miri ben-ari.

check out the website of hip hop violinist, miri ben-ari.

israeli born violinist says in her summer reebok ad, "classical turned to jazz, jazz to hip hop and the rest is history. i'm told it took courage. but for me, it just felt right." she's talented, beautiful, & a bit edgy. i've been downloading her music--her album comes out late august/early september. thus far, i've seen conflicting dates on music information sites. she has been featured on 106th & park, the grammys, & assorted kanye west tracks. look for her.

spottieottiedopaliscious.

check out photos from my recent night out at bill's bar.

max the trumpeter.

here is my friend max, from berklee, being amazing at bill's bar. tonight was an absolute pleasure. i, along with joanne, would like to thank you max for playing the trumpet riff from outkast's spottieottiedopaliscious.

us airways.

thanks to an irate email and temporarily misplaced luggage in amsterdam, i am the proud owner of one $200 flight voucher from us airways. lesson learned--always complain to airlines. the question becomes, where should i go? i am currently taking suggestions.

the dead language.

today, i helped my boss conjugate latin verbs. good to know i still got it.

untitled (civil war soldiers).

taken from postsecret.blogspot.com. this postcard reminds me of an episode of the long cancelled but not forgotten loveline, with adam carolla & dr. drew. i was obssessed with loveline in 6th and 7h grade staying up each night to watch. there was once a caller who called in to say that his girlfriend had caught him masturbating to an image of himself. i was drinking kool-aid at the time. upon hearing his confession, i laughed so hard that red kool aid flew from my mouth and landed on my pink floral bed sheets. i still remember him.

davis square, my summer home.

check out the pictures from the davis square apartment. if you know me in my summer incarnation, you know that much of my time is spent drinking, eating, and laughing amid expensive artwork and hippie furniture.

in other world news.

the headline reads: clinton expresses regret in rwanda.

this cnn article states that clinton feels a sense of "personal failure" relating to the genocides in rwanda. i love clinton, i really truly do. if you are one of the handful of people who has not seen hotel rwanda, please go watch it.

i saw it in the theatres months ago & could not help think: why didn't i know about this when it was happening? i know i was a child consumed with wearing tutus and winning spelling bees. but, nonetheless, i come from a family of politicos. as a child, i was forced to watch the mclaughlin group, a quasi nonpartisan sunday morning political program. my father understood this to be "father-daughter" time. thankfully, my political views have been inspired in the image of his. from palestine to affirmative action, he always talked about championing for "the disenfranchised." i have a story to share.

me, 9 years old: why are these people (palestinians) bombing people? why are they killing themselves?
dad, mid 40s: well, shawna, they are disenfranchised? do you know that means?
me: no.
dad: is means that they have been given nothing in this world. what they had has been taken from them. they have nothing. if you give people nothing, they have nothing to live for. that's why you should be pro-palestine.

an ode: men who love women & the women who love them.

i have a theory & it goes a little something like this. there are men in this world who long and crave for the affection of women. they enjoy quick glances, deep kisses, feminine laughs, and good conversation. these men love women. i mean, really love women. and i love these men.

men who love women know that the ride of the breast will always be sexier than the nipple. or, that a head massage can be (although not always) as satisfying as a hand job. these men love you, your mother, your best friend, & the silver haired senior on the T. men who love women know why susan saradon is sexy or why pregnancy is beautiful. they know that your vagina does smell good. they flirt & compliment not for sex's sake but because they like looking at and appreciating women.

don't be mistaken, i do not love your average womanizer though i must admit i'm intrigued by him. no, what i like is the man who enjoys womankind--with or without make-up, shaven or unshaved, silicone, saline or au natural.

further, never think that all men, do in fact, qualify. it takes much more than being a self-identified straight male. in my 20 years, i have run across a handful of men--5 tops--who love women. but to those 5, this is for you.

david lachappelle, part 2.

my house, david lachapelle
model, alek wek

terror attacks in london.

i have yet to figure out if this week's wave of attacks are copycat incidents or a continuation of the bus and tube bombings of july 7. i don't understand the philosophy behind extremism, though i would love to for insight's sake.

motown remixed.

currently, i am listening to motown remixed, a compilation of motown hits remastered by the likes of ?uestlove and dj jazzy jeff. some favorites include rick james' mary jane and the jackson 5's i want you back. the jackson 5 standard is driven by an acoustic guitar layered with contemporary hip hop beats. the lesser known rick james song proves that he was an artist long before he was immortalized in a chapelle skit. it's that good shit that killed him.

from the bay area & back down.

check my california photos here.

my first frida.

self portrait, 1930
my first frida, sfmoma

rize.

see rize, a film by david lachapelle. lachapelle is surreal, sometimes loopy but always provocative artist in the most broad sense of the word. rize is a documentary film about "clowning" and "krumping"--2 urban dance forms born out of south central la. i will be the first to admit that i was taken aback by the face paint and the former crack dealer turned entertainer named tommy the clown. this documentary is worth seeing. you cannot watch this film without nodding in time to the music.

oh, coming out of all asia bar, i witnessed a 6 person fight outside of a local boys club. with reduced faculties, i suggested that they simply krump to prevent such violence. my arms hurt after the night at the bar from doing the freak whenever the mood hit me. i tell you, it's infectious.

david lachapelle (not to be confused with dave chapelle) is a photographer known for his andre breton inspired, highly stylized photos of celebrities, models, and musicians. when justin dressed like elton, lil' kim (bless her heart) dressed like the louis print, and britney dressed like a teenage virgin, lachapelle was behind the lens. check out his site.

pause, play, rewind, pause, play.

the village voice has long been one of my most favorite publications. i read it online regularly, save articles to my dell, and generally marinate on whatever is on the collective radar. writer brandon stosuy writes of the demise of the mix tape. in his article entitled "high fidelity" (note the j5 reference), stosuy entertains the mind with his part-rant, part-intellectual babble about the future of the music industry in the ipod age.

also, check out mix tape: the art of cassette culture by thurston moore. moore's cultural criticism turned coffee table prize piece is stilted and chaotic. clearly, he's not a writer but the idea is ambitious and fun to flip through.

114th.

everyone check out 114th.net, a photoblog that chronicles a columbia student's life and times in new york city. the link--so graciously given to me by precious--is comforting to return to for a break away and a chance to see well-captured urban scenery. for the full catalog, click on archives. some of my favorites include the a photograph taken at the moma and a graffiti mural.

this woman is proud as the angle of her neck demonstrates. she evokes a mid-century look in the vein of halston and skin tight bodices. what intrigues me most is that her look is a golden take on 1950s sexuality. rather than skin-tight clam diggers before lycra allowed exhalation, she wears relaxed-fit red pants. rather than plunging peek-a-boo necklines, she coyly covers with white lace; not to mention the feline glasses. i love confidence in women.

scratch dj academy.

scratch dj academy is the brainchild of new york's finest deejays including the late jam master j of run dmc fame. the academy offers privates lessons and scholastic-style 6 week seminars ranging from 90 to 300 dollars. located on sixth avenue, scatch academy aims to offer "education and access" to the art of turntabling. according to jam master j, "dj's make the world go 'round."

this is something i want to do in the not so distant future. it seems fun and worthwhile like pottery or pilates.