Monday, February 28, 2011

NOTW: "Knot your usual necklace." (Not my pun, thank you.)



I have a sailor thing lately. I want a tanned gentleman (or 2) with crinkles around his eyes and a crisp white uniform to hoist my mainsail. I think this necklace might make it happen.

via Cargoh

Friday, February 25, 2011

Week-end happies


This image and more vintage Tokyo subway manners posters via Pink Tentacle.


Finally, Detroit is getting what it needs. A RoboCop statue.

Spiders on Drugs. Watch this. You will NOT be disappointed. (Thanks Jason!)

In Praise of the Demented Fashion Icons: Kelly Kapowski.


Homemade Shamrock Shake
for you nerdy types.

Late night coin-operated bread machine? I need this in my bedroom.

More Pantone uber-trendiness in the form of the Pantone hotel in Brussels. But hey, it's Europe, so it still sucks less than Detroit's Robocop statue.

Your own personal submarine. That would be some hot sex.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Diary: Gluttony LA



Donuts, beer, and prescription meds. How LaForce siblings roll.















So L.A. doesn't suck as much as I thought it did! I made my brother drive me around the city so I could eat my nuts off. I sought out a few things Chicago doesn't quite have.



A mozzarella bar. I have died and gone to Italian Stereotype heaven. The Degustazione di Mozzarelle di Bufala Campana DOP (read: "ShitTon of Cheese" Menu)at Obika, Mozzarella Bar includes burrata, fresh mozzarella, and smoked mozzarella. Also it's in a MALL, so you can smother yourself with cheese AND pick up Kim Kardashian's newest perfume. Don't let the mall thing throw you. It's L.A. A nice restaurant in a mall just makes practical sense there.








Chicago is lacking in small plate Japanese (izakaya) options, which abound in L.A.'s Little Toyko. Enter Aburiya Toranoko. Toranoko opened just a few weeks ago, and our celeb sighting there was Eric from the Tim and Eric show. The staff was so attentive I tried to take several home with me. The special was "live" (Read: Recently deceased) ebi (shrimp), beheaded in the kitchen and served on a chopped-ice-filled martini glass and topped with caviar. The heads are flash-fried and served alongside. It was a tasty dead crustacean. The jellyfish was meh. Dusty committed a sin in several religions by swallowing a skewer of 6 little chicken hearts and beef tongue.


Other favorites:
Tacos and a veggie tostada from Dusty's fave Pepe's Tacos in West LA, vegan philly cheesesteak and chili wrap from Leaf Organics, retro chambord cocktails at Liquid Kitty, jackfruit and dal at Samosa House, giant bowls of udon at Mitsuwa, local strawberries and tomatoes at Santa Monica farmers' market, and late night donuts & Modelo Especial. Food parade. I wish I could have an excuse to eat this way all the time.




This is the only picture of got of my little bro and I, at Bigfoot West. Yes. We are both assholes. TRY THE SAZERAC.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Boy crush: David Shrigley

I love the hilarious & quirky art and design of
David Shrigley. He hails from Glasgow and I have no idea what he looks like, but he's a wacky S.O.B.



Greeting card available via Polite Shop



Salt and Pepper shakers available via Polite Shop.



A card I wish someone would send me. Via Creative Review.




2008 Sculpture





"New Friends" Animation.



Postcard via Polite Shop.




Merry Christmas, 2002 Photo.

Images/video via davidshrigley.com unless noted otherwise.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Sunny music for a snowy day: Secret Cities




I like sharing music that makes me happy. I get to see one of my recent favorite bands tonight- Secret Cities. They play 3rd of 4 bands tonight at Subterranean. Tickets are only 8 bones. This band is from Fargo, which automatically makes them tougher than you.

You can listen to their indie poppy tunes (mostly from their debut album, Pink Graffiti) on their MySpace page. I also created a Grooveshark playlist. You can buy Pink Graffiti through their label, Western Vinyl.

For more comprehensive real-music-blogger-type information, their new album, Strange Hearts, is reviewed here.

Pic via Stereogum.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Important things I have learned from Harper's Bazaar: March Edition.

Nothing says Spring Fashion like molesting a chubby human in a panda suit. (The COVER. Really.) Also, pandaman in a tree = sexy.






Dogs are the New Cats.



Vampires are still cool, but only when lesbian.



Kim Kardashian makes a stiff, awkward Cleopatra with lopsided breasts.




I love you, fashion.

NOTW: Mayoria Necklace



Excuse me, young man. Please bring me another Midori sour while your gay lover touches up the pedicure on my pinky toe. I am about to sweat from the intense Barbados sun, so please also dab at my forehead with this lavender-scented towel. Now go away.

Available at Anthropologie.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Week-end happies


Photo via elizastan's flickr

Upside down/sideways library cafe.

Vintage photography, reenacted, is funny bones. (Slightly NSFW.)

Kindly put out cigarette fridge magnets.

My most favorite thing in the world is to swing at the playground. But I'm not sure I could handle this one.

The ever-adorable Mike Sula teaches us about modern moonshinin'.

Crazy ass ethereal sculpture made of buttons, styrofoam cups, and paper plates.

Another reason I need to get my shit to Seattle- Nick Cave's Soundsuits. (Thanks Liz!)

Guillermo del Toro doing a stop-motion Pinocchio.
All signs point to awesome and it may even be worth the 3-D.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Vacay



Duhmericana is taking a vacay this week, if you haven't noticed. Normally I write a lot of posts over the weekend and since I was too busy KICKING ASS IN L.A., I'm behind.

There will be a little awesome tomorrow and back to full awesome next week. In the meantime, be awed by the image of a drunk Ty Pennington touching my shoulder in a dirty bar in Venice Beach. MAGIC. Unfortunately he was not nearly as sexy as this image (via TVFanatic) suggests, and as my friend Deb put it, looked much like an "old lesbian." But less hot.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Ewok meme explosion

Star Wars meme is so pervasive lately that it's to the point of saturation. AT-AT meme has only recently been overtaken by references to the Midwest as "Hoth" and dealing with one's frozen Tauntaun on the streets of Chicago.
But I love the AT-AT second only to the Ewok. Nature's teddy bear.I hope to see Ewok meme reach saturation in 2011. Ewok saturation. Sounds kinda bestial. Anyway, here you go- all the Ewok meme I could compile in 20 minutes.


Drunk Ewok moonwalks on the Today Show.




Ewok coaxing child into van animated gif.




Three Ewoks Moon T-shirt



Ever Party with an Ewok?



Ewok in a Delorian





Star Wars on Spike TV Ewok Commercial



Breakfast at Endor





Ok. Now I'm happy.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Craving: Dairy Queen Life



Image via Wikimedia

The best job I ever had was my 5 years (with breaks for college) at Dairy Queen. I have truly grown to appreciate it in my adult years. There is definitely an underground community (read:cult) of former Dairy Queen employees. We look at each other with a certain level of respect that comes with being able to make a perfect five-point twirl at the top of double-rounded ice milk in a cone.

We were all girls at our DQ, save for the manager, generally drunk owner, and one creepynerdy-esque dude in his early 20s that I think I even tried to date once for lack of Y chromosomes in my life. I think I took him to a Billy Graham concert. Yes. An adolescent-Melanie-fail on oh, so many levels. That kid could MOP the fuck out of linoleum floors though, I'll give him that.

Anyway. At age 15, most of my REAL sex ed came from the girls at Dairy Queen. I learned that masturbation is in fact, not going to send you to hell. That some boys could tear panties off with their TEETH. And that you can cut a hole in the crotch of your tights in a pinch if you are getting oral sex in your boyfriend's parents' basement.

The dress code was easy. We wore red t-shirts and black jean shorts (and a head-to-toe layer of splattered fruit syrup). Occasionally we dressed it up with our official DQ red polo. The year that they changed the rules and told us we had to wear closed-toed shoes, we almost lost it. For fun I created an updated Dairy Queen Uniform (see below).

And the ice cream (technically ice milk). It was dispensed at my whim. There were buckets full of candy for blizzards, always within 5 feet. You could turn around and pump hot fudge into your mouth. It was sweet, cavity-inducing, caloric-laden heaven.

God I miss it. They were perfect summers. The cute football-player-boys from the condo development across the street would stop by on their way home from the gym, sweaty and craving some sugar. I think it was the only time I ever got access to the popular dudes.

I'm craving a peanut butter cup blizzard, gossip, flirting, and sunshine. I wonder if I could pick up a shift in Chicago this season.
Updated Dairy Queen Gear

Updated Dairy Queen Gear by rileycoyote


More DQ:

Blizzard of the Month postings on the Official Dairy Queen Blog.

Dairy Queen on Twitter


"Dairy Queen Employees Make the World Go Round" Facebook group

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

NOTW: Big Cat on Campus



RAWR. I just love this because it reminds me of the doorknocker in "A Christmas Carol."
At ModCloth.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Week-end happies


Gif via Jason Fucking Thompson.

Vagina trends, including the vajacial and vatooing.

Moar cat trend. Best Coast's "Crazy For You" cat-centric video.

Lemme Smang It by Yung Humma.
Video.Not.To.Be.Missed. (Thanks Veronica)

Make Girl Scout Cookies at home.

Jail Recipes

Please god, yes. Red Velvet Pancakes.

MARWENCOL
- This documentary looks amazingly beautiful and sad. via Flux.

WANT. Wrap-a-Nap. via Refinery 29.

If you were on the evil terrible blue line yesterday, you coulda picked up a tardy slip for being 3 hours late to work.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Stupid Easy Spicy Scallop Stew

Winter sucks and we are lazy. All I ever want is comfort food. Laziness, budgeting and attempts to stave off winter chub prevent me from going out to get macaroni & cheese 5 nights a week. Husband and I discovered this really simple light stew. Generally in our house I'm the ideas man, but he makes it work. Beautifully. A bag of frozen bay scallops is one of the cheapest forms of shellfish-eating, PLUS scallops get high marks from Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch ratings of sustainability. Mollusks are the new vegan, yo.
Idiot-proof, fast, and one serving is about a measly 250 calories.

Stupid Easy Spicy Scallop Stew
Makes 4-5 servings

1 bag of frozen bay scallops ($4-$5 at Aldi)
1 can of diced tomatoes with jalepeno
3/4 cup (about 6 oz) of salsa (We used a half container of Trader Joe's Salsa Verde)
1/2 cup water
1 cup dry rice (we used brown Basmati)

Optional: Thicken it up with a little cornstarch, and add some Old Bay (or any seasoning you like), salt and pepper to taste.

Cook up the rice on the side (usually 1 part rice to two parts water)- you could even do this before if you needed to. If you are uber-lazy, you could buy pre-cooked rice.

Throw everything (tomatoes, salsa, water, seasoning) but the scallops and rice into a pot and heat on medium high until bubbling. Add the scallops and cook at medium heat until they are done, usually only about 5 minutes. If you want the stew to be thicker as it's cooking, this is the time to add a little cornstarch. Keep an eye on it- scallops (even frozen) are little and will cook fast. Overcooked scallops taste like a shoe. Finally, put a couple of ladles worth in a bowl with about a half cup of rice.
Done. Spicy tasty. I don't have a picture because we ate it all, dammit.

Concept Dresses




"Herself" is a beautifully organic, flowy air-purifying dress created as a collaboration by designers at 3 UK universities. The dress was created with pollutant-absorbing concrete. According to the design boom, "the creators estimate that forty people wearing the dress and standing across a meter of pavement would purify two meters of airspace each minute." I'm not sure if I should be impressed by that or not.


Fluid Dress from Charlie Bucket on Vimeo.



Google "dress of lights" and you can find zillions of illuminated creations, like Katy Perry's seizure-inducing Costume Institute Gala number. #KatyPerryHateDigressionThe "Fluid Dress" is in a class of it's own, despite the creator's self-proclaimed "disenchantment" with the piece. It was constructed of 600 feet of knitted tubing, controlled by a backpack.
(Thanks Meredith!)

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

New Music Obsession: Sleepover

sleepover // outside glitter from describe the fauna on Vimeo.

Video via CircuitTree Records.


Angelic music for your laying-in-bed-under-the-covers-because-you-have-57-feet-of-snow-outside-your-front-door day.

Sleepover is from Miami, but I'll forgive them for that because they sound like heaven. They self-describe as influenced by CocoRosie, Radiohead, Nina Simone, etc. I heard them recently for the first time on Chirp Radio.

You can download the EP for 5 bones on Bandcamp, and "like" them on Facebook. I like them.