How did we ever survive without the internet?  I can’t imagine life without it.  The thin sliver of metal weighing 5.5 pounds that is my Macbook Pro performs all of the functions traditionally associated with a dictionary, encyclopedia, cookbook, radio, CD player, television, typewriter, and a host of other now-archaic devices.  It’s incredible how one machine paired with a single entity can render all of these gadgets obsolete in the blink of an eye.  Need to know what a word means?  Go to dictionary.com.  Click on the tab to the right to go to Thesaurus.com and find a synonym or an antonym.  Translate the word to Spanish, French, Italian, German, or Russian at wordreference.com.  Need some new music?  Go to modyfier-modifying open your ears to experience one of 190 specially-crafted process-driven tracks or mixes and open your mind to read about the ideas that fueled their creation.  Curious what your name means in urban-speak?   Go to the Urban Dictionary, key it in, and pick a definition.   Craving intellectual enlightenment?  TED.com has something to offer you.  Choose from a plethora of short video clips by topic, by some of the world’s leading experts on the subjects of technology, entertainment, business, design, science, culture, arts, or global issues.

It’s flabbergasting really to think what has become of the internet in the fifty or so years since its original incarnation.  And scary to think what we would do without it, if it were to suddenly disappear from our lives.  And amazing to ponder how life was even possible before the existence of the search function.

The Shout Out Louds’ new album work hits the stores this week and March see’s them tour Germany. The Shout Out Louds are one of Sweden’s finest music exports and are from Stockholm.  They are also associated with a new band I like called Dag för Dag, and it seems we are to thank Ted Malmros from the Shout out Louds for introducing the band to Stockholm. The brother and sister fell in love with Stockholm and now we have gained another great band to London and San Francisco’s detriment.

Exclusive but also suitable for day to day life – that‘s how you can describe the extrordinary fashion of designer Alexandra Fischer-Roehler and her colleague Joahnna Kühl, together Kaviar Gauche.

They both founded the label back in 2003 with the idea of creating fashion for young and self-confident women who are aware of fashion beyond t-shirts and jeans. Needless to say, they managed to reach their target audience, with an interestingly individual fashion direction, where a dress isn‘t necessarily a dress and can also be transformed into a bag and back again to a dress.

Accessoires are particularly important for the two designers and are, like the clothes, feminine but nevertheless young and hip. That‘s probably why Kaviar Gauche can be often seen on the red carpet being worn by stars like Charlize Theron or Heike Makatsch.

This dress basically sums up what I want to wear every day. Lacy, crocheted, fancy and girly, while being loose, comfortable, and essentially making the wearer feel like they are wearing nothing at all. Ideal for Spring fashion and summer function. Delicious!

Robag Wruhme is a mysterious German man who has been haunting my record box for nearly a decade.  I always wondered what it would be like to be named Robag.  There were other times when I wondered if such a man could even exist.  His music sounds like it’s from outer space.  Formerly one half of the infamous Wignohmy Brothers and currently opting to fly solo, the man, the myth, and the legend performed at Igloofest this year and despite the fact that it was -25 with wind chill, I bundled up and voyaged onward ho to catch some of his mind-bending musical meanderings.

The guy delivered.  Not only did his tracks kick my ass, but the guy has a serious arsenal of dance moves ranging from pseudo-German stylized disko moves to straight up sideways fist pumping and the robot.  And he did something really magical with his selections as well–instead of merely opting to play the type of fucked up amazingly  forward-thinking minimal techno that he is well-renowned for, he played a connoisseur’s melange of fresh sounds alongside some real classics.  Among these was Aphex Twin’s Windowlicker.  When I heard the distinctive melody kick in, I could not help but feel overwhelmed by a sudden rush of euphoria.  I looked all around me and it seemed that there was some mega-synergy happening in the crowd; everyone was dancing to the same beat, smiling and starry-eyed, mesmerized.

Needless to say, as soon as I got home that night I immediately went to download the track to add to my own collection and discovered that there was a fantastic remix that came out midway through 2009 by Run Jeremy, which was indeed the very same version Robag slammed down at Igloofest; the Run Jeremy X-Rated Mix, with extra drums and a little added oomph.

This inspired me to dig into my vinyl collection a little bit and unearth some older records that had been gathering dust, in hopes of finding MY long-lost classic.  Surprisingly, the tracks that grabbed my attention were not even dance music tempo but thoroughly downtempo.  Back in 2005 Tipper released a double 12″ of downbeat broken beats that he described as ‘Tip Hop‘; a genre which he claims fuses together breakbeat, hip hop, and trip hop a la Tipper.   The stuff is killer.  Dirty, groovy, bassy, and badass.

Meanwhile, back in the digital realm I have developed a recent obsession with Kate Simko, whose smooth grooves are simultaneously sexy, subtle and slamming, as well as a particular track by Claude VonStroke called ‘Aundy‘, which also happens to be the last track on his very own Fabric 46 mix.

I may be late in the game, but I just recently got into the show ‘the Tudors’ on Showtime. Jonathan Rys Meyers stars as the brutish, arrogant and forceful young King Henry, and the semi-historically accurate [with some passionate fiction thrown in] show is now taking over all my damn free time, of which there is precious little already.
The show centers around King Henry’s court, unhappy marriage to the beloved Queen Katherine, and subsequent obsession with the young and cunning Anne Boleyn, as well as the corruption of the church run by his entrusted Cardinal, Wollsey. The opulence of the show addicts a fashion demon such as myself, as well as the successful tension building up to climactic scenes.

I started reading ‘Sup Magazine this fall, when they ran interviews with a few of my recent favorite bands (Neon Indian, Washed Out). Since then, they’ve branched out beyond music coverage a little, but they still provide one of the best online sources for info on the best new music.

I also discovered BLDBlOG after stumbling across a few of their fantastic interviews. The blog covers:

ARCHITECTURAL CONJECTURE
URBAN SPECULATION
LANDSCAPE FUTURES

Which basically translates to “pretty pictures and weird essays.” It’s a good daily inspirational read.

Though it took me until it was released on DVD to check it out, I finally got around to seeing The Hurt Locker — a day before it was nominated for Best Picture for this year’s Academy Awards.I had read on blogs after it was released in theaters that it was a great film. I read reviews from critics I trust like Roger Ebert, who raved about it. Then after Avatar came out, it seemed like everyone started talking again on blogs and in Tweets about The Hurt Locker and how the two would likely be going head-to-head with Avatar in a David vs. Goliath-like battle. They were right.

The Hurt Locker is a beautiful piece of film. I’m a big fan of the war film genre because it’s so hard to get right. But when it’s done right, it is done right. I don’t really want to get too deep into the glorifying war vs. anti-war film debate, but The Hurt Locker is simultaneously a great commentary on the current wars we are fighting and a flat-out great action movie. The suspense in the film is palpable. I don’t think I have been as physically involved and on the edge of my seat during a film since Paul Greengrass’ United 93. Director Kathryn Bigelow does a great job of letting you feel the suspense that these soldiers must be going through every time they leave the wire. Nevermind the fact that they are defusing a bomb and never know when it might go off, but you also never know when a sniper is going to fire on you, or someone is going to pop around out of an alley an point an AK-47 in your face.

I’m not a member of the Academy, but it has my vote.

For the past year I’ve been waiting for the release of Empire after seeing its initial teaser. It’s a film about having fun on fixed-gear bicycles by a group of friends in New York City. There are a bunch of films out there on the internet generally about the same thing, but the guys at Empire have done a great job teasing the film by running a blog about it is and releasing these short trailers. I’ve found that for me, nothing really gets me more motivated to get out and ride than watching cycling videos, especially during the winter months. I can’t wait for the full-length version to be released.