APW

HOW DO I PICK A DAY???



http://www.apwfestival.com/lineup/

A Secret

So one of my secret desires/goals in life is to be depicted in one of the WSJ's photo-realistic sketches. It looks to me that there are two ways to achieve this - to be famous (e.g. Warren Buffet, who I'm sure has had his share of WSJ features) or to be infamous (I distinctly recall seeing Paris Hilton once).

This guy took the latter route (see FBI Arrests Danny Pang), but I wonder if he still has some sort of perverse pride in being featured. I mean, he looks pretty good here.


P.S. Way to run a Ponzi scheme, asshole. Today it was reported that sixteen thousand Taiwanese customers have invested money with Mr. Pang.
P.P.S. Gosh, do I love the WSJ.

Eugene O'Neill, Master of Mirth

Excerpt from a WSJ review of a play - currently being staged on Broadway - that I read for my American Drama class this term.

by Terry Teachout

"Was Eugene O'Neill really a great playwright? Nobody was asking that question when he died in 1953, but nowadays his greatness tends to be asserted by critics rather than demonstrated by actors: O'Neill's work is no longer seen on Broadway with any regularity, and most of the plays that made him famous in the '20s are rarely done elsewhere. Robert Falls's revival of "Desire Under the Elms," O'Neill's 1924 tragedy about an aging farmer (Brian Dennehy) whose nubile young wife (Carla Gugino) lusts after her angry young stepson (Pablo Schreiber), marks the first time that this once-shocking, now-dated play has been performed on Broadway since 1952. I wish I could say it was worth the wait, but the play is silly and the staging comprehensively ludicrous, Ms. Gugino's steam-heated performance notwithstanding.

...

Ms. Gugino, a vibrant and compelling TV and film actress who has had the misfortune to appear in two bad plays in a row, "After the Fall" and "Suddenly Last Summer," is now three for three. Here as before, she manages to slice through the surrounding stupidity and give a performance that leaves no doubt of her exceptional gifts, but everything she does is wasted by Mr. Falls, who seems more interested in simulating sexual intercourse onstage than in making the best possible use of a major talent. Mr. Dennehy is solidly competent, Mr. Schreiber surprisingly dull. All three actors spend most of their time yelling."

Is that bad that it makes me want to see the play more?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124095688406165583.html#mod=article-outset-box

Re: jection

It still fascinates me more than a little bit to read about college admissions.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124096471555766239.html

Low low low low

I wonder how much the parents who put their children on YouTube are affecting their children's futures. College admissions...?

DANCE MOVES

Paranoid

Ok I know this word is overused nowadays, but I have a tendency to be quite paranoid. I'll walk down a street in Boston and envision some crazy man randomly attacking me, or perhaps I'll be on the T and suddenly a person opens fire.

Instead of seeming crazy, I can now justify my fears of normal-looking people actually being psychopaths.

In Boston, a second-year BU med school student is being charged with murder and robbery. He allegedly murdered a woman in the Boston Marriott Copley Place and robbed another at the Westin Copley Place.

Read the Times article for more info
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/us/22CraigsList.html?_r=1&hp

He looks perfectly "normal," just a 22-year-old. He was engaged to his college girlfriend, and had no criminal record. Either this means he has secretly led a alternate life as a murderer, or he has simply gone crazy. The sad part is he might have been crazy his whole life but nobody knew--he went undiagnosed.

But isn't that how all crazy people are?

Moral of the story: beware of Craigslist.

Tao

Yay I love to see successful Asian models - they're kind of the last barrier.

"We weren’t the only ones to notice Tao Okamoto at the recent round of shows. The newly mop-topped model landed the Ralph Lauren fall campaign, a teaser of which (at left) appeared in WWD earlier this week. We also hear that Tao is set to star in next season’s Polo Ralph Lauren ads as well—a twofer not even matched by Valentina Zelyaeva, the long-running face of the house."
http://www.style.com/stylefile/2009/04/the-tao-of-ralph/

Neither a Plastic Bag nor Messy House

"I'm Not A Plastic Bag" designer Anya Hindmarch says, "Accessories are how women accent their character; they are a form of self-expression. If you see someone carrying a tatty, beaten-up handbag, full of crumbs, doesn't it kind of make you wonder if their house is just like that, too?"

How true do you find this to be?

Sleepyheaaaaaaad

Passion Pit new CD comes out next month!

Little Boots

Euro electropop. Good tracks are "Meddle," "New in Town," and "Stuck on Repeat". There are some pretty sick remixes online, too. Preview it all on Hype Machine and read about her on Myspace.

http://hypem.com/search/little%20boots/1/

http://www.myspace.com/littlebootsmusic

Snuggie+Sleeping Bag+

I realize it is spring, but why are Snuggies and "Lippi Selk bags" popular? This winter, I could understand why--the economy is bad, so people don't want to pay for heat and instead buy ridiculous looking blanket-sweater-poncho-things. But why now?

When I was in Paris, I also saw some pretty awesome "jackets" at Pierre Cardin. Check out this post on Gawker about Snuggies:

http://gawker.com/5216403/snuggie-wars-spread-into-shelter-category

and enjoy these pictures I took of window displays. My favorite is the red one that actually looks like a sleeping bag.

Dartmouth Cycling

Dartmouth Cycling is hosting a two-day collegiate cycling competition this weekend.

300 racers. 40 teams. lots of spandex.

**SATURDAY AFTERNOON (10:30am-5:00pm) -- Criterium Races around FRAT ROW**
Fast-paced, sprint-heavy racing on a technical course.

Come out and support Dartmouth, the #2-ranked team in the country in 2008.

Also check out:

Saturday morning (8am-10am): Team Time Trial, starting at the Rugby Field House.

Sunday (8am-3pm): Road Races through Thetford and Norwich (right across the bridge).

We WOULD be #2 in the nation. Like, Dartmouth just would. Suck on that, ___.

Drew, Drew, Drew!

omg! from that underwater Vanity Fair cover to the amazing hair she's been rocking lately (discounting that bleached mess she had that one day - and everyone gets days!) - when did Drew Barrymore get so hawt? That hair! Those cheekbones! That LOOK! The lip color! Proof that women really do get more beautiful as we age.

I'm coveting that hair right now. How can I do that?

@ Grey Gardens' Hollywood premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Truvia

Reading the Times this morning, I discovered an article about artificial sweeteners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/15sweet.html?_r=1&8dpc
Though I am a splenda afficionado, I have purchased a box of Truvia before. The only difference, to me, is that Truvia packets contain more sweetener than other brands. Otherwise, they taste the same.

More important is the debate about things being "natural": a natural sweetener? Yes, if it is derived from plants, then it has natural roots, but I do not consider the product to therefore be natural because it does not exist in its final form in nature. But who knows. I'm very confused.
I also despise the trend of organic/natural/green things: half the time it's a lie and just another marketing scheme. And why do we keep having to make new kinds of sweeteners? Eventually, we keep finding unhealthy effects in each product.
Here's the solution: use real sugar, but not in huge quantities! Yay!

Dumb Times Headline/Teaser

Look at this NYTimes article!

At an Age for Music and Dreams, Real Life Intrudes
By DAN BARRY
Published: April 15, 2009
Tiffany Clay, 18, is the top violinist at her high school in Ohio, but her dreams are bound by money worries.

No...REALLY?

Observe and Report

I saw Seth Rogen's performance in this film and found it hilarious. Many beg to differ. Here are some controversial points to think about when going to see this film:

1) Reality in the film: is it from Rogen's perspective or the third person?

2) Date rape: does it happen? Can date rape be funny?

3) What does this say about lower class citizens?

3) Why is juvenile shock/slapstick humor so popular nowadays? Are men trying to cultivate their inner-boys through the absurd?

I thought the movie exaggerated characters we all can recognize from our daily lives. I was almost crying I was laughing so hard throughout the whole movie, which I feel was the point. Does this make me a conscienceless drone? Did I not watch the movie in an analytical way, thus missing the entire point of the film?

PS: I don't consider this film a modern-day Taxi Driver

The Inheritors by Susan Glaspell

EMIL: Oh, well--Jesus, if you're going to talk about that ----! You can't change the way things are.
MADELINE (quietly): Why can't I?
EMIL: Well, say, who do you think you are?
MADELINE: I think I'm an American. And for that reason I think I have something to say about America.
EMIL: Huh! America'll lock you up for your pains.
MADELINE: All right. If it's come to that, maybe I'd rather be a locked-up American than a free American.
EMIL: I don't think you'd like the place, Madeline. There's not much tenis played there. Jesus--what's Hindus?
MADELINE: You aren't really asking Jesus, are you, Emil? (Smiles.) You mightn't like his answer.

I just finished this play and it was so good. I'm in an American Drama class now and I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to read on a regular basis. I literally still feel guilty spending time reading though, even though it's for class. I'm kind of surprised at how good American drama is! I really, really like plays now. Hopefully I can watch one on Broadway or off-Broadway this summer.

-G

Sig Ep wins this one

http://www.sigepblog.org/2005/03/hottie-yalie-woos-babs-bush.html

well, sort of...

How Do You Like That Inner Beauty?

Have you seen this? Where is this magazine sold?

(credits to www.Jezebel.com for last 3 posts)

Bringing the Crazy, Just Like Tyra Taught Us

I love how Beyonce is just SO unabashedly herself. Or rather, Sasha Fierce.

Booky Wook

I have a huge crush on Russell Brand. Also, he's a huge ladies' man.

My, Are Those Sapphires You Have For Eyes?

Thank goodness we can see the real thing.

Topshop

I'm not a huge fan, but it's opening today at 11AM in NYC. Their prices aren't quite as cheap as H&M--it's more in the range of Zara. I don't like the black shift this woman picks up at first. It's like we have a new British Urban Outfitters...with Kate Moss. Apparently, she will be there.

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/04/video_tour_the_inside_of_topsh.html

Hopefully there won't be any trampling/bomb threat situations like at the "short" people ANTM try outs earlier this March!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fjpwTWbAyQ