25 April 2009

Food-Related Thoughts

Picked up a short stack of peanut butter cookies at Malibu Kitchen today... almost $6! They were good, but for some reason, I always leave MK a little unsettled. Not the best customer experience... Everything in there is overpriced. It has the potential to be a nice spot, but for whatever reason, the management doesn't really work to promote an atmosphere conducive for hanging out... I always just want to get in and out and not linger on the patio area.

Before this, I had a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich at Coogies (having abandoned my plan to attend the Grilled Cheese Invitational). It was good, but reinforced my position on sourdough bread - Somehow or other, sourdough deviates from the typical bread experience... it's not yummy and I would never eat it in a bread basket. My waitress was nice, though, and I read "Still Life With Woodpecker" while I waited. It's windy and a little chilly today, though, so I didn't linger long there, either.


Thursday I had "Sunny Toast" at Banquette Cafe on Main St. downtown before going to the Nokia Theater. It was cozy and surprisingly bustling. And, they serve breakfast food all day!

400 South Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90013-1314 - (213) 626-2768

I did end up going to CorkBar, and while my wine was good (I got something red from Justin) and the mac n cheese was terrific, I didn't really like the neighborhood. It's in the generic part of downtown right by Staples and it's mostly surrounded with faceless newer buildings and men overzealously directing you to their $7 parking lot. I prefer the areas from Spring to Main and 5th to 7th.

Little Radio is planning to have regular programming in the theater on Main and talk of opening a cafe is in the works. I think that would be really cool! Hope it goes through.


19 April 2009

Great Remix to an Already Fantastic KOL Song


09 April 2009

I'm Putting A Cork In It

Corkbar is the really AWESOME looking wine bar that just opened up Downtown. It features all California wines and their menu (which is very reasonably priced) looks fantastic!


I can't wait to get down there!! They have a happy hour during the week that is from 4-7 Monday through Friday. $4 pints (oh yeah, they also have artisanal beer) and half-off appetizers!

08 April 2009

From Paris With Shoulder Pads

Love these!!! Not quite local fashion, but I like to be cosmopolitan. I think the first one is totally wearable...

Check out the whole Balmain collection here.

Take This Pink Ribbon...


No Doubt's new song has been leaked! Check out their cover of Adam Ant's "Stand And Deliver."

Yay! So glad SoCal's favorite band is back!

I may even have to check out Gossip Girl for ND's guest appearance. The band will perform on the May 11th episode.

07 April 2009

Cool For School

Someone going by the name 'sparkle' has proposed a new class for The Public School called "A Space For Fashion" that I think sounds like an interesting concept to explore...

Sparkle describes it thus:
Fashion and style, the solidification of both mundane and extraordinary social performances. A handshake, a hug, the kiss on the the cheek, the kiss on the lips and the cheek. Punk rock attitude and the clothes to match. This class looks at theory and examples of the way in which our cultures create specific relational aesthetics based on the ways we dress. 1 class, maybe two. Reading, intelligent discussion.

How The Public School works is, someone proposes an idea for a class, people browse through proposed classes and mark which ones they are interested in, then when a certain quota is met, a teacher is found and the class is scheduled! Sort of like a create-your-own/community forum think space that results in a group of interested individuals meeting to explore/discuss/create. Any topic you can think of can be proposed... neat idea, huh?

Fashionably Late


I love wearing hats, I love this pretty pink color and I totally dig the notion of a house coat! Right on!

I don't follow fashion, except, of course, to notice the spreads in the various fashion magazines I occasionally peruse. I love fashion, but I don't keep up with trends, and I try not to follow them. I am more of an appreciator of creativity and proportion and flattering colors. (I'm sure on some very real level I'm influenced by trends, but I don't pay attention to "rules"... I do what makes me happy.)

Apparently I am pretty out of the loop, though, because I saw photos of Jason Wu's spring and fall 09 collections and really, really adored some of his pieces! Little did I know he is the designer du jour, what with his frocking ladies of the moment - Michelle Obama and Freida Pinto.

So, damn.

These are my favorite pieces. To be honest, I don't really like any of the others much because I think some of the hemlines and waistlines obscure the figure too much and look a little frumpy. These, though, are spectacular!



Killer shoes all around. (Plus, these models don't look ill, which is always a good thing.)

06 April 2009

Glossy! Glossy! Easter: The Remix

So! Silver Lake's own GhettoGloss gallery is hosting LIVE AT LA CITA on Wednesday starting at 9. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros will be there, along with Project Runway's Santino.

Cocktails and chocolate bunnies? How can you go wrong??

Shout Out to the Swedish Chanteuse


3 Reasons I Want to be Friends with Lykke Li

1. She did a cover/duet of Kings of Leon's "Knocked Up" off their album Because of the Times that I love... it's sort of ethereal and spacey, and adds a whole layer of sonic melancholy that works well with Caleb's vocals.

2. She has a refreshing sense of style that's messy and unpolished, but manages to look chic and feminine without being fussy.

3. She's lived in so many neat places I would love to call home! Sweden, Morocco, Portugal, Nepal, India, New York... as the daughter of a painter and musician... ah, what a dream life!

Bonus Point: She also covered Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side."

Emerging Artist: Farnaz Farmand



This past weekend I helped out at JK Gallery in Culver City for the opening reception for Farnaz Farmand's Plunge Into Liquid (not to be confused with the surf documentary Step Into Liquid), her first solo exhibition.

First of all, Farnaz is so sweet and beautiful! She's only a year older than me, I think, and she is so incredibly talented. She works mainly in oil paint, but many of her pieces were super sculptural and some even water color-like.


Hearing her explain her motivations and techniques and inspirations was really fascinating. She explores of lot of themes relating to the beauty of the natural world and its decay; attraction and repulsion; micro and macro views of the world; and influences from all the places she's lived: Iran, Sweden, Alabama, California, and I think somewhere in the Far East? She has quite the life story.
A lot of the pieces are named after plant diseases, with colorful names like "Blueberry Scorch" and "Hollow Heart" and "Canker Boils." "Canker Boils" is the only all-black piece in the collection, and it really does look like a diseased mass of pustules. Surprisingly, when I asked Farnaz about it, she said that there are several layers of beautiful colors hidden underneath....

Farnaz's boyfriend even wrote poems to accomany each piece and together the duo put together a book that sold out the night of the opening party.


Her girlfriends all baked probably a hundred mini cupcakes and decorated them with frosting dyed to match her paintings. (Which made for the best reception EVER, by the way!)

Best of luck to Farnaz in her future ventures!

Cheap Eats; or, My New Favorite Restaurant/Bars That I Would Still Go To No Matter The Cost

Santa Monica
  • Anisette - great food, wine, cocktails, but I love it for the decor and the nice feeling of sipping a glass of wine at the bar. Cute waiters, too.
  • Bodega - $20 bottle of wine Tuesdays, and they just added a beet salad to the menu that I LOVE. Relaxed, unpretentious.
Downtown
  • Cole's - even though it's a little far from Malibu, my friend and I are now regulars at Varnish, the speakeasy in the back. Cole's, though, should not be overlooked as a bar in its own right. Yes, everyone knows about the French Dip, but did you know about their extensive collection of gins and lagers? Further, there is nothing better anywhere than the baked mac and cheese and it's super cheap... like $3. Usually good music playing, too. And none of that West Hollywood riff raff. (Except maybe on Saturday's... but I don't go out then anyway anymore)
Silver Lake
  • Malo - $1 tacos on Mondays, fantastic margaritas (not so cheap), and the CHEWY CHIPS!!!! ahhhhhh! More of a hipster crowd, I guess, but nobody's keeping track.

A Violin To Melt Your Face

Tonight I attended ORGANICA X, the 10th annual organ (read: church music, not kidney) concert performed by Christoph Bull at Royce Hall, UCLA.

WOW! From hymns to "A Day In The Life" to the sexy side of the Bible to choir boys and an opera singer, this was a pretty spectacular show... especially considering I paid under 20 bucks and I bought my ticket this morning.

Christoph is a German organist with a quirky sense of humor and a love of rock n roll. While his performance alongside the light show and the improv painter on stage was pretty zany and fun - and no doubt a must-see for any organ enthusiast - I was most excited by Lili Haydn's violin/vocal performance with Bull during their take on Led Zepplin's "Kashmir."

I'd actually already been a fan of Lili's when I first heard her cover of "Maggot Brain" (if you know the song, you'll just FREAK OUT hearing her violin version) on her album Place Between Places so when I saw she was performing in L.A. today, I immediately bought my ticket online.

She is a total freak in real life, and I mean that as a compliment! She had on a really funky black dress and her hair was down. When she sang she was kind of breathy and she waved her bow and violin in the air, but man, when she played, she was INTENSE! More than once I've heard her called "the Jimi Hendrix of violin"and I couldn't agree more.


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