Glitches and Such

Maybe it's just me who's making a big deal out of this. But I just found out that if I don't take my flight on the 16th, I can't get leave St. Louis until 12/28. When I do get back to HK, it'll be 30th. Then I've got to leave and get back to St.Lo on 1/12. Then there's no point in getting back because the tickets are just too freakin' expensive to just go home for like 11 days.

I don't want to spend Christmas here alone, cause all my suitemates are heading back home. I told my little brother about this and he said that it's just Christmas, some freakin' holiday that Chinese don't celebrate. I told him that he'll understand next year, when he's in college. It's not about the holiday, I just want to spend some time with my family. I really miss home :(

Like when I tell my suitemates about this, they said that there'll always be tickets available, it's just the matter of price. But I don't want to waste my family's money, the ticket's like $1500! And I'm not getting a refund for the ticket I currently have.

It's funny. Cause people just don't see your situation as you see it. I'm kinda stressed out right now. I think they're trying to be objective so that I won't get all upset over this. But all I want right now is someone's sympathy. Pathetic, I know.

Well, I hope my professor will move my exam date earlier. Cause he said he stands quite firm on no make-ups unless it's a family or medical emergency. One of my suitemates said I should've lied. Who knew that honesty can be such a bitch.

Sorry if this isn't an entry you were expecting. But one day, I'll read this and just laugh at how this thing unfolded, how upset I got over this little mess up. Life is more than this. I know. People are starving out there and I'm brought down by this?! I know. But little things like these can bog you down.

Kids are Truly Amazing

DJs Sara and Ryusei, aged 8 and 5 respectively.

Who said all Asian kids learn how to play the piano and violin??

Thank You Seabear

It's innocent moments like these that remind to step out of my bubble of self-pity and think about the good stuff in life. Ah it's been a bit stressful after Thanksgiving, needing to catch up with work and all. My flight schedule didn't work out that well. I most probably need to extend my stay here until the 23rd, which means I won't get back to HK until the 25th :(. I might miss out on Christmas day with my family.

But it's OK. I love my family and my family loves me. Just can't wait!

Seabear - I Sing I Swim

Patch-em-Up

Source: Afhakers.nl

Hillman Curtis Shorts: Embrace

Watch here.
Check out more shorts here.

It's All about RE-Inventing

CocoRosie brought a Beat Box along

Never been a big CocoRosie fan, but I really like this take on their song "Werewolf" from their The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn album. The beat box dude reminds me of Kraftwerk somehow...

Source: nialler9

Holy Hail!!

Check it. A New York 4 piece called Holy Hail. Song's called Cool Town Rock.

Download:
Holy Hail - Born of a Star

What's up with the scene lately? Bands seem to be determined to get indie kids to dance. CSS, New Young Pony Club, Shy Child...

Source: Skatterbrain

Domo Domo Domo-Kun

I love this seemingly intimidating, but kind-hearted monster.

Source: Toys r Evil

Panda's Hideout!! #202 - Finally Some Rest

A present for you guys. Hope you find some new gems in it.

Tracklist

Thao Nguyen - Feet Asleep
Pet Politics - In My Head
Ola Podrida - The New Science
Phosphorescent - A Picture of our Torn Up Praise
Okay - Panda
Boat Club - Warmer Climes
advantage Lucy - Miharu
Flipper's Guitar - 3 a.m. op
Supercar - Yumegiwa Last Boy
Entre Rios - Cerca & Extrano
Electric President - I'm not the Lonely Son (I'm the Ghost)
Pandatone - I Forgot if we Dreamed

DOWNLOAD

Martha Sue

"Imagining plant-life that has evolved monstrous traits, Harris' strange chimerical trees, flowers, and fungi are displayed in their (un)natural habitat. Martha Sue deviant vision of botany illustrates relationships and issues within the plant kingdom, but is equally imbued with insights into human emotion and interaction." - from her website

She was also in the Strange Fruit - Bad Seeds exhibitions, displaying her artwork along with John Casey.
Check out more photos from the gallery via John Casey's blog!

Source: John Casey, Martha Sue

John Casey

"My creatures are called monsters by some, but I often feel that the connotations associated with 'monster' don't always apply to these little guys unless one can add descriptors like 'vulnerable' and 'fragile' to the definition of monster. Maybe I have issue with the monster moniker because I see my critters as self-portraits. Nick Capasso, director of the DeCordova Museum, once referred to my work as 'little exorcisms' and I like that description. The idea that I expel my inner demons in the form of drawn, painted, or sculpted critters appeals to me." - John Casey

Some work from a recent gallery of his: Strange Fruit - Bad Seeds

The branch-like nose reminds me of the ones you see on snowmen. Or like an alternate take on Pinocchio...

Go check his blog, he posts up some pictures of his ongoing pieces and gallery visits. Awesome stuff.

Source: Oh-so-fabulous Fecal Face

Socalled aka Josh Dolgin

“Hip hop is all about representing who you are, your crew. I’m this little white Jewish dude living in the country. It doesn’t make sense for me to rap about guns, cars, and hos. I’m not going to rap about hos. What should I make music about? I should try to represent who I am. When I began digging for samples, I found these old Jewish records, and they were a clue about this funky, old tradition that had been forgotten. Yiddish theater, Cantorial music...all kinds of weird sounds…and the records had the most amazing breaks! And I realized that I could make my hip hop - my music from them.” –SoCalled

Download:
Socalled - You are Never Alone (mp3)
Socalled - (These are the) Good Old Days (mp3)

He's got a peculiar way of making music. He's also got a peculiar way of making his MVs.

You are Never Alone


(These are the) Good Old Days

Our Information Age

It's great that we're contributing and sharing what we know with everyone else in the world. However, we also need to look at all these info with critical eyes. Not everything's credible - including this entry.

Gum-to-Gum

Anna Bullus’s Bubble Gum Bin is made from Gumnetic - a new biodegradable material that's made of sterilized chewing gum and bio resin. So more gum in the Gum Bins will make more Gum Bins!

From what I know, Singapore banned the sale of chewing gum because of how well gum sticks to concrete surfaces, like on the sidewalks, etc. It takes high-pressured washing to get them off, wasting water, time, money, and energy that can be directed elsewhere.

Throw your gum away properly OR to save you all that trouble, don't chew gum at all! I don't think gum does much for me... Get mints if you want to freshen your breath.

Anyway, Anna Bullus also made a cushion to go with it: Gunnetic Chewy Pad. Love the packaging.
Source: Inhabitat.com

Green Street Art by Edina Tokodi + Clips by JR

"Eco-minded street artist Edina Tokodi is putting a new spin on green guerilla tactics in the trendy art enclave of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Tokodi’s site-specific moss installations of prancing animal figures and camouflage outgrowths are the talk of a local urban neighborhood typically accustomed to gallery hype and commercial real estate take-overs. Unlike the market-driven art featured in sterile, white box galleries, the work of Tokodi is meant to be touched, felt, and in turn touch you in the playful ways that her animated installations call to mind a more familiar, environmentally friendly state in the barren patches of urban existence." - Inhabitat.com

Edina Tokodi says:

“I think that our distance from nature is already a cliché. City dwellers often have no relationship with animals or greenery. As a public artist I feel a sense of duty to draw attention to deficiencies in our everyday life."

Street art is constantly transformed and it's exciting to see it's progress. It's not just about marking your territory or reclaiming public space from advertising companies, triggering awareness and the lot; now it's stepped up to artist-audience interaction. Art is a type of one-way-communication, where you just take in and contemplate about the messages the artists are trying to convey. Now you can play with moss! How fun is that?!


Relating to awareness-raising, check out JR's FACE 2 FACE & Soweto project if you haven't.

FACE 2 FACE trailer by JR and Marco
Uploaded by 28millimetres

SOWETO - SOUTH AFRICA BY JR
Uploaded by JR

Source: Wooster Collective

Trevi Turned Red

"On October 19th, the waters of Rome’s famous Trevi Fountain turned blood red when a man threw paint into the basin in a bizarre act of vandalism apparently inspired by the Futurists of the early 20th century.

The man, reportedly wearing a beret and a light-colored jacket, struck at around 4.30 pm and then disappeared into the crowd of tourists, leaving behind a pile of leaflets. The fountain, which re-uses the same water in a continuous cycle, soon started spurting red water into the air from its jets, providing an unprecedented spectacle which tourists immediately began photographing. Police arrived and technicians briefly shut off the water before restoring a clear flow.

Experts said the baroque fountain was not permanently damaged and the marble statues depicting the sea deity Neptune on his chariot had not absorbed the color.

“There shouldn’t be any relevant damage,” said Eugenio La Rocca, superintendent for Rome’s monuments.

The news agency ANSA reported that a box was found near the fountain containing leaflets by a group that claimed responsibility for the act. The leaflets found beside the fountain claimed that the coloring of the monument had been carried out by ‘FTM Futurist Action 2007,’ a group which has not been heard of before.

The leaflets state that the group aims to battle against “everything and everyone with a spirit of healthy violence” and to turn this “grey bourgeois society into a triumph of color.” As well, the leaflets proclaim that the red paint was a protest for expenses incurred in organizing the Rome Film Festival and symbolically referred to the event’s red carpet."

Source: Wooster Collective

Learn more about the history of the Trevi Fountain - EternallyCool.net
Or about Futurists - Wikipedia.org

Futurology is the detailed critical inspection and reasoning of the state in which things will develop in the future on the basis of existing circumstances in history. - Wikipedia

(I actually found out that 2 of my professors took their definitions off of Wiki. Cause when I was confused by what I scribbled on my notebook, I went on Wiki and found that their definitions were the same, word for word...)