empty magazine

i thought this was charming:
'We here at EMPTY are art sluts. We like seeing your art (preferably nude with a can of baby oil!). We like all sorts of stuff... writing, designs, monkeys, illustrations, porn, paintings, photos, monkey porn, etc. We can't get enough.
So, send us your art and if we're drunk, and your lucky, we might even put it in the mag.
Send low res files only please. Any emails over 1mb will be deleted, shot, punched in the groin and then deleted again.
boo [that symbol] emptymag.com'


***
---in a strange way, everyone is right. a giant step forward is to move beyond self-righteousness.
---littering is a political act. it indicates and uncaring and insensitive action from an unthinking individual.
---a meeting can be like a stone thrown into a pond; one can never know the full implications of any meeting nor just how far hte waves will go.
---pornography is not by definition obscene.
violence is obscene..
poverty is obscene..
gross materialism is obscene..
insensitivity is obscene..
---if your grandfather kicked my grandfater in the ass, it has nothing to do with our relations. some people are still fighting old wars.
***
= all from the book Everything by Jim Haynes.

an abridged version of an essay by Jim Haynes, first published in 'Everything is! Soft Manifestos for you time.':
talking is a medium. writing is a medium. singing is a medium. drawing and painting and sculpting are mediums. theatre, dance, mime, photography, film, television, video are all mediums. anyone is capable of using any medium to transmit any kind of information to make a statement. the concept of 'Art' confuses the issue. anything transmitted through any medium is information. like it or not, it doesn't matter. to claim that those who use the two mediums - painting and sculpture - are the principle producers of 'Art' is absurd.
to say that individuals who elect to make statements in this medium are 'artists' is even more foolish.
to classify certain kind of films as 'art films', certain kinds of video as 'video art', certain kinds of books as 'literature', and certain kinds of music as 'classic', is, for me, senseless and arbitrary. it suggests taht the rest is valueless and of little importance.
producing something in any medium is valuable if only to the person or persons doing it. receiving information through any medium has value if it brings anyone anything.
the concept of 'Art' grew out of a linguistic mistake, then filled the vacuum left by a growing disbeleif in religion. painters and sculptors became the High Priests. being an 'artist' or 'understanding art' gives one a special place in society. it confers sensitivity. it supposedly separates one from brute forces, the illiterate masses, and the philistines.
but this is a lie, an illusion, and a fabrication. hanging an expensive painting on your wall doesn't make you better, wiser, nicer or more sensitive. it is a conceit. it may make one feel better, more important - but you are still you - expensive painting or not. if you wish to be better, nicer, more sensitive, then be it. no amount of so-called 'Art' will help. the information produced by others is not you, only you are you.
the 'Age of Art' is over. let us now enter an 'Age of Mutual Respect'. everyone cries out for it. everyone needs it. why do we not give it ? either everyone is an 'artist' or no one is. for me, everyone is unique. everyone has their own story to tell, their own life to live, their own dreams to realise. everyone has value. we are all unique. we are each fantastic.

'art is..anything you can get away with(john cage)..as long as it's signed(andy warhol)..and someone believes it(jim haynes).'

you know that u got it u got it bad..when you find yourself relating to a song by Usher.

today i'm writing a list.
1. i've always liked the thought of my middle name being my mother's maiden name, despite it being the boy's name of Charles (i like some boy's names on girls..james, cameron..).
as Charles it would be much like Ashley Olsen's middle name being her mother's maiden name Fuller.
Ashley Fuller Olsen.
Rachel Charles McGann.. looks better when written, sounds like a bit of an elaborate stutter when said aloud.
if i end up creating a label of clothing, i think i'd like to call it Charles Rachel. i've thought about Rachel Charles but it seems to be too closely following suit to Rodarte, the american label named after two sisters' mother's maiden name. perhaps my idea of including Charles in the name is in subconscious homage to Rodarte, Ashley O and my mother..all at once.

2. everything she forms in words has substance and weight.


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3. thom's from South Orange, and has only had an 'h' in his name for the past two months.

4. today, i'm going to go finally looking for a nice grey nailpolish, and perhaps also a muted turquoise-green shade similar to the one that Chanel released a little while ago.
i'd like to find a lipstick or a tinted something..not too glossy or straight gloss, i've always been a bit squinty-eyed towards lipgloss..it can look cheap so easily.
but in moderation can also look fantastic..it's fine line that i dont really want to tiptoe across or down so instead just stay far away from.



(from Jak & Jil)

5. i much prefer any serious conversation that you can learn from over the funniest, most hilarious conversation that anyone in the world or my future/past self has ever experienced.
i'm definitely not going to turn down some great humour, but i always enjoy a chat that you can think about for days and days afterward.

6. i've been really envying and admiring girls with short hair lately. in Eumumdi and on the coast i was tricked into being surrounded by a lot of trend-ai people that had such a laidback, summery atmosphere about them. a lot of girls were sporting loose dresses with flats, some scattered jewellery or a slouchy bag and most importantly; tiny tiny pixie cuts.
it made me miss the days of having short hair two to three years ago. not a bob, but the really short stage. i could get ready so quickly bc it looked okay having just woken up and left it as it was..on the average day.
i felt really transformed and confident within my hair..occasionally, i admit that i would feel a little self-conscious bc i was one of the only girls under 40 in a school of 1500+ with short short hair, but that in itself seemed to spark more confidence than not.
i can't describe the feeling, but the length of my hair really changed my personality and inner self-assurance for a little bit, and i'd like some of that back..i think that, most of all, i felt..different.
i don't at all strive to be different and intentionally jump on any ~'alternative'/'individual'/'i listen to triple j along with half of the nation but i'm one of a kind and you know it' bandwagon, but i like the feel of having created something fresh.
i'm not going to be cutting my hair short again for a long time, but i wonder if a change of colour will bring on a similar feeling again ?
i'm willing to try.

7. 'particle physicist..dumb bastard.' - grrrreg, who makes up words while completing crosswords and married the woman who was once on television in a self-made dress as a finalist in the Girl in a Million quest. just sayin.

8. i get shy around bullshit.

9. BEWARE! not all potatoes can swim.

10. (i miss him so much i can barely breathe.)

he kilt it

for the January issue of Vogue, (i'm assuming American), Sasha Pivovarova was shot with some of the most leading bands and artists of 2009. these are my pick of the bunch:


Chester French

The Horrors

"

Vampire Weekend

Mika

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Ohio-based blues/rock band the Black Keys released a rap/rock collaborative album under the name Blakroc, with some of the biggest names in hip-hop, on november the 27th..the project was spearheaded by rapper Jim Jones and also sports contributions from Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, NOE, Nicole Wray, Billy Danze and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard.
BlakRoc sets the drawbridge between forms of expression; Hip Hop and Rock, by doing something as simple as putting the artists of different genres of music in one room and documenting as harmonious collaboration takes place.
i'm a big fan of this great genre-transcending collaboration.




Blakroc - Telling Me Things [feat. RZA]



Blakroc - Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) [feat. Mos Def & Jim Jones]


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the following are some words out of a blog that i stumbled across a few months ago. these are my favourite sections from the post:

This is what becomes of profound loss.

The day I heard that Elliott Smith had committed suicide was a day spent in a shock-born fog.

I had just ended a year long relationship with a girl I had fallen hard for. Despite all of the things we shared and how much we knew we loved each other, neither one of us were willing to make the kind of commitment that was necessary to keep the relationship going.
At the time, every word was a document of my pain.
My brother had just sent me a preview of one of his new tracks entitled "A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to Be Free".

Everyone I know can easily make up a list of the acts they have to see before they die.
Mine consisted at one time of David Bowie, Prince, Nirvana, and I have since added Coldplay.
I got to see an amazing three and half hour set by Mr. Bowie at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia in 1997. I was privileged to see his purple badness at the Tower Theatre in Philly in the same year. I still haven't seen Coldplay. And then there's Nirvana. Little did I know that Kurt Cobain and company should have been itemized on a separate list: Acts I have to see before they die. The awfulness of that idea is that unlike aging bands like The Stones and The Who, there are some artists that can be and are taken from us too soon.

I could never speak as eloquently as some about Jeff Buckley or Kurt Cobain. I discovered Jeff, like most people, after his death, and thus the blow was softened by the foreknowledge of his tragedy. Kurt Cobain never spoke to me like he spoke to many people my age and younger. I was not as angry or as alienated as he felt. Don't misunderstand me, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of his death, and it did affect me, just not as much as I thought it would have.

There are very few artists who I have been able to relate to through their lyrics.
Although I love R.E.M., most of Stipe's lyrics are a mish-mash of ideas that mean little to anyone but him. Some artists are extremely specific in their choice of words so as to leave little room for interpretation. Others are so vague as to defy true meaning. Good poetry is that which is written to evoke emotion amongst a variety of people. Elliott Smith was just such a poet.

It hurts me to know that he might not have understood just how many people he touched so deeply. Maybe that knowledge would have made a difference. We'll never know. There was a great review in "VH1's 100 Greatest Albums of All Time" book about Jeff Buckley's Grace.
It started by saying (and I'm paraphrasing, sorry) that by merely mentioning the name Jeff Buckley, you can spot fans quickly. They are the ones that get that twinkle in their eye and a sad look on their face at the same time. "They own Grace", it said.

The same is true for Elliott, but not for a particular album. Each fan has his or her favorite song. For me, it's "Pitseleh". For some of my friends, favorites include "Angeles", "Needle in the Hay", "Waltz #2 (XO)", "Miss Misery", "Ballad of Big Nothing", and "Division Day".
If you mention that one song that has touched someone's heart, the twinkle comes to their eye, their head kind of tilts to the side, and they sigh. Elliott has touched them.

'Pitseleh' (lyrics below) means "little one" in Yiddish.

I'll tell you why I don't want to know where you are, I got a joke I've been dying to tell you.
The silent kid is looking down the barrel to make the noise that I kept so quiet. I kept it from you, pitseleh.

I'm not what's missing from your life now, I could never be the puzzle pieces.
They say that god makes problems just to see what you can stand before you do as the devil pleases, and give up the thing you love.
..but no one deserves it.

The first time I saw you, I knew it would never last.
I'm not half what I wish I was.
I'm so angry, I don't think it'll ever pass.
And I was bad news for you, just because.
I never meant to hurt you.

'..cover myself head to toe in body art, plait my hair with jewels and ribbons and be an art therapist somewhere by the sea with 3 or more kids pulling at my sleeves.' - Abbey Lee Kershaw tells i-D Magazine about her aspirations for the future :)


YSL unveils their second edition of New Vintage based on recycling and recuperation. The long lasting fashion under the artistic director of the brand, Stefano Pilati reuses fabrics from past YSL collections and adapts the classic silhouettes with refinement based on his concept for durable fashion.


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(i'm on the hunt for a great grey nailpolish)

'sometimes he forgets the simple things, like "please".'

tell me what you know about dreaming ?
you don't really know about nothing.
tell me what you know about them night terrors, every night ?
5 am, cold sweats, waking up to the skies..
tell me what you know about dreams ?
tell me what you know about night terrors, nothing..
you don't really care about the trials of tomorrow.


lanvin spring 2010 rtw:

i am a head-to-toe black convert because of miss kate lanphear

Sparkling Pink Punch

250g punnet strawberries (used 250g frozen mixed berries - blackberries, strawberries, raspberries - bc strawberries had sold out, and no frozen strawberries were available on their own)
1/4 cup raspberry-flavoured vodka (we used vanilla vodka bc it was lying around at home)
2 tblsps lime juice
2 cups ice cubes
300g frozen raspberries
2 limes, thinly sliced
750ml chilled bottle Jacob's Creek Sparkling Moscato Rose NV
1.25L chilled bottled soda water

(Sugar Syrup:)
1 cup caster suger
1 cup water

1. To make sugar syrup, combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Refrigerate until cold.

2. Remove and discard stems from strawberries. Finely chop strawberries. Place in a large serving jug with cold sugar syrup, vodka and juice. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

3. Before serving, add ice cubes, raspberries and limes. Slowly add moscato and soda water. Stir gently to combine. Serve punch in glasses.

Punch can be prepared up to the end of step 2, up to one day ahead. Keep it covered in the fridge.




SO. GOOD. and so easy, both to make and to down. :)

i’m pretty sure that when a baby is born, the doctor informs the mother whether or not their child is a mere mortal or a paris vogue.

^ screen shots from Dappled Cities' The Price music video. just remembered the warm golden quality of this clip this morning while voting for Triple J's annual Hottest 100 poll. and i'm glad i did. god i love anything that vaguely resembles fairy lights..and the lightbulbs as microphones was a great late addition.

my chosen songs for the 2009 Triple J Hottest 100:

1.Andrew Bird - Oh No
2.Bloc Party - One More Chance
3.Cold War Kids - Audience
4.Dappled Cities - The Price
5.John Steel Singers - Luxembourg
6.Jonathan Boulet - A Community Service Announcement
7.Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension
8.Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
9.Temper Trap, The - Love Lost
10.Tim & Jean - Come Around
 
for a long time i considered voting for Paul Dempsey. he's had a fairly large impact on my musical upbringing, due to my sister's and the radio's heavy heavy airplay during primary/early highschool. but that was while he was a part of Something for Kate, and not off on his own solo tangent. when i was younger, i guess about 10-6 years ago, i absolutely hated him. i hated Monsters, the only song that i ever really listened to of SFK's at the time. i hated him, because he was different to what i was used to, and now that's what i love most about that group and Paul. but his album didn't prove to be as life-changing as i had expected this year, so he made it only to my shortlist.

my inspiration for and way of voting in the Hottest 100 is not necessarily the songs that i've just ~liked throughout the year so much..because there's far too many of those..
but i tend to instead vote for the songs that have opened my mind to an issue or have lyrically (or musically, or anything else-ly) brought something new to the table.
i like to also bring forth personal snapshots and moments in 2009 that were accompanied by a song or two.
so the artists that have done something entirely new and inspiring in my eyes, i vote for.
if i have spent a special moment in the company of a song and it brings me big de ja vu..then i also often vote for that song.
theres a whole heap of reasons behind my particular votes and way of culling songs off the shortlist (i always ALWAYS end up with eleven absolutely perfect, votable, songs..but ten can only go through..)
..but,what im trying to really get across is that i try not to vote for songs that have just tickled my fancy thoughout the year gone by, - although there is absolutely nothing wrong with that..that's what the poll is is for, after all, - but in my case, and more so because i need a system that allows me to narrow down the shortlist to just ten songs....i vote for songs that go that little bit further to fight for my attention :).

songs that so narrowly did not make the cut this year:
Juan Maclean, The - One Day
Local Natives - Camera Talk
Tame Impala - Sundown Syndrome
Art Vs Science - Parlez Vous Francais?
Hungry Kids Of Hungary - Scattered Diamonds
Seth Sentry - The Waitress Song
Yves Klein Blue - Getting Wise
King Creosote - Coast On By
Florence & The Machine - Dog Days Are Over
Paul Dempsey - Ramona Was A Waitress
(i thought A Day To Remember might have had a few songs in there..because i'm pretty sure that they had a 2009 release ? or maybe it was last year..the two years have really moulded into one, due to school. i would have liked to have voted for them though, but no major harm done.)



^ Cold War Kid's EP 'Behave Yourself' is due for release early next year..the short clip below is a teaser..

i actually get butterflies whenever i listen to Audience, the first track featured in the video, as well as for We Used to Vacation. that was the first track that i heard by the group..and intially introduced me to their music.
Cold War Kids and Editors are the two artists that i crave to see live, more than anyone or anything else.
theyre almost the only two groups that make me feel exactly the same each time i hear their music as i did the first time that i listened to them two and  three years ago.
they make me smile, they make me cry, and they bring back incredibly de ja vu of books i was reading at the time of first hearing them, where i was standing when i first listened to certain tracks and so many other pockets of my life that i would have gone forgotten if not for their music.
the honesty in their words and music is never lost in translation.



Strength is so important.
I like to be different in my own quiet way.
My inspiration is the person I want to be.
You have to be able to find beauty in the mundane and to see your reflection in a mudpuddle.

There was a great tenderness to the sadness
when I would go there. She knew how much
I loved my wife and that we had no future.
We were like casualties helping each other
as we waited for the end. Now I wonder
if we understood how happy those Danish
afternoons were. Most of the time we did not talk.
Often I took care of the baby while she did
housework. Changing him and making him laugh.
I would say Pittsburgh softly each time before
throwing him up. Whisper Pittsburgh with
my mouth against the tiny ear and throw
him higher. Pittsburgh and happiness high up.
The only way to leave even the smallest trace.
So that all his life her son would feel gladness
unaccountably when anyone spoke of the ruined
city of steel in America. Each time almost
remembering something maybe important that got lost.
- 'Trying to have something left over', Jack Gilbert


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(we think there's probably free wine.)

cliche disregarded

relevant..thanks alicia:

giving up what seems your lifetime, what went wrong with something once so good ?
how do you find the words to say..to say goodbye, when your heart don't have the heart to say goodbye ?
i know now i was naive..never knew where this would lead.

was it something wrong that we did ? ..because others infiltrated.

is this the end ? are you sure ?
how should you know when you've never been here before ?
it's so hard to just let go.

irrelevant..but oh so thoroughly appreciated, thanks Elbow:

How dare the Premier ignore my invitations ? he'll have to go.
so, too, the bunch he luncheons with; it's second on my list of things to do.
at the top is stopping by your place of work and acting like i haven't dreamed of you and i and marriage in an orange grove.
you are the only thing in any room you're ever in.
i'm stubborn, selfish and too old.

i sat you down and told you how the truest love that's ever found
was for oneself. you pulled apart my theory with a weary and disinterested sigh.
so yes i guess i'm asking you to back a horse that's good for glue and nothing else. but find a man that's truer than, find a man that needs you more than i.

sit with me a while and let me listen to you talk about your dreams and your obsessions. i'll be quiet and confessional.
the violets explode inside me when i meet your eyes,
then i'm spinning and im diving lke a cloud of starlings.

darling, is this love ?

your one and only source into the scandalous lives of manhattan's elite

there are songs that make us want to dance, songs that make us want to sing along,
but the best songs are the ones that bring you back to the moment you first heard them,
and once again,
break your heart.