Diamonds & Dildos

Now for the good stuff!! I mean….really? I come back...

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:20:47 -0500

Now for the good stuff!! I mean….really? I come back from the gym (late afternoon workouts are my fave thing now) and I get back to this! Talk about post gym temptation…let the record show I had 1! They’re pink champagne truffles. Totally hoarding these in my freezer for special visitors. Now before you think this is something new…its not. Not reading into it more than it was a nice Valentine’s day gesture. We don’t have Valentine’s day plans, we’ve never made out, etc we’ve just had that “I’m going through some shit and you’re going through some shit, let’s see who is more fucked up and tackle those problems first” kind of friendship. Nom nom nom

Retna Show

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:24:00 -0500

Last night I was lucky enough to be the plus one at Retna’s The Hallelujah World Tour Exhibition. We got there before the masses and got take in the collection with patience and an undistracted eye. It was a great show and the space was perfect for it and there was no piece left without being admired. To follow the path of his brushwork and see just what a steady hand he has to not have a skip, nor flaw in the lines was just impressive, especially with the size of the pieces. The names of the pieces were just a powerful as the pieces themselves. Especially when you stepped back to really take it in.

My one word to describe the theme of the collection. Loss. The pieces along with the titles I interpreted them as phrases/phases of loss. Retna a handcrafter of the modern art of calligraphy (aka graffiti) managed to use ancient symbols/tools or writing and put out what looked like transcripts of what the titles of the pieces represented. It was like they were his reminders aka “love letters” if you will about his loss.

We got to have a convo with the artist Retna aka Marquis Lewis. This was after a couple of glasses of vino and I was a little nervous about sounding like a jackass if he asked me what I thought/got from his collection. And of course when I get nervous, I talk really fast and take on this overexcited form of myself but I had no time to think because I was put on the spot. I went into what I thought about the loss theme and how it seemed they were conversations with himself or letters that he was writing. My crazy dissertation went on for about 3 minutes, to the man who everyone wanted to talk and there was this girl just running her mouth.

Apparently, he appreciated it…all of it. From what I said about the titles and asked what I thought about most of them being in Spanish and he went on and told me about how it his process of “letting it go” for a good 5 minutes and we bonded over our new found appreciation for meditation. Then we went into this hilarious back and forth “No, thank you”, “No thank youuuuu” while the former French Editor of Vogue looked on, who was probably like “disss bish”.

Retna’s first New York solo presentation, opens today at 560 Washington Street. He’ll be a world tour and get this…each city gets their own set of paintings.

There is just something sexy about watching someone examine art. Whether its hearing them passionately break down a verse or production which they love or watching them look at a piece of art. I wonder just how they are breaking it down in their mind…what are they telling themselves. What turns them on/off about it. Its the “taste” factor.

So this has now moved from to be my favorite track. I know I...

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:46:06 -0500

So this has now moved from to be my favorite track. I know I said ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ was but after watching her perform ‘Don’t You Remember’ this for her VH1 Unplugged taping (yes, I don’t know how its VH1 AND Unplugged when Unplugged was an MTV property but anyways) I got goosebumps. Her runs on it are seamless and the lyrics shoot me right at the heart. She sounded perfect at the taping and she didn’t have to sing a song twice. She did everything in 1 take. Her voice is beyond perfection live. You think she sounds good on the track? Well live she takes it to another level. She also murdered Aretha’s version of “Natural Woman” at the taping. Before she started she said that she may have to do a couple of takes because they had never performed it, she knocked it out with 1 take. Again. Perfection. The taping was 50/50 boys/girls and a cultural melting pot. I believe it airs the first week in March on VH1. Of course, catch it.

When will I see you again?
You left with no goodbye, not a single word was said
No final kiss to seal anything
I had no idea of the state we were in.

I know I have a fickle heart and bitterness
And a wandering eye, and a heaviness in my head

But don’t you remember, don’t you remember?
The reason you loved me before,
Baby please remember me once more.

When was the last time you thought of me?
Or have you completely erased me from your memories?
Cause I often think about where I happen to roam.
You more I do, the less I know.

But I know I have a fickle heart and bitterness
And a wandering eye, and a heaviness in my head.

But don’t you remember, don’t you remember?
The reason you loved me before,
Baby please remember me once more.

Ohhhh

I gave you the space so you could breathe,
I kept my distance so you would be free,
I hope that you find the missing piece
To bring you back to me.

Why don’t you remember, don’t you remember?
The reason you loved me before,
Baby please remember you used to love me.

Never forget….

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:44:02 -0500

Never forget….

I know Adele’s “21” deserves a proper review...

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:47:06 -0500

I know Adele’s “21” deserves a proper review post of its own. It’s just that good. Here is “I’ll Be Waiting” which is moving up to be my favorite track on the album. Although I do feel that this album is one of those few that come around where you keep playing favorites and switching them around depending on your mood. The upbeat nature of it makes it not so much “sad bastard music” but an honest plea to get her lover back with her voice sounding like perfection and some notes that I couldn’t even attempt to hit without my dog running into the other room. Each instrument is crisp to the ears on this track. From the blasting horns, to the crooning and quick piano, to the infections snare, I f’ing love it. It warms my heart that there is still music out there that I get excited about and manages to move me and take me to a place where I can just exist in every layer of the album, from the emotion that she wraps up in her lyrics to the her voice that is unmatched by most in music today, to the note of every piano key I am in love. Adele has said the album is about 1 specific breakup and I can relate. I can only think of one major player that this would all relate to, with maybe 1 or 2 ghosts of breakup’s past sprinkled in-between.

Here is an a great track my track breakdown of “21” by Adele.

One of my faves Jack White is producing a "blues series" and he asked First Aid Kit (whom I've been loving for a while) to redo the blues standard of "It Hurts Me Too"

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:42:10 -0500

One of my faves Jack White is producing a "blues series" and he asked First Aid Kit (whom I've been loving for a while) to redo the blues standard of "It Hurts Me Too"

"I belong to you; there is really no other way of expressing it, and that is not strong enough. But..."

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:29:05 -0500

“I belong to you; there is really no other way of expressing it, and that is not strong enough. But for this very reason I don’t want to know what you are wearing; it confuses me so much that I cannot deal with life; and that’s why I don’t want to know that you are fond of me. If I did, how could I, fool that I am, go on sitting in my office, or here at home, instead of leaping onto a train with my eyes shut and opening them only when I am with you?”

- Excerpt from a love letter by Franz Kafka to Felice Bauer, dated November 11, 1912.

-Kafka people….Kafka

One of the greatest moments written for television

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:23:29 -0500

One of the greatest moments written for television

This mom later moved on to hounding her daughter to listen her...

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:21:37 -0500

This mom later moved on to hounding her daughter to listen her boyfriends demos

This is my favorite hit from Nicki Minaj! It’s become my...

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:26:20 -0500

This is my favorite hit from Nicki Minaj! It’s become my mantra…

Retail/Reverse Psychology: Haven’t you ever wanted to...

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:07:07 -0500

Retail/Reverse Psychology: Haven’t you ever wanted to know what would be hanging over a urinal at a jeweler’s who specializes in diamond engagement rings? Me too!

Found this gem from my trip to Paris….this was our view:...

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:18:40 -0500

Found this gem from my trip to Paris….this was our view: the moon, Eiffel Tower, traces of the Seine. Pretty fucking amazing. I had to come up with the task to decide what to get for the person who has everything as a “thank you”. A helicopter ride around the city was thrown out as a suggestion, but I couldn’t think of WTF to do. So after teasing with the idea of the helicopter ride, they laughed and I said, “Look its not funny, the trip itself was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken and I was looking back at what I wrote in my journal and I can’t thank you enough for it” their response: “I want you to write about the trip and what it meant for you, what you saw/discovered, I’ll take that and nothing more”. Well fuck me…now the pressure is on.

Blue Valentine - Gosling - Mickey Mouse Club flashback

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:08:34 -0400

Future baby daddy Ryan Gosling stars with Michele Williams (both Oscar nominees) in the much talked about December release, “Blue Valentine” (check out their interview with W Magazine here). Now, I know what you’re thinking…I’m one of those “Notebook” cat ladies, well you are incorrect. I’ve never seen “The Notebook”. I’ve had a major crush on Gosling since he was on the Mickey Mouse Club. Yup, he was part of the Dynasty era of da club with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Keri Russel, et al. Here is the opening credits for when they were on.

“Blue Valentine” has been one of the most talked about films in the film festivals of Cannes, Toronto, Sundance, and it keeps going. Per IMDB “The film centers on a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.” Apparently there are some pretty steamy sex scenes in the movie so its been given an NC-17 rating. Ryan Gosling going at it? Um yes please. Did I mention it was scored by Brooklyn’s own Grizzly Bear? With the NC-17 rating and the musical score catching buzz me thinks this will be a no brainer with a fella.

ps: Gosling is killing this Philip Lim jacket..swoon

pss: Who could forget the rebels of the Mickey Mouse Club who decided to break from da club and go solo with their own band “The Party”. Am I alone on this? Can’t be….

Blue Valentine - Gosling - Mickey Mouse Club flashback

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:00:21 -0400

ps: Gosling is killing this Philip Lim jacket..swoon

pss: Who could forget the rebels of the Mickey Mouse Club who decided to break from da club and go solo with their own band “The Party”. Am I alone on this? Can’t be….

Obsessed with the harmonies and vocals of First Aid Kit. These...

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:05:30 -0400

Obsessed with the harmonies and vocals of First Aid Kit. These Swedish sisters both under 20, have managed to have their debut album, “The Big Black & the Blue” on repeat on my iPod as of late. Super stocked about attending their CMJ show.

When I Grow Up by First Aid Kit

The sideboob can be a lovely artform if done properly. Like...

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:31:56 -0400

The sideboob can be a lovely artform if done properly. Like this Lykke Li sideboob.

Future Baby Daddy Monday-Noah Mills

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:16:09 -0400

YES! I decided to bring this back, well because, why not? What’s better than looking at an absolute piece on the most blah day of the week. Especially on a day that every year you tell yourself you will take off because everyone has it as a holiday. Blah!

I decided to start it off with my future baby daddy model Noah Mills. Schwiiiing. Now some of you catlady types might know him from the Sex and the City movie where apparently he played a hot guy or in those very provocative Tom Ford ads shot by Terry Richardson. I’ve seen him (in my sex dreams) and on the runway for lotso’ collections in the last couple of years. He does have that Julian McMahon (hot prick from Nip/Tuck) meets Penn Badgely from Gossip Girl look about him.

He’s been in some of the biggest campaigns every since he broke out in fashion. From Dolce & Gabbana, Lacoste, Armani Michael Kors to being the face of Calvin Klein and Tom Ford, and the list keeps going and going. Recently he’s been in my lustful thoughts after catching him in the H&M commercial where apparently he’s wearing a $9.95 shirt. The view count for the commercial is at 5,602 and I guarantee most of those have been mine. I can recall at least 3 times where I needed a pick me up at work and I clicked on it and yum best 15 seconds of that workday. I love how he’s checking himself out, with that cocky stance and the turn of the head just to add to the hotness of his superficial smile. Damn. Check please! I’ve recently started following him on twitter (@ItsNoahMills) in hopes of a shot of anything that might be naughty. Alas, nothing yet but here’s hoping.

ps: If you were able to notice that there was a song playing in the background of the H&M commercial, well you are right its Erykah Badu’s cover of Muddy Waters “Mannish Boy”. I will tap my foot until we get the entire single of the song.

John Legend w/ The Roots @ Terminal 5 - NYC 9/24/10 Performing...

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:55:47 -0400

John Legend w/ The Roots @ Terminal 5 - NYC 9/24/10

Performing the Eugene McDaniels’ classic “Compared To What”.

My Mini-Review of Wall Street II-Wait Till I Get My Money Right aka Money Never Sleeps

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:12:00 -0400

Ok…take three. This is the third attempt I’ve had at writing this review. Aside from the T-Mobile debacle that took an entire morning to resolve, I’m working on something that is due by the end of the week that is so tedious I may have a drinking problem after resolving it. Going to keep this short and sweet since I’m still bitter (yup, I’m a grudge hoarder) about losing the previous attempt at a review.

The movie centers around Shia LaBeouf who plays a trader whose bank crashes and goes to work with the new badass villain played by James Brolin. Shia goes to seek revenge for his mentor, played by the always good Frank Langella (who you have to see the movie to see what happens but damn). He goes to seek his partner in revenge and meets with Gordon Gekko, who is now a finance writer and has been released after eight years in jail and who is also his girlfriend’s estranged father. So of course they both use each other Douglas to reconnect with his daughter and Shia to put Brolin under.

Now I understand the schlong battle between Brolin and LaBeouf but it’s clearly obvious that Brolin could slay this kid in real life but of course in the movie world Brolin’s character well you have go to go see what happens. The Ducati racing scene alone between them was basically a whip it out and measure battle.

Does Shia manipulate Gekko to help him take down Brolin? Does Gekko get the heartwarming reconciliation with his daughter? You just gotta go check out.

Shiz that I Loved/Hated

Brolin had the Goya painting “Saturn Devouring His Son”. Brilliant placement in his office adds another level of intimidation by Brolin as a villain. Since Humanities was one of my majors, I knew it right off the bat.

Charlie Sheen cameo….really? I mean if his appearance was a sandwich at a deli, it was so bad that I would send it back. It was difficult to watch.

Michael Douglas is the GOAT. Seriously, how long has it been since the last movie? He’s still captivating as ever and it’s hard to take your eyes off him. He’s definitely gotten better with age and his hair, yes I said it his hair was a sub-character and seemed to follow him around like a mood ring waiting to change upon how he was feeling. Even though the element of him being a father will soften him, his core is still the name, always with the “game can be fixed” mentality and that’s why the Gordon Gekko character still holds up.

Shia, ehh. I know that this was supposed to be his first big boy role but I think lacked cajones to run with the big boys like Douglas and Brolin. His performance was bit underwhelming but the whole bright eyed factor was there, he had it but left me wanting a bit more gusto from him and dare I say he was a bit boring.

Let me not forget…the suits!! The suits we’re definitely a properly developed character in the film. The costume designer who died earlier this summer, you can tell definitely used all his resources to make them stand out. The perfection in the suits, matched the tailoring and the intricacies in the details, you know I was in heaven. Well done Michael Dennison. I mean…have you ever walked by Wall Street and see those boys ahem men. Men walking down Wall Street in their suits is the equivalent of a woman looking fly walking down Madison Avenue. FACT.

Overall it was a pretty rich movie. Lots of drama filled this movie, financial, father-daughter, political and romance, and although there was no need to some of it, it was pretty entertaining. Visually it was stunning, the work of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and the soundtrack by David Byre and Brian Eno added a nice touch to it. Somebody asked me if they should go see “The Town” or “Wall Street”….”The Town” for sure. I know lots of people might get dragged down by the financial business theme of “Wall Street” but it was still damn good.

The guy I went to go see it with has been in the trading/banking business for the last 10 years so his excitement for the film surpassed mine. Luckily he was able to explain to me certain things about the film that I wouldn’t have had any idea about. Like the way that the firms in the movie mirrored specific companies and how the background to the bank buyouts resembled those as well. Now it’s not that I’m an idiot and couldn’t have figured these things out on my own but my extensive experience that I’ve had with banks was how to get out of an overdraft charge taken off but it doesn’t take a genius to know that the what the bankers did pre-bailout was pull the biggest heist in our time AND they got billions after. WTF. Modern criminals at their best. *Sidenote* It’s a lovely thing to have a guy explain something to you that your knowledge is limited on. Especially if it’s something that they are passionate about, they want to rein you into what they know and there is a certain excitement for them about it. It’s kinda sexy.

I won’t bore you with the details of our dinner at Tao after (I’m still dreaming of the Fortune Cookie dessert we had). We have a convo about what greed really is. Is greed really good/bad? Greed can be that thing that keeps you working hard on a passion, it can be that drive that keeps you pushing to finish, it cuts through the bullshit that may try to stifle you and keeps pressing on. Certain forms of greed aren’t that bad and few of us are/seem capable or curing this “addiction” but the true evil is unbounded greed…that is the succubus.

Maya Rudolph as Whitney Houston….freaking hilarious. I...

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 10:38:54 -0400

Maya Rudolph as Whitney Houston….freaking hilarious. I laughed out loud maybe 5 times during this skit. Maya always seemed to carry such a good comedic energy that never fell flat and could hold her own with the male cast members on the show and still is one of my fave SNL cast members.

Sidenotes on Maya-Her mom is Minnie Ripperton. Come on you know who Minnie is, she’s pretty much a musical treasure and one of the first celebrities to go public with her breast cancer. She worked with the American Cancer Society up until when she passed away. Minnie was also known for her five octave vocal range and sang back up for so many greats of those times, like Etta James and Muddy Waters, the list keeps on going. You will know her for “Loving You”, you know “Loving you is easy cause you’re beautiful…” you might even remember it from an early South Park episode where the pope was coming to South Park and the bomb was set to go off when John Stamos’ brother hits the high note in the song, but anyways moving on. Maya’s parents wrote “Loving You” as a lullaby to Maya. If you listen in the song, you will hear her mom croon “Maya, Maya, Maya, Maya”. Minnie died at a too young 31.

Maya now has a family of her own. 2 girls with writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, he directed There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights and Magnolia. PTA was with sad bastard song extraordinaire Fiona Apple for a long time and they say he broke up with Fiona to get with Maya. Fiona’s last album “Extraordinary Machine” was said to be heavily based on her breakup with PTA. Her goodbye song was “Parting Gift” on that album. Sad bastard music at its best, Parting Gift especially. So here’s a post that will make you laugh (Maya) and be pissed off/sad (Fiona).