Carousel -- Week Ending 30th January 2009
[ 29 January 2009 ]
Thanks & Have Fun Running the Country is a book of children’s letters to Obama. It sounds amazing, the quotes cute me out like no other! Click! Read! Smile! Enjoy! Then buy one!
Natalia Rose’s blog is excellent, & I especially like this piece on The Necessity of Winter. Girl can write!
An interview with Leith Clark of Lula magazine, from The Guardian.
Nubby brought back her mouth with pill shirts! You’d look good in one! Also… I knew I married her for a reason.
Keely has introduced a new feature on Good Prattle, called The List! Find out what it is & how you can get involved! Instant fame, yes!
These shoes are mad cute.
ABC Adventures is TOTALLY AWESOME. Go there NOW! Elizabeth says,
“My friend Brian and I were hanging out one night and found ourselves rather bored. We thought to ourselves “hmm, how delightful would it be if we had a book of adventures for when we are bored?” The answer: EXTREMELY DELIGHTFUL. The idea then was to create a book of adventures, categorized according to letter, so that when bored you’d be able to pick a letter, and the book would be able to suggest at least one adventure.”
An oldie but a goodie — a day in the life of Dhrumil Purohit.
This send-up of Tim Ferriss & The Four-Hour Work Week is super-funny.
What Do Women Want? Discovering What Ignites Female Desire from the New York Times.
I would look cooler if I were riding a unicorn. Now that’s a good shirt. I am also kind of fond of life is like a box of terrible analogies & now panic & freak out.
Taking it to the sweet! & 1000 love letters. SO GOOD. The guy that runs this site is totally my new best friend.
I like Debauchette a whole lot, especially for what she wrote about the new American Apparel ads here, which I linked to ages ago but which is totally worth quoting:
“But more than that, I like the candor. I’m a little tired of the coy push-and-pull that we teach young women, as if they should play up their sexuality but ultimately recoil from sexual activity, resulting in our classically conflicted nympho-puritanical views: we’re sex-saturated (advertising, porn) yet we’re also sex-avoidant (MPAA, morality laws). If we’re talking about depictions of women, I want to see more of this, of women looking you in the eye and fucking owning their sex. I want to see more women like Sasha Grey and Charlotte Stokely.”
Hell YES.
I like Susannah Breslin’s Reverse Cowgirl very much too.
Deanne is SO AMAZING! She made this tutorial — & video — because I was like, “Deaaaaaaaane, I have a hoop, what do I do with it?!” So I present to you, So You Got Yourself A Hoop. Now What?
Georgie emailed me about Shoebox who are having a massive sale. If you want those strappy platforms I bought a while ago, they have them on special for $50!
I am not a huge fan of whingeing in general — I always think it’s better to take action than complain. But if you must have a whinge, at least do it in an interesting way. (& preferably in another language!) Like these people…
The Helsinki Complaints Choir.
Soittoäänet kaikki yhtä ärsyttäviä!
I found this via Sera Beak, yes, I luh-luh-love her. Prada takes an ancient text about the divine feminine — The Thunder, Perfect Mind — & spins it into an advertising campaign, & as dirty as that sounds, it’s actually amazing.
That’s all for today! Have a magnificent weekend, remember to prep yo’ fine self for the iCiNG Transformation Challenge — it kicks off on Sunday!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
Tags: carousel Add Gala on Twitter!
When it comes to Finnish expression – do you know The Screaming Men? www.huutajat.org/
When Poochie showed me that unicorn shirt, I about died. Those converse! Gah— they totally kill me.
The Helsinki Complaints Choir rocks my world. Hilarious!
I love the the Nag Hammadi text, Paulo Coelho uses (part of) it in one of his books as a preface.. Will definitely need to view the Prada thing (..while I’m not at work; it’s blocked here, dang! :)
Thanks for another great list of interesting, wonderful, fun & beautiful things. I aaaalways look forward to your spinnin Carousel.
“Carousel — Week Ending ON MY BIRTHDAY!”
Wow, I have been in a grumpy mood all day and Zoomdoggle has just made me very happy – thank you Gala!
I’m going to get me a love letter now!
The Thunder, Perfect Mind; love it!
I love the little gems you source in your links.
That Prada ad is one of the best things I’ve seen lately. Do you have any idea who was the director?
I love carousel yaaay:)
I really like Deannes clip – she’s super cute.
Thank you Gala for the Zoomdoggle link! What they’re doing is such a good thing. & it makes me happy to see people having such love for others.
p.s. -does anyone want a penpal?
Oh wow that fifty people one question video, well both of them, are stunning! So breathtaking…
What an excellent end to my week. Now I must go do some homework and watch 30 Rock and The Office—I know, so cliche, but I’m addicted. Thursday night, baby! Teehee.
I know I’ve commented about it before, but about the zine, do you think a quick email interview would be feasible? If you’re even slightly interested maybe just drop me an email, but I know you are SUPER DUPER busy and have a billion emails every day, haha. But I would love for your adorable face to be in this thing, and the money is going toward my dream: Chicago.
I hope you have an excellent Friday and weekend.
xoxo
Sprinkle
So, I totally bought the cupcake converse… I couldn’t resist their delectable qualities. >.<
Have a wonderful weekend
~LillyVanilli
Those letters to Obama were just too adorable. Also, the ’50 people, one question’ videos had me grinning from ear to ear.
Thank you for brightening my day Gala!
Gala, we may have to jello wrestle, because I’m pretty sure that I want Jake of ‘Taking it to the Sweet’ to be my BFF as well. Watch out! I’ve got a mean half-nelson :)
I love ABC Adventures – never again will I be in want of a late-night adventure!
I’m looking forward to the transformation challenge ♥
I just love that you referenced Sasha Grey in this Carousel. I don’t like AA ads, though, even though I’m a big fan of porn. They just ick me out a bit.
Awesome Carousuel this week Gala!
Thanks for the Hoop video and for inspiring her to do it, it’s one of my this year’s resolutions (msalthea.com/?p=528) to master the hoop!
Thank you, Gala, for introducing me to Natalia Rose’s blog! I love it! I’m taking a break from reading her posts to tell you that you’re awesome! I’m so glad that I found your blog too ;-)
Thanks for the mention, wifey! Looking forward to making mad travel plans…
xoxoxo
Gala you are awesome, but I have to nit-pick at something. I don’t appreciate you supporting the comment about Sasha Grey. I am actually a bit surprised! I am definitely all for a woman’s right to express her sexuality, but Sasha Grey is not a healthy example. I saw an interview with her on the Tyra show, and it was appalling to watch. Sasha is known for doing things in porn that other girls would never do, because most of them are unhealthy, NOT sexually liberating as she claims (i.e. licking toilet seats).
Now that I got that off of my chest, here is something fun that I thought you would like!
www.polyvore.com/style_fashion…
polyvore is having a contest to style a fashion blog, and you are listed as an inspiration and there are some sets made for you!
Thank you for posting the 50 people + 1 question videos. They moved me very much.
I LOVE THE HELSINKI COMPLAINT CHOIR! The only thing I couldn’t relate to was the Eurovision part.
Fabulous carousel, as usual.
Thanks hoop lover! You are the best, truly. I am already planning vol. 2 for your swirling pleasure. Think we are going to have to step it up a notch you appear to be a hoop dance prodigy!!
Love to you gorgeous lady,
d
xx
p.s. Thanks for all the other cool links!
robin: I have been shocked by a lot of what I have seen on Tyra’s show. Shocked by how prejudiced and biased she is toward many of her “guests”. I’m no expert on Sasha Grey, but a lot of what I’ve seen indicates that she may be a relatively clued up young woman. It may not be the whole truth, but I certainly wouldn’t take it any less seriously than Tyra’s take on things.
robin: I have seen that episode of the Tyra show, and I was honestly shocked at the way she treated Sasha. I don’t think that doing porn can really be equated to prostitution or that it’s nearly as dangerous to one’s health and Tyra seemed to be suggesting. The porn industry really does try to ensure the health and safety of its actors/actresses nowadays. Not only that, she seems to genuinely feel that she’s expressing her sexuality in the way she feels most comfortable. I don’t think it’s really that crazy for a woman to enjoy rough sex— especially since this is her job and not an abusive relationship. She knows what she’s getting herself into.
Also, it might be nice to check out Sasha’s youtube channel where she comments on her Tyra show appearance. According to her, the producers really manipulated her appearance to make the interview more shocking: basically, they forced her to dress up in clothes that made her look like a little girl. You might not want to believe everything you see on the Tyra show, because there’s always another side to the story
Sasha’s Channel:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFTEoB…
danabelle yes!! :) I love penpals!
this carousel is keeping me so well entertained at work thanks gala!! I especially love the cupcake + 1000 loveletters, but the good thing about being bored at work is that I have checked out nearly every link!
Those videos were super good. The One Question in Brooklyn one almost made me cry.
Vanessa and witnit,
I do respect your opinions and thank you for replying to me. However, I have seen Sasha’s response to her Tyra appearance and I have to argue that in some of her videos I’ve seen she has her hair in curled up pigtails (obviously making her look like a little girl) so I think it’s hypocritical for her to be upset with the Tyra show for putting a little extra blush on her.
And I do agree that the Tyra show isn’t the best source of information but I used some of what I heard on there to form my own opinions.
Carousel is my favorite part of GD.com ;D
For the record, my thoughts on Sasha Grey: any woman who owns her sexuality gets my support. She hasn’t been sold into slavery, she is an informed adult making her own decisions, & ultimately it doesn’t matter whether you or I like what she does.
...& I have absolutely no time for Tyra who is, in my opinion, an extremely unpleasant sensationalist. Ahem!
oh my goodness, I started watching the “1 question 50 people” brooklyn video even though I thought it was cheesy, and then the kid gets on and talks about how his dad was killed.. and I just burst into tears. that definitely gave me some perspective.
Gala if you are going handbag crazy you should go to the website for Brooklyn designers Hayden Harnett. They usually have a nice sale section too.
Oh my goodness I am in love with the Prada video, and I’m reading through the poem now. Wow!
Aww, the Helsinki Complaints Choir made me so homesick, especially the opening shot of Helsinki Central Station.
Helsinki complaints choir is so true, every part. xD
Thanks for posting the hoop related link! I’m totally getting into this stuff. I’m planning to order one soooon.
It really helps to know good sources! I just can’t get over how crazy it is that i had baught a hoop here at the local walmart, just for fun you know? and then i had went to a circus that came to town and saw some ladies twirling all these hoops and doing all these tricks and i was just blown away. You had also started talking about it more and so all that=me totally amped.:P I wanna learn some stuff now! I wanna feel the connection and have the movement flow! Looking forward to more stuff!
Oxyjenn
Hahhah! Helsinki Complaint Choir was excellent! I do agree with them, but mostly with the part “tram line 3 smells of pee” as I travel with that tram line almost daily and whoa.. that smell! :X
Also I’m sure that the girl with scarf they showed a lot in that choir video was in same school as I was.. Small world!
Anyways, great hoop link! Hope to learn some newbie tricks soon! :D
I liked the Fifty People, One Question thing – especially the London one. Most people said they’d like to stay in London!
I’d like to wake up as Cleopatra in Ancient Egypt, bathing in milk, surrounded by cats!
That What Do Women Want article is FASCINATING! I’m only halfway through it, but I don’t want it to end! The first page was especially interesting, I though, where it stated that women didn’t rate their arousal to match what their bodies were actually doing—could this be because women internalize society’s expectations of their chastity, kinda…?
Annnyway…I have a lot of friends who just finished taking a fantastic human sexuality class, so I can’t wait to share this piece with them!
The Fifty People, One Question videos were really interesting. They definitely made me smile. Somehow though, a lot of the people looked sad — the ones that didn’t know where they’d like to be.
In fact, I think the ones that looked the happiest, were the one’s who wanted to wake up exactly where they always did — in their own bed. That really resonated with me. If I had been asked that question six months ago, while living in Placerville, California I would have answered, “Anywhere but here,” and the expression that flashed across my face would have been a profoundly distressed mixture of sadness, frustration, and longing.
Now, living in Chicago, and having found myself in ways I never thought possible, I would answer, “No place but here.” And I would be smiling, beaming with pride that I’ve managed to make it this far.
Lots of love!
XOXO
Obama’s already bombing my country…right where Bush left off. Wonderful.
So I finally made my hoop and I’m all crazy about it! I even have bruises to prove it..
I’ve been searching for tuts and came across this page: safiredance.ning.com/
it might be good…
Have a good one!
I am so ONNN those platforms!
I’m surprised they have my size!
Oh, the joy of fiece shoes.
@Alison Charm
hey there girlie! I love your answer, I’m actually in the position you were a few years ago, ironically, longing to live in Chicago so so MUCH! In fact right now on my blog I just did a post on my project of saving to go there this summer. And I’m actually starting a zine, hopefully published and up in my etsy by this weekend… I’d love for you to write a story about your experience, as the theme is all about the love a girl feel’s in a big city and the desire she has to get there… Do you think you could do that for me? Just a quick little something, perhaps by tomorrow? I know its SHORT NOTICE, but if you’re interested I’d LOVE to hear from you.
You can click on my name below the comment for my blog, or my email is drseussfanatic(at)yahoo(dot)com.
Gala, think you could put us in conflict? (*cough* youcoulddoaninterview about newyorktoo?)
xoxo
Sprinkle
Char: yes! message me so we can exchange info.
www.myspace.com/dayenah
fantastically fabulous carousel as usual!
I can definately relate to The Helsinki Complaints Choir as I am Finnih and was born and raised and still live in Helsinki :)
Hienoa työtä kuorolaiset vaikka en itsekään paljon valittamisesta välitä, mieluummin vaan tekoja ei sanoja, hienoa työtä Gala.
Hi Gala,
I just wanted to say one thing, remember your resolution to say “wicked” more in your daily life? Well living in Massachusetts I say this a lot and I wanted to let you know perhap you could have said “These shoes are <i>wicked</i> cute.” instead of “mad cute.”
It just occured to me as I was reading…have a lovely day!
Cara
Gala, I want those Siren shoes. I want them now. NOW. Does anyone want to buy me an early birthday present? I just got fired and I can’t afford them :( Boo!
Thanks for blogging our project! Be sure to check out more cities @ fiftypeopleonequestion.com – Mexico City coming soon.