Breaking It Up

I think everything has already been said about the Rihanna/CB drama. Apparently they're talking. Or together. Or something. I'm on team whatevs on this one. But as far as this particular track is concerned, I'm for it.

Perhaps Seinfeld put it best: "the best revenge is living well".

Rihanna "Whipping My Hair" (via PMA)

Friday Photos 02/27/09

Hustlin'

Recession Proof with Bobby Bailout. Coming soon.

111

First discovered Blame One back in the days when a summer job meant 20 hours working at the golf course and the remainder of my days and nights on the lakes of northern Michigan. My friend NJ (who starred in the now-infamous Summer Movies) and I had Blame's first EP permanently in the dash of the boat on repeat in '04 thanks to NJ's brother. We used three songs in the movie that came out in '05. Since, it seems that he either fell off the map or was working on something big. If you were wondering, it was the second option. Check it out below:

Blame One (ft. Blu & Exile) - Wonder Why (via Nah Right)

100 Days, 100 Dances, 100 Locations

BOOMBOX from Ely Kim on Vimeo.

If you told me a year ago I'd be posting videos of asian kids dancing I would've laughed at you. Look at me now.

Flow Sweetly, Hang Heavy

I feel like it's part of my job to update this with a song that I can't turn off. In this case it's the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new track "Hysteric" which is kind of a mellow introduction to their newest effort coming April 14th. It seems to be a pretty dance heavy album judging by the current selection on Hype Machine and that's certainly not a bad thing. While not much of a departure from the YYYs of past days, it looks like it's a wise investment.

Hysteric (@hypem.com)

Sometimes in the Fall

While I don't think I personally could carry that bag, it's a good look. The sweater, on the other hand, is ridiculous (re: I need it). 

Of course this is the Raf Simons//Fred Perry line for Autumn 09 and it's good. As Selectism said:

Look for wears made from a knit combination of twisted metal yarns, polos with woven large gauge metals used to highlight the “laurel,” and metallic bags. Metal does not suck.

This is a line to look for as summer starts to wind down.

Photos are courtesy of Michael Savant.

Next up is this. By "this" I obviously mean the Tom Ford velour bowtie and aviators. The pocket square isn't bad, but after watching the Oscars last night I'm calling in sick on this. Yes, Don Draper looks great in Mad Men. But you're not a TV character based in the 60's. Instead, you look kinda like this guy.

The other blogs are all over these too, so I don't know who to thank. I'll save my appreciation for whoever sends me these items.

1901

Now this is good news: on May 25th, Phoenix will release their fourth album. Titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, it already looks promising thanks to the band leaking their first single. Lets take a moment and give a hat tip to euro-pop at its finest.

1901 (via Discobelle)

Follow them on Twitter, become a fan on FB or if you're one of the 14 people who still have MySpace you can see them there too.

TEXTSFROMLASTNIGHT

A friend just started a new website that I've had some involvement with called Texts From Last Night. The site is a place where you can anonymously send texts you received anytime (but lets face it, the really good ones occur between 12-6am) and they're posted on the site. All names are taken out of the text and all we post is the area code of who sent the text. We realize that a few bridges may be burned in the process, but it's all in good fun (or at least the original texts were at the time). 

All you have to do is send the text you want posted to txtsfromlastnight.mobile@blogger.com or txtsfromlastnight@gmail.com. We can see your email address if you send to the gmail account (we obviously won't post it and your message is deleted as soon as the post is complete) but the truly anonymous way is to send it straight to the blogger address.

We're working on making a form so you can enter the text directly on the site and also in the works is a dedicated number where you can just forward the text to the site. We've only been live for a day, give us a break...

In the mean time you can check the site here and follow us on Twitter as well. 

Happy texting.

Slow Jams Sunday

Lykke Li @ NTBR Part 4 - "Hustlin'" from Drew Innis on Vimeo.

My impossible crush on Lykke Li just keeps growing. First there is video of her performing "Can I Kick It" by Tribe, now this? The anthem of the TLT? If she's within 1,000 miles of you and you don't see her, shame on you.

#93.3 - BON IVER - For Emma, Forever Ago
by lablogotheque

My friend Bananas just sent me this as I was writing the first part of the post. I jumped on the Bon Iver bandwagon back in December while ironically hiding out from the world post LSAT. If you haven't already, it's not too late to buy the album. 

Guess this is turning into a Slow Jam Sunday after all. You can download all three of the Bon Iver videos here.

#93.1 - BON IVER - Lump Sum
by lablogotheque

Detroit '67

From the album "Love at the End of the World"
www.samrobertsband.com
Secret Brain/Universal


Director:Dave Pawsey
VFX Superviser/CoDirector: Jonathan Legris
DOP: George Vale
Production: Spy Films

via Faded Detroit

Brothers

My dad dug up some old photos of the family while packing up for their move and found the gem above. It's funny how half of what we're wearing is now somewhat back in style. I guess Philip Bobby and I just had good taste from day one, or my parents just knew how to dress us. Yeah, probably the latter.

Also, note the blonde spots of my hair. For everyone who still thinks I get my hair done....

Today was a big day

1. I am now a Flickr pro.  This means that my facebook page will probably lack photos as I plan on only updating Flickr from now on. Also, you can find my photos way easier at flickr.com/photos/benbator. Finally, you can download my pictures in full quality and use them however you like. Everybody wins.

If only it were that easy to become a pro in other walks of life. Pay $25, you're a pro basketball/soccer/baseball/football player. It'd be a tough pick between soccer and basketball...

2. Now you no longer have to type styletruthsoul.blogspot.com (although you still could). I registered styletruthsoul.com mainly because after almost a year of blogging, I think I like the name enough to keep it.

Broken Embraces

Pedro Almodóvar has long been my favorite director. I was introduced to his work when I was still in high school with ¡Átame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) and one of my favorite movies of all time Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother). 

Now he is back with Penelope Cruz for a film called Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) which will obviously feature a love triangle, Penelope yelling in spanish and well, what else do you need? With the whispers of a Best Supporting Actress Oscar on the table for Cruz, this teaser for Pedro's latest masterpiece came not a moment too soon.

hat tip --> Defamer

Friday Photos: Sick Edition

Friday Photos coming later. Welcome to NyQuil. I am still too lazy to upgrade my flickr account so my photos might rely on others more than usual.

Trainsssssss

Below is a letter that a few friends and I are writing to our senators and reps in Michigan. I encourage you to fill in the blanks, change some words around (if not from Michigan) and to do the same. This is a great proposal that could change the way we travel in the US (for the better).

Here is a link to a NYT article discussing the hurdles surrounding the issue.

Here is the link on Google Docs: Dear Senator 

Full text below:

Dear Senator _____,

It is becoming more and more apparent that the worsening economic conditions surrounding the country will not support the auto industry as they have in the past. The first round of cash infusions to the American auto industry has not fixed the problem, and it seems that more jobs will be lost even if all three American car companies survive.

Recently, the Federal Railroad Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation have introduced proposals for several high-speed rail corridors (http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/203). While these projects are in their infancy, they may offer a sizable solution to several problems surrounding Michigan’s economic plight, the nationwide recession and the worsening problems we face due to global warming.

Since Michigan is included in the plan for these new railroads, there would be immense job creation in all phases of this project. From construction to operation and maintenance, this rail system could offset some of the lost jobs from the auto manufacturers. Michigan is a hard working state in a perfect position to acquire thousands of jobs to make this proposal a reality. These same projects will take place on a greater scale throughout the country, creating jobs for out-of-work Americans.

Going forward, this would open a direct line of transportation to Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis and beyond, expanding tourism to Detroit and Michigan as a whole.

Finally, the creation of a rail system in America will be more efficient per passenger than travel by car, making it an energy efficient alternative to plane travel as well.

As Michigan residents and U.S. citizens, we implore you to support this initiative to move both the country and state forward. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Icon: Cliff Skighwalker

It's Cliff Skighwalker's birthday so in his honor I'm doing my 1st™ Icon post. Basically these are people who have made their mark and I would highly recommend getting to know. This isn't going to be a common thing, so watch these kids.

Cliff is not only the super intern manager at Burn Rubber, a clothing and sneaker boutique in Royal Oak, MI, but he also holds the title of "your favorite blogger's favorite blogger" at cliffskighwalker.blogspot.com. Cliff is currently a student at Michigan State University. You can check him out on twitter too.

Happy birthday Cliff!

Paris Is Burning

Street style blogs have been reproducing like Nadya Suleman since The Sartorialist and The FaceHunter jumped onto the scene. 

I haven't found many that I've liked since, but lookbook.nu changed that thought. 

You can even upload a picture of yourself if you believe that you're on point enough to warrant people voting on your look. All of your looks are saved in a profile page so people can witness your progression for better or worse. 

Basically it's an incredibly vain facebook that I can't help but love and I'm not ashamed to say it's officially in my Google Reader feed.

New Mighty Mos. Life Is Good

In For the Kill

I need CS2, 3, 4 (Adobe Creative Suite) or whatever number it has gotten to now. Lost my serial number for my copy, now I'm stuck with projects that I want to complete but can't. If anyone has a way, please let me know.

Despite all of the curious events lately, life is absolutely fantastic. If you think yours isn't, you're just not thinking properly.

Moving on the radio project this week with a full plan.

Flat out.

Henry's City

The famous Ford Model T factory. In 1916, my dad's "Bator Produce Co." edition rolled out (although at that time it was black, now she is a bright yellow). Today, this landmark is next to a strip mall. If that isn't a sign of the times, I don't know what is.

Friday Photos

(thanks cliff)