Swag, Swag, Swag, Swag

via Swagger360

'Nuff said.

Hard Headed Woman

73 year old Wanda (which also happens to be my grandma's name) Jackson just put out a new album.

Artists don't usually put out good albums when they're well into their seventies, but it's pretty effing amazing she's still going strong at her age. Clearly the woman's passion hasn't left her, and I can only hope I'm as passionate about something, as she is about music, when I'm 70.

Wanda was a music pioneer, and still the 'Queen of Rockabilly.

Here she is performing "Hard Headed Woman."



Also, I can't get over how ahead of her time and edgy her voice is even today.

Plus Wanda was pretty hot back in the day too.

City nights, new friends, and Louisiana Fried Chicken

I know it's like February, but I figured I'd post some of my NYE pics.

It was a fucking frigid wet evening, but it was also so much fun to be out with such good people. My good friends Ricky and Rita, were there, as well as my new co-workers--and now close friends--Mike and Carolyn. Drinking and dancing were in abundance, and our evening went several places that we will remember for some time.

If NYE is a precursor to a new year, then mine will be unpredictable.

And hopefully it will take me to places I never thought I'd be.

Lovers sharing a bottle.


Cab living.


Death Cab for New Years.


Mike and Max.


Angelina is a habitual drunk face licker.


Ricky Bravo. Est. friend since 2004.


Mike and Carolyn=great people.


Carolyn and Margarita hailing a cab.


Mike thinking something is hilarious, and Carolyn freezing her ass off.


Of course with new friends, come new experiences right?

Mike is like a big food person. He's the type of guy to throw garlic, and garlic and butter rice, into a bowl of clam chowder and somehow know that it will taste good. One of the things he first told me when I was just getting to know him was that he made a damn good quiche. And guess what, it's amazing!

So when Mike told me that some of the best fried chicken (and its already established how much I love fried chicken) he's ever had was from a place called Louisiana Fried Chicken, it became an instant necessity to visit this place. Luckily for us there's one in the City, and this one happens to be lodged simultaneously in a donut shop called Donut World. Please note: donuts and chicken are two of my all time favorite foods so yes we've been twice in the last three weeks. Join us next time if you'd like.

Here are some pics of Louisiana, Donut World, and Haight St. late at night.


Donut World


3 piece combo w/ breast, leg, wing, biscuit....


and collard greens! <3


Mike is in chicken bliss.


Hot sauce.


Desert, coffee and maple custard filled donut.


Candid photography by Mike Ortiz.


Late night young love.


United Farm Workers of America T-Shirt. Si se puede!


Parting shot.

Emo all day

A friend of mine recently tweeted about going to a Dashboard Confessional show, and being stunned by its epicness.

Chris Carraba's painstaking, heartfelt, wail soundtracked my teenage love life, and to be quite honest I'll probably never forget DC's music.

Here's a Dashboard Confessional performing "The Best Deceptions" on MTV's Unplugged in like 2001. I was a sophomore and I was speechless.

COACHELLA!

It's officially time to stop eating, or just start eating terrible foods.

Maybe ramen everyday, all day.

I have to save $300+ for Coachella--check out this lineup.

Fucking next level shietttt!!!!!!!!!!!

This pimp is...

Love that the Sartorialist is in Seoul, South Korea.

It's the city of my birth, and yet I've never returned. Someday I'm going to explore the city, and perhaps take shots of my fellow countrymen like this one.

"This pimp is...at the top of Mt. Olympus!"-Kanye West.

Just FYI: Koreans are taking over the globe. We got Korean fusion foods--like those super delic' Korean BBQ taco trucks--we're all in movies now, (Harold in Kumar, Nick and Norah, Ninja Assasin, and coming soon The Green Hornet) and we're obviously quite stylish! You guys better get with it ASAP!

My top 10 alums of 2010

Happy New Years to my small group of followers.

Personally, 2010 was nowhere near 2009 in terms of music, so it was harder than imagined to really put this list together. But of course there were a select number of stellar works.

10. Zola Jesus-Stridulum

A haunting EP with some gnarly sounds, Zola Jesus is supremely young and talented. Her massive wail is super reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees.



9. Beach House-Teen Dream

Sort of psychedelic, sort of pop, but really good. Each tune is thoughtful with carefully crafted lyrics, and "Teen Dream" puts you into a realm of heartfelt emotions.



8. Lady Gaga-Fame Monster

If you like music, tell me you didn't thoroughly enjoy this EP from start to finish? So damn catchy, if a bar, club, dance party, etc... dropped a Gaga track in 2010 everybody was on the dance floor. Lady Gaga uses all the tools of being a musician to push her vision to its fullest--the song, the video, the performance--and that may be the highest compliment you can give an artist. She kills everything.



7. Dom Kennedy-From the Westside with Love

Ssmmmooootthh as hell!!!! '90s old school hip-hop beats, and a nice flow, put this mixtape head and shoulders above what so many other rappers put out in 2010. Some rappers have good beats, but a bad flow with shitty content. Some rappers have good flow and good content, but with shitty beats. Dom has good content, a good flow, and them beats issss soooo ssmmoooottthhhh.



6. Caribou-Swim


This is the type of music you can dance to, or drive to, or relax to, or work to, and that makes it damn good music. You can't say that about a lot of music, but you sure as hell can say that about "Swim."



5. Best Coast-Crazy for You

Pop perfection. "Crazy for You" just makes you warm when you listen to it. Surf rock made a huge comeback this year, and Best Coast continues reviving the glory of the '60s by reminding us that an album can just be simple and catchy.



4. Fang Island-Fang Island

Pop punk is back--sort of. This album combines the speedy drums/guitars of say Blink-182, but uses a wider arsenal of instruments/sounds, and much more harmonized vocals, to craft a massively fun album. "Fang Island" makes you feel happy as hell when you listen to it. A lot of albums this year were filled with morose, but not many of them were better.



3. Francis and the Lights-It'll be Better

Phil Collins? Peter Gabriel? Genesis? I don't know, but this is damn fine indie pop music. This seems like the kind of music that college kids are going to love, and the type of music that you may hear in a romantic comedy montage in three years. Those could both turn into bad things, but right now it's simply saying that "It'll be Better" is full of super lovable jams, and songs that people are going to want a piece of. This is the type of album that you hear, and you just want to keep hearing. Also frontman Francis Starlite, is all about dancing his ass off!




2. Arcade Fire-The Suburbs

Arcade Fire continues to establish themselves as our generations seminal band. Nobody's sound drives at you like AF's does. They're music is so relentless, and it stays in your soul long after you've stopped listening to it. "The Suburbs" examines our "adult" lives that we so strive for, and begs us to re-think it.



1. Kanye West-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

It's Kanye West, and every other rapper.

Kanye's album is dark and honest, and whether you like the content or Kanye himself, you can't deny it's brilliance. No other rapper expertly expresses himself lyrically and sonically like Yeezy does. What Kanye has done in this album is not easily done in the hip-hop genre, and never has it been done with such breadth. He takes you into his emotions/fantasies/thoughts with his flow and his beats. This album isn't about making hits, it's about personal expression. "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" expands what hip-hop can be, and even though all of the albums on this list are good, this album is the only one you can say evolves a genre.

Soooo hawwwttt!

I don't know anything about Aussie designer Kym Ellery's brand Ellery, but this girl is beautiful.

Go buy Ellery, and Australia is FTW!


Photos via Garance Doré

New camera+new shoes

Got a new camera.

No it's not an SLR, or even the little mini SLR I wanted (the Canon S95) but it's cool.

Because of budget I had to settle on a Canon SD1400, but it's black, it takes high-res photos, and it's smaller than my BlackBerry--which is just crazy.

Anyway, I took this pic of my new burnished kicks with my new camera.

This blog is about get waaaayyyy better.

Theophilus London=sooooo coooool

Overall cool dressed cat Theophilus London, has this new jam called "Flying Overseas."

It's chill, sexy, and damn nice to listen to.

Crazzzy shoe game

Went to a party this weekend and my friend Mike's girlfriend, Carolyn, was wearing these wild n' out Italian boots.

What a cool/funky contrast they had going on as Mike was rocking the Air Griffey Max 1's, and Carolyn was sporting her boots. Should have took a pic of them together, but anyway here's the boots.

Perfect example of somebody having a style all their own.

Air Jordan III

If you read this blog, then you know that I believe in style over fashion.

Style is personal expression. It's wearing stuff you feel represents you, making things your own, and not just because you think they're "trendy."

Fashion is just stuff you wear, because you think it'll give you status, or make you cool.

I'm really into retro sneakers--specifically NIkes and Jordans--which I know A LOT of people are.

However, I don't wear them because I think they're cool or whatever. I mean yes, they are, but personally they represent my passion for sports and athletics.

Wearing sneakers is sort of my way of conveying to the world that sports make up a big part of my personality.

Anyway, next month perhaps my all-time favorite sneaker is re-releasing--the Air Jordan III.

I own the black/cement pair of these, which I posted about some time ago, but the white ones are pretty dope too.

Even cooler, it's being packaged in a really cool original style retro box.

Here's MJ in 1988--the original release year--winning the Slam Dunk contest, followed by the new version and the cool packaging.

Tom Brady, the best in the business

Last night Tom Brady, and those goddamn New England Patriots, literally, obliterated the New York Jets.

The Jets were supposed to be one of the best teams in the league--and very well still may be--but they weren't even in the game last night. 45-3 is a bloodletting.

You could point to a lot of things that led to such a dramatic outcome, but the biggest difference in the game was a certain number 12.

Perfect fundamentals, a great football mind, and the best combination of arm strength and accuracy in the league, Tom Brady is the best QB of our generation.

Peyton Manning may have more awards and stats, but Brady is unparalleled as a leader and a competitor.

Brady continues to challenge his teammates, both in their preparation and during the games. His leadership is the driving force in what may be a Super Bowl season for NE.

So this picture is relevant for two reasons: 1. It perfectly illustrates how good Brady is fundamentally. The release point, the torque, just all perfect. It shows the amount of work that he puts into the game. 2. The Pats throwbacks are so much better looking that their new unis. Not even close.

Not that it really matters, but I'd like to think that it's no coincidence the best player on the Pats--and probably in the league--is also the best dressed. Brady, literally standing out, amongst his team as they're all dressed in warm ups, and he rocks a great grey suit. He also hits the details: pocket square, tie bar, check shirt, and burnished brown shoes. That's how you look like an MVP.

GQ back issue covers

Just thought these were cool.

Sammy Davis


Sean Connery


Cary Grant

It's in the details

You know what accentuates your outfit?

Details.

Specifically, the little ones.

Check out these photos below. Neither of these outfits are extraordinary without the little things making them so.

This guy's red belt--perfectly contrasted with his green shirt--really makes his whole look pop. It's nothing fancy, just something extra.

Again nothing spectacular about this young man's look either. Very simplistic, a few classic pieces, but goddamn them boots! Burnished cap toe boots, are you kidding? Amazing!

Who wants to fall in love?

GQ did this feature on photographer Jerry Schatzberg.

Here are some of his pics.

Don't these make you want fall in love with somebody?

I know that sounded girly, but these are just too timeless no?

Since there's no video to this song yet...

Please go buy the new Yeezy album.

Kanye is soo real right now.

Anyway, I posted "Dark Fantasy" a couple of days back, and here's the opening to the Runaway film, which features "Dark Fantasy" as its opening song.

"Can we get much higher?"

Question of the day right?

Gettin' high off this new Yeezy, because this album is next level.

I mean just listen to this intro track...fucking amazing.

Go download "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," or buy it, or something.

Just get yourself a copy.

AM craziness

It's 3:22 AM, I'm still up and I've listened to "Hot as Hell" 5x in a row!

I fucking love that song.

And how 'bout the Canblaster remix? This is pretty massive, but I still like the original better.

Hard to improve on perfection.

So many elements in this remix though. I mean its everywhere, but somehow it all worksss

Drop The Lime - Hot As Hell (Canblaster Remix) by CANBLASTER

Hot as hell like a bad girl should!!!!

I posted the single preview a little while back, and now here's the official music video for "Hot as Hell" by rockabilly enthusiast and bass destruction master Drop the Lime.

Rockabilly x Basssss!!!

Ravvee on cats!!!