I like this because it has an appeal for everyone. It's a classic win-win situation. Ford mannequin, Alejandra discusses her favorite swimsuits in a short video on Bluefly's blog, Flypaper. At least I think that's what she was talking about. I'll have to watch it again. This time with the volume up. Anyway, Bluefly is without a doubt one of my favorite places to shop and I always enjoy their email. Especially when they come with a super model attached.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Ford Model Alejandra On Swimwear.
Phat Farm Sneakers.
I've always loved Phat Farm sneakers and at $39.99, budget or no budget, I can get a pair of these. I'm going back to preppy this spring so, these pair have an extra bonus for me. I guess I am an old fart because only old cats go ga-ga over Phat Farm. It's cool, I'm embracing getting older. Anyway there's plenty of hot styles on Mr. Russell Simmons' website. For under $40 even young dudes should be willing to add a little old school pizzazz to their spring wardrobe.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Chris Brown: Rihanna's "Just A Friend".
Undoubtedly feeling refreshed after his Caribbean vacation, Chris Brown was in Los Angeles Saturday for the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards where he addressed the rumors he and Rihanna are dating. According to Mr. Kiss-Kiss, he's single and Rihanna is just a friend. I wonder if he meant just a friend in the Biz Markie sense of the word, or if he knows who Biz Markie is (that's an age joke). Big coinky-dinky, Rihanna, was also at the event, but the 20 year old pop Goddess dodged the press line. They both need to stop and just admitted it already.
Chloe Sevigny, Anja Rubik & Clemence Poesy on The Cover of Nylon.
Undeniably another fabulous issue of of Nylon magazine. Besides the great cover featuring Chloe and Anja Rubik and Clemence Poesy, there's the B-52s, coverage of Paris Fashion Week and Kylie Minogue. Awesome. There are more cool photos of the cover girl trio available to see.
Billionaire Boys Club Hooded Sweatshirt.
Beautiful, baby blue hooded sweatshirt $295 at the BBC/Ice cream site and Ice Cream Store in Harajuku as well as BBC/Ice cream shops and exclusive retailers worldwide.
Adidas Y-3 Bags.
Damn. I just got a Y-3 bag last month. It's a red Mobility Notebook Messenger bag from the Y-3 store in Isetan in Shinjuku and I love it. Ikue spotted it before she came over and shot me some snaps from her cellphone and a text message announcing it was half price. Immediately, I responded "get it". I didn't say "Honey, what else do they have there?". I think it's beautiful but it's not as beautiful as this one. Crap! Now how do I get this knapsack? How do I justify the expense? Having a keen eye for fashion is only good if it's discerning and using my brain wouldn't have hurt either... I need to do more research next time before I shop.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Yankees Outfielder Hideki Matsui Gets Married On The Down-Low.
I am a diehard NY Yankees fan. Having grown up in the Bronx, how could I be anything else? Anytime I see anything about the team or any of the players in the media, I immediately take notice. Take for example the reports that first surfaced in Japan, then in the U.S., that Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui got hitched on the low earlier this week. The newly minted, Mrs. Matsui is a twenty-five year old Japanese woman, whom he described as a "civilian" who works for a good company. Alrighty. Not one member of the team attended the wedding, or even knew about it. Nobody knew he was dating, much less engaged.
Sidebar: my own Japanese woman, Ikue, and I have been arguing for nearly two years (virtually the entire time we've known each other) regarding Matsui. Ikue is from the same town as Matsui, and she tells me there have been rumors for years now that he was gay. Many of my gay Japanese friends are extremely secretive, and when I say extremely secretive what I'm really saying is C.I.A. covert, take-a-blood-oath, married to the mob style secretive about their lifestyle. The girlfriend says he's never been seen with a woman in Japan. Ever.
If Matsui is gay that may explain why he introduced his "wife" to the world as a drawing. seriously. Like, not even a photograph. He held up a sketch of her at a press conference. Now that's covert. On the other hand... the Japanese media has hounded the man beyond anything you could ever imagine.Anyone who's has seen the amount of Japanese press that still, after five seasons with the Yankees, trail Matsui around can multiply that by at least three when he's on Japanese soil. That's insane. It might drive anyone to introduce their mate as a pencil drawing. Maybe he's just loosening up and having a laugh at everyone's expense. That would be a good as far as the upcoming season is concerned. Still it's kind of weird.
That is if you look at it from an American perspective. To an American, Matsui introducing his wife as a police sketch is actually normal from a Japanese perspective. Whenever a man or woman in public life marries someone who is not in public life they've introduced them the same way Matsui did to the U.S. media, as a drawing. He called her a "civilian" but cause that is the literal English translation of 民間人, pronounced Minnkanjin, which means an ordinary person or a civilian. That's what all of us normal, working stiffs are called in Japan. To maintain a spouse's privacy, that is what is customarily done in Japan, somebody makes a sketch.
So Wednesday morning in Tampa he announced he was getting married, Thursday it was a done deal and Friday he was showing off his skills with lead. Then came word that he made a bet with Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu, for an undisclosed amount of money, about whom amongst the three would get married first. It almost makes you wonder if getting in Jeter and Abreu's deep pockets was the motivation here. Hideki may have saw an opportunity to get Abreu & Jeter to cover some or all of his wedding expenses. Considering the pranks ball players play on teammates, this isn't an unreasonable assumption.
Anyway, I'm not naive, I realize, looking at the statistical percentage of gay:heterosexual males (approximately .07% if you're curious, err..., statistically curious, that is) in America, and the number of males in baseball to know, that statistically speaking, it is more likely that there are gay men in baseball than not. Seven percent would be more guys than got outted via the Mitchell Report. I have no idea what the numbers are for males in Japan. Given the fact that homosexuality has been around almost as long as sex and exists in every culture on the planet, I would guess it was the same percentage everywhere. So why not a Japanese baseball player, why not Matsui? It's not impossible although I would not believe so.
Not that it's a problem, in life or baseball. It doesn't change my love and admiration for the Japanese home run king or pinstripes. Frankly, I don't care about anything as long as the Yankees win ball games and, please merciful God, some more titles. As far as I am concerned, it is far more relevant that Matsui stays healthy this season than which side of the plate he bats from. I don't care what my girlfriend, the good people of Kanazawa or anywhere else in Japan has to say on the matter. Still, this news and the way it has unfolded is quite peculiar. At least from an American perspective.
So Wednesday morning in Tampa he announced he was getting married, Thursday it was a done deal and Friday he was showing off his skills with lead. Then came word that he made a bet with Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu, for an undisclosed amount of money, about whom amongst the three would get married first. It almost makes you wonder if getting in Jeter and Abreu's deep pockets was the motivation here. Hideki may have saw an opportunity to get Abreu & Jeter to cover some or all of his wedding expenses. Considering the pranks ball players play on teammates, this isn't an unreasonable assumption.
Anyway, I'm not naive, I realize, looking at the statistical percentage of gay:heterosexual males (approximately .07% if you're curious, err..., statistically curious, that is) in America, and the number of males in baseball to know, that statistically speaking, it is more likely that there are gay men in baseball than not. Seven percent would be more guys than got outted via the Mitchell Report. I have no idea what the numbers are for males in Japan. Given the fact that homosexuality has been around almost as long as sex and exists in every culture on the planet, I would guess it was the same percentage everywhere. So why not a Japanese baseball player, why not Matsui? It's not impossible although I would not believe so.
Not that it's a problem, in life or baseball. It doesn't change my love and admiration for the Japanese home run king or pinstripes. Frankly, I don't care about anything as long as the Yankees win ball games and, please merciful God, some more titles. As far as I am concerned, it is far more relevant that Matsui stays healthy this season than which side of the plate he bats from. I don't care what my girlfriend, the good people of Kanazawa or anywhere else in Japan has to say on the matter. Still, this news and the way it has unfolded is quite peculiar. At least from an American perspective.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
青山テルマ "Diary".
I've been locked into my textbooks this past week. I've had to keep my eyes firmly fixed on my books because I've essentially had to run a gauntlet at school the last few days. four exams, two papers, two research projects over a ten day period. Not a personal highlight.
What has been a personal highlight, or is at least shaping up to be one, is listening to Thelma Aoyama's brand spanking new debut CD, Diary. I've been waiting for it to arrive in the mail courtesy of amazon Japan, since I pre-ordered it two weeks ago. It was well worth the wait. The 21 year old singer is blessed a truly beautiful voice and, looking at the credits on the CD, some fair skills as a lyricist. I absolutely love her first two singles, そばにいるね and My Dear Friend, both of which are very well written and pack an emotional punch without being over the top.
あなたに会えてよかった, a cover of the 小泉今日子 classic, is another standout as are the cuts, リズム, Good Time Remix featuring Miku from Ya-Kyim and Higher. The solid vocals and lyrics and complemented by excellent instrumentation and tight productions. However, if there's one complaint about this CD, it's that, perhaps, it 's got one ballad too many. That aside, I give her props, but you can hear Ms. Aoyama's soulful Diary and decide that for yourself. Check out the tracks below and perhaps you'll also fall in love with the rising J-Urban starlet.
What has been a personal highlight, or is at least shaping up to be one, is listening to Thelma Aoyama's brand spanking new debut CD, Diary. I've been waiting for it to arrive in the mail courtesy of amazon Japan, since I pre-ordered it two weeks ago. It was well worth the wait. The 21 year old singer is blessed a truly beautiful voice and, looking at the credits on the CD, some fair skills as a lyricist. I absolutely love her first two singles, そばにいるね and My Dear Friend, both of which are very well written and pack an emotional punch without being over the top.
あなたに会えてよかった, a cover of the 小泉今日子 classic, is another standout as are the cuts, リズム, Good Time Remix featuring Miku from Ya-Kyim and Higher. The solid vocals and lyrics and complemented by excellent instrumentation and tight productions. However, if there's one complaint about this CD, it's that, perhaps, it 's got one ballad too many. That aside, I give her props, but you can hear Ms. Aoyama's soulful Diary and decide that for yourself. Check out the tracks below and perhaps you'll also fall in love with the rising J-Urban starlet.
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