Lyrics Born
Find us at the Abbey Pub on Elston tomorrow night for the Lyrics Born show at 9:00! Bring your agendas... We've got 8 points, do you?
Somethin' Like a Phenomenon
So I need a proper education on this topic - but it just sounds so interesting when it stumbles clumsily off your tongue: Phenomenology!  Boy-o-boy do I need an education on this. My enchantment with the name of the philosophical study has led me to base our first marketing campaign on the topic. You can see the images we've developed here. They are designed to intrigue, provoke thought and meaning, and be memorable. The campaign pays tribute to graffiti  campaigns - both physical and internet memes - as well as our neighborhood. They're designed to be mysterious, even somewhat disconcerting - in a graffiti kinda way - juxtaposed with our color scheme, which washes all of that away. Many of you may be familiar with the themes and we hope you'll recognize and enjoy the linkage we're  trying to make to graffiti campaigns across time. At the same time we hope to convey our appreciation of the medium's ability to craft powerful statements. So go figure! I've decided to drop some coin and stake the future of our business on a line of study of which my complete comprehension is: Phenomenologists oppose the scientific view of the world that nature - and I guess they mean natural selection - has provided all the world's real objects (OK - so stop right there because I know what you're thinking and this is not some kind of creationism vs evolution debate I'm struggling with) in favor of our  consciousness. The idea being that the world around us is a result of our own understandings that rock is hard, glass is clear, water is wet, and reality television shows are crap. But really what it means to me is this: We need to think long and hard about the meaning of the objects we surround ourselves with, because they convey different messages to each of us based on our own interpretations. Everything, down to the most minute detail or most overlooked possession, conveys a meaning - and we need to be aware of that. If you're out there accumulating piles of things that don't have any meaning then the meaning of them is that you're just a pack-rat - or you're just going with the flow. It's a convenient definition for us, as it fits with  our driving philosophy. So I'll take it. But does that mean we need to build a marketing campaign around the theory? Why not - I've seen marketing campaigns built up around around far, far, and I mean faaaarrrr, poorer topics. I feel the struggle for the philosophy to take hold is a good parallel to the struggle of a guerilla marketing campaign - so all the pieces fall into place, right? Well, at least in my mind...
Tickeling Your Knowledgebone - Satin
 Few people are actually aware that satin is a special kind of weave and not a type of fabric. Satin can be woven with all kinds of yarn (silk and polyester are the most common and popular choices but for e.g. bed linen cotton is quite popular too) - it is the method and the twist of the yarn that give it its lustre and smoothness.  Kiran is wearing a satin gown made from polyester.
Historically Hip: Empire Waist
Fashion loves to reinvent itself - and some of the most popular and most often recurring cuts go very far back indeed. One of my own favourite cuts is the empire waist line. It makes short people look tall! It was first made popular during the neo-classical period and reached its first peak at the time of Napeoleon's coronation, at which Napoleon's sisters (who might also have been quite short) wore dresses sporting this particular waist line.  It was a time when women became delicate and fragile - sensitive rather than sensible. Schopenhauer was arguing that men were logical thinkers and women were too emotionally unstable to participate in the shaping of society. Perhaps because this became the dominant view, female fashion became more sexual (think Jane Austen adaptations and their emphasis on the heaving bosom, which always almost plunges out of a deeply cut dress - only kept in by a  thin veil of fabric), while men's wear, which up until then had been every way as flamboyant and vain as women's wear, became dull, drab, and very serious indeed. Today we may not particularly do our very best to push up so badly that we fall out of our clothes, however, the empire waist line remains as popular as ever. Unfortunately this cut in combination with an A-line or full skirt can become an attempt at camouflaging belly fat. It was in part what made it popular in the first place (women were after all birth giving machines), but really girls, let's not abuse it like that. Let's still use it to emphazise and enhance rather than to hide.
Tickeling Your Knowledgebone - Rayon
 Rayon or viscose comes in many different weaves and knits and it can be soft, it can be stretchy, it can be flimsy. Carrie is wearing a dress and a scarf both made from viscose.  The uses for rayon are many - clothing, home furnishings, and industrial. For clothes it has the wonderful qualities of feeling great and falling beautifully. It is a so-called regenerated fabric, which is made from cellulose extracted from tree pulp. So while it is primarily a man-made fiber, rayon, at its core, really is quite natural.
Culture Lost
 That wonderful feelin' - that wonderful sound. Not only that, but that wonderful scene and its effects on fashion & culture in general. With New Orleans gone - what happens to jazz and all that which it has influenced so heavily? Jazz is the first original art form to develop in the United States of America The New Orleans area is one of just a few regions in the world that can truely be called the heart of the jazz community. Jazz culture can generally be broken up into four rich scenes - the big band jazz of the Midwestern US in Kansas City, the bluesey rythems of Chicago, the cool, smooth sounds of Scandinavia, and the improvisational heart of it all in New Orleans. New Orleans has spawned such musical and cultual visionaries as Bill Johnson, King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong - and dozens of offshoots of Jazz music such as Big Band,  Bebop, Swing, Boogie Woogie, and of course, Rock and Roll. But Jazz has also made its distinct mark on fashion ever since the decadent1920s, when the Flappers cut their hair and loosened their corsets while dancing madly to the latest jazz tunes. The styles of those days have continued to be a heavy influence on fashion: the endurance of Chanel's trademark minimalistic lines  are perhaps the strongest testimonial to the greatness and endurance of those revolutionary days, when jazz music was the inspiration to throw off the restraints of Victorian society. These last few years the flappers have been coming back stronger and stronger. Soft feminime dresses, the cloche (the close-fitting hat with enough shade to make those wearing it look just a tad mysterious), and the comeback of the musical "Chicago", which of course featured everything flapper and jazz. Jazz and all of its musical branches have constantly inspired fashion and culture in general - e.g. the beatniks with their bongoes, berets, and leotards - in a way that seems as everlasting and forever renewing as the improvisations of jazz itself. It's cliche to say it, but jazz symbolizes such all-American values as freedom (improvisation), equality (rooted in black culture), ingenuity and entrepreneurialship. It's cultural influence goes so far beyond the realm of fashion it's impossible to comprehend. All of this is rooted in New Orleans. Hopefully all of this is not lost.
Shiver Me Timbers!
 Rumors persist that the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards may play Johnny Depp's father in a sequel to Pirates of the Carribean. Depp reportedly modelled his character, Captain Jack Sparrow, after Richards' mannerisms and speech patterns (and one might be tempted to think he also found inspiration in Richards' unique sense of pirate style). Depp's been chasing Richards for nearly a year to sign him up for the sequel. Richards ought at least be somewhat interested, as he was once quoted as follows: "I would have loved to have been a pirate. I am fascinated with the idea of standing on one's own two feet. [...] Because ever since I left school, nobody has ever heard a "Yes, Sir" from me. Apart from a few exceptions: in court and in jail." When recently asked about playing Depp's pirate father, did however say: "The idea of working for Disney gives me the shivers in the first place." But would shivers not be the right sort of motivation for a film such as this? Anyhow, perhaps the old trendsetter might rekindle his pirating passion and help usher in a new  era of pirate influences on fashion - since seafaring rascals are just about the only romantic heroes that have not been part of this season's style guide.
So summed up by John Stewart this evening on the Daily Show. "The media are like 8 year olds playing soccer, they don't know positions and they're just like 'BALL PHOOMPH!' and the ball squirts away and they're like 'Oh! BALL PHOOMPH!'" Case in point, this clip of a Wolf Blitzer quote stating that the people of NOLA are "so poor, and so black". It's so easy any more to slip up and commit career suicide. One small misplaced word or phrase and a long, distinguished career can be tarnished. Sometimes I think most 24 hour media outlets would be better served by handing over their entire programming to the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, or some other appropriate charity during times of crisis. One thing I might add is that I really don't like the way mistakes like this are treated in the blogosphere. Regardless of whether it's Wolf Blitzer, Trent Lott, or Mother Theresa. A person's entire body of work should be judged just so - in its entirety - regardless if you agree with that person's politics. So please pass along with care. There are so many people trying so hard to maintain the best, most exciting coverage, they're all bound to make fools of themselves at some point. We'll probably be next.
Link
Margawrigleyville, Wriglaritaville - You Decide
...I'll be gone 500 miles before the day is done.
Labor Day weekend is more and more a weekend of historic and dramatic events across the country. Picnics, barbecueues, and water events have given way to sprawling public art events and experiments such as Burning Man in the southwest as well as historic citywide celebrations and concerts.
So what's big in Chicago? The historic first ever  concert at Wrigley Field - Jimmy Buffet performed in the outfield in front of the ivy covered walls. Legions of parrotheads enjoyed the performance in a beautiful venue. I'd actually say that Wrigley is a better place for a concert than it is for a baseball game.
Pointedly, Buffet wore a shirt that read "New Orleans" across it and managed to bring across an inspiring message about supporting the rebuilding during the show. For is final encore, he and bandmate Hugh Prestwood sat in the right field bleachers and played "City of New Orleans" - a song my dad used to play for us when we were kids. The lyrics are below.
As that ivy starts to give out to autumn colors, we'll be looking forward to next year's Labor Day weekend as another chance to get together with close friends and have great experiences - maybe we'll even make it out to Burning Man.
City of New Orleans: Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin' trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.
CHORUS:
Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
Dealin' card games with the old men in the club car.
Penny a point ain't no one keepin' score.
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.
And the sons of pullman porter
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.
CHORUS
Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
Half way home, we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea.
And all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news.
The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues.
Good night, America, how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans, I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.
America's Next Top Model
Haarrrumph! I'll put our girls up against them anyday. Why, you ask? They're beautiful, they live meaningful, interesting lives, they're inquisitive, they're interesting, and they carry so much joy! They inspire us. So here they are... Shayla
Kiran
Kimmy Anja Carrie Jess 
Humanity Lost?
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has made me wonder. Why did some people react with looting, violence, and even murder? Yes, it is a terrible, terrible situation and the government's handeling of it is both horrifying and disgraceful. However, while countries around the world have shown great understanding of the difficulties of coming to the aid of the thousands of people, who have been stricken by Katrina, and even offered financial as well as practical help, those same countries have also looked on with shock and - though noone dares to say so - disgust.  All levels of government and FEMA may be blamed for not doing everything in their power to prepare for this disaster, which apparently many knew would come. And the police should have stepped in when the looting and violence began. But what about the people? Are Americans more prone to violence than e.g. the people in Indonesia and Thailand - locals and tourists alike - who largely came together when all was lost on Boxing Day 2004? Would the rich, who escaped New Orleans in their SUVs, have scrambled to get their share of weapons? Or do desparate situations simply force desparate actions? Hard questions to answer, all I know is that what has happened is unacceptable. Are we not all responsible for our own behaviour? Even in extreme situations where our own lives may be at stake, should we not still recognize our duty - perhaps even our right - to remain dignified human beings? Does force majeure mean that we can throw aside everything that makes us civilized and completely disregard our social responsibilities and fellow human beings? I should think not! It is "easy" to sit in judgement of those whose situation is as desparate as it is in the aftermath of Katrina. But although we may not be able to withstand nature, we cannot let nature become an excuse to forget our humanity. Show your humanity and compassion by giving a donation to American Red Cross or one of the many other organizations determined to help. Thank you!
Ungodly
 Is that the right word? I hope so, because it's the only one that comes to mind that could come close to adequately explaining the situation in New Orleans and the small parrishes of Mississippi and Alabama. Please check here for advice from some rescue workers on the ground on to how to help out. The frustration and anguish we all are feeling can be put to good use - both in the current, immediate aftermath, as well as the future. This is a situation we need to never forget, and need to be certain we keep our priorities in line to handle in the future.
What Are We Selling?
 It finally seems to have happened. Cleaveage for men! Fortunately I'm not talking about man-boobs. No need for a manzier, no need for a bro here. Unfortunately, I am talking about the happy trail, or rather, the full carpet of pubic hair. Apparently those at Dolce & Gabbana feel it is sexy, and are now running ads with men wearing the lowest of the low cut in the front of their jeans. The leaf was added in the image to the left. Isn't it great? Well, I suppose that some women actually may find this sexy. And I suppose the reality of it is, it's not so much different from throwing cleavage around the way fashion and magazines have been for ages now. However, I have a question: What is it that we're selling anymore? I realize that the oldest adage in the book is "Sex Sells", but are we really to believe that people buy D&G clothing because they can see that guy's pubes? Even failing that, what is it that makes advertising executives think that thowing a bunch of skin around causes people's wallets to open up. I think we've lost track of what we're selling. In the fashion and clothing industry, yes we're selling style. But we're also selling comfort, fit, form, the feel of the right fabric on just the right day, and the ability to express oneself in his/her own way. Am I right on this or not?
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