Knowing the Boba Fett Accordion Man

This monday as I descended the 20th St stairway from the High Line, I heard, then saw the Boba Fett accordion man. For those unfamiliar with this character, he's a young street performer playing the accordion. Wearing a DIY Boba Fett helmet. He made me smile, so I gave him a couple bucks-- a first for me in NYC thus far! 

Photo by C-M

He was interviewed for Time Out:

http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/public-eye/76751/public-eye-nathan-stodola

Oh, and he has his own YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/renegadeaccordion

& a twitter, fbook, and myspace account

What can't you find on the internet?!

HIPSTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Oh yes! Adrien Riemenn, the artist, is so cool.



See 'em all!

Sabbath Californiay

"...I'm up in the cupolo and with my newspaper dig the latest news on the front page and also consider and make notations of the money I spent already for this day Sunday absolutely not jot spent a nothing- California rushes by and with sad eyes we watch it reel the whole bay and the discourse falling off to gradual gils that ease and graduate to Santa Clara Valley then and the fig and behind is the fog immemoriates while the mist closes and we come running out to the bright sun of the Sabbath Californiay."

-"October in the Railroad Earth" by jack Kerouac

NARCOCORRIDOS

The immensely popular folk ballads that chronicle and celebrate the lives, loves and illicit achievements of Mexico's powerful drug lords.



"Contrabando y Traicion" (Smuggling and Betreyal)- Angel Gonzales, Los Tigres del Norte, 1975; rough translation

They left San Isidro,
from Tijuana,
They brought the tires of the car
full of weed,
were Emilio Varela
and Camelia the Texan

Passed through San Clemente
stopped by immigration,
requested documents,
He asked them: Where are they?
She was from San Antonio,
a female heart.

If a female wants a man,
he can give life,
but care must be taken
if that female is wound
Smuggling and betrayal ...
things are incompartidas.

Came to Los Angeles
moved to Hollywood,
in a dark alley
changed all four tires,
he handed the grass ...
and there he was also paid

Emilio says to Camelia:
Today you see for farewell
the part that touches you
you can rebuild your life,
I go 'pa 'San Francisco,
with the master of my life

Seven gunshots sounded,
Camelia killed Emilio,
the police only found
a thrown gun,
Of Camelia and money ...
Nobody ever knew anything

Remedies From Random Products

I haven't worn a trace of makeup in over 2 weeks. I highly, highly recommend Doxycycline for non-natural skin rejuvination. Gulping down water included.



ALSO Vitamin E Lip Balm is an excitingly good substitute for mascara. For the already dark-lashed.

This Was Me Today

High school girls trying on prom dresses at Saks Fifth Ave.
Photo: Al Fenn./Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
May 01, 1958

A Fitting Song for Me Right Now

'Life in LA'- Pharrell, Jermaine Dupri, & Chester French

Life in LA is so insane

Everyday feels the same

Spent all my cash, I'm down to change

It's time to move away

(I was having chocolate cake and sauvignon)

My New Favorite Site

Killed by Death Records (www.kbdrecords.com) is AWESOME. Its title alone is brilliant, along with its subtitle, 'I won't pay for punk records.'

I have been searching for the song I'm obsessed with currently ('False Pretenses'- Frank Details), and KBD was the first entry in google that had anything to do with it. And then I found that I could dl it. I love. The punk tracks featured here are IMPOSSIBLE to find, unless you own the rare vinyls! They have a listing of other MP3 blogs that I have to check out after I'm done milling through here.

PS I really love Fairfax.

My Worst (Conventional) Enemies

Why not just get a jackhammer going on my mouth while simultaneously stabbing my gums with Ronco (as seen on TV!) knives.

I HATE GOING TO THE DENTIST & I HATE MY MOUTH FOR NOT BEING PERFECT. My definition of torture. While sitting tensely in that chair I always make pacts with myself to not eat sweets ever again, or to floss twice a day every day (with the insane threader floss), BUT it never happens.

YEAH, that whole thing goes through. Why do I still have a bottom permanent retainer?!

I have a high tolerance for physical pain, but not in the dentist's chair. I guess it's because I can't see what's going on and I can only know what's happening through feeling it. Like when dental hygenist goes wild with the scaler and stabs your gums.

Honestly felt like I lost 20% of my blood in my extended (fml) cleaning sesh today.

I'm up to get 20349823 fillings and getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Oh boy!



As if that isn't enough, I woke up early and spent an hour at the podiatrist's this morning for nothing. His verdict was: Don't wear the sandals that hurt you for a long time. THANKS I couldn't have thought of that without you.

And my parents wonder why I won't go into medicine.

Ufff

Cassius

Shut Up & Let Me Go

Some more Lolla goodness.

Post-Punk Junk

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Urgh! A Music War and Debt Begins at 20. I've been able to find all the clips from Urgh! online, but I am DYING to find the music from Debt. The early Pittsburgh punk scene is ridiculous, in the good sense. The Cardboards, The Shakes, Hans Brinker & the Dykes, the Shut-Ins, The Puke, The Cuts, The Dark, Carsickness, and The Five.

I wish I were alive for this and every performance in Urgh! (esp Surf Punks)

a DREAM JOB

Interning with Vinoodh Matadin & Ines van Lamsweerde

Memories of 8th Grade & Erica Steiner

Louis XIV- Finding Out True Love is Blind

FROM THE VAULT...Lolla videos!

The Kills

My American Beauty Video

Found this on my camera from July. Substitute the plastic bag with a caterpillar. lol

How to Celebrate Thulasi Style:

Eat half a pint of this:

SLC Punk

I love this movie. Finding yourself when everything around you turns to shit.

Bad Town

I really love this song.

Obo Obo

Make Me A Supermodel

This season's contestants suck. In following with past seasons, the guys outshine the girls. I wish I were watching a UK Make Me A Supermodel instead of a US one. Edgy here is equivalent to a kid in a playground there as far as mainstream media goes. I'm rooting for Chris, the androgynous guy. Androgyny seems to be a hot topic today in my life. I love it.

The Gold in the Purple & Gold

www.theoriginators.com I am digging. There ain't nuthin' like the LA culture.

Jono from Make Me A Supermodel made it!

Here he is on Balenciaga's Spring 09 RTW runway.



Back in the day:



I was rooting for this kid, but they cut him for being too wimpy? Apparently they didn't get the memo that that's favorable in the industry? He's the only one who actually made some success! I miss UK Make Me A Supermodel. The US one is coming again next month, but it sucks.

MGR says "Peace."

A lost photo from my adventures in India.

One of the coolest cats Tamil Nadu has ever birthed. Back in the day:

Struck gold in the Sivalingam garage, once again!

The sickest belt I've held in my hands. My garage has always truly been a gold mine, no matter what house we've lived in. I remember countless questionings of "Where did you get/find that?", followed by my response: "My garage." My fourth grade class knew that my garage contained ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. I would always bring in stuff related to class that I would randomly find. To this day I can dig around in my garage for hours and find treasures. I found the sickest fabrics this week in there that I hope will one day be transformed into some awesome garment/s. (Having a South Asian mother with a neverending supply of saris is textile bliss. I kid you not when I say that there are artilleries of saris in every room of my house. You can even look under the beds.) I also found a most legit pair of vintage Any Weather sunglasses.

RuPaul's Drag Race

Quite possibly the best reality show VH1 has ever broadcasted.



Highlights from the 20 minutes I saw: Santino Rice as a judge maintaining seriousness the whole time. Michelle Williams (the Destiny's Child that no one cares about) brought to tears by a lipsynched rendition of her new 'hit'.

They're herrre

http://www.lagear.com/

I'm not impressed with the chick shoes. They need to revitalize their clothing/accessory line.

Bertie Wooster

I found this from livejournal. I guess I'm not the only one of the cyber generation with a thing for Bertie Wooster.



I love these (made by lj user lidi):

I Can't Stand the Rain

I couldn't find a performance video of this song :(

Cool Hair

Perfect LA Sunday: 5

Pasadena- It was such a beautiful day. Quite a shock since I've been in Arkansas/Mississippi/Tennessee/Alabama for the past week. I'll post about it later once my photos develop. I'm surprised I didn't gain any weight from my adventures in the Dirrty South. Anyway, had my very first interview (with Brown) at Corner Bakery, and it went really well. Then I took a lovely walk around Lake & Del Mar. I looked around Anthropologie searching for a birthday gift and sniffing the fab selection of fragrances.

I'm so overwhelmed! Planning for Coachella/spring break (Turkey)/summer, doing chores for the 'rents, and CLEANING MY ROOM pt.537.

I'm loving Tokyomilk's Ex Libris perfume. It's a slightly lighter comparison to Cosmic Wonder's Six Scents perfume I was raving about earlier, but it's a fraction of the price.

Today's quip:

Kural 356
Those who find the highest Reality here and now
follow a path which never comes back to this world.

-Tiruvalluvar's Tirukural, "Holy Couplets."

I Was Older When I Was Younger

I wish I were the person I was 9 years ago. It is possible to become spritually immature as you get older. Or maybe you just become more aware of what's out there. Is ignorance bliss? Nevertheless, my passions have dwindled in more important issues while they have strengthened in worldly things. I'm definitely more spiritually unsure now. Is this a healthy sign of progression? What to do? We'll see how life goes.

Jeffree Star

was eating at the table diagonally from me. I love LA.

Well played, Indie

Indie 103.1 has chosen to go off the FM airwaves. I remember in 2004 when Indie was a baby, and I was so stoked when I discovered it. It was my special secret within my world. I considered it perfect, except for Dicky Barrett's morning show, but that was soon cancelled. I remember one morning when he was reading all his hate mail on the air, and I kind of felt bad, but I agreed with every letter. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true, and Indie deteriorated into blah. Of course I could still look forward to Jonesy's Jukebox, which kept me on from time to time, but I was no longer a regular listener. I absolutely and completely agree with Chris Morris when he slammed Indie as being 'KROQ Jr.' I'm relieved to know that Indie felt the same way as its original listeners, and has decided to stick to the net and to their true spirit.

I find it so funny that this news comes the day after I post my KXLU praises. I hope the same doesn't happen to it someday. Then again, I probably won't be in LA anymore.

A brief history of Indie 103.1 (courtesy of wiki):

On December 25, 2003 at 11 PM, Indie 103.1 was born. The station began as a collaboration between Entravision and Clear Channel. Clear Channel primarily handled advertising on the station, but because the organization already owned the maximum number of stations in the Los Angeles market allowed by Federal Communications Commission regulations, the arrangement was terminated in March 2005.[citation needed]

In March 2006, Dicky Barrett of "The Mighty Morning Show" left the station.[1] He was replaced by Joe Escalante, who called his show "The Last Of The Famous International Morning Shows."

On August 19th, 2008, Station Manager Dawn Girocco announced her departure from the station.[2] Starting in October 2008, longtime specialty shows were either dropped ("Feel My Heat," Community Service," "Big Sonic Heaven," "Camp Freddy Radio") or moved to weekends ("Harmony in My Head").[3] Upon the cancellation of his roots music show "Watusi Rodeo," Chris Morris accused the station of "now being styled as KROQ Jr." in an effort to increase the station's ratings.[4]

In November 2008, Escalante stated he was giving up the morning show but would continue to host an expanded two-hour version of his legal-advice show, "Barely Legal Radio."[1] He was replaced by longtime station DJ "TK."

On January 15, 2009, Indie 103.1 announced on the air that it would soon be ending its run on the FM frequency.[5][6] They told listeners it can still be heard on the Internet and would sound more like what the station was early on.

The statment Indie put out:

Indie Activist:

This is an important message for the Indie 103.1 Radio Audience -

Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over this frequency effective immediately. Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option --- to play the corporate radio game.

We have decided not to play that game any longer. Rather than changing the sound, spirit, and soul of what has made Indie 103.1 great Indie 103.1 will bid farewell to the terrestrial airwaves and take an alternative course.

This could only be done on the Internet, a place where rules do not apply and where new music thrives; be it grunge, punk, or alternative - simply put, only the best music.

For those of you with a computer at home or at work, log on to www.indie1031.com and listen to the new Indie 103.1 - which is really the old Indie 103.1, not the version of Indie 103.1 we are removing from the broadcast airwaves.

We thank our listeners and advertisers for their support of the greatest radio station ever conceived, and look forward to continuing to deliver the famed Indie 103.1 music and spirit over the Internet to passionate music listeners around the world.

I want to be...

a disc jockey for KXLU.

It's my station of choice.

The other morning they played Late of the Pier and I got really excited (their CD has been a fixture in my car for months) and the evening before, they did a whole spin of good 80's rap/R&B/hip-hop.

KXLU fits me like a glove.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains

I love this film. I haven't been this inspired (stylistically [the music, the fashion, the hair, the makeup!], personally) by a film since This is England. This is a true rock-n-roll movie. It captures three generations of music: the dead '60's and '70's acts gripping onto their one expired hit, the British punk band that flounders in the US (Punk was dead when the movie was being made), and the prototype riotgrrl bands. The film has everything from feminism, corruption in the music industry, individualism, and a random Jamaican rastafarian. I am about to make myself a 'The Fabulous Stains' tshirt ala the one Laura Dern wears in the final music video.

A list of the brills involved:
-Diane Lane, age 14(as a 90's kid, I am shocked to see that she ever had such a cool role. If I had seen Stains in 1981, I would have thought her career would go in an entirely different direction.)
-Laura Dern, age 13 (another surprise!)
-Ray Winstone
-THE Lou Adler directed
-Steve Jones (Jonesy!)
-Paul Cook
-Paul Simonon!
-Elizabeth Daily
-Joe Roth
-Fee Waybill, The Tubes
-Black Randy (hilarious)
-Vince Welnick, The Tubes (& late Grateful Dead) (he is in the single best frame of the movie: him with his multicultural children)(His death scene is chilling because he actually did die of an overdose in 2006.)
-etc., etc.

From Corinne 'Third Degree' Burns to squeaky clean!:


The funniest frame:




Beginning:


The Looters (comprised of Ray Winstone, Paul Simonon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook), 'We Are Professionals'


The Stains, 'I'm a Waste of Time" plus Diane Lane's radical moment


The Stains, 'We Are Professionals' rip


Black Randy & the Metrosquad, 'I Slept in an Arcade'


The Stains, 'We Are Professionals' (famous and the GoGos'd out)

Oliver & Company

Today I saw Oliver & Company at the El Capitan after YEARS, and I enjoyed it so much! But I realized how dark of a Disney movie it is! At times it felt more like the Godfather, with Sykes threatening to kill Fagin if he didn't have his money, telling his cronie on the phone how to kill a bugger, etc. The little girl in the movie has parents that are never there. Tito, the ghetto chihuahua, is HILARIOUS. Cheech voices him. It honestly couldn't get any better. Dodger, the main dog, is so friggin' cool.

I totally sang along.

I wish this were my themesong:

Kite Boy, Coimbatore

A Makeshift Park, Coimbatore

Guardian, Coimbatore

My Uncle's House, Coimbatore

Christmas in Coimbatore

Houseboat Window, Kerala