Watch Azealia Banks' New Video, "Luxury"

September 27, 2012, 2:41 pm

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When we first started watching Azealia Banks' new music video for the Machinedrum-produced track, "Luxury," it sort of reminded us of a makeup ad before quickly morphing into a stylish black and white clip of the rapper/vocalist dancing around on a gritty New York rooftop and strutting around the city streets.  We'd also be remiss if we didn't mention that the former PAPER Cover Girl looks like she's doing some P90X or something (not that she ever needed to but those are some serious abs!). Watch the video above.

"Luxury" appears on the artist's Fantasea mixtape, which you can download for free HERE.

[via Stereogum]

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A Possible Downton Abbey Prequel + Grizzly Bear's New Music Video = Eight Items Or Less

September 27, 2012, 4:30 pm

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1. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes said during a BAFTA event that he's considering making a DA prequel that follows Lord and Lady Grantham's (Robert and Cora's) courtship. [via Vulture]

2. Here's a new video for Grizzly Bear's song "Yet Again" featuring a figure skater who breaks through the ice and embarks on a surreal journey home. [via Stereogum]

3. Apparently members of Ahmadinejad's Iranian delegation to the UN have been seen shopping at Costco, Payless and Duane Reade. Hey, those places have good deals! [Daily News via Gothamist]


4. Phew! There will be no bacon shortage after all. [via Slate]

5. Hey, did you know that Cookie Monster's name is really Sid? That and 42 other Sesame Street fun facts in honor of their 43rd season premiere yesterday. [via The Atlantic]

6. A Chinese court denied Ai Weiwei's most recent -- and final -- appeal on the $2.4 million fines and back taxes he has been ordered to pay. [The Guardian via Gallerist]

7. This looks good: Christopher Guest is making a new documentary-style comedy for HBO called Family Tree, starring members of his regular crew like Michael McKean and Fred Willard along with Ed Begley Jr. and Chris O'Dowd.  [Ed note. Thanks Whitney!] [The Hollywood Reporter via Playbill]

8. Apparently "Greasy Face Mitt Romney" is a popular meme now. Ahh the wonders of the Internetz. [via Buzzfeed]

Morning Funnies: "I Just Want to Ride Bikes With You" + the New Liz & Dick Teaser

September 28, 2012, 7:30 am

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Here's a completely cringe-y video titled "I Just Want to Ride Bikes With You," made by a woman named Jacquelyn for her husband Todd as "a wedding video surprise." Though it was clearly created with love, good intentions, and a deep misunderstanding of what happens when you publicly share something on the Internet (and/or tweet it to the Huffington Post), there is not enough barf in the world for this video. This video has caused a world-wide barf shortage. Call the president, say "Code Barf" and hang up. Unfortunately, it has been taken off of YouTube since SHIFT posted it yesterday evening, but Gawker has the original and someone was kind of enough to re-post this bootlegged version for historical record. When your grandchildren ask you about the Great Barf Drought of 2012, you'll have this to show them.

>[Reddit]

Which brings us to your new favorite move death scene ever. Can someone, anyone, please, please edit out the woman in this clip and add in the most horrifying parts of "I Just Want to Ride Bikes With You"? PLEASE. THERE IS NO TIME. DO THIS NOW. YOU'LL BE A HERO. [Reddit]

Betty White looking FOYNE. [Reddit]

RomRy make out sesh. [Jezebel]

Also: This is the only "Mitt Loves Ann" spoof you need to see. [BobbyFinger]

Ahhhh, Pitch Perfect is opening today! Buzzfeed has a good list of reasons to see it. (As if 2012 PAPER Beautiful Person Rebel motherf*cking Wilson wasn't enough of a reason.)

It's titled "Revenge of Bob Ross." [ThisIsntHappiness]

Here's a new teaser for Liz & Dick, in which Lindsay Lohan says she relates to Elizabeth Taylor because they both love diamonds. [Dlisted]
 
A poster of a clock that is actually a clock. [LaughingSquid]

The chin whiskers are what really makes it.  [AfternoonSnoozeButton]

Much better. [TastefullyOffensive]


Look who wasn't hugged enough as a child. [ParisHiltonSexSlave]

Ugh. [Buttsexington]

Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life" Is Our Music Video of the Day

September 28, 2012, 9:50 am

≫ Next: Gayletter Unveil a New Newsletter For Straight Dudes

≪ Previous: Morning Funnies: "I Just Want to Ride Bikes With You" + the New Liz & Dick Teaser

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With Annie coming back to Broadway next week and Jay-Z launching Barclays Center tonight, what could be more appropriate for our oldie-but-goodie music video than "Hard Knock Life"? The song first appeared on Jay-Z's third studio album, Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life, and at the time was his biggest commercially successful single.  It was nominated for a Grammy and Vol. 2 won the Grammy for best rap album in 1999.  The track was produced by New Jersey's incredible DJ Mark the 45 King and, duh, includes a sample of "It's the Hard Knock Life" from the musical Annie. Previews for the 2012 revival of the Broadway classic start at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway) on October 3rd.

Gayletter Unveil a New Newsletter For Straight Dudes

September 28, 2012, 10:30 am

≫ Next: The Terrible Brooklyn Nets Cheerleader Uniforms + A New Lady Gaga Rap Song at the Mugler Show in Today's Style Scraps

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Click to enlarge

Tom Jackson and Abi Benitez, the dynamic duo behind must-read events newsletter Gayletter ("designed to help the homosexuals of New York figure out what to do with their spare time"), have premiered a new companion publication for the straight male set. Aptly named Guyletter, the sister (brother?) publication was born out of a collaboration between  Jackson and Benitez and friends Tristan Kraft and Ryan Leahey, who will act as editors. In the vein of Gayletter, the new series will highlight cultural happenings in New York City. Per Jackson, "We wanted to expand because, honestly, there's a lot of straight dudes, and we have a unique voice and two talented editors that can talk to them in fresh new way and cover shit that they're into." Applying a similar formula used in Gayletter, the first issue of Guyletter features a less-obvious selection of cultural offerings ranging from art to music to dance that branch out from the standard "take a date to this new whiskey bar in TriBeCa" listings favored by competitors. And, according to Jackson, they're simply responding to reader demand. "So many straight guys would always ask if there was a letter for them. So we made one." Check it out here. 

The Terrible Brooklyn Nets Cheerleader Uniforms + A New Lady Gaga Rap Song at the Mugler Show in Today's Style Scraps

September 28, 2012, 11:00 am

≫ Next: Sensation, the Rave of all Raves, Is Coming to Brooklyn

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At Mugler's Paris Fashion Week show Wednesday night , models walked down the catwalk to a new rap (yes, rap) track by Nicola Formichetti BFF/styling client Lady Gaga -- though you wouldn't know it. Her voice had been completely distorted to sound like she's huskier than Rick Ross (we had to do another Google search to confirm that yes, it was her).  Other things we gleaned from the song, called "Cake," is that just like Oscar de la Renta, she doesn't think too highly of Cathy Horyn.  Gaga raps, "Nicopanda got style trick, Cathy Horyn your style ain't dick." Boom. You can watch the whole video above. [via Fashionista]

Refinery 29 has a cool tutorial that shows you how to recreate bananas runway looks for your everyday look.

Love these fancy-beachy looks seen on the Isabel Marant runway at Paris Fashion Week. [via Telegraph]

Oh gawd, the new Brooklyn Nets cheerleader uniforms are just awful. [via Gawker]

Could the skirt over pants/leggings trend be coming back, as evidenced by Toga's pencil skirt trousers? Maybe the sweater-tied-around-your-waist is next?  [via High Snobette]

Love these shades by Kris Van Assche. [via Slam x Hype]

Here's a few of our fave looks from Raf Simons's much-anticipated debut RTW collection for Christian Dior, as seen during Paris Fashion Week.  He debuted his first-ever collection for the house during Couture Week over the summer. [via Style.com]
 

Sensation, the Rave of all Raves, Is Coming to Brooklyn

September 28, 2012, 12:16 pm

≫ Next: Chef Paul Gerard On His New Restaurant, Exchange Alley, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll

≪ Previous: The Terrible Brooklyn Nets Cheerleader Uniforms + A New Lady Gaga Rap Song at the Mugler Show in Today's Style Scraps

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While compiling our annual Nightlife Awards nominees (which we'll be announcing any day now...) the dearth of mega-clubs in NYC felt more apparent to us than ever before. Cro-bar, Limelight, Palladium, Tunnel, The Roxy, Sound Factory etc. are long-gone and nothing else has come along but... Pacha? What happened? There are lots of medium-size clubs (Cielo, Boom Boom, Lavo, Santos, Sullivan Room) plus there are small lounges and hybrid venues like Brooklyn Bowl, Webster Hall and Le Poisson Rouge, but that's it. The really big crowds have moved on. It seems they would rather go to a warehouse in Williamsburg or to Las Vegas, where nine of the 10 highest-grossing clubs in the USA now reside and where you can see the world's top DJs every night -- and you can gamble! And they're also going to huge venues that once housed only sporting events and Rolling Stone concerts like MetLife Stadium (Electric Daisy Carnival), Randall's Island (Electric Zoo) and Madison Square Garden (Swedish House Mafia's playing a supposed final set there in March 2013). Which brings us to the latest of what we'll call super-mega clubs, Sensation, which is coming to Barclays Center on Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th. The party originated in the Netherlands and our Rebecca Smeyne covered its massive Dutch edition for PAPER this summer, describing it as a cross between Cirque du Soleil and a megaclub. Saturday night sold out in two hours -- before the DJs were even announced -- and the cheapest tickets still available cost $150. People, apparently, are just really hungry for a big party. The video above should give you an idea of what to expect. And, yes, attendees must wear all-white.  Interested?  Tickets for Friday night are still available here.

Thumbnail photo by Rebecca Smeyne

Chef Paul Gerard On His New Restaurant, Exchange Alley, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll

September 28, 2012, 1:10 pm

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The six-week-old Exchange Alley is a shadowy hideout in the East Village, featuring a gutsy New York-meets-New Orleans menu (jambalaya balls with dirty gravy, meatball parmigiano flatbread). Chef Paul Gerard, also a musician and writer, spent a decade in the Big Easy (the joint is named for the street he lived on) before returning to his native New York a few years ago. Partner Billy Gilroy of Employees Only custom-designed the space for the chef, adding touches of Raymond Chandler film noir and burlesque. Helena Christensen, Bebe Buell, Michael Stipe and David Johansen are among the nighttime figures who've stopped in so far. Soon, Exchange Alley will also be a daytime hangout, serving coffee and light fare. We chatted with Gerard about his wicked past and good survival instincts.

When you worked at Sweetwater in Brooklyn your name was Paul Williams but now it's Paul Gerard. Are you hiding out from somebody?

My name is Paul Gerard Williams and I started using Paul Gerard when I was in bands. I got sick of hearing: "Paul Williams? Oh, he wrote The Love Boat theme and hangs out with Muppets." It didn't fit the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

You're more of an Anthony Bourdain-style, pirate chef.

Drugs, sex and rock-and-roll, that's what it was like when I started cooking in the '80s. A totally different world.

What made it change?

Culinary TV. Now you have people who are changing careers and think it'll be really fun to be a chef. They don't want to put in the grueling time of being a line cook. They say they have a passion for cooking, but passion is fleeting. It's true love that fuels the fire. It's better now in some ways. With drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll, eventually things crash. People are more together now; it's more organized. There's no more yelling and pan-throwing. The edge is gone.

So you wouldn't want to be a celebrity chef.

Not particularly, unless it was on my terms. I did do a sizzle reel called Work the Line, produced by Anthony Bourdain's people, but I don't want to dance like a monkey.

I heard you used to have a bit of a drug problem.

Keith Richards was my idol ever since I was a kid but it's hard to live like that when you're not actually in the Rolling Stones. I very much lived an outlaw lifestyle. I had a lot of ups and downs but the one constant all the way through it was cooking. No matter how bad I was being I showed up the next day and said, 'Yes, Chef.' It's the one thing that kept me alive and sane and connected to reality. There's a saying about a drunk man holding onto one blade of grass to keep from falling off the earth.

As for the rock 'n' roll part, what was your band called?

Baby Strange, after a T-Rex song. I sang, played drums and bass and became the front man in high school.

Did you finish high school?

Kind of. I went to Catholic school and was supposed to take wood shop. I said no, I don't need it, see you later. I was young and arrogant. My general manager at the restaurant said, 'For such a smart guy that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.' But I was a good student. I was so hungry for books, I got my education reading on the R train.

How did you give up the drugs?

I stopped using on an anniversary of 9/11. I was talking to a guy who was one of the first responders. He told me a story about another firefighter, that when the plane hit the tower he borrowed another guy's gear and went in. Later they found his wallet with a note to his family about how, if anything happened, they should know how much he loved them. My body went limp and I fell to the floor. It was an epiphany. I had never heard of somebody being so selfless. I realized I was running into burning buildings every day. I lived like a wild animal and then boom, the obsession went away. I never used again.

Above: Exchange Alley

Before that epiphany, you went to New Orleans to get clean. Odd choice.

A friend of mine in a pretty big band said, 'Man, you should move to New Orleans, focus on the alcohol, leave the drugs behind.' At 21, I thought it sounded great. It didn't work out. It took me another 17 years to leave it all behind.

Were you there during Katrina?

I left right before Katrina. I didn't want to live through another hurricane season. There was a creepy feeling and I knew it was time to go. I have very good survival instincts. I had the apartment on Exchange Alley for over ten years and I took everything and put it in storage. The apartment remained dry but my storage got looted. I lost everything.

No vices now?

Aside from bad one-liners, coffee and cigarettes.

I read that in the '80s you got started by cooking for the mob in Bay Ridge.

Back then the mob was still very prevalent. I was a teenager, a little naïve, and I always saw them in party mode so everything was cool. Nobody else would tip you fifty bucks for shucking a half-dozen clams. We'd be running Bloody Marys out to cop cars at two in the afternoon.

The last place you worked before opening Exchange Alley was Soho House, right?

I was the chef there for almost two years. It was time to open my own place. I put my head down and got it done.

Were you there when that designer was found dead in the bathtub? I heard her boyfriend is coming to trial soon.

I can't talk about that.

Okay, I understand. Exchange Alley has a great vibe.

I want it to be like what White Horse Tavern used to be, actors talking to writers and poets and musicians, a place to exchange ideas, listen to music, drink coffee or a bottle of wine at eleven in the morning. Fly your freak flag. I care about food and I get that it comes from farms but I don't need a wagon wheel on the wall to remind me. This is still New York.

Old New York is disappearing.

It breaks my heart a little, it's so gentrified now. It's not that I want crime and violence but I miss the danger. The other day in Union Square it was so refreshing to see a crazy person in a wedding dress.

I bet your parents are happy you finally came around.

Very happy. My mother cried when she walked through the door.
 
Exchange Alley
424 E. 9th St.,
(212) 228-8525

Photo of Gerard via @ChefPaulGerard

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Afrika Bambaataa: A Supreme Force

October 9, 2012, 1:25 pm

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The story of Afrika Bambaataa's evolution from gang leader to global cultural icon is the stuff of legend. In 1973, the former leader of the Bronx's biggest gang, the Black Spades, used his influence and leadership skills to empower young gang members to pursue creative endeavors by founding the community activist organization the Universal Zulu Nation. As the pied piper of hip-hop, he was instrumental in spreading the message of rap as a socio-political weapon as opposed to being just about bling and making money. His seminal hit "Planet Rock," created a new, revolutionary, genre-spanning sound; one that combined hip-hop, electronic, rock and funk in unexpected ways.

We met almost 30 years ago on a European rap tour organized under the auspices of the French magazine Actuel and Europe One Radio. Along with Bam, there was DJ Grandmixer D.ST, Crazy Legs and the Rock Steady Crew and a team of Double Dutch girls along with graffiti artists Fab 5 Freddy, Futura, Dondi, Rammellzee and Phase 2. A chapter of the Zulu Nation founded on that trip remains active in Paris and many other parts of the world thanks to Bambaataa's efforts. As the journalist on the tour, I'd sit with Bambaataa on the long drives between cities like Metz and Strasbourg and listen to him philosophize, via a mashup of ideas that included Black Muslim nationalism, extraterrestrials and George Clinton's Funkadelics. When the bus stopped, he'd head out to find a record store and start flipping through the bins, ready to explore new worlds at the drop of the needle on the vinyl.

Today his mission and message continue to resonate as a DJ, teacher and activist. He's planning a hip-hop museum in the Bronx and continues to raise funds for the Universal Zulu Nation Dome Cultural Center, where he hopes to continue his work as a community activist and educator, helping to meet the needs of at-risk youth and their families. And most of all, he continues to be Bam, probably the most laid-back, peace-loving ex-gang leader you're ever going to meet -- if you're lucky enough to make his acquaintance. As I was.

David Hershkovits: What was it like when you first came downtown in the early '80s to perform at the Mudd Club and Danceteria, this very different world?

Afrika Bambaataa: It was really interesting to be among the punk rock/new wave sound, and to start getting a lot of that audience following me and my music and coming to some of my events in the Bronx. It definitely was a "family affair," like Sly and the Family Stone say.

DH: For you there's always been a link between hip-hop and punk rock.

AB: They're both radical genres.

DH: What was the general reaction when you first started talking about your "Zulu Nation" identity?

AB: Well, you had some people who thought I was crazy. Especially when I explained
the Zulu Nation name, saying that we were  the people of the universe -- kids really thought I was crazy. When I was talking about extraterrestrials and other planets back then people would look at me like, "What's wrong with this cat?" But now, all these people tell me, "You hit it on the nose 20, 30 years ago! We can't believe all the stuff you said back then is happening in space now!"

DH: What influenced you to put that kind of vision together?

AB: First, it came from the teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Mohammed of the Nation of Islam, as well as George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic and Sly and the Family Stone. And then I heard the works of Dr. Malachai York. It was also going around and meeting people, taking trips and talking to people all around the planet.

DH: We traveled together to France and England on a bus tour. Does that stand out as a magic moment for you, as it was for me?

AB: Yes, going to France and bringing a whole movement and culture there that's still very powerful to this day -- very exciting. And for everybody to go there with a family attitude, without being like, "I'm better than you," and leaving the evil at home. That's a compliment to the supreme force itself.

DH: On that trip, you introduced Europe to hip-hop. And look what happened. Looking back, is this something that surprises you?

AB: No. I knew the work that we had to do. I knew we had to keep coming back, to go from town to town, city to city, from café to café. A lot of other people could come in and play the major cities thanks to all the work  we did. We were doing it for the love, unlike artists today.

DH: And you know how it is with the originators sometimes. The founders don't get the recognition and the people who come later reap the rewards of the people that planted the seeds.

AB: It's people being too much under mind control, and not looking back at history. And you have something called the Internet, which shows so much history, but it also shows a lot of history mixed with falsehood, and you have to dig through before you get the facts; what is truth and what is not.

DH: To that end, I heard that you're working on establishing a hip-hop museum. Is that true?

AB: We're still fighting to make it happen. And I hope that I get to see it made in my lifetime. We're fighting for the spot [the Kingsbridge Armory] in the Bronx that's been sitting there for 20-something years since Tina Turner played there way back in time.

DH: What would you like to see at the International Hip-Hop Museum?

AB: Archives, artwork, clothes, turntables, mics... It would be history, what even predated hip-hop; soul, country-western, rock, and all that. We need our own thing in the Bronx where it all started, that the world can come to.

DH: I'm assuming you're an Obama supporter.

AB: I'm nobody's supporter. I'm the people's supporter. We have got to stop looking at one person and think they're going do what we all need to get up and do ourselves. So many things are getting corrupted; people are getting under mind control and they're forgetting to think. That's why I tell them to go back and watch movies like Idiocracy, which is about a dumbed-down America, and go back and watch all the Matrix movies -- 15 times
over, all three of them.

DH: The Zulu Nation is still a very active organization doing community work.

AB: That's why we're trying to get people to donate to the Universal Zulu Nation Dome Cultural Center of the Universe. Domes are gonna be the homes of the future and the buildings of the future. You should look at what dome homes and dome centers look like online. It would blow your mind. Like if you were looking at another planet that's what you would see.

DH: How do you protect yourself from the "mind control" games that are going on?

AB: I forget exactly where I was -- it might have been Europe -- something came to me in my dreams that said, "Start warning people about putting love back in the atmosphere." It also warned that if you don't put love back in the atmosphere, respect Mother Earth and the universe, that they will know who the lord of all the world is through the wrath of Mother Nature. I've been saying that for a couple years, telling people certain things --  that the water's gonna be coming up and tsunamis and all types of stuff are gonna be happening if we keep disrespecting our planet and disrespecting each other as humans. And sure enough, a lot of stuff's been happening.

A Documentary-Only Movie Theater Is Headed to New York

October 9, 2012, 2:00 pm

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Were you aware that New York City is woefully lacking in theaters that only screen documentaries? Neither were we. BUT, much like pretzel M&Ms or Facebook, a new doc-only theater is headed to Manhattan and giving the city something it didn't realize it craved. The owners of the nonprofit Downtown Community Television Center in Chinatown have gotten $3.2 million in financing to renovate their space and create a 73-seat theater exclusively screening "first-run nonfiction films," according to NY Times' Arts Beat. While there are many wonderful theaters scattered throughout the city that screen independent films, we're betting that the new venue will be a hit because, much like the recent explosion of restaurants with single item menus, sometimes in the chaos of NYC, the simpler, the better.

The theater is expected to open in 2014.

[New York Times via First Showing/Photo via Flickr]

15 Halloween Costumes Inspired By The Runway

October 9, 2012, 2:35 pm

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Stumped about what to be for Halloween? Look no further than the 2012 fall and winter runway shows! Though high fashion can be mad expensive, and we could maybe afford like the tiniest 1/4 inch scrap of fabric from the runway numbers we've rounded up below, these designer looks serve as great costume inspiration. Whether you're going for a spooky, funny or downright cuckoo-crazy look, these ensembles would all make awesome costumes!

An Emoticon☺

Everyone uses emoticons, so why not dress up as a bunch for Hallows Eve? Grab a Jeremy Scott jumper and let everyone know how you really feel. So many emoti emotions.

A Geek

There's always that one jock in high school who dresses up like a "geek" for Halloween and they usually do it all wrong. If you're going to go for this look, base your costume off one of Balenciaga's geeky sci-fi sweat shirts paired with high wasted baggy pants. Doesn't this ensemble seem like something Dwight Schrute would wear to the office on casual Fridays?

Crazy-Chic Mental Patient Who Has Just Escaped The Insane Asylum

The straightjacket-esque outfits in the beginning of Proenza Schouler's collection would be perfect for looking like the "ready-to-wear escaped mental patient" you're always hearing about in scary tales and urban legends. Add a Hannibal Lector mask for extra-creepiness.

A Lion

Is this Moschino headpiece/hood supposed to look like a lion's mane? We don't really know, but that's what it reminds us of, and it's making us think we might want to be lions for Halloween. Black jumpsuit-donning, leather glove-wearing, lions.

The Mad Hatter

Get mad and mis-matchy all over the place with this Creature of the Wind ensemble (which you might recognize from our Ezra Miller spread in September). That hat definitely isn't mad enough though, so try on one of the furry head-toppers from the Marc Jacobs show:

A Pencil

Being a pencil for Halloween might seem boring, but with these pencil pants by Mary Katrantzou you'll have the coolest costume ever.

A Cenobite

Was it just us, or did Rick Owens' take a little bit of style inspiration from the monstrous Cenobites of the 1987 horror flick Hellraiser for his fall collection? Just add blood!

A Pink and Purple Cloud

You can be a cloud with this Commes des Garcons outfit because it's Halloween and there are NO rules. This outfit would also make an awesome Lumpy Space Princess costume, if you feel like being especially sassy that night.

A Feather Duster

Giles knows how it's done. 

A 15th Century Renaissance Painting

Something like this Carven frock printed with Hieronymous Bosch's painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights" and you'll instantly look like a work of art.

A Super-Stylish Babysitter With Jewel-Encrusted Eyebrows

Seriously, just get a kid to walk around with you. This will probably bum all your friends out on Halloween and you definitely won't be able to get into any clubs, but at least you'll have a completely original costume. Besides, everyone knows babysitters are popular horror film victims. Thanks for the tip, Chanel!

Clothing Frankenstein

This Jean Paul Gaultier ensemble is the Frankenstein of high fashion. Ripped leather jackets, spray-painted silk, general hairiness...we're not sure what this is, but it's awesome.

Punk Rock Victorian Royalty

Yeah, you could dress up as Marie Antoinette, but wouldn't you rather be a Vivienne Westwood PUNK Marie Antoinette? Adam Ant would approve!

Any Look From The Meadham Kirchoff Collection

Literally pick any look from the Meadham Kirchhoff show and you've got yourself one hell of a costume. It's got witch vibes, monster vibes, zombie vibes, alien vibes, it's all there!

Cocktail of the Week: The Expat at Lantern's Keep

October 9, 2012, 3:00 pm

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The holidays may have not yet arrived, but already the crowds of Midtown tourists are thickening. Lantern's Keep, tucked in the back of the Iroquois Hotel in Times Square, provides an intimate refuge from the masses of guidebook-clutchers and/or visiting family members getting on your last sober nerve.

To usher in fall, head barman Theo Lieberman has introduced The Expat to the list, an autumnal cocktail that is the brainchild of fellow NYC bartender Lauren Schell (you can find her slinging drinks at Little Branch, Milk & Honey and Middle Branch). Made with bourbon (Lantern's Keep mixologists have a predilection for Elijah Craig 12-year-old or Buffalo Trace) The Expat, says Lieberman, "is a variation on a traditional bourbon shake, except it adds Angostura Bitters and mint, which really bring it together." Fresh lime juice and a dash of simple syrup elicit a smooth, slightly tart sweetness. Per Lieberman, "It's always the simple ones that are best."

 
Ingredients:
2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
Mint
Angostura Bitters
Combine ingredients in a shaking tin with ice, shake vigorously and strain into a coupe glass.  Garnish with a mint leaf and Angostura Bitters.

Peaches Is Back! Watch Her New Music Video, "Burst!"

October 9, 2012, 3:30 pm

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Busy with other projects -- like producing a guerrilla video on behalf of Pussy Riot or making her own feature film -- Peaches hasn't released any new music over the last three years, which seems like an awfully long time for those of us who spent the better part of the 00s dancing in our rooms to "Fuck the Pain Away." Thankfully, the raunchy singer is back with a dance-y (and, actually, pretty PG) new track, "Burst!" produced by Boys Noize and appearing on a forthcoming EP.  The accompanying music video features the artist running down a dark alley while creepy high-fashion zombies slither around, half-assedly trying to overtake her. The whole song -- much like the video's vibe -- is simultaneously sludgy and electropop-y, and we're damn curious what the rest of the EP will sound like. In the meantime, you can catch Peaches on her DJ Extravaganza tour when she plays a string of dates this month along the West Coast and in Florida and keep an eye out for her debut feature film, a concert movie called "Peaches Does Herself" that Indiewire describes as "Pina for the queer and sexually liberated crowd." Can't wait.

Register to Vote at Opening Ceremony + Sit Tight For Louie in Today's Eight Items or Less

October 9, 2012, 4:34 pm

≫ Next: Prankster Redesigns London's Subway Signs

≪ Previous: Peaches Is Back! Watch Her New Music Video, "Burst!"

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1. If you want to register to vote in style, head to Opening Ceremony tomorrow between 2 and 7 p.m. where they'll be teaming up with the cool cats at Downtown for Democracy for what will surely be a chic little voter registration booth.  [via OC]

2. The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve the creation of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District today. Does this mean that they can never tear down Cheap Shots? [via Gothamist] 

3. Sad news, Louie fans. The FX show will not return till spring of 2014. [via AV Club]

4. Sad news, Brooklyn-based ice skating fans. A plan to turn McCarren Park Pool into a skating rink fell through and the renovation of Prospect Park's Wollman Rink is behind schedule. [via Brooklyn Paper]

5. Oh hey, Max! Paper editor Kim Hastreiter's nephew Max "RIPO" Rippon, an-up-and-up street artist, gets the Q&A treatment on T Magazine's blog today.



6. This little teaser of Catherine O'Hara and Bryan Cranston as Kenneth the Page's parents on 30 Rock is such a tease!!! (In related news, Meet the Parents... on TV Shows This Fall) [via Vulture]

7. Have you seen that new Citibank commercial where the guy gets broken up with for being too boring and then goes to an Alicia Keys concert? It's SO WEIRD, and the folks at The Awl have live-blogged it. 

8. Excited for this weekend's New York Times Magazine... [via Cover Junkie]

Prankster Redesigns London's Subway Signs

October 10, 2012, 6:30 am

≫ Next: The Morning Funnies: Ellen's High School Prom + NYC's New Baby Walrus

≪ Previous: Register to Vote at Opening Ceremony + Sit Tight For Louie in Today's Eight Items or Less

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Somebody's been hacking the signage in the London subway system, and it's awesome. A very funny UK street artist has been busy re-designing the maps and warnings in the London Underground. Hopefully, his or her work is coming soon to NYC? We need more gravy levers! There are tons of photos of the signs in this Imgur gallery, and we've highlighted a few of our favorites below. Check them out:







[via BoingBoing]

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The Morning Funnies: Ellen's High School Prom + NYC's New Baby Walrus

October 10, 2012, 7:14 am

≫ Next: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros' "Child" Is Our Music Video of the Day

≪ Previous: Prankster Redesigns London's Subway Signs

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Sarah Palin looks... different. The former Alaskan governor is giving us some combination of Kyle and Kim Richards' long-lost sister/Audrina Patridge in five years/Shania Twain. [via The Cut]

How awesome-slash-Jodie-Foster-esque does Ellen look at her high school prom? Also, how hot is her date?? [via Mlkshk]

Kris Jenner is maybe getting a daytime talk show. [via Hollywood Reporter]


Olivia Wilde told audiences at a Glamour magazine event that she and boyfriend Jason Sudeikis "have sex like Kenyan marathon runners." Right, because nothing says marathon sex like a Portlandia hoodie. [via US Weekly]

What if instead of Jake Ryan, this creepy Kool-Aid guy was waiting for Molly Ringwald outside of her sister's wedding. [via Beatnikdaddio]

NBD, just Nico with a Hershey's chocolate bar. [via The Swinging Sixties]

We want a baby pangolin. [via Mlkshk]

This is most definitely the best New York Times headline we've read in a long while: "A Fat, Mustachioed Orphan Finds a Home." Meet Mitik, an orphaned baby walrus who will arrive the New York Aquarium tomorrow. As an aquarium supervisor put it, "We say he is small, but scrappy -- the perfect New Yorker." [via the New York Times] 

Can someone please invent this? Zynga? Facebook? Groupon? Anyone? Bueller? [via Root Rot]

Watering can, made out of watering cans, courtesy of artist Thomas Bayrle. [via Contemporary Art Daily]

Whatchyoolookinat. [via Lolzpicx]

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros' "Child" Is Our Music Video of the Day

October 10, 2012, 8:30 am

≫ Next: Top of the Pops: Adele is Baaaack

≪ Previous: The Morning Funnies: Ellen's High School Prom + NYC's New Baby Walrus

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The latest clip from Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, "Child," is fan-made (though it's the band's 'official' video). It was made by a recent graduate of Loyola University, Michal Byra, who interprets the song without including any shots of the band -- and does it well. What seems at first to be a little girl kidnapping her grandpa from the hospital, soon becomes a melancholic reflection on youth.  The track is on the band's second album, Here, released earlier this year and they are currently on tour in Australia with Mumford & Sons.

Top of the Pops: Adele is Baaaack

October 10, 2012, 10:40 am

≫ Next: Jennifer Lawrence Is the New Face of Dior + Neiman Marcus' Absurd Henhouse in Today's Style Scraps

≪ Previous: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros' "Child" Is Our Music Video of the Day

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Adele's James Bond theme from Skyfall burst on to the singles-download chart this week and goes straight in at #3. And that's after it was only available to buy for three days! One Direction topped that chart with their new single "Live While We're Young." On the album chart, Mumford & Sons held on at #1, but seven other artists managed to debut in the Top 10 including Miguel's Kaleidoscope Dream at #3 and Muse at #2.

Jennifer Lawrence Is the New Face of Dior + Neiman Marcus' Absurd Henhouse in Today's Style Scraps

October 10, 2012, 12:10 pm

≫ Next: Watch Matt and Kim's 'Awkward Family Photos'-Style Video, "Let's Go"

≪ Previous: Top of the Pops: Adele is Baaaack

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FYI, Jennifer Lawrence is the new face of Dior's Miss Dior handbag line. [WWD]

Mewow! Odd Future designed these amazing iPhone cases for Incase. Get 'em here. [MTVStyle]

Solange on why she'd never start her own clothing line: "Honestly, I would never do anything like that --  there's so many talented designers that have such a massive skill and have been working on it for so long." And though we can't get enough of Solange's style and would be pretty pumped for her to design a line, how awesome is that quote? Love. Her.  [TheCut, image via HuffPo]

Neiman Marcus' deeply ridiculous new Christmas Book catalog includes a $100,000 hen house that's the size of your apartment and comes with chickens, of course. [Refinery29]

Jay-Z's lifestyle website Life + Times is launching a YouTube channel with a cooking show hosted by model Jourdan Dunn. It is awesomely titled, "Well Dunn With Jourdan Dunn." [Fashionista]

In a presumable effort to topple the Pinterest Empire, Facebook will allow brands like Victoria's Secret, Pottery Barn, Michael Kors, Wayfair, Neiman Marcus, and Fab.com the options of adding "want" and "collect" buttons to their photos. [Racked]

Watch Matt and Kim's 'Awkward Family Photos'-Style Video, "Let's Go"

October 10, 2012, 12:45 pm

≫ Next: Meet Pitch Perfect's Ester Dean

≪ Previous: Jennifer Lawrence Is the New Face of Dior + Neiman Marcus' Absurd Henhouse in Today's Style Scraps

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After releasing a viral clip of basketball whiz Pat The Roc showing off his boonanas ball handling skills to accompany their single, "Let's Go," Matt and Kim have surprised us with another music video for the track and it's...very different from its predecessor.  In this one, we watch a funny -- and super squirm-inducing -- montage of "Awkward Family Photos"-style portraits (many of which feature the duo) and, if you can keep watching past the cringe-y pregnant belly double kiss, it's definitely worth it. We can't decide which photo sesh is our favorite but we do have a soft spot for the older couple who make their first appearance at 0:58. Watch the video above.

"Let's Go" appears on Lightning, out now.

[via Funny Or Die]