NAME:

NAME: Brothers in Wallabes

2008-03-25T17:09:00.013-04:00

Yeah so we know really random, but as our NAME : banner does read 'and stuff', and these are the kind of random thoughts that we have at times. What do Ghostface and Wes Anderson have in common? Well, besides both having large and avid cult followings, making some of the most esoteric and loved art of recent times, having mad + obvious love for 70's pop culture, for Ghost it's the soul music, for Wes it's the films of the time. As the title of the post make have tipped you off they are both Clark's Wallabee enthusiasts.

So as fellow enthusiasts of the smartest ,best shoe EVER MADE in this universe, and this being a great excuse to post pictures of the two and the shoe... that's exactly what we're doing.
Also hopefully this post will help advance the notion that these two should collaborate in some form or fashion, perhaps Wes could be a guest on a Ghostface track, about shopping for the rt pair of Wallabees or maybe Ghostface could cameo in an Anderson film in a scene about the sartorial eloquence of the Wallabee. Either way the two would not only advance their own musical and/or cinematic visions, repertoire, etc., but would be able to advance the cause for the Wallabee, and really who better than the two Wally Champs for that great and noble responsibility?

NAME: Guest of a Guest

2008-03-17T13:24:00.006-04:00

Its not like we can just pay our bills with our good looks and charm, so now we're offering our unique perspective of the world to the blog guestofaguest.com
Basically a mish-mash of news and views(Manhattan styles). Most of the other folks at gofag come from environs other than BK and wanted to add a bit of the PLANET of BROOKLYN's flava if you will to their already savory pie. Check it out,mos def gets our seal of approval. Every Monday nite the crew has a party uptown, like way uptown in the 50's near the park... I know hopstop it

NAME: Spring Things part I

2008-03-16T09:59:00.027-04:00

In a matter of days spring will be upon us,and as such it will be time to trade in the parkas and long john under ware for lighter,brighter shirts, jackets and flourishes. That being the case, and since at NAME: we love lists we put together this Spring Things list. Its not a buyers guide more just evidence of where our heads and hearts are at as we hit the vernal equinox.
COLOR- but not gaudy, splashes of bright for no reason, subtle, effective hints.
Does the trick every time, as in belts and pants,color straight up from the bottom.

FLOURISHES-spring time is the rt time for these type of things. There's just something about the new life and fresh starts all round that make you wanna wear flowers and or feathers. Accessories like beads and scarves do a really good approximation of flowers and feathers with their eternal hippie tinge ,but keep it uncostumey.

Lightspeed Champion- with his folk troubadour stance and the best version of the Brain Jones haircut any black man has ever had ever Dev Hynes makes lush sweet music about listening to CRUNK, envying the life of camels, and the existential questions of the value of it all.

Key tracks: Stay the Fuck Away From Me- big, honest, self loathing fuck off to a 'stupid bitch'
and Gypsy- Fleetwood Mac cover as equally, electrically liquid as the original.

NAME: PLAID COMEBACK

2008-01-14T11:47:00.000-05:00

So plaid is really really popular rt now. Not exactly earth shakingly breaking news, just saying we've not seen as much symmetric pattern and color on men's shirts since the apex of the early 90s grunge years. Though this time it seems to be more about the plaid as opposed to flannel. There is a difference.

We're all for it really. It's not like we're the Sartorialist or anything,but in the everyday man's closet of gray/navy/black conservatism where the color spectrum is more a theoretical concept than it is a functional repository of possible options, plaid gives men the 'OK' to peacock it out a little bit, which is good, cause really why should the fairer sex have all the color fun? And since plaid or tartan has been around since the the time of the Iron Age from the Northern route of the Silk Road in Western China to the isles of Wales and Scotland it's kinda universal . It only makes sense that plaid never ever really goes away and at times, like rt now, spikes and explodes in popularity. This current plaid spike we like to attribute to the ever more abundant 'fond 1990s look back' that has also made colors more neon and prints more graphic(y) lately too. Plus it all works out well for the urban mountain man/farmer sophisticate looks that always do the fall/winter months so proudly.

NAME: JAMC

2008-01-03T14:17:00.000-05:00

So what does one call almost do-wop rhythm and phrasing coupled with guitar feedback wall of sound distortion styles, lazy in the mix vocals full of elemental sentiments, dark love fantasies and a fondness for acid? And how can one not even truly realize the greatness of this combination for almost 12,15 yrs? Well the answer to the first question is you call it the Jesus and Mary Chain. With hair deliberately in their face insolence and pale, bored coolness these guys made leather beach ware, a fetish for the Ronettes , Phil Spector,the Beach Boys, acid, and ridiculously distorted guitar tangents all seem like where one needed to be when they first appeared in 1984. The reason they come to mind is because we kinda only now just discovered how really "WOW" they are. Yeah I know a little late on the uptake and all, but better late than never rt.

NAME: FASHION AESTHETCS

2007-12-26T22:38:00.000-05:00

At NAME: we have very definite ideas about attire, fashion and style, and at times that may lock us into a bit of box that can be super hard to break , but it also provides us with a platform or foundation ,if you will, that supports us in even the shakiest of sartorial hours. One way for us to avoid the whole 'stuck in the box dilemma' is the developing or exploring of what we term Fashion Aesthetics. Simply, our fashion aesthetics are touchstones or reference points we use to help us decide. In a world with endless option and choice throwing some things out and focusing on core elements that just work out is really helpful, and plain necessary we find.

Rastafarians- So not only do theses guys' religious love of marijuana and philosophical disdain of razors, scissors and marring the corners of their heads and beards set them apart, so does their choice of wearing tidy pants paired with button down oxfords, good hats, wallabes and overall tropical island good vibes.

Western Villains+Heroes- ... Squinty eyed stares and itchy trigger fingers go really well with earth tones and dungarees . Really you'd be hard pressed to find a more utilitarian,while still stylish get up.

Black Panthers- What do you call a dark color pallet with hints of muted gray drabness, berets, sunglasses,leather and militant attitudes? ...i mean besides an example of soulfully correct dressing.

1965rockstar- The thing about these guys is that they're just rt. Rt in the middle. Between the monochromatic suits of the do-wop 50's and the over the top gaudiness of the later psychedelic era. It works because messy hair and neat dressing is confusing...in both the 'what, really he's like that?' and the 'I'm gonna wear a tie and still and do it with groupies' kinda ways

Safari Gear- Well traveling light is important as is wearing clothes both as useful as they are stylish and RAD, safari gear is tops in these at times hard to pull off simultaneously categories.

Mod Accessories- So the mods totally just win for their choices of accessories, from amazing pop-art pins to the 'archetype of the good, smart shoe' the dessert boot+ its just so classic...has there been a time since say about 1964 that these two items would not have just worked...no no there hasn't is the answer.

English Country Gentlemen- When this style 1st appeared in the mid/late 19th century it was scandalous for it's lack of formality. So pretty much this was one of the 1st attempts at casual dressing...with pocket watches,tweeds and top hats...well fashion always evolves one would suppose.

JEDI(episode IV,V styles)- 'Use the force' is really more than just a famous movie tag line for us....its a life command and a philosophy we try live by on the daily, so its especially helpful when our role models for this way of life rock out karate/judo-type practice shirts, phat utility belts, clothy earth tone proto-Thundarr the Barbarian boots and orange flight suits with intricate and complex life saving light buttons and metal bits.

NAME:Personal

2007-12-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

So we usually just leave the personal brain rumblings off of NAME:, because honestly we feel like who really cares about any of that stuff anyway like: "Oh my cat was just SO CUTE today." or "Man, my has work been extremely satisfying lately." Sure blogs can and at times are used as a journal-entryways into the mind of the blogger but... With all that said we are feeling extremely disjointed and deceptively superficial today. Like all we need is to eat a little bit of acid, read some Freud, and Gladwell all while looking for new and perhaps inaccurate,but stimulating information on the Internet. Not sure how these feelings will play out for the rest of the day,but we really just felt like we wanted to share. Have a pleasant DAY.

NAME: Peak Williamsburg

2007-12-12T12:10:00.003-05:00

OK, so we know we've not mentioned the Peak Williamsburg phenomenon in a bit. Not because the phenomenon has slowed, it continues to happen at an alarming rate. Honestly just because my head has been in other places. Occasionally removing oneself from the middle of a situation can add insight and perspective to matters that would otherwise be blindingly close. Hence moving further away from Williamsburg has helped me to realize that it was not just a case of 'stoned creativity' when I decided to follow the story of the peaking of the area. The industrial ,traditionally mixed neighborhood is changing... gentrifying, hipster Mecca(ing) whatever you wish to call it. To catch everyone up to speed Peak Williamsburg is the phenomenon in which the commodity associated with the neighborhood of Williamsburg reaches it's capacity and then steadily and terminally declines similar to Hubert's Peak Oil Theory. We went out and took some pictures to put a face on the phenomenon . We started with the more obvious elements of the peaking... all the new construction, and property for sale.
The places all seem very cushy and nice from the outside at least... like little yuppie dream castles right in the heart of the 'coolest' neighborhood in Brooklyn, heck the city.
Of course the peaking of neighborhoods is not a new phenomenon. It's just I've never been this close or had such familiarity with one peaking before, watching it blow up before my eyes.
As Williamsburg grows closer to peaking, residents will change. Some will be pushed out,and others will be let in. I'm not here to make value judgments over the rights and wrongs of that,just to to document it.
So the construction will go on and most likely will change a lot of the now familiar characteristics of Williamsburg. Some of those changes will be missed, while others will be embraced...its a cycle of life thing. We just thought people should think about it. This is really the first of our delving into the phenomenon. We will be commenting on other aspects as well ,and also if you see,hear, or just plain feel evidence of the peaking,please let us know at oper8tor21@gmail.com. Peak Williamsburg is going to Effect us all.

Girl Type: WOMAN

2007-12-10T16:33:00.001-05:00

Name: Arianne
What she does: schedule and direct/produce photo shoots,photography agent
What she's into: Hosting, things being 'just so', glamour,car rides,Neil Young, a recent addiction to Morrissey( which you know we think is pretty HOT)
Where we found her: At a dance party
Does she have the radio active: Its kinda of a meltdown at times.
This one is a bit different from the rest due to the sheer intensity ...women ain't no joke. Where the rest you can kinda fuck off with or whatever, she requires yr full attention until you learn her ropes so 2speak. Tiring,yes...but ever so enthralling.

NAME: SSOL-Songs that Save Our Life

2007-12-03T13:36:00.000-05:00

So our last post got us to thinking about songs...songs about women or relationships or situations that are so full of emotion ,be them sugary or bitter or a bit of both, songs that are definitely romantic in tone ,but have a sorta jagged male edge to them, and while listening to them may not clear up yr dilemma it sure does help maintain perspective. So we scrolled through the ipod, and thought about the songs that save our life, we came up with this list:
Neil Young-Cinnamon Girl-crazy girls rule the world, and they will forever...cause we want them to.
Oasis-Slide Away-Brutes do romantic really really well and with a lot of sunshine and crashing off too.
The Smiths- The Boy with the Thorn in his Side- Oh, who do you need to know? Only the MOZ can make plundering and murderous desire sound this innocent and wanting.
Jimi Hendrix-Castles Made of Sand- Things come, things go...so simple..well no not really.
Neil Young-Cowgirl in the Sand- It's the woman in you that makes you want to play this game...fair enough Neil, but we're playing it too so...
Belle and Sebastian- Funny Little Frog-'I don't dare to touch your hand, I don't dare to think of you in a physical way...and i don't know how you smell' Whoa Stu if its really like that yr game is worse than ours, we really appreciate that,THANK YOU.
Beatles-Girl- the description of a hard to love hard to leave girl is best felt while taking deep breathes through yr molars.
Pavement-Gold Soundz- Fuzzy disjointed summer love...we can't tell one another everything we need secrets ...remember?
Ned's Automic Dustbin-Grey Cell Green- Well when the desire has been found...and it's insider her, its kinda of a no brainer what's gotta happen next rt?
The Smiths- I Want the One I Can't Have- yeah that's about rt, i mean if you can have them ...why would you want them?
The Smiths- I Wont Share You- Yes the Perrier has gone straight to my head.
Portishead-It Could be Sweet- when trip hop was the new hot thang, it coulda been sweet,but this song about what could be if only sure is
Morrissey-Jack the Ripper- Comparing a 19th century unidentified mass murder of prostitutes to a wishy-washy-lovey type thing. Morrissey you literate bastard.
The Ocean Blue-Just Let Me Know- so sincere, so honest, would make it so simple...never ever will this happen.
Dinosaur Jr.- No Bones- Whiny voice and insecurity armed with massive, delicious feedback...gotta go with yr strengths ,rt?
Bob Dylan-Tangled Up in Blue- I'm not there...well maybe not Bob, but you sure were there to get tangled up over this life love and cross the country to get to her somehow.
Neil Young- Like a Hurricane- I am just dreamer,but you are just a dream...I wanna love you but I'm getting blown away...never has a more accurate depiction of loving a hurricane been presented...anywhere...ever
Oasis-Live Forever- A song so romantic it transcends mere sex/love... more on the level of romanticism about life, love, dreams and the realities of life.
Dinosaur Jr. -Sludgefeast- It's funny how 10th grade sentiments play so well when yr a full grown adult, and guitars that sound like kids thrashing in the mud really only drive that home even harder.
Daft Punk-Digital Love- It really sucks when its all a dream...especially when you wake up before the good parts happen.
Neil Young- Powderfinger- 22years old and left in charge of a family in crisis with oncoming intruders and wondering what to do alongside lean every note perfect guitar
Morrissey- Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself- Well basically,once again Morrisssey makes the obvious sublime...how does he do that?
Bob Dylan-Positively Fourth Street- Is it about an ex-lover? ex shitty friends? well its kinda all the same suckyness so just apply it where it fits really.
Neil Young-Cortez the Killer- A slow heavy lumbering revision of the conquest of the Aztec Empire set against the back drop of lost love and proto-grunge guitars.
Pavement- Summer Babe(winter version)- Graduate level word associations acting like a love note through lo-fi sound and slacker distortion. Intellectual masturbation can sometimes be romantic.
The Smiths-Still Ill- Entitlement issues, coupled with anti-social tendencies, questions of the mind/body divide and a bad make out session plus one of the best riffs Johnny Marr ever came up with..and he's good at those.
Keith Sweat- Make it Last Forever- Late 80s slow jam that showed you how to really get close to that special someone at the middle school dance, and Keith's croons/whines are straight cream inducing...really though.
The Smiths- This Night has Opened My Eyes- A newborn is drowned, wrapped up in a newspaper, and then left on the door step... We used to play this song when we worked with kids at a preschool cause its melancholy and kids need to learn that sometimes you're not happy and you're not sad.
Neil Young- Everybody Knows his is Nowhere- Homesick, missing love, wondering why all the running around..hippy ass Neil from the title to the finish.
A tribe Called Quest-Sucka Nigga- A very rational explanation and defense of the dreaded N-word.

NAME: well this changes things

2007-12-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

OK, so in our spare internet time we were image googling different things and ran across the picture for the cover of the 1969 single 'Cinnamon Girl' ,by one of our style icons Neil Young. The picture has such down home fall/winter good vibes that we are officially adding it to the canon of influences that help make up our minds when we get dressed everyday, and the song 'Cinnamon Girl' is also yr archetypal one about a really RAD girl that may be a bit bad for yr mental health... but whateves cause yr a dreamer of pictures running in the night and y'all chase the moonlight together...so it's cool. Also please ...fucking please do some homework on Neil Young...he is most amazing.

NAME: interview Au Revoir Simone

2007-11-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we're just at the right place at the right time. Add a little bit of the old in yr face action the media was once known for and you can cobble together a pretty nice thing. That was the case when we went to See Au Revoir Simone play a show a few weeks back. As we stood there kinda mesmerized by the sounds they were making we thought we really need to get these ladies to submit to a NAME: interview, so we pretty much bum rushed them before they got back on stage for their encore and asked really politely aka begged them to talk to us for a bit. Ever the nice ladies they referred us to the their manger and we decided since they are so busy( they're on tour with AIR rt now) we could do an interview email styles and that's just what we did. Au Revoir Simone is a band from Brooklyn that plays keyboard driven melodic music. If you don't know them you should especially if you're into Sunday mornings, harmonies, and mad scientist antics. So we asked the questions and Erika and Heather answered.
1.How long has yr tour been and how's it
going?

Erika: We have been touring a lot since last October...so almost a year! It has been amazing. Its funny that in a year we have made a transition from living in NY to feeling at home travelling in a van through cities all over the world.

Heather: its been such a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity...i cant even believe how lucky we are. i just try to stay grateful everyday, even when I'm tired and cranky from not sleeping and overworking.

2. Are y'all partying like rockstars or is a bit more
subdued?

E: well, it depends on the night i suppose. We like to have fun but we also care a lot about health and nutrition.
H: we all really love to dance

3. How'd y'all get hooked up with Air?

E: They like our music and asked us to tour with them.

4. What influences yr sound?

E: Everything from the sounds of our instruments, our
memories,
friends, eachother, nature...

5. You all seem to have a bit of a literary vibe, What
do you read? What was the last good book you've read?

E: Joan Didion, The White Album
H: I tend to read a lot of non-fiction, but the last amazing fiction novel that i read was Murakami's 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicle'

6. How do you manage to ride the line between mad
scientist keyboard driven group and adorable girl
band?

E: Don't really think about it.

H: wow, mad scientist keyboard group? i like that. I'd like to lean more towards that than adorable.

7. How'd the concept of fishing for yr keyboards come
up for the "Fallen Snow" video?
E: Actually the video directors came up with it. we had planned to build a treehouse but there was too much involved in that.

8. Y'all are relatively new, how are things

like myspace, file sharing and

fans legally downloading yr output affecting what you
do or how you present it?

E: Myspace has been great. i really like feeling so
connected to
people around the world.

9. Did you grow up thinking yeah we wanna be rockstars?

E: No, I wanted to be a movie actress or a journalist.

H: No, I wanted to be an astronaut! I did want to do something with stars, rockstars however, are almost close but not quite.

10. So you're big fans of Pee Wee Herman, right?

H: truly.

NAME: Our Style Icons

2007-10-16T11:20:00.000-04:00

At NAME we understand that we do not live in a vacuum. The World has it's influence on us and we in turn try to at least interact if not necessarily influence the world. That being said after we saw the GQ list of the Fifty Most Stylish Men of the Last Fifty Years it got us to thinking how we wanted to share our style icons so here is a partial list.

Vintage Dad(this is our ground zero, when we think of stylish men...we always start here)

Malcolm X( Clean, dignified, a man)

Bob Dylan( Hipster archetype)

Neil Young( The only hippie punks ever liked)

G.I. JOE(uniforms are tricky, on one hand they can be boring,but the JOE team always rocked the best color combos and they were fighting terrorists)

Han Solo(not as new age jedi as say Luke, more space cowboy from a long time ago and a galaxy far far away.)

Ralph Lauren( so this guy pretty much invented the concept of lifestyle dressing, and he looked good doing it too.)

Bob Marley( spiritual man, community man, rastaman, stylish man)

Steve McQueen(when tough guys and action heroes were also really smart about their sartorial choices)

James Bond 007 ( I mean really though...debonair, smart, and as at home in the seat of a spy class Aston Martin, a Monte Carlo poker table, thwarting a megalomaniac's plans for world domination or straight kickin it to the most enticing women on earth.)
Morrissey(If you know us then you know why the MOZ gets 2pictures, if you don't... well check the man's style and sound for the past 25years.)

NAME: Vampires

2007-10-15T15:24:00.000-04:00

(SHARK NIGGAS by JENONE acrylic on wood panel 9inx12in 2005)

With so many people and so many ideas floating around through so many filters like the internet, imagined nostalgia, and retro-culture; questions about who started what trend or whose ideas are whose get debated in fashion, music and even among friends. You know like when your friend got a dope pair of wingtips and you wanted to get some just like them or when you started to voice your new found appreciation for a particular aesthetic and now all of sudden your friends are into that same aesthetic. On the streets this phenomena is known as biting, or copping someone else's style. It's pretty common, those Retro kids even got a write in up in the New York Times for doing it. Its often very hard to say with totally accuracy who came up with what, everyone is a product of their influences and there is not a new idea under the sun. So it makes sense to build on things you appreciate and like tweaking odds and ends to make it more personal. One could even argue that this is one of the most dominant forces in the evolution of fashion and music. What we are saying, yes this is a bit of a P.S.A./ us saying what we want cause this is our damn blog, if you will, is that its OK to appreciate what has come before... to sweat it even, but it's not OK to not give credit where credit is due. When you do this you become a VAMPIRE, Jenone actually came up with that term, see how easy it is to give credit. VAMPIRES just suck the life out things for their own rejuvenation, not concerned about anything else. DON'T repeat DON'T be a VAMPIRE, be a connoisseur, be appreciative, bring something to the table. Raekwon and Ghostface said it best in "Shark Niggas" from "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx":
Man keep it real, get your own shit man, and be original
Word up
That's all man
And you'll be a better man
And you gonna come out on your own
Word up
Whatever how you gonna take it man, fuck it
Word up

NAME: yeah like Duh..real political styles

2007-10-12T10:46:00.005-04:00

OK OK, not to get too terribly heavy or anything, but I just found out that Former 4star general Wesley Clarke has written a memoir, "A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country",about his days of military service, running for president and what not. Clarke says that just weeks after the 9/11 attacks plans were already being constructed under the the direction of the Office of the Secretary of Defense(sigh old Don Rumsfield he does have the best steely, squinty eyed glare like ever)to pretty much take over/liberate/help with a regime change for 7 different middle eastern countries in the next 5 years. Starting with Iraq and ending with Iran. Well if that's true we're a bit off schedule. I mean really how are we gonna go and duke it out with a people in the desert who have been duking it out in the desert since the time of Mesopotamia with that much accuracy in that little a time? Clarke also writes that since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, the regret of Leaving Saddam in power has been softened by the fact that since our cold war relationship with Russia has warmed its possible to use the US military with impunity cause our comrades won't block us.
So the quest for a US controlled or at least US approved middle east is not new. We just seem to be too arrogant, stupid or inexperienced with dessert combat to make it happen,but that don't mean we won't stop trying.

NAME: we're sweatin this-MAD MEN

2007-10-11T12:26:00.000-04:00

Here at NAME: we comment on culture so we're fortunate cause that means we can really get away with talking about anything. Now we usually don't sweat television shows, but MAD MEN on AMC is an exception to that norm. It's about ad men in 1960 New York,think well fitting suits, skinny ties, drinks at the office by 10:30AM daily, lots and lots of cigarette smoking and the affluent creative lifestyle pre- hippie, pre-AIDS, pre-civil rights and pre-women's liberation. In other words its the guilty daydream life of middle aged young adult males who are old enough to repay,but still young enough to sell.

A Real American hero: Blackwater?

2007-10-08T08:51:00.002-04:00

Part of our mission at NAME: is to comment on contemporary culture,its in our tag line. So we had to add our two cents about how the war in Iraq is turning more into of a G.I.Joe cartoon/Chuck Norris movie on a daily basis. The independent military contractors(read mercenaries) Blackwater is causing a stir in the media allegedly killing Iraqi civilians in the name of the U.S., and its swooping Eagle of Liberty/mission of protecting diplomats. Seemingly being in a no man's land legally speaking where neither US or Iraqi law can moderate any of Blackwaters' actions. Can you say "Yo JOE"?Even our competent commander and chief does not seem to have an answer for this dilemma,or more accurately his answer is "Help."

It makes all the capitalist sense in the world;privatize the army. The men and women of Blackwater can earn up to $400-$600 a day or $144,000 to $216,000 a year tax free. Just as reference compare that to the salary of US military in combat zones(imminent danger pay) at $225.00 per month. But to be fair the president and or congress may designate these areas tax-exempt meaning that those $225.00 may be exempt from federal taxes. Well if Blackwater is doing such a bang up job,what's the problem? Well the fact that Blackwater plays into the fantasy of a 12yr old's army game, added to the fact that these patriotic men and women have NO OVERSIGHT, and Blackwater conceivably being used at home in U.S. emergencies may just be some...maybe...it's not like we're experts over here,just thinking.

NAME: This is how it is.

2007-09-23T05:26:00.000-04:00

The post frequency has dropped as of late not because we had no more to say, but due to the fact that we have relocated. In other words our stuff is not in boxes anymore,but our new space is not quite home yet so it makes it a bit more of a challenge getting it together. Sorry for the lame excuse ,but we felt we'd be remiss if we didn't at least let people know where we're at if you will. We'll be up and running smoother within the next two weeks. After that the posts will be on a more consistent basis...promises...promises. Click on these pictures and you'll see why we're so disorientated.

NAME: At the Show

2007-09-07T00:49:00.001-04:00

It's Fashion week in New York rt now so we finally got our chance to catch the glamour and mayhem that are the tents in Bryant Square Park and see a runway show.
Our friend Erica was happy to oblige with a +1 invitation to the Miss Sixty affair.
everybody was there,Maggie,Hilliary,Demi, and even Marvin Scott and Perry,but we spaced on the pic.
The actual clothes were very young:lots of graphic and allover prints on tights and dresses with a very definite American Apparel influence a la all the lame that shimmied so gracefully/hot on fire down the catwalk. Runway shows don't last all that long so it over in about 10,12 minutes. Then the most profound thing happened. As we were air kissing our goodbyes there was the Sartorialist doing his thing outside in the midst of the ultra stylish. If you're not familiar the Sartorialist look at his blog at thesartorialist.blogspot.com
Scott Schuman was an amateur photographer who used to work in the fashion industry as a buyer and now acts as the thoughtful man's Do's and Don'ts only he just shows the Do's and why they're Do's, and adds his bits of commentary and thoughts on dressing ,styles and trends. His blog is super good first thing in the morning... guaranteed.

GIO SNEAKERS

2007-08-23T03:11:00.001-04:00

We Recently Sat Down with our good friend GIO to talk about sneakers,trends and why seemingly normal adults geek out over footwear their parents would not buy them in middle school. GIO is kinda an expert in sneakers ...or at least he knows more on the topic than anybody else we know+ he works at REED Space,a sneaker boutique where said normal adults geekout . So we ICHATted with our lovable sneakerfreaker.

GIO SNEAKERS 1

2007-08-23T03:08:00.001-04:00

GIO SNEAKERS2

2007-08-23T01:50:00.002-04:00

NAME: What shoes get you open now?
GIO: I think vans..positively,absolutely
NAME: Like new ones or the classics?

Girl Type:Fly Bartenter Type

2007-08-19T00:30:00.000-04:00

Name: ????(thats kinda the point here though)
What she does: Well she bar tends at the very least.
Where we found her: In Fort Greene blowing up the spot (we mean that in a good way).
What she's into: Service with the cuteness, making everyone feel at home,other house specials.
Does she have the radio active? Well pretty much. Did you see her tip cup 4reals?
This girl type is always one of the nicer things about going out. You see her and she's nice ,cute and friendly. She also gets paid to to be like that, in fact the nicer,cuter and friendlier she is the more she gets paid.
So that makes it tricky- "Hey is the cute bartender being so awesome to us cause she likes our lame jokes or does she really need to make rent this week?" We tend to go with the latter plus how many times have you really picked up the fly bartender? She's seen it all... she has to... it's her JOB.

Girl Type: Ex Girlfriend Type

2007-08-10T14:18:00.002-04:00

Name: Jen
What she Does: painter,clothing designer,dancer
Where we found her: Geometric Park, Richmond,VA,about 10yrs ago.
What She's into: dancing ,music,art,being colorful enough to marry,but gray enough to hate.
Does she have the Radio Active: Even after all this time, she's still got it(dammit)
OK sure the two of you went through a lot of things together and though things are a bit different now(you no longer see each other naked, or are allowed to bitch about yr terrible day to one another) there's still a little reminder of why you thought she was dope enough to go to her parent's house for Thanksgiving or try to quit smoking(unsuccessfully) cause it bothered her inordinately.

Girl Type: Jersey Girl

2007-08-09T01:28:00.001-04:00

Well we finally got back to our Summer Girl Type guide and decided since summer is so fleeting, no mater the time of year girls are always around and honestly we're pretty slow we're just gonna do an All Season Girl Type guide. Here we have an example of the Jersey Girl Type. Not the J.Lo one, or the gum chewing, tacky, mallrat, but no less Jersey.

Name: Rosemary
What She Does: artist, and other stuff we're sure.
Where we Found Her: On a Rooftop in BK.
What She's into: art, skateboarding, break yr heart clothes, wifey material hair.
Does she have the radioactive:YES
Don't let these girls' look fool you, sure they're super neat and stylish, but they're still down to kick it in the sun, skateboard, run around the city styles, and she probably won't be too upset if it's PBRs and bikes as opposed last night's party and limos, but really she'll make either workout just fine.

NAME: Feature Jeff and Robin get married

2007-07-26T18:15:00.001-04:00

Well our good friend Jeff got married to his betrothed earlier this month in a ceremony with as little unneeded pomp as it was really fun circumstance. Let's face it the couple is supposed to be together for life, a shorter ceremony gives them a quicker jump on that, while giving the guests more time to get super wasted celebrating the happy occasion.
So it was, down in Richmond, VA, two souls came together and formed as one, Though we couldn't help thinking about it from the stand point of single guys with no prospect of marriage in the near future,but Jeff was super stoked and really ain't love grand. For a more detailed picture of the event and the afterparty and the hotel lobby go rt here

NAME: Interview Jaimie Warren

2007-07-24T23:21:00.000-04:00

Call it fate, luck ,God or just coincidence, but sometimes when the cold cold world turns it cold back and the and brightest day turn to the bleakest hours good things happen. Case in point we had tickets to see Morrissey last month at MSG, the day started out full of promise and giddy excitement,but... to make a long story short after we had a bike accident,nearly broke our wrist,found out the MOZ show got cancelled, even GOD is allowed to throat troubles, we went to a little cook out and lo behold who was there ,but one of our fave photogs Jaime Warren. So we gathered up some balls and invited Ms. Warren to submit to a NAME: interview and again lo and behold she agreed. Since Jaimie is a busy kinda lady whose had her work in different magazines and galleries world wide we caught up with her via email to get her perspective on everything from gender relations in the art world to the Kansas City art scene to party pictures.
OK so I came up with a few questions:
1. I felt kinda like a stalker looking for background info on the web, from what I could gauge you went to school in Wisconsin and live in Kansas. Pretty mid-western existence, can you fill in some blanks about where you grew up and did out in the plains?

Well I grew up in Waukesha, WI and left to go to the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri when I was 18 and have been there ever since. I have gotten jobs, internships and grants to go and live briefly in New York City and throughout Western Europe and Tokyo, but really I’ve just been living in Kansas City for the past 8 years. Very exciting, I know. Ha ha.

2. If I got it right you're not from either coasts which are generally seen as starting points for American culture and art, like ya know it starts on the coasts and trickles inward would you say that the internet has helped change that idea or even the notion you have to live in NYC or LA or a major city to become and stay a successful artist?
Well, I do think it’s important to live on the coasts in a lot of ways in order to speed things up. Like meeting people who do big things and having a face to a name, I think that is really important. Plus people don’t really buy art in the Midwest. I’m well aware that in a lot of ways I’m stunted here, but I also think that my comfort level and the community I have here is a huge reason as to why I think my photos would be considered successful, which is also really important to me. The internet, however, is an insanely amazing tool for a photographer. I have been in exhibitions on an international scale and never even printed a photograph! I just email, they print, frame, and show and I will have never even seen the space! It’s allemail and it’s really crazy. I’ve exhibited in books and shows and conversed with curators and art directors and never met them or seen the space. It’s definitely kind of gross in a way, yet extremely efficient, economical, and easy. Having a good website is key and helps immensely. Plus it’s so easy to get your images out to magazines, its quick and free. Plus I think at this point they prefer it as opposed to being swamped with people’s portfolios at their offices.

3. I really don't know anything about the Kansas art scene what's the deal? Is it vibrant?

Well, although no one would believe me, its insanely vibrant. It’s a small-ish community in terms of the arts scene, but in my mind a really good one. The people here work really, really hard, which is what you get when you’re in an art community struggling to get a name for itself. In just a few years here I have run an alternative space with four friends where we brought in artists and bands from other cities on virtually no budget, we have started a public access television show called “Whoop Dee Doo” highlighting the totally weird talents of Kansas Citians (not to mention game shows and dance contests and lots of other cool stuff). I’ve curated KC shows in Miami, Chicago, New York and Osaka, Japan, and we also are really great party-throwers. It’s like a really weird scene here because since it’s a smaller town, you have the craziest parties that are totally nonsensical. Like you walk in and straight ahead is a biker gang, to your left is a group of drag queens, you’ve got a group of people in all prom dresses on your right and someone dressed like a banana on the floor in front of you, not to mention the standard art/punk kid stereotypes blending everything together. It’s sort of surreal and every time I have a friend come in from out of town they’re pretty surprised, for sure. There’s bad things about it, of course, but I think the weirdness is where my aesthetic comes from. Oh, and we all love barbeque and beer which ruleth.

4. Your pictures seem really spontaneous (at the right place at the right time type of thing) not to blow up your spot or ruin the magic of it, but how much planning and editing goes into yr work?

Well it’s really spontaneous, for sure. Except for cases where my friend Sean Ward squishes weird things together to make something gross and holds it in front of my camera, or if I tell someone to smile, everything’s spontaneous. I don’t like setting up photos. It’s cool when other people do it, but I don’t feel good about it in terms of my work. It’s like I’m cheating or something and it never turns out good anyway. I think it’s why I’m so bad at fashion photography.
5. I have a photographer buddy who can't stand party pictures, something about cheapening the art of photography or blah blah blah. In many of yr pictures there is a festive sense and it is really playful, but would you say you take party pictures? What do you think of the cobrasnakes and last night's parties out there?

Well, I think a good amount of my images are in a party setting, and even if they aren’t they still have that high energy party-esque feeling to them, so I can see why I might get stuck in that category. But I try to present my work in series, where you will see a party pic next to a tree or a plate of food, as I am trying to show my appreciation for all of these varied subjects. I think if I present an image, it’s because I see something weird or funny or pretty about it. In my mind I’ve never had a photo up just because a girl looks really hot or someone is peeing on his friend or snorting coke off their own wiener or something. I think that controversial stuff is really overdone and boring. But yeah, in general party pics are just party pics unless something about the photo is odd or off or unique in some way. Hopefully the ones I show stand out for those reasons.

6. I have another friend who is a painter and she used always talk about the gender inequalities in the art world, you seem pretty successful, so do you see that or is she just barking up the wrong oil stick so to speak?

No offense to your friend, and I know I probably have no idea as to what I’m talking about, but I think at this point the gender equality thing is a load of poopy. I’ve never experienced it, and at that, if I’ve experienced anything it’s been getting benefits because I’m a girl. Then again, I generally deal in email and I have a name that could be both genders so maybe I’m talking out of my butt. But I think people who say that are big crying baby girls. It’s simply way too vague of a generalization.

7. Any exciting projects or plans we should look out for from you. Is yr website back up or where can folks at least see yr work?

Oopsies! Caught me not paying the bills. Yes it’s back up and I’m poor and the world knows it! It’s at www.dontyoufeelbetter.com Oh! And see my self portraits on Tiny Vices at www.tinyvices.com/Jaimie_Warren, and my newest video I’m in by my great buddy Cody – http://youtube.com/watch?v=U5j-i0VujVI, and this older one http://youtube.com/watch?v=7hddyUFDBcA Oh and Check Cody’s amazing other stuff www.ssion.com And check that Kansas City public access show I was talking about www.myspace.com/whoopdeedookansascity yessssssss (which we totally STOLE the idea from Chic-a-go-go in Chicago!!) www.roctober.com/chicagogo
(all images copyright Jaimie Warren)

Why Intelligence? by Jacques Laroche

2007-07-24T22:02:00.000-04:00

OK Jacques is one the smartest cats we know. A good friend with a lot of ideas that sure don't get stuck in the box, and to top it off homes is stoked on the fact that his facial hair and glasses resemble those of Isaac Asimov... now honestly if you could beat that with a stick it would have to be a redwood, so when we asked Jacques to contribute to NAME: we knew it was gonna be some heavy, dense, deep stuff and man did he not disappoint. Jac thinks about a lot of stuff all the time. So he gave us his piece on intelligence

A stranger approaches you while you are waiting for the bus and makes you the following offer: “I can make you a multi-billionaire, unbelievably attractive, the sole ruler of a world power or exceptionally brilliant.” Which would you choose? Being part of a group confronted with a similar hypothetical, I was not surprised that the majority chose capitalism, materialism and megalomania (American values through and through) over my unexciting choice of intelligence.

I can understand why the others chose the way they did. After all, money has the ability to purchase anything one might desire, including affection. On the other hand, beauty can feed one’s self-esteem and its hypnotic charm wondrously bends the will of others. Finally, unbridled power inspires obsession because in it, one sees the chance to obtain what they desire through indisputable force. It’s not that these attractions are lost on me; I want to be rich, beautiful and powerful just as the next guy… So, why choose intelligence when it offers so much less of a good time?

In order to answer this question we need to dig a little deeper: What is intelligence, what are its virtues and what are its failings? Isaac Asimov, one of the great notables of science fiction, highlighted an important aspect of the first question in his essay “What Is Intelligence, Anyway?”. In it, he points out that the common view of intelligence - great minds can easily perform any task someone with poor intelligence routinely performs – is completely false. What makes this commonality incorrect is the fact that these ‘great minds’ only do well on general intelligence tests. When scrutinized, these assessments prove to be biased because they only ascertain academic knowledge. As a result, we have academics that can easily pass an SAT or GRE, but could never pass a truck driver’s or sanitation worker’s examination. In essence, Asimov was saying that there are many types of intelligence, but is this all there is to it?

Since antiquity, many great minds have pondered these questions. But, it is only now, after more than two thousand years of technological progress, that science has been able to make great strides in its pursuit. Remarkably, a great deal of this insight has occurred in the short span of ten years – 1990 through 1999, “the decade of the brain.” Though this time is traditionally viewed as the beginning of the computing revolution, the real revolutionaries seem to have been the neuroscientists. While corporations were rushing to cram more circuits into less silicon, brain researchers were using MRIs to explore our biological circuitry. Researchers like A discovered B and ANOTHER RESEARCHER discovered X. As a result, a clearer picture of the brain and intelligence began to take shape and the field was taken to a new domain where our three questions could be seriously addressed.

In a recent New York Academy of Sciences publication, Palm Pilot creator and neuroscientist Jeff Hawkins earnestly approaches the question of intelligence by probing the differences in brain structure between human and non-human animals.

The reptilian brain has sophisticated sensing mechanisms that propel behavior, but lacks a neocortex that allows it to recognize patterns that predict behavior. In humans, the neocortex is very large, and makes predictions very quickly. Iron it out and it would be the size of a dinner napkin, but it contains 30 billion neurons in six folded layers. Those 30 billion neurons ‘are you,’ for from their interaction come all your ideas, memories, knowledge and skills. Our perceptions are all merely matters of pattern recognition, because the neocortex only knows patterns. It has a complex memory system that stores sequences of patterns, and recalls them.

So, if knowledge and understanding of certain domains (say, differential calculus or growing organic sweet potatoes) constitutes intelligence in that specific field and knowledge and understanding arise from stored patterns within our neocortex, then it follows that the essence of intelligence is the ability to recognize and comprehend patterns. Taking another step up the cognitive ladder, we can see that the more information a person commits to memory (either from firsthand experience, books, word of mouth, etc.) the more chances they have to recognize meaningful patterns between all of that data.

Unfortunately, simply amassing knowledge doesn’t guarantee intelligence. One still has to be able to work effectively with their stored knowledge; extrapolating it in order to determine the effects of new inexperienced realities. Without extrapolation, one’s knowledge only applies to parallel situations and can never be put to good use. Put another way, if you acquire knowledge but can’t put it to use in new situations you have booksmarts, not streetsmarts.

Stepping back from patterns and extrapolation, why should anyone choose intelligence over beauty, wealth and power? Simply put, it’s the only one of the four choices that has the power to give you all four. With intelligence, one can earn wealth without the aid of luck, amass lasting power through strategy and even shape the very concept of beauty through reason (beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all). Conversely, wealth, power and beauty can not be amassed, secured or maintained without a certain amount of intelligence.

So if intelligence – the ability to recognize and analyze patterns - is so versatile, what are its shortcomings? Well, for starters, cognition can easily be trumped by emotion. Just think about the last time you got angry about something despite knowing emotional fireworks couldn’t solve the problem? Aside from anger, our emotional palette includes a host of sensations such as jealousy, contempt and fear, each with the ability to overpower logic, reason and intelligence.

Another blow to intelligence comes from is its emptiness; it does not come prepackaged with spirituality or morality. The act of amassing large stores of information and extrapolating new facts from that data does not ensure that one will love their fellow man or champion our environment. Generally, most of us hope that people will come to the conclusion that not loving their fellow man, or disregarding our environment will inevitably lead to trouble ranging from altercations to a massive climate crisis. Unfortunately as modern times show this is not always the case.

Despite its shortcomings, it would be beneficial to society if intelligence and its cultivation held a special place in our hearts. At a time where its importance seems to only receive rhetorical lip service, society mainly addresses its biggest problems – climate change, nuclear proliferation, terrorism and global pandemics - with its contending counterparts: money and power (if at all). If these issues weren’t bad enough, our short-term future promises to hand us a new list of existential threats: unforeseen issues with biotechnology and nanotechnology.

Maybe the problem is intelligence just needs to be revamped. If so, we could jazz it up by coupling it with morality or by somehow assuring its power over our emotions. Interestingly enough, it will take the ‘great minds’ of our day to do this, but something tells me they may need a little help. Since no one can amass enough knowledge to become an expert in all fields, everyone’s intelligence will be required to adjust our view of intelligence and to solve the intricacies of our present and future dilemmas. That means you; the truck drivers and sanitation workers of Asimov’s famed “other intelligences” will need to be on board as well. Photos by A. Harris

NAME: interview Rob Deguzman

2007-07-07T18:31:00.001-04:00

Rob has been a good friend of ours for a really long time. Always down to get deep on subjects, talk shit, play guitar, Kickit with ladies and straight dine on some of the softest, yummiest foods we’ve tasted. Rob makes music and gets a lot of money to do magic on computers. So he has it pretty right on and since he’s living at the beach this summer we thought an iCHAT interview with him from his beach residence would be a good vicarious vacation.

NAME: Interview Rob DeguzmanI+II

2007-07-07T18:28:00.000-04:00

NAME: Interview Rob DeguzmanIII+IV

2007-07-07T18:24:00.001-04:00

NAME: opps, Jeff

2007-06-26T01:15:00.001-04:00

As we're just starting up at NAME: mistakes are part of the whole process,but really there is no excuse for the glaring omission of our good friend, Jeff Majer's, role in the Trouble on the Playground video. Jeff not only played the dastardly binocular wielding, basketball throwing villain he rang us up the other day to remind us that while Andrew and we couldn't remember whose concept the video was he sure could. Jeffery's. That's right,yo. Fair enough, makes sense. Jeff's always been the type to not let boredom win over silliness, and Andrew didn't put up much of a fight to deny J.M.'s claim. No harm,no foul...now we got it straight. Painter, southerner, good dude and very near future hubby. Jeff's getting married next month in VA, and we're going and doing double duty. 1.to be witness to our friend's eternal love commitment ceremony and 2.capture the action of said ceremony from the perspective of single dudes ,who have no prospect of marriage anytime soon...that 2nd one is really is not as pathetic as it sounds, anyway until then peep some recent work of one of the best painters we know right above and hit up the website. www.jeffreymajer.com.

NAME: interview Andrew Harris

2007-06-25T02:19:00.000-04:00

Below is a video we did with one our friends a while back. It was super fun and we wanted to remember exactly how it all went down so we got ANDREW to come over and submit to some questions with as much inside joke giggling as possible.
NAME: So was that your 1st photoplay?
ANDREW: Ah, yeah that was the 1st one that I did.
N: Now where did we do that exactly?
A: That took place at S17 St. or something like that in my kitchen. In my kitchen, in downtown Richmond, Shockeo Bottom. It was definitely in my kitchen in like a five-foot space...pretty much.
N: So it’s like a movie, but with still pictures. Where'd you get that concept, influences or whatnot?
A: Well, I mean before motion pictures there were pictures. Muybridge and other photographers who studied motion. He and Edison pretty much developed motion pictures. He had the thing where you spin it and look in the slits, you can see the horse running, you might remember that from a science museum from back in the days...and then, ya know it was just fun to come up with little scenarios to play out.
N:I can't remember whose idea "Trouble on the Playground" was. I just remember being bored and silly.
A: Yeah, yeah Charlie worked at that store where they had all that weird stuff like wigs and then I dunno we were pretty bored, maybe a little high, and we decided 'hey lets play around and take some pictures' and I don't know where the concept came... we just had a basketball and a bike and I decided it would be good for Mike to get hit with basketball and fly off the bike.
N: What would you say is the appeal to taking pictures of yr friends?
A:I mean it’s always nice to have a document or documentary of who you hung out with over the years. But as far as doing something other than party pictures. Something kinda different and fun to do, you have to sorta act a little bit, its an activity ya know, a creative, engaging activity.
N: Any photoplay concepts you working on now?
A:I mean I just have one, that’s not that complicated, pretty simple. People meeting up on the train and deciding to go somewhere else. I think it would fun to have those over-animated for the camera indicated emotions and exaggerated expressions. It would just make it more playful, Subway's a good location.
N: The subway is a good location as long as they don't think you're a terrorist or something.
A: Well I have gotten accosted by a police officer for taking photographs with a flash under staircases...I guess you maybe could put a bomb there.
N:I know you have a job taking pictures, but what are YOU working on now?
A: Pretty much sticking with flat abstractions, I like those a lot. I found this old flattened, rusted city wastebasket, ya know. Some tress that look like they're from Africa in Flushing Meadows Park. That I just got the film back on. More commercial stuff to hang in yr hotel room to get royalties from. Just trying to come up with commercially viable pictures as well as artistically expressive.
N: Speaking of commercially viable, I know you guys are starting a magazine right? Can you give me an idea of what that’s all about?
A: Mannequin Magazine is going to be an interesting art and fashion magazine. Visually inventive design, using a lot of hand to paper stuff as opposed to computers. We’re trying not to do any Photoshop on the models; we want to keep everybody real and natural…not overly perfect. That’s just more for the kids. We wanna focus on up and coming and emerging artists, comparison and contrast articles. The blog is gonna be good, mannequinmag.com.
N: If you could set up a photo or concept with no barriers, like money or time or talent what would it look and feel like?
A: It would be big, probably traditional film in black and white, so it would feel analogy and warm, but still clinical. The subject matter would be human form, human figure with some kind of distortion. I’d want to use really long strips of film and print it out so it could be displayed in the round like one long photograph where the viewer would have to be in the center of the room to see the whole piece. Overwhelming, but familiar.
N: Well thank you very much.
A: Yeah, man

NAME:Trouble on the playground

2007-06-20T22:01:00.000-04:00

A Harris production

NAME: Summer Girl Types

2007-06-20T15:04:00.000-04:00

Spring has melted into summer and at NAME: our hormones are raging just like everyone else's so we decided we would put together a field guide for summer girl types. We sat down and thought about it for a bit and wondered where we could find all kinds of different summer girls types,and after a video Ichat consult with a good friend we thought what the F, we live in New York City where intriguing looking women live,breathe and play all day everyday. So we started going out and getting empirical.

NAME: Peak Williamsburg

2007-06-20T14:57:00.001-04:00

With the concept of peak oil being rather ubiquitous today. We at NAME: started to think about how other nonrenewable commodities could reach their peaks and there after fall into a terminal decline. It makes sense that Hubert’s Peak Oil theory, based on bell-shaped curve reasoning can be applied to other phenomena besides oil right? Well we thought so. Hence Peak Williamsburg, the theory that the commodity associated with the north Brooklyn neighborhood will reach it's maximum production rate and then steadily decline. So we're putting our feelers out and collecting data to support the theory that we will soon enter Peak Williamsburg, if we haven't already.

NAME: The Boys with the Thorn in Their Sides

2007-06-05T17:05:00.000-04:00

So why are men so vilified these days? All the subtle man phobia images and talk of mainstream media and the ever increasing phenomena of hetero women fucking one another is just some unscientific proof. Don't get us wrong lots of dudes are just plain scumbags,but lots are thoughtful sensitive people who just wanna live. Can't we live? We've seen the sticker that says "Men are the new Women" So what the FUCK does that mean? That its men's turn to get the shitty end of the stick or that women are now powerful enough to be scumbags as well. Neither one of those scenarios paints a very pretty picture for the future of men/women or sorry womyn/men relationships. So we went out and asked a few people without dicks why the world thinks guys are so shitty, then to be thorough we asked another few people with penises what they were doing to fuck up the basis of human civilization.