one half of the smashing pumpkins

I also saw one half of my favorite band since the 8th grade, the Smashing Pumpkins. Now I hear you saying already "gee steph grow up already." But my reply is, "I've just always been very sophisticated. Not every 13 year old is attracted to 9 minute 70's style rock."

Having very restrictive parents, I was never really able to fulfill my middle school fantasy of seeing Mr.Corgan live with his original line up. I saw Zwan once, but it wasn't the same. In fact, the lights kind of cancelled out half my memories of that show. I think I had some type of seizure. But I digress, in 2008 I got to see Mr. Corgan and Mr. Chamberlain live.

I really enjoyed the cracks Billy C made at us for being old. I really did feel old. I stood for the majority of the concert, I was angry at the woman who was obviously on crystal who would periodically elbow my concert friend, and I was a little bit peeved at the couple who was making out in front of us.

I loved the opening where Billy came out wearing a big theatrical headpiece and a foofy dress. At first I thought it was part of the set, but no it was our personal, our ultimate, our court appointed heavy metal machine- Billy Corgan.

A Set List:

tarantula,
glow,
i am one,
mayonaise,
eye
the end is the begining is the end (watchmen trailer style, not batman and robbin)
a 10 min version of heavy metal machines
today
rosemart
stand inside your love
tonight tonight

and we only come out at night

Once upon a time:



We are all slaves to rock and roll.

New Year New You

You might have heard of the massive recession going on. This undoubtedly cuts into one's funds for the occasional spa excursion. I don't often go to the spa. But it's not out of the question to have the experience even in this economic climate. See the below "recipes" for masks etc that I plagiarized.

Coffee Body Scrub
What you need:
2 cups of coarsely ground coffee
½ cup raw sugar or sea salt
2 to 3 tablespoons of massage oil
Mix all of the ingredients together. Take a hot shower to moisten your skin and to open your pores. While in the shower, use wide circular motions to rub the coffee body scrub on your skin, making sure you use strong, even pressure. Shower off, pat your skin dry and apply a thin layer of your favorite body lotion.

Avocado Carrot Cream Mask: This mask helps rebuild skin collagen, improve tone and texture and fade age spots, thanks to vitamin E (found in avocados), the beta-carotene and antioxidants of carrots and the high calcium and protein of the cream.
What you need:
1 avocado, mashed
1 carrot, cooked and mashed
½ cup of heavy cream
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons of honey
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Spread the mask gently over your face and neck and leave on for 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse off with cool water.

Strawberry Hand and Foot Exfoliant: Get softer, smoother hands and feet, thanks to natural fruit acids that aid exfoliation.
What you need:
8 to 10 strawberries
2 tablespoons of apricot oil (or olive oil)
1 teaspoon of coarse salt (kosher salt or sea salt)
Mix together all the ingredients into a paste, massage into hands and feet, rinse off and pat dry.

Fruit Salad Body Mask: It sounds like a healthy smoothie for your skin – and it is! The pineapple contains bromelain, a protein-digestive enzyme, which helps rid skin of dead cells and dirt and acts as a mild astringent. Grapes are rich in procyanidolic oligomers (PCOs) that provide protection against harmful UV rays, and bananas are loaded with vitamins, calcium and nutrients that keep your skin smooth and soft. Kiwi is high in vitamin C, and honeydew is soothing and hydrating.
What you need:
2 slices of pineapple (rind removed)
½ medium honeydew melon (rind removed)
1 dozen green grapes
1 medium banana (peeled)
1 medium kiwi fruit (peeled)
Puree all the ingredients in a food processor (the mixture will be slightly lumpy). Refrigerate for one hour. Smooth onto your body and face, leaving it on for 30 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.

Find these and more great recipes at www.spaindex.com

Also check out BellaSugar's DIY section.

the hold steady

This month I went to the Hold Steady show with a friend from law school. I felt very angelino while going to a show on a weeknight and running around in/from the torrential downpour that occurred at the end of the show. Those of you who are familiar with the phenomenon, those in California can't drive or deal with the rain. It's one of the reasons why no one walks in L.A. it's the rain (or fear of the rain.)

I'd been very curious about the Hold Steady for some time now and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. RRS now stands for "Rebel Rock Steph" as friend from law school says. The Hold Steady is a band which gives you a healthy dose of rock rock rock. Our energetic front man, Craig Finn is like an ultra excited Elvis Costello.

I often do a little research before going to the show and this guy catches a little flack for being a little chubby. "Who really cares?" is my immediate reply. We've been loving that bald Billy Corgan and also chubby Frank Black for years. Get over it fourteen year olds.

One of my favorite songs, and a crowd favorite as well was called "Chips Ahoy"

911

In light of the recent Metrolink tragedy in Chatsworth California- I feel that an issue must be brought to light in the Bloggosphere. This issue is the hearing impaired, incompetent 911 operator.

Tonight on the Channel 4 11 o'clock news, they played a series of 911 calls from the trainwreck. In all instances, the 911 operator treated the call like a prank or had conversations that went something like this:

Caller: "It was a train versus train accident."
Operator: "Train?"
Caller: "Yes it was a train. The train hit another train. Oh my God people are bleeding and dying here"

or

Caller: "We are on a train in Northridge."
Operator: "Train?"
Caller: "Yes, a train in Northridge."
Operator: "Train?"

Does this seem insane to you? Are they hearing impaired? Are they really insensitive?

I once made a 911 call about a fire I saw by the side of the freeway next to some homes. The operator asked me 3 times which freeway I was traveling on and then didn't believe the direction that I was driving. 911 operator is an important job. I feel like there should be some minimum competency test. I mean there is one for document reviewers. . .

Anarchy PE

This month I travelled to Peru and survived the perilous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. It wasn't all that perilous, but it was a tough hike. After returning to the ancient Inca capital of Cusco, we observed the Inti Raymi festival where I learned that Peruvians love to flout authority. Observe, hundreds of Peruvians charge through police barricades down a steep hill (old Inca terraces) to see a cultural performance. It was an expensive ticket. Someone likened this move to watching concerts from a "Cheapskate Hill" near Cal.

Saqsaywaman Crowd from Noway Jose on Vimeo.

Pics include:

DJ AM

The past 30 days has been huge. i saw a 15 song Cure encore. i also saw dj am. now i thought it was all hype but he was an absolute genius on the tables at the live105 bfd this weekend. I mean who mixes oasis like this? amazing!


This clip was from the actual show.


This clip is not at the bfd but it exhibits significant skills

The best thing on TV: American Idol/Ben Stiller/Jack Black/Robert Downey Jr. Singing and Dancing

aesop rock

This is a pretty awesome video. they stopped playing it on indie 103.1 and i was sad.

tokidoki iSkin Vibes

ooooh yeah. tokidoki now sucks because they rejected me. but i still like their products. i feel so torn!

akiko clothing

so surprisingly enough I attended a sample sale. i was trying to go to the brewery art walk and was distracted by a sign saying some dresses were x % off. the dresses (and tops) were by akiko clothing, which is apparently expensive. i got my dresses for about 70% off the normal price. the inner cheap and chinese-ness emerged and I bought two (not depicted here.)

Interestingly enough, the majority of the pieces were made of a nice soft jersey material. it seems like all my clothes are made of soft jersey material so these dresses fit right in.

Glamorous Cat Wigs

Brought to you by www.gizmodo.com

This is a "Glamorous Cat Wig." Unlike the stereotype of unmarried women throughout the LA area, I do not own a cat. But if I had one I would definitely buy it a glamorous cat wig. I wonder what would stop the cat from chewing on the cat wig? The cat wig here reminds me of Gwen Stefani during the "Return of Saturn" era. HA! It'll have your cat wishing for a "Simple Kind of Life." (via halianka)

Further, what if your cat has an embarrassing comb over? Or what if your cat has cat pattern baldness? The cat wig is a viable option for those folically challenged.

Filigree Heart Locket Watch

Check out this product available at Urban Outfitters. This is girly enough to satisfy the February doldrums and a bit edgy surprisingly enough. Victoria Beckham would buy it if she only had $10.00 USD.

digital perms

to perm or not to perm . . . that is the question on this woman's mind. I mentioned to my friend that I had to cut out of his party early because i had to make the crucial decision about whether to perm my hair the next morning, and if so- which type of perm to get? It's a big decision. When he heard I was getting a perm he immediately was thinking "tight poodle perm" Those make me puke. The Japanese Digital Perm is now the only perm for me!

There are several Japanese perms on the market currently: the straight perm, the natural wave, and the digital perm. I will discuss each in turn.

The straight perm will do something like a j-lo effect (circa 2001) it makes it super straight without a straight iron. A couple of my friends have had this done and they have liked it.

The natural wave is a crunchy perm. It gives a big curl which is curlier wet than it is dry and requires product to retain its shape My thanks to "fashiontabulous" from whom i stole this picture. Your curls are defined and each one is very distinct. Each lock seems to curl independently giving a reasonable amount of volume even when your hair is "light" or thinned out by the cut that you get.

The digital perm is my new favorite. It's more expensive (of course) but it's so complicated and so perfect that it's worth it. There are a lot of steps to the perm, you get conditioned, you can get normal perm solution on your banges, the rest of your head is curled with very heavy curlers with a metal rod inside. The rod is plugged in to a cord, the cord is then plugged in to a perming contraption, the contraption needs its own power strip to avoid blowing a fuse. The curlers then heat up. I mean really hot! My salon uses a neoprene skin guard under each curler to avoid getting a steam burn (or electrocution) They were very careful to repeatedly tell me if I got hot I should tell them. This was scary! They then brought me a Coke with ice. The heat causes the perm solution to evaporate. Your stylist leaves it on for abut 20 min and then undoes the curls. You then look like Shirley Temple until they relax it. What you're left with is big loose curls that are visible just by using a hair dryer and twisting your hair in the right way. It's just like if you had spent an extra 30 min curling it with a barrel curler or a curling iron. A good example of the results is this picture. Not that everyone will look like Yu Yamada when you're done with the perm, but we can all hope.

London is the Home of the Brash Outrageous and Free