Space Cat Returns + Gum Review

Hello new and more original name. 'Space Cat Meets Mars' is a book I really liked when I was a kid. It's part of a book series about a cat named Flyball who travels the solar system with his human companion and has loads of adventures. If I was a DJ, my DJ name would be Space Cat. Except maybe not, since that name is already taken by an Israeli trance musician. Ummm, no.

The other day I was at a Japanese market in the East Village when I spied this:


Fuwarinka Gum! I read about it a couple of years ago and have been dying to try it since. It supposedly contains weird chemicals that make your skin exude pleasant odors after you chew it. Naturally perfumed skin?? . . . basically I had to get it. They had the rose and the citrus flavor but I've found I'm generally not a fan of flowery flavored concoctions (violet pastilles. . .blech). It comes in little squares with cute pink stars on the outside of the foil wrapping. Unfortunately it loses the flavor after two minutes and is kind of gross after that. I chewed three or four pieces yesterday and I don't think it works. I definitely didn't smell anything different. Citrus apparently makes your skin smell like vanilla, but my skin just smelled like skin.

The gum is supposed to work because it contains geraniol and linalool, two ingredients found naturally in aromatic flowers. So I guess the assumption behind this gum is that if you ingest enough of these chemicals that your body cannot break down they will come out of your pores. This is what happens when you eat too much garlic, btw. I personally think it's pseudo-science marketing B.S. though.

The concept is pretty cool, but I think overall it doesn't work and is pretty silly. After all, people with good hygiene tend to smell nice anyway. Additionally, almost all modern toiletries like soap and shampoo are scented, and so are a lot of laundry detergents so people end up smelling like something no matter what. For practicalities sake, it would be a lot cheaper and infinitely more effective to just use perfume or scented body lotion if I really wanted to smell like vanilla.

Fuwarinka Gum = novelty purchase, no scent change, also fails at being good gum.

Oh, and for a nuanced and beautiful vanilla scent try Comptior Sud Pacifique Vanille Abricot or Amour De Cacao. Two of my favorite perfumes ever. I also have Vanille Cannelle but it treads a fine line between lovely and a holiday scented candle. Which is cool if you love vanilla/cinnamon scented candles. The dry-down is much more subtle than the initial scent.

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The other night I went to a fancy dinner at my university. Afterward I ran into some friends and followed them to a Ra Ra Riot concert on the spur of the moment. It was pretty fun, although I'm not a big fan of the band.





My floor's not that dirty, I swear! It's just I live in an old converted warehouse and the floor is painted but with permanent stains worn into the paint. I guess that does sound kind of gross but w/e. It's um, bohemian. Anyway I love my apartment. More on that later.

Dress: Iro, second-hand
Belt: Betsey Johnson. The elastic is fraying (poorly made) but it's so cute I would get another one in a minute.
Tights: Chinese Laundry - they are ribbed but you can't tell in the picture.
Shoes: Max Studio

Serious Business

So, boots have been studded. And worn. They're spiky and punk but not necessarily in a girly way. I'm hoping they're more oldschool punk than Hot Topic but we'll see.

To avoid scrolling down, here are the boots again, pre-damage:


Post-damage:


BAM.

On the inside they say 'Made in Poland' not 'Wyrabiany w Polsce' so I am guessing they were made for American consumption. Still awesome though.

They have little salt-lines on them since it was snowing when I wore them around the city. I know it's bad for leather (faux-leather?) but. . . I'm lazy.

What I wore today:


Excuse the 'tude hoodie. I bought it because at the time I desperately needed a hoodie and it was comfortable. I don't think that the picture on the front is anybody in particular, and yeah, I'm aware that I'm 22 and wearing a hoodie for high-schoolers with asymmetric hair (to each their own).


Underneath was this charmingly bland ash/charcoal/pewter/motherf'ing gray v-neck American Apparel T. And some thrifted Calving Klein jeans. I've had these jeans forever and boy does it show:


Oops. I always forget about that and then wonder why people on the subway are staring.

Since I am new to this whole outfit picture taking thing I thought I'd try out the jump jump jumping pose! Fun.

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Oh, and did I mention I have tons of studs and spikes leftover? What will go under the knife next. . .

Miike and More

So a couple of weeks ago I went to see the Japanese horror director Takashi Miike speak at the Japan Society in NYC. I'm a big fan of his films, especially The Happiness of the Katakuris and Ichi the Killer. Oh, and I really want to see his film that just came out in the states, Yatterman. His films are really strange, grotesque, sometimes violent, and always awesome. The interesting thing is he doesn't write any of his films, just directs. So it's cool that he is able to retain his really crazy style from film to film.

I brought my camera and took some shitty pics.




Oh, and more randomly the director of The Burrowers (a film I worked on two years ago) was sitting in same row as me. Crazy. I said hi and ended up talking to him and his wife during the reception. He invited me to a screening of The Burrowers at NYU --and I went to it last Friday. It was nice to see it finally. I'm not a big horror film fan, despite loving Miike. However, the acting was great and overall it is much better than standard horror fare today. For one thing, it is serious and darkly comic, as opposed to being purposefully cheesy. . . although the monsters weren't super scary.

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So, I finished studding the boots, but I haven't taken a picture of them yet. I think they look quite cool though. . . However the limited opinions I've gotten (off guy friends) are disheartening. I still like them though. Not all guys appreciate the extreme bits of high fashion.

Here is a pic of the awesome-find thrift store boots pre-studding:



And here's a pic of what I wore that day:


Pants, H&M, via T.Ruxpin. . .
Shirt, Target
Boots, thrift store

Pictures of studded boots will be forthcoming. . .

Epic Nights and Spikes

So, in the interest of making my life in NYC seem much more interesting than it actually is, here's last Friday night. A fun Xavier de Rosnay (Justice) and Busy P (Ed Banger) DJ set in the grand ballroom at Webster Hall:




Okay, enough creepy pictures of me.


The above is not a photo of me, obv. But in the corner you can see my outfit. . . which is I guess mildly self-indulgent. A dress I got on sale at Urban Outfitters that is Japanese silk screen painting inspired. Xavier was wearing Adidas too.


This is a photo of me talking to my friend Alice in the VIP booth above the stage. We sneaked backstage and it was fun, but actually quite crowded after awhile. I met some cool people and some random chick got naked and started dancing on that pole next to my head. She was from LA? hah. Oh, and I got to meet Xavier! I shook his hand and said I liked the show and then I ran off. Totally not awkward.


He doesn't even light his own cigarettes.

Anyway, these were all taken from party photo websites so thanks guys. Without you I wouldn't be able to see how drunk I looked the next day --although on this occasion I wasn't actually drunk, but merely sweaty and generally dishevelled.

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Also, I ordered some spikes and studs from, um, studsandspikes.com. Which is a nice website, I think. The prices are good and I haven't received my package yet but I hope to soon. I will be tricking out these vaguely motorcycle-ish polish thrift store boots, and maybe some sandals too. The possibilities are endless. I'm not a big punk fan but I'm going for more of a DIY 'Rodarte-lite' look.