An accurate portrait

Comparison shows an uncanny reflection:

I’ve been glued to this chair for three days straight.

TTBOOK: Boots on the Ground

To the Best of Our Knowledge, or TTBOOK, is one of the few podcasts I religiously follow every week. Recently, they produced an absolutely INSPIRING series called, “Boots on the Ground.” The basic premise revolves around the war in Afghanistan and each week they study a specific facet of the war– embedded journalists, women in the army, the notification officers. THIS is the type of stuff that long-form storytelling works best in– series and installments make the largest impact and ensures the ability to keep the audience and study the story thoroughly.

Anyway, there’s like four or five episodes and they’re worth the time to look at. Probably not the best to listen to in the morning (I do anyway) because get those tissues ready. This stuff is way legit, you’ve never heard of the war this way. You won’t hear numbers, you’ll hear real stories.

http://odeo.com/episodes/25446289-TTBOOK-Boots-on-the-Ground-Stories-from-the-War-in-Iraq-Covering-the-War

i harth … procrastination

Not really.

Currently settled into my favorite Law library carrel, books stacked beside me, Word on and…nothing. Why does life always seem like that– all effort put into preparation and inspiration and when it gets to actually executing it, life falls flat. Maybe that’s just my life…?

Anyway, I’m just going to go out and say that I’m probably procrastinating on the 15 pager due for Urban Planning tomorrow. To distract myself from my predicament, I was surfing around aimless and found my old Livejournal dives. Namely…I HARTH DARTH.

Credit to: iharthdarth.livejournal.com

Well, that was fun. Probably going to put up a Christmas wish-list and a winter break to-do list sometime between now and 5pm tomorrow. It’s gonna happen. Procrastination increases web productivity.

Added some new videos from LAT and such. Look at that beautiful vidzz on the front page of LAT. Hottt.

Meow.

NY Fashion Week Pt. 5

I thought NY Fashion Week would really be a bust but I found some collections I absolutely adore in the last two days. Way to go, America, you’re not completely hopeless afterall.

Rodarte

I’m a fashion n00b and totally just pronounced that as Rodart instead of Rodart-ay.

There’s some serious dominatrix, bondage theme going on, but at the same time, there’s a tribal influence and weird elegance that I love. Why weren’t you guys around when I had to go to prom?

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren usually reminds me of the 70% plus take an extra 25% percent off rack in Macys. It’s fun to hide in, just not so great to look at. But this collection is actually really cute and just really…American. I kind of really love the variety between three piece suits (with clock chains!) and Little Women-esque dresses and wispy frocks.

Then again, there’s that…overall evening gown. Work on the top, pah-tee on the bottom.

Marchesa
…will be making my wedding dress.

Michael Kors

Wow, wtf, I didn’t realize you can do something NOT influenced by American nautical style. This is probably the coolest swimsuit I’ve ever seen:

Temperley London

I love these shoes.

Dennis Basso

Screw Herve Leger’s bandage party dresses– Dennis Basso made these epic win dresses, which I can see myself twirling around on a freshly cut lawn of my husband’s grand estate.

Just kidding.

Okay, NY FW is winding down and I swear this is one of the last posts on fashion and more posts on what the hell I’m going to do with my life. Or not.

Credit to: nymag.com

Video rec: “Guatemala: A Tale of Two Villages”

More info at:

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2009/07/guatemala_a_tal.html

NY Fashion Week Pt. 4

Diane Von Furstenberg, I probably love you too much. Every season, I look forward to you line because I still have festish fantasies from your Fall 08 collection.

And for the last three collections, it’s been a freakin’ jungle. Literally, all of her collections have influences of tribal print in it. Where is something as femme fatale as Fall 08? I don’t want to look like I’m going to a resort at all points of the year.

Other than that, Tuleh just topped Cynthia Steffe in uber cute, wispy-ness.

A hoodie?? I would always be able to conserve that fabulous hair style, which I completely adore. And half lingerie, half wedding outfit, totally cute kinky is so much better than edible panties.

Zac Posen gave a breath of fresh air with his take on the 60′s style with bursts of neon colors and plastic dresses. No more nude/beige/grey pls.

Gossip Girl is back, and so is visual eye candy. Dresses and men.

Credit to: nymwag.com

Payless is the new mecca

I always believed that Ikea would be my one and only, but since Payless started debuting these designer lines, I can’t help but make a little more room in my heart. I’ve been waiting for their fall line (wtf, Payless and a fall line) since earlier this year.*SQUEEL*

And Christian Siriano’s line for Payless– definitely a step up for Payless, but a step down for Siriano’s runway shoe. What a downgrade! Where are my spikes? Where are my chains? They made the shoe boring.

Also went to Emma Ferreira’s “Exposed” exhibit at the Bergamot Station in Santa Monica for FORTH tonight. Talk about non-descript, desolate underground artsy hang-out. While there, I got to talking to our publisher and we were talking about better ways to integrate video into the magazine. He considers “journalism” a form of art– just like photography and painting. I realized I’ve never looked at it that way because journalism is so objective, based on the facts from others and nothing truly creative like traditional mediums. But then again, it takes skill and talent to put together a coherent and amazing story (video or print) so yeah, journalism is art in that sense. That’s just one part of the LA art scene, find out more (just like I am!) at www.forthmagazine.com. Wootcow.

Credit to: payless.com, nymag.com

NY Fashion Week Pt. 3

I’m probably really late to the game, but I just realized S/S10 is going to look really…bland. Not like it’s a bad thing, but I’m pretty sure I can count the amount of color I saw on the runways on one hand. On the other hand, I ran out of fingers to count color palettes of nude, beige, and grey.

From L to R: Vivienne Tam, Ports 1961, Jen Kao, Cynthia Rowley, Chado Ralph Rucci, Yigal Azrouel

People may laugh when they hear that fashion runways reflect the state of the country, but I might go out on a limb as to say this is a good reflection of the economy, society, and the industry. The designers I talked to at Fashion’s Night Out spoke of the problems in the recession and how they had to create staple items that would last. These muted palettes may be boring, but they will always have a staying power. Perhaps there is no room for risks in the fashion industry right now, so the concentration is in tried and true color schemes and superb structure…?

Other than that, I think the only collection that has stood out so far is Band of Outsiders with their body con skirts, button-ups, and blazers.

Nymag.com probably has the best photo viewer in comparison to style.com and wwd.com, with minimal lag time and fun buttons.

In more fashion related news, my FNO video finally made it onto the LA Times “All the Rage” blog: http://bit.ly/49Na4Y

Credit to: nymag.com

NY Fashion Week Pt. 2

Picks for today:

I. CUTEST collection

The epitome of a spring time collection and oh-so wispy.

Cynthia Steffe

II. Best period collection

I’m a sucker for anything that looks inspired from the late 1800′s/early 1900′s

Gary Graham

III. Best tease but don’t please

I’m probably an old lady, but I really dig this color palette.

Preen

Video: “Fashion’s Night Out in LA”

Watch it in HD for maximum visual potency.