Barack Obama by Terry Richardson

From the September 2007 issue of Vibe Magazine

Halloween in San Francisco

Here's a Them Jeans remix of Yelle's "Ce Jeu":
Yelle- Ce Jeu (Them Jeans Remix)

POOL PARTY in San Francisco

Screenshot from Weather.com:



I waited all year for a pool party and they finally delivered one in November when it's raining. Either way, I'm going because that's where my life is at, pool parties.

Brian Lichtenberg | Grey Ant SAMPLE SALE

JAMS

Surkin-Chrome Knight featuring Chromeo

The Rolling Stones- You Can't Always Get What You Want (Soulwax Remix)

Bjork- Wanderlust (Ratatat Remix)

Walter Meego- Forever (Van She Tech Remix)

You need to pick up this other Walter Meego stuff:

Walter Meego- Forever

Walter Meego- Keyhole

Le Smoking

Created in 1966 by famous couturier Yves Saint Laurent, the Le Smoking tuxedo suit for women was the first of its kind to earn attention in the fashion world and in popular culture. It pioneered long, minimalist, androgynous styles for women, as well as the use of power suits and the pantsuit in modern-day society. Fashion photography echoes the influence of this suit in shoots that feature androgynous models with slicked-back hair in a mannish three-piece suit, a style that was first popularised in photographs by Helmut Newton. Yves Saint-Laurent was seen by many as having empowered women by giving them the option to wear clothes that were normally worn by men with influence and power.

This suit has continued to influence fashion designers' collections through the 2000s.

Text taken from Wikipedia


Helmut Newton's iconic 1975 photograph of le smoking

Only in Norcal

Hellaween? Only in Norcal.
I saw this on Going.com

France vs. America- Part Two

105 Year Old French Event:

Lance Armstrong Winning the Tour de France Seven Times In A Row:

France: 1
America: 1

Having an American on the very top of your podium for seven years in a row is also laughable.

Chile Ohio

Fernanda Toledo is from the South American country of Chile. For some reason (also known as fate), we found a party inside a parking garage that had a bounce house, cake and free Honest Ade beverages inside. The sole purpose of these photographs was to see if my new 35 mm works. Obviously we could still have fun doing so.

France vs. America

French Playboy:

(Sexy Kamehameha!)

American Playboy:

(Retarded Cat)

France: 1

America: 0

The margin of defeat is laughable.

YSL Bags F/W 08-09

Image taken from Klang

I Miss Bernie Mac Already

"That's What She Said"

If you are a fan of The Office, you will truly appreciate this.

Early Morning Affection for Karen Elson

Magazine: Dazed & Confused
Editorial: We Are The Citizens Band
Photographer: Richard Bush
Model: Karen Elson

Here is a link to the rest of the spread on Foto_Decadent.

I just hope next week I don't see this title on some neon shirt in big freaking letters.

Meet Sean Avery: Former Vogue Intern/The Most Hated Man In The NHL

It all began with playing with dolls as a child. What began as a diddle (for you Tara) has brought this NHL player to the front row of Marc Jacobs runway shows to the more recent internship at Vogue at which he sought out by writing to Anna Wintour (Editor-In-Chief of American Vogue).

It is truly interesting how much attention this athlete's personal interest has garnered. But why? Because he shatters the stereotype.


Reasons to like Sean Avery:
-His voice is always the same tone.
-His bluntness has the force of a swinging sledge hammer: one side lethal, the other side comedy.
-He just don't give a f*ck.


Click here to read his story from the man himself:
The Diary of a Fashion Jock, by Sean Avery.


Video: Sean Avery Talks About Playing With Dolls As A Child

Wanted: 2:13AM Dance Partner

What has inspired this?
Rick James- Ghetto Life

Let that funky guitar riff creep into you.
Let the saxophone sooth you.
Let the Rick James into you.

The Real Sarah Palin on SNL

Enjoy.

This is the Rhythm of the Night, My Life, Oh Yeah

I have succumbed to my natural sleep habit. I meander the city's Mission District in the middle of the night observing the way its heart beats when it sleeps to fill an internal void. Last night, I stood still, and that was all it took to take in a new perspective. Somehow when I stood still, I was perceived as one of them. They made eye contact with me. They approached me. They asked me what I needed. They asked me if I was good.

There is this strange separation here, two groups to be exact. The one group only makes eye contact with that one group. The other group only makes eye contact with that other group. Neither group acknowledges the other group but they do move around the other group if necessary to maneuver.

I have only crossed over twice. The first time was when I dressed like a complete idiot. The second time was last night when I stood still.

There really is no story telling here, just fact sharing.

Tonight, I rode my bike around in a desperate attempt to find excitement. I wonder if people notice me. I'm probably "that guy that is usually standing on corners in the middle of the night eating pizza".

My "homie on the block" that usually kicks it in front of the 16th St. Bart station is missing. I have not seen him since I left on my AIDS/Lifecycle ride. I hope he's okay. In the mean time I've made two other friends from the streets: Jean-Paul and Michael. Jean-Paul I sometimes see a couple times a day in different areas of the Mission District. He has a beard, sometimes pushes around a cart or stolen luggage. Michael usually kicks it in front of Walgreens during the day on his wheelchair asking for money and at night doing the same thing but in front of Casanova on Valencia. Michael just got a haircut. He's a Vietnamese man always wearing a hat and his left leg is partly amputated. I don't think he does drugs but I think he's a drunk. He always calls me "homeboy".

I wish I had a sound recorder to record this woman that curses in English and Spanish in 10-15 minute lengths and sometimes throws things. This happened tonight and last week and happens when she can't get into the crack house. The Hispanic dudes in the building across make fun of her or "shush" her to shut up. I am afraid to tell her to shut up because I am afraid a brick will land through my window. My neighbor down the hall threw a bucket of water at her through his window. It might have been the same neighbor that was walking drunk in the alley a few weekends ago with a footlong knife in his hand. I'm not sure because I could only see the arms and there wasn't a knife.

A Few Favorites from Fashion Week

Kate Lanphear- Style Director of US Elle
Peep the Jak & Jil spotlight on her.

The haircut speaks for itself.

Layers and layers and layers.

I think of Birdman and bling when I see this one.

A little late I know. I had these photographs lying inside a folder on my desktop ready for posting and then... I forgot about them.

Photographs taken from The Sartorialist and Facehunter

Hood Update #2

My prayers have been answered. The men next door are no longer able to piss off the fire escape. Why? Because the garbage truck that went through the alley this morning ripped part of the fire escape off the side of the building.

Amen.

Ha ha ha... ha ha ha ha ha!

Photography by Jonathan Leder

Photographs taken from foto_decadent

Here's a link to his portfolio:
http://www.jonathanleder.com/

Dior Homme Shoes F/W 08-09

Image taken from Klang

Bank Robber Uses Craigslist to Aid in Getaway

A guy wearing a yellow vest, safety goggles, a blue shirt and respirator mask approaches an armored truck driver in front of Bank of America and pepper sprays him, grabs the bag of money and then flees on an inner tube down a creek.

How did he get away?

Prior to the robbery, the robber placed an ad on Craigslist for road maintenance workers at an hourly wage of $28.50. The listing asked for individuals to meet in front of Bank of America at that appropriate time and wearing that appropriate outfit. Around a dozen look-alike decoys appeared to confuse police.


Here's a link to the article:
http://tech.msn.com/news/articlecnet.aspx?cp-documentid=11018138>1=40000

Doorstep Surprise

Hey, check out this cool syringe I found outside my door:



Sometimes I wonder when I come across these if there is HIV on or inside there...

Gap Commercial featuring Daft Punk and Juliette Lewis

This one is at least three years old.

Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals

Commes des Garcons for H&M- The Women's Collection

These three are going to be it. These three are going are to be the ones:





and here's the winner:



Photographs taken from cyanatrendland.com

Tips on flying

I just got finished reading about a Qantas flight making an emergency landing due to turbulence. Thirty of the passengers received injuries and fifteen of them are serious injuries such as broken bones and lacerations. This occurred primarily in the rear of the plane. I can't believe passengers were thrown around that hard from turbulence that they received injuries...

Here's a tip: Sit as close as you can to the wings. Think of it like a seesaw. The opposite ends have the most distance of travel while the fulcrum (wings, middle) area has the least amount of travel.

Here's a link to the article:
Turbulence forces emergency landing

Songs of the night

In Flagranti- Business Acumen (Holy Ghost! Remix)
MGMT- Of Moons Birds and Monsters (Holy Ghost! Remix)
(Right-Click and Save)

MMMmm to Holy Ghost! remixes...

Tales from the Hood #1: Point of View

I'm starting a new periodical here on my blog called "Tales from the Hood". It will be my brief or lengthy (but mostly brief) accounts of the "ghetto" shit that happens here in the hood.

So to start off, I live in the Mission District of San Francisco in a small little alley called Clarion Alley. The first thing you may notice if you are a blind man is the smell and then the sound of the living energy of the alley. It is an organism that lives, breathes and excretes.

It is 1:28 in the morning as I write this passage and I just heard another urination process but I will go into that in a little bit.

There is a wind that runs through this alley like the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and is as continuous as the rise and fall of the sun. The strength of the wind climaxes near the entrance to Valencia street where another place of climax, Good Vibrations, is to the right, a thrift store meets you to the left and right in front is a police station. On my end of the alleyway is Mission Street. It is a friendly place where wanting something can make you friends. Everyone is always kind and asking if I need something.

It's odd, the courtesy and service on Mission Street is non-existent on Valencia Street. I find that I get asked for more money on Valencia Street than on Mission Street. I did not mention this prior but there is a night and day, black and white difference between Valencia Street and Mission Street. Valencia Street is comprised of furniture stores that carry unique furniture, hip restaurants (this is my first time EVER using the word hip), bars and shops while Mission Street can be compared to what Mayor Nagin of New Orleans likes to describe his city as, "chocolate city". It is literally one block of separation that divides the two opposites. But yes, the irony I wanted to highlight is that I more often get asked for change on Valencia Street rather than on Mission Street, and instead of being asked solely to give on Valencia Street, on Mission Street I am asked to give and then receive, or vice versa.

Outside of my window about fifteen feet or so on the opposite side of the alley is a fire escape. My neighbors urinate off of it mainly during the night, sometimes during the day. I don't know why and I can't ask them because they don't speak English and I don't speak Spanish. One night on my way out downstairs, it was windy and my neighbor was peeing. It was misting on me. I made gagging and vomiting noises even though I wasn't actually vomiting or gagging to let him know the disgust I felt. I felt bad for Jessica that came out the door with me. The smell of urine is the most familiar smell in the alley. When I now smell urine, it triggers a memory and feeling of home. Damn.

There are other smells and sites as well. In the corners lie feces as if a mailman or mailwoman (?) delivered on a regular basis. Familiar are those of condoms, syringes, broken glass, bottles still in their brown bags and trash. Also, the site of visitors photographing the murals while enjoying the scent. Despite the weekly pressure washing and frequent street sweeping, no one gives a fuck, and the alley only maintains a few minutes of cleanliness a week.

Freaks come out at night. Have you seen I Am Legend? Basically creatures come out at night and make a shit ton of noises and this repeats every night. You get the point and the comparison. Sometimes I see people smoking crack in the early morning when I am on my way out to school. The only thing I can say to myself is "they like to party" or "he or she is a party animal".

I forgot to mention but here is a store where they sell crack. I like to think of it as a home business that is like 7/11 but only sells drugs and sex. It's only a few doors/feet away and it is quite a theatre/stage for my entertainment. This "store" beats The Hills and all those other useless reality television shows hands down. I'll throw out a few key words: hoes, hoes for sho, cops, po-leese, fuzz, crack and bitch. Sometimes I have friends come over to come and watch. The best time to watch is usually after going out when you've had a few drinks and everything is more funny and intense. And plus you feel sneakier when you are drunk for some reason. Also, the building across where they pee off the fire escape that makes loud water falling sounds, they enjoy watching porn in groups... Porn and baseball. It's funny to come across them watching porn together. I'll be doing the dishes and look up through my window and see them kicking it with some vag on the screen with some p going in it. Shit is casual as fuck. I just got reminded of that episode of Friends where they get free porn so they sit around and watch it and won't turn it off because it is free. But yeah, shit's entertaining.

Here is "The Store":

... it's always funny watching hands reach out through the bars to "shake hands"



and here is my place to the left, the fire escape urinal to the top right and "The Store" further down and to the right.




I think this concludes my first entry of hopefully many to come in this series.

P.S.

On my way out last weekend, my neighbor (down the hall from me in my building) was drunk as shit in the alley in front of the door. He was shirtless, barefoot, standing near and possibly on glass and holding a foot long knife in his hand. He seemed looking to kill a mother fucker. I spoke to him as I would any normal (sober) day so he would calm down and then I was like, "So what's the deal with knife?" And then he looked at me like, "Oh shit. I am standing here barefoot, shirtless, standing near or possibly on glass and holding a foot long knife."

I've been going to the gym lately...

and I'm going to look like this in approximately three days: