WTF? Hatsune Miku-Japan’s 3D Hologram Rock Star
December 13, 2010
Hatsune Miku
When I first heard of Hatsune Miku, I immediately thought of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, one of my favorite books in the world. Shelly wrote the book when she was 18 (such a genius!)
When most people think of Frankenstein they usually think of the scary, bulky-looking, green monster. But Dr. Frankenstein is the one who ” discovers the secret to imbuing the inanimate with life” and creates said monster. A major theme in Shelley’s book is Nature vs. Technology. Frankenstein’s creature (technology) is evil. Technology overpowers nature and things go terrible awry. I won’t ruin the story for those who have not read it.
Hatsune Miku is like Frankenstein’s monster…I might be exaggerating a bit, but seriously, she is a bit scary. WTF is Hatsune Miku?
“She’s a computer-generated avatar (hologram), that struts, sings, and dances on stage. She’s accompanied by a live band. Miku, 5 feet 4 inches tall, looks like a young girl with blue pigtails wearing a version of a Japanese school-girl uniform with a short skirt. Her voice is synthesized with the help of a live actress. Miku can also be seen on home PCs, but live concerts are held for sell-out crowds who scream and wave lit batons”*
I can’t believe I just found out about her. Apparently any Hatsune Miku merchandise is worth buying, as she’s the first hologram pop-star–and therefore, she is historically important. If the hologram shows become popular, more “stars” will appear and there will be more collectors. I won’t be collecting any Hatsune Miku merchandise in the near future, but I did watch a video of one of her live performances. Watch it below. It is pretty cool-but I don’t like that machines are starting to replace live performers.
*Kovels
Stumbled Upon Site of the Day: We Are Hunted
November 30, 2010
I haven’t posted a “stumbled upon” site for a while. I’m so glad I did a little stumbling today. I found this amazing, rad, website called We Are Hunted. It’s this website that compiles the 99 most talked about songs on blogs, social networks and forums.
Music is such an important part of my creative process–so I’m always looking for new music to inspire me. And, I LOVE LOVE LOVE finding about things before they become mainstream. Some of the songs on We are Hunted are not even on KCRW (the source many advertisers turn to select music for their ad campaigns) yet. There’s also mainstream songs on We Are Hunted, as well–so make sure you are on the “emerging” section.
Here’s a song I found on the site that I’m really digging:
The Glitch Mob-Between Two Points (Featuring Swan):
There’s Also this cool option to “Discover Emerging Songs Just for You”. It’s like a mini Pandora. They program asks you to rate a bunch of songs–giving the individual songs either thumbs up or thumbs down. After you are finished, a list is created. I’m pretty stoked with mine. It has a cover of a Bob Dylan song from the Dirty Projectors–a band that was a hit at Coachella this past year, Bon Iver’s “Blindsided”, Matt and Kim’s “Cameras”, Mumford and Sons’ “White Blank Pages”, and Neon Indian’s “Psychic Chasms” to name a few.
I’m so glad I found this site. I’m going to add their “Hunted Radio” app to my iphone.
*Deer from Fantastic Toys on Etsy
My Rad #Playlist…Songs of the Summer
July 27, 2010
Lately I’ve been receiving TONS of compliments on the massive playlist I created for a high-end boutique in West Hollywood. Here are some songs I’m really digging right now:
Carnies-Martina Topley Bird
Airplanes- Local Natives
Promises-The Morning Benders
Something Good Can Work- Two Door Cinema Club
Golden State-Delta Spirit
Animal Farm-The Branches (in above photo)
Still Life-Sid Le Rock
Skinny Love-Bon Iver
Walkabout-Atlas Sound
Nighttiming-Coconut Records
Down the Drain- Lilly Wood and the Prick
Home-Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
White Winter Hymnal-Fleet Foxes
Piano-We Have Band
Umbrella- PV Nova
That’s a good start. OMG-making playlists is my new favorite pastime (like I have any time). So addicting.
I stumbled upon the above “evolution of the hipster”. Click on the photo above to enlarge. Enjoy.
In B Flat….You HAVE to see/listen to this…
January 12, 2010
I’m not going to explain it. Just click on it….It’s SO COOL. There’s a FAQ section on the site.
xo
C
Artists in Aid Benefit with DELTA SPIRIT, AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT, AND RED CORTEZ members#DTLA
December 19, 2009
Last night, I attended an Artists in Aid Benefit at Edgar Varela Fine Arts & Cultural Events.
It was in the neighborhood, and I knew it would be a cool event. The suggested Benefit donations was $10 and any non-perishable goods you had for a homeless shelter. There was an open bar, featuring organic wines provided by Magnanimus Wines and Frey Wines, and live music featuring VERY SPECIAL live guests. On top of everything, it was in a very cool space with interesting (very dirty) art.
I missed the first few bands. When I got there, Red Cortez was playing. I really liked their sound. The band was composed of a bunch of instruments–including a xylophone and accordion.
Just before Mikel Jollet, the lead singer of The Airborne Toxic Event started singing, another special guest was announced. I was so ecstatic to find out Matt Vasquez, the lead singer of one of my favorite new bands, Delta Sprit, was going to play a few songs. If you have not heard of Delta Spirit, you MUST check them out. I love their Americana/Soul sound. You might have heard their singles; “Trashcan” or “People C’mon”.
“The band released their debut EP, I Think I’ve Found It, on Monarchy Music in 2006, after which they toured alongside Cold War Kids, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Dr. Dog. The band decided to self-produce and record their debut full length album, Ode to Sunshine, in a cabin in the San Diego mountains.” *
Matt Vasquez was without the rest of his band at the benefit, but his soulful voice filled the stage. He’s so very talented.
Mikel took the stage right after Matt. It was the first time I’d ever seen him live. The second I heard The Airborne Toxic Event, I was in love with the music. A little more info on the band:
The Airborne Toxic Event played its first show in Echo Park in the fall of 2006, less than a month after it was fully formed. Since then, the band has performed extensively in L.A. and become well-known throughout the greater Los Angeles area. In December 2006, Rolling Stone named them one of the “Top 25 Bands on MySpace.”[4] They went on to receive positive responses from music blogs and press, notably L.A. Weekly[5] and Los Angeles Times,[6] which named the group one of the top three L.A. bands to watch in 2008. Previous bands to receive this distinction include Cold War Kids and Silversun Pickups….
On March 10, 2009 U2 played some of their favorite songs on a radio program hosted by Shirley Manson of Garbage. Bass player Adam Clayton chose “Sometime Around Midnight” as his choice, commenting that he felt he would be listening to their album the rest of the year.”*
When Mikel took the stage, he had the audience switch places with him. Suddenly, we were in the light, and he was in the dark. We huddled around him, as he sang about five of his own songs. Mikel’s lyrics are moving, funny, and beautiful. He is extremely charismatic, and he plays the guitar so effortlessly. His interaction with the crowd was perfect. I love that he can be serious and funny at the same time….and man, that voice. He was a perfect way to end the benefit.
After the concert, I had the opportunity to listen to Delta Spirit’s new album (it doesn’t come out until til May). Matt invited a few of us to listen to the new songs in his car. What an experience?! The new album rocks!! It’s so good. You heard it here first.
See more photos from the event below:
*Wikipedia
Stumbled Upon Site of the Day…
November 29, 2009
Booooooom
I can’t believe I’m just stumbling upon this site now. The site is called Booooooom–with 7 “o” s. Booooooom’s bio on Twitter Reads:” art+photo blog with a soft spot for hand-made work by unknown people.”—
This is the exact page I stumbled on—A post about Claire Morgan, an amazing visual artist:
The blog covers Art, Design, Music, Photography, and Film… I’m so inspired.
Here’s a great photography duo I just found on Boooooom:
From the Booooooom Information Section: “
Hello friends! My name is Jeff Hamada, I am an artist from Vancouver. I created Booooooom in hopes of fostering a community of people excited to go out and be creative!
We have quickly become one of the largest blogs on the internet, with well over 1.9 million pageviews each month, and readers from all over the world. Incredibly, this is mainly the result of good old fashion word-of-mouth! So if you’ve told even one person about Booooooom hold your hand up to the monitor and accept this high-five! Did you feel that? That was no regular high-five, that was the highest-five in the history of highs and fives.”
On that note, I’m going to take the high-five creative energy and go shoot some photos.
Stumbled Upon Site of the Day…
August 3, 2009
Flavorwire-Flavorpill’s Blog:
“Flavorpill loves culture. We embrace the high-brow, low-brow, underground, mainstream, and everything in between — as long as it’s good. Every day, our editors comb through emails, websites, newspapers, and magazines in search of the must-see happenings in their cities — then they get off their computers and experience the events firsthand.”
What is FLAVORPILL?
“Flavorpill is an open network of culturally connected people. Our intuitive platform empowers Flavorpill’s eagle-eyed editors, savvy users, and the world’s best venues to share the most exciting and worthwhile events happening in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and London — with more cities on the way. Together, we foster and promote the arts, entertainment, and nightlife we love, embracing the underground, the mainstream, and everything in between.
THIS SITE IS GREAT! I just signed up to get my daily dose of Flavorpill Los Angeles. You can also submit your own artwork, or an event.
Here is a screen shot from Los Angeles Flavorpill:
Top: Stills from the video of the day:
- Murmur Study from Christopher Baker on Vimeo.
Above: “That waterfall of ticker tape is actually a live feed printout of Twitter and Facebook status updates; the thermal printers are part of Christopher Baker’s art installation, in collaboration with Márton András Juhász and the Kitchen Budapest, entitled Murmur Study. The project searches these sites for variations of “common emotional utterances” like argh, meh and oooo and collects them into piles, highlighting the way that all of our “personal” updates are archived by corporations without us really paying any attention to it.
You can check out the installation at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis now through August 23. Note: All of the paper is collected for future projects or recycled.”
http://us.designforhumanity.com/
I can’t wait for this event! Design, Music, and Art for Charity. What could be better? And I love The Airborne Toxic Event. They are one of my favorite bands at the moment.
$30 gets you into this art/fashion show and concert. 100% of the ticket cost is donated to charity: water.
Don’t worry, Jon. I still love Hurley.
Colette-One of My Favorite Places in Paris
April 24, 2009
Last time I was in Paris, I found myself at Colette-a boutique full of art, music,beauty, culture, entertainment, fashion and food. There’s even a bottled water bar (with water from all over the world).
The store is upscale, but edgy. Famous graffiti images appear on well made shirts and shoes. Next to these items are dresses by Lanvin and Yves St. Laurent. It’s like Maxfield in Los Angeles but 1,000 times cooler. There’s an art gallery in the store, as well.
Colette carries clothing for both men and women. I found a video on youtube that explains the concept of Colette and shows a lot more of the store. These photos don’t really do it justice. See the video below.
Not going to France anytime soon? Shop online or just “window shop” for inspiration.
