Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Kepler


This time a month ago we were walking the Kepler Track near Te Anau. Day two was my favourite, high up on the alpine ridge, eye-level with the clouds, winds threatening to sweep us off our feet and down the mountain pack-first. It was tough going, but the views made it all worth it. Around each curve in the track was a landscape vista even more stunning than the last. That word is used so often that the power of it has softened like a blunt axe, but in the context of Mt Luxmore, I mean it in the most literal, genuine way possible. I struggle to capture what we saw in words, so I won't try. Every so often I made us stop to get another photo. And another. What I could see on the picture preview screen never came anywhere near to the stupefying beauty that we could see right in front of us, but we knew it wouldn't. The photos will serve as a reminder of this amazing adventure we did for ourselves and everything we experienced along the way. I never want to see another muesli bar again in my life. Which might be hard, because now I plan on walking all nine of New Zealand's Great Walks. I think I've got the tramping bug.

Monday, May 19, 2014

faabgal.gif

Possum Fur Shrug by Andrea Moore
Mr Fox by Deadly Ponies

I've got my eye on purchasing one of these fur collars so I can achieve my life goal of being as fabulous as this gal in 45 years:

(note: I saved this image to my computer as faabgal.gif)

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Link-Up: Saturdays

Meet The Model: Derya @ 62 Models by Harriet Were for Oyster Magazine
The big news I woke up to this morning was the announcement that Topshop is opening a flagship store on Queen st, financed by Karen Walker + Barkers + some mega rich Christchurch guy. I ranted about it on Twitter. And probably will rant about it here too, so heads up!

I nearly missed my hair appointment this morning because I was too busy dancing in front of my mirror to the finger-snapping good (great!) track 2on by Tinashe and also to 1998 by Chet Faker, which is this week's on-repeat. Everytime I listen to it I wish I could be instantly transplanted to a club where it's playing. Seriously loving the chilled-out house vibes of this song.



I read an article on the forever-excellent-and-very-powerful-in-its-own-right Business of Fashion that explores the power dynamics between fashion magazines and brands that includes this quote by a very well-known, nameless, fashion journalist: “I feel that we are now just garnish for fashion PRs and designers. Few people read what we say; we are not the gatekeepers any more, and none of it matters. So I am feeling bleak and don’t want to talk about it.”.

I also read about why "Problematic" Has Become Problematic, the Self-regulating Homogenization of Style Communities, and why There is No Shame in Being on the Dole"It was as important as any professional development program or university course I attended during the same time. I worked harder in those four years than I have in my entire life. It was not by choice, it was by circumstance, but every day I felt supported by everyone in this country to take the time needed and never once was I disenfranchised."


I got my haircut at Stephen Marr after a year of growing my fringe out - I wanted Haim hair (hai'm hai'r?) - but I decided I felt more like me with a fringe, so it's back. There may be selfies later - no promises.

The Auckland Writers Festival is on this weekend and I attended my first session this afternoon (omg so many grey hairs!), with Scandanavian Crime Queen Camilla Lackberg. She was great, but the low-key offensive comments from the clueless adjudicator were distracting for me, like the way he introduced her as an "authoress", opened with questions about being a writer with kids, commented on her age and weight and spent too much time on about her divorces and relationship status. He was insulting, and down right condescending at times, but she brushed it off with aplomb. I ranted about that on twitter too.
One of my writer-crushes Sarah Nicole Prickett interviewed Nona Willis Aronowitz about her mother Ellen Willis, the pop culture writer, who sounded like a total badass: "She was incredibly ambivalent about religion her entire life. At face value she’d seem like a textbook atheist, and she definitely found the idea of giving your free will over to a larger moral power repugnant, but she knows the power it wields over people, and that made it interesting to her. It all hinged on whether she thought it was authentic or not. I don’t know if she’d go so far to call religion “beautiful,” though, except maybe the acid-trip version she describes in “Next Year in Jerusalem” — like, finally figuring out nature." I am looking forward to getting my hands on the Essential Ellen Willis.

I heard about FuckBoyJihad and wished I had been in the loop/cool enough to go to one of their parties when they were around. Seriously, how did I miss this?! Feelin' v. uncool rn. They're having their last one tonight, in Wellington.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Feminist Theory in JLo's 'I Luh Ya Papi' Music Video

Jennifer Lopez's new single I Luh Ya Papi has been my addiction these past few weeks. Seriously, I feel a bit sorry for my flatmates who have had to put up with me listening to it on repeat. I became even more addicted to it after watching the video...


It's a JLo video that references feminist theory!!!!!

I feel like it's kind of a breakthrough for someone at Lopez's level to be talking about the male gaze and objectification of women, but not only that, it's an hispanic woman (and her friends) talking about the male gaze.

She draws attention to how effed the representations of women in music videos are by drop down, flipping it and reversing it - by having a whole lot of naked, oil-slick dudes writhing around on her yacht while she sings about how much she luhs her papi. Heck yeah, girl!

Basically we're all tired of 90% of music videos featuring women wearing -90% clothing, dancing in a overtly sexual way 90% of the time, who are merely an accessory to the suit-wearing men (hello, Blurred Lines!), and Lopez is using her celebrity to say something about it.

I know that some of the criticisms of this video (without even looking at the YouTube comments) will be about how she's doing exactly what she claims to be sick of by turning men into objects. But No, silly, she's got her tongue firmly in her cheek and the message is more about highlighting the disparities between representations of men and women in music videos, rather than it being about tit for tat, so to speak. Because having passive, half-naked beautiful men makes us feel soooo much more uncomfortable than seeing the same in women. See, it's gender role reversal!!

I guess also "the male gaze" is quite an entry-level feminist theory (much like my commentary here, but, meh, it's nearly 2am on a school night), but it's really not every day that a mainstream pop star dares to speak up against the patriarchy. We've all got to start somewhere, and if this video gets at least one person to start questioning this stuff I will be very, very happy.

(REMEMBER: There is no such thing as the perfect person, the perfect feminist, the perfect woman. Kill your idols. So there will always be flaws, and more ways we can educate ourselves to do better next time. So of course there will be something to criticise here, as we should be criticising everything that is presented to us in the media.)

Also I love that by being a part of American Idol, Lopez has changed the conversation. Remember how her butt was the OBSESSION of tabloids back in the early 2000s? Now that she's been on American Idol for a few years, she's more than just a body (more than just a butt), and she has given herself a voice. Not one in the form of lyrics being written for her, or tabloids fabricating stories about her day-to-day life. She has allowed the audience to see more of her personality and her vulnerabilities... more realness than that stuff about still being Jenny from the Block, which always seemed a little contrived, lbr. And now her "voice" includes feminism! Yaaaassss.

Other highlights from the video:
- The Drake reference: "Started from the bottom, baby, then we went roof"
- Her girlfriends cackling at "a whole bunch of naked guys on the bed, for NO REASON!"
- #blessed

- NOT French Montana tho. He's about as captivating as Jay-z in everything he's done since 2011 (excluding Watch the Throne, duh)... which is to say, not captivating at all. Also, it's the one teeny tiny moment in the video that drops the ball on the subversion thing and reverts back to the same old tropes. Like I say, not perfect, but a step in the right direction, and still better than it was before.

Sidenote: I would have loved if they had also made an 'I luh you puppies' version, with all puppies, all the time.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

The Warmest Colour


This evening I went to the shop for some chocolate wearing three different shades of blue + tramping socks. These are the comfiest clothes I own so they're kind of perfect for a day at home. I got two weird looks. I'm into it.

Link-up: Sick Day


I've been at home sick today, drinking copious amounts of tea, and wishing I was wearing cosy Penny Sage knits. A teal mohair jumper from a Kilbirnie op shop will have to do for now.

I've been catching up on some writing, reading What is Literature? in bed, and bopping along to the new Katy Perry single (the tempo of which is at odds with the fog in my head, but who am I to say no to the considerable virtuosity of Dr. Luke and Max Martin?).

I've been reading about the Confidence Gap, identifying with a lot of it (definitely too much of it) and vowing to stop telling everyone I am "lucky" to have my job, and instead allowing myself some credit for the hard work that it took to get it. I read about being #blessed, why We Need More Alter Egos Now More Than Ever, and comparing a Rihanna meet and greet with an Avril meet and greet.

I loved the energy of this shoot for adidas on Charta Magazine.

I somehow managed to coincide my sickness with the day of the Met Ball, where Lupita, Janelle, Gabrielle, Karen, Suki and Kristen were my personal favourites. I would have liked to see Lorde there!