Films based on comics. I love them. Although I feel that I only love them because I’ve been pre-programmed to love them. It’s like how McDonald’s advertises to kids, so that when they’re grown up they go to McDonald’s and take their kids there. Read More
Sonar is obviously the biggest event of the year for Barcelona. It’s like a second Christmas, conveniently nestled in the bosom of June, where everyone starts buying drugs getting ready for weeks in advance. Read More
The future of bookselling lies in the past. Pequod Libres is a new bookshop that recently opened in Gracia. It takes its name from Captain Ahab’s Whaler in Moby Dick and the Catalan word for books (which also means free in the plural). Get it? Got it? Good.
A party thrown by the label Trouble & Bass showcased new sounds.
March is traditionally one of the biggest months for music – at least electronic music — in Miami, thanks to the annual Winter Music Conference. Traditionally, that’s happened at the end of the month, with one of the crowning events in the past being Ultra Music Festival.
Tommy Wiseau; photo CC by 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Last year, my world changed when I was introduced to the epic movie The Room. Okay, not really — but the film has provided hours of entertainment for me and my friends. In a nutshell, this is what it’s about: Director/producer/screenwriter/star Tommy Wiseau is a computer programmer (or something) with an explicable foreign accent living in San Francisco, and engaged to a woman who betrays him with his best friend.
God, who knew that people care about the Grammy’s? I certainly didn’t, but like… people kept bringing it up all day long, as if I was supposed to know or care who the people on it were. Read More
A lot of people I know have been talking about Portlandia. It’s a comedy show that satirizes Pacific Northwesterners who attempt to be conscious by riding bikes, eating organic, drinking free-trade coffee, dumpster diving, buying used clothes, etc. This is a subject of great humor to my friends as we all have a love-hate relationship with the idealism and lack of ambition of the region. Read More
Still from The Fighter
As a meek and muscle-less girl I’m not the first person you’d suspect of loving boxing. Admittedly I’ve never seen a fight, but I’ve had a love of the mythology of the sport since reading The Power of One, the touching novel of a young South African boy and his boxing mentor, by Bryce Courtenay. The deeply felt philosophy of personal discipline and stamina is what enthralls me about the sport. So, I was prepped to love The Fighter before I even got to the theater.
Sometimes within the constant quests for new music you find something that somehow eluded you. Such is the case with Arthur Russell. I have no idea how I missed out on him before, but we have found each other now. Read More
The bar at East Side Showroom in Austin, Texas.
Austin finally has a street worth strolling down on a Saturday night. In the past two years East Sixth Street has sprouted several new bars and restaurants all worth checking out if you’re in town. It’s safe to say that almost every weekend I find myself at one of these establishments for drinks, dinner, shows, or events.
I love donuts. Also I am frequently awake until 4 or 5 in the morning. Read More
OK apparently for the past 4 years, a show has been airing on USA called Psych. Reading about it online, it appears to be popular and yet I have never heard of it. Read More
A couple of months ago Mark Toscano presented Peter Rose’s film Analogies on a program of experimental work he’s been restoring. For me, it was one of the highlights of the program. Read More
If you’re not a convert to the Zef Side, you will be. Just when you thought there was nothing new in the world, Lady Gaga is the new vanilla and Justin Bieber slowed down to 800% is the most exciting thing you’ve heard in a month, then comes… DIE ANTWOORD. This South African group has been hovering on the fringes the past year or so and have just exploded in popularity in the last couple months with the release of a short film on their origins and a new music video.
I wasn't planning to buy yoga classes, but I did. Thanks, Groupon. (Photo CC by 2.0, via cowbite on Flickr)
I am a member, or on the mailing list for, several social shopping sites, including Groupon, Living Social, Gilt Groupe, RueLaLa, Jackthreads (a men’s streetwear site, but I look for my boyfriend and others), Shoedazzle, and probably a couple others I’m forgetting. So far, I have only purchased from a couple of those — Groupon most often — but I like having some different options.