A friend turned me onto these amazing wines.    Enowines are a great gift and taste lovely.    The company is a boutique winery near Oakland Ca.   Specialty is Pinot Noir (my favorite) Granache, and Syrah.   The owner Sasha keeps things organic and local so the wines taste so fresh and fabulous.     I love the screw tops too, a new trend in high end wines.      You can order directly online.    Eno wines website.
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Or, check out the day Brian Eno came over for lunch:  (all images courtesy of Eno Wines, see website for specific photo credits)
 
Brian Eno came to lunch
 

Mie Yim's book the A.B.C. of S.E.X.  is out and it's adorable.  J is for juicy.   B is for blowjob.   T is for tranny.   Mie Yim's beautiful pastel artwork with adults only content makes a memorable juxtaposition.     A great gift for your significant other for Valentines Day.     Mischievous and comic it is fun, wicked and richly illustrated.   To read more about Mie Yim and her work go to our features.      Published by Pointed Leaf Press
pointed leaf press

One of my favorite designers, Sonia Rykiel created some of the most gorgeous pieces this season.    Her jewelry and accessories are stunning and whimsical.  Hey, dogs inspire me too.    I am especially lusting after this doggie purse.    Not a fan of the Lhasa Apsos, but these are amazing.

All I have to say is thank god we now have a president who favors a woman's right to choose.     PRO CHOICE.!!   The modern perspective.     Obama reversed the Bush admin ban on giving federal money to international groups that provide abortion information or help provide abortions.

Obama rocks, and he has a blackberry.   Hello-- the millenials president has spoken.

Remember Duchamp.   Well Belgian artist Wim Delvoye created his own fountain so to speak.     Is art collectible or revered because it is beautiful or meaningful, or is it art simply because a museum said so?Wim Delvoye

Yes, this piece of work was on exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in NYC.


What is Cloaca?
Cloaca is a computerized mechanical system designed to mimic the human digestive process.

Estimated to go around 3000 pounds at Sotheby's auction-  Will anyone buy this?

I first came across Wim when I saw a documentary about his tattoo work on pigs.  
The animals were sedated and worked on humanely I might add, he actually claimed to have saved them from becoming bacon by putting them on an eco farm to live out their existence.   Check him out.   He has done some edgy shit.   
   

MOMA curator Klaus Biesenbach is a bit of a minimalist.    When I think of minimalism I think of Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd and the architect John Pawson.   Clean lines, simplicity, and, no clutter.   The photographs of Mr. Beisenbach's apt in NYC conceived by Andrea Zittel (in this months W magazine)  are just a bit toooo plain.     I'm sorry, does anyone even live here?

Klaus is the influencial MOMA curator in charge of new media.    Multimedia installations, video and performance pieces.    He co-organized Olafur Eliasson's survey and curated the current Pipilotti RIst exhibit. (I blogged the pictures in a previous post) Preferring a more "ephemeral" approach to art that is to be engaged in I understand the lack of paintings and photographs on the walls.   There is nothing except a video projector in the space that occasionally comes out to watch movies.

There is no doubt that Klaus is very good at what he does, the apartment is stunning in space and the view.    I just wonder how you live in a space like this day to day with out accumulating some stuff.   A toothbrush, pillow, plant, book, chinese takeout?    To each his own I guess.

Eric Holder, jr.   our future  Attorney general is having his confirmation hearing today.    (I think he's awesome and highly qualified by the way)

Much of the questioning centered on the previous administrations policy on torture.

Forced nudity, attacks by dogs, waterboarding and all the rest of that good stuff is up for discussion.   Is it torture?    (I ask myself, did the Taliban and Sadam Hussein have to answer to anyone about their prisoner policies?)

After watching Jack Bauer kick some serious ass on 24, I realize why the show is so popular and timely right now.      Art imitates life.    Tony Almeda's character is back and together these guys are going to fight for justice on their own terms.   Conspiracy theories, murder, justice and loads of action.    Oh, and don't forget the ubiquitous African dictator who is perpetrating a genocide.    Does this sound firmiliar?   If you don't get 24, u can watch it online or better yet, you can watch the news and get  dose of reality far more brutal than any Brian Grazer produced TV show.

http://www.fox.com/fod/play.php?sh=twentyfour

Here are some excerpts from David Stout article in the NY Times about Eric Holder, Jr.

Pledging to run an independent Justice Department free of political taint, Eric H. Holder Jr. said on Thursday that he believes unequivocally that "waterboarding" is torture, and that it must not be practiced by the United States regardless of the circumstances.

The question of waterboarding was the first issue to be raised at the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings of Mr. Holder for attorney general. As expected, he also came under close questioning over his role as deputy attorney general in the pardoning of Marc Rich, a billionaire who had fled the country rather than face federal tax evasion charges, at the end of President Bill Clinton's second term.

Addressing the subject of torture at the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Mr. Holder told Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the committee chairman, "Waterboarding is torture." It was so defined under the Spanish Inquisition and when used by the Japanese in World War II, he said, and it remains so today.

President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close the prison, a goal Mr. Holder said he shared. "There are possibly many other people who are not going to be able to be tried but who nevertheless are dangerous to this country," he said. "We're going to have to try to figure out what to do with them."

Asked whether a president might have the power to immunize people against criminal charges if they employ waterboarding, which creates a drowning-like sensation, to obtain intelligence to use against terrorists, Mr. Holder answered unambiguously: "Mr. Chairman, no one is above the law."

Source: NY times

Andre Balaz's NYC highline hotel the Standard is accepting reservations now.   It is a beautiful thing.    Have not stayed there, but when I am in NY I am definately going over for a look and a cocktail.     Gorgeous design, a historic location and a reasonable price.   I'm in.

Todd Eberle shot these insane architectural shots in Vanity Fair this month.    

Russian "fashion" company Kira Plastinina goes bankrupt eventhough her father spent 80 million to set up stores in the US.
I'm sorry but the shit was sub- par uglayyy and not cheap.      It is really no wonder to me that this brand failed.     With H&M, Zara, and Forever 21 producing cheap trendy clothes that are wearable it is really hard to compete in this market with tacky stuff.   

Here is the article from Bloomberg news by Bob von Voris.

Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- KP Fashion Co., the company set up by the father of 16-year-old Russian fashion designer Kira Plastinina to sell her clothes in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy seven months after opening its first store.

Los Angeles-based KP Fashion sought protection from creditors while it liquidates. The company, which said last month it would close almost all of its 12 stores, listed $9.7 million in assets and $54.4 million in debt in papers filed Dec. 31 in U.S. Bankruptcy court in Manhattan.

Plastinina's father, Sergei Plastinin, has said he spent $80 million to set up stores for his daughter. The entrepreneur co-founded OAO Wimm-Bill-Dann, Russia's biggest dairy company, and has investments in real estate, agriculture and fertilizer businesses. Plastinina has 70 stores in Russia, which aren't included in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.

"I've been working really hard, and am very proud of myself for keeping my determination and being able to work and accomplish so much at my young age," Plastinina said on a MySpace page linked to the company's U.S. Web site, before the bankruptcy filing.

Hot-Pink Logo

KP Fashion's biggest creditor, with a $29.9 million loan, is Lendero Ltd., a Cyprus company controlled by Plastinin, according to U.S. regulatory filings. Plastinina, whose hot-pink signature logo features two hearts, has been photographed with the hotel heiress Paris Hilton. Her company offered jeans, t-shirts, dresses, pants, shoes and accessories.

The company's U.S. Web site shows most of the clothes at a 75 percent discount. A shiny black, quilted lacquer mini skirt that originally sold for $54 is listed as on sale for $13.50.

The first U.S. Kira Plastinina outlet opened in Manhattan in May and the chain had 12 stores in the New York and Los Angeles areas, with another two ready to open. Besides Russia, there are 10 outlets in Ukraine and five in Kazakhstan.

MTV debuts it's new show "the City" starring blond bimbo Whitney Port from vacuous hit, "the Hills".    Basically Gossip Girl lite.   If it is anything as boring and stupid as the Hills it will be a big hit.


No- I won't be watching it, but I'm sure the tabloids will keep me informed as the plots thicken.    I look forward to seeing a bunch of no name stars go from frumpy to fabulous as they hire stylists, have their boobs,noses and teeth done as the seasons continue.  
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(stick to GG if you want juicy dialogue, hot teens, and trendy fashion.   Art maven, Yvonne Force Vallereal and stylist, Eric Damen are the creative visual masters behind Gossip Girl and you just can't get more stylish and arty than that) sorry MTV- your shows SUCK.