The Hills.

My band played a club in West Hollywood the other night. Went well enough. Not our best show, not our worst. I left soon after we played and headed back to my neighborhood, a 35 minute or so commute. I forget sometimes how close I live to Beverly Hills and what a completely different world that is than the one I live in... but there I am DRIVING THROUGH IT on occasion, on fumes in my dirty Scion in a whirlwind of Mercedes and Hummers.

If you take Sunset from West Hollywood towards the 405 freeway, you're in for an experience. You'll pass a lot of venues, a lot of swanky restaurants. There are always people out on the streets in their "going out" attire, regardless of the day of the week. I imagine these people don't have to wake up at 8am and sit behind a desk or anything of that nature. An all nighter coke binge and booze fest for a Monday evening? Definitely. Drive on and the road gets curvy. The trees hang over the street... everything is very forrest like and very far from any kind of feeling of "LA" or what people perceive LA to be like. I remembered then that I was in the general proximity of BILLIONAIRES when I saw the standard RICH PEOPLE GATES and a couple places that had guards out near the street.


This has got to be one of the wealthiest pockets of people in the world.
But who the fuck are these people!? What's behind those gates? What are they doing RIGHT NOW in their home? Just shitting out money? Jumping in a big pile of it like jumping in a pile of leaves? Throwing money off the top of their balconies, perhaps. Laying around talking about Chicken/Fish of the Sea like J.Simpson? Boning? Eating? Doing drugs? Drinking? What. What are they doing. And how the hell did they find themselves in this life they lead with this wallet they hold in this house they stay in.... I really want to interview just a random from the neighborhood. I think I could pull it off. I dress somewhat reporter-esque, look really official and like I'm supposed to be there. Note to self: Park Scion down the street out of view. Roll up to any random one of these monsters and just get a little insight on how things work and what's goin down. Who would answer the door? A maid? I need to know.

And in the case of celebrities living over here, at what point do you decide that you've earned enough money or fame to post up in one of these beasts? Like when you're a "fresh face" in Hollywood, like in the case of a "rags to riches" story, when do you go for the gusto and buy a $125,000,000 home? I mean, has Michael Serra gotten to this point yet? He's new kinda. He's been in a few movies. I want to know the price tag on these people. It's just fucking insane.

Maybe someday I can pay my rent and my bills ontime for my 1 bedroom apartment.




Check out the current listed residencies, if you're in the market for a new place.

$125,000,000


$135,000,000


Davies Dr. Estate, Beverly Hills


West Sunset Blvd.


Hornby Hills

Secrets Revealed.

So my mom just turned the big 5-0. I was at a total loss on what to get her for her b-day... I mean parents are so hard to buy for in general. 50 is kind of a big deal. Mind you I'm super POOR as usual and no fantastic ideas were coming to mind. A few weeks ago when we were home visiting, Mom struts out with a flowery band around her ankle.... a PRESS ONNN TATTOO! haha. So funny. But she said she was kind of dabbling with the idea of getting a real one since she'll be 50.... so perfect 50th birthday present was born. I'm stoked to see what she decides to get. Two weeks from now we'll have some major photo documentation. Stay tuned.

In the mean time, enjoy an interesting translation from some scholar about tattoo placement and connotation. SECRETS REVEALED! Ha.

LOST ANGELES.

So it's set in officially that I once again live in the greater Los Angeles area. Unfortunately last night it hit me like a ton of bricks and I was less than amused. The whole up and move shennanigans just went down so fast, I could hardly think about it... just had to act. Act now, think later. Always the best policy. I do advise to try it. No, but f'reals... I have come to the "place of acceptance" that I made the right decision. My job is going really well and I think I'm doing a good job. I see a good future for me here. There's a lot of connections. Almost everyday the PR person here posts a couple new publications that mention or show stuff we've done. (See examples below......)






...Things are great here. This company is a total leader in manufacturing and private label. I've always wanted to work for a place that was well established and where I could be learning from then, not IMPLEMENTING everything myself from the ground up. And as an added bonus, I've found yet another job (3 for 3 now) in the fashion industry where I can dress however I want to work, don't hide a single tattoo and don't hesitate to get any more! It's great. And on that note, again I think this job is a huge benefit for my future endeavors. The head people in charge here know EVERYONE in the industry. If I get a good name here, I'm solid. All is good. Except I'm still eating Ramen. Actually I don't even have that.

Last night I was really missing San Francisco. It's just so much prettier,... it's so interesting. The surroundings there totally inspired me. People inspired me. I love it. I absolutely did. But I guess this is one of the times I have to be a big girl and bite the bullet and do what's right for my future, if that's what's important to me.

So things like THIS make living back here in the city of angels a little more tolerable............



YEEHAW!!!

Barbie takes over....everything?

So there's been signs up in my neighborhood advertising some kind of Barbie festival. A friend of mine explained to me that a new gallery shop owner on our street is putting on this street fair, to market his new gallery and because his partner is the head designer for Barbie (by Matel). My friend is participating in this Barbie design contest... you get a Barbie and make her into anything you want.... So I decided to participate as well. Ideas have been flying through my mind, yesterday I decided I was going to flake out, today I'm back in,... etc. etc. I was doing some online investigation, and I saw this story which I found very interesting.

Tattoo Barbie, Pregnant Barbie, Trashy Barbie-Ban Barbie Once and For All

Tattoo Barbie? But of course there’s now a tattoo Barbie! Totally Pierced Barbie is sure to be next on Mattel’s list of upcoming toys coming soon to a toy store near you! It was just a matter of time before Barbie doll maker Mattel would introduce Totally Stylin’ Tattoo Nikki, Barbie’s brunette friend and counterpart, as part of their new spring line of Barbie dolls. Mattel’s excuse for marketing a doll that comes with tattoo stickers is to just help girls “express themselves and be creative” and to “keep up with the changing times” we’re living in.

Tattoo Barbie comes supplied with tattoo stickers for herself and 40 temporary tattoos for Barbie-loving kids to put on themselves, with the help of a water gun for easy application of the tattoos to children’s skin. But wait! This isn’t the first time Mattel has marketed a tattoo Barbie doll, and it’s not the first time there has been a Barbie doll controversy brewing, that leaves parents wondering if this nonsense will ever end.

Back in 1999, Mattel introduced its first tattoo Barbie by the name of “Butterfly Art Barbie”, with a large butterfly tattoo covering her mid-drift area, which also came with tattoos for children. Butterfly Art Barbie was yanked from toy store shelves after four months due to a storm of controversy by outraged parents.

The Sexualization of Children

Mattel is either not paying attention or doesn’t care about the growing concern over the sexualization of children in today’s society, and how their continued efforts to market inappropriate toys to children is harming kids. This new Barbie with all her tattoos is a big hit amongst clueless parents, with some stores being completely sold out of the tattoo-stamped doll, while informed parents are furious and demanding that Barbie be banned.

It wasn’t long ago that “Pregnant Barbie” was banned and removed from store shelves, although that doll was Barbie’s married friend Midge, pregnant with her second child. Pregnant Barbie came with a detachable tummy where the doll’s baby should be, and this doll also become a big hit amongst little girls, and parents were all too willing to buy into the targeted marketing of inappropriate toys for their children.

Media efforts to sexualize children and turn young girls into little Lolita’s is very real in our society, and toy makers and marketers continue to target young girls and boys with their ideas of fun toys for kids, regardless of the harmful effects brought on by inappropriate clothes and toys made for children.

Parents, if you really want your daughter to grow up dressing and acting like a two-cent skank, keep on buying your little girls street-walker Bratz dolls, push-up bras, thongs, “eye candy” panties, mini or micro-mini skirts, sequined crop-tops and other hooker-style “fashionable” outfits, and the trouble you’re having with your daughter will be unlike anything you could have imagined.

Go ahead, turn a blind eye and claim that Tattoo Barbie, Pregnant Barbie, Bratz dolls and the inappropriate clothes and toys you’re buying for your kids, or the trashy stuff you’re allowing others to give your kids, doesn’t have any effect on the clothes teens and adults choose to wear as they get older or how your kids turn out. But then again, even very young children as young as three or four years old are being allowed to wear these types of clothes. Be forewarned: You shall reap what you sow.

At least some of us are paying close attention to the crap manufacturers and marketers are constantly trying to shove down our throats, while they continue to line their own pockets with your hard-earned money, while at the same time your kids are suffering the harmful effects of the sexualization of children in society today.

Similar Posts:

The Sexualization of Children and Adolescents Epidemic
Miley Cyrus AKA Hanna Montana Going Topless For Vanity Fair
So Sexy, So Soon: The Sexualization of Childhood in Commercial Culture
Will Christmas Be Ruined For Children This Year?
Beyonce’s House of Dereon: Sexualizing Children


...Fuck. Pretty serious. After seeing this article, I was inspired to read some of the similar posts. Miley Cirus (age 15), topless in Vanity Fair... totally ridic. Reading all of this definitely makes me think about what my stance would be as a parent, or what my stance is now just as a responsible adult... and I guess as a fashion industry professional. Its all pretty trippy.

Regardless... this Barbie project is an ADULT ART EXPRESSION, not to be seriouslly marketed. My themes (which will go unspoken until project completion!) will be purely for entertainment and thought prevoking reasons only... my plan is to be clever and well executed, nothing more. But still a very interesting topic to spawn otu of simply Googling "Barbie".

mush mush gush gush.

...and it was. It is the weirdest but greatest most painful and most beautiful thing. It is so odd when you didn't think you had it in you to care so much about something or someone that it actually hurts your heart...... then you feel what that feels like.