Lara Stone

I have a girl-crush on Lara Stone. Vogue France dedicated an entire issue to her, interpreting her looks in photography, painting, trompe l'oeil...amazing

Anyway, apparently she's couture fashion week's top model

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/07/lara_stone_is_couture_fashion.html#photo=1

But who doesn't love Sasha Pivovrova's alien-feline ferocity? Or Siri Tollerod(above)'s delicate, delectable bone structure? (maybe the only reason we can see it is because she doesn't eat...but let's not go down the eastern-european/russian anorexia fiasco of runways these days...)

Wilco

Going to the concert tomorrow night in Lowell, MA

Wilco
Opening: Conor Oberst


Conor Oberst? Really? Yikes...

I haven't listened to Wilco's latest albums, but I hear they are sub-par. Fave, like many people, is Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. What do y'all think?

MJ Mix

Eclectic Method - Long Live The King (Michael Jackson Mix) from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

It's almost eerie.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I realized that the book was due to the library tomorrow and it wouldn't let me renew it, so I read the whole thing in one sitting today, and it is a very, very, very good book. Extremely well-researched. Clearly and simply written, in a tone that strikes the perfect pitch between documentary-like academia and when your smart friend talks to you with great verve about an interesting discovery. Incredibly insightful and incisive.

Author Malcolm Gladwell introduces his book in this video on Amazon.

Outliers are those who have been given opportunities – and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them. For hockey and soccer players born in January, it’s a better shot at making the all-star team. For the Beatles, it was Hamburg. For Bill Gates, the lucky break was being born at the right time and getting the gift of a computer terminal in junior high. Joe Flom and the founders of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz got multiple breaks. They were born at the right time with the right parents and the right ethnicity, which allowed them to practice takeover law for twenty years before the rest of the legal world caught on.

Read it. It's a quick read and well worth the time. Even the epilogue, which details the circumstances in which his own success was created and how it applies to the world, is excellent and captivating.

Federer / Roddick

Congratulations, Federer -- amazing match.

Wimbledon, men's singles final

Roger Federer wins Wimbledon after epic Andy Roddick battle

• Roger Federer beats Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14
• Swiss's 15th grand slam title overhauls Pete Sampras's tally

Roddick is no chump either. He seems so American to me. Must be the oft-backwards cap.

Both were so gracious after the match, too. It seems like quite the gentleman's (and lady's) game.

MJ followup

I tried to stay detached from all this recent Michael Jackson stuff because the sensationalism kind of makes me sick, but upon listening to these CDs... lord was he good at making music. What an icon. I listened to this guy when I was like six years old ("Heal the World" is a really, really good song to [and for] an eight year old) and it's really only hitting me now (now that I'm listening to his music right now) that he's gone. But his music will be ... forever. Kind of cool.

You can listen to it too:

The Essential Michael Jackson
disc 1
http://www.sendspace.com/file/f5mtpg
disc 2
http://www.sendspace.com/file/bhhsj8

Disc: 1
1. I Want You Back - The Jackson 5 Listen
2. ABC - The Jackson 5 Listen
3. The Love You Save - The Jackson 5 Listen
4. Got To Be There - The Jackson 5 Listen
5. Rockin' Robin - The Jackson 5 Listen
6. Ben Listen
7. Enjoy Yourself - The Jacksons Listen
8. Blame It On The Boogie - The Jacksons Listen
9. Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) Listen
10. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough Listen
11. Rock With You Listen
12. Off The Wall Listen
13. She's Out Of My Life Listen
14. The Girl Is Mine (with Paul McCartney) Listen
15. Billie Jean Listen
16. Beat It Listen
17. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' Listen
18. Human Nature Listen
19. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) Listen
20. Thriller Listen

Disc: 2
1. Bad Listen
2. I Just Can't Stop Loving You (with Siedah Garrett) Listen
3. Leave Me Alone Listen
4. The Way You Make Me Feel Listen
5. Man In The Mirror Listen
6. Dirty Diana Listen
7. Another Part Of Me Listen
8. Smooth Criminal Listen
9. Black Or White Listen
10. Heal The World Listen
11. Remember The Time Listen
12. In The Closet Listen
13. Who Is It Listen
14. Will You Be There Listen
15. Dangerous Listen
16. You Are Not Alone Listen
17. You Rock My World Listen

Um...this "study" was sort of a waste of time.

On the Dartmouth homepage, along with articles about Jim Kim's first day as president (saw him speak on the Green yesterday and it was lovely!) is a sidebar listing an article that says: "Both Good and Bad movie characters who smoke influence teens to do the same."

Thanks, Dartmouth research! Who would've thought that smoking was made cool by the media? Glad money was spent on that one. Oh, and another thing: like, 5% of the Dartmouth student body actually smokes (I'm too lazy to verify that number). They should be posting articles like that on the NYU website. Or not publish it at all, and instead DO something if you don't want kids to smoke. Telling them that they are "influenced" won't help because students who smoke at the College already think of themselves as "different" and wouldn't admit to being followers.

What a balance, cigarette smoking: simultaneously following and diversifying.
I think the research group's take on the problem is intriguing, though: do good or bad guys influence people more?

Here's the link:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2009/07/01.html

Olsen

Of course she is wearing the bag of the season already (Alexander Wang).

Nine

Looks amazing!
Based on Fellini's classic, 8 1/2, except with Daniel Day Lewis as Guido and every popular-in-America European actress (Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, to name a few).
Directed by the same guy who did Chicago.

Over the top!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/74341/movie-trailers-nine

So strange

Girl who never ages

Oscars Old News

The number of Best Pic noms will be 10, not 5, this year, in an effort to include a more diverse selection of films.

WTF.

It's sad that films like "Wall-E" didn't make the cut last year, but if they're going to increase the number of slots at most they should add 2. Or cap it at 10, and not necessarily have that many. This is definitely a move linked with the bad economy: more nominated movies=more likely people will go see them? Makes no difference to me. It's just going to exacerbate the rivalry between film buffs and mainstreamers. Imagine: Transformers 2 vs. token Holocaust movie. I think not.

PS I'm so pumped for "Up!"