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May 30, 2006
Visionary
"I am a deeply superficial person."
~Andy Warhol
Posted by Charlie at 12:18 PM | Comments (2)
At The Wynn
At the Wynn now, one of the most luxurious and romantic hotels I've ever had the pleasure of staying in. The bathroom alone is bigger than my entire apartment, and the view from the 36th floor is breathtaking. Las Vegas has always been a strange city to me, and this current visit has not really changed my opinions. There's a weird, transient vibe here. It's like this city is desperately trying to find some sort of self-identity, and attempts to do so by imitating different worldwide landmarks, assuming their personalities and traits (or at least attempting to do so). Las Vegas reminds me of me, when I think about it.
Posted by Charlie at 03:02 AM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2006
Stage 5 of the Grieving Process
In amidst the grieving process of the sudden disappearance of my S400, I went out and impulse-purchased its replacement, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01. It's a tiny gem of a camera with widescreen and image-stabilization capabilities. With Ms. Chang visiting from out of town there was many an opportunity to whip it out and play Asian tourist. Already took about 200 pictures; below is a random selection. Let's hope this camera will make it to 10,000 photos.
Posted by Charlie at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2006
Somewhere, Out There
It is with great sadness and regret that I announce the sudden passing of my trusty Canon S400. After over two years and 9,500 photos we've become our own version of Bonnie and Clyde, partners in crime, sneaking up behind unsuspecting friends with one finger on the shutter button. All great things must come to an end, and during one fateful night you were taken away from me. I hope wherever you are now your new owner takes good care of you... Goodbye, my sweet sweet S400...
Posted by Charlie at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2006
Niche Modern
Some sexy hand-blown glass pendants from Niche Modern.
Posted by Charlie at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2006
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XII isn't even out yet, and already screenshots from Final Fantasy XIII are making their way around the internet universe. Everything looks so pretty...
Posted by Charlie at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2006
Like All Great Things...
There is a romantic notion of meeting someone very awesome and wonderful and spending most of your waking life with them, all the while knowing that sooner or later you must part with them whether you like it or not. It's like globe-trotting to some foreign country and coming across a great travelling companion: You experience new things together, learn more of each other, from each other, but by the end of the trip you end up going back to your respective homes and lives. A honeymoon, without the first date or engagement period.
My life is very much like that.
I often wonder about those who I've come across; I hope those who are far away from me are doing well, wherever they are.
Posted by Charlie at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
Post-ICFF High
Task lighting from Bestlite. Scandinavian-inspired design.
Fabricius & Kastholm's sexy buffet table/media storage unit.
Tord Boontje's Mini Blossom for Swarovski, made of LED lights and crystals. Perfect for the dining table or bathroom.
Multi-function tables from NONdesigns, able to hold plants or fruits or whatever storage needs you need fulfilled.
A cooking unit from Tikappa, perfect for that small apartment or a second kitchen.
The Salon Chair from Wittmann is curvacious and sexy.
Marimekko's 2006 collection.
Modular shelving and storage units from Estoli.
Posted by Charlie at 12:13 PM
May 22, 2006
The National
Last night's impromptu outing to see a sold-out concert with The National was the best decision I've ever made on a Sunday night. These guys ROCKED. There are very few bands that sound better live than they do on their album, and these guys are on the very top of their game.
Posted by Charlie at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
An ICFF Weekend Indeedy
Capping off what will forever be one of the weirdest and most random weekends of my life was a day trip to ICFF, or the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, also known as the Let's-Just-Toss-Charlie-a-Few-Hundred-Orgasms-
and-Make-Him-Cum-So-Hard-He-Becomes-Blind Fair. Hundreds of vendors and thousands of products, from bathtubs to beds to chairs to sofas to lighting. Holy shit, where does one start?
From big-name companies like Herman Miller and Kartell to smaller, independent studios like Shinma and Chilewich, design innovation was abound and aplenty. The tiled carpeting trend, jump-started by FLOR, has gained competition from new companies hoping to carve a name for themselves in the field. LED lighting had a quiet but significant start with Yves Behar's Leaf Lamp for Herman Miller, as well as the beautiful Tord Boontje 'Blossom' chandelier, a 200-LED light sensation fashioned from Swaroski crystals into the shape of a Japanese cherry branch. My new favorite wallpaper company Timorous Beasties was also there, showcasing their latest line of wall coverings. I spotted Kanye West making a purchase at an Italian sofa maker; he has really nice skin.
There was way too much to take in. I was a little surprised at the underrepresentation of Japanese design this year; only a handful of booths were from Tokyo. Also notably absent was China, a country that has made many design innovations in the past several years.
We ran through the aisles with fervor, picking up brochures here and there, and after a few hours we were done. There was a stationary convention happening on the top floor of the convention center, and after a quick run-through of that entire visual explosion I was ready to return to ICFF where the people were thirty pounds lighter and better dressed.
Posted by Charlie at 01:10 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2006
Hipsters Gone Wild
Sunday morning. 4AM. 60 degrees. Partly cloudy. Being one of several sober people at this party, I've come to a realization that no one can escape looking like a complete moron after getting a keg full of beer into their system, not even Williamsburg hipsters. Despite the very entertaining scene that unfolded right before me, I am thankful that I left just in time, right when the pants were beginning to come off.
Posted by Charlie at 07:59 PM | Comments (0)
M-I-C-K-E-Y
Happy dogs have the ability to melt the coldness in my heart like no other.
Posted by Charlie at 07:56 PM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2006
Beyond Good And Evil
At these turning points in history there shows itself, juxtaposed and often entangled with one another, a magnificent, manifold, jungle-like growing and striving, a sort of tropical tempo in rivalry of development, and an enormous destruction and self-destruction, thanks to egoisms violently opposed to one another, exploding, battling each other for sun and light, unable to find any limitation, any check, any considerateness within the morality of their disposal...
~Nietzsche
Posted by Charlie at 12:20 AM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2006
眠そう
疲れた！体が痛む。ね、ウォンカさん、遊ぼうか？遊ぼうか？
Posted by Charlie at 02:33 PM
May 16, 2006
MacBook
Apple finally retires the PowerBook moniker and completes the transition to portable Intel-based Macs with the release of the MacBook line. This little beauty comes with a powerful Duo Core processor, a glossy 13-inch widescreen and a built-in iSight.
Posted by Charlie at 05:10 PM
May 15, 2006
ゲド戦記
Ursula K. Le Guin's treasured Earthsea novels are coming to animated life this summer with the release of ゲド戦記 (literally translated as The War Tales of Ged). Le Guin is one of my favorite writers, with stories heavily based upon gender, sexual and cultural politics, and with Studio Ghibli helming the visual realization of her works (with Hayao Miyazaki's son directing to boot), this is going to be a double-whammy of artistic delights.
Posted by Charlie at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
病気なんてくそ食らえ！
It's been pouring for most of the past weekend, but I don't really mind it because the grey skies are very fitting of my mood of the moment. Issue's closing in a few days, and I have been (somewhat) swamped this past week, but all I can think about now is wrapping myself with my down comforter and reading a good book while sipping hot cocoa. With someone cute. In a log cabin in the woods.
Posted by Charlie at 09:22 AM
May 14, 2006
The Musing of Hairy Legs
My father once told me to NEVER shave my legs because, as he puts it, men who have plenty of hair on their legs are destined to become rich someday. Not that I have an incentive to out and get smooth legs, and not that my legs were very hairy to begin with, but imagine my surprise this evening when I started noticing that some of my leg hairs have somehow FALLEN off, as if they've gotten too exhausted to hang on and decided to just let go. I counted quite a number tonight; does that mean that I'm destined to not become wealthy someday? Ah, the incongruity of Asian superstitions.
Posted by Charlie at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2006
That Girl Will Break Your Heart
I remember when I first arrived here, in New York City. Big changes are coming.
Posted by Charlie at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)
くそ食らえ！
だが、俺は未だ彼を。チェ！
Posted by Charlie at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2006
「アート」
最新のものが見たい。それは少しでも先の未来を知りたいから。一目見ただけだと分からないことでも直感が動く瞬間。それを「アート」と呼んで来た。
Posted by Charlie at 12:37 AM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2006
MYLO
Posted by Charlie at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2006
Faces On The Moon
Stress-relief balls designed by Yoshida Makiko.
Posted by Charlie at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2006
Steven Klein + Madonna
Posted by Charlie at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
Citrus
Hell yizzah! Asobi Seksu's next album comes out at the end of the month, with a release party at Joe's Pub on June 1st. Summertime and cold soba noodles officially arrives with this album.
Posted by Charlie at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2006
*********
A kiss is the best send-off to a good night's sleep. Been missing some of those these days.
Posted by Charlie at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
(Re)Designing Oneself
I'm taking relationship advice from Mr. Rashid, and surprisingly I'm learning a lot from him. I'm not a fan of his works really, but I do admire his philosophies.
Posted by Charlie at 10:08 AM
May 03, 2006
Greenpoint Fires & Real Estate Drama
Yesterday when I woke up I looked out the window and, seeing the dark gray overcast, I readied my umbrella for an impending rainstorm. On the train ride across the bridge however, I saw what turned out to be the "biggest fire since 9/11." An abandoned warehouse all ablaze, its smokey plumes literally blanketing Williamsburg in its entirety. Even on the train ride back home the fire fighters were still battling the blaze. Craziness. I immediately wrote it off as a secret ploy for the insurance money. But then...
Today, Curbed has dug out some really interesting information on the landlord and the buildings that burned down... I'm not really a big fan of gossip, but stuff like this gets my attention going like no other:
The buildings were up for preservation—several were expected to pass. The property is owned by Joshua Guttman, a landlord who has a history of his buildings burning down when its rezoning time. When the buildings burned two things happend: the chance for preservation dropped, making the architects renderings more likely; instead of paying for cleanup and abatement of toxic materials, all that shit burned into the air. Yay world-trade-center style cancers.
Oooh... something's goin' DOWN!
Posted by Charlie at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2006
Massssage?
For the past several visits my hairstylist has taken the habit of giving me a ten-minute massage everytime I go in to see her. Not just a head massage during the shampooing and rinsing--I mean a full-on, neck/shoulder/upper/lower back kind of massage. It feels really good, and I want to enjoy it, but what kind of hairstylist provides this kind of service? My emotions are conflicted: I'm sitting in the chair, staring at myself in the mirror going, "should I express reactions of approvement and pleasure? Do the other people waiting for their haircuts get a complimentary massage as well?" Not knowing how to react, I end up sitting stiff and more rigid than before I sat in the chair. I hope I'm not the only one who is getting this kind of treatment; it would be weird if I was.
Posted by Charlie at 10:00 PM | Comments (2)