Raul Higuera’s work is hauntingly beautiful, and definitely worth checking out. The self taught Colombian Fashion photographer presents images that are both dramatic and enchanting as they are fashionable.
check it out at: http://www.raulhiguera.com/
I-phone : You-cardboard
You think the future of mobile phones is the all in one i-phone? Well seems there’s a California company that thinks a painlessly disposable, super lo-cost cell-phone made of cardboard is the future. While with the I-phone you’re tied to AT&T, with the cardboard phone you’re –sort of- free, or at least you don’t have to pay one of those horrendous penalties if you decide to change companies. Minutes are charged from a pre-paid card, no matter what network is behind your calls. This is great news for tourists, or people who want to keep track of their cell-phone expenses on a business trip. But unfortunately in the US if you want a fancy phone you have to have it locked to a network. You can bet the idea of an unlocked i-phone makes AT&T tremble!
The European Wireless freedom:
What does a “locked” phone mean exactly? It means you are locked into a given system, and often times it feels like you made a deal with the devil. Europe has lived a free wireless life from the beginning, since the wise European Union forced all the network systems to unify from the start. So over there you can buy a cell-phone while in a network and move the device with you if you change your carrier. Really!!
For the US consumer the advantage has been that the cost of the phone itself has been greatly reduced, subsidized by the wireless carrier. So as soon as you get bored with one model you can move to another for a reasonable amount not even close to the real value of the device. That’s if you keep it in the same network. If not the Penalty Monster gets you and that, for some, it’s something that goes against all good old rules of capitalism.
California rules:
But wait there’s hope! A few days ago a preliminary California ruling stated that Sprint Nextel must pay consumers in California $18.2 million from a class-action lawsuit that challenged these “early termination fees,” and that the company must stop trying to collect the $54.7 million they are seeking from other customers who haven’t paid they early termination charges.
There’s a big possibility this ruling may extend to other states. Maybe very soon we’ll move into a network free wireless world in the US too. If that’s the case, it will very likely be the cheap cardboard cell-phones that turn out to be the big winners.
Spain defeats Germany for the Euro 2008 Cup. It’s their first major title in 44 years.
Spain: 1
Germany: 0
¡Felicidades Campeones!
The other night I was flipping through the channels and I came across Nashville Star, NBC’s country music answer to Fox’s American Idol. There were a couple of things that caught my immediate attention. The first was the public’s ability to not get bored with the multiple variations of the Idol format or that Billy Ray Cirus, of “achy breaky heart” could be given a second chance.
But more importantly than that, or that Jewel is a judge of the show and now a bonafide country-star, was the fact that one of the participants was Latino and the other one an African American. There they were, Gabe Garcia and Coffey singing contemporary western hits and making it to the next round. It seems that country is finally all-american, no guilt or shame attached.
Country is becoming bigger and more attractive to both whites and non-whites and it’s going to get bigger. Here’s why. America has become more comfortable in its cultural skin, shedding the haughtiness of the eighties. It’s something our fast-paced culture is craving in a post-911 society that values return to simpler times. As a result NY professionals welcome a restaurant called hill country, and texas hold’em poker becomes one of the most played games online, as well as watched on ESPN.
At the end it seems that the US is ready to embrace its humble Honky Tonk roots. The result is that we’ll see more country, healthy comfort food, albeit all with new touches and accents reflecting our cultural pluralism.
And we’ll see more of this throughout this year as both Republicans and Democrats need to speak to that other disenfranchised group, the rural white. So get your country records out, practice that two step, and put some ribs on that barbeque and celebrate the new old face of America.
The Roberto Cavalli at H&M collection debuted in around 200 select H&M stores worldwide in November 2007. H&M was created 60 years ago and has become a worldwide success offering a large range of trendy fashion items at low prices. The collection included 20 men’s and 25 ladies’ pieces including underwear and matching accessories all in Cavalli’s unique signature style. Stars like Madonna, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lopez, Sharon Stone, Victoria Beckham and Lenny Kravitz have worn the exotic patterns and prints on Cavalli’s name brand lines.
H&M has perfected this formula over the years; signing a top fashion designer to create a special collection for the low-cost chain. First off was Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld in November 2004, followed by Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf and most recently Madonna. H&M has never disclosed the sales revenues for the unique collections, but the special labels have flown off the racks within days. A fashion revolution for the masses?
Hardly! The price points for these unique collections seem a little high for the quality and design. Fashion conscious people everywhere should know better than to squander anywhere from $49.90-$349.90 (Cavalli’s price range at H&M) on mediocre designs made from the lowest-quality materials. The brand name is irrelevant if the quality cannot justify the price. I for one would rather invest in a piece from Just Cavalli or the Roberto Cavalli annual sale.
As spring brings with it warmer climate, I feel the urge to venture out more and take advantage of New York’s rich cultural offerings. Last month I attended a lively talk at the 92nd Street Y by three of the world’s leading writers: Umberto Eco from Italy, Salman Rushdie from India via England, and Mario Vargas Llosa from Peru. The conversation entitled “Three Musketeers” in homage to Dumas’ classic started with each writer reading a part of his most recent novel in its original language form.
The reading was followed by a discussion around various topics including literature of both the good and the bad kind and the place of writers in politics. The three writers were at ease as good friends are when they reconnect after many years. They simply picked up where they had left.
When talking about Dumas’ novel, Eco, who is semiotics professor at the University of Bologna, expressed that the “Musketeers” captured something in the collective imagination but that the novel did not pass muster in terms of its compositional and technical merits. continue reading “Would there be only three musketeers if Dumas had Facebook?”
The once secret world of the sneaker collector has exploded into popular culture, with a whole army of fans hungry for the rarest shoes, the latest designs or reissued classics in a never-ending myriad of color and materials. Sneaker fashion has evolved to the status level of couture. The exclusivity, craftsmanship and design in women’s haute couture has translated into the male sneaker world. This has spawned a renaissance of creativity, collaboration and demand. Bragging rights to be the first or only person in your circle to have the latest exclusive shoe comes at a cost.
My girlfriend has her Manolo Blahnik shoes. I have my Alife sneakers. Our habits are closer than we think.
Well it seems that between 1956-1959 the renowned artist wrote three theater pieces. The third one “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz” or “El entierro del Conde Orgaz” had its World premiering here in New York, at Queen’s Thalia Theater a week ago, and is still showing until May 25th. This is a FLAMENCO musical written by the great Spanish genius with all his characteristic humor and highly experimental style.
The piece is directed and designed by director Angel Gil Orrios, who also directed the premiere of the first two pieces by Picasso: “El deseo atrapado por la cola and Las Señoritas de Aviñon in previous years.
With original music and choreography, performances are in English on Fridays at 8pm and Saturdays at 3pm. Performance in Spanish on Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 4pm.
I love to draw naked people. Fat ones, skinny ones old ones young ones, for some reason that passion that I had in Art school of trying to capture as much as I can about a person by the expressions of their bodies lives with me still.
I realize that figurative work has not been in vogue for a while, and I wonder why I am still obsessed with drawing the figure inside out. I think it has to with an honest exploration of our humanness and its different forms of manifestations.
The body has a language that communicates so much. It can be subtle or flamboyant; awkward, self-conscious, tired, earnest, graceful, poised, monumental. Models say so much about themselves with their body movements. Maybe I’m also attracted to the idea that the unclothed individual occupies a timeless place, where the same thoughts, yearnings and attitudes and anxieties have existed for thousands of years. Over and over again I paint the experience, pressure, enlightenment, acceptance, sensuality, anger or ambition that each person presents me with. I relish the structure of their core, the curves of their reserves, the expression of their hands and feet and the experience of their faces. I capture with my line, what their bodies tell me with the same tone and intensity. I suppose the way I draw people also says a lot about the artist, but I’ll leave that to the viewer.
for more drawings check out more naked people.
I give special thanks to Eviva the monumental, Robin the brash, Rebbecca the beautiful, and those many others who’s name I cannot remember who graced the model stands at Pratt & Parson’s campus’s from 91 to 98.
Enjoy!
“Wear Sunscreen” was written by Mary Schmich, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. The essay was later set to music and released on an album by Australian film director, screenwriter and producer Baz Luhrmann. You can watch it here: