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| Your Last Chance By: Becks $ Posh |
| 12.24.05 (10:45 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/" title="http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://becksposhnosh.blogspot...
Your Last Chance
To Make a Little Difference in the World...
... and win some fabulous food prizes. Today we are giving one last push to our Menu For Hope Campaign which is raising money for Unicef to help victims in stricken areas of Pakistan and India.
Consider how much a year's subscription to a food magazine can cost these days: $30 or $40. Collectively, food blogs the world over can give as pleasure as any food magazine. Recipes are searchable, updates are more often than once a month, the photographs can be just as mouthwatering and professional looking, restaurant news is more up-to-date and the degrees of specialization about all aspects of food are manifold. If you read food blogs regularly and are going to continue to do so in 2006, please consider making a donation, today, to the cause we are supporting. If you can, please donate whatever our community is worth to you, in lieu of there being a subscription to read what we write. Any amount, from $5 up, will not only make a difference in someone's life, it will also give you a chance to win a great prize. The choice is yours:
In the Bay Area Becks & Posh are offering two prize packages that will knock your socks off. Check out The Ferry Building Bonanza and The Hungry Bay Hopper. For readers further afield, why not bid on the chance to win a bunch of local food books including one from Thomas Keller.
Head over to the organizer's site Chez Pim, for more details, or check out the full round up of prizes, here on Becks & Posh.
Thank you very much, everyone, for all your support over the last year, I hope to serve you as well in 2006.
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| Symbol of Hypocrisy |
| 12.24.05 (10:42 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://isfullofcrap.com/" title="http://isfullofcrap.com/" target="_blank"http://isfullofcrap.com/
Symbol of Hypocrisy By: Laurence Simon
For ten years, Martin Luther King Day in Houston was a demonstration of the hypocrisy of the modern generation's incarnation of theCivil Rights Movement.
To honor a man who preached togetherness, inclusion, peace, setting differences peacefully, and unity, the Martin Luther King Day Parade was rent in two and divided between rival groups at different times.
That's right, folks. We're so World Class, we got two rival Martin Luther King Day parades.
I believe Martin Luther King would be extremely pissed to know that people claiming to honor him would dishonor his memory in such a manner.
Stop the infighting. Find your common ground. Come together. Talk. Resolve and move forward.
For 17 years, the Black Heritage Society staged the only downtown MLK parade in Houston.
In 1995, Stamps, who had volunteered for the society, surprised Duncantell by applying for and winning a city permit for a parade under the banner of his newly formed parade foundation.
Because city rules at the time limited the number of parades to one per day, a feud between the two groups was born.
At Wednesday's hearing, neither side got very far before retreating to a private room to discuss a possible solution.
When the court reconvened, Duncantell attorney Morris Overstreet asked the judge to order them to have a joint parade. Foundation attorney Melvin Houston asked instead for more time to discuss a possible joint event.
State District Judge John Coselli agreed.
That's right. Negotiations are underway to bring the two rival groups together to hold a joint unified Martin Luther King Day once again.
I believe in Solomon's Solution: there can be one parade or no parades. Join together, or see you next year.
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| Not a Particularly Happy Christmas Right Now |
| 12.24.05 (10:40 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://isfullofcrap.com/" title="http://isfullofcrap.com/" target="_blank"http://isfullofcrap.com/
Not a Particularly Happy Christmas Right Now By: Laurence Simon
When I think weathercasters and Christmas, I groan.
Santa on the radar. God, how I hate it when they do that. I used to give Gene and Ed endless amounts of crap about that.
All that amazing technology. Downright wicked magic that could have turned the course of history countless times if its equivalent seer-like predictive capacity had been around back then in some shape or form.
Right now, I'm not thinking Santa on the radar when I think about weathercasters and Christmas.
We had a small Vegas wedding. Family and friends, a nice little chapel on The Strip.
Ask me about my wedding memories and it might shock you to learn that Tracy's laugh is quite often the first sound my mind recalls.
Yes, I typed that correctly. It's kind of hard to type "Tracy" instead of "Gina."
I firmly believe that if Jesus were to come back at the same time Tracy was laughing, five minutes after the Rapture you'd be thinking about Tracy's laugh and not the chorus of seraphic accompanying The Messiah's Return.
I'm sure that my wife would forgive me and my rather miswired brain for recalling her best friend's laugh among countless other memories, but I'm sure there's many important and cherished memories that she also remembers with her best friend's laugh with, too.
This is a laugh that can ward off evil spirits.
Now that I recall, Sophia Loren was also a part of the wedding. Well, in a very minor way. You see, Roland was in Vegas to cover Sophia Loren opening The Venetian during the July Fourth Weekend as well as there with Tracy for the wedding. Sophia hit the plunger, set off the fireworks, and the gondolas have been flowing like a flume less log-flume ride ever since.
People move around, station to station and city to city. They move up the markets, they move down the markets. Sometimes they can surprise you with what directions they go, choosing to go where their heart takes them instead of climbing up the crazy line that Nielsen draws zig-zag across the country.
Something's happened to Roland's liver. Maybe you probably just know him for the weather, but he's under the weather in a really bad way right now.
Here's hoping for sunny skies. Here's hoping Tracy's laugh can ward off the evil spirits.
Every time I see Inbox (1), I want to know that everything's going to be fine.
Here's hoping it's not an unhappy Christmas in Corpus.
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| Chinga METRO |
| 12.24.05 (10:38 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://isfullofcrap.com/" title="http://isfullofcrap.com/" target="_blank"http://isfullofcrap.com/
Chinga METRO By: Laurence Simon
The first 9 was early by at least 5 minutes.
The next 9 was late by at least 5 minutes.
The next available 102 was early by at least 5 minutes.
And the two after that flipped their signals to NOT IN SERVICE.
An extra hour's commute.
Thanks, METRO. Merry fucking Christmas to you, too.
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| Judy-ism |
| 12.24.05 (10:32 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://isfullofcrap.com/" title="http://isfullofcrap.com/" target="_blank"http://isfullofcrap.com/
Judy-ism By: Laurence Simon
I was talking to someone yesterday and they said that they were sick of the whole holiday season, both Christmas and that "Judy-ism" thing.
TOP TEN JUDYS
10. Judy Jetson (Forget his boy Elroy... more Judy!)
9. The Judys (Rockin', man.)
8. Judy Miller (Judith? Bah! Judy is what Arthur Schulzberger yells when they're going at it in the broom closet.)
7. Judge Judy (Guilty as charged. Will you punish me? Please?)
6. Judy Blume (Okay, so it's easy reading.)
5. The Yokosuka D4Y (codename "Judy")
4. Judy Collins (Ah, yes. Nothing like a racy novel.)
3. Judy Tenuta (I bow before her. Emo is a lucky studpuppet.)
2. Judy Garland (Everyone's a friend of Dorothy, but who was a friend of Judy? Poor girl.)
1. Judy (From "Punch and Judy")
So remember, Followers of Judy-ism, be sure to worship each and every Judy faithfully.
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| Changing Work Situations |
| 12.24.05 (10:30 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.hoshq.com/" title="http://www.hoshq.com/" target="_blank"http://www.hoshq.com/
Changing Work Situations By: Andrew Hoshkiw
There was a musical version of the Christmas Carol, led by Edmonton folk musician Bill Bourne, in town last week, but because I was too busy with the other job I didn't have time to write anything about it.
This week, on the solstice was the annual Longest Night festival, but for the same reason I didn't have time to do anything on it.
This other job has driven me crazy, but it's finally over. At last she's found someone to full the position full time, meaning I can now have my life back and return to the things I'd rather be doing.
It'll mean somewhat of a loss of income, but not much really, since the freelancing income, which had been severely suffering lately, will return to a more reasonable level.
But, now that we're in winter, will there be much to write about? I think so. there will still be art exhibits, concerts, CD releases and even a few festivals. One other idea I had for supplementing the income was to find freelance design work, of the kind I like doing. Mainly things like posters, CD covers and the occasional website. That is, if I can find people willing to buy my services.
Anyhow, thankfully nobody at work read my last entry, or if they did they weren't kind enough to invite me over for Christmas. Which is fine. Of all the Christmases I've spent away from home (2 or 3, I'm not sure), none have been terribly enjoyable, spending them in the company of people I don't know really very well. So this time, if I have to be away from family, I think I'd rather just be alone.
Not that it means anything, but if I worked at the other newspaper, I'd get two weeks paid vacation starting this weekend. Everyone there gets two weeks at Christmas, in addition to two weeks at at some other point in the year. If I had two weeks I'd go home for sure.
Or, maybe to Thailand.
Not that it matters. I don't work there. All I get is three days off and I'll have to make the most of it.
I had been thinking I'd go for a drive to Anchorage, Alaska. There's a smoldering volcano, and I thought that'd be an interesting thing to see, but I'm not so sure now. The prospect of 12 hours of driving each way through a region which currently only gets about four hours of daylight isn't very appealing. And besides that, I didn't really like Anchorage when I was there.
And the forecast has changed. The highs for the weekend are now expected to be well below freezing.
Maybe I'll just do a day drive in the region. Maybe I'll go see what Atlin looks like in winter, or drive down to Skagway and breath the salty sea air.
Who knows. Anything could happen.
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| "Kent's Family Law" |
| 12.24.05 (10:27 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.hoshq.com/" title="http://www.hoshq.com/" target="_blank"http://www.hoshq.com/
"Kent's Family Law" By: Andrew Hoshkiw
According to one entry called "Kent's Family Law" in the Murphy's Law desk calendar I bought for a coworker, "Never change your plans because of the weather."
So I think I'll be going for a long drive this weekend.
On another note, I think this'll be the weekend I shave my head, possibly as early as tonight. I haven't had a haircut since February and I haven't shaved since October, so I've gotten quite hairy.
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| I Miss The Subway |
| 12.24.05 (10:25 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://emptybeach.typepad.com/rwilliamsdotorg/" title="http://emptybeach.typepad.com/rwilliamsdotorg/" target="_blank"http://emptybeach.typepad.com...
I Miss The Subway By: Rob Williams
I do! Because the subway was so good for reading! My book reading has been cut in half (or more) in the 4 months we've lived here in San Diego because I don't have the subway to read on. And I can't read in the car (well, not when I'm driving...).
So yes, the MTA strike was probably a pain in the ass, and the subway is almost always a pain in the ass, but I do miss it.
I'm still only about 50 pages into "The Book of Salt," but I have to say I just love it. I wish I was spending more time with it. Though in a way, I look at it like it's something precious, reading this book, and sneaking moments to read it-- before bed, or 20 minutes on the (NEW!) sofa in the afternoon. It's like I'm reading it slowly because I’m savoring every moment and I don't want it to end.
Monique Truong is amazing. She is so meticulous in her language and descriptions. I feel like each sentence probably took her two days. She also describes so much food-- mouth watering descriptions of delectable dishes made by Stein and Toklas' Vietnamese cook, Binh, who narrates with such humor and wit.
I'm also fascinated by the depiction's of Alice B. Toklas and GertrudeStein (Binh refers to her with one name). It's as if Truong was really there (of Toklas, Binh describes: "I cannot respond to any of the woman's jangly French words because I am too enthralled by her upper lip with its black hairs twitching gently as she speaks. Her mustache, I think, would be the envy of all three of my brothers, who could only aspire to such definition after weeks worth of unfettered growth. The arc of hair, like a descended third eyebrow, is topped by a solemn monument to the god of smells [...] it is not so much a nose as an altarpiece that segregates the left side of her face from her right").
And of GertrudeStein he describes: "Pussy, there is someone at the studio door," GertrudeStein would have called out from her chintz-covered arm chair. There are two of these armchairs at 27 rue de Fleurus, and both of them are located in the studio. They were made to order and therefore could accommodate both the fullness of GertrudeStein's girth and the conciseness of Miss Toklas's stature.
This image is of Stein and Toklas
This sort of creative license--where Truong has these real people as characters in her book, and writes as if she really was there and saw and knew them--fascinates me. In my book there are real characters too, so seeing how Truong so deftly handles this is inspiring for me.
** In writing news: (though i know it's barely Christmas and New Year's), I have been given my next assignment by the Gay and Lesbian Times Newspaper-- a Valentine’s Day feature with the topic of my choosing. I'm thinking of profiling various couples in the San Diego GLBT community and writing about either what they have planned for Valentine's Day or describing what their favorite/best Valentines Day was.
Also, Ted and I are knee deep (no dung puns intended) in reading for the anthology that we are editing together. If you're one of those authors who owes us an essay, send it NOW!!
MERRY HOLIDAYS
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| But Pirates... are Christmas-y! |
| 12.24.05 (10:23 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://emptybeach.typepad.com/emptybeach/" title="http://emptybeach.typepad.com/emptybeach/" target="_blank"http://emptybeach.typepad.com...
But Pirates... are Christmas-y! By: Rob Williams
I'm taking (at least) a two week break from banquet waiting. The last straw was this past Saturday when I worked a party at the Sheraton San Diego (on Harbor Island) and the theme was "Pirates of the Caribbean."
Pirates for Christmas?
Yes, they had us all wearing scarves on our heads and earrings and eye patches. Well, I wore the scarf on my neck (more like a cowboy, I guess) and forwent the earring. I did try the eye patch, which was kind of cool, but I wear glasses when I work banquets (my vision is horrible in the dark or near dark, and most banquets are done in dim lighting)--so I tried to put the patch on over my glasses, and that just looked dorky. Then I tried to wear it under my glasses and that made my vision even worse (nothing like a banquet waiter carrying a tray of wine glasses stumbling around with an eye patch on under his glasses). So I took off the eye patch. I was a very reluctant pirate that night--which is strange for me, especially, as some of you know, because I was once a pirate in a show at Sea World in San Diego in the late 80s.
I did get to keep the bandanna--which has some really cool pirate skulls on it.
Actually it was a fun party for the most part, but I'm so over WORKING at holiday parties. I want to GO TO ONE. Sigh. but we don't really know anyone here in San Diego.
Speaking of parties. Ted and I went to the beer bust at The Hole on Sunday and had a great time, then afterwards we went to Pecs and who did we see? A gaggle of Nuns (out of their habits, mind you)--the very nuns i wrote about in my GLT story (see previous post). They were all very drunk gracious and excited about the story--which has been getting very positive responses from everyone in the community.
I can't believe the holidays are upon us. It's very strange to be back in San Diego, my hometown, once again for Christmas. Also, it's 70 degrees out!
One thing I'm excited about is my (main) Christmas present for Ted. I can't wait to post a picture of it but I have to wait, obviously, until after he's seen it.
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| Arteriors |
| 12.22.05 (7:26 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
Motto: ’Exceed the expectations of the customer and the marketplace.”
By Christine
Any furniture accessories company that names itself ‘Arteriors’deserves an article just for having a great name. Yes, one could have been dull and call their company, ‘Interiors’, or ‘Artistic Furniture for Interiors, but Arteriors...? Brilliant.
Arteriors’ press page displays numerous magazine covers and/or interior pages where Arteriors products have been prominently used, and the press page gives the item’s model number so a potential customer may know exactly what to ask for.
Given the amount of magazines presenting Arteriors products demonstrate that I’ve jumped on the bandwagon late, again. Then again, nothing is noted for Arteriors during the year, 2005, so maybe it’s time to remind those do-it-youself home renovators of this intriguing company.
Arteriors Home and Arteriors Fine Accessories were give the Arts Award for the second year in a row in 2004. Their distinguishing feature in 2004 was their Manufacturer portable Lamps.
Arteriors Home was also proud to be win as Designers of the Year in 2004. Arteriors also was recognized at the 1997 Eighth Annual ART’s Award for Manufacturer of the Year for Accessories. I realize that home decoration, like any art form, must move on with the times, but I feel Arteriors still have intriguing products that flow and change in synchcronicity to these times.
Based in Dallas, Arteriors Home started as an accessory resource offering a carefully chosen grouping of traditional pieces. The Tanner Collection was the first portable lighting venture; introduced in 1995 and was followed by a lifestyle lamp company called Keane in 1999.
Arteriors continued to grow until the company finally merged its divisions and overhauled its offerings to include a complete selection of modern home accents with coordinated collections.
Arteriors Home is represented in permanent showrooms in Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver and Seattle. A nationwide network of sales representatives sells the products throughout the United States and Canada.
Arteriors offers both catalogue, showroom, and online shopping. It’s wonderful that today’s designers are not held back by borders and distance.
The catalogs feature unique and imaginative selections that are grouped by category and style. The company introduces over 500 new items every year to select from. Arteriors is proud of its first quality merchandise track record.
While browsing the online Arteriors home - I plugged in postal codes (zip) to see where I would be able to purchase the products. Although there was nothing present for Vancouver, Canada, an address could be found for Bellingham at 1105 11th street. My Lucky sister in Maryland has 3 stores to choose from. Use the Arteriors zip code feature to find a store nearest to you at
To Shop online with Arteriors design, simply go toand they accept all major credit cards as well as Paypal.
Most of all, enjoy the whimsical and traditional pieces as well as imported novelties/ pieces. Lay back, close your eyes... and envision these pieces in your newly painted/renovated/updated space and Voilá, art by design - to your specifications - appears at your doorstep, courtesy of online shopping.
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| January - A Month of \'Firsts\' in the Music Industry |
| 12.22.05 (3:56 am) [edit] |
Swank Home
By: Christine
January is proving to be an eventful month for a few recording artists.
Canadian group, Sloan, have been asked to open for The Rolling Stones on January 13, 14, and 15th in Boston.
Canadian group, Metric, have been asked to open for The Rolling Stones on January 18 and 19 at Madison Square Gardens.
Mariah Carey will be performing live at Dick Clark's New Year's Eve special, a first in the 34 years of the event.
The Beatles are suing EMI for 30 million pounds for unpaid royalties.
And finally, although not January, February 1st will see a variety of performers paying tribute to Joni Mitchell another stand-out Canadian.
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| All Things Cowie |
| 12.20.05 (10:22 am) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.colincowie.com" title="http://www.colincowie.com" target="_blank"http://www.colincowie.com
images source colincowie.com
All Things Cowie, By Christine
Here I was, thinking about whom, or what, to write about for our interiors section. (The category has been abandoned temporarily as we’ve all pursued other features). Then I remembered how taken I was with some ‘Cowie’ tableware displayed at JC Penney. I quickly found my ‘Things to Write About’ notebook and settled in to research.
As I flipped through the well worn pages of my notebook (note to son: hint hint... Christmas gift... quick and easy...) I found the Colin Cowie section with its ‘first impact’ impressions. Looked promising... interesting... great, ready to go!
Well damned if there wasn’t an article on Colin Cowie in December’s In Style Home I swear, I think the magazine/e-zine communities can read Lezah’s and my minds and grab our cognitive headliners to trump us. (How typically egocentric of me - to assume the Swanktrendz's’ ideas are being stolen by In Style et al when in fact we are all merely reporting the same trend at the same time, and even that is an arrogant assumption.)
Back to Colin - His designs/ideas etc. are unique, exciting, beautiful yet safe, but what’s more incredible is his resume. This man can and does just about everything. He’s gotta be a type A personality (or at least have 200 invisible assistants working beneath him).
I went to his website http://www.colincowie.com/ind... and the first thing I noticed was that he has a membership section. That’s right, you can become one of the inner circle Cowieites and be the first to receive the latest tip or access Colin's newest recipe according to the site.
African born, Colin Cowie is known for his elegant yet extravagant attention to details, from a flower girl’s simple seashell headband , his beautiful dreamy wedding sites, to his table settings for an intimate dinner party. When Colin arrived to the United States in 1985, he immediately formed Colin Cowie Lifestyle. Lifestyle has now grown to include offices in New York and Los Angeles
Cowie is an all-in-one kind of guy. He designs clothing, homes, accessories, furnishings, lifestyles and he has authored several books designated for the bride-to-be or the gourmet entertainer. Colin Cowie Lifestyle has planned some of the most highly publicized parties and weddings of the decade including the marriages of Lisa Kudrow, Paula Abdul, Kenny G., Don Henley, Hugh Hefner and many others. Not only that, Colin is a contributing editor for InStyle (aha explains the scoop of the story), Eating Well, and Honeymoon magazines. Currently, Colin appears weekly on AMC's Romance Classics as the star of "Everyday Elegance with Colin Cowie."
Lastly, when one has been invited to appear on Oprah as a headliner, and has People magazine write an article with the headline “An Affair To Remember: Part Patton, part Barnum, Colin Cowie is Hollywood’s premier wedding designer.” you know that Cowie has arrived ... moved in permanently ... and is subletting to others.
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| Cromulent Pete's Holiday Pop-Culture Poll |
| 12.19.05 (9:52 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
Laurence’s Home
Since ASV has gone tits-up, I guess you need to get your daily dose of pop-culture polling from Cromulent Pete.
Today's poll is "The Bestest Classic Christmas TV Special of All Time."
If you're wondering why I'm writing so much these days in the evenings and Nardo's spending time in my lap, my wife is watching each and every one of these Holiday Season abominations at least three times. Plus, she's checking out all the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime Channel holiday movies.
She watched Forest Gump last night.
Worst. Move. Ever.
I love the book. The sequel book is great, too.
Movie sucks.
If it wasn't so damned cold out, I'd go for a walk and get some exercise. Or I should head to the workout room and spend an hour and a half on the treadmill.
Instead, I've been taking notes of each movie and finding the awful commonalities between them are.
Oh. God. That Dolly Parton movie is on tonight, isn't it?
Do they make Drano in cherry flavor? Make mine a double.
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| O Little Town of Bethlehamas... |
| 12.19.05 (9:50 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
Laurence’s Home
Well, the Israelis are thinking about leasing security restrictions on the West Bank for pilgrims to reach Bethlehem on Christmas, so you know what that means...
Security forces on Monday morning chased down two Palestinians near Jerusalem who had apparently intended to carry out a terror attack in the capital city, Army Radio reported.
The two youths, who threw firebombs at security forces during the chase, were eventually arrested attempting to cross the separation fence near Jerusalem's southern Har Homa neighborhood.
The two, aged 16 and 17, were carrying carrying two pipe bombs, fire bombs and knives and had a Hamas flag.
But that's not all...
Also Monday, Israel Radio reported that security forces have captured a Palestinian terrorist who had managed to infiltrate southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The terrorist, who was carrying an explosives belt, firearms and grenades, was captured near Kibbutz Nir Am, located adjacent to Sderot in the western Negev region near the Gaza border.
Security forces were involved throughout the night in chasing the terrorist, who was captured alive. He had apparently intended to carry out an attack inside Israel.
Sadly, none of these captured terrorists were allowed to martyr themselves in sealed concrete bunkers along with their explosives.
How hard it must be for their virgins in Paradise, waiting a little bit longer for their beloved to arrive in bits and pieces. I feel badly for the... what's three times seventy-two again?
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| Pajamas Media, Pathfinder, and Go.com |
| 12.19.05 (9:48 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
Laurence’s Home
I've been thinking about Pajamas Media and how it reminds me of the Pathfinder and Go.com fiascos a bit more. Or maybe I've forgotten I thought about it and I'm typing this all over again like that guy from Memento.
Sammy who?
Pathfinder and Go.com were artificial "portal site" constructs developed by Time Warner and Disney. They were utterly devoid of content in and of themselves beyond a few bells-and-whistles and navigation trickery. In the end, they were just another annoying layer of navigation that made you hunt and click for your content more than before.
On the other hand, Pajamas Media is also an artificial "portal site" construct. Unlike Pathfinder and Go.com, it's got a bit of unique content to it, like the Blog Jams or the Iraqi Elections Reporting or the various roundups. Tack on a blogroll and some wire feeds and that's pretty much it for the consumer.
You can also still get to the Pajamas Media member sites without a hassle of slogging through Land Of A Thousand Clicks like go.com and pathfinder.com were. Your feeds still work, your bookmarks still work, your permalinks still work.
The eerie parallel between Go/Pathfinder and Pajamas Media is that you had two huge companies with amazing brand recognition. You know Time and CNN and Disney and ABC. However, some marketing morons decided to take all of those well-recognized brand names and shove them to the backburner while promoting completely artificial and unknown hub names.
Bad mistake.
So in this new Pajamas Media Venture, they went from Pajamas Media to Open Source Media and then back to Pajamas Media.
I wonder if any of the consultant geniuses mentioned anything about Go.com or Pathfinder before heading down the same exact road of trying to establish a whole new portal name.
Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong.
They call them diet Coke and Coke Zero and Cherry Coke for a reason, you know. If they had its own name (Light Cola, Cola Water, Cherry drink), it wouldn't sell as much.
The rule is not to create an unknown brand name to smother your collective well-known brand names, but to take an existing brand name and expand it to embrace all of the lesser brand names.
So, what would I have done?
The crown jewel of the network is obviously Reynolds' Instapundit site with Malkin as a close second.
Fine. Build upon that brand name.
Expanding the well-known InstaPundit brand to encompass the network of bloggers, calling it "The Pundit Network" or "InstaPundits" (plural) or "Instant Punditry" or whatever.
If it fails, well, jettison the network part and go back to just the core InstaPundit brand.
But then, what do I know? These geniuses actually came up with "Jellyfish" for a while during their spitballing sessions.
In the end, I think it's "Network of ad banners" that's #1 on the list, nothing's #2, and #3 is... um... hey, wasn't it a great launch party?
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| Expiring domain |
| 12.19.05 (9:46 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
Laurence’s Home
I get a panicked note from a customer begging to know when their domain expires.
Here's a pop quiz for you folks. How can you find out when your domain expires?
At the command line, do a whois and then the domain name.
Or look up the domain name with one of the many hundreds of whois tools at registrars and such.
If you registered anonymously or with a registrar that doesn't give out the expiration date, well, go to the registrar, sign in, and check your account.
Don't remember how to sign in to your registrar? That's between you and their customer service department.
Don't remember who your registrar is? Well, do a whois of your domain and you'll get the details on who the registrar is and how to contact that registrar.
Hell, a Google search for "when does my domain expire" gives you a link to a site that tells you to do a whois.
If every single one of those steps is completely alien to you, someone else should be running your website for you.
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| Fireside Smirk |
| 12.19.05 (9:44 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
Laurence’s Home
I am hesitant to watch a recording of Bush's "fireside chat" speech because I know that everything he says about Iraq, Afghanistan, terrorism, and democracy will be applied in reverse with the murderous deathcultist Palestinians. Polling places are overrun by gunmen or burning, terrorists are running as candidates in a process Bush said should produce "leadership uncompromised by terror" and yet Bush keeps telling Condi Rice to yank at Sharon's leash over and over again demanding concessions and humanitarian gestures.
It makes me wonder if that speech in 2002 ever took place at all.
It's truly sad when the people have to look to Congress for moral clarity with regard to cutting off the money supply for terrorists pretending to engage in free and peaceful elections. Hamas is engaging in the process not as part of an overall plan to moderate their views and disarm, but to grab a hold of the aid coffers as a war chest to escalate their war on Israel... upon civilization itself.
Bush, who through his envoys has been demanding free passage of terrorists from Gaza to Egypt or the West Bank, continues to show himself for the backpedaling, double-dealing, double-standard president who started the ball rolling back in 2002.
If the Qassams were being launched from Tijuana on San Diego instead of from Gaza to Ashkelon or Sderot, there'd be a smoking crater full of dead donkeys and whores where Tijiuana used to be.
Pajamas Media
has a roundup of opinions other than this one. If there's anybody else in that list noticing the disparity between Bush's view on Iraq and his rose-colored-glasses view of the Palestinian track record of violence, incitement, and lies, I'm having a hard time finding it.
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| Lancing the Boil of French Envy |
| 12.19.05 (9:42 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
Laurence’s Home
Lance Armstrong may have beaten testicular cancer to go on to win the Tour de France seven times, but apparently it's managed to spread to the media organs of France in the form of virulent, spiteful envy.
America's seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has reportedly claimed that allegations made about him taking drugs was part of a witch hunt orchestrated by the French. The 34-year-old added, however, he would not give either the French newspaper L'Equipe which published the claims he had tested positive for blood-booster EPO in 1999 nor the laboratory involved the satisfaction of suing them.
"The paper has no proof whatsoever," Armstrong told Saturday's Het Nieuwsblad newspaper. "It is a witch hunt and a publicity exercise."
Maybe it's burning envy?
Nah. That's just parking lots around Paris.
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| Shelagh Rogers interview |
| 12.19.05 (11:53 am) [edit] |
Swank Home
Hoshkiw’s Home
Friday, December 16, 2005
Shelagh Rogers interview by Andrew Hoshkiw
On Tuesday evening I had a brief interview with Shelagh Rogers, host of the national CBC morning show Sounds Like Canada, in the hallway of a local bar. Rogers was there recording a show which was aired this morning.
Why did you come to the Yukon this time?
I'm happy to tell you. I met Robbie (Benoit) at the Peter Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournament here in Whitehorse last July and he was our poet and we hung out - I had heard of his before as a sort of character - I heard he was going to be the poet laureate.
That means he wrote up the day in dramatic form, and he wrote a great poem and as he was writing it we drove around the golf course watching the action in a little golf cart. He was pointing out all these magnificent mountain views.
And over the course of the day he told me that he had been battling cancer, and I wanted to know if he had gotten the all clear, so he sent me an email back in October saying he had it and was going to have a party to celebrate.
He was going to call it "Cancer Can Kiss My Ass" and I said, "Look, well, I'd really love to come, and bring my producer with me and record it and put it on the radio, but we'd probably have to call it something else."
So he changed it to "To Hell With Cancer," and that's what brought us here.
But we thought we couldn't come all the way to Whitehorse and only spend one evening, so we're here for the week. We start at six in the morning and go live to the east coast, but Robbie's really what brought us up here, that's the story.
So have you been to the Yukon a lot? What keeps bringing you back?
I've come here eight times since 1987, and the first time was to hike the Chilkoot Trail. At the end of the trail I spent some time in Whitehorse and that was my first time here and I really really liked it. So I keep finding ways to come back up.
What do you think of this evening?
This evening I find is incredibly moving to see the support of the arts community for this cause and how much one individual means to them.
And I can also see that if anything had happened to Robbie, what a loss that would have been, because he's such a vital man, he's so full of life and he gives a lot of people a lot of joy.
I feel lucky to have met him and I think he's a kind of walking blessing on the earth. I'm pretty moved and blown away by what's happened here tonight.
Is doing the show on the road like this part of your usual format?
We're on the road about a week out of every month. This is very close to what I want to do, I like to meet people who are in the middle of something important in their lives.
This is a very personal story for Robbie, but there are so many people going through what he went through. It's a personal story but very universal too. so that's the kind of thing I really like to do.
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| Procrastination is evil |
| 12.19.05 (11:51 am) [edit] |
Swank Home
Hoshkiw’s Home
Procrastination is evil by Andrew Hoshkiw
Four days ago I downloaded a video game, something I haven't done in a long, long while, and have been playing it pretty much ever since.
Well no, I have slept every night, and I did go to work on Thursday and Friday, and I even got out today for an hour to do my Christmas shopping, but beyond that it's been non-stop gaming.
At least 20 hours of playing. I'm not kidding. What's the game you ask? Quite simply the greatest computer game ever created, "The Dungeons of Moria," or in this case a variation called "Angband." Here's a screenshot.
Doesn't that look fantastic?? As you can see, I also have a movie playing below it, as the game has no sound and is somewhat lacking graphically.
Not that graphics are needed. This game is full of excitement. It's incredibly complex, it takes weeks to play a single game successfully and then every new game is completely different and a new challenge.
It's basically an old non-graphical DOS/UNIX dungeons and dragons type game that was created by computer geeks back in 1985 and has changed very little since then. I used to play it when I was a kid for days on end.
I had thought it wasn't available for Mac OSX, but gladly I was wrong.
Unfortunately, it means I've put off a lot of things this weekend. It's Sunday evening, and I really ought to do my laundry.
And I was supposed to write a story about the Longest Night festival coming up on Tuesday, but I'm somewhat glad I put it off. It's all local artists doing things I've already written about.
I did manage to get out on Saturday and buy a copy of the Yukon News, the other newspaper in town. There was a brilliant article on the Caribou Records 10-year anniversary party I wanted to read. For the most part the writer was pretty accurate - the event was bad.
It was billed as a "ball," which to me means dance, but there was no dance-floor, the music was too quiet, the host kept telling the audience to shush, the speech before the main act by the president was agonizingly long with much stumbling and mumbling and the drinks were very over priced.
$6.50 for a bottle of beer I think is outrageous. The bartender looked at me like I was crazy for not leaving her the 50 cents as a tip, but I figure at that price the tip was built-in.
But the main thing was the music. Besides the fact that it was mostly all country music, it was overly quiet. Most of the bands used the old-fashioned single-mic technique, where all the musicians crowd around a single microphone. The problem with this is that the single mic is very sensitive to background noise, so the crowd has to keep quiet, and at the same time it causes feedback if the volume is too low, so it has to be kept pretty low.
Not very good for a party, to keep the music down and tell the crowd to be quiet. And this isn't the first time I saw them make this mistake. One of the same artists used the single mic technique at the solstice party in the park last summer, and had the same results.
Why they would do it again, when they knew it would fail in that kind of scenario, is beyond me. Since there was no dancing and it was just a concert, I really don't see why they didn't use the arts centre, which would have been a perfect venue, rather than an old indoor swimming pool.
Luckily I only live a block away from where it was happening and I was able to escape for long stretches. I did make it back for the headliner, who was quite good and, using normal microphones, quite loud.
And on a side-note to all this, I think I'm going to stop attending country music events and writing great things about them when I really don't like country music. And that includes bluegrass and most folk, which are really just country music in disguise. Which is not to say there's anything wrong with that style of music as an art form. They put just as much effort into it as other musicians, I just don't like it.
What else did I do this weekend? On Saturday, I did not make it to ball hockey, again because of the game. Saturday night I went to a gong show themed fundraiser for another music festival. It was quite bad though and I left early. Admittedly, it was supposed to be bad because it was a gong show, but it was really bad so I chose not to write a story about it either. Instead, I went straight home and played the game till six in the morning.
I really ought to just delete it. There's no point wasting all this time. In the very least I should be reading more. While in the bookstore today, I pondered for quite a while whether or not to buy Tommyland, the Motley Crue autobiography by drummer Tommy Lee, but decided against it. They only had it in hardcover and I didn't want to spend $38 on a book.
I think I've reached the point in my life where I can admit that I was, for a long, long while, a big fan of Motley Crue. From '85-'92, they were unquestionably my favourite band.
Ah well. Christmas is coming. All I get is a three-day long weekend, so I'm not going home and nobody's invited me to join them for Christmas, so instead if it stays warm I think I might just go for a long drive and go camping somewhere.
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| Ahhh, reconnecting with the past through the power of the 'net |
| 12.18.05 (2:19 am) [edit] |
Swank Home
By: Christine
After stalking, I mean watching (from afar) that favourite ex you had, from ‘93, don’t you just wish you had her email address so you could make contact; quick and sweet, and above all, secretive! It’s imperative that no one get the wrong idea, especially her husband and your girlfriend.
I mean, after all, you just want a quick ‘hello’ and ‘how are you doing?’, and perhaps, ‘Weren’t we just the hottest couple since Johnny Depp and Wynona Ryder?’ You just want her to know that you still think of her (daily) and you want to say hello without causing any domestic discord (like when her irate hubby threatened bodily harm in ‘98 just for complimenting her outfit - yes, it was a bikini, but it was still very fashionable.) Or your girlfriend whose meltdown included rants that she was not going to do another sexual role play ever again after discovering your ex’s genuine cheerleading prowess.
Ahh, the powerlessness of it all. Just a simple little contact request, but wait... what’s this? A website that can track and locate people as well as their email addresses? And you can play games while you are waiting for the aforesaid data retrieval. Simply amazing. Go to this link and have your simple ‘I wonders’ turn into ‘I knows’.
However, be aware that this online service is NOT responsible for irate husbands with very strong hands and short fuses; vengeful girlfriends who are more than willing to share your secret fantasies that contain appearances of Richard Simmons, or even for the ‘93 ex girlfriend who has trained large animals to rip apart your picture, and has them prepared to to attack immediately, once your face becomes visible...
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| Hoshkiw''s Best albums of 2005 |
| 12.16.05 (11:43 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.hoshq.com/" title="http://www.hoshq.com/" target="_blank"http://www.hoshq.com/
Is it the end of the year already? Almost, and I don't expect any more good music to come along, so here's my list of what's jumped out at me this year. I should make this an annual feature.
It was a gruelling process, but I think I'm happy now with this list. There were a lot of other bands considered. If it had been a top 20, the next 10 contenders would have included Weezer, The New Pornographers, The Golden Republic, Bjork, Greg MacPherson, Nada Surf, Team Sleep, Spoon, Jets Overhead and Iron & Wine. I could probably have done a top 50 if I wanted to, but that would have been a bit excessive.
To see if I had missed anything, I even checked out other people's lists, such as this one by Mike. I decided though Mike has very "interesting" tastes.
You know, when I first put this list up three days ago, I was shocked by the idea that all of them are male. But I've thought more about this, and I've realized there are in fact women singing lead on at least some of the tracks for five of them. So that's not too bad, is it?
It's a good list, I think. It includes some punk, some folk, instrumental music, a little electronic and lots of rock.
So anyways, here's the list:
1. "Belladonna" by Daniel Lanois. The first of three artists on the list who I probably never would have heard of if they hadn't come to the Yukon. The two hour interview with Lanois helped a lot. And the four hour concert sealed it. It's a strange album though, very different from most other music I listen to. It's all instrumental, and mostly ambient sound. It's pretty much hard rock with sound effects and lots of steel guitar.
2. "Hotel" by Moby. Electronic and reflective. Six of the bands on the list I only discovered this year. Not Moby though. I've been listening to this guy for quite a while, since the late 90s.
3. "Guero" by Beck. Everything Beck has ever done has sounded awesome. This is mostly what I'd call rock, but with lots of other styles added in. Like most people my age, I first got into Beck in the early 90s with Loser. But then I lost interest and didn't start listening again until '02, when a girl in Dawson who'd continually play his songs caught my attention.
4. "Plans" by Death Cab For Cutie. More electronic music, a new trend for me. I like the other band by the same lead singer, The Postal Service, a lot more, but they didn't have an album this year. Another honourable mention electronic artist would be Self.
5. "La De Da" by Joel Plaskett. East coast indie rock. Listening to this guy is just fun. He's like old school rock revamped for the new century. Like The Tragically Hip and 5440. Hell, like Boy and The Trews, although I haven't heard enough of either of them to include in this list.
6. "Indio Saravanja" by Indio Saravanja. Some people will think I've put this one the list as a token entry, as it's the only northern album. But no, it really is a great disc and if the Caribou records people are any good at promoting their music, then I'm sure everyone'll be hearing this one before long. Indio's Dylan-esque music is just too good to be contained in the Yukon.
7. "Picareseque" by The Decemberists. I "discovered" this band by listening to internet radio. A lot more folky than most of the others. Reminds me a lot of The Weakerthans. Or maybe even a bit like The Counting Crows, though that's a bit of a stretch. Somewhat of an 80s retro rock (of the Tears For Fears style) sound to a lot of the tracks.
8. "Broken Social Scene" by Broken Social Scene. Beautiful indie rock music. And a double CD. Although I do plan on eventually buying all the albums on this list, this one I already own. I bought the album because I had heard a friend of mine had been involved with the making of it, but then later found out from him that he wasn't. I still love the album. A bit experimental in places.
9. "Get Behind Me Satan" by The White Stripes. The more I hear this album, the more I want to listen to it.
10. "The Best Little Secrets Are Kept" by Louis XIV. That "True Love is Blind" song of theirs drives me crazy every time I hear it. I guess it's because I'm such a sex-crazed animal. But then aren't we all? And believe me, the rest of the album is great too.
So that's it. Those are my faves. I think next week I'll post a top ten movies of the year list and cement my status as a pop culture freak.
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| The Parallels - Interview with Vancouver’s Indie Group |
| 12.11.05 (9:13 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
By: Christine
The Parallels - Interview with Vancouver’s Indie Group
Dictionary meaning of parallels: an arrangement or state that permits several operations or tasks to be performed simultaneously
Last month, my colleague and I were fortunate enough to attend two great gigs - The Magic Numbers, and their opening act, The Parallels. I was immediately struck with The Parallels’ raw energy; their get off your ass and start moving riffs and their onstage ‘we’ll have fun with or without you’ confidence. They performed like veterans of the touring route and I was surprised to learn they had only been together for less than a year.
The group consists of four members: Mike Flintoff (guitar), Mike 'Mick" McDiarmid (drums), Tyler Mounteney (bass), and Jarrod O'Dell (organ & guitar)). After their gig I immediately approached them to find out where they were from and was pleased to note they are one of Vancouver’s ‘own’ home grown. We discussed possibilities of an interview but soon realized that an online approach would work best. After determining an assortment of questions I was soon on my way with Mike Flintoff and Jarrod O’Dell stepping up to answer the questions presented.
Swanktrendz: First of all, thank you for taking the time to converse with us, and let me add that we are thoroughly enjoying your cd, 1961 McLean. I'd like to get right to the cd. Could you please let us know who plays what instrument(s) and sings which type of vocal (ie: lead, etc.)?
The ParallelsWithin The Parallels there is no specific "lead" vocal. The vocals are shared by Mike, Jarrod and Tyler.
ST Where did the name 'The Parallels' come from? How did the group arrive at, and agree upon, this name?
TP It just looks good on a poster, doesn't it?
ST What are the ages and marital status of members in the band?
TP
Mike Flintoff 25 - Almost there
Tyler Mounteney 25 - Married
Jarrod O'Dell 25 - Married
Mike "Mick" McDiarmid 26 - Spoken For
ST The title of the cd is '1961 Mclean' and the insert states the cd is dedicated to Frank William Flintoff. I assume the Flintoff in question is related to Mike. Could you please explain the significance of the cd’s title?
TP The title of the CD "1961 McLean" refers to a warehouse where The Parallels formed and wrote this record. While recording the record we moved on from the warehouse and felt the need to document that ‘era’ of the band. The dedication of the record is for Mike’s grandfather, Frank Flintoff who passed on during the making of this record.
ST Well that clears up my preconceived notion that 1961 was a significant year in some regard.
ST I've also noticed that 1961 McLean is the first release for the Upstart Hi-Fi Logo. Are you associated with and/or or shareholders/owners of Upstart Hi-Fi? If you are involved in the company - what is its purpose - recording studio, producing facility, etc?
TP Upstart Hi-Fi was, at the time of ‘1961 McLean's’ release, strictly a vanity label meant to draw interest for what was ahead. In November, 2005, construction began on the Upstart Hi-Fi studio based in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Fully owned and operated by The Parallels, Upstart Hi-Fi are looking to be fully operational by February 2006.
ST Be sure to remind swanktrendz of the grand opening ( when the date is set) so we may advertise it to Vancouver’s musical community.
ST Who writes the lyrics/music? How does the writing process evolve, and in which area do you write the best (ie: jamming session, or a song will come to one of you and you bring it to the rest... or...)
TP As for the writing of the music The Parallels work as a collaborative effort. The main source of the songs comes from Mike, Jarrod and Tyler, however once the band has its hands on the tracks, the songs evolve so that each members’ personal contribution is fused.
ST What Major musical influences did you have while growing up?
TP British R&B, Soul, Ska, Reggae, '77 Punk Rock.
ST What are the band's personalities like? Is there the ‘introverted one’ or any other stereotype you can think of? Who is the main spokesman for the group?
TP No single member of The Parallels can shut-up long enough to allow for a single spokesman. Everyone speaks for the band, and usually at the same time. The Parallels are essentially one person split into four! Energetic, spastic, and passionate about music and culture to a fault.
ST What do you think of the comparison Swanktrendz made between the Parallels to ‘Joe Strummer meeting the Blasters’?
TP The comparison to Joe Strummer is quite flattering as it strikes a strong chord for all members in the band. As for The Blasters we can understand the hint of R&B and the energy produced by the band. However, there are no members in The Parallels that are avid listeners of The Blasters.
ST Do The Parallels have a following as yet and what type audience do you want/hope to attract?
TP Most members of the band are avid scooterists and culturalists, from the Mod scene to Skinhead Reggae to "indies". Nonetheless, The Parallels aren't aiming to please one specific crowd. We've been fortunate to have support from a wide range of audiences within Canada and are humbled by the great response we've received in recent months.
ST Any other opening gigs for 'important' (depends on your definition of important) bands? Ie: Magic Numbers is garnering acclaim everywhere and no doubt will go on to bigger and better things. Is there anyone else you've opened for and thought, ‘Hey now, this group is going places?’
TP We would consider Ted Leo and The Pharmacists an important act that we have opened for. Opening for The Magic Numbers was a pleasant surprise, we didn't know too much about the band until the coming weeks before the gig. The Magic Numbers are definitely a band garnering acclaim, turn on the TV and you'll see them on Conan O'Brien.
ST Conan, in my opinion, is a perfect ‘recognition’ platform for indie bands as his producers seem to recognize the ‘just-on -the-edge-of-full-blown-s uccess’ factor. It’s almost equivalent to Johnny Carson giving comedians high profile by inviting them to ‘join him’ at the desk. Saturday Night Live tends to showcase bands AFTER they’ve made a name for themselves.
ST Any favorite local Vancouver acts at present?
TP Our favorite local Vancouver acts at present are The Transmitors,
The Jolts, and Vancougar.
ST What is your present touring schedule so that we may publish it. Also, provide a contact number to book a gig.
TP The Parallels are currently focusing on setting up the Upstart Hi-Fi recording studio. Over the remaining winter we will be compiling new material for our live set and our next record. Tour dates will be available for the New Year! Stay posted at Upstart Hi Fi and at www.theparallels.net. For booking and general contact: theparallels at upstarthifi dot com
ST How long did it take from inception to end product to create 1961 Mclean?
TP While recording "1961 McLean" the Parallels were in a transitional time. The record originally had two sides; one side Rock 'N Roll and the other side Ska and Reggae. During post production we found ourselves evolving and leaning towards the Rock 'N Roll side of things. From inception to end the process took just under a year.
ST What category, in a music store, would you like to see your cd placed under?
TP Rock 'N Roll
ST It was a pleasure meeting you and watching you perform. I would also like to thank you on behalf of the swanktrendz community for allowing us a glimpse into ‘The Parallels’ world.
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| BEBE - Swank ‘Fave’ Brand - Installment 1 |
| 12.11.05 (12:39 am) [edit] |
Swank Home
BEBE - Swank ‘Fave’ Brand - Installment 1
By: Christine
bebe has been a long standing brand that I have always admired - both for its whimsical style and for its price. bebe does not pretend to be haute couture as it is a retail venture, however, that does not stop celebrities flocking to the brand just as easily as versace or D&G. Celebrities donning bebe include Alicia Keys, Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Ciara, Eva Longoria, Paris Hilton, Shakira, Virginia Madsen, Gabrielle Union, Jennifer Lopez & Mischa Barton. bebe fashions have also been featured in numerous hit television shows, including The O.C., Las Vegas, Eve, One Tree Hill, Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, American Idol, CSI Miami, as well as many others.
Pronounced ‘bee-bee’, the name was selected because it represented the philosophy of the time (‘70s - ‘to be or not to be’) as well as other multilingual meanings including the Persian name for the queen in a deck of cards and the Turkish word for woman.
bebe's target customers are women between the ages of 18 and 35, who seek current fashion trends interpreted to suit their needs. The "bebe look" carries a signature hint of style, whimsy and sensuality.
Current Chairman and Founder Manny Mashouf founded bebe as a San Francisco boutique in 1976, a time when three categories dominated the women's wear market: Junior, Bridge and Missy. Deciding that there needed to be a ‘new category’, Manny decided to offer an alternative to the population of stylish women. His concept stuck and bebe reaped early success.
bebe currently has three brand names: bebe Sport, bebe, and bebe O (outlet). Of the 227 stores in operation, 172 are bebe boutiques, 20 are bebe outlet stores, and 35 are bebe Sport stores. bebe’s boutiques can be found in USA, Puerto Rico and Canada. They also offer an online store at www.bebe.com. (See below for more information on the online offerings.)
On November 23, 2005, bebe announced a new accessory store called ‘Neda by bebe’. The plan is to offer distinctive accessories, handbags and shoes with the bebe signature whimsical and sexy style. The inspiration for the name of the new store is Neda Mashouf, bebe’s vice chairman, who is, and has been, bebe’s muse for over 20 years. Her eclectic, sexy and sophisticated style clearly represents the bebe design aesthetic. The company anticipates opening additional ‘Neda by bebe’ stores in 2007.
bebe also has an incredibly popular online shopping site at www.bebe.com which offers a varied sampling of their retail boutiques. Not only does bebe have the styles that I often find myself drawn to, but they offer prices that do not drain one’s pocketbook, considering the quality of the merchandise. Go to their store online and check it out for yourself. Definitely a brand that is here to stay.
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| Get a Gift Certificate for Writing a Letter to the Editor - No Strings Attached |
| 12.10.05 (10:57 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
By: Christine - Swanktrendz Administrator
As we would like the 'Letters to the Editor' to be a lively and/or controversial addition to swanktrendz.com, we are offering $20.00 amazon.com gift certificates for the first 5 letters that get published in our new section, 'Letter to the Editors'.
This is a one time offer - so get those letters in!
This is your chance to sound off, contribute ideas, discuss your favourite contributor, have your opinion be heard, suggest new categories, and/or make suggestions for our web design layout. Peruse our archives as well and write a letter about anything that catches your eye/attention.
The steps are easy:
a) click on contact,
b) write your name (or a pseudo name) your email address (for verification)
c) write your letter to the editor*
d) submit
e) wait and see if your letter is published.
Remember - we do NOT harvest email addresses to forward to others. Your email address will be deleted as soon as the winners have been chosen and informed.
Get involved! Swanktrendz.com is as much for your entertainment, as it is for ours in producing it.
*Swanktrendz reserve the right to edit letters for brevity and clarity.
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| Fiona Apple By Kirk Bage |
| 12.09.05 (1:36 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://www.kbswasteland.blogspot.com/" title="http://www.kbswasteland.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://www.kbswasteland.blogs...
Fiona Apple
This was a long time coming. After two astonishingly mature (beyond her years at least) and rich albums it looked as though female singer/songwriters had a new champion. The passing of the torch from the likes of Alanis Morrisette and Beth Orton to Fiona Apple was undeniable. But something happened... Rumours abounded of rifts with record company execs, of nervous breakdowns, of anorexia and severe depression. For several years, the world was void of the originality and strange soul that is Fiona Apple.
I am biased - I adore everything about her and have since I saw the PT Anderson directed video of Across The Universe, the main theme to the movie Pleasantville.
I next saw her popping up in the behind-the-scenes footage of Magnolia, with above noted PT (whom she comments on often in her new lyrics) and again I fell in love with her shyness, intelligence and obvious talent. Her songs fill any room with mood; challenging you to feel - sometimes joy, sometimes anger, sometimes frustration, sometimes deep loss, but feel nonetheless! The melodies of her previous work may stretch your taste, so if you play her the wrong way, the songs will scrape and jar... but that is indicative of the passion which motivates this sometimes young genius.
She has gone on record, both in interviews and in her song lyrics, as saying that singing and the fame it afforded her also brought her anxiety and panic, and she needed to leave for a while to find peace of mind. In this new CD, that difficult time she experienced comes out in every note, every word, sweet, bitter and a little bit older.
A quick glance at her website will allow you to see a set of photos that show the ever photogenic waif to be less edgy and intense - more soft, mature, yet still deeply scarred. I think she looks great, but it is the music that I'm most excited about. Of course nothing of Fiona’s is ever easy and there are multiple uses of discord and "noise" in her music. But each and every song is laced with beauty in some form: often revealing, touching, thought-provoking and life affirming, and never, ever dull.
As seems to be the norm with anything/one I worship beyond reason, this album is not for everyone. Those of you who despise a hint of jazz in any way should definitely stay away. But those listeners who actually ‘get’ Fiona, will be like-minded in wanting more, and hopefully before another five years go by. 9/10
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| Mike's Best Music of 2005 |
| 12.09.05 (11:30 am) [edit] |
Swank Home
http://sneakinout.blogspot.co...
Albums 2005
I think most of you will agree with me when I say that 2005 was an interesting year ("Interesting" meaning "fucked up"). Now I can't speak for everyone (except the mutes and maybe some of the deafs), but for me personally, these were the records that shaped 2005. Not only providing a soundtrack, but carrying things along, inspiring us, and hopefully getting us into a bit of trouble along the way.
So here they are.
They are in no specific order.
(Of course they are.)
They are not.
Let's go:
• Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
This album is sprawling and gigantic, a million shiny hooks happily drowning beneath a tsunami of beautiful, churning noise. Complicated and dense yet still utterly appealing, It's an absolute mess and it works perfectly.
• Burdocks - What we do is Secret
With taut, charging rhythms, impossibly charming melodies and jerky, angular guitar work, these songs are scrappy, caffeinated and catchier than the avian flu. Vote Burdocks.
• Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth
Steve Malkmus is a weird guy, and it's never been more apparent than on this album. These songs are all over the map, ranging from synth-y dance experiments to extended guitar jams to twinkling balladry and folk-infused indie rock. Yet it's still unmistakably Malkmus.
And unmistakably great.
• Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
Not only the biggest and loudest rock album of the year, but the biggest and loudest rock album IN years. Sleater-Kinney have cranked this puppy to 11 and sent everyone else packing.
Here they are. Rock you like a hurricane.
• Blood on the Wall - Awesomer
Awesomer than what? Than most other albums this year. I'm not even sure why I find these sloppy little rock songs so endearing. probably because they make it sound so easy.
• Beck - Guero
Mr. Hansen is back with another loot bag full of random pop-culturalisms and here-and-there musical inclinations, meshing it all together with his usual panache. He manages to sound very much like the Beck of yesteryear, but a little older, a little wiser; a twinge of maturity rearing its head through the junkyard riffage and whiteboy funk. His best album? No. An f-ing great album? Hell yes.
• Kiss Me Deadly - Misty Medley
Jittery and nervous, but as inviting and seductive as a geisha made of silk. The sublimely dance-y rhythms and percolating beats keep things moving along nicely, and vocalist Emily Elizabeth's breathy squeal makes it sound as if she's sitting in your lap, quickly running out of oxygen but having way too much fun making you blush and squirm.
• Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
This record is an absolute menace. Played loud it's the aural equivalent of rolling down a jagged mountain on fire and on drugs during an earthquake and loving every second. And when that really happens to you, you'll say the same thing you said the first time you heard this album. "This is fucking awesome."
• The Kills - No Wow
Not so much love songs as they are songs about the nuclear fallout that can accompany love when it all goes sour. Stark, sexy and sometimes jarring, these songs absolutely seethe with paranoia and betrayal. But they still kinda wanna do you.
• DangerDoom - The Mouse and the Mask
What's this? A hip hop album that's actually fun? In the era of bling-blang and G-Unit faux-gangsta bullshit? Who could have done this? Only MF Doom. With a little help from Danger Mouse. (And a little more from Master Shake, Meatwad, the Mooninites, etc). Danger's bouncy old school beats are a perfect counterpart for Doom's brilliant/nonsense flow. I also enjoy all the Adult Swim samples, (because I'm a giant nerd). Funny how an album with a dozen late night cartoon characters running all over it can turn out to be the least bullshit hip hop record of the year.
Honorable Mentions:
Dog Day - Thank you EP
SS Cardiacs - Fear the Love
Ladytron - Witching Hour
Sharp Like Knives - No Pressure
Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
Best Compilation:
Public Enemy - Power to the People and the Beats
Best Reissue:
Sonic Youth - Goo: Deluxe Edition
Best Remix Album:
Beck - Guerolito
Best Album That Didn't Actually Come Out In 2005:
Triumph - progressions of power
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| The Winter Must-Haves |
| 12.04.05 (2:23 pm) [edit] |
Swank Home
According to magazine fashionistas there are two camps for this winter’s style:
The Skinny camp and the “Poof” camp
Designs for the ‘skinny camp’ depend solely on the silhouette and any garment that defines said silhouette. Colours are stark; black, white, and the occasional muted shade thrown in. The supporters of the skinny camp are the recently trendy blouses, especially sleeves. Bell sleeves, trumpet sleeves, fluted sleeves all add emphasis to the skinny, yet flowing silhouette. Gloves have also made a comeback with their various offerings: elbow length, 3/4, fingerless, embroidered, fur, leather - the emphasis is on detail rather than design here.
The ‘poof brigade’ concentrates on the lower half of the body resulting in a reverse lollipop, balloon, puffball silhouette. Anything with a drop gather is a ‘poof’ design. Many a gal with thick legs will love the poof camp as its emphasis allows for the legs to always appear slender.
Another style emphasis for winter is coats. If you haven’t yet splurged for a coat these season - now is the time to do so. Lean towards coats with substance. The coats of 2005 must be of a 3/4 length or a length that intimates drama - no minis or maxis out there. As well, fur and/or embroidered detail is needed. The coats must demand attention as being grownup and sophisticated. This mature outer look will allow nice contrast to any whimsical outfit underneath.
It’s wonderful to have these talking heads point us to what is deemed ‘fashionably correct’ wear in 2005 - but how do we find the shops that carry these so called must-haves?
Fortunately, shopping is just a click away with these styles. Here is a list of excellent online stores that have enough of a high profile to make online shopping safe and fun (although, there’s no guarantee of price reduction.)
oldnavy
intuition
shopintuition
shopbop
netaporter(see article on this site at http://www.swanktrendz.com/ph...
delias
shopkitson
edressme
nordstrom
If you love the accessories that accompany many a celebrity’s outfit, many times you will find a cheaper rendition on the following sites:
newport-news
hairboutique
emitations
zappos
asos
With this all said and done, Swank still believes that one must use common sense while shopping for the recent ‘must-haves’. As our saying goes, just because it’s trendy, doesn’t make it swank.
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