THE MOTHERSHIP HAS LANDED

It's a little after the fact, but I went with friends to see the CHANEL exhibition in Central Park (thx for the tix, Tiff!) a couple of weeks ago. It was really a mind altering and thought provoking experience that celebrated ideas - new, off the beaten path, twisted and otherwise. I always like to see other artists' interpretations, especially of a subject as iconic as a CHANEL bag.

I LOVED the raspy voice French lady who narrated the gallery tour - mother has seen her share of cigarettes and cocktails!

The actual location was a pod-like , space ship inspired, ergonomic, white kidney bean of a structure that seemed like it had just landed from another planet. The 'Art Container' was just as much a piece of art as all of the installations that it housed. Catch it if it lands in a city near you. The below footage was NOT shot by me - they were not going to take my black ass to jail!

HORRORS OF HALLOWEEN

I personally love Halloween and I love the NYC Halloween Parade. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go. AWWWWWW!!! But I got to see some peeps in the Village after the parade and I have to say that I was not too impressed with what I saw. I am SURE that there were some amazing costumes, afterall, NYC is usually the most creative city on that front. But, what I saw that was so boring, so uncreative, so mundane, so run of the mill, was the barrage of Sexy Whatever Costumes. The Sexy Whatever Costumes are all a mini, vamped up version of some other mundane costume. They always have garters, thigh high stockings or boots, a mini skirt or hotpants, a bustier or bra top, a shrunken little hat, a miniature, plastic hand prop and an acrylic wig. They always look like costumes from the Bunny Ranch in Reno, if you catch my drift.

In a span of 20 minutes, I saw at least one of the following:

1. Sexy Policewoman

2. Sexy Firefighter

3. Sexy Gold Miner (what the hell!?)

4. Sexy French Maid

5. Sexy Milk Maid

6. Sexy Bavarian girl in dirndl

7. Sexy Witch

8. Sexy Devil

9. Sexy Cowgirl

10. Sexy Sarah Palin (the scariest of the bunch)

11. Sexy Angel

12. Sexy Dominatrix (redundant?)

13. Sexy Lumberjack

14. Sexy Prisoner in stripes

15. Sexy School Teacher

16. Sexy Schoolgirl (a la Britney)

17. Sexy Nurse

_________________________

Damn, I felt like I needed a cigarette after all that sexiness. They all started to blend together after a while and I was just a bit underwhelmed by the run-of-the-mill-ness of it all. I blame it on Ricky's and all those damn satellite stores that they set up. The convenience of those stores actually works against the creativity that New Yorkers use to strive for (I know I shouldn't end the sentence with a preposition, but this is just a casual post, OK?).

I also blame this on the continual suburbanization of New York. The cool, hip, creative, statement making, singular types that once drove the creative ethos of the city are all being replaced with the uncreative, middle of the road suburbanites that now populate NY's night scene and even the fashion industry. They are the types that inject the word LIKE 10 times into one sentence, sometimes grouped together 2 or 3 at a time. This scares me more than any Halloween costume, even the Sarah Palin ones.

The Chick Magnet - I personally loved this costume - it's cool, minimal, creative and totally tongue in cheek:

INGRID MICHAELSON - BE OK

I really love this song. So simple and straightforward. You know I love a big wailing broad sangin', but sometimes we need a bit of subtlety and mellowness to soothe our throbbing brains that are already filled with enough stuff. This girl reminds me a bit of Norah Jones and early Nelly Furtado with a little dash of Jewel thrown in. Don't we all sometimes just connect with the sad white girl angst? I guess we all have a bit of her in us, and there is nothing wrong with that. Hell, we are ALL connected on some level anyway.

I also love that she is so plain and everyday looking, not made up like a circus pony with drags makeup and wardrobe. She is out of Staten Island and still lives at home in her parents basement. She seems genuine and sometimes that feels more right than a bumpin' beat. Don't we all just want to be OK, if only for today?!?