Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Crushable

Crushable

CMJ Show Report: Dean and Britta's 13 Most Beautiful Songs For Andy Warhol's Screen Tests

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 11:18 AM PDT


A few years back, the Andy Warhol Museum commissioned indie rock supercouple Dean and Britta to compose an album’s worth of recordings to play under Warhol’s famous screen tests. The 50th performance of the show coincided with CMJ, and for me it was the highlight of the festival.

If you haven’t seen Warhol’s screen tests, they’re a series of black and white videos that the pop artist shot obsessively for three years, capturing just about every “interesting” person who came through his studio doors. He’d stick his subject in front of a camera and leave him to his own devices, to fidget, stare or do whatever else one does when left alone with a recording device (become the next Justin Bieber?). They videos are normally silent, so Dean and Britta’s accompaniment was less an intrusion than a way to hone in on and enhance each character’s mood.

In a Q&A after the show, Dean and Britta explained that with hundreds of tests to choose from they wanted to compose for people who were part of Warhol’s daily life — and not folks who merely stopped in at the Factory once or twice (this is why we don’t get any score for Bob Dylan’s test, grr). Among the 13 compositions are videos for Billy Name, Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick, Paul America and Nico.

The songs are dense and beautiful, some have lyrics and some purely instrumental. It was fascinating to see both product and inspiration at the same time. There was something so raw and almost intrusive about the experience, and I imagine that’s just how Andy Warhol would have wanted it.

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CMJ Show Report: Dean and Britta's 13 Most Beautiful Songs For Andy Warhol's Screen Tests

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 10:07 AM PDT

Love True Blood as much as we do? Then you’ll probably drool over this prize pack. We’re giving two lucky fans of Crushable on Facebook a True Blood graphic novel signed by its three creators and a bottle of Tru Blood blood orange flavored drink. To enter to win, simply click here and hit the “Like” button before 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 7.

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Best Quotes From IQuitPants.Com

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 10:22 AM PDT

We’ve been sitting on this amazing site for a couple days now, trying to figure out what to do with mommy vlogger “mj” and her epic undertaking, IQuitPants.com. That’s right, for an entire year this lady is going to go without pants! (Skirts are allowed, as are sweats for gymwear.)

While we appreciate any good stunt that involves a year-long commitment to one fashion theme – like UniformProject.com – the message behind Sheena’s mission was that people own too many damn clothes. I Quit Pants has a website that includes a shopping list of what she wants to buy (or have bought for her by a kind sponsorship deal, *hint HINT*). Oh also, it has an 8 minute YouTube video in case you wanted to hear the explanation in the form of 10 years of community theater lessons.

In case you couldn’t sit through all of that, here are the choice quotes:
• “I can hear the feminists right now, driving to my house to burn me at the stake.”
• “People think wearing skirts and dresses is like anti-feminist or something?”
• “I’ve heard the argument that women fought so I could have the right to wear pants. That’s just silly. They fought so we could vote, and you don’t see 100 percent of women going out and voting in every election they possibly can.”
•”Saying wearing pants makes us equal to man is to like, devalue what it means to be a woman.”
• “I don’t hate pants. I’m not a pants-hater.”
• “Basically, if I just had a faux-denim skirt, a khaki skirt, and a black skirt, I could accomplish the same things as jeans…but people would take me more seriously.”
We cannot wait to see what other wonderful, forward-thinking tidbits mj will bring to us in the upcoming months. Good luck, girl!

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Best Quotes From IQuitPants.Com

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 10:06 AM PDT

Silly Bandz, the video game – Never one to let a fad pass them by, Nintendo has released a game based on the kiddie bracelets. We can’t wait for the movie based on the video game. No wait, the movie based on the Twitter feed, based on the video game. Is 2012 too ambitious? (TIME)

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What's Halloween Without Celebrity Jack-O-Lanterns?

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 09:54 AM PDT

Can you believe Halloween is this weekend? We haven’t even gotten our pumpkin yet! Much less decided how to carve it (though we doubt we’ll go with anything more complicated than two eyes and a scraggly-toothed smile). If like us, you’re in need of some jack-o-lantern inspiration, check out this gallery of pumpkins carved with celebrity faces. Some are spookier than intended.

  • This pumpkin's domestic policy is more Tootsie Rolls, please.
  • Snookis are to be painted, not carved.
  • Um,
  • Stephen Colbert, in the pumpkin-flesh.
  • Why so serious? It's Halloween!
  • Oof. Amy Winehouse.
  • A Jacko-Lantern. How very clever.

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What's Halloween Without Celebrity Jack-O-Lanterns?

Video: 'Garden of Eden' is Hemingway for People Who Love Jared Leto's Hair

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 09:51 AM PDT

Garden of Eden is a film (loosely?) adapted from an Ernest Hemingway novel. In the book, Hemmingway explored themes of gender fluidity and sexual transference as a married couple come across a young woman on the French Riviera and involve her in their little dangerous liaisons.

In the movie, Mena Suvari convinces her Jason Schwartzman-looking boyfriend (Jack Huston) to give himself a Jared Leto makeover (still can’t beat this chick), but makes him keep his dark mustache so he looks like a doucher.

Reactions?
Meghan: Remember when Mena Suvari was attractive?
Me: Nope.

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Video: 'Garden of Eden' is Hemingway for People Who Love Jared Leto's Hair

Two Blackface Costumes Ruin Northwestern's Halloween This Year

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 09:49 AM PDT

Halloween at Northwestern University is going to be a lot less fun this year thanks to two poorly thought out costumes last year. The campus went into lockdown last year after two undergrads decided to dress up in black face. This year, the university’s dean of students, Burgwell Howard, sent out Halloween guidelines to help students pick out more politically correct costumes.

They include some helpful instructions on the history of blackface. And also stand to take all the fun out of terrible coed parties this weekend.

Gawker has the complete email. But a highlight definitely includes this explanation of why blackface is a bad costume idea, for those students who slept through this part of history class:

“Blackface, for those who do not know, or do not remember involves the darkening one’s skin with polish, paint or some other substance with the goal of impersonating a person of African descent-has been a recurring practice over the past several generations. Blackface costumes, particularly during Halloween are not isolated expressions. In fact, instances of blackface have often disrupted college campuses (e.g. “ghetto parties”, “pimps and hos” and “gangsta” parties etc.) all over the nation, and images of students parading in blackface are documented as far back as the early twentieth century. (For those who were not here or unable to attend the forum we would suggest that you do a quick search on Blackface & Northwestern to get caught up on the discussion.)”

Northwestern students and grads must be so proud to be such a relevant result in the history of Google’s cache on blackface!

But here’s the drag in the dean’s email. The university’s new guidelines:

So, if you are planning to dress-up for Halloween, or will be attending any social gatherings planned for that weekend, please ask yourself these questions before deciding upon your costume choice:

• Wearing a funny costume? Is the humor based on “making fun” of real people, human traits or cultures?

• Wearing a historical costume? If this costume is meant to be historical, does it further misinformation or historical and cultural inaccuracies?

• Wearing a 'cultural’ costume? Does this costume reduce cultural differences to jokes or sterotypes?

• Could someone take offense with your costume and why?

Atip for really innappropriate costumes? Make sure your face is covered enough so that you can’t be identified.

I’m not sure, but last time I checked, most undergrads would be hard-pressed to avoid all those bullet points while putting together a sufficient costume for whatever keg party they plan to attend this weekend. At the least, it will put the kibosh on one of this year’s most popular costume ideas: castmembers from The Jersey Shore.

Here’s a tip for students unclear if their costume meets the new requirements. Make sure to wear a mask that completely covers your face, in case you cross the line and have to make a break for it when school officials pick you out. Also, wear running shoes.

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Two Blackface Costumes Ruin Northwestern's Halloween This Year

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 09:31 AM PDT

Yahoo Answers Remains Your Best Source For Determining Pregnancy, Cheating On Your Midterms – The teachers…it’s like they’re learning from us, becoming more realistic every day! Scary! (The Daily Wh.At)

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