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This photoshoot by Cliff Watts, proves to me how talented an actress Lindsay Lohan is. Not only can she act, but the fact that she can model as so clearly demonstrated in these shots, with the variety and quality of poses offered, really affirms my respect for her. She may be a party animal and currently a bit off the rails , but her talent shines. It’s impressive.

Linds-lo.com: Cliff Watts Shoot #1
Linds-lo.com: Cliff Watts Shoot #2

Popularity: 5% [?]

I came across a really interesting book earlier while reading a story in the New York Times about how the publishing business is, essentially, eternally flying blind. Publishers notoriously have no idea what makes a bestseller, why one book bombs and another soars in the sales charts. It’s a chaotic, highly unpredictable market.

NYTimes: The Greatest Mystery: Making a Best Seller

The story mentions a book called ‘Skinny Bitch‘ by Kim Barnouin who was formerly a model and Rory Freedman, a former modeling agent.

“The voice is funny, tough love, no nonsense,” the authors’ agent, Talia Rosenblatt Cohen, said. But the authors were largely unknown and advocate a vegan lifestyle. “Everyone kept saying, ‘No platform!’ and ‘Vegan!’ ” Ms. Rosenblatt Cohen said.
-Shira Boss in the NYTimes

Amazon’s Online Reader feature for the book allows me to show this excerpt. I think the book is fabulous. It’s billed as “A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!” Now I’m not a girl and I don’t really feel I need to loose weight (not that that’s the main aim of the book anyway), but I think a book like this is great because it pokes through many of the food myths that people are expected to believe, demonstrates how many of the modern amenities that we live with may not be very good for us at all, and sets about giving examples of how to eat right to stay healthy:

“Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my morning coffee.” Uhm… pathetic! Coffee is for pussies. Think about how widely accepted it has become that people need coffee to wake up. You should not need anything to wake up. If you can’t wake up without it, it’s because you are either addicted to caffeine, sleep deprived, or a generally unhealthy slob. It may seem like the end of the world to give up your daily dose, especially if you rely on Starbucks as a good place to meet men. But it’s not heroin, girls, and you’ll learn to live without it. Caffeine can cause headaches, digestive problems, irritation of the stomach and bladder, peptic ulcers, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. It affects every organ system, from the nervous system to the skin.
But don’t go grabbing for the decaf. Coffee, whether regular or decaf is highly acidic. Acidic foods cause your body to produce fat cells, in order to keep the acid away from your organs. (Please, do not link this acid issue with citrus and other fruits. We discuss this in depth later.) So coffee equals fat cells. P.S. It also makes your breath smell like ass. …If you enjoy the occasinoal cup of coffee, fine. But if you need it, give it up.

NYTimes: The Greatest Mystery: Making a Best Seller

Skinny Bitch (Paperback) from Amazon.com

Popularity: 8% [?]

About a year ago I posted about a little clothing brand called ‘429 Life’ whose name comes from the use of a phone’s keypad to spell out the word ‘gay’. You can read it at: 4-2-9 spells G-A-Y. I was pretty keen on them at the time, I think the idea’s pretty cool. It’s one of those ‘in the know’ kind of ideas. You either get it or you don’t. Perhaps the ‘in joke’ was just a little to ‘in’ for some people, including the company itself. In my post last year I wrote:

The t-shirts tastefully, in tiny writing, have slogans like ‘Are You 429′, ‘429 You Wish’, ‘429 Boy’, and ‘Absolutely 429′. If you’re unsure whether you’re 429 or not, you can buy the ‘premium soft cotton’ t-shirts without any label.

They don’t talk about the gay thing anymore. Now, under the ‘We Are 429′ section of their website they state, in ‘understated’ lowercase:

we like to challenge the idea of ‘labels’. so, when asked what 429 means, we can only give one answer: 429 is being confident in your own skin…
work in them, play in them, date in them … do whatever you want in them (we don’t judge).

I hate this lack of any attitude. It makes me want to despise their clothes, which isn’t as tough as it was before because they now look pretty ordinary. There’s nothing special about them. Of course they’re nice ‘premium’ shirts and such, but while last year their clothes were something remarkable, now they’re nothing more than what you could pick up at Zara with half of the price and none of the gay-shame. But they haven’t developed enough shame to stop putting homoerotic photos of muscly boys, as below, in their catalogue. Cute boys are apparently still allowed: it’s honesty and frankness that aren’t permitted. Theirs new style is like Abercrombie and Fitch but while A&F doesn’t really pretend to be anything but pretty and butch, 429 actively tries to deny its gay roots. Gross.

429 Life

Popularity: unranked [?]

A product from American Apparel, or at least using an AA t-shirt, celebrates the fact that the end is nigh! What’s best about them is not only do they have nice little brushed out pictures of Bush (41), but you get a little pot of ink and a brush to swipe out his face on the remaining two images as the day draws near that his reign of terror over the world comes to an end. It’s like DIY t-shirt making, but with the hard part already done for you. Perfect gift for all those 6 year old girl aspiring political activists in your life!
end-is-near.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

This image, from this photoset, in this blog, from this magazine. That’s Todd Sanfield by Lewis Payton, in Towleroad for DNA Magazine (AU). Astonishing.

Popularity: unranked [?]

I know it’s been a while since I’ve written anything substantive on here, so I thought I’d share a photo from last Thursday night with the world in place of interesting content. I hope It’s alright with Laura, featured below, that I’m posting a photo that I took with (beautiful, new) camera on the night in question. Club SOHO or SOHO club, I don’t know which, is an Erasmus-society event every Thursday. It’s a hot and sweaty, overpacked, techno filled collection of Spanish people with the occasional injection of anything-else thrown in. Lots of cheesy Shakira when the night gets late, lots of people dancing too much, sweating too much and drinking too much. It’s also just about the smallest club I’ve ever seen. Funny still though. Where else but Belgium would you have someone actually charge to use bathrooms in a club? You’ve already paid to get in, next time will we also have to pay just to get out?

Popularity: unranked [?]

Or is it just that Christina Aguilera is kind of small nowadays?

via The Superficial

Popularity: unranked [?]

The boys of ‘Dangerous Muse’, a US based electronica/dance band whose two members, Mike (left) and Tom (right) hail from New York City. Tom is still at the Jesuit College Fordham University and is set on finishing his degree before focusing his attention on the music career the pair are currently carving out for themselves:

“I’m not going to give up school because Mike is two years older than me”

The pair talked to The Advocate magazine about their music and their style. With their raunchy and risque photos and ambigous lyrics to their most popular songs, the pair are an advert for new ‘modern’ sexual freedom. When the liberation movement of the 60s was all about empowering people to break free of society’s pre-determined roles for their lives, the current revolution appears to be pushing for the ability to attract, outrage and be whoever they want to be.

“There’s no such thing as ‘out’ anymore,” Mike interjects. “It’s like, everybody’s out. People are always trying to attribute behaviors to labels, and a lot of these behaviors are being stripped from genders. Even though you look like a man, you don’t have to act ‘like a man.’

Their music can be found at online distributors like iTunes, but can also be listened to via their MySpace profile.

Dangerous Muse: Official Website
MySpace: Dangerous Muse
The Advocate: Rhythm and muse sample
Looksmart: Rhythm and Muse full article

Popularity: 2% [?]

Issey Miyake, the fashion designer, has lent his name to a new watch which is to be made by Seiko Japan. Exhibited in this year’s BaselWorld watch and Jewellery show, the design is fascinating because it’s so different to all the other simplistic watches on the market. It attempts to be minimalist while at the same time still giving an accurate indication of the time, rather that leaving the owner to make a guess at which hour the hands are pointing to. The face is designed by Naota Fukasawa, and comes in a brushed steel, or matt black metal finish over a white face. The third option is black metal with a light blue glass face. The ‘Twelve’ lineup detailed. Fukasawa, formerly of the innovative design lab IDEO, has also designed for MUJI and B&B Italia. His minimalist style is obvious in the watch. It doesn’t look like the watch is available at this time, as it was only exhibited in March, but expect pricing to be around £160, or $300, as converted from the 33,600 Yen list price.

Issey Miyake Watches
Seiko Announcement of the Twelve365

Popularity: unranked [?]