the power issue

i've been chomping at the bit to get my grabby little hands on the march issue of vogue for eons now; i finally succeeded, and sauntered home in anticipation of the read ahead. of course i have not yet gotten through it, for i am one who first does a full breeze through, taking note of the images and topics at hand, however actually reading very little. i'll then dive into round two, in which i consume the articles i deem to be most worthy. round three involves another thorough examination of the entire being, before i backtrack and read articles that missed the initial cut. finally, i'll leave the tome for a period of time and return to it at a later date, revitalized and ready to look at it anew.

at present time i have completed one and two, reading alt's bit, the piece on a mother and weight (two topics that never fail to grab me), and the gaga article which, thank god, was quite lengthy and scrubbed up nicely in terms of the photos (i'm looking at the angelina december one which, if memory serves me right, offered up little for the eye). i rather enjoyed jonathan van meter's look at the entity, and i do find that he manages to capture portions of a star's aura/being/image/whatever that are overlooked - in this case the idea of the 'lady'. a wonderfully engaging read and the images, and colour choices, are something fresh: well done.

anna dello russo

as of late, the indomitable anna dello russo seems to be popping up everywhere. she of the flaxen locks, the sinewy limbs (at nearly 50!), and the cocky style should have been noted long ago by yours truly: now, i shall focus. j'adr! (annadellorusso.com)

the opera house

just popped by david leventi's show at the bau-xi photo gallery; each photo meticulously depicts various opera houses from (mostly) the vantage point of the lead opera singer. overall it was beautifully done (and with opera playing in the background) - the only thing missing was vienna's staatsoper (the volksoper isn't quite as visually rich) which i thought odd as in the artist's statement vienna's house is brought up as a reference. something i learned: paris's house has a ceiling painted by chagall! what a refreshing change from rococo angels and whatnot!

lykke li

i am currently smitten with her new song, i follow rivers, the video for which was shot in the depths of the swedish river with a toughed-up ll draped in clothing that appears to have come straight from 1980s japan!

nipponstyle

look i didn't only hang out in bars, ok? last time i was in the city my intentions were to make it to FIT, however due to my arrival in the wee hours in the morn i became disinterested in a 5 hour stay in starbucks (my packing wasn't ideal for roaming). this time, thanks to a 4 hours delay, i was right on time! another free exhibit it was (the security took much delight in my reaction to this), and i tottered through both the his and hers and the japan fashion nowexhibits. the former explored the differences and similarities between gendered fashion over time, taking a look at what we perceive to be 'male' or 'female', while displaying high-heeled shoes and suits in floral velvet for men, and sharply tailored jackets for women.

as for japan fashion now, it began with a bit of a retrospective on 80s fashion, looking at designers like rei kawakubo, issey miyake, and yohji yamamoto, recognized for their avant-garde deconstructed styles from that era. the main room - made to resemble the streets of tokyo - contained looks from junya watanabe, jun takahashi of undercover, multiple lolita looks by brands like angelic pretty and baby, alongside menswear and other street styles. i adore japanese style, especially after having lived in korea and seen the lack of personal expression (at least in busan), and my only complaint about the exhibit was its "brevity"...give me more, more! my very favourite look was that of the delicate felt cut-out skulls, seen on both a scarf and a dress by jun takahashi: a beautiful ode to alexander mcqueen, if that's what it was (i cannot recall when the classic scarf first made its appearance). all in all, splendid use of my time.

greenpoint tavern

i escaped the country of my origin, braved a 14 hour bus ride, and found myself at this wunderbar little place in williamsburg, home to the largest styrofoam cups known to the northern hemisphere (don't tell me brazil doesn't have larger ones). they pride themselves on their elegant decor, and celebrate the most recent holiday with great gusto until the next one arrives - i was privy to the valentines day cut-outs having arrived shortly after said holiday. if you enjoy watching a james bond flick at the bar while the elderly barkeep wrapped in a sweatshirt steeped in the 80s pours your beverage, and the denizen to your right takes issue with the action scene as a crazed backpacker lolls in the background, move to brooklyn immediately. i want to. why do i live in canada again?

the other kind of glass

so. on one of the very first days at my magazine internship (going by oh-so-quickly) i was assigned the incredibly heavy task of watching the movie shattered glass with hayden christensen. (alas, i have since gone blind.) anyways, the film tells the true story of stephen glass, a journalist for the esteemed new yorker magazine who created endless falsehoods and got away with them all....until he didn't. now, forgive me for judging a book by its cover, but i'm not quite sure how you could trust someone with a face so viciously sweet, a face that screams "psychopath!" right at you, without batting an eye. but i guess that's just me.

onwards. so the story that got peeps suspicious at forbes online was one about a 16 year old who had scammed millions of dollars from jukt micronics (don't fact-check me on this! i'm writing from memory, dear lord!). bells started ringing, and pigs started squealing, when those forbes kids were unable to find anything on this so-called multi-million dollar firm. glass panicked and put whipped up a little website (below) alongside suspect voice messages and soon enough the elaborate deception was shattered (yes, shattered!).

how did he manage to swindle an entire magazine's staff, you ask? well, editorial changes were being made, there was internal ruckus, and, since glass had been a fact-checker himself, he was well aware of what it would take to convince people of the veracity of his information. what the movie did to moi, was to whip me into a state of frenzy, convinced that i will somehow make a mistake while checking info and manage to be sued by a conglomeration of fortune 500 companies!

mary pickford

name? heard of. movies? ne'er seen. i popped into the *free* exhibit at the bell lightbox because who can refuse something that requires no monetary exchange, no regurgitation upon entry (ahem tim burton...)? of course there were but endless depictions of the canadian star, and clips from her oft-silent films (apparently her career took a turn for the worse after she was required to speak), but what i found most intriguing were the products spun out in her name - the cap (with or without veil!) and the array of treats for the complexion, among other items, this all in the early 1900s. silly me! here i was thinking it was the kardashians who had come up with the idea when it was the chilly north's own corkscrewed star!