today i’ve been listening to summertime by jazzy jeff + the fresh prince, it was so nice out all day i wanted to skivvy off of work and rush off into the sun. i went out during the lunch hour to look at some old furniture my real estate agent thought i might be able to use – that shit was crazy useless but at least i got to walk around the busy breezy streets of shanghai with sunglasses and ipod blasting. are you sure it’s only tuesday? i’m ready for another weekend.

(the images above are courtesy of ffffound, which i check obsessively. if anyone knows how to gain membership, pls let me know ‘cos those fuckers won’t respond to my emails.)

dreams of a sex tourist?

deep breath, the work week has just begun all over again.

waiting for one last download at the office before flying away to a dinner. that i’m already late for. here’s a quickie post before the weekend kicks off. go go go gadget arms gadget legs gadget feet!

we all know there’s an economic crisis going on. the E.C., if you will (but don’t call it that). the world is crazier than ever though, and we all have needs, god dammit. here, for your viewing pleasure, are some of my favourite GO FUCK YOURSELF recession 2009 moments thus far:

COCA COLA launches a USD90million dollar technology & innovation center in shanghai, with plans to invest a further USD2billion over the course of the next three years. in tandem with this, coke makes USD2.4million takeover offer to domestic drink company huiyuan juice.

ASTON MARTIN unveils the limited edition ONE-77, which has a top speed of over 200 mph. only 77 have been made, and it’s a steal at 1.2 million fucking pounds. this makes me wanna puke.

SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL releases an admittedly awesome limited edition 24 carat gold plated bike, complete with a shitload of handset crystals. super limited, retails at USD102,418.60.

SOME DOUCHEBAG concepts the most expensive piece of art ever made (pictured above). it’s one billion fucking dollars, stacked on 12 standard pallets. that’s 100 million 100 dolla bills yo.

for a bit of local flavour, hotshot boutique design studio JELLYMON and streetwear shop THE SOURCE announce plans (respectively) to open second shops in our neighbouring town of beijing.

ELECTROLUX puts the €15,000 crystal ergoripado vacuum cleaner on the market, making it the most expensive vacuum cleaner in the world. the best part about it is that it’s eco-friendly (made from recycled parts!) but also has 3,730 swarovski crystals. yeah, fuck you economy!

switzerland’s ECAL (or more properly, the ecole cantonale d’art de lausanne), has launched a new full time, one year masters of luxury & desigh program, which hopes to arm students with the design skills and associated nous required by the luxury goods industry. as WALLPAPER* puts it nicely, “luxury goods groups need to get their design houses in order as the global economy goes all grapes of wrath on us”.

you know, i’m all for word fads, but this is starting to get ridiculous. am i the only one that’s been noticing the word ‘bespoke’ being excessively thrown around? according to COOLHUNTER.NET, bespoke is the new black. HYPEBEAST has a front page post featuring a nike air force 1 from nike’s bespoke program, and i’ve heard it about 50 times in the last week just wandering around in the office and in meetings. the latest issue of vanity fair has something on something that i assume is bespoke, and a copy of esquire i was recently leafing through had a FASCINATING article about ‘be smart, be sharp, bespoke’. oh barf.

a couple photos from my mobile phone: the flagship barbie store in shanghai, and a lovely lunchtime message brought to you by me. xo

someone pointed me in the direction of THIS BLOG today & now i can’t stop looking at these PHOTOS. they make me want to fly away!

also, how amazing is the new YEAH YEAH YEAHS album? call me fangirl, but i have always really really loved these guys, even if karen o seems to have totally ripped off my friend dandi wind. (i just looked on the dandi wind site, how weird is it that both of their latest albums have egg yolk in it? conspiracy oooh la?)

also, we watched SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK the other night. i think i need to watch it again, there were some really touching, beautiful moments and a sense of complete & overwhelming sadness but the film in its entirety was a bit lost on me. i read a review today that said “you’ll walk out of Charlie Kaufman’s new movie feeling like a drunk bodybuilder just went bumper bowling with your brain.”

ps. here is a very helpful video explaining how the fuck you’re supposed to pronounce “synecdoche”.

my dear friend C.L. MCLAUGHLIN has a really great band called the National Shield. i’ve known chris since i was nineteen and first getting settled into living on the west coast, he’s really one of my favourite people. i have so many good memories of all the ridiculous mischief we used to get up to, like the time we were walking home from a night out and went swimming in a fountain in downtown vancouver, or when there was a small fire that erupted and nearly burnt down his apartment due to completely irresponsible behaviour on both of our parts. i miss hanging out in his apartment with his two cats!

he recently moved to toronto, and i think he’s doing well. he sent me the download link to his latest album today, and i’ve been listening all day and really enjoying every single thing about it. the songs are beautifully arranged and sweet. DOWNLOAD THE FULL ALBUM HERE.

ps. the first photo i posted is from his facebook page and i have no idea where it came from. the second was taken the last time i was in vancouver, when he & his little friends played at hokos. that night made me feel like i was at prom.

+ the photos above are from the first week i visited china. they are from jilin province, the first is a sad little amusement park we came across that was completely deserted and in a terrible state, and the second is from changbai shan, which means PERPETUALLY WHITE MOUNTAIN. it was not white, but it was pretty breathtaking.

+ last week, i dreamt two nights in a row about a robot boy and girl who could only stay alive by holding hands and becoming power charged up. the robots weren’t in love with each other, but they were handed a cruel fate where one couldn’t survive without the other. they couldn’t be in a relationship with other people because no one would put up with their power needs. it was a really sad but sweet dream and very detailed.

+ have been making lots of mix cds lately, maybe we should swap one day? these are the latest two: here & here.