Thursday, October 26, 2006

Bumble and Bumble Disaster = Louise Brooks Halloween Costume


In an attempt to save a few bucks I did the Bumble and Bumble hair model project...

My appointment was yesterday at 5:15PM. It had been the third or fourth time that i've modeled for their classes. Unlike the other times, this last time, I had a very unsatisfactory experience. I know that it's a free haircut and all, but I felt really upset when I left.

The cut they were practicing was the "Graduated Bob". The instructor was a skinny short guy (dressed a la Vikor and Rolf) with a Hitler mustache and tattoos all over his neck. The student was a fat rosy cheeked blond woman from Fairfax, VA. So, there I am sitting for and hour and half, my head is itching cause of all the product they were spraying on my hair for the "sections" to hold, and by two hours the cut was not nearly done. I asked the instructor if they were gonna take longer (everybody else was done with their models)... he replied defensiveley asking my arrival time. "I was one of the first ones to get here", I replied and then he said "We still have 20min" and proceeded to chop my hair (only the right side). Aftewards, he sort of cut some bangs (very unevenly and nasty) and then the lady was pretending to thin it out... but she worsened the cut so the instructor tried to (or pretended to) fix it and that was it.

I left with:
1.my hair stiff and my scalp burning...
2.a bob that looks longer and fuller on the left than on the right
3.scary uneven bangs...

I had to miss work and get it fixed... paid $90... just for that trim, but now I look like Louise Brooks and everyone loves it.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Desconocer

Cuando me desconozco
te quiero conocer.

Cuando te desconozco
te quiero mas.

Daniela Elbahara 06'

Lolita in full bloom at The Japanese Society


Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Sailor-fuku to kikanju)

Film Fall 2006

Opening Night: Friday, November 10 at 7:30 pm*
Sunday, November 12 at 6:15 pm


1981, 112 min., 16mm, color. Directed by Shinji Somai. Based on the story by Jiro Akagawa. With Hiroko Yakushimaru and Tunehiko Watase. Print courtesy of Kadokawa Herald Pictures, Inc.

Hiroko Yakushimaru, the most iconic and charismatic "idol" of the period, plays Izumi, a feisty high school girl who takes on the yakuza world with a loaded machine gun in this blockbuster film. Named the "head boss" of a yakuza clan after the unexpected death of her father, quiet Izumi becomes ensnared by violence and drugs. Shinji Somai, known for pushing his actors to their limits and pulling out the most dynamic performances, directs this action packed coming-of-age film.

* The November 10th screening is followed by the LOLLIPOP PARTY featuring DJ Jaiko Suzuki (Mon Mon Mon Amour). Lick lolitapops, sip pink drinks, nibble on tasty treats, and win prizes when you come dressed as a school girl!
Opening night tickets: $15/$10 Japan Society members/ $5 with Film Pass.

Nov. 12 tickets: $10/$6 Japan Society members, seniors & students.

Order tickets online below or call the Box Office at (212) 715-1258.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Syndromes and a Century


Even though the New York Film Festival is about to end, films get better every day. The first film that really caught my attention, was Syndromes and a Century by Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

These are the notes that I took in the dark while watching this fresh and beautiful film.

Same story, two settings. Old and modern. Rural and Urban. Gemoetrically framed shots. Same characters, same dialogues. Gimmick. I love the soundtrack (dentist/balladist who sings about white teeth during procedure and in a red cross party).Aspirations, buddhist monk wanted tobe a DJ. lost loved ones, lost limbs.automatization, sound of electricity, sounds of machinery operating like a hypnotic orchestra. pastel colors mixed with beautiful green surroundings. all matte. sharp contrast with characters clothes. smooth camera pans that help you contemplate like a Japanese movie. clean stark shots. the rpute to wellness. old world mixed with new world. beauty in every shot. the new monuments of the city. modernization. collectiveness. unranium - cholesterol, tai chi- aerobics in the park. prosthetics- carbon monoxide poisoning. strange dolly back and around in the prosthetics room. ode to Antonioni (still frames of factories and the cool place girlfriend wants to move to).

Gloria Steinem


" We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned; we are really talking about humanism."

Gloria Marie Steinem was born in Toledo, Ohio.As a child in Toledo, she cared for her ill mother and helped support the family. Steinem entered Smith College on scholarship in 1952, majoring in government studies and becoming politically active in Adlai Stevenson's presidential campaign. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa Society (the oldest honour society in the United States) in 1956, the year she graduated. Steinem then studied in India for two years, after which she returned to America and had difficulty finding a journalist position because males had hiring preference. In 1960, she became assistant editor of Help! magazine and a freelance writer, and in 1963, started freelancing full-time with the publication of her infamous undercover article, A Bunny's Tale: "Show's" First Exposé for Intelligent People.

After conducting a series of celebrity interviews, Steinem eventually got a political assignment covering George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign, which led to a position in a New York magazine. She became politically active in the feminist movement, and the media seemed to appoint Steinem as a feminist leader of sorts. Steinem brought other notable feminists to the fore and toured the country with lawyer Florynce Rae ("Flo") Kennedy, and in 1971, cofounded the National Women's Political Caucus as well as the Women's Action Alliance. In 1972, she started the feminist magazine Ms. and wrote for the magazine until it was sold in 1987. The magazine was bought by the Feminist Majority Foundation in 2001, and Steinem remains on the masthead as one of six founding editors and serves on the advisory board.

Steinem founded the Coalition of Labor Union Women 1974, and participated in the National Conference of Women in Houston, Texas in 1977. She became Ms. magazine's consulting editor when it was revived in 1991, and she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Steinem

Also...
Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinheim promoting their radio company: Woman's Neighbor's Network in Comedy Central's The Colbert Report as they were making apple pie. Fonda even kissed Colbert (cause he had a kiss the cook apron).

http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=76495

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

I agree



Lucidity excludes desire (or kills it, I don't know): it dominates what remains.
-L'Impossible, Bataille

Qué le pasó a Diego? What happened to Diego?



Muchos Mexicanos se enorgullecerán al saber que Diego Luna es el único Mexicano en la campaña My Life/My Card de American Express. No sé como escojan al talento que promociona esta afamada tarjeta. Desde Scorcesse y De Niro hasta Ellen DeGeneres y Andy Roddick.

El que mucho abarca, poco aprieta... y Diego agarró hueso, pero sale pierniabierto con un pie en el aire y una cara de que no ha dormido en meses... (por no decir que quizá usa la tarjeta con otros propósitos ajenos a los de comprar o pagar servicios).

____________________________________

Many Mexicans will be proud to know that Diego Luna is the only Mexican that American Express features in their campaing My Life/ My Card. I don't know how they choose their talents. From Scorcesse to De Niro and even Ellen DeGeneres and Andy Roddick.

Diego got this gig, but he is posing with his legs wide open and his foot in floating in the air and a face that shows he hasn't slept in months (not to mention the he might be using the card for other purposes that don;t have to do with purchasing stuff).

Monday, October 09, 2006

The Science of Sleep

Otoño del 2006 es la fecha en la cual Michel Gondry, el simpatico director francés de inventivos videos musicales, comerciales y películas, estrena The Science of Sleep, su largometraje mas personal hasta la fecha. En numerosas ocasiones confiesa que su facultad para desarrollar historias sobre relaciones de índole amoroso, es gracias a las experiencias que ha tenido con sus ex-novias. Todo este material acumulado en su nostálgica y jugetona mente le ha dado suficiente seguridad para prescindir de la ayuda del Charlie Kauffman, guionista de sus anteriores filmes Human Nature(2001) y Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(2004). Abordando su ya conocidos temas sobre naturaleza del hombre y sus relaciones amorosas y platónicas, el idealismo y el enamoramiento fantástico, The Science of Sleep es una comedia romántica basada en un amor que Gondry tuvo en su juventud. Esta es la historia de Stephane, (Gael Gacia Bernal) un muchacho excéntrico y soñador que no sabe diferenciar sus sueños de la realidad. Entre sueños, es el carismático presentador de “Stephane TV”, un programa de televisión ficticio sobre su vida, que se lleva a cabo en un set construido con cajas de cartón, celofán de colores y nubes de algodón. Sin embargo, al mudarse Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) al apartamento de enfrente, los sueños de Stephane cambian de rumbo. Es así como comienza la atracción entre los dos pero la actitud infantil de este y sus confusiones lo separan de la realidad y de la posibilidad de conectar con ella. La idea de escribir este guión surge cuando Gondry se percata de la necesidad de expresar su propia voz y de tener mas libertad. "Quiero que mi instinto tomé el control y mi intelecto lo pierda, dejándome producir ideas, imágenes y conceptos sin necesidad de justificar por qué."declara apasionado. Su nueva implantada seguridad en cuanto a la historia y la libertad adquirida, se traducen en escena. El actor Mexicano Gael García Bernal interpreta al personaje principal con naturalidad y espontaniedad, agregándole su toque personal.

En The Science of Sleep, Gondry repite muchas de las imágenes que ha utilizado en sus videos musicales. Uno de ellos es cuando Stephan aparece con unas manos casi del tamaño de su cuerpo, idea extraída del video de los rockeros Foo Fighters para el tema Everlong. Gondry utiliza a la perfección las dos técnicas para producir efectos especiales; la precisión tecnológica y la simplicidad de las manualidades. A diferencia de Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gondry resalta la ingenuidad de sus personajes utilizando encantadoras figuras de felpa creadas por la artista Laura Faggioni. Estas cobran vida por medio de uno de los efectos favoritos del director: stop-motion (animación creada al grabar el movimiento cuadro por cuadro).

Cabe mencionar que al mismo tiempo del estreno, Gondry inaguró en Nueva York una exposción titulada "Michel Gondry, The Science of Sleep, an exhibition of sculpture and creepy pathological little gifts" en la galería Deitch Projects localizada en Soho. En esta, aprovecha para mostrar al público varios de los sets de The Science of Sleep y también objetos de su propia creación que algún día fueron regalos para sus musas inspiradoras. A lo largo del recorrido el visitante se topa con un brassiere que tiene una copa más grande que la otra, un collar hecho de uñas largas (mismas que Gondry se tuvo que cortar pues su ex-novia le repugnaban), varias hojas de libros en Francés e Inglés que intercaladas forman el nombre de otra chica, entre otros objetos bizarros y peculiares.

The Science of Sleep, está ejecutada a la perfección en todos los aspectos; los diálogos multilingües (Español, Ingles y Francés) son inteligentes y crean un ambiente de chusca y absurda confusión, las múltiples secuencias oníricas en las cuales Gondry manipula los materiales mas básicos que uno puede encontrar en una clase de manualidades y la modestia y honestidad con la que los actores interpretan los personajes. Filmada en el mismo edificio en el cual Gondry creció con sus padres, y en su estudio en las afueras de Paris, este afamado francés radicado en Nueva York, prueba unas ves más que es el George Melies de nuestros tiempos.

Maria Daniela y su Sonido Laser

Lo que antes era un reventón repleto de expatriados hipsters Mexicanos con música pop de los ochentas liderado por Nacoteque y Fresa Salvaje se ha convertido en un showcase de personalidades y excéntricos. Este sábado pasado Mexicanos, Colombianos y uno que otro Sudamericano volvieron a la pista de baile para disfrutar el show de Maria Daniela y su Sonido Laser en el East River Bar (Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY)




Thursday, October 05, 2006

Viktor and Rolf: are they thinking ahead or behind?


NO one comes to a fashion show looking for subversive acts. Strange politics do turn up on the runways, of course, usually in the form of some weird or occasionally toxic symbolic gesture: a woman with her arms bound or else wearing a cloth Abu Ghraib hood or a Hannibal Lecter mask made from plaited hair.

These images seem to arise from the collective unconscious, or anyway let’s hope they do. It is a lot more troubling to think that designers comprehend the meaning of half the stuff they produce and a relief to remember that a lot of it subsides quickly into the muck of failed ideas.

Yet every so often a little coup occurs that can jolt even the blasé. This happened on Monday afternoon at a show staged by Viktor & Rolf. “We were thinking about making your own rules within a structure,” Rolf Snoeren, half of the Dutch team, said after the show, whose theme was that most mannered of art forms, ballroom dancing.



http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/fashion/05DIARY.html?em&ex=1160280000&en=3367343017df68d3&ei=5087%0A

Smooth Behind


Skin Deep
And Now, a Facial for the Other End
By ANNA BAHNEY
Published: October 5, 2006

Hey slim,” a man called out to Rhonda Walker at a party last week, “you looking really good tonight.”

And why wouldn’t she?

Ms. Walker, 27, heads to the gym five times a week and has gone from a size 22 to a size 12 since last Thanksgiving, losing almost 60 pounds.

“I had a little miniskirt on, some little boots and I felt really confident,” she said.

Still, she didn’t think the attention was a result of her workout regimen or the cut of her skirt. Rather it was because of a regular facial she gets that she says lifts, tones and tightens a part of her that is — well, not her face.

“I don’t want to tell my friends my secret,” Ms. Walker said. “I feel like they might laugh at me.”

Call it what you will — backside, bum or booty — there is skin down there, and in today’s heated spa market, where there is skin, there is treatment.

With the recent fixation on the junk in the trunk, spas are promoting special “facials” for the posterior in Miami, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Boston, as well as in New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/fashion/05skin.html?em&ex=1160193600&en=c084a7aac96dc02a&ei=5087%0A

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Let's see who gets there first

Hansi b-day!



La liberación femenina