Real Street Style....by pemora + Peter Pabon

If you are close enough to me to see my feedly account (RIP Google Reader), you know that I am pretty obsessed with fashion blogs and pictures. I always love when sites feature a 'Street Style' segment because I love the idea of seeing what real people wear. Except....

...increasingly, those 'Street Style' segments pretty much only feature models and stylists and designers. And they are all pretty thin and pretty white (sometimes Asian women make the cut. Sometimes). But this idea of "real people" is simply that. An idea.

I have very long winded email dialogues with my loved ones and one of those, Peter Pabon, has been the recipient of my rant. Fortunately for me, he is a super talented photographer and happily fed my interest in seeing REAL people and their style.

If you all (all 3 of you) would like, I would love to make this into a semi-regular thing. So please send me some pics or find me on twitter of #realstreetstyle. Let's take back our fashion.

More pics after the jump

On Washington Heights...by pemora

So I didn't catch the 1st episode of Washington Heights because I was really worried that this was going to be Jersey Shore-esque, with a cast of Dominicans. And that terrified me. (because I'm Dominican and all)

(sidenote: my friend and I totally wanted to film a web series called 'Chocha Beach' in which 7 Puerto Ricans lived in an apartment on City Island and went to Orchard Beach every day. It was going to be hilarious and crazy and epic. I can be hypocritical, you know)

Something told me to catch the 2nd episode and I am so glad I did. I found this group of young people to be complex and hopeful and earnest and interesting. I liked how complicated their relationships were and how vulnerable they were in front of the camera. This wasn't about GTL or neatly wrapped storylines....this was about a group of young people hustling in NYC. And then this happened...

yes, that is me in the red hat. Don't make fun. I don't do fashionable weekends...

Frankie was incredibly kind and funny. How could I not love the show?

(another sidenote: you have to eat at Bronx Ale House. You know, the next time you visit the Bronx)

AND THEN? I saw this video. And I cannot stop playing this song...I promise that it will be one of THE songs this summer.

YOLO by The Lonely Island [video]

I once stated that Electric Zoo was the great Generational Divide but now I am convinced that YOLO is. No one my age says YOLO. Not a one person. You know why? Because life is effing long and it involves bills, stretch marks, Spanx and undereye concealer. So, kiddies, take your YOLO and shove it. Not that I'm bitter about getting old or anything.

Check out this new video by The Lonely Island feat. Adam 'Baby Daddy #2' Levine and Kendrick Lamar. Ha, in yo' face, YOLO!

A$AP Rocky covers Gnarls Barkley

 I am still waiting on the verdict about A$AP Rocky but I can tell you that I freaking love(d) Gnarls Barkley. Can they come out with a 3rd album? Please?

What do you think of the cover of 'Who's Gonna Save My Soul'?



Also, just had to add the acoustic version of 'Transformer' to this because it was SO FREAKING AWESOME when I saw them do it live in Central Park. Happy Sunday, y'all.

Most Played in 2012

This is one of my favorite posts to put together. I love seeing what others listened to the most over the year. What about you? What did you listen to the most in 2012?

Gal A Bubble [Konshens] - KevFrumBK
Pure Imagination [Glee version] - MissDTM
Call Me Maybe [Carly Rae Jepsen] - runbprun
Caliban's Dream [Underworld] - johntyodonty
Butterflies [Michael Jackson] - pemora
Even Shadows Have Shadows [Eyedea] - BB
Cherry Wine [Nas f. Amy Winehouse] - jayare20k
La Cura [Frankie Ruiz] - Paj1
Daughters [Nas] - RB
Make it Bun Dem [Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley + Skrillex] - AG_III
Only Wanna Give It To You [J. Cole + Elle Varner] - IMTHATDUDE

DJANGO UNCHAINED [review]...by jayare20k

I just returned from seeing the latest Quentin Tarantino flick, "Django Unchained" and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.  The movie is both ambitious and lackadaisical... but very Tarantino.  In my opinion the most compelling part of Django is the purpose of the movie itself.

Now... no one will ever confuse Django with the best work QT has on his resume.  Personally, I am a Stan for Reservoir Dogs, the screenplay for True Romance, and the finger chopping vignette from 4 Rooms.  Many people become moony eyed recalling their favorite scenes from Pulp Fiction... but those people are wrong, and should shut their stupid face.  Pulp Fiction was overrated.  There, I said it.

Spoiler time.

Django Unchained is a heartwarming revenge film about a freed slave and a bounty hunter (Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz ) on a mission to rescue the wife of the former from bondage.  Along the way we get to see Jonah Hill and Samuel L. Jackson explode, as well as Don Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio get shot.  If you've ever sat through all eleven hours of Titanic then you will enjoy that scene terribly.

If my analysis of Django is coming off as glib, please know that this is intentional.  I’m only aping the undertone of whimsy I detected in Tarantino's examination of slavery in 19th century America.  I expect that a lot of the racial animus being spewed at Tarantino (I see you, Spike Lee) surrounds his handling of slave rapes, beatings, and mutilations.  Or maybe it’s the old trope of a white man acting as a catalyst for the black man's salvation that has people fired up.  Perhaps it’s the liberal use of the n-bomb in this film (waaaay too many times to count).  Despite those reasonable qualms, I think the problem with this movie lies someplace else.

In an opinion voiced by a homie on twitter (shout out to @metroadlib), the problem with Django Unchained is that the subject of slavery is handled with a light touch.  The wacky Klansmen, the valet costume, and the bizarre appearance of a Rick Ross verse all play very comically in a film that seems like it should be serious.  Slavery is America’s "original sin," and it’s the second most malignant tumor in our collective history (if you need to ask which ranks #1, a pox on your house).  This topic shouldn't be taken lightly in ANY WAY.  Or should it... ?

I think Django Unchained should be viewed as an analysis of a privileged, white male in America facing his own sense of race.  Quentin Tarantino is coming to terms with his prejudices, and doing so very publicly.

Speaking as a member of "the other," isn't the dominant culture dealing with its own misdeeds something we want them to be doing?  That you or I don't particularly like how QT is battling those demons isn't really the issue.  It was our ancestor's skin, but those are HIS demons.

I believe we should want the dominant culture to be meta-cognitive.   We should want them to look at themselves and own their past.  If the only way one can cope with the awful things that constitute your reality is to make light of them... then fine.  Make light.  That’s what our imaginations are there for.  According to John Guarre and, oddly enough, Will Smith it’s the examination facilitated by imagination that counts.  Self-analysis calls for counter argument.  It calls for course correction.  It calls for thoughtful expressions of praise or indignation.

I’m no film student, but isn't provoking thought the point of art?  If so, then I believe "Django Unchained" accomplished the goal of its controversial creator.  The film itself is mediocre, but the conversation it can spawn has meaning.

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In order to protect his prospects for employment jayare20k's old blog has been taken down.  To follow his "safe for work" adventures in 2013 visit the blog OCCUPIED TERRITORY.

Merry Christmas To You!

Mimi + The Roots + Fallon + Cute kids = Merry Christmas, yo!