Weird Crap from American Apparel

So there I was, innocently surfing facebook, when I chanced upon this giant American Apparel ad in my sidebar. The Lace Catsuit. And I clicked on it, because I did not understand the garment. It is a one-piece lace catsuit. What is the functionality of this garment? It's not like you can wear it out in public--it's completely see-through. You'd either get raped or arrested for indecent exposure. It's much to cumbersome to function as lingerie, and if it is, I wish buyers luck with that... But really, I have no clue how/when/why you are supposed to wear this. Throw a skirt on and a blazer? Why not just buy the tights instead of opting for this awkward (and probably itchy) full-body number? I mean, I can see Lady Gaga or Adam Lambert throwing a glittery bra over this one and heading to the VMAs, but what about normal people? Do you walk around your house in heels and practice your Cat Woman stare? Seriously?!

It took me this long to figure out how to make my images big on blogspot.

This year I finally entered the PDN Student Photo Contest. The contest is judged by 3 or 4 professionals in various facets of photography, but there is also a People's Choice section with a separate winner. If you have a minute/actually like my images, it would be sweet if you could throw me a vote (here!). All you need is an e-mail address. These are the photos I entered:







The last two were entered as a series before I found out that a series has to be three images. They are still up, but I need to find a third image that goes with these two since I already paid the entry fee for a series...yeah. Also, I am terrible at titling my work. I find that most titles come out super cheesy and if they don't, it means that you decided on a title when you were creating the work. I usually title images after the model's name, since it's easy and no one can read too much into it. Some of the photos that were uploaded next to mine on the contest were titled "Delicate Thesis." Really? Ugh. That's exactly the kind of disaster I'd like to avoid.

Twilight: Cruel and Unusual Abstinence Porn

I was forced to watch the film "Twilight" last night. Yes, I know, it sounds like something the eighth amendment would take issue with, but it happened, and that's it. I have actually wanted to blog about Twilight for quite some time, but thought my refusal to read the books or watch the movie disqualified me as a legitimate critic (although that didn't stop me from tearing 500 Days of Summer to shreds). The film was awful. The first half hour was pretty funny, but after that I couldn't wait for it to end. It was kind of like when my sister and I watched "Titanic" for the first time and she said, "When is the boat going to start sinking?" and then once the boat started sinking, she said, "When is the boat going to sink?" The script was so badly-written Kate Winslet couldn't have saved it, from "The lion fell in love with the lamb," to "Come on, spider-monkey!" to "Clair de Lune is great."

What is the appeal of this series? As Christine Seifert posits in her excellent essay, "Bite Me (Or Dont)" Bella is in no way in control of her own body in the series. She is completely dependent on Edward's ability to resist sucking her blood and taking her virginity. I don't know about you, but this seems like a pretty shady message to be sending to 13-year old girls. Find a guy who wears Burberry coats, likes Debussy, and just wants to talk! He'll keep your virtue safe! Of course, Stephen Marche in Esquire has suggested that this series is a manifestation of the fact that many straight women want to sleep with gay men by pointing out that Bella is attracted to Edward "because he is strange, beautiful, and seemingly repulsed by her." I find this assertion fairly sexist, but I was really annoyed during the scene when they're kissing, and he jumps back and then they talk all night, fully clothed. I mean, it's sweet and all, but not exactly realistic long-term unless your Edward is really just not interested in sleeping with you. If preteens expect to find said virtuous contemporary-French-composer-loving stud themselves who will take charge of their virginity, a gay guy might be their best bet.



This brings me to my favorite part of Seifert's essay, in which she defines the great new genre Mrs. Meyer has created:

"The Twilight series has created a surprising new sub-genre of teen romance: It’s abstinence porn, sensational, erotic, and titillating. And in light of all the recent real-world attention on abstinence-only education, it’s surprising how successful this new genre is. Twilight actually convinces us that self-denial is hot. Fan reaction suggests that in the beginning, Edward and Bella’s chaste but sexually charged relationship was steamy precisely because it was unconsummated—kind of like Cheers, but with fangs. Despite all the hot “virtue,” however, we feminist readers have to ask ourselves if abstinence porn is as uplifting as some of its proponents seem to believe."

I think of the Rilo Kiley song "Portions for Foxes" in which Jenny Lewis warns us: "The talkin' leads to touchin' and the touchin' leads to sex/And then there is no mystery left." So the Twilight movie (and the New Moon sequel promises) contains lots and lots of not doing it. I mean think about it, in romance novels, do they get it on right away? Of course not! Why read the rest of the book, right? So you can see why I am annoyed with people who wax rhapsodic about the great values this book/movie promotes when it's selling sex Jonas-Brothers-style ("virginity" rings) and crowning young women powerless. As Jessica Valenti posits in "The Purity Myth," our society already puts a disproportionate amount of pressure and value upon young women based on the status of their V-Card, (as opposed to the pressure/lack thereof put on young men) but now Twilight is further suggesting that young women give the key to said young men! Makes a lot of sense.

I hate bands with animal names

I don't know what it is, but bands with animal names seem to be the kiss of the death to any interest I might have had in them. Animal Collective. Sea Wolf. Wolf Parade. Deerhunter. Deerhoof. Grizzly Bear. Minus the Bear. Plants and Animals. Frightened Rabbit. I didn't like Fleet Foxes either, but their most popular song has kind of grown on me but that's about it. Oddly enough I don't hate Pheonix, probably because I don't automatically think of a bird when I hear the word Phoenix. I think of the color red. But anyway, I find this to be a very strange phenomenon, within myself and the world of indie music.

Several years ago, I felt like I pretty much liked most of the same bands my friends/counterparts liked. I don't feel that way anymore. The same people who also liked Stars and Emily Haines in 2007 now like Bon Iver, whom I completely detest. He's a glorified Jack Johnson, and a more boring, hairy one-man Magnetic Fields (And I do like Magnetic Fields). I don't like Animal Collective. Listening to them is like the feeling of apprehension you get right before you hit those ridges on the side of the freeway that are supposed to keep you awake. Ugh. Of course, I am willing to admit that part of reason I don't like these bands is because, for some other reason, I apparently don't like bands with animal names. Which is very strange. I need a psychoanalyst to explain this to me.

Muse-ick

Apologies for my dearth of posts. My new job is really cramping my blogging time, which I consider a good thing, since my job is awesome. I get a Wacom tablet. Anyway, I was a whore for hypem today and found a ton of new music (including, but not limited to, a Lady Gaga song I subjected myself to because I really could not believe what I was hearing. Read: "Alejandro.") Here are a few songs regarding unrequited love/awkward romantic advances:



"Mrs. Cold" by Kings of Convenience- I'd heard this song before but it really grew on me after I listened to it more. Kings of Convenience have a strange ability to sound delicate and masculine at the same time.

"Manhattan" by Cinerama- My only complaint about this song are that there might be a little too much of it, in length and like, yeah, we get the point. Other than that, as my sister would say, it's perfectly satisfactory. The spoken part involving British accents reminded me of Harper.

"Pretend I Don't Exist" by Melody Gardot- Kind of a Madeleine Peyroux-y song. Not my usual cup of tea, but enjoyable all the same. Just waiting to occupy the three-quarter-break-up-rain-scene of a romantic comedy.

Also, since several people I follow have blogged about Laura Veirs, I must say she has grown on me as well. I first listened to "Wide-Eyed, Legless," which drew obvious comparisons to Sufjan Stevens and maybe Eisley? but not in a good way. But I'm happy to say that her other tracks from "July Flame" are much stronger and individual, shall we say, her finger-picking, ballads, and fanciful imagery refreshing.

If anyone else is on tumblr, so am I! I have a new layout (which I think Tiffany had last year) based on the graphic design from the movie poster for the Hitchcock film "Vertigo."

Welcome to Hell

I thought this was quite funny. I love the British. "Welcome to Hell" by Rowan Atkinson

Shameless Piggy-Back Post

I do not know what it is, but our last Masculin/Feminin post took me forever to finish and I barely did anything--I batch edited the photos in RAW for heaven's sake! Anyway, since I haven't posted today, I'm going to post a bit about this last post, which is much more theatrical and therefore time-consuming than our previous posts. I've been obsessed with the film À bout de souffle for years now. David and I always say that we want to dress like Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, but we haven't really gotten there yet. Belmondo wears baggy, ill-fitting suits in the film which is nothing short of a cardinal sin to David, and Jean Seberg's wardrobe involves something called vintage (I mean real vintage) which I usually don't fit into (ironic, because I'm wearing a dress from the girl's section in the photo above but can't wear vintage that was once meant for adults). But we're giving it a stab nonetheless. It's such a romantic film, not just because of the plot and subject matter, but the styling and costumes really contribute as well. Jean Seberg's androgynous, cropped-off hair and dark, liquid liner illuminates her as the perfect femme fatale.