Top Shop is finally in the states.

While working in SoHo, I kept a close eye on what was happening across the street. The girls in the office and I watched for months as Top Shop was being built. After a few delays, Top Shop/Top Man have finally opened their doors.

While walking to work on in the morning, there was already a line outside before it even opened. My editor told me that on their opening day, there was a 2 block long line to get in. Crazy! After work on Friday. I went to investigate.

It was super crowded of course. But well worth it to see this store. The displays were beautiful! Really well designed. I love the use of hand drawn type. Lovely flower displays. Mannequins with some real attitude. High ceilings. Neon lights. Good British music. Ribbons. Collage artwork and type. Overall, the store has a great energy, mood, and feel to it.It’s busy but organized. The size of the rooms with their high ceilings give it more air so you don’t feel too closed in. They really displayed the clothes well. From the mannequins, to the hangers, it’s well done. I really liked the different shapes of the clothes racks. It’s fun. I dig it.

The customers and potential customers/visitors inside were also a sight to see. It seemed like all the fashionistas of both sexes were there in full force. It’s nice seeing hipsters in another store other than Urban Outfitters. The clothes seem over priced, but we’ll see what happens after a few months. And obviously there is no sale section yet. I’m looking forward to eventually shopping there. Like, when there isn’t a line to get in.

Cheers Top Shop! Welcome to the states!

On Saturday night I went to the Digital Rituals show at JUNGLE in Bushwick, Brooklyn with Karol and Marissa. Very cool space. Pretty cool exhibits. Lots of video installations. It was nice to see people from Pratt again.

My favorite was the Baby Clone Arcade game.
For 2 bucks, I got myself a rubber baby clone that came with it’s own unique birth certificate. The babies were an artist edition of 1000. Each baby is supposed to be a clone of a celebrity. I got one of David Beckham. Marissa got one of Steve Jobs.

The only issue I had with the show was the lack of titles or descriptions for each piece. It left a lot of people, myself included, with some probably unnecessary questions.

Digital Rituals was produced by Republic Brooklyn.

We had a lovely low key Valentine’s Day. After getting lost for a long time and having to exchange some movie tickets, we went to see Coraline in 3D with real plastic glasses that fit really nicely over my own glasses.

If you are going to see this movie, I HIGHLY suggest seeing it in 3D. It’s worth the extra few bucks. Coraline is beautiful!! I loved the songs and the characters and their environments. The story was really well done. This is a movie, I would definitely see again (and again.) I was really impressed.

Coraline is rated PG. It was a little dark and sinister at times. I wouldn’t see this movie with children because it’s really not a children’s story except for the fact that it’s about a child. Dolls are creepy. Cats are cool. Schnauzers are pretty awesome. (One day, I’d like to have a Giant Schnauzer even though I’m really a cat person.) Buttons are… interesting. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll stop here.

Go see Coraline. It’s in your best interest…

Saw SwissMiss at the Apple Store on Wednesday. It was really cool. She is so busy! She’s living a completely full and successful life while still sharing the beautiful things she sees with the world. I thought it was really a fun and inspiring talk which made having a successful blog and the whole notion of blogging more accessible and less intimidating. It’s about all about sharing.

I’d really like to make this blog more like that. But I’m still trying to work out how exactly I want this blog to work. Eventually things will run the way they want to.

I really appareciated that she isn’t a huge fan of the term blog. I remember when I had my frist domains I used to code journal entries by hand. Eventually I started using greymatter which was amazing! At the time, I hate the term web-log. I did not want to have a log of activities or things I’ve said or thought. I thought that it was very impersonal. Now the term blogging seems more humanistic than it did a decade ago. I enjoy the term but I’m still waiting for the day where there will just be websites because all websites share information.

DIWANG PINAY: Light of the Nation, Ilaw Ng Bayan
Celebrating 25 Years of Filipino Women’s Resistance
A Call for Donations for Silent Auction

In a commemoration of Filipino women’s struggle, hardships and triumphs, Diwang Pinay’s theme is “Light of the Nation, “Ilaw Ng Bayan”: Celebrating 25 Years of Filipino Women’s Resistance.” On Saturday, April 25, 2009, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), a volunteer-run, mass-based women’s organization serving the New York City area, will celebrate the history and resistance of Filipino women in an all Filipina and Filipina-American artists’ showcase. We are currently accepting donations or art work created by and books authored by Filipina and Filipina-American artists.

Diwang Pinay (”Spirit of the Filipina”) is an annual performance and silent auction in New York City showcasing Filipina/ Filipina-American performers, writers, and visual artists. This year’s theme, “Ilaw ng Bayan, Light of the Nation,” plays with the idea found in the traditional Filipino family where the father is considered the “Haligi ng Tahanan,” or the pillar of the home, and the mother is regarded as the “Ilaw ng Tahanan,” or the light of the home. The dominion of the woman in Filipino culture is over taking care of the children, keeping a home and being responsible for the radiance of the household. Diwang Pinay hopes to promote the work of Pinay artists everywhere and following the legacies of Gabriela Silang, Lorena Barros and Bullet X Marasigan, this event intends to redefine the “ilaw,” the light and radiance representing Filipino women for decades.

Although Filipino women might be traditionally regarded in this way, the past 25 years have seen Pinays break out of this mold. Her duties often extend from the home to the workplace, and endure between sunrise to sunset. A true testament to the will and strength of the Pinay is emerging as an integral figure of social change in the Philippines and in the US. This year’s Diwang Pinay theme, Ilaw ng Bayan, embraces the tradition, revises its meaning, reflects on the advances made by Filipinas, and looks towards the future.

This year we’d like to call on Pinay artists of every medium and walk of life to reflect the theme of resistance and light, as well as imagine what the future holds for younger generations of Filipino women. Together in this project, we seek to reflect on the history of Pinays and the traditions that have hindered growth, but are also necessary reminders which help push us out of the mold. We aim to celebrate the different ways Pinays are living, resisting, and surviving today in New York City and abroad.
Submission guidelines:

1) Thank you for your interest in donating your work! This means a lot to us, so please email Sara Jimenez at diwangpinay@gmail.com with the following information. The information below must be emailed and submitted by March 21st:

Your Name
Your Phone
Your Mailing address
Your email
Artist bio
Description of submitted work
Estimated value of your piece

2) You will then be sent a mailing address where you can send in or drop off your work.

3) Should you need more information, have questions about your specific medium, or anything else, please feel free to email us at diwangpinay@gmail.com. Or visit www.firenyc.orgto learn more about Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE.)

4) The piece itself must be submitted by March 31st. This will give FiRE enough time to display your work on the Diwang Pinay website so that others may begin bidding prior to the show on April 25th. If there are any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Sara and fire.nyc@gmail.com.

Filipina artists of various artistic disciplines from the New York City area and beyond are invited to donate their work to the Diwang Pinay Silent Auction. By doing so, you will be entitled to free admission for you and a guest to Diwang Pinay 2008, and recognition in the Diwang Pinay program and website. All proceeds from the sale of your work will go toward sustaining FiRE’s community education projects and its future programming.

In celebration of half a year together, we decided to go to the French Culinary Institute’s restaurant L’Ecole on the corner of Grand and Broadway. DELICIOUS!!! We spent about $120 on two 4 course meals and a few drinks. I highly suggest trying this place out. It’s a great experience and the food always impresses. I always love seeing how the food is displayed.

This looks great. I’m excited!!!

This is a documentary film about industrial design, it’s objects and it’s designers. A chair is not just a chair. A lamp is not just a lamp. They start out as ideas and become obsessions. Then they live.

Gary Hustwit was the man behind the film Helvetica. That film was great. The first time I saw it was at the Pratt Institute where Hustwit was there and spoke about the film a little bit.
www.objectifiedfilm.com

I found us in the official Lomography grand opening party pictures. Dorky, but exciting.

Party at 41 West 8th Street on Monday.

Food, drinks, people, and some wonderful toy cameras. It was a lot of fun, but it was super crowded!! The store looks great, and I foresee my paychecks not making it back to the state of New Jersey because of this store. I’ve been a fan of Lomos since the “World Box” camera collection was $250. Long before the “Fantastic Plastic” package even existed.

The Lomo walls were beautiful!!!

I love photography. Both digital and film. But I do not love the cost of film and processing. Toy cameras are wonderful because its still somewhat unpredictable as to what the image is going to look like unlike working digitally. Everything is so “perfect” with digital its nice and refreshing to be able to capture moments again instead of documenting.

I love Lomos. Let’s take photography back!

This is the first Lomography store in America. Finally!! More info at lomography.com