Apparently in Miami live music is best heard from underneath a highway. First it was Stage under the 195, now it's PAX (Performing Arts Exchange) under I-95. Housed in the former Miami Herald distribution center, PAX is billed as a "coffee art house" which is exactly what we need more of in Miami. Founded by the guy who was in charge of booking bands (like The Pinker Tones and He's My Brother, She's My Sister) at Transit Lounge, the music should be good. Hopefully, the coffee will be too. Upcoming shows include Afro-Kumbé on 4/22, and Elastic Bond on 4/23.
Other events happening now include O, Miami, a celebration of poetry in honor of National Poetry Month. The festival includes a literary death match, something involving DJ Le Spam and one of the guys from Broken Social Scene that's being called Broken Social Spam, and an evening at the new Gehry building with James Franco, who has been recognized by Stephen Colbert as being a modern-day Renaissance Man. And the Transatlantic Music Festival with Tango Conspiracy and Antibalas performing at Bardot and the North Beach Bandshell, respectively.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Martha Stewart Makes Life Better
Martha Stewart Makes Cookies.
I love the simplicity and straightforwardness of this app's name. And, of course, I love Martha Stewart. So naturally I'm already a big fan of this app which I've never even tried. You begin with a cookie search wheel that allows you to mix flavors until you find the perfect cookie for your soon-to-be-grateful loved one. You see full-color photos of each cookie, you use the built-in timers and when you're stumped at a step, take advantage of the embedded video so that Martha can lovingly and confidently walk you through it. Really, it's like she's right there in the kitchen with you! And once your cookies are ready to come out of the oven, Martha would never just leave you to your own amateurish devices, so of course there's tips on presentation as well.
The layout and design are as clean and visually-appealing as everything in her empire. I'm sure Martha Stewart Makes Cakes, Martha Stewart Makes Chicken, Martha Stewart Makes Omelettes, etc., etc. can't be too far behind. Maybe even Martha Stewart Makes Cupcakes AND Cookies :
Because, really, Martha Stewart DOES Make Life Better.
Monday, March 28, 2011
I Was R I G H T !!!
Back in August of 2009, I wrote this post about how I wished swing could make a come-back. It finally seems that I'm getting my wish. Well, maybe not SWING, yet, but at least rockabilly is back; and it's close enough.
Last December - after an amazing in-studio performance by Miami City Ballet of Company B which is set to the music of the Andrews Sisters (yes I really do love the era) - I ended up going to Bardot and unexpectedly catching Hep Cat Boo Daddy's live performance. Then last month I was at Stage and saw Slip and the Spinouts. And as exciting as hearing these great bands was, seeing the great outfits was even better! Girls with thin, arched eyebrows, ruby-red lips and porcelain skin decked out with bandanas and crazy prints and the attitude to match. Boys with pompadours and two-tone shoes. Ah, heaven.
I'm too fickle to commit to one style, vacillating between hippie and pin-up and most days sticking with yoga clothes or jeans and a t-shirt, but it definitely makes me happy to see that this subculture is popping up in the mainstream again. If I could only remember how to roll my hair properly...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
South Florida Wildlife, Part 2
AWESOME! Super-Lizards and Super-Snakes! This is going to make a great movie! Kind of like this one:
"So why do you want to be a model again? For Jesus." OR "We're going to save the world!" OR "I'm only getting loving-er"
Just watched the premiere of America's Next Top Model Cycle 13, oh no, sorry, Le Cycle 13, since Tyra is choosing to speak with a French accent throughout the episode for some bizarre, unknown reason. Every time a new season is about to start I always plan on watching and promptly forget until one day when I'm home doing 6 loads of laundry and they're running an ANTM marathon on TV.
So I finally got with the program and watched. Online. A few days after it aired.
Holy Crap is this an amazing show.
Tyra: NUTS! I love her!
And then there's all these awesome girls!
Like Amber, who, unfortunately, had to drop out "for personal reasons" before the show even started. She loves Jesus, so much in fact, that she wants to be a model for him because he wants her to save the world. She booty dances for the homeless on Friday nights. She is like a virgin because she hasn't had sex for two years. And she has the CRAZIEST catwalk and poses!
Then there's my other favorite: Nicole. She takes a rusted wheelbarrow to school instead of a backpack. Because she was into William Carlos Williams? She's quiet and completely emotionless (except for when the giant stretch SUV limo pulled up and J popped his head out the window). Also, her nickname was Bloody Eyeball (look for the explanation of that around 1:41).
My last favorite is Laura. Not 'cause she has any sort of crazy, but because she's from a farm in the South and she's just fucking awesome. She castrates bulls for a living and says it with such a sweet Southern accent!
And this "upper middle-class girl" may be nice and all (since at the age of 19 she has already lived on a sheep farm somewhere, and then spent 3 months backpacking through the South Pacific and - oh no! - had to buy herself a plane ticket to Chicago for the casting with her dad's credit card since she currently lives in Costa Rica. Oh, the lives of the rich are so difficult! The conundrums!) but I just can't stomach the waves of rich hippie rolling off of her.
God, I'm such a hater.
So I finally got with the program and watched. Online. A few days after it aired.
Holy Crap is this an amazing show.
Tyra: NUTS! I love her!
And then there's all these awesome girls!
Like Amber, who, unfortunately, had to drop out "for personal reasons" before the show even started. She loves Jesus, so much in fact, that she wants to be a model for him because he wants her to save the world. She booty dances for the homeless on Friday nights. She is like a virgin because she hasn't had sex for two years. And she has the CRAZIEST catwalk and poses!
Then there's my other favorite: Nicole. She takes a rusted wheelbarrow to school instead of a backpack. Because she was into William Carlos Williams? She's quiet and completely emotionless (except for when the giant stretch SUV limo pulled up and J popped his head out the window). Also, her nickname was Bloody Eyeball (look for the explanation of that around 1:41).
My last favorite is Laura. Not 'cause she has any sort of crazy, but because she's from a farm in the South and she's just fucking awesome. She castrates bulls for a living and says it with such a sweet Southern accent!
And this "upper middle-class girl" may be nice and all (since at the age of 19 she has already lived on a sheep farm somewhere, and then spent 3 months backpacking through the South Pacific and - oh no! - had to buy herself a plane ticket to Chicago for the casting with her dad's credit card since she currently lives in Costa Rica. Oh, the lives of the rich are so difficult! The conundrums!) but I just can't stomach the waves of rich hippie rolling off of her.
God, I'm such a hater.
Monday, September 14, 2009
"Miami Man Loses His Manhood and Fights Back in Court"
There's all sorts of things that are wrong wrong wrong about this article. Feel free to count them up like a Highlights magazine all on your own.
Life During Wartime
So this new movie that just premiered in the Venice Film Festival, Life During Wartime, is supposed to be good and is set in Miami, although ACTUALLY filmed in Puerto Rico (WTF?).
It's sort of a sequel to Happiness and also involves Welcome to the Dollhouse neither of which I've seen. And the way it's described is interesting, but I couldn't watch even a minute of this making-of video which features the director because he's so damn boring to listen to, so I don't know what that means for the movie. Maybe his movies should just be seen but he should not be heard? Somebody else watch it and let me know.
It's sort of a sequel to Happiness and also involves Welcome to the Dollhouse neither of which I've seen. And the way it's described is interesting, but I couldn't watch even a minute of this making-of video which features the director because he's so damn boring to listen to, so I don't know what that means for the movie. Maybe his movies should just be seen but he should not be heard? Somebody else watch it and let me know.
You can find so much happiness in a 99cent
Thank you, Jezebel, for making us aware of the 99cent weddings!
Initially this woman was identified as being homeless and participating in this special 99cent wedding sponsored by the 99cent store. AWESOME.
Turns out she's not homeless though. Whoops.
99cent wedding? Still awesome though.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Dedicated to the South Florida Wildlife
Was anyone aware that while the Cat Killer has been getting all the press when it comes to animal murder, someone has been going around killing horses?? They think someone is killing them for their meat ... gruesome pictures here.
Also, looks like the Lincoln Road rooster guy is getting help from Miami Beach mayor Mattie Bower. He was told that he'd have to get rid of Mr. Clucky and Mr. Clucky's girlfriend Wallflower after complaints from neighbors about the crowing. I have it on good authority that he's packed up and left town for a little while, rooster and hen in tow, but in the meantime, the Mayor has asked the city to make an exception for when he comes back.
So the above happened a long time ago, but I never heard about it. CRAZY!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Eventually, we all fall into the Gap
So I'm trying to find out why they say corn is bad for you and if it's better for you to eat it raw or cooked and I found this:
Who cares if it's good for you or not?! Kitten! Eating corn!!
I just saw these great pictures from a Southern Belle Swing Bash in Atlanta and besides wondering why we don't have something like that here, I'm wondering, was anyone else into swing music/fashion back in the 90s? Because if we're really doing scrunchies again, as this girl is so enthusiastically assuring me:
Can we also re-do swing?
Remember the awesome scene in Swingers (favorite movie after West Side Story...) when Mike finally meets Lorraine and they dance?!
Which reminds me that the Gap used to have that awesome Khaki Swing commercial:
which was part of a whole series of khaki dancing commercials in the late 90s.
And the awesome singing commercials from the same time.
That's it. I'm bringing khakis back. AND this has officially become a post dedicated to The Gap. I used to shop at the one in Town and Country Center in K-hole (after stopping into the Sanrio store and lunch at Cafe Tokyo: my first sushi love. No other Japanese restaurant will ever compare to their black-and-white checkerboard floors, neon pink lighting, awkwardly-shaped booths, Japanese pop, kitschy souvenirs and cheap cheap food) because, since no one went to Town and Country, everything at that Gap was always on sale. I think 90% of my wardrobe came from there, including (!!!) this amazing little red embroidered bag that I wore everywhere, all the time from 1995 until 2001, seen in this (horrendous) picture from Grad Nite'01:
(You really can not have any idea of how thrilled I am I was able to find a picture of this bag for this post.)
Anyway, the Gap was great - lots of basics, but still plenty of fun items like that bag. They also had tons of scarves and cute socks. Everything was sort of classic, sort of nondescript. It's not like you walked around in a new Gap shirt and everyone knew immediately where you had bought it. It was just the epitomy of cool, chic, relaxed and put-together. Nothing was too expensive and there was a variety of sizes that fit properly - which, if you shop at stores now, (*ahem ahem* Forever 21, Urban Outfitters) you realize what a luxury that was. And remember the perfumes?! Grass, Om, Dream, Heaven???? I loooooved the turquoise-hued Heaven.
And then, in 2000, they came out with the Mike Mill's West Side Story commercials. You see how this all comes full circle?
There were two more - one to "America" and one to "Mambo" but, alas, those two are not as easy to find as the picture of my awesome red purse.
The sad thing is that at some time during my high school years, I worked at Old Navy (ughhh Sunset Place) for one week. On the seventh day, Sunday, I decided I needed rest and therefore decided that I didn't really need to go to work at 7 a.m. for cash register training. The manager called my house around 8 a.m., waking up my dad, who came and woke me up. I don't remember the conversation too well, because I was half-asleep, but I think it went something like this:
"Claudia, are you aware that it is now 8 a.m. and you were expected to be at work one hour ago?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have a reason for not coming into work this morning?"
"I didn't want to wake up."
"Are you planning on coming in today at all?"
"No. I don't think so."
[sputtering]"Are you aware that if you do not come in today we will have to FIRE you?"
"No, don't worry about it, I quit."
"I have to tell you that you will not be able to ever work at another Old Navy, Gap, or Banana Republic."
" ... "
I guess that's around the time my love affair with the Gap ended.
Which is why I remained unaware of this AWESOME commercial until now:
I don't think I like the all-new Gap.
Who cares if it's good for you or not?! Kitten! Eating corn!!
I just saw these great pictures from a Southern Belle Swing Bash in Atlanta and besides wondering why we don't have something like that here, I'm wondering, was anyone else into swing music/fashion back in the 90s? Because if we're really doing scrunchies again, as this girl is so enthusiastically assuring me:
Can we also re-do swing?
Remember the awesome scene in Swingers (favorite movie after West Side Story...) when Mike finally meets Lorraine and they dance?!
Which reminds me that the Gap used to have that awesome Khaki Swing commercial:
which was part of a whole series of khaki dancing commercials in the late 90s.
And the awesome singing commercials from the same time.
That's it. I'm bringing khakis back. AND this has officially become a post dedicated to The Gap. I used to shop at the one in Town and Country Center in K-hole (after stopping into the Sanrio store and lunch at Cafe Tokyo: my first sushi love. No other Japanese restaurant will ever compare to their black-and-white checkerboard floors, neon pink lighting, awkwardly-shaped booths, Japanese pop, kitschy souvenirs and cheap cheap food) because, since no one went to Town and Country, everything at that Gap was always on sale. I think 90% of my wardrobe came from there, including (!!!) this amazing little red embroidered bag that I wore everywhere, all the time from 1995 until 2001, seen in this (horrendous) picture from Grad Nite'01:
(You really can not have any idea of how thrilled I am I was able to find a picture of this bag for this post.)
Anyway, the Gap was great - lots of basics, but still plenty of fun items like that bag. They also had tons of scarves and cute socks. Everything was sort of classic, sort of nondescript. It's not like you walked around in a new Gap shirt and everyone knew immediately where you had bought it. It was just the epitomy of cool, chic, relaxed and put-together. Nothing was too expensive and there was a variety of sizes that fit properly - which, if you shop at stores now, (*ahem ahem* Forever 21, Urban Outfitters) you realize what a luxury that was. And remember the perfumes?! Grass, Om, Dream, Heaven???? I loooooved the turquoise-hued Heaven.
And then, in 2000, they came out with the Mike Mill's West Side Story commercials. You see how this all comes full circle?
There were two more - one to "America" and one to "Mambo" but, alas, those two are not as easy to find as the picture of my awesome red purse.
The sad thing is that at some time during my high school years, I worked at Old Navy (ughhh Sunset Place) for one week. On the seventh day, Sunday, I decided I needed rest and therefore decided that I didn't really need to go to work at 7 a.m. for cash register training. The manager called my house around 8 a.m., waking up my dad, who came and woke me up. I don't remember the conversation too well, because I was half-asleep, but I think it went something like this:
"Claudia, are you aware that it is now 8 a.m. and you were expected to be at work one hour ago?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have a reason for not coming into work this morning?"
"I didn't want to wake up."
"Are you planning on coming in today at all?"
"No. I don't think so."
[sputtering]"Are you aware that if you do not come in today we will have to FIRE you?"
"No, don't worry about it, I quit."
"I have to tell you that you will not be able to ever work at another Old Navy, Gap, or Banana Republic."
" ... "
I guess that's around the time my love affair with the Gap ended.
Which is why I remained unaware of this AWESOME commercial until now:
I don't think I like the all-new Gap.
Body parts in bags, Nazi donuts
Real-life Dexter episode for those of you sitting around biting our fingernails till the new season starts! (omg just hearing the theme music makes me giddy...)
So you saw Inglourious Basterds right? Want more Nazis to laugh at?
So you saw Inglourious Basterds right? Want more Nazis to laugh at?
Papers (2009) - watch more funny videos
A true celebrity ...
I can't believe I hadn't shared THIS with you all yet! What was I thinking?? Please notice that the page's icon appears to be Hello Kitty. This guy has achieved true celebrity status among us at work. His blog is beyond crazy and most of us are still unsure whether he is a real person or not. I mean, his Myspace album is full of crazy photos like the one above, and then crazier photos like the one below where he put all sorts of effects. Unfortunately, you can't see it here, but this one flashes a big purple heart over his face:
There's also a bunch of animated pictures of some black guy, a bunch of pictures of naked/half-naked girls, and then this sort of randomness:
Real? Not real?
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Pregnancy-Chic
Thank god for On Demand. If it wasn't for On Demand, I don't think I would ever watch TV, because really, it's all about ME and when I want to watch TV. Also, it helps me feel better about the amount of TV I watch. Somehow the fact that I'm not a slave to TV schedules lessens the whole "rotting your mind away" stigma.
So I finally got around to Project Runway's second episode tonight and I see that Lifetime really is intent on convincing me that they are the worst channel ever.
Malvin, my other favorite, got auf-ed.
because he was "too conceptual for America" and made this whole chicken-and-egg-bird-nest-and-feather fertility thing:
At least he avoided his desire to create "chicken thighs" and gave the model straight leg pants instead of jodphurs.
I actually didn't find any of the outfits to be especially bad ...
And I DID agree with the judges that Shirin's was the winning design:
I also really loved the other top design:
But now the two most interesting designers are out ... what's left?
So I finally got around to Project Runway's second episode tonight and I see that Lifetime really is intent on convincing me that they are the worst channel ever.
Malvin, my other favorite, got auf-ed.
because he was "too conceptual for America" and made this whole chicken-and-egg-bird-nest-and-feather fertility thing:
At least he avoided his desire to create "chicken thighs" and gave the model straight leg pants instead of jodphurs.
I actually didn't find any of the outfits to be especially bad ...
And I DID agree with the judges that Shirin's was the winning design:
I also really loved the other top design:
But now the two most interesting designers are out ... what's left?
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Pointless eco-stunts, Inspiring sailing stunt
Have you noticed the rash of books featuring "eco-stunts" as Elizabeth Kolbert writes in the New Yorker? You know what I'm talking about. Books that combine "projects" or "challenges" (Julie/Julia anyone?) with green themes like not buying any plastic at all for a year, or not using any fuel. Kolbert exposes just how silly the whole trend is in an interesting and short read:
"Renunciation sets them apart and organizes their lives in the name of some higher purpose. The trouble—or, at least, a trouble—is that it’s hard to say exactly what that purpose is."
13-year-old Laura Dekker is trying to become the youngest person to sail around the world solo after 17-year-old Mike Perham just finished the trip today. However Dutch authorities where she lives do not want to allow her to make the trip. At first I thought good for them, what the hell is wrong with this girl's parents? But her parents fully support her and feel confident that she can do it since she was born on a sail boat while they were sailing around the world and lived the first four years of her life on a boat. She recently sailed by herself from the Netherlands to England, where she was taken into custody and her father was called. Her father didn't want to come get her, stating that she was perfectly capable of sailing back home herself (he did, eventually, fly to England and sail back home with her). I kind of think that she should be allowed to do it ... why the hell not?
Do you suffer from "inadequate or not enough lashes?"
Does that sentence make you want to throw up in your mouth a little? Maybe because the last thing you need is to worry about your EYELASHES, since you already have your muffin-top and your cankles to worry about? Maybe because you can't handle bad grammar?
Well, relax. Because Brooke Shields is behind it. So it MUST be ok.
Well, relax. Because Brooke Shields is behind it. So it MUST be ok.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Techno Viking
Recently brought to my attention ... The Techno Viking who protects innocent blue-haired ravers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
