Milan Menswear Fall 2011, Pt. 1

Fall is my favorite season in terms of getting dress. You get to layer your clothes which allows you to show off more clothes and at the same time, maximize the price-usage ratio value of your clothes; it's a win-win situation. As we are already in the midst of the winter, its prime I would say, Fall 2011 finally emerged for menswear. That means, these clothes are what people would be wearing next fall (of course, by "people", I mean the rich and the famous). It's amazing how designers and stylists are able to predict and dictate what people will be wearing 7-8 months away from now. Of course, the logical explanation for the widespread time period between each season can only be attributed to the nature of the fashion business. During the months between the showing of the collections and its actually arrival into store in mid-August, there's an intense period of many months where the real business and transactions occur. Buyers put in their orders, manufacturers are making the clothes, and the publicity starts to run. It's a never-ending cycle, but one that results into a multi-billion dollar industry.

So in two parts, I will list my favorite collections that walked the runway of Milan. The ones that really tend to my personal taste; the taste of the common guy with no professional view or knowledge of "fashion". I might be the "artist"'s worst nightmare as I put a lot more emphasis on what's wearable in real life. I guess I'm more of a "buyer" than an "editor", if I was to be anyone in the fashion industry. But I digress, here are my favorites:

BURBERRY

Christopher Bailey is by far one of my favorite designer out there and what he does for Burberry, to me, is revolutionary. He single-handedly transformed Burberry, a very traditional and somewhat conservative jacket brand, into a luxury brand that is edgy and always on top of the fashion industry without sacrificing Burberry's values. Just like in Piranha 3D (where you'd think there's only one way of dying in the movie, but people died right and left from different horrific mediums), Bailey always comes up with new ways to improve Burberry's rain jackets, always surprising the viewers. For Fall 2011, Burberry went with the whole sherpherd meets the butcher in the mountains, creating beautiful jackets made of fur, sherling, cashmere and leather. Although not his strongest collection, it is a fun one to look at.

MONCLER BLEU GAMME

Thom Browne is a very peculiar designer. I don't get his designs and aesthetic, especially when it comes to his own line, Thom Browne, with suits constructed on purpose to be fitted smaller and shorter. But as creative director for Moncler Bleu Gamme, he made quite a charming Fall collection, if not whimsical! It's very early 20th Century British and slightly eccentric, but I find it to be very cool looking. Maybe it's the rain boots, the businessman-going-hunter look or perhaps the dogs that intrigue me in this whole collection, but in any events, it intrigues me and I like that. I feel like this is self-explanatory and one cannot make a unified and organized review of this collection. But I definitely agree with whatever Browne is trying to say with this.

TRUSSARDI 1911

I'm first to say that I'm not a fan of leather pants for men. Never did and doubt I ever will. Trussardi 1911's collection was like an explosion of leather pants and I did not quite fancy that. But for the amount of leather pants they showed down the runway, they made it up with the fine jackets in buttery leather and suede. Despite the leather pants, the looks were very strong, manly and very cool. You can definitely wear 'em out in the city or travel to a ski resort in 'em as well. It's very versatile. If only the leather pants were not leather pants.

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

So far, Salvatore Ferragamo is my favorite collection. It was hard to choose the main pictures to give the overall essence of the collection because all the looks were very nice. I think in this collection, you really get the whole "look" of fall and not just jackets over jackets. You get knitwear, sherling, leather, wool, and colors! What I find that works best with this collection is the styling. I thought it was very impeccable and the outfits made sense and was aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. The colors also are exquisite; the white is pearly and cloudy, the camel shades are rich and soft, the turquoise is luxurious and warm I'm not even throwing adjectives in there for the sake of sounding more expertly, I truly mean it. I'm very impressed and if I had the $$$$$$$$$$ to spend, this is what my closet would look like next fall!

photos courtesy of GQ

Walk The Italian

I haven't reviewed men's runway shows in a long time. I believe I have missed Spring/Summer 2011, so I'm due for one. Fall 2011 collections in Milan has started and I just begun going over the ones that had already shown. So far, just a few caught my attention while others were kind of disappointing, but there are still more to look forward to.

While the runway is still unraveling itself, the streets of Florence already had its fashion shows of its own, modeled by the everyday people. Street style is fascinating and so here are my favorite menswear looks on the streets. (With added commentary!)

Indie meets preppy, I like it. But what I like the most is the heavy-pattern plaid blazer. It's busy yet subtle. Wow, I sound like some pretentious Times Magazine reporter.

I love these shoes! I almost got a pair last winter, but my conscience got the better of me and said no to these almost $500-a-pop boots

I really like a nice double-breasted blazer, especially when worn with something casual like chinos and this puff jacket.

I just really like the grey-beige color combo, my favorite colors. Something about how the pants are worn slightly more low-waisted and the wool-like square-tip tie makes the outfit really modern, especially for a younger guy.

Everything about this look is effortless and cool. The thick wool cardigan paired with the puff down vest, accentuated by that scarf deserves a thumbs up in the sartorial department. And what's even better about this look is that he actually looks really warm. Who says you have to suffer to look good?

Style will always override trends, especially when it comes to menswear. Men cannot be "fashionable", as I believe and feel like this term is to be used for women or very overly accessorized, "fashionable" men, i.e. the openly, extravagant gay (and I only mean it in the nicest way as these men often are head-to-toe high-end designer, which can make one very envious, but they lack the certain restrain from putting some D&G over more D&G). With that being said, men can only be described as "well-dressed" or "put together" as it is exactly what they are; putting clothes together in an orderly and well-put manner. Someone well-dressed can be considered stylish without being a slave to fashion. It's not about replicating what's on the runway, but creating your own sartorial sense. People, men in particular, lack this exact idea of the sartorial, of being afraid that they are sacrificing their masculinity for clothes, which is mind-boggling as we all know, women are always more attracted to a well-dressed, well-groomed guy. But these new street style blogs really give me hope that men's style has not been lost among the jeans, t-shirts and sweatpants of this world. Slim your jeans down, tuck your shirt in, pick the right jacket, and life, trust me, would look a lot better from your perspective and others'.

pictures courtesy of Tommy Ton for GQ

Don't Be Facebook Trashy, Be Facebook Classy!

Introduction, Preface and Chapter 1 & 2 can be read here.


CHAPTER 3
Re: Thanks

This chapter is one that is personal to me, on some level. At least, it's something I've experienced hands on and something that should never happen again, if people had facebook etiquette. Here's the story:

This friend, though now I'm on the verge of demoting her to the title of "acquaintance", had her birthday. Her name popped up on the right side bar of my facebook homepage indicating that today is her birthday. I clicked on her name and sincerely wished her a happy birthday (with exclamation mark (!)), along with her other wishes from her other friends. All was good until the day she decided to thank people for the birthday wishes. She sent thank you wall posts to only a few people, me excluded.

Do you see where this is going? No, it is not a case of bitter jealousy for not receiving a thank you note as well. Definitely is not. The issue on hand here is the fact that by not acknowledging other people who wished you a happy birthday on an equal scale like the other people you did send a thank you note to is simply rude. Also, the pattern of people you responded to is inconsistent. Some are your close friends while others are acquaintances. That is a no-no!

So here's my two cents in all of that:
Rule of Thumb - If you're going to thank people for their warm and thoughtful birthday wishes, you either thank everyone, no one at all, or a general thank you to the population in your status update. It's clear, it makes sense and no one is left out, just the way it should always be.

The theory is that the people who wishes you a happy birthday are often people you have some sort of relationship with and who really cares that today is the day you were born, hence why they took the time to type you a birthday note. I don't see why you should thank one person and not the other. To refer back to Chapter 2, a 'like' can constitute a pleasant and duty-free way to express your appreciation without having to pour your hear out to some people you more or less know. There are options out there which one can take to advance his/her personal social networking politeness.

Do you want to be trashy? Or would you rather be classy? If your name is not Tila Tequila, I believe you've picked the latter and want to be classy. In that case, the proper etiquette in instances of thank you notes in regards to birthday wishes that you receive on the day of your birth, is to always remember to take in consideration everyone that indeed wished you a happy birthday in the form of the three options laid down in the Rule of Thumb. Follow it, 'like' it and you are on your way to classiness!


More chapters to come...

Don't Be Facebook Trashy, Be Facebook Classy!

Upon a marvelous and brilliant book idea I had one day, I was rapidly and shamefully shut down by the little fact that this said marvelous and brilliant book idea has been thought of and published...many times. That's my downfall in life, my brilliant ideas are revealed in my head too damn late. But because I thought this is still a marvelous and brilliant book idea - notwithstanding of its prior existence already - I decided to slowly unravel my would-be-book on this blog for this marvelous and brilliant book idea cannot be caged in this mind of mine forever.

What's this marvelous and brilliant book idea you may wonder? Well, ever thought how some , if not most Facebook users are just so poorly lacking online social etiquette, i.e. incessant self-whoring and obnoxiously-written status updates? Good, because I do and it's driving me insane, to say the least. I thought: well, why not underline these irksome manners that exist in social networking websites and compile a what-not-to-do book? Actually, I should rephrase that as there is no book to be written about, so I guess what I meant to say is to compile a what-not-to-do blog!

My mission: Browse, stalk, read, roll eyes in disgust in order to collect in a scientifically methodological manner the trashiness that arise in the 21st century revolutionary website: Facebook.

PREFACE
(Had it been an original book idea, the potential published manuscript would have included a preface, so let me have my preface, goddamnit.)

Facebook, a quasi-revolutionary computer online software that gathered friends, family, co-workers, frenemies, neighbors, hey-I-saw-you-forasplitsecond-at-a-friend's friend's friend-dinner-party acquaintances and complete strangers looking for non-strings attached relationships, enables the users to share everything and anything from mere importance to utter uselessness in manners that are free and democratic.

Sometimes, the freedom to post whatever pleases you takes a toll on the people that are friends with you whom must endure the nonsensical and grammatically-incorrect status updates and visually-unattractive pictures of more nonsensical things and people in your surroundings. The politically-correct way to avoid all of that would be to not be on Facebook at all or limit my viewing of your daily posts, but I find that ranting about all of those nonsensical things that are being posted on Facebook and still viewing them is a lot easier than to quit Facebook. I'm sure I am not only speaking for myself here when I say that I'm a creature of habit; once I start something, I won't stop. I guess that's the easy way to explain why I wouldn't limit my Facebook usage despite all that I see on a daily basis. I'm the first to confess, I am not the solution but part of the problem. I, just like many, fuel this very consumption of Facebook and the gratuitous proof of Westernized individualism. But sometimes, hell, can people look and sound dumb.

So if I had to make a toast in the honor of this book/blog (fine, I'll settle to that fact that there won't ever be a book!), I would raise my glass and make this toast to all the status updates in this world, especially to the very irrelevant ones...updated every five minutes!

CHAPTER 1.
Spell check.
When you're about to update your status with something that internally inside of you, you know - you very well know - that is completely, undeniably and obviously useless, the least you can do is refrain yourself from writing a barely legible status update. If you're going to sound stupid, you might as well show that you know how to spell at least. It's not "whit", it's "with". You cannot say "I did went", it's "I did go". So this brings me to the next linked topic, if you're going to write something in a language you are not comfortable with, then just don't. I don't have to feel like the only comment I want to make on your status update is a copy paste of what you just wrote and edit it! I rather not understand something you wrote properly in another language then having to roll my eyes at mistakes on basic English grammar.

I'm an avid blackberry user and I spend also a lot of time on Facebook on my mobile. I update frequently from this said device and despite the lack of a regular computer keyboard, I'm still able to type with my two thumbs properly-spelled texts. I don't see why and how this would not apply to everyone else. Don't blame your clumsy fingers. The last time I checked, your fingers aren't the ones with the brain to spell words. The only acceptable time where your fingers and brain may slip simultaneously would be when you're under the influence of alcohol. Then again, if you're drunk, just don't use your phone, period, for anything. Spell check would be your last concern in that case.

Lastly, but not the least important, I have a hard time with words that are shrunk into mere few letters. I believe adding a "y" and a "o" to "u" to make the proper word "you" would only take 0.2 seconds more than just writing "u" in say a sentence like, "r u going to the movies?" It's okay if you're 12 years old, but if you're in a process of obtaining an university degree, I would suggest to start writing like you're someone who is supposedly in the process of obtaining an university degree. Stop dropping letters! I'm not going to start Googling every possible acronyms in this world to understand the actual meaning of them! Write out the damn word in its entirety!

CHAPTER 2.
Like.
If Facebook excels in anything other than existing, the 'Like' button is the most non-threatening, friendly and socially convenient function on the website. To 'like' a comment, a wall post, a picture or a link of someone, it releases the user from being socially obligated from any further duties that leaving a comment would otherwise create. What do I mean by that? First of all, you will not be constantly notified by other comments from other people on that same post, which often times have nothing to do with you and offer little to no interest to you at all. Secondly, leaving a comment would instigate a string of back-to-back comments between you and the friend you commented on which can lead to a conversation on Facebook that could be done elsewhere and more importantly, in private. Sometimes, you just don't want to start having to comment back and forth on that post which eventually will have nothing to do with the original nature of the post to begin with. When does the conversation end? Ah, the dilemma! Hence, the 'like' button eases this very problem. You acknowledge that you agree with the friend's post without having to compromise your own precious time. Brilliant, I say!

However, the 'like' button has its limit in terms of its usage, or should I say, it's misuse. First of all and I feel like it might be the only point here, 'liking' your own status update or post is utterly and completely irrelevant and nonsensical! It just doesn't make sense. Why would you 'like' your own status? What are you trying to say by 'liking' what you just obviously expressed? On top of writing your status update, you're 'liking' it too? Why don't you just write the update, 'like' it, comment on it (not as a response to someone else's comment, but the first comment following the writing of your update), and 'like' your own comment??! The full package! I feel like someone is trying to feed me 1+1=5. It just doesn't make any sense and I thought the only thing that doesn't make any sense in this world is Kristen Stewart's acting. Now that's something I won't ever 'like'!

Lesson of the day: don't like your own posts. It's ridiculous, vain and plain weird. As if Facebook isn't self-absorbed enough, people now need to like their own posts too! pfft...!

Next chapters to come...

Hate The Game, Not The Player

• I don't like people who needs to say: "[insert city], here I come!!". OKAY. First, as if [insert city] cares that you (yes, you! Who the fuck are you?) that you're "coming!!!". You coming to [insert city] is not going to be life-changing to the existence of that place and of its inhabitants. You can imply that you're going to such and such city/place without the unnecessary and needless to say, tacky "here I come" saying. So, stop.
  

• I don't like French-speaking Quebecors that constantly need to whine about the socio-political situation of their beloved french language as if it is a dying language on the verge of obsolescence like its mother source, Latin. For some unbeknown reason, they are somehow threatened by their English-speaking counterparts when it is completely baseless to begin with. The French-speaking population is beyond bigger than of the anglophone and the lack of appreciation of someone else's cultural background repulses me. What I hate the most is their argument on how they can no longer be served in their preferred french language. This is ludacris and ridiculously pretentious. If a "hello" instead of a "boujour" that detrimental to your state of mind, then you have much bigger issue than the fear of being overruled by anglophones. They speak of acceptance and tolerance, but yet I feel like they are borderline being racist and discriminatory against the non-French-speaking populace. Having to read a "Reader's Opinion" column in the newspaper by some small-minded person complaining about the lack of reinforcement of the French language in the province by the government is extremely frustrating and is indicating that this province is not progressing on a socio-cultural level if people like this must raise their voice on this non-sense issue. Something tells me they never heard of the expression "Live and let live".

• I try very hard to be open-minded to things I don't appreciate (and I already consider myself a pretty open-minded person). But some things are just so hard to accept. Like heavy metal music and people who are somehow able to bang their head to the "beat" as if the random mixture of melody-less noise is soothing to their brain. I'm not talking of limp bizkit or some Metallica, but like heavy underground-type heavy metal music where the lead "singer" screams what I can only assume to be decipherable words, I think. I mean, sure, whatever float your boat, but on a health perspective, I'm sure listening to that kind of music has to be a brain cell-killing activity. I don't think I can ever sit through a single song for more than two minutes.
  

• F.O.B Asian kids on Facebook commenting on each others' status updates in broken English only the Jackie Chans and Jet Lis of the world can understand, really gets on my nerves. I feel like their comments consist of more symbols (i.e. ~, ..., -.-, =.=,^_^, etc) than actual words, which is both fascinating and retarded at the same time. It's just mind-boggling how they actually grew up in North America and are still able to communicate in Hello Kitty manner. I'm Asian and have a large percentage of Asian friends and I am myself a "FOB", but how is it that I'm able to not be, well...like them. I equally love Asian food and bubble tea, but I refrain myself from adding "~" at the end of every sentence. I'm able to adapt to both the North American culture as well as being exposed to the Asian culture also. And I'm the least multi-tasking person alive. Well, at least it's entertaining to witness their Sanrio-colored life.

Inside North Korea

While waiting for a friend the other day, I went to Indigo Bookstore to roam the shelves and look at the current selection of literary works. I tend to lean towards fiction, but I've recently started reading more non-fiction because I felt like I needed to expand my literary collection by alternating between fiction and non-fiction. I also noticed that I'm a much faster reader when in comes to non-fiction. I cannot quite decipher as to why exactly I read at a faster pace when it comes to non-fiction, but I can assume that by knowing the story that is told reflect something real ,makes me more curious and eager to know what happens next. When I presented myself in front of the area of non-fiction books, one immediately jumped at me with its big red hardcover and authors names that I recognized. It read Somewhere Inside by Laura Ling and Lisa Ling. I knew of their story that made headlines not too long ago, but never really exposed myself to the event or to the idea of North Korea. I knew about North Korea as much any other person would know about North Korea which is basically nothing except that it is the most isolated country in the world ruled by dictatorship. I still have to understand why we're even bothering with the existence of this country and not just simply bomb them before they bomb us. But I digress, I know about world politics as much as Lindsay Lohan would know about safe driving, which is close to nothing. Nevertheless, I grabbed this quite heavy book and read the first chapter while I waited for my friend to meet me. I was captivated (no pun intended considering the topic of the book) by the amazing story that sisters Laura and Lisa Ling told through alternate voices. While one recounts her journey as a North Korean prisoner who committed the highest level of crime that one can commit in North Korea and endures five months of freedomless captivity, the other tells her exhaustive mission to get the North Korean government to release her younger sister by approaching highly-ranked U.S. government officials.

Laura Ling is a journalist currently employed by CurrentTV, a cable television network owned by former Vice-President Al Gore. Her assignment was to document about defectors who escape North Korea into China through the China-Korea borders. While doing so, she was led to accidentally touch North Korean soil and was immediately caught by North Korean guards. Though she and her colleague Euna Lee was able to touch Chinese soil during their arrest, the guards were not phased by this fact and still manage to drag both ladies back to North Korea. Needless to further to say that this event led to their imprisonment for five long months before they were finally released. They were the first Americans to ever be trialed by the Superior Court of North Korea and were deemed guilty of their crime and were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor prison camp. Lisa Ling is also a journalist who is currently employed by the Oprah Winfrey Show as a field correspondent as well as a correspondent for National Geographic. She also previously co-hosted the talk show The View for three and a half years. Her twenty years in the media industry provided her with an extended list of influential contacts that were instrumental in the release of Laura and Euna. She went on a campaign to get her sister out of the country by approaching important members of the White House to get them to resolve this dilemma through political diplomacy. She was in contact with everyone from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Al Gore and President Clinton. As well as President Carter and finally President Obama. Through her media contacts, she was able to get her family and her to appear on the Today Show and CNN to publicly apologize on the behalf of Laura and Euna for the incidents in the hope that North Korea is watching their desperate plea. Everyone offered their generous help and provided support to the Ling and Lee family during this hard time. Even Michael Jackson offered to go to North Korea and perform for Kim Jong Il and perhaps influence him to release the girls, but alas, MJ died before any further actions could had been done. While the ending is a good one (and a predictable one as we all know what happened at the end), the story told by both sisters is so impressive on an emotional level that I was expressing different feelings while reading it such as anger, sadness, hope, irritation, and finally relief and happiness. The North Korean characters presented were so human and innocent-minded that I feel so much pain for them as they are not even aware that they are living in a country that strips them of all human rights and they have been brainwashed by propaganda all their life. Though Laura was locked in a room and deprived of freewill, she was able to connect with the female guards and the translator. They were compassionate and supportive of Laura's delicate situation. Though North Koreans are wired to hate America and its inhabitant, they connected with Laura and even considered her a friend for the time they were assigned to Laura. Through other circumstances, these people are not any more different than you and I.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book as I devoured it in a span of two days. The 300+ pages were filled with awes and I anticipated the next move as I ferociously turn each pages. It's not a literary accomplishment as we're not talking about fiction work by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, but the real tragic and hopeful story of two sisters fighting for the right to be free. It exposed me to the "culture" of North Korea and of its very so oppressive regime. For a small country like North Korea, I believe we should not take for granted its size as it can become a dangerous nation capable of everything.

Because I finished the book faster than I thought I originally would, I went and got two new books, one fiction and one non-fiction. The fiction is titled Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan, a collection of five short stories about Africa that deals with issues such as poverty, violence, prostitution and so on. The other is titled Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and recounts his humanitarian work in the Middle East with the mission of building schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan in areas where the Taliban is most prominent. I have to decide which one to start, but I think I will jump into Three Cups of Tea as the other ones are just short stories that I'm not in a rush to read. Hopefully I will enjoy these summer reads as much as I enjoyed the past books I read this summer including Eat, Pray, Love.

Ice Ice (Cream) Baby!

I do love the city I'm living in despite sometimes complaining about wanting to pack my stuff and move the hell out of here. But summer in Montreal is always making me feel like there's no other place I rather be. There's everything I need; food, music, shopping, "good" weather, nightlife, and tons of people-watching opportunities and obviously people I know and like.

But I must stress the aspect of food here in the city. I just love it. The variety and range is always alluring and there's always something new to discover. Truth be told, not everywhere offers good food, but for me, it's a combination of quality (or decent) food and great ambiance and service. Location is also an added factor in my liking of a restaurant because if the location is sketchy and people-watching is mediocre, I'm not going to enjoy my visit.

That being said, I love The Plateau and The Main (St-Laurent) for good food with a casual hipster ambiance. But swanky Outremont area has become a great place for food and people-watching. It's a wonderfully clean area in the city where there are a significant amount of trees, good-looking people and expensive cars parked on the streets. It's similar to the West Village in New York City. I went to eat with a friend at restaurant called Enfants Terribles (terrible name) and we set on their sidewalk terrasse under a beautiful evening weather. The food was actually pretty good and I thoroughly enjoyed my lobster macaroni.

For dessert we headed down the street for ice cream at Glaciers Bilboquet, a local favorite. To put you in context, Bilboquet tastes like Ben&Jerry...done right. The assortment of flavors is fantastic and the option to choose between ice cream or sorbet can become a painful battle with one-self as it is impossible to decide between something great and something...great. That being said, I ended my suffering by having ice cream (Mic-Mac) and didn't regret it. It was absolutely amazing. There was chocolate, coffee, caramel, cookie dough, bits of maple, and other things I'm sure as well. Bilboquet scoops and buckets can be purchased at JavaU or in the Old Port, but what makes Bilboquet even better is its great location and its little shop reminiscent of a time that is slow-paced and peaceful. It's like you're no longer in any hurry and you just want to sit on the terrasse and having ice cream with a buddy with no worries in mind.





That's what I like about my city in the summer. I'm not in a hurry. If I want to read a book while dipping my feet in the fountain of Place-des-Arts, I can. If I want to check out the latest art exhibition at MBAM, I can. If I want to have iced coffee outside, I can. If I want to lay around on the grass at Ile St-Helene, I can. And exactly because of that, when I'll actually move the hell out of here, I will miss it. Terribly. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying every bit of it.

Undercover

You know what's back? Camouflage. I don't know how and I don't when that occurred, but it's cool again. In my opinion, I never thought it to be cool at any point in time ...until I saw it done well. And obviously, only the Italians can do it well. It's Men Fashion Week in Milan and the Italian gentlemen are roaming the streets of Milan and Florence in camouflage pattern clothes. I guess it's a taste of the Army without actually enlisting.

Maybe I should find myself a pair of camouflage shorts too...

pictures courtesy of Tommy Ton for GQ.com

Europe 2011

I've been hearing stories friends here and there about backpacking in Europe or Asia and here I am not doing any of that. The furthest I've been was Punta Cana and then again I dont consider it as 'travelling'. So I've taken matters into my own hands because if it is not going to happen now, it will eventually never happen.

I'm planning seriously on saving a lot of money from now till next summer 2011 for a backpacking trip to Europe. I want to do France (Paris, Nice and Cannes), Italy (Rome, Florence, Milan and Pompei), Greece (Athens), and Spain (Barcelona, Madrid) and maybe London if time and money permits me. It's very ambitious and I don't know how fruitful this plan will ever become because it will take a lot of sacrifice on my part in order to save enough money. But I want to end my undergrad with a bang and experience something I always desire before entering the workforce and become 'responsible'. Also, I can't possibly study European art and talk about it if I never see it in person, what's the point otherwise?

Of course, I wouldn't want to do it by myself, just because I'm still a bit insecure and paranoid but mostly, it would cut my(our) costs down a little bit. If I can't find a friend that share this same interest as me, I would post an ad on craigslist or something looking for a travelling buddy. Creepy, maybe; but I'm open-minded enough that I don't think it will bother me too much or at all. I'm sure not all Craigslisters are crazy.

This never-ending longing for the ultimate Europe trip needs to end. In the event that this does not happen, I will probably cry for an undetermined period of time.

EDIT Found a friend! :D

Can We Go Back To The 60s?

I know, why be backward when you can be progressive? I don't hate the future nor do I dislike the present either. I think the new decade is and will look good, but sometimes I'm feel so nostalgic about a time that I've never lived. The 60s fascinate me (the 50s also), and the preppy style of this era really is at its best. I think this style can never be outdated. Above the knees shorts (though not shorts shorts) and loafers (sans socks!) should be a uniform. Oxford shirts, varsity cotton sweatshirt, flannel plaid suit jackets, yellow rain coats; wow, I'm speechless. I often neglect how American style truly represent an iconography of fashion. It's casual, it's laidback, yet it has flare and refiness. Although I can only speak about it from a perspective of 2010 person who sees the 60s as exactly this. I may be biased and miseducated about that era, but I rather have that set of mind and not doubt my own ideals than be exposed to whatever is called "the truth", I don't know, you tell me.

Regardless, awsome pictures of Ivy League college students photographed by Japanese style photographer Hayashida from all over the Northeastern area of the U.S.A. in the 1960s. I know, Ivy League is overrated in 2010, but still I want in. I still want to enter the gates of overpriced, unfair and biased private higher education institutions to indulge myself in pretentious learnings of the Liberal Arts and Humanities for no ultimate purpose, but to be a connoisseur of whatever connoisseurship I may acquire. But I digress, I need one of those yellow rain coats, stats.

Pictures courtesy of A Continuous Lean

Get Me Out Of Here

Ugh, I wanna go to Paris and be French.
Or London and be British.

There's nothing for me here with the North Americans.

Am I forever to be condemned in this unrefined, closed-minded, cultureless land of nothingness?

I want passion, I want dreams and expectations that can stand.

Though I also want uncomformity, reformation and counterintuition.

I want it all. But I digress.

I don't want to bite more than I can chew.

Maybe one day this land of brain-washed nothingness will be fruitful and

Offer me something that slightly ressembles the Promised Land.

For now, French art and English literature will keep me company

For I need a rapid way out of my insanity.

Crazy And Crazier

One would think Lady GaGa can't outdo herself, one is gravely mistaken. GaGa has done it again, albeit with the help of Beyonce. I can't say Beyonce's association with Lady GaGa on this track and video provides any substantiality to the whole thing, but I don't mind it.

Where to begin in describing my utter fascination of GaGa, especially after watching this non-sense video? I'm obssessed, that's a given.

I'm totally for anything that doesn't make any sense, but that provides stunning visuals by doing so. Telephone isn't as epic as Bad Romance, but is visually on par with the latter. For the non-Lady GaGa-fans who don't get it, simply are just not trained in undeerstanding visual art. Not that I am either, but I have always appreciated visual creativity in any kind of media form, so I enjoy it greatly.

I'm not saying this is art, but it is as close as anything any mainstream pop artist (excluding Bjork) can make that has any kind of art integrity to it.

On a side note, I absolutely have no problem with the blantant use of product placement in the video. And by blatant use of product placement, I mean you can literally tell who sponsored the production of the video and how much they gave with the amount of time they appear on screen. For some people, they find product placement to diminish the viewing of a video or film, but for me, to see 2 seconds of a real existing brand name on screen doesn't affect me whatsoever and why should it? If anything, I find a film/video to be more credible if the characters in it actually use things that exist in real life. Sure it doesn't add anything or progress any plotlines but it's not the end of the world. It's part of the game that is business.

Anyways, I'm gonna go back and watch this video for the 35th time today.

More Like 'The Blind People'

It still amazes me everytime how I'm able to go through 3h30 of the Academy Awards. I could care less for 95% of the awards handed out andthe show never gets any more entertaining. But somehow, I sit through these painfully long hours (including painfully boring commercials) just to see whether my predictions were right. Sure, I could just wait and see the results on the news, but I wan't to experience it on hands and say 'aha!' much sooner than when it goes online/news. And this year, I was mostly right (unfortunately).

Overall, all the winners were deserving except for one. I know, I've already rant about my disdain against a certain actress in a certain tacky movie, but I need to restate it because I feel too strongly about it. Sandra Bullock does not deserve her oscar. Period. That's it. That's that. The other four nominees were terribly robbed from Sandra because they all had such better performances than Sandra Bullock's sad attempt at a southern accent. What Sandra did was doable by any other actress of her caliber or less. It wasn't sensational and it wasn't outstanding on any account. The movie wasn't bad. She wasn't bad, I give her that. But is she Oscar-worthy? Absolutely not. It looked like a Lifetime TV movie that airs during off-season, and she was merely doing what an actress should be doing on a normal basis, give a decent performance. Not because she made a relatively big jump from romantic comedies to a "drama" that she should be awarded for her so-called "leap in acting". I thought the Oscar awards creative actors that give an outstanding once-in-a-lifetime (the exception being Meryl Streep) performance? I guess being America's Sweetheart is enough of a criteria to frivolously hand out a prestigious (I need to find a new word for that now...) award, especially the top female acting award. Did Meryl Streep earned her 16th nomination? Yes. Did Gabourey Sibide earned her first Oscar nomination for her heartbreaking performance? Yes. Did Carey Mulligan earned her nomination for portraying a confused and naive teenager? Yes. Did Helen Mirren give yet another amazing performance? Indeed. They should all win. Sandra Bullock? Totally out of place. It's such a contrast from last year where The Academy got it so right with Kate Winslet in The Reader, and this year they were all smoking something good or something totally wrong. I feel like I'm a loner on this one, cause everyone else seems to love Sandra Bullock. I have nothing against her, and I like her and her comedies, but that doesn't warrant me to accept her undeserving win. It's blasphemy, I tell you.

On the other hand, The Hurt Locker won Best Picture as I predicted, and Christopher Waltz and Mo'Nique won respectively for Best Supporting Actor and Actress. All of that made so much more sense. And Sandra Bullock? ugh, don't get me started again...

P.S. Yes, I'm that immature that I needed to "X" Sandra's glorious moment (and spray paint her Oscar).

NYF

I can eat this all day. Everyday. 

I'll be back for you next tuesday! 

P.S. It's too bad fries or poutine at New York Fries cost me almost $15, since I have to buy a movie ticket to actually get the fries. Oh well, they're so tasty, I can't complain.

P.S.S. I love this ad. I didn't know vodka was made from potatoes. Maybe that's why I like it so much?