the library of congress has a flickr photostream & it is awesome.

here they are.

room with a view. of a big ugly building. and a pretty sky!

it's gross out. thank god eggnog is back in the stores.

gross. [view while at work the other day. willing to sacrifice comfort to take children to playground because there, they entertain themselves. i read and ignore them and tell them to walk it off when they "hurt themselves" and when i get bored i listen to music and jump up and down-- cue middle school kids looking at me weirdly, hi kids, it's cold, or it's the magic of music! makes ya wanna mooove.-- and take pictures. if i was an old man, i would probably be arrested since it's a playground full of children. i saw that svu episode. speaking of which, i just saw the new ice-t svu ep and he got all 'police brutality' on some fella. which was awesome. speaking of which, j came back the other day rather drunk & idealistic & tried to put in a complaint of overexertion of force some cops- who refused to give badge numbers, which is illegal- were using on same couple in the subway. i couldn't get the whole story out of him, or the story didn't really make much sense and after a few of his (drunk) calls to, like, everything, including clogging up the 911 line, nothing got done, which isn't a surprise. but as they say. . . well, go down for the music files to find out what they say. yes, self-pitch! subtle, too.]

grossss. [view of ave A from the window right now. ick. & in an hour i have to walk alllll the way to ave B.]

not grossss. eggnog (3 parts-- hard won. j ran out of the line when we were almost to the check-out and harassed someone til they dug out the off-brand eggnog. cashier yelled at me when the machine didn't ask for my pin. happy holidays!) with coffee (1 part, surprisingly good, made the flavor darker and richer, no real hint of coffee, more like caramel. i don't drink eggnog with alcohol because alc & dairy makes me, lame, sick without fail.)

Swimming Pools & Summertime Tunes

J Bennett Fitts photography series "No Lifeguard on Duty" showcases retro motel pools in such exotic locales as Victorville, Panama City, the Inland Empire, others. It's interesting to look at the pools, most only partially if even filled, as well as the skies that Fitts captures- the colors complement the abandoned faded-out feeling of the pools, a Polaroid aesthetic. Check out the rest!

	Ella Fitzgerald – Summertime featuring Louis Armstrong
	Found at skreemr.com

	Billie Holiday - Summertime (Organica Remix)
	Found at skreemr.com

Tunes can be downloaded if you follow the links. I'm not sure how I feel about the Billie Holiday remix, but I'm leaning towards the positive so I threw that in there (it sounds like something they would have used in Kontroll), and then I threw in "Ebin" for good measure because 1. Sublime makes me think of driving in the car in the summer and 2. my boyfriend won't stop listening to it for some reason and now I want to hear it. And then I thew in "Crack Rock Steady" because I never post these guys and it seems like a good poolside song. (And it's been stuck in my head.)

	Desmond Dekker - Israelites
	Found at skreemr.com

	Choking Victim - Crack Rock Steady
	Found at skreemr.com

More music for a hot summer day with Sublime & Bedouin Soundclash

Obviously this photo has nothing to do with anything except hopefully those bathing suits means it's hot out, but it's from Toronto Life, credit due. Maybe that dapper old fellow is waiting for his ruca. So here is the original from Sublime, and then the Bedouin Soundclash cover, which loses a lot in the interpretation but features their as-usual great vocals and makes for a decent track if you pretend it's a different song. Click the links to listen & grab. You can buy "40 Oz to Freedom" here.

Richard Avedon Set

Speaking of models and sweet photography, Flickr user Confetta has, among a host of other great sets that are worth your time, a great Richard Avedon photostream, with pictures of everyone from Marilyn to that crazy Bjork broad to Carson McCullers to Avedon himself. Pictured above is a detail from one of my favorites ("Egypt") and there are plenty more where that came from.

How to do it right because the New York Times couldn't figure it out.

We all got to make fun of the New York Time's magazine's hilarious presentation titled "latter-day Rude boy fashion with puffy sleeves and dresses that would scare Sid straight and last seen on Shane MacGowan while sober." Or something. But the point of laughing and pointing should be constructive, to point out flaws and to find alternatives or examples of the right way.

Luckily, Clayton James Cubitt has an awesome photoshoot "Lagos Calling: A fantasy anthropological study of African skinhead fashion from the early seventies." Check it out, below are my two favorites. And now. . . I want more Fred Perry products. Hrrmph. Make sure to take a look at his other stuff, especially the Katrina series.

via StayRudee blog.

The Times on 'Latter-Day Rude Boy Fashion': Swing and a Miss

I know my audience so I'm pretty sure you guys will get a kick (in a bad way) out of this photoshoot the New York Times magazine did recently, and not just because the outfits clock in between $400-$1000 or because the last photo in the series has puffy lady sleeves. I can't even imagine who suddenly decided this would be a good idea.

Stormtroopers! STORMTROOPERS!

"Stupid Garbage Compactor. . ." Property of JD Hancock

JD Hancock, whose Flickr stream you can check out here, has put together an awesome and fun set of stormtrooper action figure shots-- a sort of behind the scenes/day in the life of the average Imperial ground troops complete with really, really wonderfully bad puns. It's a welcome addition, especially since the stormtrooper gets no respect, ever since Lucas decided they were all clones. (Anybody keeping up with the EU stuff? Are classic trilogy troopers clones?) Anyway, Hancock's photos are a passel of delightful miniature fun, and if you like what's up there, checking out the other pictures is time well spent. Also check out this creative reproduction of Jabba's palace (or whatever seedy place Boba Fett stopped at en route to Tattoine with a Bith band.)

At Home with the Stars [LIFE]

Here's a cool set of photos from LIFE: candid (or not-so-candid) photos of some of our favorite greats like Mr & Mrs Newman, Sophia Loren, Olivia De Havilland, and Maureen O'Hara in their homes.

You go to my head

Sung by everyone from Dinah Shore to Rod Steward, including Ella, Louis, Judy Garland, and Ole Blue Eyes, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie's (of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" fame)"You Go To My Head" is a charming alkie's serenade to a lover-- "I find the very mention of you like a kick in a julep or two."

• "You Go To My Head" by Billie Holiday

I thought I'd take the opportunity to pair Billie Holiday's sultry version of the song with a photo of Holiday by Herman Leonard. Leonard opened his first studio after WWII, and photographed all over the world, including spending time as Marlon Brando's personal photographer while Brando toured the Far East. His studio in New Orleans was damaged during Katrina, and he now works out of Studio City. His collection is on display at the Smithsonian. If you browse his website as well as the Edelman Gallery page, the source of the pictures in this post, you'll probably recognize not just the names (including Pearl Bailey, Sarah Vaughan, Chet Baker) but some of the shots, including a famous one of Ella Fitzgerald on stage being watched by Duke Ellington in the audience. As Quincy Jones said, "When people think of jazz, their mental picture is likely one of Herman's."

best picture ever

Hey all- I've been on spring break right now-- houseguests, tourists, a lot of walking, exhaustion, papers due oops!-- but we'll be back up and running in the next week.

For now, this is my favorite new photo, taken at the Ellis Island museum (definitely worth the visit) where I was at on Monday. There's something about the pure tragedy of the girl's face and the bemused, edging towards the edge of patience of the boy that keeps me from deciding if I should feel pity, especially in light of the history behind it, or indulge in the humor. Either way, they need hugs. And they have tiny shoes.

	The Pogues - Thousands Are Sailing
	Found at skreemr.com

Cutest Sea Slug Ever

I've recently been really into underwater creature photography, despite my general dislike for sea creatures (they're CREEPY.) But not this little guy, he has a little hat!

And then there's my second favorite from this series: he's on fire! These photos are from a sweet collection of sea slugs prints from the National Geographic print store, starting at $20 for 10" unframed. Check them out! They're all really quite remarkable (and colorful.) It's interesting to see their camouflage evolutions.

Favorites from the LIFE Archive: Walter Brennan

left | right | All | Wiki