South London photographer D.Wiafe has a knack for turning everyday scenes of urban life, into vivid stills that are almost cinematic in nature. D.Wiafe’s endearingly gripping photo series of British youth culture, such as ‘Borough Kids,’ show a tough yet endearing side of what it means to be young and British.

When he’s not shooting, D.Wiafe is a resident lecturer at Coventry University, and founder of the artist-teacher scheme ‘Our World Untitled.’ Inspired, we sat down with him for a bit, and got the info on his camera of choice, and more:

What have you been up to lately on the photography front?
Completing a series entitled ‘Girl Story’; a new piece of work that explores girl culture in the electronic age. I’ve also been mentoring and helping develop the next generation of photographers.

How would you describe your style?
I wouldn’t. My photographs have their signature qualities, but ultimately they’re a visual extension of myself: my thoughts, my interpretations.

Who would you love to shoot that you haven’t already and why?
Perhaps Sia, for her eccentricities as an artist and the intimacy of the narratives in her songwriting. I’d also like to explore, at some point, the gap between the traditional and modernity in contemporary Japanese youth culture.

What’s the worst experience you’ve had on a shoot, or trying to get a shoot with someone?
There have been clichés, such as being stood up on shoots or being asked to shoot a grime artist with their jeans hanging off their bums. The worst experience was a shoot with Kidulthood’s Noel Clarke. For aesthetic reasons, I had to replace the biography of Barack Obama he was reading with a Rudyard Kipling hardback. We didn’t realize that it had a Swastika on the front cover. When I gave the book to Noel, he had this look on his face, like “what’s this racist business?” It was then I looked at the front cover and noticed the symbol. It’s likely the symbol was published in its non-Nazi context... but valuable lessons were learned that day.

What is the make and model of your favorite camera and why?
My first camera, the Mamiya RB67. It’s an old model Mamiya that’s almost a relic now. I grew with this camera, came to understand my process and the play of light through it. This history has made it important to me.

How much did you spend on it?
I brought it on eBay years ago from a wedding photographer who was turning digital for £700. It hurt my pockets at the time, but has since been a worthwhile investment.

You mentioned that it’s your most reliable camera…how so?
It’s been dropped, survived British rainfall and yet works perfectly, and is still the camera I prefer to shoot my personal work on.

Does it take better shots than other cameras?
Not necessarily. There are more advanced Mamiya models and Hasselblad kits that technically give you more range in terms of aperture and lenses. For me it’s a love affair with its ability to endure and the amount of detail from light it translates to film.

What’s the best feature on the camera?
When it pops out of the camera bag, people take you seriously instead of mistaking you for a kid who just passed his Photography A-Level.

How many of them have you owned?
Thankfully, only one, though I can’t say the same about the film backs.

Can you show us your favorite shot that has been taken with that camera, and tell us why you like it?
One of them would be ‘Away From,’ from the Borough Kids series. It was one of those moments where you catch that perfect marriage between your personal vision, the sitter’s emotional depths and the camera’s ability to capture the detail in the scene and commit the lighting set-up to film.

What’s the worst camera that you’ve ever used and why?
The same Mamiya RB67. It can also be a temperamental piece of equipment if you don’t treat it with care. It’s a love/hate relationship.

~Donald Crunk @ Styleslut

All photo by D.Wiafe

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 12:46 PM | Permalink

The symbiotic relationship between fashion and rock 'n' roll dates back to the beginning of time-- or at least far back enough for people to care about who wore what onstage. In this era of New Media it's only natural then that small bands (up and coming) are getting boosts from some of the biggest names in apparel industry. Whether these clothing brands function as actual record labels complete with licensing deals, in-house radio stations or user driven-contests, the success of these collaborations is undeniable. Not only is it proof that commercial sensation can be found without a major label contract, it also means that you're likely to discover the hottest underground acts while browsing the racks. Now that's time well spent.

UK-based denim pioneers Lee Cooper, having just celebrated their 100th anniversary and availability in 70 countries, have been outfitting musicians since the beat generation. Clothing everyone from Mods on Carnaby Street to Serge Gainsbourg and friends in Paris, they just obtained the golden licensing ticket. Over the next 3 years the company -- along with Apple Records -- will release exclusive Beatles-memorabilia-themed T-shirts and accessories. Therefore the decision to hold an international music competition and release the winning band's album in-store was inevitable. Called 'Morris is Pleased to Release Your Band' in ode to founder Morris Cooper, this year's winners were none other than infectious Parisian garage outfit Brooklyn. Their Volcanology EP was released amongst a fashion media blitzkrieg and sponsored tour. As a result, the band reached a much wider audience, and was picked up by Control Alt Delete Records for their full-length debut Clandestine.

Levity Records is based in Australia and is the brainchild of Levi Strauss. Rather than acting as a corporate megalith as one might fear, Levity operates strictly as an artist development label. Founded in 2007, they pick up the tab for production, marketing and promotion of a featured band's EP -- even bankrolling the music videos. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that all recording rights return to the artist after 6 months. It's been a success story from the start -- our fave Kiwi contortionists Cut Off Your Hands were the first band to sign, and have since picked up exponential momentum on an international scale. The proof? COYH's full-length debut album is being released this January on Les Savy Fav's indie label French Kiss Records. As for Levity, they forged ahead by adding Mercy Arms and WOW to the roster. Keep an eye out for their latest offering, John Steel Singers, in 2009.

Viva Radio is an online station broadcasting hour-long live episodes featuring up-and-coming indie bands alongside obscure classic gems. As a guerilla radio website in a color scheme of black, white and pink, each episode is curated by contributors who in turn divulge their guilty pleasures and listening habits. Each host has a theme, be it 'Gay Beach Hits' or 'Burger Time,' which is actually hosted by wunderkind DJ and T-shirt designer Max Wowch. What does T-shirt design have to do with radio broadcast? In this case, everything: Viva Radio is underwritten by American Apparel. Click on the 'Viva Radio' online shop and you are redirected to the retailer's site to browse the CD and vinyl offerings-– and T-shirts. The station has recently added exclusive in-studio performances by such acts such as Jay Reatard and Friendly Fires. The stores then get exclusive soundtracks for the AA shopping experience. If you're inclined, drop them a line. They take submissions!

Urban Outfitters has always worn new music on its sleeve. One of the first retail chains to display the CDs in current rotation behind its counters, it was only natural they dipped their toe in the music biz. They just started releasing online mix tapes available for download for free on their website -- and unlike iTunes, these mp3s are meant for sharing. Also this fall, UO reached out to their #1 artist of the year, French act M83, to team up for concert promotion giveaways in each town on his North American tour. Users simply embed a tour widget within their social networking profiles (MySpace, Facebook etc) and email the direct link displaying the feature as a contest entry. Local winners for each stop on M83's tour receive concert tickets and a gift certificate to the store. The PR boost was a complete success, as evident by the sold-out shows and The Killers’ tapping of M83 to open on their January and February tour.

Perhaps the loudest advocate for non-traditional marketing strategies featuring up-and-coming bands stems from Diesel. After 8 successful years, Diesel:U:Music has wisely adopted the catchphrase 'Everything About Music Is Changing', urging people to un-sign-up from its previous incarnation and stay tuned for the next one. Recognizing that studio-quality music can easily be made in the bedroom and distributed via social networking sites, they have decided to go a different road and let fans tell 'em who’s making the best music. While D:U:M once consisted of an annual contest with a resulting tour, now there are no more competitions. Planning to relaunch the project as a mega-site with user-driven content, Diesel hopes to provide an online community support network for discovering and sustaining breaking artists. Meanwhile, all music-related items may be found on the Diesel:U:Music Radio page, where they promote such acts as Mon Pallas and Lesser Panda. Be sure to check out the footage from their 30th Birthday xXx Party, which took place in 17 countries over a 24-hour period. Diesel might be in development for their next phase in the music business, but they are undoubtedly still rocking the boat of what's cool. Who else could get Hot Chip to play as a backing band for Chaka Khan?

~Abbey Braden

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 04:21 PM | Permalink

Get out your black lace hankies: The award-winning, Scorsese-endorsed Italian film Gomorra has been released in the US. Director Matteo Garrone’s portrayal of the infamous Napolitano criminal gang Camorra is due for wide release in January, but due to respectable aims for certain Academy Awards, its limited release has been pushed to this year. Most would chalk this up to Garrone’s hunger for more cinematographic recognition or future fame and wealth, but Gomorra is no ordinary audience-pleasing flick. It consciously deters itself away from the glamour of its predecessors, and shoots to create a worldwide understanding and awareness of Napoli and its surrounding areas’ drastic, seemingly irreversible crime problems.

The plight of the people of Naples goes back many years, and they have been under the rule of ‘the system’ for just as long as those in other parts of Italy who live under the watchful eye of the Cosa Nostra and the Ndrangheta. The dispersal of its many cells and fractions has been compared to the tentacles of an octopus spreading throughout all levels of society, leaving nothing untouched and everything under the influence of their unruly, unpredictable yet culturally adaptable authority.

Where the Cosa Nostra and Ndrangheta forged quite public roots in the US -- spurring movies like Goodfellas and The Godfather Trilogy -- the Camorra preferred to keep their influence a little more low-profile. That is until the early part of this century, when their influence on the local economy, politics and public welfare sparked young journalist Roberto Shavian to write a book that exposed the experiences of his fellow citizens, some of whom grew up in Scampia, an area entirely run by the Camorra. When published, the book (titled “Gomorra -- Viaggio nell’impero economico e nel sogno di dominio della camorra”) was an instant success.

The movie, although based on the book, concentrates more on the lower levels of the Camorra Saviano covered. It focuses on the effects the Camorra has on the area’s youth and its slightly dodgy waste disposal business.

Gomorra is certainly hard-hitting, and its popularity will ultimately raise awareness of the problems faced by many Italians, yet it still only scrapes at the surface of Saviano’s book and the problems Camorra creates. The movie is heralded universally as a crime thriller or a gritty gangland flick, and many will go to the movies for this fact rather than the messages it carries. After all, the millions around the world who have a Scarface or Goodfellas poster above their beds, do not do so because they were disgusted by the brutality on the screen, but because the bearer looks up to them, wants to be like them, will act like them, rap about them and play games featuring them.

This was never more apparent than when Gorrane admitted he never had any trouble from the Camorra; in fact, they liked the film, and the thought of being portrayed on the big screen is somewhat more glamorous to them than being condoned in a book. While Gorrane waltzes around on the red carpet, Saviano will continue to cower behind his bodyguards, wondering when he will next be able to, in his own words, “take a walk, get some sun, walk in the rain and meet my mother without scaring her and being afraid.”

~Kevin Soar

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 04:54 PM | Permalink

With the rise of the blog as the go-to medium for immediate dissemination of information on any subject from new music to vegan cookery, it’s easy to forget that not long ago, small, cheap nuggets of homemade information exchanged hands in physical form. Possession was frequently obtained via paper networks and represented an autonomous opportunity to air views and exchange knowledge. The ‘zine was synonymous with the rise of the DIY ethic and aesthetic of punk in the late 1970s, and its rough-and-ready, cut-and-paste, black-and-white form defined the movement. The bespoke manifestation of time, the care and concern enough to put pen to paper, the finger to key and stick and sellotape, is still used by many to put their ideas out into the world.

Tony Gunnarsson is a Swede who lives in Hackney, East London and maintains the invaluable blog PunkIsHippies blog. It archives both classic and contemporary punk ‘zines and offers a unique interface between printed artifacts and the technology that now allows a wealth of information to be exchanged.

psychoPEDIA raided Tony’s mind for some gems of knowledge on how his collection started, the ideas behind his site and the future of the fanzine:

How many years have you been collecting?
I have been aware of fanzines since I was at school, from the age of 10 or 11, which was around the same time that I discovered punk music. Since starting PIH I have started to collect ‘zines with more of an intention to make them available online. Many of the ‘zines on the site were purchased at an auction last year where I got 30-40 old, mainly UK fanzines which set me back more than could be deemed acceptable from my partner's point of view! I used to own quite a lot of ‘zines from when I was making them myself and tape trading as a teenager, but sadly my poor mum decided that she'd clear up some of my stuff laying around in her house in Sweden, and they all got recycled. Imagine how pissed off I was.

What originally attracted you to the 'zine format?
I think the initial attraction had to do with it simply being different. ‘Zines belong to a sphere removed from one's parents. Obviously the do-it-yourself aspect was a definite attraction before I had even heard the term or fully understood what it meant. When I was a kid, fanzines were much less about serious music journalism, 'punk constructs' or politics. Put simply, you did not even have to be able to spell to be a fanzine editor. Hands-on layout using marker pens, newspapers, scissors and glue represented a total sense of freedom.

How did you first come into contact with ‘zines?
There was a traveling museum exhibition in my hometown, called "To Be Do." It was about the rise of separate youth cultures and sub-cultures in the decades after the Second World War. The exhibition had this hangout area with a turntable and a bunch of singles that you were allowed to play and there were tons of punk fanzines. Where the curators got hold of these I have no idea. Obviously we stole all we could from that exhibition, and went on to reinvent ourselves based on what we'd nicked.

Why do you think the 'zine has been so synonymous with punk?
It is absolutely the DIY aesthetic of self-publishing, but also fanzines had a significant historical role to play in the development of the punk scene. Punk was an underground subculture, and if you wanted to hear about some band or record, then you could only find out about it from underground fanzines. Bands and fanzines feed off each other. There is also this 'other' fanzine culture: with graffiti artists making little art zines through to serial killer fanzines (Peter Sotos' Pure for example), fringe group political fanzines (neo-Nazis like Combat 18 as well as far left groups and animal liberation groups use fanzines as part of networks) and so on. During the rise of the counterculture in the US from the 1950s there were literature fanzines, or 'small magazines'. These were the breeding ground for avant-garde literature with authors like William S. Burroughs, who published lots of his stuff first in 'small magazines' before going on to revise texts for novels. I am speculating here, but musically punk inherited a lot of that scene, so it follows that the first punk ‘zines could have come from this era and geography.

What originally gave you the idea of archiving 'zines on a blog?
I was using KillFromTheHeart.com a lot, which is a really good punk and reference site. Having observed that there were some scanned fanzines already circulating on P2P networks, I started thinking about making a website that would do what KFTH does for bands and records but for ‘zines.

Has the Internet changed the nature of the 'zine?
Yes, in some ways absolutely. The Internet works to discourage people from making fanzines, as people turn to making online ‘zines or increasingly blogging. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. The bottom line is that the vast majority of fanzines get read by so few people, the internet could easily be used to significantly increase readership per ‘zine.

~James Knight

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 08:31 PM | Permalink

We Psychopedians want to thank our readers for checking us out in 2008 - and we look forward to bringing you exciting things in '09!

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 06:59 PM | Permalink

When your acting training is a life of crime since the age of 12 ending in almost five years in jail -- then going on your first audition at age 35 -- it’s either a lot of luck, talent, or charisma that got you there. Such is the life of actor and director Brian Goodman. Sitting down with Goodman at Soho Natural, it’s clear that all these traits -- combined with his “fear of going back to the old life” -- led to his success.

That old life of petty crimes in South Boston that grew into serious offenses, drug and alcohol addiction, jail and then sobriety, are portrayed in Goodman’s directorial debut, What Doesn't Kill You, starring Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, and Amanda Peet.

The calling to be an actor kept Goodman going during his prison time. Once released in 1994 and on parole, he landed small speaking roles in Snitch, directed by Ted Demme, and In Dreams, directed by Neil Jordan, which, as luck would have it, were filming in Boston. He has gone on to act for films and television in Catch Me If You Can, Blow, Munich, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, "The Closer", "Lost", "CSI", and "Thieves". Nine years ago, Goodman picked up a yellow pad and began to write his story, eventually enlisting old friend and South Boston native Donnie Wahlberg to co-write and co-star. We found out more about his past and future:

Do you want to continue directing, or would you rather act?
To continue to work is my only hope. I’m told it will happen, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I have a passion for this stuff. About acting and directing: I’m going to give a thousand percent no matter what I’m doing. And hopefully that shows. I’m very grateful that I’m working. I don’t have a plan B so it has to work out.

You had offers over the years to get this film made with other actors, filming in Canada rather than South Boston, where the story actually took place. How did you know you could get it made in South Boston with great talent?
We got a good response about the script from the beginning. It’s all about instinct. I wanted the smell of the place to come through and not be distracted by style and camera angles, so you can pay attention to the dialogue. It’s an actor’s piece. Fortunately for me, they (Ruffalo and Hawke) made a dream come true.

What was it like directing your own story?
It was surreal, happy, sad, painful, therapeutic, healing, eye-opening. You think you’ve dealt with things. With one scene I couldn’t yell ‘Cut.’ I got to see things from other people’s point of view. But if you ever make your own story, you get very sick of yourself.

Soon after serving time you landed your first speaking role.
That was a sign that maybe there was something else I could do. Playing cops and criminals – it’s only a fine line acting. People say ‘You always play bad guys’ – I don’t see them as bad guys. I sometimes play the hero. I robbed drug dealers. I was surviving. I was never a scumbag.

Is there anything you miss about that world?
Yeah, you know, it’s kind of exciting. It’s a real adrenaline rush. One foot over the edge. It’s addictive and I was pretty good at it. The only time I got in trouble was when I lost my temper. So it was violence amongst other violent people. I was stabbed three times, shot four. It sounds dramatic, but it’s the nonsense that goes on in that world, and there was a lot of money to be made. I wasn’t a gangster. It filled the hole.

How does it compare to your life now in Hollywood?
Well they over-pay you in Hollywood. I don’t sit at home and think, ‘What am I missing?’ And I don’t fill that hole with money no more. It’s not like I want for anything. And my street sense helps me. That’s why I’ve been able to get through in Hollywood in a short period. Being able to read people. It saves me a lot of time. I only went out there with one hope, that I’m employable as a character actor. To be famous doesn’t interest me at all. I don’t get caught up in the Hollywood thing. I kinda live like I’m 70. I play golf in the morning. I keep busy. And I’m gonna take a little credit for being brighter and more observant than the next guy.

~Sara Costello

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 10:55 PM | Permalink

Last year saw the rise of brothers Toby and Finn Kidd. Along with their adopted sibling Dave Javu, the group, called Hatcham Social, has rotted across the UK and Europe playing an irresistibly catchy form of indie pop that tweeters precariously between twee and shoegaze, yet still manages to find a home headlining London’s premier punk venue the 100 Club, or supporting ‘90s Brit-pop legends The Charlatans.

The belief they hold in their uplifting pop ditties laughs in the face of all the depressingly dark or US-imitation bands London is churning out these days, and has garnered them a tidy little deal with US label TBD Records, who are responsible for releasing Radiohead's music across the 50 states.

The Hatcham Social guys have a well-publicized love of literature. Although hailing from London’s New Cross, their MySpace page states they are from The Island of Dr. Moreau (an H.G. Wells novel), their self-made gig flyers feature artwork in ode to children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, and they have recorded and frequently perform a superb rendition of the Lewis Carroll poem "The Jabberwocky."

But the group’s bookishness is down-to-earth: despite their press shots being more wistful than Morrissey reading Le Petit Prince whilst daydreaming of James Dean with a daisy in his pocket, their lyrics can be sung and followed at ease by audiences of all educational backgrounds. The key to a good pop song is empathy, and Hatcham Social carries a library full of it. Their record artwork is reminiscent of the favorite books you read as a child, and their songs are full of poetic jibbles and jabbles that eat away at you, tempting you to rewind once the track has finished.

This particular Christmas, glitz, glamour, and gadgets will have to give way for less expensive ones. To that end, what better gift than a book? So we requested that Toby Kidd, lead singer of Hatcham Social, recommend his ultimate Christmas book list, below:

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Probably the best children’s book ever. Where The Wild Things Are follows the adventures of a boy named Max who is put to bed without dinner as punishment for mischief. He travels via his dreams to a world with creatures and monsters. Only ten sentences long. The perfect children’s Christmas present. Also due to be released as a film (sigh) in 2009. Note: Max has a great wolf suit that I want, if anyone is stuck for Christmas presents for me.

The Trial by Franz Kafka
Everyone knows this one, but if you have a member of the family who has not read it, they should have it. Simple as that. Pretty much my favorite book. Paranoid and surreal, perfect for reading after a huge Christmas dinner.

The Twits by Roald Dahl
Probably Britain’s greatest children’s author. The Twits tells the tale of a couple that live in a house with no windows so no one can look in. They are evil, horrible people who play nasty tricks on each other. I had this on a story tape as a young boy and it’s amazing. Perfect pre-bedtime Dahl.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne
You may know this story from the film, but as with every adaptation, it’s better in book form. Early science fiction in the best possible way. It uses ideas that seem impossible for the time, and weaves a story and world of wonder that could only have existed in the eyes of Jules Verne in the 1870s. He was a very forward-thinking writer that foresaw many future inventions.

Rip It Up and Start Again by Simon Reynolds
For anyone interested in music. This is written in a huge amount of depth. It’s about the post-punk movements that have shaped so much we take as ‘everyday’ now in music. Easy to read and covers everything from no-wave to the Sheffield electronic-pop scene.

And for the perfect toilet book, my friend Helena from Silhouette tells me everyone should have The Book of General Ignorance, lots of facts that will knock you flat (apparently).

- Kevin Soar

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 10:57 AM | Permalink

When Dante Gonzalez enters a new space, his gaze sweeps the room. With a sparkle in his eyes he will answer, "I'm just wondering how many people I could fry chicken in here for."

Yes, you heard him right: chicken. Gonzalez, a seasoned video editor, years ago abandoned the daily grind to pursue his true passion -- the art of the 'cook-up.' Inspired by his grandmother Jean's family gatherings over soul food every Sunday after church, he has taken the legacy of his family recipes to new dimensions. Jean's original 5 top secret ingredients in her Sock-It-To-Me Fried Chicken recipe have now swollen to 27 items.

Dante started his own tradition of guerilla dinner parties in NYC called KFC R.I.P. A former 'veg-head' himself, there are always vegetarian equivalents for each entree. Other twists on classics include his Pumpkin Grits, Gumbo Mafango Tamales, Drunken 'Wino' Rice, Tomatillo Collard Greens, Ginger and Corn Okra, and at least 14 show-stopping renditions of Mac 'n' Cheese.

Gonzalez recently completed the inaugural season of the "Dante Fried Chicken Show." He champions guest artists of all genres (think Bunny Rabbit, Betty Black, Yo Majesty, and Brooklyn electro icons Newcleus) who are invited to prepare family recipes in this subterranean variety format, with an epic wrap party featuring live performances by the talent. The live footage is then incorporated into the episode, resulting in a multimedia speakeasy cabaret happening.

His client list: Adidas, Russell Simmons, Modular Records, Diesel and Bacardi will all vouch for him. Spreading the good word of the cook-up now has him circling the globe and leaving legions of converts in his wake. But at the end of the day, it's all about the food, so who better than to shed light on home cooking for holiday entertaining?

We've seen you cook for parties of 2 through 80... and therefore thought you might be able to give us some tips for people stressing over entertaining during the holiday season. What's your secret weapon for preparing a feast for large groups?
Friends! Utilize all your friends-- the ones who can cook or are at least very interested, clean as you go, you can have a dedicated person to do that. Cleaning as you go makes your preparing more organized process, and speeds the process up. Oh and less dishes at the end of the night, which can suck!

For the holidays, do you ever cook turkey or are you strictly about chicken?
I cook both... as well as sticky coconut ham, ginger pot roast, gumbo tamales, cajun deep-fried turkey, and of course most of these things have a veggie alternative!

Got any fave KFC RIP dishes for this season? A special Mac-n-Cheese perhaps?
Are you talking about the Rosemary Coconut Mac-n-Cheese? That seems to be the favorite of many, including Santogold!

What do you do when people show up early and you're still in the kitchen?
Well what I noticed is that it doesn't matter if people show up early because eventually everyone ends up in the kitchen with me and the food. It gets to the point where I have to kindly ask people to leave and mingle in the common area.

If people are late, how do you keep stuff warm?
Either with conventional stove-top methods or chaffing dishes. You can purchase disposable ones as they can be expensive.

Any music recommendations to set the mood?
Wow, this really depends on your mood, while I'm in the kitchen it can be anything from Led Zeppelin to DJ Blaqstarr, but definitely a lot of old school jams that my parents listen to. As for the mood for the party, I will most likely play something downtempo.

What's the most polite way to let people know that you've run out of food?
Haha, well, I just have to man up and let them know the deal. I hate when that happens -- I want to feed everyone.

Your client roster is mind-boggling. What's the craziest request you've gotten yet?
I catered this private party where all the servers were naked.

Who's your dream guest?
Wow, dream guest is a very hard question, I’ve cooked with so many amazing people already, but here are a few: Grace Jones, Ms. Peachez, Obama, Assata Shakur, Prince, Jacque Fresco, TV on the Radio, Amy Winehouse.

You recently took the DFC show on the road throughout Europe (with B'more star on the rise Rye Rye). How receptive were, for example, Berliners to soul food? Come to think of it, wiener schnitzel has a sort of fried chicken crisp to it...
Yes, wiener schnitzel is very much a founder of the fried breaded meats! The EU has been extremely receptive to the food lifestyle culture movement, in fact I would personally say they are more conducive to it, meaning venues are made for DFC-style parties. It also helps that they are not just open to mainstream ideas, so a show like mine doesn’t have to hit them over the head -- they just get it.

What was it like to hit the road with Rye Rye?
Hard core girl, that's exactly what she is, I loved Rye even before we embarked on the EU trip together, she is one of the dopest, strongest, witty, intelligent, young Transatlantic African (black) women I am blessed of knowing and cooking with. She manages to have this air of vulnerability and diffidence to her, but don’t get that twisted -- she knows precisely who she is and the path she is going as an artist and person.

What's next for the Dante Fried Chicken show in 2009?
As for 2009 and DFC we will be doing a full launch of the online webisodes & new website. I will be doing a West Coast and Canada winter tour, talking with a few networks, and possibly working on a separate cooking show with a major network. 2009 is poised to be the next level for us!

~Abbey Braden


Fifth and sixth photos by Mel Cole
Seventh photo by That Kid Texas

Enjoy this special recipe by Gonzalez for your holiday entertaining:

Coconut Banana Grits
Ingredients:
11/2 cup coconut milk
11/2 cup pineapple juice
4 ripe bananas
dried coconut (sweeten or un-sweetened)
2ibs. grits (not quick cook) (polenta or yellow grits optional)
butter or olive oil
ginger root (optional)
sugar, maple syrup, honey, or alternative sweetener
2 whole fresh coconut for homemade milk (optional)
please note, if you make your own go to Coconut Connections

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Toast dried coconut in oven to golden brown or cajun reserve for later
3. Dice 2 bananas finely and a lil' ginger
4. Puree coconut milk, pineapple juice and 2 whole bananas
5. Bring mixture to a boil in a large pan, before turning the heat down to low
6. Keep stirring the grits or polenta with a wooden spoon to keep it smooth, add sugar or alternative sweetener to taste butter optional
7. Continue to simmer gently for 10-15 minutes (polenta 25 minutes), stirring often
8. in frying pan sauté diced banana's and ginger (optional) with butter or olive oil, till soft then add brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup. simmer stir with spatula
9. Pour grits into baking dish, then top sparsely with sauteed bananas and top generously with baked coconut.
SERVE IT UP!

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 06:15 PM | Permalink

The holiday season is, first and foremost, a time for giving. But, it’s also the time of year to get a little greedy: We caught up with some of our favorite psychoPEDIA contributors past to see what was topping their wish lists this year. In their own words:

Matthew Cerletty ,Artist:
Anything designed by Ettore Sottsass. Ideally, the Carlton bookcase he made with Memphis, a postmodern design group he founded in 1980. Though, I don't think you could have any other furniture in the room with that thing, so maybe I'd go with the Olivetti Valentine typerwriter-- David Bowie used one to type lyrics in the ‘70s, so, obviously it's inspiring.

Angela McCluskey, Musician:
At the top of my holiday wish list, let me see: the sound of the ocean, the sand in my shoes and the smile on my face when my husband remembers to get me those vintage YSL sunglasses to ward off the rays whilst lying on the beach in Jamaica, thinking how much I love it when it snows.

Koi Suwannagate, Fashion Designer, Koi:
1. On top of my Holiday wish list is Peter Beard's incredibly beautiful and limited-edition book, Collector's Edition, 965 Elephants. It's a true piece of art.
2. Also on top of my wish list is a Leica D-LUX 4 Digital Camera. Great lens and a perfect camera for taking pics in low light.

Judi Hoffman, Psychic:
1. TOP OF THE LIST: Perfect health and wealth and happiness...that about sums it up for ALL of us, right?
2. Being voted/considered/recognized as the world's most accurate psychic so I can help others and help myself as much as humanly/superhumanly possible.
3. Attracting and keeping even more new, true-blue, dear, FOR REAL, seriously close friendships in the bleak world that can be New York City's social life.

Christiane Hultquist, Fashion Designer, Christian Joy:
1. A horse sweater
2. Snow
3. Some elves to work for me when I'm asleep.

Comenius Roethlisberger, Artist:
1. My personal wish is that I can surf the wave, which I am on top of for a long, long time.
2. I wish that the financial crisis would hit the art market really hard, so we will see who survives, and why we survive. There is better art with the crisis. I love it.

Anna Sheffield, Jewelry Designer:
This year, I can't think of anything I want more than to pare down on the extraneous and focus on inventive gifting. I gave my mom and dad a gift certificate from Seedsavers--it's a seed purveyor for farmers (and urban gardeners) specializing in heirloom variety edibles. No doubt this is a gift given with my own selfish motives - we all love those luscious, misshapen heirloom tomatoes fresh off the vine! Highest on my personal list is a Cloak from Lindsey Thornburg-- the one made from a vintage Pendleton blanket will stave off the January chill. Beyond that, something a bit cultural and lasting like a MOMA membership or tickets to see Beirut at BAM in February would rule.

Joseph Quartana, Owner Seven New York:
1. All the damage of the Bush administration to be undone by Obama. 2. Someone to issue Bush an official incompetence award. 3. A stronger dollar.

Shuan McNatt, Model:
I really wish that in hard economic times we all remember what is important to us and that a new car or TV is not. I also wish that we remember to help those less fortunate and be kind to one another. On a more personal note I wish I could get a vacation or at least a few days off.

Rogan Gregory, Fashion Designer, Rogan and Loomstate:
Neuticles for my dog Chancho. Obama to recognize and nurture a new consciousness. Offshore winds and 6 foot faces. No flight delays.

Ethan Imboden, Founder Jimmy Jane:
This holiday, I'm hoping to get a fresh start for 2009 with a little help from my friends. Here's my 5-step plan–
1. Clear off my desk AND enjoy the companionship of a furry friend with a new paper shredder
2. Clean up my act with Matthew and Andrew's creations for Malin + Goetz
3. Keep my trim figure by inhaling (rather than consuming) my daily chocolate fix with Jimmyjane's own Cocoa + Fig EMBER Massage Candles
4. Look sharp in absolutely anything from Al and Taka at Number (N)ine
5. Accessorize liberally with gilt-y pleasures from Jules Kim of Bijules
Of course, if Santa's little helpers aren't reading psychoPEDIA, I'll just take matters into my own hands with this inconspicuous tote from fellow provocateur Philip Wood of CITIZEN-Citizen.

~Alisa Gould-Simon

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 09:17 PM | Permalink

How do we save L.A.?

Funny, the irony of it all-– residents feel proud of the ethnic diversity, idyllic weather and progressive politics that define their city-– but the international community sees it differently: a big cloud of smog, highways clogged with the very cars that are at the center of a lot of the economic and political issues reigning today.

Perhaps salvation will come by peddling. And to that end, nestled on a tiny block between LA’s community college and a no-man’s land of bodegas and asphalt, lives a burgeoning enclave of hipsters, eco-warriors and do-it-yourself bad-assery focused around the emergent bicycle culture of Los Angeles. Ground zero of this urban oasis is the Bicycle Kitchen-- a cooperative bicycle repair shop. James Singer is one of the Cooks who helps visitors fix and/or build the two-wheeled warrior of their dreams.

What do you credit with the rise of LA bike culture?
There are a lot of varied and complex factors that have led to bicycling becoming so popular in LA, but The Bicycle Kitchen has a big stake in the rise in urban cycling's popularity around Los Angeles. I know that places like The Bicycle Kitchen as well as the organized mass rides give people that opportunity to see each other and realize that there are a ton of us spread out over L.A. county -- and we ride. This gets more people on bikes more often feeling empowered through this kind of interaction.

What kind of person frequents the Kitchen?
There is this amazing Chinese woman who rolls into the Kitchen every few months to work on ancient rusted out Schwinn 3-speed. She usually is just getting back from the Farmer's Market and the basket of her Schwinn is always full of produce. The last time she came in, we re-cabled her brakes and fixed her saddle. She paid us with 3 giant Hershey Bars. The same night there was this couple in there. They were building a bike together for the girl. They had taken a 12-speed and made it into a 6-speed cruiser with moustache bars, a basket and fenders. There were some dudes on track bikes learning how to break a chain from some neighborhood BMX kids. In the back room there were guys working on Mountain Bike wheels. I went outside knowing that the people inside were there to work on their own bikes. Overall, Angelenos frequent the Kitchen. Our clients are as varied as Los Angeles itself. The one thing they hold in common is the desire to fix things themselves, which I see as empowering.

Since you began at the Kitchen, how has your part of Melrose changed?
I first came to the Kitchen as a volunteer when the doors first opened. Pure Luck was a Korean dive bar only open at night, the café was marginally open and besides that you had some art spaces and Pizza Paul's. The area was pretty dead overall. Soon though, the café became a bit more established and the most amazing thing ever happened- Tai opened Scoops, which was immediately adopted by the Cooks who he has systematically enslaved through his addictive gelatos. Soon, two Cooks took a space over to start Orange 20 [a bike shop]. Later Pure Luck closed and another Cook took that space to open a vegan pub referred to as UCK because of the current condition of the sign. Since then a few other non-bike-related places have opened, most interestingly to me is the Dharma Punx meditation space. So the block is having this amazing revival.

What new developments in the Bike District are you most excited about?
My favorite thing about the Bike District is seeing my friends branching out. The new Orange 20 is the real deal and every time I walk in there, it just blows me away. I love getting a beer in Pure Luck and seeing the people I have known and worked with for the past few years just chilling out having a beer. I love that there is a place in LA that I can go to where I am sure I will know someone and find something worth doing to do even if it is hanging out in a park drinking beer until the sun comes up. I am excited to see where it will go from here.

What other kind of business or hot spot would you like to see come to the Melrose Bike District?
I would like to see Heliotrope becoming a cul-de-sac right at Melrose. That is my dream. I would also like to see a public skate park where skateboarders and BMX riders could learn to love each other without the interference of people on rollerblades. Last, I think we should turn the driving range into a giant bouncy house. Golf is cool, but bouncy houses are better, and a bouncy house of that caliber has never been done. I am trying to talk to Jeff Koons about this but I lost his email address.

What could L.A. do to improve the bicycle culture even more throughout the city?
Infrastructure. L.A. has really weak bicycling and public transportation infrastructure. Riding down roads like Wilshire and Beverly is a joke. Even riding down Fletcher towards Ripple where the fancy bike trail starts is absolutely perilous. I think a lot more Angelenos would ride more often if they felt safe riding and I will be totally honest, I do not feel safe riding to the Kitchen from my house. It is about 12 miles and there are only two bike lanes. The rest of the way is a battle. I do not mind battling with cars but I know who wins when one hits me and that keeps me appropriately scared at all times. To move forward, L.A. needs to work very hard at creating adequate public transportation as well as solid cycling infrastructure. If L.A. had these things, I would never consider moving.

What's your favorite flavor at Scoops?
Chocolate Chile Aztec style.

~Allison Moon


Go There:
Bicycle Kitchen, 706 Heliotrope Ave, 323-NO-CARRO
Pure Luck, 707 N. Heliotrope, 323-660-5993
Scoops, 712 N Heliotrope, 323-906-2649
Orange 20, 4351 Melrose Ave, 323-MO-BIKES
Dharma Punx, 4300 Melrose Ave, 323-665-4300

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 07:12 PM | Permalink

As the well-known aphorism goes— two heads are better than one. And pixie-haired proprietors, Wendy and LaRae Kangas, of the new downtown boutique Duo are on a mission to prove it still rings true. Having honed their fashion curatorial skills at other popular New York boutiques, these Minnesota natives now have their own three-week-old store, nestled amongst some of the East Village’s best shopping destinations— neighbor to Fabulous Fanny's and Local Clothing. Stocking an impressive mix of rare hand-picked vintage, from Moschino to Dior, and up-and-coming independent designers, the new girls on the block also keep a solid focus on putting local lines in the limelight— utilizing New York and Los Angeles-based brands manufactured in the United States.

Joining the sisters for a first look at the store, psychoPEDIA chatted with the blonde beauties on their favorite American-made clothing and accessories lines and other dynamic duos:

Where did you get the name Duo?
L: Duo is for the modern and vintage mix. And then, of course, because of the two sisters, we’re also a duo. It’s a double duo!

What are some of the standout US-made lines you carry?
L: Our feature line is Keller. She makes things like a little shirt-dress, schoolboy blazers, skinny-strap racer back— layering pieces, with small details that make it special.
W: Her name is Kelly Clark, and she lives in Williamsburg. Her stuff is very simple, and it’s all produced in Midtown. She does shoes, as well.
L: She gets them produced in LA at a dance shoe-making factory, so they’re extremely comfortable and basically melt to your foot. Her motive behind everything is to be very simple and easy to wear, and that’s our aesthetic, too.

Any other unique apparel brands?
W: We carry an organic line, Velvet Leaf, by two sisters based out in LA. It’s the only line we have that’s not New York-based. They’re in their 20’s and are just starting out. We really want to help smaller lines that aren’t selling at the high department stores and other stores around here. They do fun pieces like a V-neck t-shirt with cut-outs on the sleeves and cutesy rompers. The line has a younger feel to it. We also carry an East Village designer who’s just finishing school at FIT— Sah Cavalcante. He does garments like dark, Victorian-inspired silk chiffon shawls.
L: His pieces are all handmade, so he does them personally.

What about locally-crafted accessories?
W: Our feature jewelry designer is Wendy Nichol, who lives in Park Slope. Her pieces are handmade out of her studio in Soho. She uses metals like sterling silver and 24k gold vermeil. A stylist recommended her to me, and since then, she has blown up and a few celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, and Amy Winehouse, have worn her pieces.
L: We also carry Anna Kula, who lives in the West Village. All of her hats are high quality wool and handmade at her in-home studio. We love her floppy wool berets, which are super soft.

Do you believe there’s a distinct difference between US and foreign-made garments?
W: Yes, in the fabrics and how pieces are sewn together.
L: And polyester— we won’t go there. Comfort-wise, the fit is a better, and natural fibers just feel better.

Are you two into the eco-conscious clothing movement?
L: We’re green friendly— with recycled and vintage garments— so we wanted to carry at least one organic line. It works, because it’s what we wear. And we didn’t want to have to stick to an era.
W: We have flannel shirts next to silk capes from the 1900s.

Being sisters in addition to co-workers, do you ever bump heads with the direction of the store?
W: We are very collaborative when picking out pieces, since we are so tight with each other.
L: We try on every single piece of our vintage. We’ll pop out of a fitting room, look at each other and say, “I just picked that out!” We’ll creep ourselves out a little bit.
W: Too much time together…

Since you guys are two-rific, who is your favorite superhero duo?
W: Batman and Robin.

Musical duo?
W: Johnny Cash and June Carter.
L: Adam Green and Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches— they’re a good description of us.
W: The Ying Yang Twins.
L: We have every album!

And last but not least, favorite designer duo?
W: We love YSL and his partner, but we’re more into the real people over the super high-end, although we love fashion and get a lot of inspiration from it.
L: Velvet Leaf—that’s a real duo in fashion now, and it’s inspiring because they’re doing it all themselves.

~Leann Peterson

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 07:46 PM | Permalink

Holiday high season is just around the bend, and more likely than not there are still quite a few unchecked boxes on your gift-giving list. With the economy in its current, especially sad state, justifying buying just any old thing won’t do. So, why not focus your efforts on independent designers? Thanks to the ever-evolving landscape of online retail, there are countless places to buy fantastic goods—from fashionable accessories and furniture, to artwork—at a fraction of the price you’d pay at a non-virtual boutique. And, one prime place to do so is Etsy, a site ideal in the sense that it puts the buyer directly in contact with numerous fledgling designers selling well-crafted, reasonably priced items. Here, we focus on five prospective giftees and offer a few possible present options for each. Still haven’t found what you’re looking for? Don’t worry. There’s plenty more where these came from.

Fashionista
Whether it’s your best friend, who is well versed in all of the latest designers and trends hitting the streets, or your sis, currently enrolled at one of the top fashion institutes, Etsy stocks plenty of especially stylish gifts, which would make any avid fashionista salivate. First off is Yokoo—the eye-catching knitwear line that’s already warranted heavy fashion blog attention. From over-sized, tightly knit mufflers, to loose-fitting neck warmers that double as hoods, the line is chock-full of covetable pieces. In addition to highly functional knits there are also chain necklaces, which look like the love child of Flavor Flav and a needle-wielding octogenarian. And the best part: most of the pieces are priced well under $100. Also winning high marks in the Etsy accessory department is a vintage-inspired jewelry line from Ingrid Dijkers. Her collection consists of subtly intricate eggshell-esque pendants that call to mind a Joseph Cornell shadow box. While the outside looks simply like a clay pendant, when flipped, the charm reveals an entire miniature world complete with a short poem and sculpture. Wearable art has never looked so fine.

Banker
Just because you’re in need of a gift for a finance guy doesn’t mean craftastic Etsy doesn’t have something in store for them as well. Take this fashion-forward Multi-use Laptop Case for instance. Far from ostentatious, the accessory suggests a strong air of sartorial savvy. And, while the price isn’t exactly easy on the wallet, the fact that the case is handcrafted in Italy and boasts a waterproof lining and shock absorbent inner layer should put your frugal self at ease. Don’t want to spend an arm and a leg? Check out this handsome Handcrafted Wood Clock. It’s totally unique and would seamlessly spice up an otherwise drab office desk.

Domestic
Be it your significant others’ mother, your favorite aunt, or just a friend who enjoys playing the role of homemaker, there are plenty of eye-catching home goods perfect for someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen. From Handprinted Cards, perfect for a thoughtful note (and especially refreshing in the digital age), to Vintage Recipe Cards that make jotting down ingredients that much more pleasurable, Etsy has a wide range of cheap, domestic-friendly gifts available. But, if you’re looking to cough up a little more dough for something truly special, check out Antonisse Ceramics. The latter, a line of beautifully handpainted dishware, includes everything from planters and mugs, to miniature bowls from which to procure the perfect salt pinch.

Art Lover
Buying art from an online retailer like Etsy may ignite fear in the hearts of seasoned art lovers. But that’s just their inner-snob talking. Etsy features a wide array of photographs and paintings well worth hanging on your wall. The key is to keep an open-mind. Take Lanae Photography’s simple landscapes, for instance. Small in size and potentially appealing to a wide range of art lovers, these black and white landscapes make for an ideal gift for someone of any age or background. Likewise a safe (and extremely nominally priced) bet for anyone from a Kindergarten art teacher, to a top MOMA curator, is this Light Switch featuring Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. An art seller with slightly more niche appeal is Berkley Illustration, which is responsible for a series of suited animal portraits that are truly irresistible. Our favorite: the sloth in a pinstripe suit.

Pet Lover
For certain people on your holiday shopping list, you know nothing comes between them and their cat or canine. And, for those individuals for whom the sun rises and sets with their pet, Etsy has plenty of animal-friendly gifts. First off, there’s the Custom Wood-Burned Pet Portrait, which may seem a bit bizarre at first. But, trust us, anyone with a serious pet-obsession would go gaga over this gesture. Also worth a gander: this tiny Recycled herringbone collar, which is perfect for small dogs and cats with eco-friendly owners. And then there’s this Customizable Leather Collar for larger dogs that’s significantly more stylish than anything you’ll find at Petco. Last, but not least, is this Skull and Crossbones Scarf, which doubles as a hat for small dogs. If this doesn’t put you in the holiday spirit, we don’t know what will.

~Alisa Gould-Simon

**Note: To make last minute shopping even easier for you, Etsy has put together a guide to all of its retailers willing to expedite your gifts here.

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 09:16 PM | Permalink

The working-class areas of Brooklyn -- Carroll Gardens and the surrounding Red Hook Docks and the Brooklyn Navy Yards -- provide inspiration for the new store Smith + Butler. The place stocks classic utility gear, home goods, apothecary products and vintage motorbikes. Think Brando riding his Triumph Thunderbird in On The Waterfront in a Longshoremen cap and Yukon wool cape coat, and you’ve got it.

The timing could not be more perfect to bring back the working man’s look: Army-Navy surplus, Woolrich, Levis, Red Wing, and Oxen Work Wear are thrown together with pieces from with A.P.C., Barbour, Filson, and Glory Denim. Smith + Butler offerings are about timeless pieces, built to last.

While co-owning the Montauk beach shop Tauk, and working as an interior designer, owner Marylynn Piotrowski, who lives in Carroll Gardens, started with the idea of basics that were once staples but becoming increasingly hard to find. “Items that aren’t going out of style. More people are moving to Brooklyn and I want to be the go-to hub here for quality with comfortable prices,” says Piotrowski, who also shows Motorcross photos by Erik Swain and portraits by Ben Watts at the store.

With an eye for bringing together furniture, clothes, books, and home goods like hard-to-find Transylvanian sheets (the latter are durable enough to throw over an old couch or make into a curtain) and now motorcycles, the vibe is that of nomadic biker with the sensibility of this charming Brooklyn neighborhood.

Being that she knows how to pick ‘em, we picked Piotrowski brain for her favorite local spots and gifts for your home and the holidays:

Bird (Women’s Apparel)
220 Smith St, Brooklyn (718) 797-3774
“Jen has a great selection and a good eye for women’s apparel and current designers.”

Yesterday's News (Antiques)
428 Court St, Brooklyn (917) 375-1361
“JP understands what I’m looking for, and the requests I have when working on design jobs.”

Smith and Vine (Wine)
268 Smith St, Brooklyn, (718) 243-2864
“Awesome wine and great prices, never a bad selection of wines.”

Staubitz Market
222 Court St (between Baltic St & Warren St), Brooklyn (718) 624-0014
“Local butcher, I love the service and traditional feel.”

Boat Bar (Dive Bar)
175 Smith St, Brooklyn, (718) 254-0607
“Great jukebox -- nothing special, which makes it just right.”

Bocca Lupo (Italian Wine Bar)
391 Henry Street, Brooklyn, (718) 243-2522
“My corner spot to unwind and gaze at the nice Cobble Hill streets.”

The Grocery (Restaurant)
288 Smith Street, Brooklyn (718) 596-3335
“Quaint local restaurant with great design...totally the essence of the neighborhood.”

Black Mountain (Wine Bar)
415 Union St, Brooklyn, (718)522-4340
“My favorite. Love the fireplace, love the decor, love the wine selection, love the fact it's off the beaten track. It takes someone to really be from the neighborhood to find this gem. Not to mention great food in small portions.”

Great Gift Ideas from Smith + Butler:

Dad
Barbour Hats, Scarves and Gloves
“Classic, never goes out of date and unbelievably affordable. Great for the whole family, actually.”

Boyfriend
Moscot Sunglasses, Filson Travel Bag
“Tradition is always key as well as Made in the USA for the ‘American’ boyfriend.”

Best Friend
Barbour Jacket, In God We Trust Jewelry
“Jewelry is local and I like to support great local artists.”

Shopping Smith + Butler on a recessionary budget:

Edison Bulbs, $15
“Makes a lamp look stunning without needing a shade, always an affordable decorative touch.”

Vintage flannels, $30 – 60
“Becoming highly collectible and there's always a fun story to where they are found. Some at Smith + Butler come from Jackson Hole, Philly and Oklahoma.”

Gloves, $20 - $100
“Because every year, one mitt or glove goes missing.”

~Sara Costello

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 09:59 PM | Permalink

By now, both the U.S. and international communities know about Proposition 8, the California legislation, passed on Election Day, which makes gay marriage illegal. After all the news coverage and huge rallies, though, there’s a lasting effect -- small rallies city-wide here in L.A., reminding us that this is a major U.S. event of 2008, possibly as much as the recession and presidential election, because of the human-rights angle and the irony of it all: On a day the country elected a black President, a groundbreaking move, a part of our country closed off both marriage and adoption rights for a large segment of the population. This has spurred a new culture of unrest in the City of Lights – small, frequent rallies are occurring all over town – some impromptu, some quiet, but most extremely heated. And fashion companies are getting in on it – Edun has made a T-shirt for guys that says OVERTURN PROP H8.

Latest iteration of the perpetual unrest hitting L.A.: an anti-Proposition 8 rally in front of the Mormon temple in Los Angeles. It was a small gathering, compared to a prior protest in Silver Lake that drew over 12,000. Protestors of all ethnicities, ages and genders, straight and gay, lined up along the edge of Santa Monica Boulevard in front of the temple. They waved sloganned signs: “WHEN DO I GET TO VOTE ON YOUR MARRIAGE?” “STR8S AGAINST 8.” Passing cars honked cacophonously in support. Journalists with large cameras paced behind the rows of protestors like caged tigers. Police officers stood sentry over the event.

A couple of men were gathered around a willowy fellow who had dark, close-cropped hair. He was holding a megaphone. He raised it to his lips. “A lot of Mormons voted against Prop 8. We need to respect the Mormons. It was the leaders of their church who got this bill passed. It wasn’t the blacks or the whites or the Latinos.” His voice had an Eastern European tinge. He paused. “What do we want?” he shouted. “Equal rights.” exclaimed the two nearby men. “When do we want it?” blared the megaphone. “Now!” shouted the small but enthusiastic crowd. That chant and others were repeated. The sun was brightly shining. This was the California we all thought we knew.

And then came the angry straight men. “Here come the Yes Men,” someone yelled. From the west came a handful of middle-aged, bearded and mostly overweight men. Each one wore a black or a blue sweatshirt. They stopped about twenty feet from the protest. Police officers hustled to get between these men and the main body of the rally. The bison-like men took their time to unroll their much larger, pre-printed signs. “HOMO SEX IS A SIN.” “ATTENTION SODOMITES: YOUR LIFESTYLE IS A GROSS ABOMINATION.” These men were the Street Preachers, a group that vehemently protests against gay rights, aka Yes Men (a person who voted yes to Prop 8).

Officers frantically made a human wall. A cup of coffee flew from the crowd and landed on a Yes Man’s sign. More insults and cheers were hurled across the policed border: “God hates Sodomites.” “Gay sex is a sin.” “Arrest gay thugs.” “Liberal women kill their babies.”

As I left, a man wearing a tutu and lace tights over jeans and a T-shirt was busy applying the finishing touches to his garish costume. Anti-Prop 8 slogans were sewn into his clothes. He looked up, tiara on head like the Statue of Liberty, and grinned.

~Josh Peterson

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 05:27 PM | Permalink

Moxie Dalston, creator of currently-London-based clothing line "I Love Boxie," never had intentions of starting her own fashion company. The traveling screenwriter was all about movie sets and lengthy scripts, until a rocky relationship helped her discover her talent for T-shirt making. Originally handed out to lucky "customers" for free, Moxie’s slogan-rich tees, which feature intriguing statements like ‘hey, you and I are going to have a love affair and it won’t work but somewhere in the middle, my god, we tried,’ have created an underground buzz for the clothing line in which, she says, “every T-shirt tells a story.”

Though she’s a London resident now, Moxie’s an L.A. girl by nature. Here, she talks to us about her label, and life in her hometown of Echo Park:

What inspired you to start your own label?
I fell in love with a T-shirt maker when I was 23. He documented our whole relationship on T-shirts. At first they were really loved up – prints of people kissing, lots of stars and hearts on nice pink tees. But, as our relationship started to crumble, the tees got really dark - black tees covered in prints of rats and nooses. When it was finally over, he made a T-shirt to say goodbye. From that moment on, I knew the power of the T-shirt.

Where did the idea for the slogans come from?
I broke up with someone else and I was supposed to be writing a book about a sham religion I co-founded called confusion-ism, but I wrote the whole thing about my ex instead. It was very cheesy and needy, so I had to flush the whole thing. I kept a few lines and printed them on tees. I started wearing them around town, because I needed to show people what had happened. The collection contained lines like ‘I loved him’, and ‘I need to remember how I forgot you.’ Strangers would come up and say ‘Wow, what the hell happened?’ or a lot of the time ‘Oh my god! That’s my story, too!’ And then, I started to think, actually, everyone should have a tee that tells a piece of their story – where they’ve been, what they’ve seen.

Why "I Love Boxie?"
‘Boxie’ was a neighborhood from one of my scripts. It’s the coolest place in the world that everyone’s trying to get to, but is always one step away. I sent the script off to LA last year, but I couldn’t let that word go.

What are the major differences between Echo Park and your current home, Brixton?
Not much. The best places you can ever live are those where you have no idea what’s going to happen next. I can safely say that about Echo Park and Brixton. They are both communities that are built on immigration and I love being in a world which is utterly its own in a big city.

Where’s the best place to pick up guys in Echo Park?
I think anywhere in America is a good place to pick up a guy. I am both appalled and thrilled by the dating culture, there. We don’t have that in London. It takes about 2 years for someone to ask you out, and finally when they do, you have to go out with them for another 2 years.

Do you have any stories that you could tell us about really bad pick-up lines/corny guys etc?
Years ago, when I was working on a movie set as a runner, I was staying in the hotel where all the actors lived. Everyone would go out every night and get really drunk. One night, an older married actor made a big pass at me. I avoided him for the rest of the night and eventually went home to bed. At about 5am, I woke up and realized that someone was spooning me. It was him! He’d crept into my room, in the depths of the night, and got into bed with me.

Damn. What did you do?
I did that thing where you pretend to stir and make loud yawning noises and eventually he got up and left. I stopped talking to him after that.

What part of Echo Park were you told to stay away from because it was too dangerous? Did you ever listen to the advice?
No, I never listen to that advice. It’s a conspiracy designed to make you not visit the interesting parts of town. Before I moved to Echo Park, I lived in West Hollywood, where every other shop sells cupcakes. Anything, even the minor threat of being mugged, is better than living like that. When I first moved to California, people would say ‘if your tire blows out on the freeway and you’re in Crenshaw - don’t stop, keep driving!’ And you’d be like ‘I can’t drive, you idiot, my tire’s blown out.’ I’ve never been wary of Echo Park, although a little bit further down, MacArthur Park feels like somewhere you shouldn’t take a midnight walk around.

~Donald Crunk @ Styleslut

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 05:12 PM | Permalink

The glow of summer sun is long gone. Winter skin has officially emerged -- and with it, this year, a mask of stress has been etched on the face. Sun exposure is greatly diminished, giving way to seasonal blues: weight gain, carbo craving, lethargy and sleep problems. There is a proposed cure, though: Light therapy, also known as Photo Therapy, is thought to alter the circadian rhythms and suppress the body’s natural release of melatonin. Together these cause biochemical changes in the brain that help reduce or control symptoms of seasonal mood disorders. LED light wavelengths have also been effective in treating acne, eczema, and psoriasis.

Cosmetic companies are now introducing LED light devices that mimic exact light frequencies used in office treatments to help improve skin texture, color and tone while diminishing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Dr. Perricone has come out with PerriconeMD Light Renewal Skin Rejuvenation Therapy ($335.00) and L’Oreal has one in the works. The newest one out, from Tanda, is called Tanda’s Regenerate Anti-Aging Light Therapy Treatment, and that's the one we decided to test.

In the past I’ve had success with prescription creams that reduce rosacea and stop the occasional outbreak of eczema -- which I tend to get after a few months in a dry overheated apartment -- but am a skeptic when it comes to over-the-counter creams or devices that promise to erase the signs of aging. The advice of my dermatologist, Dr Grace Pac, stay with me -- “use Neutrogena with an SPF” -- and perhaps some fillers for the age issue. But wisdom of the ages has taught me to be more willing and open – so I decided to give Tanda's a try.

With the red rays pressed against my face (I realized after a few days it doesn’t work any better with my face actually touching the plastic head), I began once a day. The system comes with a cleanser designed to enhance the light treatment and an anti-aging serum. The cleanser made my skin feel dry. Not a good sign, so I reverted back to my velvety winter milk cleanser by Suki. Once a day, as suggested after cleansing, I shined the Tanda on my face. The light is emitted in concentrated rays. Like an electric toothbrush, the device beeps to let you know how much time to stay on a particular area.

Because there is no cream to be slapped on, no pill to take and little effort required, I didn’t look for results – occasionally I even forgot to use it. Until, about a week later, a few people asked if I had been in the sun. Then I noticed some brightness to my face. This gave me incentive. I used the device consistently until the light began to fade. The Tanda turned on for a few seconds, then off. I recharged -- still no luck.

Frustrated, I went back to the less-immediate ways that require a bit of discipline to get vitality and glow back in my face: at least eight hours of sleep a night, lots of water, a mud mask from Alaska Glacial Mud Co, a yoga class at Kula -- and $275 back in my pocket.

~Sara Costello

Tanda Light Therapy, available exclusively at Sephora;
Tanda Skincare for more info

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 04:38 PM | Permalink

Fierce, straightforward and talented are all adjectives that describe Danielle Levitt. The LA-born and bred photographer has gained a sterling reputation in the art and fashion world for her exceptional eye and inimitable style. Having cut her photographic teeth at the likes of The New York Times Magazine, GQ and Rolling Stone, Levitt has stood, camera in hand, in front of some of the biggest names in entertainment and fashion. Yet her subject-of-choice is teenagers.

Levitt is fascinated by youths in contemporary America. Intrigued by the country’s ever-evolving cultural landscape, not to mention the increasing permeation of the Internet and celebrity culture, Levitt has in recent years focused her lens on the faces of a demographic seated somewhere between adolescence and innocence lost. The fruits of this photographic labor are encapsulated in a new tome, We Are Experienced, which launches on powerHouse Books tomorrow. We caught up with the effervescent blond fresh off a stint at Miami Art Basel to discuss tattoos, Hot Topic and photographing Malia and Sasha Obama:

What surprised you the most while shooting We Are Experienced?
Finding out that archetypes still exist today as they always have was really interesting. There are still jocks and fringe kids, but, at the same time, it’s a little different. There’s more intermingling, so archetypes have modified a bit.

You got your start in New York documenting street fashion. What did you think of the overall style of your subjects
They have Hot Topic in the mall now, so they can go and become alternative or cool a lot faster. You can buy more savvy street fashion much more easily. It’s also interesting… not that I’ve ever been that shy, that’s something that precedes me… but [through shooting street fashion] I learned to let down certain barriers. I’d have 3 seconds to get their attention. You’re a sales person; you have only a few first moments to gain their trust and continue.

What was your most formative experience as a teen?
I don’t know if this was the most formative, but one pivotal moment was when I got my hideous tattoo. I really wanted it because I understood by watching MTV that cool kids had tattoos. And, I got it and I hated it. There were times where I was more experimental, when I thought I was being adult. The tattoo was just after high school, before college, and I really was like, ‘I know who I am.’ And I totally didn’t. I remember thinking, ‘I’ve been so confused’ and I thought I had the answers. But I didn’t. I love the idea that I thought I did. And maybe these kids have all the answers, but I don’t know. That’s what I wanted to find out.

If you could relive your teenage years, what would you do differently?
I don’t feel like I was into music enough. But I’m making up for lost time now.

What are you listening to?
I’ve been doing a hybrid. I grew up with a lot of hip-hop. I mix my hip-hop with hipster-y type things… Cold War Kids and Black Kids. The Virgins. And you’ve gotta love pop music.

Are you excited to see two soon-to-be teens entering the White House?
I’m so excited for them. It’s a landmark situation. I am thrilled. Those kids seem to have really good heads on their shoulders; I welcome watching them grow up. And, please, I’d love to take pictures of their slumber parties.

Project-wise, what’s next?
I want to continue shooting more teenagers for my next book for sure. It’ll be different… but, how is a secret. I’ve got to have one secret in my life. I’d like to find new things to explore—to figure out what parts I really like, things to continue with, and how to modify.

What number one on your wish list this year?
I want Ed Templeton’s Teenage Smokers a bunch of Deborah Turbeville books, and Larry Sultan’s Pictures From Home that I lost a million years ago. I’ve got art books on the mind. And expensive, delicious shoes. Marni, YSL…

Are you comfortable with six-inch-plus stilettos?
Hell yeah.

Is there a secret to walking in them?
You just pretend it doesn’t hurt until you believe it. Fake it until you make it.

~Alisa Gould-Simon

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 09:51 PM | Permalink

The U.S. TV show "Dancing with the Stars" is popular, but not quite as popular as the UK version -- "Strictly Come Dancing." While the US voted in the recent life-changing elections, people across the UK clambered to their phones to vote for their favorite dancing duo. And as the people of Burma continued to protest for democracy and the women of Afghanistan fought for freedom of speech, Brits complained that their democratic rights had been quashed as one of the fan favorites was forced to quit the show. But, as the show rises in popularity on both sides of the ocean, a more underground, acceptable occurrence is bubbling in the dance world: Swing has recently been entering the social radars of many in Great Britain’s younger generation. Usually heavily attended by 30-50 year olds and playing 1940s swing and bop, these ‘40s ballroom revival nights have grown in numbers and are now substantially frequented by those swing cats in their 20s and 30s.

It may be due to the return to 1940s style, or perhaps to the nation’s re-discovery of Britain’s wartime spirit in the face of the recession -- either way, nights such as Lady Luck Club and The Suzi Q Supper Club are booming, and are just as popular as any neighboring indie or electro bash. As the stars of the screen doll themselves up to the max (including a frightening amount of time spent at tanning beds), and confess to losing weight due to the show, telly addicts young and old are flocking to book Latino and ballroom dancing lessons all over the Western world. What was first a healthy obsession with seeing half-rate celebrities fail at something and Beatles’ ex-wives lose legs, has now disturbingly grown into its own twisted religion. The viewers adore the celebrities who take part, sympathizing with their hard training, and glorifying them for picking up such a difficult sport so quickly. When the celebrities talk about wanting to stay on the show or how sad they are to leave, it’s reminiscent of the charity appeals you see movie and pop stars on -- just minus the death, famine and disease.

While the masses tan up and fall down in dancehalls, another re-birth is popping up in altogether more unusual places. A popular 1920s nightclub named ‘Prohibition,’ in London’s west end, has now moved to a secret location in the east, joining other 1920s nights where the Charleston is the dance of choice, including The Beautiful and the Damned. Prohibition plays on the financial woes of 1920s Depression-era America, where as the poor starved to death, the rich danced in glamorous ballrooms. Today’s Prohibition revelers are just as oblivious to their country’s financial woes, forking out a staggering 15 pounds ($30) to quench their thirst for ‘20s revivalism in a secret warehouse in one of the poorer parts of London’s east end.

Despite the cynical critique, flocking to the ballrooms at times of hardship has been a vital element to keeping up morale in recent history. Whether 1920s depression, World War II or the recession of 2008, there’s nothing that brings a large group of people together better than a big band, a shiny wooden floor, and the chance to get glammed up beyond your financial means and revel in a night of dance and fantasy.

~Kevin Soar

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 05:08 PM | Permalink

Folks across the world immediately equate L.A. -- and specifically the Hollywood area -- with glamorous velvet-rope nightlife, featuring glistening bars and clubs catering to socialites falling out of limos directly into posh, elegant settings. And that exists, for sure. But that’s not the only face of L.A. nightlife – there’s also a homier side. Enter the White Horse, a dive bar that’s in many ways the anti-L.A. – where the real locals hang out.

It’s impossible to talk about this gem of a Hollywood dive, without first mentioning its proprietor, Vicky, a Hungarian lady in her 50s who presides over each night’s festivities with dictatorial reign. She’s a no-nonsense bartendrix who will gladly lay out food and serve you drinks, but if you step out of line, she’ll toss you out into the street without warning. Sure, she’s an acquired taste, but you’ll instantly know upon entering whether you like her flavor or not.

Walking in on most nights, you’ll notice the main attraction of the White Horse: its utter emptiness -- not in a creepy alley downtown manner, but in a way that means your tuckus will always have a nice cushiony fabric keeping it comfortable. The lack of crowd also has the added benefit of allowing you to actually talk without shouting! This, as LA readers will know, is about as easy as finding a bar with a parking lot. (Note: The White Horse does not have parking, but the surrounding streets always seem to have spots.)

The atmosphere is reminiscent of your friend’s parents’ basement, only if they had the coolest basement in the world. A tube of red neon encircles the room, basking the bar in a great red ring of mirth. The ceiling and floor looks like what filmmakers in the ‘70s thought the future would look like. Two sets of couches book-end the room, but be warned, if there’s a “Reserved!” sign on them, don’t sit down unless you want to feel the bartendrix’s wrath. A pool table lies in the middle, usually open. And best of all, there’s a chess board available upon request for those who want to avoid actual conversation with strangers.

The walls are lined with old Polaroids, showcasing the various décors the bar has adopted over its 20-plus years. Over time it was a biker bar, a punk club, and a rocker bar with a stage for live music, until it ultimately settled into what it is now, whatever that is. The jukebox tells the winding tale of the establishment, housing an eclectic mix from Morrissey to Johnny Cash to your favorite band from the 90s to slow waltzes by Tom Waits. Basically, your quarters will revive your favorite radio station from high school, as long as you went through puberty in the 90s and didn’t have horrible taste.

And with that sales pitch out of the way, it’s time to bring up the seedy underside of the White Horse. Namely, the prices. While the atmosphere is divey, the rent’s not fooled by the decoration, meaning prices are what you’d pay in an average Hollywood bar: $5 a beer and $8 for mixed drinks – certainly not expensive, but definitely more than you expect at a local dive. The beer choice is average; they number in the single digits with no drafts on tap. Luckily, by my friend’s account at least, the bartendrix makes a stiff drink. Unfortunately, my friend is a known liar. That said, to compensate for that possibility, there are a number amount of free snacks scattered throughout the place – chips, pretzels, popcorn, candy, etc. – which brings us back to the bartendrix, Our Lady of the Bourbon.

Towards the end of the night, if you’re good enough and the crowds are of mediocre size, you’ll witness the spectacle that makes the White Horse great: a batch of microwaved frankfurters! If you hear the proclamation “Hot dogs are ready!”, head for the bar as quickly as possible.

Oh, and as an aside, the bar is conveniently attached to a Super 8 Motel, in case you meet a lovely person of the opposite, or same, sex you want to participate in dirty activities with. Just be forewarned, you won’t. I wasn’t kidding about the place being mostly empty.

~Rick Paulas


The White Horse Inn, 1532 N Western Ave. (323) 462-8088

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 05:26 PM | Permalink

“I was a kid that should’ve been born in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. I always came from a different mindset and have made the compromise with the contemporary world I come from into what I aspire to see,” explains Justin Giunta, the prolific multi-media artist— painter, interior and lighting designer, perhaps best known for his accessories line, Subversive Jewelry. With the surroundings of the tall, dark-haired designer as a testament to his distinct aesthetic— packing his Chelsea apartment with rare antique trinkets and décor— the designer is in fact, in a world (and time period) all his own.

His work, he says, “parallel[s] the dichotomy between a Baroque era of craftsmanship– where everything, as insignificant as the edge of a chair or piece of wood, was detailed, and done by human hands with no sense of digital or mass reproduction— with the contemporary gaze of modernism, minimalism, and production.” And in keeping with this fundamental facet in his jewelry collections, Giunta works with found elements— vintage baubles, crystals, and trinkets from around the world— to create unique pieces with a timeless character: “People keep their jewelry forever, while fashion may come and go. These can have just as much resilience and luminosity through the ages.”

With such integrity behind his jewelry, it’s no wonder the intellectual and highly-accomplished CFDA-nominated designer, who also earned the Ecco Domani Fashion Fund’s best accessories designer of 2008, not only collaborated with Target to create a limited-edition capsule collection this year, but also his latest collection for Subversive, called “Topography,” which reflects his world travels.

Despite the fact that the designer’s philosophy doesn’t easily allow for placing him on a conventional timeline or map, Giunta has hometown roots— in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To find out more about the genesis of his influences and talent, psychoPEDIA joined Giunta to discuss his invaluable formative experiences there:

What’s the most unique thing about Pittsburgh?
No matter where you go, you’ll find people who are either fans of the Steelers, have lived in Pittsburgh, or know people in Pittsburgh. We call it the center of the universe.

Do people have any misconceptions about the city?
Everyone knows about it from the industrial age. And through the ‘70s, when that industry was still there, there was a black cloud over Pittsburgh— [people thought] the air was so thick with soot, it would turn your clothes black. You’d be breathing ash and soot and all the buildings were stained black. It’s not that way anymore. It’s very clean and settled.

Did the industrial atmosphere have a lot to do with your aesthetic outlook?
The perfect backdrop of Pittsburgh is a rusted piece of steel or a smokestack. It’s a subliminal aesthetic reference point I have rather than something that’s new. The industry had already died when I was growing up there, but I [always] remembered being right up next to these old factories.

What about Pittsburgh did help to shape your artistic talents?
I’ve always known I was going to be an artist. I took classes since I was a kid doing fine-art-related things, and when I was in high school, started interning for the Mendelson Gallery. I’d go there after school and started long-standing friendships with an older group of people who owned design and fashion stores, art galleries, and they were all very supportive of me ever since I was a teenager.

Were there local cultural offerings you took advantage of?
The Warhol Museum had a lot of programs and was a wealth of contemporary art. All the robber barons who have major estates and philanthropic efforts in New York made their money in Pittsburgh first, so, there’s also an offshoot of that philanthropy in the Frick Collection at the Carnegie Museum. Being rooted in art history, it was great to have world-class masterpieces in my hometown.

Have you made any artistic contributions back to Pittsburgh?
A friend I’ve known since I was 3 years old purchased a firehouse from the 19th century and commissioned me to design the interior. The concept was making an aesthetically beautiful space, because Pittsburgh is laden with sports bars and flat-screen TVs. The Firehouse Lounge is in the cultural district, called the Strip District, where all the ethnic produce is represented on this one street. They wholesale to restaurants throughout the city but also have a retail market on Saturdays. There are Iranian spices, Italian food, all sorts of raw goods. It’s somewhere I went to growing up, so it’s interesting to have designed this space right on the strip— my own personal landmark in Pittsburgh, which has been really successful over the last five years.

What about the space has your personal aesthetic touch?
Similarly to the way I approach jewelry, we used the things that were there. We took the dividers [from the firehouse's former office space] and recycled the materials. The bar back was a found school desk. It was interesting to take things in and around Pittsburgh— cut them up, paint them, change them— to make them contemporary and put them in this place. Being able to re-invent something that’s already there, it keeps the world safe from more junk and actually has more structural and aesthetic integrity.

How would you give someone the ultimate Pittsburgh experience?
We’d drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel— the only tunnel in the United States that opens up onto a bridge– which opens to the Point, the intersection of the three rivers of Pittsburgh and the downtown area cityscape. Then we’d drive up to the university area, called Shadyside, where Pitt and Carnegie Mellon are. To introduce someone to the old steel scene, you’d go up the river. For the coolest galleries and shops, I’d go to Shadyside. There are also some beautiful houses from when the robber barons lived in Shadyside— the opulence once in Pittsburgh. We’d go to the Warhol Museum, the largest museum dedicated to one artist in the world, and at night, to the Fire House Lounge, where I get a discount.

~Leann Peterson


See more of Pittsburgh with Justin’s personal recommendations:

Weisshouse, “A cool conceptual design shop, like the ‘Moss’ of Pittsburgh. I sold my chandeliers there and these Russian dolls that I made.”
Washington Antiques Fair, Falconi Field; “They have the main sprawl where everyone comes, an endless field of great antique stuff.”
Breadworks, “The Italian bread in Pittsburgh is so good, especially at Breadworks. They have these breadsticks with fennel and carroway seeds that are just soft and good. It’s my favorite food– everyone knows.”


First, second, and third photos by Leann Peterson

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 04:20 PM | Permalink

Brick Lane -- most fondly known for its large Bangladeshi community and vast selection of restaurants specializing in some of the finest Anglo-Indian cuisine anywhere -- is fast becoming known for its large retro community and huge array of fine vintage boutiques. Unfortunately, the street once celebrated for its East-meets-West diversity is now becoming engulfed by the Western love of alcoholic over-indulgence, and dresses from the 1950s. It was somewhat inevitable, then, that one day a company specializing in catering to both lovers of alcohol and retro-chic would take the opportunity to cash in on the Western end of Brick Lane.

Cue All-Star Leisure Group Limited, to open the doors to All-Star Lanes, their 3rd ‘boutique’ bowling establishment, on Brick Lane. Co-directors Mark von Westenholz and Adam Breeden promise “a marriage of bowling, cocktails, the finest diner cuisine and unforgettable music.”

Marriage, it seems, is not the harmonious union it used to be. As we all know, 10-pin bowling rose to fame in the 1950s, and for some has never really shaken its fey ‘50s charm, one which All-Star lanes has taken and halfheartedly run away with. We are greeted by well-turned-out staff -- all ‘50s dresses, red lips and Happy Days hair dos -- but upon further inspection, it soon becomes clear this uniform resembles that of a fashion-conscious TGI Fridays. Funnily enough the menu isn’t that far off Fridays either, featuring wings, ribs, burgers -- all including the word ‘American’ in their description. First impressions are important, and sadly for All-Star Lanes, the first thing you see as you walk in is the restaurant area, which can be best described as ‘Ikea does Grease.’

But, on to the bowling, which is what people primarily come for: one game is surprisingly well priced for ‘boutique’ bowling, at 5.50 pounds per game (about $10), which rules out the popular notion that the lanes were primarily built for the city boys of nearby Liverpool St and Bank.

Beyond the obvious hilarity and enjoyment a good game of bowling can bring, the lanes were a little disappointing -- a lot more could have been done with the space. It’s stylish, yes, but there’s so much more potential here than a whole wall of black-painted breezeblocks and some funky lighting. If you are going to go for the ‘50s theme you really need to go for it -- otherwise you have to go for the other end of the spectrum, and that’s the super bowling complex with arcades, flashing lights, loud music, the whole shebang. All-Star Lanes lies somewhere flaccidly in the middle.

Neighboring the six lanes is the venue’s saving grace: a super-smart bar 100 times more inviting than the restaurant. It boosts several curvy leather-clad booths and a well stocked bar boosting several rare American spirits and difficult-to-pull-off cocktails, that judging by the looks on the recipient’s faces, were successfully rendered. It is also twice as packed as the 200-seat restaurant area, despite being a quarter of the size. All Star Leisure would have done very well to stick to just the cocktail bar and lanes at the front.

Either way, by the look of the packed lanes and the line for the bowling shoes, it already seems that All Star’s Brick Lane gamble has already paid off. The future can only offer more gain for them: As we speak plush apartments and two new shopping centered train stations are flying up all within 10 minutes of the lanes. This will no doubt lead to a never-ending influx of cocktail-guzzling, pin-hungry corporate groups and parties.

~Kevin Soar

All-Star Lanes, 95 Brick Lane, London E16QL. 020 7426 9200

The Verdict:

Looks: 2/10
Fun: 9/10
Service: 7/10
Price: 7/10

Overall ... 25/40

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 07:55 PM | Permalink

Like most favorable traits — prominent cheekbones and a full pout included — innate fashion sense tends to run in families. (For proof, just look to models Missy and Frankie Rayder, Twenty8Twelve’s Savannah and Sienna Miller, and designer Richard Chai and Odin co-owner Edward Chai.) Now joining the ranks of siblings with both serious style and business savvy: model Petra and jewelry designer Olga Nemcova.

The latter (Petra’s younger sis) is one-half of the team behind recently-launched jewelry line October Anniversary. The brainchild of Nemcova and business partner Alexandra Tavel, the collection is made from recycled metals sourced from eco-friendly factories. 10% of profits are donated to Happy Hearts Fund, Petra’s non-profit, with which both designers are involved. psychoPEDIA caught up with the two fledgling designers at their home-away-from-home, 508 on Manhattan’s West Side. We talked shop, their Russian obsession and jewelry-design 101:

How did you two meet?
A: In 2005, after studying fashion design and costume construction at Indiana University, I moved here without a job. I worked for a designer for a little while, but I decided I would rather keep [fashion] as more of a hobby instead of a career because I didn’t want to end up hating it. I’ve always been interested in non-profit work. And, when I interviewed with NEXT model management they said one of their models, Petra Nemcova, needed an assistant. Towards the end of the interview [with Petra], she was like, ‘My sister is right around the corner -- I’d love for you to meet her as well.’
O: My sister asked me to meet with her and to tell her whether to hire her or not.
A: The first thing I said was that Olga was my favorite name. But she didn’t believe me of course, and thought I was some dumb American. She told Petra not to hire me. But Petra went against Olga’s word and we’ve been together ever since.

What advice has Petra given you for the brand?
A: With Happy Hearts Fund we try to be as eco-friendly as possible, so she told us it’s something you really need to work on. It’s the wave of the future. We work with children that are victims of disasters — most of them are environmental disasters that have been caused by our misuse of the environment. So, we wanted to do something that wasn’t adding to the very disasters we’re trying to fix. And obviously she’s our number-one fan.
O: Every time she goes to an event she wears it. She doesn’t publicize it; I didn’t want her to become the face of it. But people ask her, and then she tells them.

When did you first conceive October Anniversary?
A: In the very beginning of the year, we decided we wanted to start something that was our own. We had all these ideas. We were making clay jewelry at one point… big boob necklaces [laughs]. It was going nowhere. Then we took one class in precious metal clay, which is patented by the Japanese. It’s fine silver particles that are mixed with a binder. You can mold it like clay and put it in a kiln and fire it off, and you’re left with just fine silver. I’ve worked with clay before, so it was an easy medium to transfer to. But we wanted to mass-produce easier than that, so we went to the Jewelry District one day and started asking people, ‘How do you make jewelry?’ We found a guy who does all our moldings and castings. Everything is made in NYC. When we get it back it’s completely unfinished, so we still have to polish every piece with drills. It’s intense. We do a lot of manual labor. Of course, I make Olga do all of the polishing.
O: It’s awful -- you get silver splinters everywhere.

They’re incredibly bold pieces…
A: Everyone definitely notices them. I don’t think I’ve heard a bad thing about it except for maybe, ‘Will you ever do something more tame?’ and, yes, we will. But this is the initial collection to make a statement and show what we’re about. We would like to do more historically inspired pieces as well, which represent more of a stoic thing, not necessarily just nature-inspired pieces.
O: Like with the Russians.

The Russians?
A: As a child I was obsessed with the story of Nicolas and Alexandra, the last tsar and tsarina of Russia. Alexandra is my full name. Alexi was their son’s name, which is also my nickname. And Olga was the oldest daughter. So, our names are all tied into this story. What was so cool is that when the Bolsheviks took over, they put the whole royal family on house arrest. The women were so afraid that they would be thrown out of their house and have nothing, that they sewed all of their jewelry into their clothes. When they tried to kill them months later the jewelry acted as a shield. I would love to do something inspired by that. They’re all weapons anyway.
O: I was actually at the airport coming back from Canada and I had to go through immigration and two policemen were coming with me to immigration, and it was so funny because they were like, ‘Oh my god, I love this ring. It’s like a weapon!’

Speaking of names, why October Anniversary?
O: Because I studied psychology, I always thought it was very important to have a month or date in a name. People remember it more. Alexi was like, ‘We met in October.’ I thought, ‘Perfect.’ October Anniversary. O for Olga, A for Alexi.
A: It also sounded a little Russian to me.

~Alisa Gould-Simon

October Anniversary, available at Operations and Old Hollywood

Posted by psychoPEDIA at 10:59 PM | Permalink

Arnold Circus is a cute little roundabout in the center of East London’s Shoreditch, near the vintage shop haven that is Brick Lane. On one corner lies a cozy little deli: Leila’s Shop, a beautiful country-style café that gets Vogue writers, pop stars’ daughters (Pixie Geldof), models turned TV presenters (Alexa Chung) and future Knights excited, pulling each other’s hair out for another coffee and homemade tartlet.

Arnold Circus may now be quite the buzzing trendy area, but it wasn’t long ago that the park on the roundabout looked neglected, overgrown, and threatening. The area that locals used to be so proud of had fallen into disrepair once again. History unfortunately had repeated itself.

In the 1800’s the roundabout and its surrounding streets were called The Friars Slum. It was a dangerous area, known for its extreme poverty and overcrowded houses. People lived in small decaying houses in between slaughterhouses, and on a good day they would have 12 minutes of running water a day, leading to the area’s death rate that was four times as much as the rest of London -- one child in four would die before their first birthday. Even the police were too scared to go into the area. The city council of the day eventually decided to take action and clear things up. They did this by simply wiping out the entire area. The slums, the buildings, the slaughterhouses, it all got demolished. And the rubble that came from this was put onto one big pile in the middle of it.

Seven big chunky estates were built around this centerpiece of rubble, which was elegantly topped with a bandstand; now the proud jewel of the crown that is Arnold Circus. The buildings, called The Boundary Estate, were part of London’s first social housing scheme, and the last brick was laid in 1910.

Back to 2002, and the area had managed to become neglected again -- but this time it didn’t look like the city council was going to wipe any buildings out again any time soon. Leila McAlister, owner and founder of Leila's Shop, had always been interested in the history of The Boundary Estate and Arnold Circus -- it was the cheap rent that attracted her to a then pretty rough area.

“I had always been interested in the estate," she says. "I knew it was the first social government housing in London, and thought it was intriguing that it was all so run-down. It was really quiet around here; none of the shops that are here now were there. When I bought the shop on Arnold Circus six years ago it was very different around here. There were crack dealers and prostitutes everywhere you looked. In the first few years I wondered if I had made a mistake. The kids around here gave us newcomers a really hard time. It was a really intimidating neighborhood. But there are definitely a lot less people smoking crack in the doorways now.” She decided to stay, and her project space suddenly turned into a meeting point, and it was then when she decided to start a café, Leila’s Shop. With a community backing her, soon other shops on the street opened.

“I always thought that the circus could be beautiful, though no one ever used to go up there." she says. "In the early days I had a girl working here who had been living here her whole life. She had never been on the circus. It was totally overgrown, full of needles, and totally neglected. There were no plants, or concerts in the bandstand -- there was just nothing.”

So McAlister decided to set up a charity, called “Friends of Arnold Circus.” “For some reason Arnold Circus as a park had gone off everyone’s radar. [The charity] was born out of wanting to do something to engage the local community into using the circus, and to pressure the council to sort it all out. Now there are people gardening on the circus and organizing social events. Once a year we close the road and have an annual picnic on top of the circus, which is really nice.”

As a result of the campaigns and the locals improving Arnold Circus, the council has now shown an interest in the area. “There is half a million pounds available that is going to be allocated into Arnold Circus. Of course Friends of Arnold Circus has been interested in what way the council are going to spend that money, but they are now ignoring us. I think it’s because they think that our plans would involve more work. They would rather board it up and make it ‘fit for purpose.'”

It seems like McAlister’s mission at Arnold Circus is nearly done. But she has some new plans on the horizon: “I’ve actually just taken over the empty shop next door, where I will soon be starting the shop in. This café will turn into a proper hangout for people, and all the groceries will be sold next door. I want to do more projects with food producers, such as Albanian producers, and turn the shop next door into a proper grocery shop with cheeses, and artisan breads.” Such an expansion is poetic justice for a woman who has been so integral to the area’s newest rebirth.

~Freddie Janssen

Leila’s Shop, 17 Calvert Avenue, London E2 7JP. 02077299789

www.friendsofarnoldcircus.com

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