This week I was tipped off to the cutest, most ironic and totally underground Web site I’ve seen in quite some time: hipster puppies. (btw, thanks for the link, @rachelwentcrazy!)
Now I must admit that in general I am much more partial to funny cat pics on the Web, but I’m sorry to inform you that cats just don’t look as funny in hipster clothes as dogs do. However, you be the judge: there’s also hipster kitties for all my fellow cat lovers out there. You’ll find that they just took (internet) famous cats and made them seem like hipsters. But I think those kitties are way too mainstream for the site, IMHO.
Here’s an adorable sampling of the pups.
barney is more concerned with “dynamic range compression” and “the loudness wars” than the fact that he has shitty taste in music
no one is angrier than walter that you can’t buy sparks in san bernardino anymore
for tillie, having a mad men premiere party means dressing up, drinking manhattans and being totally fucking insufferable
trigger says the words “bike culture” out loud at least once a day
butters is going to stand directly in front of you and snap pictures for an hour straight because the perfect shot of dave longstreth isn’t going to take itself
perry could have easily informed the waiter that his order was wrong, but has decided to just write a bad yelp review instead
So as many know (especially my twitter followers) one of my favorite musicians passed away early this morning. Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., also known as Jay Reatard, was one of the most talented garage rockers of all time. And I can’t even describe to you how much his 2006 album, Blood Vision, influenced my life. Some of those songs got me through some really hard times. As cliché as that sounds, it’s true. Jay Reatard was a mastermind musician and although his life was cut so short, I am sure his music will live on for ages.
One regret I must share: I never did see one of Reatard’s live shows. Back in the summer of 2008 (college! woo!!) I went down to Red 7 to meet my boyfriend for a Jay Reatard show. I had just finished my late night copy editing shift at the Texan (again! college!!) and rushed downtown for the show. I was pumped, but I had been feeling under the weather all day and could only feel myself getting sicker and feeling worse about being out. I toughed it out for, oh, maybe 20 minutes and went home before Reatard came on.
“I’ll always have the chance to see him again,” I told myself. “He comes to Austin all the time and I’ll have thousands more opportunities to see him.” Yeah, no. I never did get to see him.
I hope we can all learn from my idiotic decision and trust me, never pass up a great show! It may be your last chance.
If you haven’t heard Jay Reatard’s music you really should give it a listen — Blood Visions is seriously an iconic album. You won’t be sorry you did. You’ll just be sorry you never got to see him live when you had the chance.
I will always cherish the music Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. did produce over the years, I’m just so sad there’s no more to come. This really is so tragic for the music world. Goodbye, Mr. Reatard!
That’s right, because most journalists are three times more likely to be out of a job. (Or into something else.) According to a study by UNITY: Journalists of Color, while the rest of the country is losing its jobs at an 8 percent rate, journalists are being shed at a 22 percent rate. I couldn’t help but wonder who UNITY’s 2009 Layoff Tracker Report was really tracking. I mean, was I tracked? Because if so, I most certainly was not notified.
Either way that means we have three times more the reasons to wallow and complain.
I especially enjoyed what Onica N. Makwakwa, executive director of UNITY, had to say about the study.
“These numbers confirm that the economic downturn has hit the news industry very, very hard.”
It has finally been confirmed officially, guys. We’ve been hit very, very hard. But wait, there’s more!
“As the news industry shapes a new future and companies battle the financial storm, it’s important to remember that it’s about people too,” said Makwakwa.
Oh my goodness, good point, brah! What about the families?
But before you get too worried about the people battling the raging financial storms, just know that in the end, I finally read down to the last paragraph of this UNITY story. I learned that the report was compiled using SEC filings and self-reported data from media outlets.
But I still kinda wonder how many lost journos there are out there, unrecorded…
And in case you’d like to read a copy of the report, by all means, knock yourself out.
Tao Lin is a really funny guy. I’m going to go ahead and tell you about his new book now. It’s called Shoplifting from American Apparel.
Seems pretty good. I wonder if it has a twisty plot. Or a surprise ending. Something tells me neither will be the case.
An excerpt of the book was posted on hipster runoff. I’m going to have to admit that the portion he chose to share hit close to home. Here it is:
“You know those people that get up every day, and do things,” said Luis.
“I’m going to eat cereal even though I’m not hungry,” said Sam.
“And are real proactive,” said Luis. “And like are getting things done, and never quit their jobs. Those people suck.”
“We get shit done too,” said Sam. “Look at our books.”
“I know, but that brings in no money,” said Luis. “Are we, like, that word ‘bohemians.’ Or something. Our bios: ‘They lived in poverty writing their masterpieces.’”
“We are the fucked generation,” said Sam. “Someone release the press release announcing this. Look at that typo.”
The word “announcing” was almost twice as long as normal.
“I’m laughing,” said Luis. “That is a good typo.”
“How do we get out of this,” said Sam.
I want to read it. I do. But I would feel so much less awkward about giving the dude money if he wasn’t always coming up with online marketing schemes and/or selling his possessions on eBay.
But then again, I read his Hipster Runoff blog and give him ad sales at least weekly. So maybe I should just suck it up and do it.
But then I see then again maybe I shouldn’t.
And if you need any help deciding whether to love or hate Tao, here’s a sampling of one of his poetry readings. Dare I say, “hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe?”
Blessed are the hipsters, for they shall inherit the Earth. Oh, wait, wrong verse.
I ended my glorious week of SXSW in the teenie tiny Green Shoelace Garage for a very special party featuring a “secret” guest, the widely celebrated and loved MSTRKRFT. I was so pumped to see them, last time I saw them they blew me away and I expected the same last night. Let’s just say I fell vicitim to hype of my own making.
The whole performance wasn’t really about dancing or listening to some high-quality electro music, no, it was about the entourage. It was about being seen passing a bottle of Crown Royal from one sexy person to another. And taking sexy photos of all the beautiful drunk girls willing to drink their away their dignity in exchange for the chance to dance on the stage with a cool DJ guy with a crazy design on his T-shirt.
I’ll admit that I sound more bitter now about the entourage than I actually felt at the time. They were annoying, yes. But not to the point where my night could be ruined. Still, I couldn’t help but think that it was a little sad to end my SXSW with pretentious New York hipsters who think it’s OK to invade our city with their “hawter than thou” party mentalities.
Anyway. lastnightsparty was at the show. I’m pretty sure I’ve linked the man behind the lens:
Sure, he seems all right on stage, innocent enough. But my friend and I left the show early (sheer exhaustion, it was going on 4:30 a.m., ah). We rode our bikes back around the garage and I spotted the same cameraman crouching behind a dumpster, coaxing an intoxicated topless woman to pose for some photos.
It’s not like I haven’t seen the topless party photos before. But seeing it in person and seeing that poor drunk girl’s confused face just really put me over the edge. Go home, New Yorkers, we Southern Belles try to keep it a little bit classier than that.
barney is more concerned with “dynamic range compression” and “the loudness wars” than the fact that he has shitty taste in music
no one is angrier than walter that you can’t buy sparks in san bernardino anymore
for tillie, having a mad men premiere party means dressing up, drinking manhattans and being totally fucking insufferable
trigger says the words “bike culture” out loud at least once a day
butters is going to stand directly in front of you and snap pictures for an hour straight because the perfect shot of dave longstreth isn’t going to take itself
perry could have easily informed the waiter that his order was wrong, but has decided to just write a bad yelp review instead
recent comments