Organic Style for Spring 2010

How wonderful is this dress from the latest Iris Van Herpen 2010 Spring Collection? The unique use of materials evoke organic shapes and movement, and borrows elements of the baroque. There is a similar use of this style in Alexander McQueen's fall collection. Check out Alexander McQueen's show in this video:

Now, take a look again at Iris Van Herpen:

Can't you see similarities in both collections? I like this new "organic" look. For the past few years, fashion has been going "retro". It is refreshing to see new styles that barely make reference to the past. I might be contradicting myself; Earlier, I had compared Van Herpen's and McQueen's work to the baroque, but to explain myself further, they only reinterpret the past, making their collections far more unique and fresh than other designers blindly copying and replicating past styles, discouraging innovation in fashion. In the future, I hope designers will be more reluctant to recycle old styles for newer, more unreferenced styles.

Although I do give much praise to Van Herpen and McQueen for an ingenious collection, I hope they will be able to reinvent their collections each season. I say this particularly about Iris Van Herpen, a relatively new designer. It would be easier for Van Herpen to consistently replicate her woven organic style each season, making it an iconic trademark. I am against this idea of iconic because it is replicating rather than innovating. Let's see if she can reinvent herself for the following Fall 2010 collection.

Visit Van Herpen at:

www.irisvanherpen.com

Children on the Subway

Okay, so I just recently moved to New York City. Like most New Yorkers, I move around this town via subway about 90% of the time, and for the most part my rides are uneventful. How could they be memorable when people are sitting around with a hazy, detached look in their eyes? Yesterday though, might stick in my mind for awhile. Sitting before me was not the regular dreary adult subway rider on his way to work or home or an event; it was a family of four: a father, a mother, and two little kids. For all you New Yorkers, an entire family on a subway is a very unusual sight to see.

I sat there observing this family for a good 30 minutes on my way to Lower Manhattan. The father, probably Dominican ( half black/ half Latin) sat there like a thug with his baggy jeans, over-sized shirt, and an expression on his face that gave-off a distaste for having kids and a family. The mother, however, was more attentive to her two kids consisting of one girl, probably age 6, and one boy, probably age 2.

The 2 year old boy sat in a stroller, and his older sister sat on one of the subway seats. This little 2 year old boy is probably the cutest thing you would have ever seen. The chubbiest thing you could have imagined, he was squealing in an efforts to communicate to his sister. He tried to grab everything his sister was grabbing, from the subway pole she grabbed on to, to any object she was taking from the stroller he sat in. From how he followed his sister's every move, there was a strong connection between these two.

Before leaving the train, I heard the two year old boy trying with every effort to communicate to his sister; however, his efforts only lead to inaudible noises. His sister, in an attempt to bond with him, began mimicking his noises; if he were to babble, she would babble, if he were to squeal, she would squeal. This back and forth play was so funny, and it reverberated throughout the train car. And as the train doors opened to let me out, I could still hear the younger brother squeal to his older sister, while the older sister would mimic his noises. I love the simplicity of childhood, and the logic that governs those years.

Melaka Restaurant

At some point in life, every man must eat at a disgusting food joint which requires vomiting afterwards. My vote for such a place is Melaka Restuarant. It's located in San Bruno, on San Bruno Ave. to be exact. A long time resident of this city would know that it was once a Denny's diner.

The front of the building has a very sharp angular corner, and the windows are strewn with advertisements for $7.95 buffett meals which lures you in. Upon entering, you are greeted by some Asian guy with really bad teeth and dirty nails. He seats you down on diner style seats, sticky with grease and who knows what. Then, you put your hands on the table and wonder if you have just dipped your palms on a table top wiped-off with soy sauce because it is just too sticky. Despite all this, you really must sit there and soak up the disgusting aspect of it all.

Soon after, you should get up to start your meal of course! Remember that this is a buffet style food joint. The food is laid-out in four mobile stations displaying Chinese and Japanese food. You get one of their off-white dinner plates and pick-up an assortment of generic asian items from the food stations like pork dumplings, sushi, wonton soup, sweet and sour pork, and some friend things here and there. Soon, the small plate should be filled to the brim with either saucy items or deep fried stuff.

By the time you get back to your seat, ice water should have been placed there. Don't drink the water; it tastes nasty and has a slight brown hue. Sit down and hate your meal; that's the charm of it all! Dip your fork into a very thick piece of pork covered in some pasty, clear, red sauce. Try the sushi with rice that seems too old. Then have a taste of the fried chicken poured liberally with MSG. It won't be a surprise if by the time you are done, you will want to drink that water I told you not to drink. You are going to need a drink, because the food is really hard to digest.

Make sure to vomit at home when you're done with your meal because you won't be able to digest it anyway. And then you could say you have accomplished this most awesome feat!

MELAKA RESTAURANT 751 San Bruno Ave. W., San Bruno, CA 94066

Props to Karen O- Yeah Yeah Yeah's.

I LIKE KAREN O. For those of you in the dark, she is the lead singer for the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. I share a few similarities with this woman, but for the most part there are numerous things I admire about her.

Don't get me wrong, the last thing I want is to be a woman in her prime, but the redeeming qualities of Karen O are to envy. First, although she has attained main stream commercial success and fame, she still maintains indie status among that indie circle. It's not often that you can find an artist that straddles between commercial success and indie acclaim. What is indie you ask? As defined in wikipedia, an indie rocker is someone who places a premium on maintaining complete control of their music.

On that note, it is often too tempting to give up artistic ownership to a Hollywood music label interested only in creating mediocre songs for maximum profits. However, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's have reached commercial success without having to succumb to this usual temptation. You may disagree with me, but I wholeheartedly believe in the premium they take to control their music.

Nowhere is this control more evident than in their process of making a new album: They leave New York or L.A. behind and head to a secluded barn somewhere in the Northeast. This arrangement deters outside influences and temptations. Can you imagine spending six to eight months out in the middle of nowhere to work on music?; that involves a lot of dedication. Listen to my favorite song on their new album, It's Blitz:



Aside from controlling the quality of her music, Karen O also tries to maintain the quality of her image. A few years ago she was offered a spread on Playboy, and I am not surprised - if you look closely at her photo she does have the quality of a 1970's porn star, with the pouty lips, high cheekbones. However, she is quoted as saying that she would refuse any such offer, as the audience for Playboy is not one she wishes to attract. Talk about ideals; I'm sure they offered her a hefty sum for that spread!

Aside from Karen O's success and fame, which I do not possess, we are similar in a few ways. We are both 30 years old. In middle school, we wore baggy pants and listened to Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog; In high school, we were part of the grunge scene and listened to Nirvana; In college, we were influenced by the indie scene in New York and LA. Karen is not interested in labels, but in style. Her style suites her well, and speaks a multitude about her personage. Don't you think?

Cheers to you Karen O. Thanks for being steadfast and unwavering about your vision. It shows that you don't have to give up your ideals to be successful and famous in this world!

Karen O. currently resides in Silverlake in Los Angeles like all the indie rockers and indie superstars. Maybe one day I will also live in LA.

SFMOMA & AMBER

With time on my hands, I ventured out into the city alone on a Sunday. I started-off at the the SFMOMA to view the new rooftop garden which I had seen numerous times in glossy computer- rendered form, but was unpleasantly surprised that the actual built-form wasn't as cool. Despite that, my trip to the museum wasn't entirely disappointing: The musuem always has a fresh round of installations, which I try to visit at least once every six months. This installation was particularly interesting:

Here is a description from the SFMOMA site in response to the artist's intention and meaning:

Fritsch's intention is to lodge an indelible visual image in the mind of the viewer, indissolubly fusing experience and memory. Although some viewers may find the poodles threatening, they also appear to be on alert watch, guarding over the child. And despite the ominous atmosphere, a strange undercurrent of humor is present in the quirky oddness of both the poodles and the baby.

After the museum, I ventured over to the Mission to see Francisco Fernandez from the Ferocious Few perform on stage. I was getting restless standing in a crowd of obnoxious "dirty hipster meets vegan hippie meets political activist" types! I think I sat there for an hour talking to no one waiting for the onstage performance before I decided to bail.

After the show I headed over to Amber, one of the last remaining smoking bars in the city. I sat there, expecting to have a quiet Sunday evening alone observing the other patrons. But for some reason or another, as the night wore on, everyone at the bar became so friendly with everyone else.

My first friendly encounter was with a beautiful African American gal studying acting in Denver. We psychoanalyzed her movie preferences before her boyfriend came to pick her up. Once that conversation ended, I started up another one with a writer. He and I had a great conversation about the anti-semitic author H.P. Lovecraft and his most reknowned book " the Call of Cathulhu". When the writer left his seat for the night, a sound engineer took-over and explained to me his occupation more thoroughly. Then, out of the blue, this lesbian British girl comes up to me and asks "Honey, how are you?"- with the expected accent of course.

Unfortunately, I don't remember any of their names, but the ability to sit down and be amongst the company of interesting strangers is god-sent. At intermitten times when a stranger had not come to keep me company, at least the good ol' rock n' roll music was there to listen to. Strangers are friends without mutual baggage. I left the bar so happy, and walked to BART feeling that I hadn't wasted that Sunday at all. To be amongst the company of strangers and to exchange all those ideas is so amazing to me. Equally as fun is roaming around the city alone, venturing out to familiar places with unexpected outcomes.