Oscars pt. 2 February 25, 2008

In the post-Oscars round-up, here’s my favorite analysis, referencing the god-awful dress worn by Rebecca Miller:

Daniel Day-Lewis’ wife is Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and photographer Inge Morath. She’s a published fiction writer who’s also directed several films (Personal Velocity, The Ballad of Jack and Rose). She’s just too smart and cool to be wearing that dress unironically. I honestly suspect that she and DDL were deliberately spoofing the whole who-are-you-wearing red-carpet culture by dressing as they did—note his brown suede clodhoppers poking out from that black tuxedo (which, for all we know, he made himself during his summer interning with a master Florentine cobbler). Rebecca’s dress even has a certain Victorian/frontier-brothel vibe that may be a tribute to the period setting of There Will Be Blood. After observing him throughout this awards season, I’ve decided that Daniel Day-Lewis actually is some sort of hyperevolved exemplar of superior humanity. He’s what every doting parent falsely imagines their child to be: more beautiful, gifted, intelligent, and gracious than anyone else alive. Maybe Rebecca’s dress is her way of saying, “Fuck you, world. I’ve landed Daniel Day-Lewis and I can wear anything I want.”

From Dana Stevens at Slate.com

Oscars! February 24, 2008

I don’t have a ton to report here–go to any website and you can find the winners–but here are a few of my favorite moments from the 80th annual Academy Awards.

–”Falling Slowly” from Once beat out three songs from Enchanted to win best original song. The band started playing (to indicate that time for speeches was up) before Marketa Irglova got to speak, and I was really sad, but then after the commercial break Jon Stewart invited her back out and she gave a lovely little speech.  

–Marion Cotillard won best actress for La Vie en Rose, and even though I haven’t seen the movie, she was adorable and totally shocked. I’m not sold on her fish-scale style dress, but she’s certainly beautiful.

–Amy Adams carried the doll version of her Enchanted character on the red carpet.

–With a 1,399 carat diamond necklace, Nicole Kidman proved that more is not always more. I thought it looked awkward. Plus, 1,399 carats? Jesus.

For a very entertaining look at what life in the Kidman-Urban house might be like, check out the always funny Go Fug Yourself girls.

–I just scored 9/10 on People.com’s “Guess the Oscar Dress” quiz of pictures of past stars with their faces covered. It dated back to the early ’90s, so I don’t hold it against myself that I missed Demi Moore.

Scissors video! February 11, 2008

Here is the music video for “Scissors” (off the album The Vigilante) by my friend/awesome singer-songwriter-piano player Ariel S. Lee, starring her (of course) and directed by me. We discussed the video last fall, shot over winter break in Sacramento and Santa Cruz, and now it’s finally done. Enjoy!

Skinny boys February 7, 2008

Anyone who knows me knows my preferred physique for boys (see above). While my sister and most of my friends disagree and tease me, apparently the fashion world is totally on my side. There’s an interesting article today in The New York Times about how, while we’ve been caught up in a hooplah about female models being too thin, male models have been shrinking to total waifs. I personally love the aesthetic, but what about the poor handsome buff men who can’t get work?

Fashion week February 6, 2008

We’re in the midst of the craziness that is New York fashion week, and I’ve found plenty of totally weird stuff (see below for a white deer headdress…) and lots of glorious clothes, too. Below are a few of my favorites.

Both Behnaz Sarafpour

Monique Lhuillier

Badgley Mischka

Benjamin Cho

More Benjamin Cho

Apparently I only like dresses. Hmm.

New issue! February 2, 2008

For anyone in the Sacramento area, check out the new issue of Sactown, with bluesy-rock musician Jackie Greene on the cover. I worked on the V-day gift guide, did some reporting about a diamond jeweler (he sold Paris Hilton her 24-carat engagement ring, back when she was engaged to the other Paris), and did random other things. Plus, the stuff I didn’t do is cool too.