Super Bass Wednesday

the HBIC

and her pro nail lacquer

1. Nicki Minaj, a.k.a. the artist behind probably one of the top songs of 2011 (haters, keep on walking), is going to release a line of nail polish for OPI in early 2012. Each lacquer are actual swatches taken from all the glitter, costumes, and desserts that have played a part in the span of her career. Although that may not be accurate, I can confidentially assess that Nicki vigilantly oversaw the colors for the collection because they are SO Minaj. This article was passed down to me by a friend of mine via Facebook. I jokingly said that I will be camping out at the OPI counter in a Duane Reade around its launch - yet, the more I think about it, the more this may become reality.


My current obsession. Listen to this song at least 10 times a day; it's getting bad."



2. Total Abuse's Rusty curated a mix for Vice Italy that combines the world of your electronic dreams and nightmares thanks to bands like Yellow Tears (nightmare), Xeno and Oaklander (dream), Gatekeeper (nightmare, but some vampire underworld rave kind of nightmare), FFH, Countrepoison, Raspberry Bulbs - among others. Check it out if the occasional lacerating noise is pleasurable to you. I'm loving the epilogue transition from Vatican Shadow to Lil B.

Image sources: Rap-Up.com and Vice Italy.

Meanwhile in NYC... OK I fell into the trap of neglecting this blog for the 1,000,000 time, but can you blame me for getting swept up by everything this city is, contains, and conjures?

9/Il Memorial, Lower Manhattan

In some mysterious way, the 9/11 Memorial removes you from the realization that you're in the middle of the frenzy (and currently occupied) Financial District. Even with fellow visitors talking around you, the chatter is somehow blocked and you hear nothing but the whistles of wind blowing through the leaves and the falling, man-made waterfalls within the two pools. These monuments overcast the actual site of the former Twin Towers, and the waterfall descends beyond subway grounds. Engraved along the edge of the pools are the names of every single person killed during 9/11 (not just NYC, but Flight 93 and D.C.) and the Ground Zero bombing. While that may not sound like much, these engravings are much more grand when they meet the eye; you can almost clutch onto these names.

I lost count of the amount of times this guy, in particular, grazed his hands against the carvings of a female name. Perhaps taking a break from work, abandoning his carrier for just this moment, he made time stand still for just this moment - his personal moment of silence. You can tell from the photo above that any visitor will find it difficult to be disturbed during their moment of silence and meditation. It's easy to escape from the city beat here, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see people treat this like a sanctuary once they get through the rigid entrance security process.

My Ears Miss Ohio

Photo copped via Facebook from fellow Ohioian/my FAVORITE gay man in hardcore, Scott Niemet.

10_27. Anderson, NYC

Exactly a week ago I was in the audience of Anderson Cooper's daytime talk show "Anderson." Joining him was the cast of 50/50: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (!!! don't even get me started), Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Anjelica Huston, and writer/cancer/Rogen's bff Will Reiser.

I was chosen to be one of the audience members asking the cast a question, but ended up not doing so. That's okay because as you can tell from the familiar long, black hair and borrowed yellow dress, I got a great seat.



... after the show, and wearing too much color. How can you loathe this face?!

(If anyone has a better screenshot [ahem, mom], email it to me.)

Rip It Up

9_21. WEIRD NIGHT W/ DAWN OF HUMANS, PHARMAKON @ HOME SWEET HOME, NYC

PHARMAKON: was easy to photograph



DAWN OF HUMANS: fuck it, I got a video of their set to make up for this.



To my chagrin, meeting up with friends at Weird after gallery hopping in TriBeca was a challenge. Home Sweet Home, a bar/venue on Chrystie Street in which the most beautiful and most explicit of hell broke loose, was all fog and dismal lighting. Second, it's in the basement. So not only was my attempt to cell communicate one fat failure, but closing in towards the stage meant you couldn't see shit. Thankfully I've been to enough goth/darkwave club nights to fine-tune my capability of recognizing silhouettes in a smokey, dark basement and all was scarlet cherries and penciled-in eyebrows.

The night's bill was lacking in number, but the energy accumulation of Pharmakon and Dawn of Humans was on level to a four-band show. When it's past midnight and you're one of the surprising few who have to clock in at 9 a.m. in mere hours, all you really want is a happy meal show with a super-sized sensation. My friend Nick told me that Pharmakon, stage alias for Far Rockaway's Margaret Chardiet, was feeling very nervous about the performance tonight - but if anything, I was nervous about possibly being post-bewitched by her noise set!

The precedent atmosphere left an unusual playing field for Dawn of Humans, mostly because it was unusual to see someone monkey-scaling-the-ceiling-water-pipes action in the foreground of fog and strobe lights. I didn't whip out my camera fast enough to capture that, but I hope you can get my drift on how maddening this set was in the video posted above. I need someone from the show to confirm for me whether those are his real (purple) balls, or whether it's some rubber toy.

The show was not a usual one for Home Sweet Home's Weird Nights, which, in the past, has headline the label's rosters including Automelodi, Led Er Est, and Xeno and Oaklander. The inevitable finally happened during Dawn of Humans and the Weird disco ball on the low ceiling was knocked off and torn to pieces. I don't think there's any need to add words to that metaphorical gesture.

Blurred Motion: Love Brigade SS12 Fashion Show

Love Brigade premiered stage one, a.k.a. the spring/summer 2012 collection, of its Soulmates Never Die series last Thursday during New York Fashion Week. The past two weeks was a brain blaster for the entire crew, but captured in the last photo is the sudden transition into serenity. Everything comes together once the spotlight hits.

Dare You To Teller.

Happens when you're hungry, with friends, at The Meatball Shop, and Juergen Teller pops up in the conversation.

Fashion's Night Blackout

"... that awkward moment when you're posing and the camera's taking forever to shoot." - Tyler











My Fashion's Night Out was spent exclusively in SoHo. People chased after an Escalade with their smartphones because Pauly D was in the back seat. Anna Wintour was at Rag and Bone and uptown a crowd went nuts when Nicki Minaj walked in and out of Yves Saint-Laurent. FNO was less about shopping (freaking IMPOSSIBLE to pick up what you want and take it to the counter) and more about the chance for everyday people to jump into tabloid pages like some safari hunt. Oh, and the cheapest bar crawl you'll ever get out of this city. After my third and last store stop at Marc Jacobs, my purple feet and human clutter-induced hysteria beckoned me to go back to Brooklyn to call it a night. But really, my visiting friend and I split a pitcher of sangria at a swanky Spanish speaking bar (only non-Spanish there, ayo) called Bar Celona, and then gaily walked up Bedford for some gyros and the latest issue of Thrasher.

On the top photo: told Pharrell that I thought Tokyo Rising was beautiful (ps, directed by zee lovely Thalia Mavros), and Tyler came in around the time that I got into Billionaire Boys Club. (I can't imagine the reaction from the boys line when he walked in.) I gestured that he needed to be in the photo, so he agreed. He was probably most inclined to take the photo because it was also a photo with Pharrell haha. Tyler was a great sport and very sweet. Both are very fine gentlemen.