Archive | March, 2008

Being Accused of Going Grandpa

6 Mar

Free wireless internet, average coffee, healthy eats (yogurt, fruit, boba, bran muffin), and local artist work are offered at this corner coffee house – topped off with your token tattooed waitstaff.

I am at Sabor Y Culture off Hollywood Boulevard and doing my duty as a friend and wife (read: I’m not doing this for my benefit). Tonight is Friday night, and though the place is often host to several local artist community gatherings, tonight the gamers rule. I’m not taking Wii. Professors and intellectuals (there are exceptions) surround me at each table. They are playing board games. I don’t see any fantasy games here but rather Art Moderna, Cash 101 and Settlers of Catan. Friday night is on and it’s buzzing with the over 30 crowd.

Two hours later and twice as many latte’s, I am peeking at the other tables and observing the fun. Students have settled in to study. So many people are chattering that it turns to a crowd murmur and evokes a zen atmosphere. No one to hit on you here (what a relief!). These gamers, students and artists are serious and concentrate heavily on what is in front of them.

In the alleyway, I spot a surprise (LA is full of these) and take a picture. Although it’s a little creepy, and certainly more so since it’s dark and we’re in an ALLEY, it’s an interesting piece of work.

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Erin

5 Mar
Couldn’t take my style cues from a better girl, my fave model – Erin Wasson. Somewhere between the lingo and her predilection for bloody mary’s I think, we’d get along pretty well.A day in the life of a supermodel multitasker – Style.com
Since she won a local modeling competition in her native Texas in 1999, several things have set Erin Wasson apart from her pretty peers. There’s the mole, the pout that won’t quit, the legs—and then there’s her personal style. This last bit, a scruffy but pulled-together look that’s all her own, is what’s been getting rave reviews lately. The designer Alexander Wang asked her to be his in-house stylist last season, and was so pleased with the results he asked her back. We sent Derek Blasberg to catch up with Erin as she prepped for Wang’s fall show and finished a day of errands.
“You’ve gotta feel this stuff,” Erin Wasson says as she caresses the exotic skins and leathers strewn about Alex Wang’s lower Fifth Avenue studio. “It’s so yummy.” This morning isn’t all fur appreciation, however; after a brief directional meeting, Wasson leaves Wang’s studio to find chains that she will link together for the Fall show. Asked what her best skill is, Alex responds, “Just being herself is her best talent. She knows what looks good.”
Meet Erin Wasson’s boyfriend for the next few weeks. “Until the show, it’s just you and me, buddy,” she teases outside Wang’s studio. “Wait, this is a girl.”
It takes a few minutes—Erin only remembered this destination because it had a Starbucks nearby (hardly a good locator in New York)—but we finally found her first stop, Beads World on Broadway, where she looks for feathers and biker chains. “How often do you get a tour of midtown?” she asks, defending her lack of direction.
“I didn’t style before this per se,” says Erin, admitting, however, that her own stuff would often end up in the final shots on shoots. “So Alex has given me an awesome opportunity. When he asked me, I was floored but thought it could be fun. It was.” At Metalliferous, where she continues her metal hunt, we ask if this is a possible new career. “Every day is a new day, and I don’t expect anything from this. I’ve already been so blessed.”
It’s not all work and no play for Ms. Wasson. She’s got a party to go to, so she decides to swing by the Chanel offices to see if there’s anything to borrow that tickles her fancy. “I hope they don’t mind that I’m not trying anything on,” she sighs. “I’m good at knowing what I want immediately.” She wasn’t kidding: Erin was in and out in ten minutes.
Outside the Chanel store, Erin gives her own personal double-C logo. Her own shoes attract some compliments, but she’s not trying to fool anybody. “I got these on the street for like $50,” she says. “This ain’t no Balenciaga shit.”
Although she came by only to pick up a feathered headdress for tomorrow night’s event, she couldn’t not try on a pair of black handmade leather fringe pants at Lost Art. “These are ridiculous,” she tells designer Jordan Betten. “You’ve got some dope stuff going on here.” Jordan, for his part, was happy to play dress-up. He’d be hard-pressed to find a more excited model.
An appointment with a designer, two shops for chains, a fitting, and a stop at a leather shop—not bad for one day. So to celebrate, Erin heads to her favorite spot, the Antique Garage, in Soho for a Bloody Mary. “Oh yeah, that hits the spot,” she says. “Another full day over.” It’s only now that she reveals she got off the red eye from L.A. that morning and has a 5 a.m. call time for a Maybelline print ad the next day. “But I’ve got something to look forward to,” she says with a sly grin. “This weekend is my birthday, and all my friends are going back to Texas to party.”

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This Is My Brain on Blogs

5 Mar

Many a night have I pried open my eyelids to finish books and articles written by writers whose voice provoke a sense of accomplishment, and my faith in humanity. Meaning, I finally found someone who’s intelligent – at least on paper. Witty, dextrous, thought-provoking, hit your knee hilarious or let’s face it – cutting-edge bitchy – writing is always welcome to my time. It makes my day. In Derek De Koff, I found credence. In his article This Is My Brain on Chantix, he thinks on the struggle of smoking and medicinal induced suicidal tendencies, with big help from a small pill.

Educate Yourself….Read Something Already…………

The bloggers of NY Magazine’s The Cut…..Their fashion judgments are brutal but you’ll be laughing so hard, you won’t care they’re so catty.

Jezebel: Celebrity, Sex, Fashion: Without Airbrushing….If you think the gays and girls from The Cut are ruthless, you’re about to get a lesson in clever putdowns and cutting remarks. Run mostly by women, I’m surprised I don’t hear more about this blog in mainstream media.

Copyranter…….This saavy New York copywriter knows how to turn a phrase and make it count. He guarantees two blog postings per day (guarantee void everywhere).

Something Rotten……Copenhagen is a hot bed of interesting social observation. Aaron is adept at making his observations to the point and thoughtful, and sometimes just down right funny as a Londoner on a quest for love in the city of cycle culture.

Finally, to open up your network, the Fistful of Euros site will show you where to find the blog winners of 2007 here.

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Apartment Hunting

4 Mar

My sister is looking for an apartment. Not hard to do in and of itself, but when your fighting for a decent priced apartment in a good area, and are most likely up against the other 2,000 people who just relocated to L.A., it’s gonna be dog eat dog. Relentless, agressive behavior counts. So, take a look at the newspapers, craigslist, get the password from a friend for http://www.westsiderentals.com, and call around. Expect not to hear anything for a few weeks. Landlords are tough to get a hold of, don’t even bother to leave a message – they won’t call you, they don’t have to. They’ll be another one of you the next day. I found that the best way to find your new home is to make the drive and circle your coveted neighborhood like a stalker. By far, this is the best technique to get results. Otherwise, bunk with a friend for six months and pretend your an actor. Unless you are, then get used to surfing couches; you’ll be too broke to afford anything.

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Livin’ La Vida Loca

3 Mar

In the wake of deciding whether or not to start this blog, I came across Everywhere magazine, and in it, an article detailing How We Learned to Love Los Angeles. This was the perfect cue. People need to know that L.A. is more than a defunct concrete jungle.

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Maintenance

2 Mar

What I didn’t learn quickly enough was to take side streets in LA. Driving in LA is slow death – for you and your car. A drive only 5 miles away can take over an hour, bumper to bumper, with some douchbag stopping to park, take a left turn, or simply trying to squeeze himself in ahead of you. For all the traffic congestion, no one in the government decided that left turn signals were a good idea. FYI – you run the red light. This is so popular, police don’t usually hand out tickets for this traffic violation.

So you take side streets as much as possible. This saves loads of time and keeps your mental health intact.

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Interpreting the Parking Lot

1 Mar

I will get to getting down in L.A. soon, but first I want to share some generalizations offered from Noah Hawley – “Los Angeles has two sides: East and West. The West side runs from the Pacific Ocean to La Brea Boulevard. It includes neighborhoods such as Santa Monica, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills. The East Side stretches from La Brea to Downtown. It’s made up of Hollywood, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake. The two sides couldn’t be more different. The West Side skews older and smells like money. The East Side is younger and smells of unwashed jeans. People from the East Side won’t date people from the West Side. (Who wants to make the drive?)” – and that, in it’s entirety makes up the geographical basics of Hollywood. Be warned, you will discover that a trip to the grocery store is not an easy task. Driving time and parking will determine what you do. L.A. is a car culture, with the traffic jams and road rage to prove it.

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