Welcome Varicolored Double Finger Cross Rings

YESSSS

Welcome Shiny Patent Leather Tuxedo Oxfords

YES

Power Probe

Power Play

DIY: Tag, You're It

I love DIY projects because they satisfy my inherently Korean desire for mindless, menial labor.

(Idea via DesignSponge)

What have you been working on?

Reverse Mutton Chops

Take that Kriss Kross!

You'd think a hipster would think of that first, loving irony upon irony and all that.

Paper Magazine + Converse = We Love Art Party

Boat headband I got at an indie sample sale in Madrid!

I Been Had Cholo

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Took a walk around the ol' high school make out points in Pacific Palisades.  Granted I've never actually made out there, or anywhere in high school, it's still a spectacular view at sunset.

Pet turkeys??

Boys Club

I recently watched Tom Ford's directorial debut with his film, A Single Man.  About a man's last day on earth eight months after his partner dies in a car accident, the film explores the life of a prim and proper college professor, George, who struggles with memories of his dead partner, the enticing young men who represent an alternative to suicide, and the happy family life he sees around him, but himself no longer has.  Simplicity is a key theme in this film, and so much gravity is attached to each little action George meticulously carries out: cleaning out his office at work, neatly laying out his suit to be buried in, specifying to use a windsor knot on the tie, and testing the best position to shoot himself.  

Beautifully shot like a Tom Ford fashion campaign, it stars actors Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, both of whom were brilliant in the film.  Ford wrote the part of George's best friend Charley specifically for Moore.  Set in the 1960's, the attention to detail was astounding, from the locations, cars, hair and make-up, even little things like the pen and paper Firth's character George uses: all quintessentially high-end 60's chic.  No tacky bright plastics.  And of course the clothes were immaculate as Ford would insist.  The dress that Julianne Moore wears in the dinner scene was an actual design by Ford's mother in the 60's, who was a dressmaker in Texas.

I listened to a radio interview with Tom Ford about A Simple Man, and he first moved to Los Angeles in his early twenties to become an actor!  What a fantastically different his life took!  Tom Ford is a true renaissance man.

Some bar scenes were shot at Chez Jay in Santa Monica, right across the street from my parent's house. To think Tom Ford was just yards away!

But what got the girls and gays squealing was when Firth's character was cruised by an unbelievably sexy James Dean styled Spanish guy. A high-end fashion model and veteran of Tom Ford's eyewear campaigns, watching Spanish hot hot hottie Jon Kortajarena on screen is a relief from the generally "hunky" editorials he shoots.  He looks less sex-pot and more Sex Pistols, lankier and younger, which had me absolutely rotating in my seat.  Kortajarena is an excellent vessel for classic looks like the James Dean/Marlon Brando white shirt, black boots, cuffed jeans and upswept coif as seen in this shot from on set:

Side Note: It saddens me to think his updo has been snatched from Dean and Morrissey, now known as an Edward Cullen to younger folk, but hopefully credit will be returned to it's rightful owners.

Kortajarena also works wonders in Ford's sophisticated sartorial aesthetic.  I couldn't really see him doing Margiela or Gaultier, but he's totally set as is.

Some graphic relief:

By ck/ck

There's just nothing sexier and more classic than a man in a slim-fitting tailored white shirt, slim black tie and black framed glasses.  This is probably the only look I've consistently loved on men my entire life, and I plan on continuing to love.  It's a shame Mormon door-to-door recruiters had to bastardize this look.

BookBook

Reminiscent of the hollow books to put your guns and weed, here's an antique chic book designed to hide and protect your Macbook

The Bookbook

Each Bookbook is unique, and has a stiff hardback and leather cover to better protect your Macbook than the foamy spandexy laptop covers.  And for $79.99, the average cost of a boring-ass laptop cover, this is a much better deal.

So hipster because you'll look like you read REAL books.  I feel like leatherback books will be the new vinyl records very soon.

Ga-Ga-Great Job!

YESSSSSS

Wolves would have their faces eaten off

NEW OBSESSION

T-shirt line Rich Soil tells the over-hyped Three Moon Wolf t-shirt to fuck off.  These lions don't howl at the moon, they're causing an urban, religious and galactic APOCALYPSE.

Unfortunately, the planet-pouncing lion is sold out online.  Where can I find it?

WTF Video

Timbaland + The Hives feat. the WWE Divas in a Sin City world?

Defiance to Win

One of the more interesting films I've randomly come across at my previous film job was one based on a book based on a true story starring Julianne Moore (who was fantastic in Tom Ford's A Simple Man).  

It's the story of a mother, Evelyn Ryan, who has ten kids, is married to an abusive, alcoholic husband.  Despite this incredible weight of stress and responsibility, she supports her family by entering and WINNING prizes from sponsors as diverse as Bazooka Bubble Gum (a fishing rod and reel) to The Ed Sullivan Show (a G.E. television) to Western Auto Supply ($5,000, a bike, a washer and dryer).  She wins everything from a few dollars to big cash prizes, shopping sprees, home appliances, trips to Europe, life-time supplies of what have you, and even a Ford Mustang AND Triumph TR3 sports car.

Imagine winning one of these with 25 words or less!

A sample of Ryan's quintessentially 60's prizewinners for Jell-O: 

For picnic or party, Jell-O's a boon —
Made by nine, all "set" by noon —
With taste and shimmer-shake appeal,
Jell-O jollies any meal.

Another cute one: 

Every time I pass the church
I stop and make a visit
So when I'm carried in feet first
God won't say, "Who is it?"

I have this film on my Netflix list queue, so I'm looking forward to seeing Julianne Moore play Evelyn Ryan.  What an incredible true story.  Learn more about Evelyn Ryan, the book, written by Evelyn's daughter Terry Ryan, and the film here.

Point being, another method for making one million dollars in 2010 is enter writing contests.  If I win a TV, I'll add the retail value of that TV to my tally.  Gotta cut corners to get the numbers up there!

Teddy Boy

I hate teddy bears.  Well, not hate, but I find that to be drab and typical, especially as gifts.  Flowers and chocolate will never lose their classic charm (if given in amicable conditions), but teddy bears just seem tacky, like giving your girlfriend a Best Buy gift card.

BUT:

this revelation to plush and fashion fans everywhere has changed my mind about bears--well only about this particular one.

The Karl Lagerfeld Bear!!

The Karl Lagerfeld Bear was created as a limited edition project between Lagerfeld and classic toy company Steiff, who apparently invented the "teddy bear" naming it after Teddy Roosevelt, an avid hunter (ironic).

My mom has a MILLION of these Steiff bears and some rabbits.  I don't know why she loves them, they just sit on the shelf in perma-robot dance poses.  They're not cheap, running about $50 for a bear the size of a walnut.  So it's no wonder that the Lagerfeld bear goes for $2,500... if you can find one now.

Fashioned after the real Lagerfeld, it wears the same glasses as Karl, using fabrics as an actual outfit would: denim, flannel, crystal studded silk tie, a Swarovski crystal "KL" belt buckle, and even genuine leather boots!

I never thought Karl Lagerfeld could ever look "cute", let alone anything but "brilliant and terrifying", so this photo KILLS me.

So come Valentine's Day, don't give me a nasty teddy bear, unless it's this bear.  I also take cash, check, and money order.  And actually, Best Buy gift cards sound pretty sweet.

Peekaboo Thigh and Getaway

Modcloth.com posted a great interview with me about KidViskous on their ModLife blog:

Zak Krevitt of Radiantjungle.com was kind enough to do a shoot for me very last minute (he was leaving for Colorado the next day!) and I'm anxious to see how everything came out.


On the non aesthetic work I'm attempting, I've decided to go on my writer's retreat somewhere in Joshua Tree, but looking for places that aren't giant 5 bedroom houses is pretty tough.  If I were richer than God I would stay here:

Yeah, that's not happening anytime soon.  Probably not the best idea to be spending money on a month-ish long retreat when I'm trying to make 1 million dollars by Dec 31st, 2010, but I'm thinking gross, not net.  (Net, not gross? Whatevs)

L.A. is raaaaiiiiiinnnningggggg

Downsized

Brilliant minimalist TV show posters created by UK art collective Blanka.  £50.00 each.


Some of my favorites:

(SO GOOD)

Let's talk why not?

Confirmed another boutique order going to Belgium! Lots of new accounts and countries so far this year, wowzers.

But I wonder...

...at what point in life does it stop being about the money, and start being about the POWER?

VIP MRI

Yesterday I sold some supplies for a total of $2.49. Yahtzee! But I have some new orders in the works and some others that I'm following up on from before the holiday. Hopefully KidViskous jewelries will be making their way to Luxembourg (yay more Europe!) and all over the New England area within the next month!

At the doctor's office today, they had a red velvet rope. No joke. I truly am back in LA.

One Million Dollars: Day One

So far, I've made no money. Instead I spent money in bars and Jack In The Box in the last 24 hours. Not letting that discourage me.


However, am I the only one that thinks Mike "The Situation" from MTV's hair gelled, tanning boothed, girl-punching reality shit storm Jersey Shore looks like Elmer Fudd?

Elmer Fudd


Elmer Fugg

Sing In A Band and One Million Dollars

Taking the initiative of one of my favorite found writers, Kyle Killen--who also wrote the screenplay for The Beaver, now in production with Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster starring--my goal in 2010 is to make a million dollars and sing in a band. You can see his own hilarious effort to get a million and washboard abs in 2005 here. Consequently he fell hundreds of thousands of dollars/calories short in both, and conceded to selling a novel and dunking a basketball in 2006. As for those goals, he instead got married. Good effort. But now he's landed a big movie, whose screenplay I had the utmost enjoyment reading, so he'll get that million dollars and more. Now he can hire really fat people to stand around him so his shirtless torso looks great.

For singing in a band, it has to be on stage, in front of people. Generally this wouldn't be too hard for the average person, but I have a rigor mortis-inducing fear of both singing and being in front of crowds. Luckily I know no one would come to my show, so "in front of people" is satisfied by the bartender and doorman of whatever standardless venue I'm in. It just can't be a practice room, or a bedroom, or someone's mom's basement. And not on a gaming console even if it was on stage (Hillhurst Tavern or something in Los Feliz has Rock Band night on Wednesdays last I checked in 2008).

As for the million, I so far have KidViskous that brings in a bite or two, then there's the Google Adwords on this blog that should bring in tens of cents, and I will be getting a steady job as well. Unless that job is "Will Smith", these bring me to a fraction of a fraction towards my goal. If I'm as useless as my sister tells me I am, it'll be a rough road, but I'm optimistic. As of now in 2010 I've made ZERO dollars. But that's all about to change.

TwoThousINTENSE

You're probably wondering why it took me so long to write, just another abandoned blog. But no more! My absence was the result of having an awesome 2009 I haven't been able to sit down and reflect. Also, I've been frozen in carbonite.

Actually I'm not sure why I haven't been back. It's so cathartic to be able to write for yourself and always nice to have a documentation of where you are, what you're doing, how you're feeling etc. at points in your life. Unless you have a pending court case against you.

My good friend Christine confessed to me that she actually read this blog before she met me and thought it was pretty not horrible, so that was really encouraging and nice to hear. Everyone needs encouraging sometimes. Except rapists.

Reflecting back on 2009, I can't really single out anything worth raving about, it was a fairly average year. I'm getting older so I had the first experience of an ex getting engaged to someone else just months after me (no it doesn't just happen on TV!) It happens a lot apparently in real life, at least to most of the people I know. Maybe that's LA for you.


My thoughts exactly

But the partying has been cut down, probably because open bar gift bag parties are few and far between in this economy, and I've been focusing more on KidViskous than I have in past years. It was a big year for the KV!

I shared a booth at the Aug/Sept Pool Trade Show in Las Vegas with my friends from a fantastic graphic clothing line, Lead Derby. It was awesome because it was my first time both attending and showing, so it was nice to have someone show me what the hell I was doing with all these people walking by judging you and touching your stuff.


White man kicking it while the Asians are at work, ugh of course!


Jim and Jeremy of Lead Derby


Some of the more amazing patrons




Oh there was a Christian Audigier fashion show I COULD NOT miss during the trade show.



I waited and waited, waited through Mickey Avalon's contrived, meth-addled opening performance, such a long wait they must've been busy bedazzling their asses off backstage.


OMG CHRISTIAN! Clothes by Christian Audigier, self-tanner by Slim Jim

Then of course, I had to pee. The bathroom was not far off and I RAN my ass off not wanting to miss a single douchy moment. But of course, somehow within the 8 minutes I was gone, they had the show and the crowd dispersed. Much like the men who wear Ed Hardy, they were all hype, finished too fast and left much to be desired.

But overall the trip was really fun, and they had parties every night, one of which an old favorite Glass Candy performed at the Hard Rock Hotel. KidViskous also got it's first orders to Japan and big ones like Modcloth.com and Metropark! We'll see if I return to Pool in February, I actually couldn't handle the volume of orders that resulted!

Hmmm...trying to think of things I missed not blogging for an entire year. I can't really remember anything totally balls out kickass flim-flam fabulous, so all in all it was a sufficient year to say the least. Hopefully I'll be able to come back here and bore you with my 2010 (TwoThousINTENSE) shenanigans fairly often, if at least to work my spirit finger muscles.




Best claw game ever, fifty dollar bills in it