Procrastination...

In desperate attempt to escape the Excel spreadsheet I'm supposed to be working on right now, I've stumbled across an image that more or less captures my current state of mind slash (adolescent) misery.

Middle-America

Somewhere in the Mid-West, I think Indiana. Not my photo, but drove by this same creepy crucifix during a cross-America road trip. It had to be at least 5-stories high. One of those moments when you witness the clashing between your numerous identities, and your personal limitations of each identity - e.g. nationalism, faith, etc.

Thunderheist - Jerk It

PETA, go nuts.

Jay-Z "On to the Next One"

Menswear for Women

I'm no fashionista. But I know what I like. Dior Homme S/S '10. Not wild about the spring collection in general. But like what the girl's rockin'.

Laundry x The World

France 1921
The above photo reminded me of the daily scene along the ghats of Varanasi, India. (And it wasn't much of a step up in China, where it took 2 involved & laborious hours to do laundry. The process: using a shower-head, fill "washer" with water, throw in laundry, have it slosh around for 15 minutes, remove, empty water (be careful not to flood the apartment), place laundry in "dryer" (some spinny contraption sans heat), and repeat all of the above 2-3 more times. Oh, and obviously re-start the water heater every 30 min, as it always broke down mid-manual-water-refill. Hang laundry up to dry.) ANYWAY... Varanasi - Fall, '07. Pretty incredible to witness this part of the world, which apparently remains econ/technologically on-par w/ early 20th century France. However, Western nations (and the rest of the world, for that matter) pale in comparison to India's color, chaos, grime, and overall spectacle. Normally I'd be tempted to run off with this laundry, but its vibrancy & sense of wear & tear fit so perfectly within its landscape. (And it belonged to people who probably have a lower income than the vagabonds loitering outside 7-11.) So I happily settled for a photo instead. For me, India's streets & ghats were as cool/aesthetically inspiring as "Vogue" is for fashionistas. (The fact that I take wardrobe cues from developing nations may play a role in my struggle to understand dress codes in America...)

Audioslave - "Doesn't Remind Me"

Yep.

Audioslave - "Doesn't Remind Me" [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

Photographer Robert Frank - in London

Anouck Bertin

Photographer Anouck Bertin -- one of her NYC Kids.

Maccabees - "Love You Better"

Pretty into this one. Would love to see this band play live.

Making Hockey Moms Seem Classy...

Fans go batsh*t crazy over Niedermayer's hockey stick. Rock'em Sock'em.

Crystal Castles - "Black Panther"

Old video, but still remains my favorite Crystal Castles song.

Steven Tyler x Piano

Steven playing around on the piano. Before YouTube existed, I was(still am?) one of those obsessed fans who'd wait an hour on Aerosmith fan sites downloading 30 second video clips, like this gem.

Natalie Portman x V Magazine

Portman rocks all over V Magazine's Winter '09 issue

Basement Jaxx - "My Turn"

(Directed by Tomek Ducki; Features Dev "Lightspeed Champion" Hynes)

MJ Antics

...and sassy referees.

Fireside Summit

Geneva, 1985: Gorbachev & Reagan. (Photographed by Peter Marlow)

Leibovitz x Schwarzenegger

Hypermasculinity. At its very finest. (By Annie Leibovitz, 1988)

The Kills - "The Tape Song"

Tattoos x Sang Bleu mag

Photo from Swiss tattoo magazine 'Sang Bleu'. Incredible tattoo! Whether on a body or in a notebook, I love the sketch-like image, especially its lively/aggressive line-quality and its candid sincerity - in the way that you can trace the history of its marks.

Chris Jordan: "Intolerable Beauty" (2003-2005)

Photographer Chris Jordan captures the terrifyingly spectacular waste of American mass consumerism. In these portraits of consumption, Jordan sees "evidence of a slow-motion apocalypse in progress". "Desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic...darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity." - C. Jordan (above: CELL PHONES, Orlando 2004) "Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences...my hope is that these photographs can serve as portals to a kind of cultural self-inquiry." - C. Jordan Above: the rare 'solo-shot' of the exhibition. But like the others, this image reveals a history of wear & tear, of interaction & exhaustive use. I'm often fascinated by inflicted formation of shapes & colors -- indication that life happened, in the unplanned way it does. Perhaps this explains my penchant for decrepit objects. (And mangled old rockstars, I guess.) I'm always curious to know the stories, the significance behind each mark, discoloration, or imperfection. Kind of like wanting to know why you have that scar or tattoo. ...Jenga.

Tiananmen Square - 1989

Students on hunger strike.

PRC's 60th Bash

Awesome video of the Tiananmen Square parade.

China's 60th Anniversary national day - timelapse and slow motion - 7D and 5DmkII from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Crazy to think it's already been 8 months since I was tooling around the Square w/ Quan & Cary. At the time it was completely void of crowds, and way too freezing to properly enjoy its historical/political/cultural significance.

Larry Towell - "Mennonites"

Dead Weather: "Treat Me Like Your Mother"

One of my favorite videos from the summer. Rock, brrrRRaap, & roll.

Aerosmith x GAP

I still remember freaking out over this commercial in middle school. Here's Joe Perry & Steven Tyler jamming out for jeans. (1997)

Steve Aoki

Steve Aoki I'm In The House Feat. [[[Zuper Blahq]]] from Dim Mak on Vimeo.

Makes me want to start a one-man dance party.

Army Flip

South Korean Military Headquarters: Special Army officers do the flip. (Rehearsal for the upcoming 61st anniversary of Armed Forces Day)

Mick & Keith

Circa 1970.