I love Lily Allen.

In fact, I forgot how I much I do before tonight. I remembered how excited I am for her album that'll be out this year, so I went to her website and found a really quite amazing article from the UK Marie-Claire's February issue.
Ugh, I love this woman. Lily Allen knows her shit, there is no doubt about it. And the best part is that for all the people out there who criticize her, she gives less and less of a damn by the day.
I think that people forget that by entering the limelight, their humanity doesn't change. No matter how many people know your name, you are still just a human, not a relic or talisman or anything. Celebrities shouldn't try to censor themselves just to keep their images pure. It almost feels like a lie. Being human is so much more powerful. So what if Lily likes to drink in the day? I don't care. Bitch is human. She can do what she wants. She doesn't have to try and please the people by falsely manipulating her public image under a persona that the media has turned her into-- she just lives the way she wants. That takes a lot of guts.

Oh, and who else thinks this album's going to be amazing? Dude, I want a preview. Now.
I love this woman. Can't even describe how much.

Read the article in snippets.
Lily Allen: Marie-Claire UK 1
Lily Allen: Marie-Claire UK 2
Lily Allen: Marie-Claire UK 3

Badass badass BADASS. God, this chick is not afraid.
Want even more of this article? Go to lilyallenmusic.com and click on "Who is Lily?" for some other awesome articles that will get you even more excited!

Watch out for: Mark Bodnar

This year's been a bit of an awakening in art for me, and even a discovery that not all artistic discoveries must be rooted in the classics (though their significance cannot be denied).
The other day I was looking through the archive of the blog of Audrey Kawasaki (whom I adore, and you really must check out if you haven't already) and came across one of her several recommendation artists whose sample pictures immediately captivated me, by the name of Mark Bodnar.
Bodnar is an artist from Ohio with a very strong background in animation, not to mention an amount of prestigious clients, including The New York Times and National Geographic. He also animates a show on Cartoon Network, though I'm not quite sure what it is called, nor does his website clarify.

Not only does he have a history in animation-- he also seems to draw influence from modern animation legends, like the edgy Gary Baseman.
Pictures from his personal portfolio have the oxymoronic quality that Audrey Kawasaki is drawn to-- a lot of the pictures evoke a childlike nostalgia, but also a morbid understanding of a dark side. Hair is one his central motifs, and has a real talent of personifying little fears in a clever way that is attractive to both child and adult sides of a human. One of my favorite examples is a piece, entitled "Barber Beach" (shown at right), in which a child is screaming as a barberpole with scissors comes for him.

The motif of hair, and how frequently is being shown in his pieces, seems to evoke a bit of a Samsonite appreciation of hair, with pieces expressing reluctance to rid of it, being haunted by its presence, and of course, admiration of it.

The style is whimsical without factors of kitsch or shallowness in it.

His pieces are magical, a great exploration of the human's inner child, and I highly recommend you check him out.

Get properly introduced at markbodnar.com.

Dear Academy, Why forget The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?

I really, really can't shut up about The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Seeing just the tiny snippets of it onscreen made me almost melt. I despise that this cinematic masterpiece (it truly is) left the Academy Awards with nothing! Julian Schnabel might be a bit of a narcissist, but I can't believe it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture. I saw Atonement and Diving Bell was easily ten times better (Atonement tried to make me cry, while Diving Bell perhaps accidentally had me shaking at the beautiful credits).

I'm just glad it exists in the first place.
What an amazing... ugh, I don't even know. A film that resonated in my head for days and days after I saw it.
Those reading: don't ignore the fact that it won no categories. You really, really need to go see this movie. It will probably change your life, and certainly make you laugh, not to mention cry.

The Academy makes mistakes sometimes.
This is certainly no exception.

Boredom Combat: Ian Fleming's James Bond Series

Living in a fairly small town is hard work. Boredom comes very easily for anyone (ask them, they'll see), and having fun things to do is hard to come up with.
That's why I'm here-- having to wonder all the time is quite challenging, not to mention strenous. I'll find something fun, and post it so you can try for yourself. You might enjoy it, you might not-- if you didn't, at least you killed time!

Just a few days ago, I was at the library, getting books for term paper sources. I decided to have fun in the fiction section and stumbled upon something I always knew existed, but never took the time to delve into-- a copy of the first James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, Casino Royale, in a very sexy pulp design*. I borrowed it, unspeakably eager to read it.
Needless to say, I devoured that shit.
I can't believe I'd never tried these before! Anyone who hasn't really should try it. It kills so much time that it happens to kill time you probably should've used doing something else. So much fun, I highly recommend it!

But TAKE NOTE: in order to read these, one must have an open mind. Fleming is notorious for his sexism and racism, especially in what I'm reading now, the stereotype-latent Live and Let Die (not to mention You Only Live Twice). Don't take it too seriously, have fun with it-- that's what they're made for!

*The 007 series published in pulpy covers are very praiseworthy and I've found really, really fit in with the book. These covers, designed by Richie Fahey, are so much fun to look at, which you can right here.

OMG. Finally.

So Riskay (best name ever)'s future-summer-jam "Smell Yo Dick" is FINALLY on iTunes! Rejoice!

It's been blogged just about everywhere, but...

For those of you who have not yet heard the sheer bliss of "Smell Yo Dick", oh, just prepare yourself. It paints an accurate portrayal of a woman's agony of her significant other's conspiciously frequent tardiness... in which dick must be smelled in the end.

God damn. Speak for the ladies. Get down there. Sniff hard.

My faith in Kanye West is reassured.

I'd been worried about Kanye West for awhile. He'd really been losing his touch, becoming too insecure, having to reassure the public that he is, in fact, black (see the Spin with him and Daft Punk on the cover)... but it looks like Kanye's got his groove back.

The following video, "Flashing Lights", has received a lot of criticism from some fans because it's so different from anything he has done (meaning it took balls to take this step), but watch it and you'll see why this shows a lot, a lot of promise.

I used to like Kanye all right.
Now, I love him.

Mind-blowingly brill. Keep it up, Kanye.

Happy Valentine's Day!
(I know, what a way of preceding it, right?)

Get fucking excited.

N.A.S.A. is on board! Make way!