you'd rather sit down under the stars with a margarita in hand, head to Fort Greene's Habana Outpost for their Outdoor Movie Series (every Sunday at 8pm). I was there for Purple Rain last Sunday, post-downpour, no less. It's worth it just for the mexican corn, but the pretty people and eco-friendly ambience don't hurt either. Tonight's flick is See No Evil, Hear No Evil.

Enjoy the sun!

Can't get enough of the Wild Things

My obsession continues: Where the Wild Things Are cupcakes, as seen on Claire_issa's Flickr. Might have to throw a themed opening night party, hmm ...

National Geographic's best of the year

Recently received an email that took my breath away: National Geographic's best photos of 2009 do not stray from the standard of documentary photography that has made the magazine a household name. See them all here.

Read while you ride

You know those free AM NY papers that get handed out in subway stations, only to be tossed to the wayside? What if instead, someone handed you a gratis copy of Lolita, or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius? Choose What You Read NY is an organization that recycles used books by circulating them back into the community. They collect old books at three locations around the city and distribute them in subway stations on the first Tuesday of the month. For the love of literacy, lend a hand by clicking here.

The last, the very last ... Polaroids

According to PSFK, the last days of disco (disco being production Polaroid camera kits) are close at hand. Urban Outfitters will sell just 700 limited edition kits that will include the last production run of Type 779 instant film and Polaroid ONE600 cameras. So get ye to an Urban, all instant film fanatics. Or get on The Impossible Project bandwagon.

Art of the underground

If you haven't already caught wind of the buzz generated by photographer Ryan McGinley's latest body of work, make sure to check out Moonmilk, a collection of photographs shot underground in caves across America on 35mm film with lots of colored gels, lights and possibly acid-enhanced imagination. A few of my favorites:

Mr. Belding's ballads

Saved by the Bell seems to be experiencing a comeback, or throwback, with talk of a reunion and the resurgence of nineties fashion on the rise. Here to take his piece of the pie is Dennis Haskins (better known to fans as Mr. Belding), an aspiring karaoke singer whose album hits shelves September 1st, just in time for the back-to-school buzz. That dream I have of a principal serenading me with "Brown Eyed Girl" is so close I can almost taste it ...

Tarantino's glorious epic

I hardly know where to begin to praise Quentin Tarantino's latest film, Inglourious Basterds. A project over a decade in the making, this is arguably his best work since Pulp Fiction. Brad Pitt shines as the leader of a team of Jewish American soldiers who take it as their duty to scalp Nazis, Christoph Waltz's performance as linguistic genius and "Jew Hunter" Colonel Hans Landa (which landed him a much-deserved Best Actor award at Cannes) is spot-on, the unspeakably lovely French actress Mélanie Laurent plays a young French-Jewish girl on the run, and Samuel L. Jackson even shows up to narrate in true Tarantino fashion.

At 2 hours and 37 minutes, not a reference is wasted: Basterds is a revenge war film in keeping with the best of them, but it is also an homage to the history of cinema. Drawing inspiration from the French New Wave, Italian spaghetti war films, and in the vein of Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (the scene with Mike Myers as a British general who stores his drink and decanters inside a globe bears similarity to Chaplin as Adenoid Hynkel's dance with an inflatable globe), this is truly an epic work of art. The graphic gore that is one of Tarantino's many signatures plays second fiddle to his larger talent for witty, tension-building dialogue. He doesn't ask but rather requires audiences to relish in every aspect of what Eli Roth deemed "kosher porn," and it is about time. In its exorcising irreverence for the centuries of pain inflicted upon the Jewish people and the world, Inglourious Basterds may be just what the doctor ordered.

Crack is back

Can your butt do this ;) ?

If not, you need Winkers, the jeans designed to make people stare at your derriere. These pants, which are handpainted with a pair of eyes in the place where thigh meets buttock (so that as you walk and the pants crease, the eyes appear to be "winking") can be yours for the bargain price of $569.00!

Thanks to Annie for wising me up to this exciting new trend.

San Fran's Candyland

The Hasbro toy company made Lombard Street in San Francisco into a giant board game yesterday. The occasion was the 60th anniversary of the sweet-toothed gamer's classic, Candyland.

via Flavorwire; photo courtesy of AP Hasbro Inc., Darryl Bush

Dunk up, dunk down

If I worked in this building I would always be hungry.

The rap trilogy

Last night, Jay-Z revealed the tracklist for the third installation of his Blueprint albums. Blueprint 3 will feature such names as Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Pharrell. Good things are a'comin.

Tracklist via Nah Right:

1. "What We Talkin' About" (feat. Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun)
2. "Thank You"
3. "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"
4. "Run This Town" (feat. Rihanna and Kanye West)
5. "Empire State of Mind" (feat. Alicia Keys)
6. "As It Gets" (feat. Young Jeezy)
7. "One" (feat. Swizz Beatz)
8. "Off That" (feat. Drake)
9. "A Star Is Born" (feat. J. Cole)
10. "Venus vs. Mars"
11. "Already Home" (feat. Kid Cudi)
12. "Hate" (feat. Kanye West)
13. "Reminder"
14. "So Ambitious" (feat. Pharrell)
15. "Young Forever" (feat. Mr. Hudson)

The Dude abides

New religions pop up all the time, but the one that claims to be the slowest-growing also seems to be the greatest: Dudeism, a way of life inspired by The Big Lebowski, names Snoopy, Quincy Jones, Julia Child, Kurt Vonnegut, Gandhi and Jesus among its mentors. Feel free to wander around the site a little before getting ordained as a Dudeist priest, but really, you can't disagree with this philosophy:

“Life is short and complicated and nobody knows what to do about it. So don’t do anything about it. Just take it easy, man. Stop worrying so much whether you’ll make it into the finals. Kick back with some friends and some oat soda and whether you roll strikes or gutters, do your best to be true to yourself and others — that is to say, abide.”

Abide, and amen.

Stand by us all

From the Playing for Change foundation comes a documentary project focused on people all around the globe playing the same songs. This inspiring installation records musicians from New Orleans to the Netherlands singing, playing the washboard, and drumming the beat of the classic togetherness anthem, Stand by Me.

You gotta see this:

Thanks to Amelia for the heads-up.

Lil Hova

Skinny young Jay-Z and the Jaz ... some old-school goodness here:

Recession humor

Yesterday, nymag.com's Daily Intel column featured recession-themed jokes from famous comedians. A few of my faves (saving the best for last):

"A lot of people out there think that we're going to have another Depression and that we could even see the return of those soup lines. I'm not too worried. Because, since 1929, our soup has gotten so much better. You'll be able to find me in the Southwest chicken tortilla soup line." - Tom Ryan

"How about these billionaires killing themselves? They lose their money and they kill themselves. How insulting is this?! They'd rather die than live like us. 'You want me to eat at Applebee's? I don't think so.'" - Tom Papa

"I want to bring bartering back, because we don’t barter enough. I think we should barter. And I just like the word 'barter'. For example, why can’t I barter for stuff from Whole Foods? I would love to take some mugs from the Trump Tower Vegas my ex-mother-in-law gave me as a gift one year into Whole Foods and say “Can I just get a protein bar for these two mugs?” I mean seriously, It’s like $3.25. That’s a way for me to take goods that are valuable to someone but not necessarily valuable to me, and get something of value back." —Rachael Harris

"I’m not saying the price of gas is getting ridiculous … but today went to my Chevron and asked the clerk to give me $3 dollars worth of gas — he farted and handed me a receipt." - ANT (of Celebrity Fit Club fame)

Squirrel snatches spotlight

While on vacation in Canada, Melissa Brandts and her husband decided to take a self-timed photo of themselves against the background of Lake Minnewanka (haha, break that word up and say it five times fast). Their shot was rudely/cutely interrupted by a furry friend who popped in to investigate the camera's clicking timer. Curious creatures, those ground squirrels.

via National Geographic's Intelligent Travel

What's new in Williamsburg

The Knitting Factory, once a staple of my own TriBeCa neighborhood, has finally settled after a series of openings and closings, right in the heart of hipsterville. The new venue, opening in September, is 361 Metropolitan Avenue (that's Williamsburg, Brooklyn, kids). The opening night is Wednesday, September 9th and will be played by Brooklyn-based band Les Savy Fav. Cool. Get your tix here.

One man's trash

Bronx-born artist Michael Anderson is the proud owner of the largest collection of graffiti stickers in the world. Approximately 4,000 of these stickers can now be viewed in the Ace Hotel, whose owners commissioned a mural made from the ephemeral art form.

Check it:

First wives of Fire Island

Apologies for my blogospheric absence this past weekend; I was on Fire Island with no computer access (sigh, how wonderful). Until I get my NY bearings back, who else remembers how great this scene was?

Gotta love those ladies.

Something wild this way comes

At the risk of revealing just how out-of-control my obsession with this movie is starting to become, I had to share the new trailer for Where the Wild Things Are (the old one was just a teaser):

I CANNOT WAIT.

Best songs of '09

Thank you, NPR. This list is about to become a playlist.

Out of the Frying Pan, into the water

Checked another outdoor city drinking spot off the list last night, and I intend to go back many more times before the August heat melts away. The Frying Pan, located at Pier 66 in Chelsea, is a musty old boat docked on a railroad car barge. The menu is mostly seafood, but I was pleased to find veggie burgers and even Baltimore's own Old Bay-seasoned fries. Order up a pitcher of the white sangria or a bucket of Coronas and take a look around at the beautiful people aboard. Oh, and the view of the Hudson isn't half bad either.

Apatow's ambitious move

Despite the fact that it was about 45 minutes too long, Judd Apatow's newest flick, Funny People, does what he does best: balances heart and humor, dealing with real emotions while making the audience collectively snort into their sodas. The all-star cast includes the ever-dimensional Adam Sandler, a semi-skeletal Seth Rogen, my personal favorite Jonah Hill, talented Apatow spouse Leslie Mann, Jason Schwartzmann and Eric Bana (both wonderfully obnoxious), as well as ridiculous cameos from Sarah Silverman to Eminem. There were less pee-your-pants moments than Knocked Up or Superbad, but clever lines ("Harry's getting old, they should call him Harold Potter"), together with the complexity of the tragi-comic form, come together into a leisurely rhythm that feels a lot like real life, only, well, funnier.

Last licks at Liberty Park

Yesterday marked the final day of All Points West music festival. It's only their second year putting it on, and despite the rain and potential crazy-profit-loss, I think they did a most excellent job (but maybe that's the free bonus ticket speaking).

Trekked through masses of mud (but perfectly clear skies this time!) to catch the synthetic pop stylings of La Roux and a few uninspired minutes of We Are Scientists before the day really took off. It started with the tiny Swedish sorceress Lykke Li, who is absolutely my second-day-APW-idol (Karen O. being the first). She covered Kings of Leon, called for the audience to spark a jay for her newest "downtempo" single, then announced it time to "party like they do in Europe." We left for the next show as her birdlike choirgirl voice soared to the sounds of "everyday I'm hustlin.'" That's one crazy-cool little chica.

Next up, The Black Keys absolutely killed it. Some heavy, 70s-style, real-live real-deal rock. Definitely the best of the night, in my opinion. Made it to Coldplay for a little feel-good Chris Martin loving, then ended the evening with a disappointingly lackluster MGMT performance. Maybe they can't make it happen in festival venues, or perhaps they just (dare I say it?) ain't got it no more. Either way, the weekend was magical in the way only music festivals can be. Fingers crossed that the weather didn't ruin APW's chances of a third year, because with a little guidance and a bit more practice, this could be one of the better things out there, especially for us New Yorkers. Until next year!

Hamburg hands

Check out this projection on the facade of a museum in Hamburg, designed by German creative firm Urban Screen to look as though "a house were dreaming." Wild.

555 KUBIK | facade projection | from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

July showers bring free tickets

Yesterday's kickoff to the All Points West music festival in Liberty State Park was wet, messy and well worth the discounted craigslist tickets I purchased the day before. Because of the insanity of the weather, festival administration offered an extra free day (either Saturday or Sunday) to everyone who braved the rain. Nice perk, huh?

The show itself was unbelievable. We kicked off the uber-hot day with Seasick Steve, a bluesy ex-hobo who used to record with Modest Mouse. Next up were the Fleet Foxes (sigh), the dreamiest of the dreamlike poppy-ish music-makers. They cracked a few jokes about summoning the heavy winds, but they weren't quite kidding - these weather wizards played through pouring rain and with what seemed like complete control, coaxed the storms to subside. Missed out on Ra Ra Riot, Pharcyde and Q-Tip, but managed to catch the much-needed peppy-prep-pop sounds of Vampire Weekend.

The next two shows literally blew me away: I don't have words for the art-rock cool that is Karen O. of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's (think shredded skeletal burka and inflatable eyeballs tumbling from the stage), or the giddy community dancefest that Jay-Z's first American music festival appearance became. And yeah, he covered the Beastie Boys, payed tribute to MJ, and gave a preview of The Blueprint 3, to be released Sept. 11, 2009 (not just D.O.A., either).

Some new Jay-Z (feat. Rihanna) I'm loving right now:

Sunday has a lot to live up to.