A mess of new clothes

Last night I went shopping for new jeans and boots, instead I came home with  2 dresses, 2 cardigans, 2 pairs of tights, a button up shirt, a shrug and shoes....

Leather is better

How would you like to have a RECYCLED LEATHER TILED floor or wall?  Sounds pretty appealing if you ask me!  They are eco friendly, made of recycled leather and renewable!

Ecodomo is a company that makes these leather tiles.   The Company collects scraps from things like upholstery from leather seats in a  BMW  to old luxury leather handbags.  The scraps are then ground into shreds and mixed with water, natural rubber, and acacia bark.  Then using minimum amounts of energy they are manufactured into tiles.

Apparently these tiles have exceptional wear and humidity resistance, look great and are great for the environment.  

I’m sold!  Someday when I have a house I definitely want to put some of this in it!

To look at more pictures of this leather tile stuff or to learn more, go to www.ecodomo.com

Next up

1 week until I see Bon Iver and 8 weeks until Lykke Li.

How great is it that they combined talent?  I can't wait to see them live!

Ohhhh Canada...

Have you been hearing about the Canadian coalition crisis?  Probably not, unless you live in Canada or follow world news.  Anyways it is kind of a big deal.

Here is a little background, basically the opposition parties, The Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois have joined forces and want to take over the minority conservative government because they are saying that the government is failing to tackle Canada's economic problems.  So they want to kick our current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to the curb less than 2 months after the election.

So what happens next?  This morning Stephen Harper and our Governor General, Michaelle Jean had a meeting, where she granted Harpers’s request to suspend Parliament until late next month.  This means that the Tories are safe from a takeover until January 26^th when the parliament resumes.  The first order of business of course will be the federal budget.

What do the opposition parties have to say about this?  Apparently they are "more committed than ever to the coaliton"

 One blogger wrote "it's time for the majority of Canadians to get together by uniting the best of the old Liberal and Conservative parties and getting rid of the bad. This means a shift in power. Those currently leading and running the back rooms of both parties will need to leave to allow a fresh start." Forming a Liberal-Conservative coalition would be taking it to the extreme, but at least the two parties, which aren't able to form a majority on their own, need to work together for the sake of Canada.

 I couldn’t agree more, but it seems like it may be a no win situation for all parties and Canadians.  Destabilizing the government will do nothing to calm foreign investors and will only worsen the Canadian economy, which is still doing much better then the American economy anyways. 

If only Stephen Harper could have been a little smarter by working better with the opposition parties.   I think he could have had several months of cooperation by reaching out in a non-paritsan way like Obama is doing.  The situation is not going to be fixed by Stephane Dion, the leader of the Liberal party, taking over. How are three opposing parties supposed to merge together and have a unified leadership? 

This whole thing just doesn’t make much sense.  I thought I was Canadian and enjoyed democracy and had a vote that counted? 

 One more thing I wanted to add.  I think it is weird how all this political craziness is going on in Canada and I live in New York and hear little about it.  Nobody's talking about it, it isn’t a big story on the news, it doesn’t really seem to be making headlines here or anything.  If the same thing were going on in the United States it would be a huge deal and make headlines all over the world.  No doubt my fellow Canadians would be talking about it and know all the details on the situation.  It is interesting.  Who decided the U.S got to be the center of the universe? 

At least the situation has been reported in the U.K., China, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, world press organizations like AP and Reuters and it actually has been picked up in the U.S. by organizations like Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.  Still it is likely that most Americans don’t care since it doesn't affect them. Although, investors are watching and it could harm the Canadian economy if the government doesn’t start functioning better, which in turn would affect the American economy. 

Well, I guess all we can do is wait to see how things play out, since it doesn’t seem to matter what we Canadians think...

I do care what you think though!  So please share your thoughts!

Chicken Scratch

I have no idea....

Angus and Julia Stone

This brother and sister duo from Australia have some really good songs and super cool, artsy music videos!  

It was hard to pick one  to post so I put two! 

Try to actually watch the videos and don't just listen to the song or you will be missing out!

Just A Boy

Wasted

To see some more of their music videos go here

Photos or Paintings?

 

Iron and Wine

Last Monday I got to go see the AMAZING 

Iron and Wine at the venue Terminal 5 in NYC.   I have been a big fan for a few years now.   Sam Beams voice and style never get old.   To me he is classic!   

The show really was awesome!  Sam had GREAT interaction with the crowd and he was actually REALLY funny!  I'd say of all the shows I have ever been too, he had the best sense of humor and was the most responsive to the audience.  

Who would have guessed? 

He mostly played his new stuff but threw some older songs in there too, which I was happy about since that is really what I like the best.  

The tour was for the new album, The Shepherds Dog. This album is quite a bit different from the previous albums because there is a full band rather than basically just Sam and his Guitar. Even though I am more fond of Sam's older stuff, it was still a pleasure to see him live.

Well that is my little Iron and Wine review.  If for some strange reason you haven't heard of his music yet I suggest you check it out ASAP (like I said before older stuff is my favorite) and if you have, then listen to him again and remind yourself how good it is!  

For some reason I couldn't get the video I took to upload but this one is from the exact same show I was at.  I was closer than this person though!

Glad to wear PLAID

Dream Girl

I am in LOVE with Francoise Hardy!

She is a dream girl.

I think everything about her is lovely!

I love her music, I love her style, I love her hair,  I love that she is French, I love that she is a sixties girl...

Francoise Hardy, je t'aime!

Sometimes I think I should have lived in the sixties....and been her...

Pink Moon

Good Luck Obama

GREAT!  So OBAMA is in!

Now all he has to do is end/win the wars, fix the economy, reform health care, tackle global warming, and rebuild relationships with allies.  I will be very impressed if he can do it.....

Obama has a big job ahead of him!  This will be a tough time to be president.  He even said himself

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there."

Props to him for taking it on.  It will be interesting to see what changes happen.

Good Luck Obama!

Wanna read more about it?

check out 

http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2008/11/obama-reality-check.html

and

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7702942.stm

Brooklyn Bridge

This is where the cool kids hang out, skatepark under the bridge....

View from the the bridge at sunset.  Check out the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Sydney Wayser

This weekend the big CMJ music marathon was on in NYC, so bands were playing pretty much all day, everyday the whole week at every possible venue.   I got to catch a few shows and SYDNEY WAYSER was my favorite!  I saw her and the band perform at the Living Room in the lower East side.   

They were awesome!  Sydney's voice was so AMAZING!!  I couldn't believe how perfect it sounded live.  She was at the piano most of the time, had a guy playing a cello, drums, guitar, and toys....

I talked to her for a bit and she was really nice too!  I can't wait to see them again!  

Here is a little taste for ya.   There is no band in this video but it lets you hear her fantastic voice.  Seriously gave me goosebumps.

Check more of her stuff out at www.myspace.com/sydneywayser

Live.

Put 'Em Up

I have been seeing a lot of pushed up sleeves, especially on jackets,  and rolled up pants lately! 

I am loving it  

SO push 'em up, roll 'em up, GET 'EM UP!

*all photos from www.garancedore.fr and www.thesartorialist.com

RAY of Sunshine

RAY LAMONTAGNE  is about to release his 3rd album on Tuesday and I can't wait!...so I didn't.  Through the magic of the internet I was able to preview the new album, GOSSIP IN THE GRAIN, and you can too!!!

www.myspace.com/raylamontagne

"Gossip in the Grain proves to be his most creative and emotionally expansive collection to date."

Since my first listen of the new album, thats ALL I have been playing!  As I predicted, I am very much enjoying his raspy voice.  This album has more variety than his last 2 albums, although those albums are GREAT too!  Gossip in the Grain is not only his usual style of acoustic/folk, but it also has a little blues and old school country feel to it.  A lot more different instruments are used giving this album a very cool, unique sound.  He is an AMAZINGLY talented artist and my love for his music has probably doubled after listening to this album!  

"Gossip In The Grain reconfirms Ray LaMontagne as an artist and a craftsman without limits, a songwriter who is able to work his melodic gifts and distinctive lyricism through any of the myriad musical traditions that catches his fancy."

If this quote doesn't convince you to check it out, I don't know what will.

P.S. At the moment my 2 favorites songs off this album are 

Gossip in the Grain and Hey Me Hey Mama.

I sure hope I can hit up his show at Radio City Music Hall this Saturday!!!

Human Honeycomb

SnAiL mAiL

Splendid, is a perfectly 

Nice way to describe how

Amazing it feels to get 

Interesting packages and

Letters in the mail!

Magnificently better than email and

Appreciated always.

I want more

Love through the post!

I wish people would send more postal mail! I need to get better at doing it myself.  It is so exciting to get and always makes me so happy! It's much more personable and thoughtful and has way more meaning behind it because it actually took a little effort to send it.

Make someone's day (it can be mine if you want), SEND some SnAiL mAiL!