I was never too into candles…no particular reason, just never really got into it. But, as I’ve stated before, I am a bit of a sucker for my favorite brands, and Malin+Goetz is certainly a favorite of mine. So I got up-sold a $40+ dollar M+G candle when I was last at my local spot Lamb on Cherry St. - only spot in GR to get M+G skin care stuff. Weird, cause I rarely fall for the old ‘oh, you should try this stuff from them as well’ pitch. I’m glad I did… I grabbed the cannabis flavored/scented one - good choice. Despite the naming, it doesn’t smell like a all-ages Styles P concert. It’s actually has a super rich but still soft smell to it…quite nice. Or as they say: ‘Top notes of Figs and Pepper; middle notes of Orange and Lemon; base notes of Sandlewood and Patchouli.’ It complements the aesthetic of my loft quite well. Was that last part corny?? Anyway, I’m a fan.
It’s post two weeks from me waiting in line…at the mall…right next to the Nextel pagoda-thing…at 8am…for a phone. But truth be told, I really don’t feel to ashamed of it. I’m a bit of a fan-boy for new product…and I had teh 4gb version of the first one, so it was time to upgrade. So yeah, some thoughts and impressions of the new phone: I got the black 16gb one, and the plastic back is considerably more durable than I would have expected - but I do miss the aluminum. The 3G speed is indeed much faster, noticeably - feels almost like wifi. The GPS is pretty amazing in how quickly it actually acquires a real GPs signal - very cool, very useful already. The louder speaker, which I didn’t think would be a big deal, is actually pretty great - I’ve used my phone as a ‘boom box’ already in a couple situations. It’s quite loud and clear. The new 2.0 software is great - push email support being the biggest. The app store is brilliant - 10 million apps downloaded the first weekend?! Wow. Phone Saber is the must-have app, ha. So all that being said…was it worth the upgrade? I think so. The GPS alone is almost worth it. But I’m a bit of an Apple fan-boy…so take that for whatever its worth. Cons? The cons are the really with the 2.0 software…some real stability issues. But I imagine that’ll be fixed soon. So yeah, it might have some issues, but its without question the best mobile phone I’ve ever owned. It may be the best piece of technology I’ve ever owned. And…and! I retired the BlackBerry…no more carrying two phones. Virgil might chime in on this post…he is now an iPhone user as well. Yea. I am addicted. It is the best “thing” i have ever owned…it promises alot and delivers on all accounts. I have been overdosing on our flickr page because it fun and thats how the iPhone rolls. crazy.
Get excited its, nerd-out Mondays!! Don’t know exactly what it is about this site…I think its the briefness of the videos mixed with good/simple production and quick, engaging, experiments. Plus I just like science stuff like this. AND…the dudes hair is pretty amazing. The idea behind the site is simple…have a quick 3-4 minute educational video about each element in the periodic table with fun facts, a quick experiment and some insight about its uses, etc. That’s it. Education science videos. About elements. On THE BRILLIANCE. Get excited. Ha…I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Whatever, whatever, wayfarer will always be important after the current resurgence dies. Classic shape for a reason. In comes these bad boys. This hunt reminded me of the days before the internet when you only had a phone book and style numbers. I went to work and scored when my local Chanel store pulled up these in the system straight from the Wynn in Vegas. Kinda limited, very fresh. They said there were lilac, I’d say they were super magenta. The multicolor side logo! This is Chanel, masters of granny luxury and they put these out?! These shades were made for the kids into young lux. I am all in.
(***Updated, again, I’m hearing conflicting reports on the name of this song!) Massive? Thats what they call it right? I really can’t think of any better way to describe this track beside that…massive. It vibrates my brain (ha, image??) Now, quick disclaimer, I might have the name of this song wrong. It’s called ‘Judgement’. I’m really not sure of the name of this track, keep hearing different stuff…anyway. I heard it first off Sinden’s show, which I get via the Mad Decent blog. Check the link below for the actual mp3 from the show…the song I’m referencing is the first track. This is going to be a short post cause…I don’t really have anything else ot say except for check out the track…and more important, hook me up if you have the full version!! I need the 320kbps version…bad. And that’s my post…I’m loving this Dub Step stuff right now.
Yeah, pretty much had to post this one up. Radiohead, to me at least, seems to exist in this world of perpetual creativity. While they did get pitched this idea - they didn’t come up with it on they’re own - its just so ‘Radiohead’ that it almost couldn’t work/exist with any other band. A little match made in conceptual-laser-use-heaven. Ha? Yeah, not too much to say on this except its a really eerily beautiful match to the song and just fun to watch. A music video made without cameras…just laser sensors. Also, check out the making of it here.
I guess this was a TV series first. But man oh man, I loved this DVD/series. It’s a travel documentary of Ewan McGregor and his best friend Charley Boorman traveling around the world, literally, via motor cycle, or their case ‘motorbikes’. 20,000 miles in 115 days in some of the most intense terrain ever. They didn’t keep it cushy just doing paved roads in populated areas, etc, they really went for it doing eastern most of Europe first, then right into Russia, then Kazakhstan, then Mongolia, then back into Russia…then they flew over to Alaska, down through Canada, then finally the US, all the way to NYC. In fact, they even hit Naperville outside of Chicago on the way…ha. Honestly, about half the movie, if not more, was then handling Russia and Mongolia…just amazing, amazing landscapes. Really. The immensity of Russia is almost impossible to wrap your head around…so unbelievably large. But yeah, their adventure was just a blast to watch…their friendship, the people they met, the experiences, challenges, etc…super entertaining. Oddly enough, I was watching it this past weekend at my office while I was doing some loose planning for a trip of my own…helped me get into that mindset! So yeah, grab the 2 DVD series off NetFlix or whatever you use. I promise it’s worth it. Thanks to Nicolai and Laura for the recommendation.
Crazy. The architecture…the lifestyle…top notch. Fashion week just wrapped up and only two words can describe the experience…too-inspirational. The lady and I hit Raf Simons Saturday and I tagged along yesterday with the fashion team on Sunday which seemed be the main events of the week. In the morning Lanvin, (proving they still hold the title as my favorite house) The Sartorialist told me afterwards this what a long fashion week needed. In the afternoon the almighty Dior Homme, which in my book is a sign the the fashion press and new Dior Denim lovers have sold Kris Van Assche short . You know I was snapping pictures the whole time just to remember the experience…only stopping myself because I was like, snap I gotta act like I belong here, HA. Kinda hard with when your watching Karl Lagerfield & Bernard Arnault (LV!) across the way sitting behind So-Me and Justice knodding to their tune they orchreasted for the Dior show. Riding around Paris at night blasting Justice was worth the trip alone…Paris is an amazing city…the shops were cool, still too expensive but that didn’t stop me from getting a custom order in at Goyard hours before I bounced. (full-on post to come) The nightlife was as fresh, great dinners all over the city. At Le Baron ran into Aron. Caught a Kenna live show. What else could I ask for? Nothing.
Ben filled me in a few weeks back that the new i-D magazine was coming out soon and it was going to be adorned with KAWS’ work inside and out. We’ve all long been admirers of KAWS here at THE BRILLIANCE so its always great to see new work from him, let alone a video interview that really gives some cool insight into the artist’s process and mind. Considering interviews with him in general are few and far between, it was definitely a nice treat to see this one today. As an artist myself, I enjoy hearing how other creative people actually make their work. He goes into some detail about printing PDF’s off, putting them on the lightbox, drawing overtop of them, scanning them back in, and so on. It’s not the most interesting part of the video but it’s just fun to see and hear about nonetheless. I speak for myself, Ben, and Virgil when I say we love behind-the-scenes looks at how talented people do their thing so with the new issue of i-D coming out, this is a great little “companion’ (get it? eh…) video for some added perspective. I’ve often wondered about his whole approach to his work - he’s taken on so many different kinds of art over the years: graffiti, products, fine art, editorial, etc. So it was really refreshing to hear him talk about this in the video. He basically said forget worrying about who is down with this and who doesnt like that and so on, he’s just doing what he enjoys and is going to be successful at it. And of course the little peeks at his studio are interesting as well. Anyways - check out the new issue of i-D for more of KAWS work and check the video interview with him in the link below…
Despite my depressing lack of posts (my last was May 19?!), I’m happy to report I am in fact still alive and do still have interesting things marginally worthwhile things to write about. Kidding. THIS IS THE BEST POST YOU’LL EVER READ, SQUID BRAINS! (See here.) Anyways, I consider part of my job to be researching and keeping up with what and who is out there in the art/design/illustration world. So let me just get right to it. If you know me, you know I’m big fan of Phil Hale. I discovered his work when I was a sophomore in high school and the creepy nature of his work combined with his intense painting ability and wild imagination had me hooked. If you don’t already know his stuff, get familiar. A perfect place to start is his book GOAD - Many Moods of Phil Hale - it looks like its unavailable on Amazon but if you dig around online you can find it. Next up - and a perfect transition from Hale - is artist/musician Jacob Bannon of Converge fame. Again, taking me back to my high school days and even before I discovered Hale, I was a fan of Jacob’s work (both visual and vocal) for Converge, first seeing what he’d done for the album Petitioning The Empty Sky as well as his work for Poison the Well, Cave In, Drowningman, and Bane. Jacob finally has a new site completely dedicated to his artwork at JacobBannon.com - long overdue but well worth the wait. I must be in a ‘creepy/dark’ art mood today I guess, ha, so I’ll continue with the work of Zach Johnsen. So cool. Seriously. I’m really just loving the idea of using your imagination to its full potential lately and looking at Zach’s work really expands on that in an awesome way. Perfectly eerie and weird. And tell me it wouldn’t be absolutely awesome to have just the hands from this piece up on a wall somewhere in your house…Anyways. Last but not least, I wanted to give some much due attention to BLT & Associates. BLT creates some of the most recognizable and beloved movie posters/campaigns out there including my most recent favorite, this poster for The Dark Knight (which by the way will be the best move this year…) Anyways - you can see a lot of the work BLT has done on the IMP Awards site. Aaaand that’ll do it for me.
