Marina City Towers

Marina.Tower, originally uploaded by scottspy.

AKA the Wilco towers. From Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Oh, LORD

The following is why I love Athenae from First Draft. There are very few people who can rant as coherently as she.

The piece she's having kittens about? Said that Hillary Clinton could take some lessons from Katie Couric. Yes, it makes my head hurt, too.

Diplomacy, intelligence, and genuine leadership abilities a plus.

THEY'RE NECESSITIES. Jesus Christ with a root beer popsicle, they're fucking necessities in the presidency. Woodrow Wilson was a sexist asshole. Bill Clinton fucked around on his wife. George Washington, even by the standards of the day, was pretty fugly. Abraham Lincoln was not the dude you'd invite to your party to liven it up. Yet: smart guys. Leaders. Their "diplomacy, intelligence, and genuine leadership abilities" weren't "pluses," they were reasons they succeeded in the job. These things aren't optional in our candidates. They aren't like getting a spoiler on the back of your car. They're the fucking transmission.

Exhaustion

Since my mom is out of town and we had a wedding* this weekend, we kind of figured that all hell would break loose at the flower shop. And how! We now have a funeral visitation both tomorrow and Monday, and since funerals generally come in threes, we're due another one.

Jen and I were going to stay late today and make both the casket sprays, but when we were both incapable of forming a sentence, we decided to make a fresh start tomorrow.

But it's all good now- I've had a glass of Chardonnay and a Benadryl, and am settling in for a lovely nap. Yay!

*this was a fairly small wedding- only 10 corsages and bouts, 3 bouquets and a few church pieces, but it's never that simple. First, you have to make the arrangements, then on the day of the wedding, double check to make sure that everything is done, then get it to the church on time and set up. It takes time and skill- even for a small wedding.

New obsessions, late nite edition

So as previously mentioned, The Bees have turned me into a Dirty Pretty Things fan. Especially Anthony "Stanley" Rossamondo. And, obviously, Carl "Carlos" Barat. The appeal of the former cannot be more clearly stated than in this post of Odd Bee's. Isn't he darling?

And let me give a "Laurel and Hardy handshake" to the boy-love thing. Mmmm.....

Why we love Stanley so....

This is why we started to love Stanley immediately after the concert where we had full intentions to just worship Mr. Barat. (The first photo where Miss Odd Bee said hmmm, I'm glad I stood on the right side of the stage!)

1. With those curls, he totally fits into our whole Dogs In Space era Michael Hutchence thing.


2. Those curls.

3. He and Carlos love each other and we love Boy Love.


4. Kate was after him and he did hang with her one night and then later admitted he had spent a little too long in her company. HA HA

5. Those curls.

6. He's a Connecticut Yankee and part of the Boston scene (where I lived for five years) so he's our boy.

7. Want a sandwich?


This concludes our ode to Anthony "Stanley" Rossomando.

As you were.

Dirty Pretty Things - Bang Bang You're Dead

The Bees have made a believer of me. Thanks, ladies. Like I need another band to be obsessed with. Oh well, there's always room for more.....

Random Ten

1. Out Of the Sinking- Paul Weller
2. I Hope You're Happy Now- Elvis Costello
3. Tired Of Hanging Around- The Zutons
4. Addicted- Amy Winehouse
5. Pounding- Doves
6. Levon- Elton John
7. Atomic Dog- George Clinton
8. Hard To Beat- Hard-Fi
9. Girlfriend In a Coma- The Smiths
10. Love Bites- Def Leppard

Bonus-
11. Going Down- The Stone Roses
12. Bang Bang You're Dead- Dirty Pretty Things
13. Wasted Little DJ's- The View
14. What Became Of the Likely Lads- The Libertines

Billboard is trying to kill me

First in the series.

New Order bassist Peter Hook is gathering some famous friends to collaborate on his "supergroup" project, Freebase.

The trio -- which comprises Hook, Smiths bassist Andy Rourke and Primal Scream bassist Mani (formerly of Stone Roses) -- will turn the mic over to some of Manchester, England's best-known frontmen.

"We've been working with some great singers," Hook tells Billboard. "(The Charlatan's) Tim Burgess has done a vocal for us. (Oasis') Liam Gallagher, I believe, is doing one [song], (Stone Roses') Ian Brown and (Primal Scream's) Bobby Gillespie."

I am telling you now. The versuscancer concert? Two of the Roses are going to be there. (Ian and my darling Mani)

John? Reni? Whatcha doin' at the end of March?

The NME is trying to kill me

Part of a ongoing series.

Noel Gallagher has joined pal Paul Weller in confirming that he will play at the gig at the Versus CancerMEN Arena, Manchester on March 30.

The Oasis star also joins the likes of Ian Brown, The Charlatans and Echo & The Bunnymen at the charity bash organised by former member of The Smiths, Andy Rourke.

After a number of collaborations at last year's event, including Andy Rourke and Johnny Marr playing together, there is speculation that Weller may join up with Gallagher, as he did in London late last year, and Tim Burgess.

I have no money

Yet I just found 15 bucks to purchase this book. The Stone Roses by Alex Green. All about the Roses first album. SQQQUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

A bow in the general direction of Kazza....

Digital

Yes, this is New Order playing "Digital," the Joy Division song they haven't done in years. Yes, that is my favorite actor, John "24 Hour Party People; Life On Mars" singing alongside Bernard. The person he portrayed in 'Party People.' And my first crush, Peter Hook. I need to lay down now.

Doves - Caught by the river

Fantastic song.

backstreet in the neighborhood

backstreet in the neighborhood, originally uploaded by motocchio.

Such a cool picture. The street lights seem to extend to infinity.

Interview with Alex Arctic at the NME Awards

If you've forgotten what loopily drunk looks like, let me direct you towards this interview with young Mr. Turner at the Shockwave awards. Absolutely adorable. And regarding the potential Monkeys/ Girls Aloud collaboration, well, you can't blame the boys for trying. Look at them! They're obviously attempting to not burst into laughter at their good fortune. Bless them.

Amy & the Arctics

The Winehouse to open for the Sheffield lads at Old Trafford.

Arctic Monkeys have named the groups that will support them at their upcoming summer stadium shows.

Supergrass, The Coral and Amy Winehouse will play warm-up to the Sheffield indie sensation at the Lancashire County Cricket Ground shows.

Speaking about the acts, The Monkeys said: "When we decided to do our own event, we wanted to play with people whose music we love and just make it a really fun day out for the fans.

"Supergrass, The Coral and Amy Winehouse are all amazing live acts and three of our favourite artists. We're really looking forward to playing together. It's going to be two days of great music."

The shows, which support the new Arctic Monkeys album, "Favourite Worst Nightmares", take place on July 28 and 29.

Do-doo-doo-doo-doooh-DAH!

Please excuse the conga line. My current bout with stomach flu be damned, IT'S FITZMAS!

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted Tuesday of lying and obstructing a leak investigation that reached into the highest levels of the Bush administration.

Libby is the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal of the mid-1980s. The case brought new attention to the Bush administration's much-criticized handling of weapons of mass destruction intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war.

The verdict culminated a nearly four-year investigation into how CIA official Valerie Plame's name was leaked to reporters in 2003. The trial revealed how top members of the administration were eager to discredit Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who accused the administration of doctoring prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Dior Homme

Gee, I'm thinking that Hedi Slimane has been listening to a lot of Joy Division.


His collection circa 2007-






















Ian Curtis circa late 1970's-













picture via

Hermes

When I first saw the pics from Jean-Paul Gaultier's collection for Hermes, I thought, "My God, that's too Francoise Hardy for words." Yep, I nailed the cultural reference. And I want that jacket. And hat.

The Libertines - Boys In The Band

For my friends who have never understood what all the fuss was about Messrs. Doherty and Barat.

More Fashion Week

Well, now I've started looking at all the shows. Loved, loved, LOVED the fitted jackets at Balenciaga. I'm quite curvy, so fitted jackets are my best defense against looking, uh, chubby, rather than va-va-voom.

Paris fashion week

I've not quite caught up on the happenings from Paris fashion week, but this coat from Vionnet is my favorite look thus far. It looks soft, warm and cuddly yet extremely chic.

Hysterical

From The Onion

GWYNEDD, WALES—Calling it the planet's last, best hope for saving rock music, the Guardians of the Protectorate of Rock announced Monday that they would take the extraordinary step of unleashing a never-before-heard Jimmy Page riff, hidden for decades in a mythic, impenetrable vault.

....

"Citizens of Rock, we refuse to stand idly by any longer," ZZ Top founder and Protectorate High Elder Billy Gibbons said. "When a puss like James Blunt is allowed to rule the airwaves, we must respond by exposing this monster riff, and blowing minds into the stratosphere."

....

However, after piecing together clues hidden in Yes album covers and Pink Floyd liner notes, rock historians now believe the riff is locked away deep beneath the Welsh countryside house known as Bron-Yr-Aur, at rock-grid coordinates SH735026. British weather satellites have also photographed an enormous cloud, shaped like a hybrid of an upside-down question mark and cross, forming above these exact coordinates.

Primal Scream - Burning Wheel

On Jools Holland's show.

Sisters are doing it for themselves

This article mentions many of the things about Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse that made me develop mad straight-girly crushes on them. As much as I enjoy the whole celebrity red-carpet thing, it's nice to see women who aren't primped, waxed, styled and starved to within an inch of their lives. Behaving themselves.

Amy has been very honest about her issues with bulimia, alcohol, drugs and men. No apologies, it's just who she is. When Diamond Lil didn't win at the Brit Awards, did she smile pretty for the camera and tell reporters that she was honored to be nominated? HELL NO! She went and got knee-walking drunk with the Brothers Gallagher. (lucky)

It's just refreshing, the lack of apologizing for being young.

cross-posted at Oh, Bee-Have