Lately, I've been fascinated with the indie, electro-pop tunes of Miike Snow. Although their music has been around for several years now, it was only in the last year that they began grabbing the attention of the public. The group, itself, is made up of three men by the names of Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, and Andrew Wyatt coming out of Stockholm, Sweden.
I fell in love with the group when I randomly heard the song "Cult Logic" off their 2007 debut album Miike Snow on Pandora.com. Immediately, I was drawn to their smooth, bass induced beats. Below is a video of another fave song "Black and Blue." Enjoy!
Eccentric in their own right, the Mueller brothers, or as they would like to brand themselves, The Brothers Mueller, display a sense of sophisticated quirkiness with an aesthetic that juxtaposes the essence of middle-class, 19th century men and the aristocratic life.
The brothers were brought to my attention during a casual conversation with a colleague about the drive and determination Generation Y possesses when it comes to their careers, ambitions, and creativity and the envy he has for the baby boomer offspring. Of the same generation, I found myself agreeing with him about his observations, realizing that my generation doesn't take no for an answer and expects results.
Like the Mueller brothers, much of this generation feeds on exploration and creativity, never limiting ourselves to one thing. The Mueller brothers, working for a major publication, have created this other endeavor, The Brothers Mueller, that nourishes their cultural intrigue. I found their work to be playful yet sophisticated and, overall, well executed. I especially loved their Infrathin: Installation, see image above from their site.
One thing is for sure, Gen Y keeps things interesting.
Dubbed one of the fashion world's darlings for more than several years now, Alexander Wang has definitely made a name for himself among the "istas" and "istos" (my everyday vernacular for fashionistas and fashionistos) of style and taste.
We all know of Wang's humble beginnings designing lush cashmere knits, but we all love him, even more, for his amazing gift to provide us with edgy, deconstructed high fashion, season after season. Wang definitely struck a nerve within all of us to release our inner stylish bad ass!
For his more affordable line, T by Alexander Wang, the designer maintains his creative aesthetic, while catering to a larger audience. Personally, I love the T line! For Fall 2010, Wang created this amazing hybrid black coat/cape, zip-up design for T. It's like little red riding hood went ultra chic:
As the World Cup 2010 comes to a close, with the Netherlands and Spain going for the championship title this Saturday, July 10th, I can't help but to pay tribute to the World Cup in my own special way: showing these incredibly sexy pictures of one of Portugal's forward players, Cristiano Ronaldo.
I'm sure most of you have already come across pictures of Cristiano modeling Armani underwear. However, I still chose to write about it because it's just TOO hot for words! See the ads jump off in Fall/Winter 2010-2011. In the meantime, enjoy these:
Confused? You're probably wondering, 'what in the hell is he talking about?!'
First off, as we all should know, the U.S. economy and many others around the world have gone through, what many would like to refer to as, a "recession/depression." Personally, it's more like a period of being robbed by the rich and not enough giving back to the poor.
With our [U.S.] economy slowly bouncing back to its state of financial security, many corporations, businesses, companies, etc. have become cautious of their expenditures--making sure not to put money where it doesn't count or where it doesn't help them grow financially. Many individuals and companies, alike, have begun putting their investments towards expenses that not only help their interests, but also have become more responsible--the thing we should always be concerned about, more so, even now. It is about making a profit, but also progressing towards social, environmental, and economical responsibility.
Therefore, it comes as a bit of surprise that powerhouse publishing corporations have taken an interest in pursuing the "power of print." If you're not already in tune with the world of magazine, there is a huge movement towards the promotion of print magazine and its longevity in our society. Despite new mediums of communication that have revolutionized and challenged the print industry, primarily the power of the internet, publishing corporations believe that print lives on and that it will continue to do so for future generations. Thus, they bring us the "Power of Print" campaign, which began running in late Spring issues of this year. Above, an image of one creative that appears in magazines, illustrates the fresh and clever use of magazine covers to create, what feels like, a game of Mad Libs, providing readers an entertaining visual juxtaposition.
Although, many may argue that this does not help our environment, but only contributes to our growing waste of paper and the killing of our earth's trees, the same can be said for any office in America using paper to print anything from a simple note to a five-hundred page annual business report. However, the campaign does help to promote the idea that print magazines do provide individuals with something that the internet cannot--a physical, tangible, non-digital product that we all love to immerse ourselves in. Check out this campaign video posted on YouTube.com featuring publishing executives:
There is exists a bigger question. With the hundreds upon thousands of magazines produced around the world, edition after edition, country after country, city after city, niche after niche is this all that necessary? Charles Darwin would have agreed in my belief that only the best print magazines should survive. We don't need that many cooks in the kitchen telling us what to wear, what to eat, where to travel, and how to love.
On June 11th, FiFa (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)
kicked off the World Cup of 2010 in South Africa. Sometimes considered bigger and better than the Olympics, the World Cup definitely gets nations joining together to cheer on their teams and watch as each goal stirs up excitement, anger, and thrills. It's the superbowl of the world!
Whether considered a victory or a failure, depending on the team you are rooting for, today displayed a sense of competitorship as the USA went up against England in an highly anticipated match between the two teams. However, what has everyone talking is England's goalkeeper, Robert Green's (bottom image) "failure" to protect the goal from USA's striker, Clint Dempsey (top image). This not only helped the USA to score, but it also brought the opening match to an end with a tie between the two teams.
Among all the sports, the World Cup definitely gets the entire world excited and glued to their television! Personally, these are some of the most fit athletes in the world (and the sexiest)! Here's a quick clip from youtube of the goal heard around the world.
Excuse me?!? LuAnn de Lesseps of the Real Housewives of New York has a music video? Wow! I was taken aback when I came across this video of LuAnn venturing into the music industry with her single "Money Can't Buy You Class."
Although this is, evidently, not LuAnn's forte, I will definitely give her an A+ for effort. She is definitely working it out in her lusciously treated hair, form fitting get ups, and expert make up treatment. However, her RuPaul like vocals could use a little help, before she is mistaken for a bass vocal range.
I love the show, but I can't say I am fully in love with LuAnn's song and music video. It definitely makes for a quick dance tune in the gay clubs. At any rate, she is enjoying her life and soaking in her fifteen minutes of fame.
Fortunately, there is one lesson we can all learn from this, that "elegance is learned." Oookay?! *snap*
