Supermodel Pets Part 3

March 9, 2012, 11:31 am

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Fashion photographer Richard Phibbs is back with another batch of adorable adoption glamour shots for the Humane Society of New York. Since shelter animals with flattering photos tend to be adopted quicker, Phibbs donates his services to HSNY, snapping pets in snazzy bow-ties, hats and scarves. All of the dogs and cats in this gallery are ready to go home and if you have any questions about any of the furry faces featured here, HSNY is happy to answer them at (212) 752-4842. Below, a little background info from HSNY executive director Sandra DeFeo on some of these pups and kitties in need of homes.

 
Tigris is six months old, blind and was found soaked after the tail-end of Hurricane Irene passed through New York this summer. She's very sweet and loves other cats.

Cano has been at the Humane Society for over a year now due to a bad leg injury he arrived with. He is now fully recovered, feeling great and looking for a home where he can be the only dog.

Dominique had a broken leg when she arrived but has since recovered. (You might remember her from our December post, which featured her with a tiny cast on.)

Zoe was recently adopted but was returned because she was having a hard time getting along with other dogs. DeFeo says she can be a bit of a bully but is very funny and just needs to find a home where she's the center of attention, without kids or other animals.

Mia, Beauregarde, Cornwallis, Grace and Guinevere all belonged to the same owner, who became homeless and could no longer care for the dogs.
 
Ashton is "exuberant" and needs a home where he can romp around and get a lot of exercise.

Both Hope and Sunny were adopted from kill shelters in the South. They were brought to  New York as potential additions to the musical Annie as Sandy. Hope didn't make the cut but Sunny might still be used in the production.

RELATED:

Supermodel Pets: Richard Phibbs' Humane Society Adoption Portraits
Supermodel Pets Part 2: More Richard Phibbs Adoption Portraits

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Big Deal's Alice Costelloe Gears Up for Her NYC and SXSW Debuts

March 9, 2012, 11:35 am

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Visiting the offices of Mute Records, the iconic indie label behind Depeche Mode, Erasure and Moby, would be a holy pilgrimage for many. But for Alice Costelloe, the 19-year-old singer-guitarist of the London duo Big Deal (her sole bandmate is California native Kacey Underwood), it's more like a "school outing."

For starters, Big Deal is not an electronic act: Costelloe and Underwood rely only on their guitars -- usually an acoustic and an electric chugging out lines that would work just as well with Dave Grohl smashing away behind them -- and their voices. But their refusal to dilute the immediacy and, let's face it, romantic ambiguity of their setup is what makes their 2011 debut, Lights Out, such a choice late-night album.

PAPERMAG phoned Costelloe at her East London apartment, where she filled us in on everything from gigging as a tween to the band's top priority once they hit New York this weekend for shows at Glasslands at Mercury Lounge (hint: it will probably involve the word "Ray's").

Am I just talking to you, Alice, or is Kacey in there somewhere?

It's just me. Kacey's playing basketball, actually. I'm way better than him, anyway, so don't worry about it.

Yanks, who needs 'em. So where are you right now?

I'm just sitting in my bedroom. We just practiced, so I'm just relaxing.

You guys still practice in the bedroom?

We normally do, but we're going off to Europe tomorrow morning so we figured we should probably do a proper one in the studio before we go.

This will be your first time in the States. Any plans?

We have to go get pizza, because Kacey loves pizza, and apparently that's the best place for it. That's pretty much the only plan.

How're you feeling about SXSW? Have you heard much about it, what it's like?

We saw our friends in Grouplove the other day and they were like, "Wow, just prepare yourself. It's like a weeklong party. You should sleep until then." It sounds pretty crazy.

How has life changed since the album came out?

I finished school last summer, so we have so much more time now and we pretty much just spend every day trying to write. Sometimes it's just like hanging out, but you still feel like you're working on something. Yeah, and Kacey quit his job, so this is just what we do now. So I think we feel a bit more kind of pressure to work hard 'cos we don't have any other distractions.

When you did the album, were you ever tempted to bring in bass and drums? Did you ever doubt the power of your setup?

I mean, we still "doubt the power." When we recorded the album, we literally went from just writing these songs in our bedrooms do being like, Oh, we can record it as an album now, and there wasn't even time for us to think, Does it actually make sense to just have an album of two guitars? And so we didn't have time to doubt it; it was too late once we'd done it. But I think, you know, the really great thing about working with Mute is that we wanted to just be able to make our album straight away because we had it ready and we didn't want to lose this energy we had and realize that what we were doing might not work. And yeah, it's only now that we crave the drums.

The official video for Big Deal's "Distant Neighborhood"

Have you thought about that for the next album?

We still gotta concentrate on this one first I think. But who knows? Maybe the next one will be an electro album. I don't know. It won't be, probably.

Do you both live in East London?

Yeah. We don't only stay in East London, but West London is a whole different place. The studio was in Mute's offices in Hammersmith, which is kind of a great place to record. I don't know if you know Hammersmith, but there's nothing there, there's no distractions...it's like a foreign place for us. Going to the Mute offices is like going on a school outing or something.

What was the first album that made you fall in love with music?

I think it was this album that my stepdad played when he first moved in, so I was a little kid. It was The Velvet Underground & Nico. Yeah, I just remember like just wanting to hear all those songs again, and I never really like heard that kind of music 'cos my parents had never really been that into music, or if they were it was kind of like Patsy Cline or Van Morrison. So it was the first kind of, you know, more relatable music. Yeah, I think it was that one.

As a guitar player, who are your favorites?

[Laughs.] I so don't even think of myself as a guitar player, so you've totally thrown me off. Kacey's the guy that's all about the guitar parts and I'm all about the vocals or something. When I was growing up I was a really big Smiths fan, really into Johnny Marr, but I don't really know that much about guitar, so, I like it all.

What was the last thing you listened to?

Zuma by Neil Young actually just broke my record player, which is really, really annoying. But yeah, that's why I know. 'Cause it broke. Amazing record.

Big Deal plays Glasslands on Sunday, 3/11, with 2:54 and Zaza. Tickets here. They play Mercury Lounge Monday, 3/12 with 2:54. Tickets here.

The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" Is Our Music Video of the Day

March 9, 2012, 12:15 pm

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The Notorious B.I.G.'s  "Juicy" was, is, and will long continue to be, an ultimate party jam. The video for the song features Biggie Smalls throwing a pool party, hanging out with his mother, Voletta Wallace, and P. Diddy looking like a big dork in swim trunks. In honor of the 15th anniversary of Biggie's passing today, we're making "Juicy" our music video of the day, Oldie But Goodie Friday edition. R.I.P., Biggie! We hope you're hanging out in heaven with a t-bone steak, cheese, eggs and Welch's grape.

Click on the photo above to watch the video or go here.

7 Years Of Life Waiting Tables In a 3-Minute Clip

March 9, 2012, 1:05 pm

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Paper photographer and frequent contributor Atisha Paulson has moonlighted as a waiter at popular LES haunt Freeman's for the past seven years. Check out this video he made featuring all the photos he's amassed in his time at the restaurant, including behind-the-scenes shots and lots of late-night revelry. Paulson set the video to Rihanna's  "We Found Love," and, while it's a great party jam, we think Loverboy's "Everybody's Working for the Weekend" would have also worked nicely. Anyway, check out the video above and, on a more romantic note, also take a peek at these great photos Paulson recently snapped on his  honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. 

L.A.'s Crazy Underground Steam Room Inside a Disco Ball

March 9, 2012, 1:55 pm

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Click to view image full-size

We recently heard rumors of a mysterious happening in downtown Los Angeles involving a giant disco-ball-shaped steam room. Reportedly, the artist who created it fires it up once a week and invites friends, and friends of friends, over for steams. We needed to investigate.
 
The disco-ball steam room is inside artist Michael Parker's warehouse studio, in a desolate offshoot of downtown. The vibe was laid-back, respectful, friendly, and not creepy, with about 40 people, including some familiar faces. The disco ball turns out to be more of a disco egg on stilts, like a lunar capsule or hot air balloon. Entry is via a hole at the bottom and requires a bit of climbing, groping into total darkness, and asking "room for one more?" (it fits 6-8 people, snugly, on a bench around the widest part of the egg's circumference). The steam was infused with lavender and rosemary, which someone said were picked from the side of a highway.

In an adjacent room, there was a mesmerizing screening of Harry Bertoia's sound sculpture films. Next to the mirrored steam-ship, a DJ (Tim Leanse) played similarly themed noise records, as a projected candlelight installation by Lucky Dragons refracted off the disco-mirrors, throwing pixels of light around the dark room.

Our last steam of the night, by chance, was shared with Michael, the man behind this odd, sensorial communal sweating, and he noted that every week the atmosphere is different. To avoid it becoming insular, he and his studio mates invite different artists to DJ, select steam scents, and create "engaged installations." The smells include the obviously pleasant, such as mint, ginger, and rose, as well as the more experimental, like horseradish and seaweed. The installations range from video screenings to live death metal to a waterfall coming out of a hyperbaric chamber in the rafters, with associated cold plunges (by artist Joel Kyack).
Parker recently received a provisional patent (classifications: Bottom-Entry Saunas, Steam Rooms, Steam Eggs). We hope he gets it.

Photo courtesy of Michael Parker.

RELATED:
Hollywood Hunx: On the Boulevard with Seth Bogart
An L.A. Tour With Peggy Noland

Chef Dale Talde On His New Restaurant, His New Mullet and Going to Therapy

March 9, 2012, 2:30 pm

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The Park Slope, Asian fusion restaurant, Talde, has been packed since it opened in January, largely due to the huge fan base of chef Dale Talde, 33, a contender on Top Chef and Top Chef All Stars. He and his partners, David Massoni and John Bush, are shooting for a late-spring opening for their new place nearby in what used to be Aunt Suzie's. He won't divulge the name of it yet but the super-casual concept has inspired him to start growing a mullet.

Please explain the mullet thing to me.
Yes, I am trying to grow one (he sounds reluctant).

But why?
A lot of the inspiration for me about what the new space will be came from watching Patrick Swayze in Roadhouse. The space is kind of being designed in the same vein. By growing a mullet, I'm showing my faith in the concept.

Do you have a girlfriend?
She doesn't know about it yet. She's not going to be happy.

She'll know now.
I tried to grow a mustache when we were opening Talde and we had some fights about it. She said, "That thing looks ridiculous on you. Shave it off." I only had about 13 facial hairs and they were getting long. I'm Filipino-American so I can't grow facial hair. It was a bad attempt at a mustache. I've had a quasi-mullet before, which I liked, but she hated it.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes over. I don't know if I've ever seen a good mullet.
Patrick Swayze had what's known as a sweet mullet. He had the sweetest of sweet mullets, but I don't know if I'd ever call them good.

So you're resurrecting two unpopular things: mullets and 'fusion' cuisine, which nobody wants to admit to serving anymore. You don't run away from the term.
If I'm the champion of those two causes -- mullets and fusion -- let it be known. We need to break those stereotypes. There's such a bad rap on fusion cuisine, but that's who I am and we're going to try to change that. My parents came to the United States as adults from the Philippines and I grew up as an Asian-American eating my mom's cooking, what she used to eat at home, and eating tater tots for lunch at my public school in Chicago. I have such an affinity for tater tots they're going to be on the menu at the new place.

You had a lot of delays with opening Talde. It was supposed to open last fall, right?
There were liquor license issues, waiting for permits, needing more cash. I asked my parents for a loan. They're here this weekend so it's the first time they've seen their investment. My dad has been busting his butt since he was 8, basically supporting his family in the Philippines after his dad died. He put eight of siblings, including half-brothers and sisters, through college plus three of us kids. He's the best father anyone could have ever had.

Is there any downside to being a reality star?
It's great for business, but it's tough on my significant other -- when you're out for dinner and someone wants to snap a picture of you, or walk up to you and say, 'Hey, how's it going? I know you from somewhere,' and then chat your ear off. It's been totally cool, but people think they know you and they literally only know minutes of your life. They want you to act like you do on the show but you can't duplicate that kind of stress and pressure at any given moment. We don't want to be a restaurant that people only come to because of the show. We want it to be an everyday restaurant that the neighborhood embraces. So far we've been blessed.

Would you ever want your own cooking show?
No. I want to be a chef in a restaurant.

You did one of those Munchies shows with Vice earlier this week. What was that like?
We went to Franny's and then a place called Pearl's, and drank a fair amount. I don't know how much. Then we all came back to Talde and I cooked chow fun noodles with braised pork shanks at about two in the morning. There were 30 people here, and this was after being at the restaurant since 9 a.m. and working all day. My girlfriend found me about four in the morning sitting up on the couch, still in my jeans and T-shirt and shoes, sound asleep. Then I had to be back at the restaurant by 10 a.m.

I keep hearing from people who work with you how nice you are, which isn't always the case with chefs.
When you see yourself not being nice on TV it's a real gut check. It's really embarrassing. The great thing about being on that show was letting me see myself the way other people see me. It's a unique perspective, and if you can be strong and change things about yourself, it's a good thing to take away from it. I was not a happy person before. I didn't like myself very much. I went into therapy for a couple of years and learned what was going on with me. I'm happier now. If you want to be the next Tom Cruise and do a lot of shows, then that's the path you've chosen. I love what I do. I wouldn't want to change it for the world. But I'd like a day off now and then.

Dictator Cakes + Marijuana Named After Jeremy Lin = Eight Items Or Less

March 9, 2012, 3:05 pm

≫ Next: Miike Snow's "The Wave" Is Our Music Video of the Day

≪ Previous: Chef Dale Talde On His New Restaurant, His New Mullet and Going to Therapy

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1. Look at this Tumblr that uses law enforcement composite sketch software to come up with portraits of famous literary characters like The Great Gatsby's Daisy Buchanan (above).


2.  And in more animals behaving like humans news, check out these penguins flying first class on Delta. [Yahoo News]


3. Calling all Kindle users: in honor of yesterday's being International Women's Day, why not check out a high-larious Kindle single (a.k.a. book) about lady hair problems, Bearded Lady, by Mara Altman, author of Thanks For Coming.

4.  There's a marijuana strain named after Jeremy Lin. And no, it's not called 'Harvard Schwag' or something stupid, it's 'Lin Sanity OG,' duh. [The Observer]

View image larger

5. British artist David Shrigley has a new piece, How are you feeling?, on display as a billboard along New York's High Line. Part of a new series, the billboard will be located at 10th Ave at West 18th St. and will be on view from April 5-May 7, 2012.

6. Does looking at art make you hungry? Tomorrow at the Flag Art Foundation Cool Haus ice cream sandwiches will be serving up some tasty morsels for the Armory show. You can choose from chocolate chip, s'mores or red velvet cookies and tahitian vanilla bean, nutella or baked apple ice cream.

7.  Speaking of tasty morsels, Amnesty International has a new campaign featuring dictator cakes. We wanna know what flavor does the Castro cake come in? [Laughing Squid]

8.  Check out a 1995 Barnes & Noble ad in New York Magazine for a book reading by Barack Obama. [Buzzfeed] 

Miike Snow's "The Wave" Is Our Music Video of the Day

March 14, 2012, 9:58 am

≫ Next: SXSW Run Down: Gimme the Loot Wins Film Fest + Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Fiona Apple and The Drums Play Today

≪ Previous: Dictator Cakes + Marijuana Named After Jeremy Lin = Eight Items Or Less

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The Swedish indie band uses a decidedly American setting--we assume it was shot somewhere in the desert on the West Coast--in their panoramic new video for "The Wave" (and, yes, the video size is meant to be like that).  The vid never fully explains what's happening--an explosion, a field strewn with dead girls, synchronized cops swaying--but we're pretty sure we'll have nightmares after seeing the distorted, prosthetic nose-sporting hipster-ninjas that descend on the eerie scene.

The song is featured on the band's sophomore album, Happy to You, which was released yesterday on iTunes and will officially come out at the end of the month.  Miike Snow continues touring the U.S. through early May with shows at SXSW this week and Coachella in April, among others.

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SXSW Run Down: Gimme the Loot Wins Film Fest + Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Fiona Apple and The Drums Play Today

March 14, 2012, 11:30 am

≫ Next: Before They Were Mad Men: John Slattery a.k.a. Roger Sterling

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Paper Executive Editor Alex Swerdloff is at SXSW for the week, and she'll be writing little recaps and guides to all the craziness going down in Austin for those of us stuck at home. Try not to slip into a FOMO coma.

There was something a bit calm-before-the-stormy last night in Austin, even as revelers clogged the streets of downtown, lines winding around the block for the Miike Snow and Kasabian show at Stubb's. No one was going whole hog (except maybe for some of the digital and film peeps, many of whom were leaving this morning). We decided to take it easy-ish, after a full day of running around, to save up for today, which marks the official start of the SXSW Music Festival. Here's what went down yesterday, and what's cooking today. 

WHAT WENT DOWN YESTERDAY

Last night, the winners of the SXSW Film Festival awards were announced: Gimme the Loot, Adam Leon's film about two teenage graffiti artists in the Bronx, won the narrative feature competition, while Eden, director Megan Griffiths' disturbing film (based on a true story) about a New Mexican teenager who was kidnapped and held as a sex slave for two years, won the feature film audience award. Shout out to its star Jamie Chung (she, formerly of Real Word: San Diego fame), who won the special jury recognition for performance award.

At a screening for Brian Knappenberger's documentary about hacktivisit group Anonymous, We Are Legion, two masked members of the group appeared (one in person and one via live video) and answered audience members' questions. [via CNN]

AmericansElect.org (a website devoted to popularizing a third party Presidential candidate) won the People's Choice awards at the SXSW Interactive Awards ceremony. (Last year's winner was Groupon.) 

There was still a ton of music: Santigold (who may or may not have been lip-synching?),  Built to Spill, Daniel Johnston, the Delta Spirit, Bear in Heaven, Caveman, ...Trail of Dead, Light Asylum, Danny Brown (who yelled "If you ain't eat no pussy, I will"), Peanut Butter Wolf, Tycho, and our favorite act of the evening, Electric Wire Hustle, Kiwi-soul purveyors from New Zealand, who we caught at Swan Dive. 

WHAT'S COOKING TODAY (SEE ALSO OUR GUIDE TO 10 MUST-SEE SXSW ACTS)

The NPR showcase kicks off at Stubb's with Andrew Bird, Fiona Apple, Sharon Von Etten and Dan Deacon.

Theophilus London, Big K.R.I.T., and Gary Clark Jr. play the Pandora Discovery Den.

The sh*t show that is the Fader Fort kicks off with Black Hippy (Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab Soul and Jay Roc) Santigold, Danny Brown, The-Dream, and Zola Jesus.

Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie will unite at the Billboard party.

...Trail of Dead, Friend Roulette and Fan-Tan play the Goodnight Records day party.

The Drums, Reggie Watts and Niki & the Dove at the Under the Radar party at Flamingo Cantina.

Titus Andronicus, Cloud Nothings, The Men, Princeton and Mr. Dream play the Consequence of Sound party at Beauty Bar. 

Menswear designer Billy Reid is throwing a shindig tonight at the Swan Dive with Delta Spirit, The Punch Brothers, Brendan Benson and more.

Tennis, Caveman, Hospitality and Ben Kwellar play the Paste magazine party. 

Light Asylum, Blouse, Nick Waterhouse, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Lee Fields and the Expressionists play the Spaceland party at the Shangri La.

M. Ward plays the Central Presbyterian Church at 11 p.m.

RELATED:

SXSW Run-Down: Jay-Z & Sleigh Bells Yesterday, Santigold & Miike Snow Today

 

Before They Were Mad Men: John Slattery a.k.a. Roger Sterling

March 14, 2012, 12:15 pm

≫ Next: Questionable Wall Decor Spotted at Rice to Riches

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With Mad Men's fifth season premiering on Sunday, March 25th, we're continuing our feature looking back at the cast before they entered the doors of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. We already showed you yesteryear clips of Christina Hendricks (Joan) and Vincent Karthesier (Pete) next up: John Slattery.

Believe it or not, before this silver fox played smarmy Roger Sterling, he once had a full head of brown hair in late 80s/early 90s shows like Dirty Dozen and Homefront (the latter of which even featured the Irish Catholic playing a Jew).  Before long, however, Slattery found his niche portraying successful business and politico types and started seducing everyone from Eva Longoria's character on Desperate Housewives to Carrie Bradshaw.

Dirty Dozen, 1988
In this short-lived drama based on the 1967 film of the same name, a young and brunette Slattery plays military prisoner-turned-soldier, Pvt. Dylan Leeds. Though the series only aired for seven episodes, it's notable for being Slattery's first TV role.

Homefront, 1991-1993
Click to 2:34 to see the actor playing Jewish union organizer, Al Kahn, in a series that also counted Friday Night Lights' Kyle Chandler and Gossip Girl's Kelly Rutherford among its ensemble members.

Party of Five, 1998
Ahh Party of Five. Go to 7:42 to see Slattery get in a heated discussion with Bailey over a woman they both love.  Hair-wise, this is the beginning of his salt-and-pepper period.

Sex and the City, 2000
Who can forget Slattery's SATC story arc playing the politician with a golden shower fetish?  Before she discovered his kinky side though, watch Carrie reluctantly fall under Slattery's charm after they meet during a Staten Island firefighters' benefit.

Desperate Housewives, 2007
In another politician role, the actor plays Victor Lang, a work-obsessed mayoral candidate who marries Eva Longoria's character, Gabrielle Solis, to advance his political career.  In this scene we watch a jealous Slattery/Victor threaten Gabrielle's ex, Carlos, with a gun before the two duke it out during some kind of twister.  We won't spoil the ending.

RELATED:
Before They Were Mad Men: Christina Hendricks
Before They Were Mad Men: Vincent Karthesier

Questionable Wall Decor Spotted at Rice to Riches

March 14, 2012, 1:45 pm

≫ Next: Community Stars in PAPER: A Retrospective

≪ Previous: Before They Were Mad Men: John Slattery a.k.a. Roger Sterling

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Spotted on Instagram: this deeply questionable sign at Rice to Riches on Prince St. We can only guess that the store's approach is that "stereotyping is okay if it's equal opportunity stereotyping" with its caricatures of an Orthodox Jew saying "Oy Vey!," an African saying "Click Click Click!," a Japanese woman in a Kimono saying "Me Love You Long Time!," and so on and so on. (Outside the photo frame is, bizarrely, Tony the Tiger saying "Grrr" and a German man in lederhosen holding a beer stein and saying, "My Little Liebchen.") 

PAPERMAG called the store's manager who told us they have not received any complaints about the décor since it was installed six months ago.  Yo, Is this Racist? Tumblr notwithstanding, we've found little outcry online, which is surprising.

Community Stars in PAPER: A Retrospective

March 14, 2012, 3:15 pm

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Like a lot of people out there, we're so happy that Community is ending its extended hiatus and are looking forward to its return tomorrow night! In honor of having the show back, we present you with a little walk down Paper + Community memory lane.


In this 2010 piece, a self-effacing Donald Glover discussed his co-stars' work pre-Community versus his own: 

"Everyone else [in the cast] I've seen in other places before, whether it's Mad Men or Fletch or The Soup. People are like, 'Oh, hey, I've seen the YouTube short of you pooping yourself!'"

from Boy Wonder: Community Star Donald Glover


In 2011, Danny Pudi chatted with us about the prime-time show's devotion to absurd humor: 

"I was like, 'This is never gonna make it on the air!' Sure enough, it all made it on the air. I felt like I was a comedy Robin Hood, pulling a prank back in college."

from a Sense Of Community: A Q&A with Actor Danny Pudi


In 2009, Joel McHale told us he'd always be faithful to hosting The Soup, despite having just been cast on Community:

"As long as we have insane and morally bankrupt television, [The Soup] is where I'll be."

from McHale and Hearty: Snark Master Joel McHale Broadens His Horizons


In 2011, Gillian Jacobs discussed her bond with her Community cast-mates,

"We've developed a strong group chemistry during the pilot, and it has only deepened since then.... [The recent onslaught of critical and fan support has] given us the courage to take risks and do more conceptual episodes, like our Halloween zombie adventure or our Christmas stop-motion animation episode."

from The Group: Meet the Fierce and Funny Females Who Hang out Together and Are About to Take Over Hollywood Together.

Mike D'Antoni Is Out, Long Live the Knicks!

March 14, 2012, 4:10 pm

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I hate change, so I'm sad to see Mike D'Antoni depart as the Knicks' coach. My first reaction was to blame Knicks' owner James Dolan, who's been meddling with the general manager and coaching decisions for way too long. Brilliant GM Donnie Walsh left this year because he couldn't work with Dolan, who is ultimately responsible for the sad state of affairs the Knicks currently find themselves in. That said, it's the coach's job to work with what the management gives him in personnel. While it is clear that Knicks super-star Carmelo Anthony didn't fit in well with the post-Linsanity system -- the Knicks have been losing consistently since his return to the lineup; he was out with an injury when Jeremy Lin took over to such dramatic success -- D'Antoni's style of moving the ball did not work well with Anthony. Trying to make the proverbial square peg fit in the round hole was not working. So now it's assistant coach Mike Woodson's turn to see if his system works better with the talent he has on hand, which everyone agrees is substantial and should be winning more games. Better yet, how nice would it be if Phil Jackson came out of retirement to coach the Kincks, where he once played. His triangle offense could really work well with Knicks' talent.

Food Jewelry + The Real Housewives of South Boston = Eight Items or Less

March 14, 2012, 4:37 pm

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1) Watch this funny Youtube video of the Real Housewives of South Boston pre-gaming for St. Patrick's Day.  ("My husband's cousins with Mah-ky Mahk.") [Vulture]

2. As part of their "Spotlight on Independent Film," the NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment along with the Independent Feature Project will be hosting two nights of free independent film screenings.  Guests can head to the World Financial Center Winter Garden to watch Sundance Special Jury prizewinner Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey  and Whit Stillman's Metropolitan on March 27th and 28th, respectively.

3.  President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron bonded like a couple of bros at a March Madness NCAA game in Ohio last night.  Cameron even gamely ate a hotdog.  [TheDailyMeal]

4. In case you were wondering what Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was listening to on his iPod before committing atrocities against his own people, now we know.  Our friends at The Guardian tracked down some of his iTunes purchases and apparently the man is a fan of Right Said Fred (of the hit "I'm Too Sexy"), Chris Brown and LMFAO.  For realz.  [Gawker/The Guardian]

5. We're pretty obsessed with these food earrings made by Shay Aaron found--where else?--on Etsy. [Buzzfeed] 


6. Look at these amazing sculptures made out of garbage by British art duo Tim Noble and Sue Webster that project creepy cool shadow images when lit up. [Laughing Squid]


7. Shield your eyes if you were that kid who cried for days when you learned Santa was fake: this is what the real Hogwarts looks like. [Death + Taxes]


8. Check out this blog that has cute illustrations and spot-on musings from a hyper-analytical twentysomething. It's like if Lena Dunham's forthcoming Girls was a Tumblr! [fuckiminmy20s]

2012 CFDA Nominees Include Rei Kawakubo, Creatures of the Wind, the Sartorialist and Johnny Depp

March 14, 2012, 5:15 pm

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The 2012 CFDA Fashion Award nominees were just announced, and we're pretty excited about who got nods this year. Though there were some deserved repeat nominees from last year, including Pamela Love for the Swarovski Award for Accessory Design, as well as Patrik Ervell for Menswear Designer of the Year and Proenza Schouler for Womenswear Designer of the Year, there were some nice newcomer nominees as well. We were particularly pleased to see young design duo and Fashion Fund runners-up Creatures of the Wind, whose giggly Fashion Week interview with Mr. Mickey is a must-see, nominated for the Swarovski Award for Womenswear. The genius Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons is receiving the International Award for "outstanding creative contribution to the world of fashion," and street-style blogger Scott Schumann (aka the Sartorialist) is receiving the Eugenia Sheppard Media Award with photographer and illustrator Garance Dore. (Remember when our Kim Hasteiter won the Media Award in 2010? That was awesome.) Also, Johnny Depp is getting the Style Icon Award (the CFDA likely read our Dogs in Turtlenecks post) and Seth Meyers is hosting the ceremony June 4th, so you know it's going to be a real fun night. See all the nominees below:

Swarovski Award for Accessory Design: Irene Neuwirth, Tabitha Simmons and Pamela Love

Swarovski Award for Menswear: Antonio Azzuolo, Todd Snyder and Phillip Lim

Swarovski Award for Womenswear: Joseph Altuzarra, Creatures of the Wind and Suno
 
Accessory Designer of the Year: Reed Krakoff, Proenza Schouler and Alexander Wang

Menswear Designer of the Year: Simon Spurr, Patrik Ervell and Billy Reid

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Marc Jacobs, The Row, and Proenza Schouler

The Fashion Icon Award Nominee: Johnny Depp

The International Award: Rei Kawakubo

The Media Award, given in honor of Eugenia Sheppard: Garance Dore and the Sartorialist

The Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement award: Tommy Hilfiger

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Tips For Today: Steamboat Humor Series, Egg Creams + the PS 122 Spring Gala

March 15, 2012, 6:30 am

≫ Next: Morning Funnies: Great Baby Acting + Anderson Cooper Tries on Wigs With Miss Piggy

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Steamboat Humor Series with Michael Ian Black, Julie Klausner + More

Comedian Bob Powers hosts this monthly night of readings from humor writers, and tonight's installment sounds like it's going to be especially great. Michael Ian Black's reading from his new book, You're Not Doing It Right: Tales of Marriage, Death, Sex, and Other Humiliations, and Paper contributor Cintra Wilson, Julie Klausner, Guilia Rozzi, and Powers will read from Care to Make Love In That Gross Little Space Between Cars: The Believer Book of Advice. (Which we're currently reading and is, as-expected, super funny.)

Greenlight Books, 86 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, (718) 246- 0200. 7:30 p.m. Free.

National Egg Cream Day at Eastern District

Hey, today is National Egg Cream Day! Celebrate at Greenpoint food shop Eastern District with handmade, super-Brooklyn-y chocolate egg creams for one night only. (Chocolate is from Mast Brothers and soda is from natural soda syrup company, P&H Soda.)

Eastern District, 1053 Manhattan Ave., (718) 349-1432. 5:30-7:30 p.m.
(Via Brooklyn Based. Above image via Reubenography.)



PS 122's 2012 Spring Gala Honoring Lucy Sexton: Nowhere To Go But Everywhere

PS 122's annual Spring gala sounds fantastic this year. Lucy Sexton (who is being honored this evening along with Two Boots owner Phil Hartman) and Anne Iobst (both part of the late, great Tom Murrin's Full Moon Crew) are performing. Jonathan Ames, Ain Gordon, Eric Bogosian and Michael Cunningham are reading from Spalding Grey: Stories Left to Tell, and there's a screening of a short film by Stephen Daldry. Mx. Justin Vivienne Bond is hosting and Isaac Mizrahi is hosting an auction.

St. Ann's Warehouse., 38 Water St., (718) 254-8779. $350. 6 p.m.

Morning Funnies: Great Baby Acting + Anderson Cooper Tries on Wigs With Miss Piggy

March 15, 2012, 7:30 am

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Great acting, baby! This little guy definitely needs his own X-Treme Baby Stuntz show on the Spike Network. [Videogum]

Nerdist found some Woody Allen stand-up from the '60s in which he pretty much lays out the whole plot for Midnight In Paris. [Via BestWeekEver]


Cat scientists' research suggests that this Tumblr is a very good Tumblr.  [HuffPo]

Mitt Romney quotes + photos of Arrested Development matriarch Lucille Bluth = "Lucille and Mitt," your new favorite time-wasting Tumblr. [via Uproxx]

Jon Hamm tells Playboy what makes him cry: "I cried at Marley & Me. Not just teared up a little but full-on cried. That was a f*cking nightmare. Dead-dog stories always get me. And dead-mom stories--Terms of Endearment, stuff like that. If a parent dies in a movie, I'm a f*cking wreck." [via Jezebel]


20 dogs dressed as giraffes? 20 dogs dressed as giraffes! [CityRag via Dlisted]

Anderson Cooper tries on wigs with Miss Piggy. [Towleroad]

WSJ writer James R. Hagerty's sweet ode to his 85-year-old mother, Marilyn, who wrote the Olive Garden review that went viral last week: "The only downside of the world's belated discovery of my mom is that she is too busy being interviewed on national television to play online Scrabble with me. Mom, if you ever get time to read this, it's your move."

Mike O'Brien's new "7 Minutes in Heaven" with Fred Armisen. Topics discussed: Picking up male prostitutes, inventing doggy-style and Armisen's reputation as a "good boy." [HuffPo]

Warren G and Nate Dogg's "Regulate" Is Our Music Video of the Day

March 15, 2012, 10:01 am

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Today marks the one year anniversary of singer Nate Dogg's death and so we've decided to dedicate our Music Video of the Day to "Regulate," which features the late artist alongside Warren G.  The song's almost a decade old but Nate Dogg's catchy hooks and the badassed-ness of the Regulators in their fedoras and trench coats makes it an enduring, great jam.

Community's Back! Our Eight Favorite Clips From the Wonderfully Weird Show

March 15, 2012, 10:29 am

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Following a two-month hiatus and subsequent rumors of cancellation, Community,

one of the smartest, funniest and outlandish programs on network television, is revving up for the remaining 12 episodes of its third season, the first of which will premiere tonight at 8/7 central on NBC. Being that we're fans of the multi-layered masterpiece, we figured we'd beguile you into joining the Community cult (if you haven't already) with some of our favorite clips from episodes past. Check them out, and tune in tonight to see the gang back in all their wonderfully weird glory!

1) In the now-legendary "Modern Warfare" episode, Señor Chang, the college's
sourpuss Spanish teacher, takes a school-wide paintball tournament very seriously.

2) For their 2011 Christmas episode, Community perfectly parodied Glee -- here,
Annie (Alison Brie) performs "Teach Me How to Understand Christmas," a hilarious send-up to songs like "Santa Baby" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause," and straddling the line between creepy infantilization and sexiness.

3) In one of the show's most quoted scenes, Troy and Abed, the show's dynamic duo,
find an interesting way to study for their Spanish class.

4) Things on Community can often get pretty complicated -- in the episode aptly titled "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design" (each episode is named after a class offered at Greendale), Jeff, Annie, the Dean and Professor Professorson (played by Kevin Corrigan) all try to teach each other a lesson at once.

5) Some of Community's best moments happen as the credits begin to role, like when the characters get together to sing "Carol of The Bells."

6) "Community" is no stranger to animation, and in this recent episode, Jeff and
Shirley's friendly game of foosball morphs into an all-out Anime war.

7) It was only a matter of time before Community and Ru-Paul's Drag Race joined forces. Well, maybe not, but this clip (featuring Drag Race's fabulous Shangela), where Pierce discovers his moist toilette business has become a "gay icon," is pretty amazing anyway.
 

8. Much of last season was devoted to both Community and Cougar Town working mentions of each other into their episodes. This culminated in Danny Pudi lurking in the background of  the ABC sitcom about 40-something divorcees while drinking Starbucks and, similarly, Cougar Town stars Busy Phillips and Dan Byrd appearing in a split-second shot on Community. Here's a compilation of all cross-references. 

SXSW Rundown: Kimbra Killed It

March 15, 2012, 12:30 pm

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Yesterday marked the first proper day of the SXSW music festival. Since the number of fun-sounding festivities, concerts, parties and after-parties is completely and utterly overwhelming, and we are of slightly delicate dispositions, our strategy was to see where the wind took us...  

We decided to start the day on the East Side of town. Which meant that we caught Light Asylum, the Brooklyn-based "cold wave" duo comprised of Shannon Funchess and Bruno Coviello, at The Echo, Echoplex & Origami Vinyl SXSW Throwdown at Shangri-La.

There were a lot of girls who looked like this there. 

We then meandered down to Rainey Street, where stumbled into a Goodnight Records party at Bar 96, and caught Brooklyn-based, Austin-bred ...Trail of Dead. These boys still got it!

Then while getting a smoothie at Juan Pelota cafe, we realized that the bike shop next door, Mellow Johnny's, was the scene of an Of Monsters and Men concert, sponsored by KEXP. The Icelandic six-piece play jangly, super-catchy, Mumford and Sons-esque folk pop. You probably know this song.

Lead singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir

The crowd, which skewed on the young (read: braces-clad) side.

Then it was off to the Warner Sound showcase at La Zona Rosa, where we caught insanely talented pop-hits-songwriter-turned-singer-songwriter-in-her-own-right L.P. The pint-sized, mop-topped singer has a voice on her. Though it's hard to see her in this picture, stay tuned for the next issue of PAPER, where you'll be able to see a better picture of her ; )

A few mediocre bands whose names we will not mention played next, and then, our favorite discovery of the evening, New Zealand pop wunderkind Kimbra took to the stage, for what she said was her first show in the United States. Here she is looking RIGHT AT US.

We've been hankering for a new, slightly-weird, super-dynamic female pop star to get behind, and we think we've found her! Her debut album is out in here in the States in late May.

Look, it's Carson Daly! He was co-hosting a showcase with Sony at Red 7. Here he is about to introduce Lee Fields. 

Here's legendary soul man Lee Fields, playing with his band The Expressionists. For those who weren't able to catch him in Austin, do yourself a favor and see him when he plays Music Hall of Williamsburg this Saturday. 

We then caught some tunes by Brooklyn-based blues-rockers Alberta Cross before our legs literally felt like they would fall off and we dragged ourselves home to bed. 

Photos by Byron Sorrells