stick up for yourself son

these shots by ryan mcginley are stunning.


the models are actual members of the 2010 olympic team


..and they are dressed in the most ridiculously delicate clothing from Rodarte.


the overall effect is pretty awe-inspiring...

more here...


*madder red* yeasayer (new record out today)

we took our souls and we flew away

"I said I love. That is the promise. Now, I have to sacrifice myself so that through me the word 'love' means something. As a reward, at the end of of this long undertaking, I will end up being he who loves. That is, I will merit the name I gave myself. A man, nothing but a man, no better than any other, but no other better than he."

_Jean-Luc Godard_

*comes a time* neil young

any way you run

love lou.



short film for vanessa bruno..

i know my call despite my faults

this is what my saturday night looked like: started out in an beautiful old theater with the ah-mazing chamber orchestra and stunning mandolin concerto by chris thile. ended at a strange house party boasting an insane group of musicians that sounded like someone had picked up a new orleans jazz band and dropped them smack in the middle of echo park. they blew me away..

and speaking of being blown away, i cannot stop listening to mumford and sons.


*the cave*

seriously, i lack the discipline to quit playing their music.
i don't think i've been this enamoured with a newer band since frightened rabbit.


*white blank page* bbc radio 1 session

they are gut-wrenchingly good songs..



good luck getting these out of your head.

i know you know

sometimes i'll go thru dry spells with music where i won't really seek out anything new.
i'll listen to my constant go-to's and not much else..


LA has seen the opposite of dry spells over the last few days - it's been pouring down buckets. so while some people have been completely incapable of driving in the rain and others are on an odd coastal torando watch, i've been sequestering myself indoors watching movies and trying to find something new to keep my attention. today i went to go see an afternoon showing of "the young victoria" (really well done, by the way) and one of the previews was for a concert with world renowned mandolin player, chris thile. i'm hoping to catch the show he's doing this weekend with the LA chamber orchestra and this 20-something juilliard prodigy, nico muhly. but in the meantime, i'm quite entertained by his latest band, the punch brothers...




this is what happens if you start playing mandolin at age 5.

chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on

vampire weekend volume two.
you can listen to their second album "contra" over at npr.com ...
then go buy it because those prepsters did a pretty good job!

and they are giving away one of their songs too..

enjoy!

an always within never

"So here is my profound thought for the day: this is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond. That may seem trivial but I think it is profound all the same. We never look beyond our assumptions and, what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. If we actually realized this, if we were to become aware of the fact that we are only ever looking at ourselves in the other person, that we are alone in the wilderness, we would go crazy."

_Paloma Josse in "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery_

i picked up this book because of two reasons: one, i like books that are set in Paris; and two, because i heard that this was the book that Sofia Coppola is adapting for her next film. despite a slower start, it turns into one of the most charming and gratifying books i've read in awhile. if the film turns out half as good as this brillantly heartbreaking story is, it will still be a film worth your while.


*the giantess* bombay bicycle club