Meanwhile, in other parts of the world...

There are some pretty fun things happening out in the great, wide world today. Today's piece of fun can be found at a fashion show that is, surprisingly, in Salt Lake City. Not to imply that the SLC isn't a super hip place (I've never been, personally) I just wasn't expecting the level of awesome that I found there.

Today, at exactly 8pm - I would suggest arriving earlier to be polite - is the Sylvia Heisel Fusion fashion show featuring the dancers of SLC's Ballet West. Her collection will be on display as well as pieces created by local artists that are centered around pointe shoes. Some of the pieces are decorated shoes while others are mixed media, but all of them are quite different and rather stunning. I personally really enjoyed the stained glass shoes and the pretty metallic jeweled ones. Unfortunately both of these are sold because we all know that I have an extra $3600 just burning a hole in my pocket right now.

On the other side of things Ms. Heisel is quite the lucky and talented lady. She's been designing since basically forever and was kinda discovered by a Bendel's buyer who just so happened to see her in a homemade coat at a club. Maybe this should be my strategy. She likes mixing futuristic elements with vintage and raw silk materials with acid colors. She made a fabulous Kevlar dress in a rather startling yellow that was quite the hit and also designed for a period musical starring Madonna. (As a side note, I get to build garments for a period show in the fall - is anybody else as psyched as I am about this?)

Suffice it to say that I'm at home helping with the moving sale instead of at a fashion show, but hopefully our day will come. And now I must go back to work, yard sale people can get vicious. But updates on the Indiosyncracy clothing line are coming soon!

"The Train, The Train!"

Okay, team. Kate and I are doing some heavy-duty packing at home, so we're gonna use some older pictures of me to start out with the style posting. Sometimes I get bored and dress up all snazzy and then we go take pictures. These lovely photos were taken by our father, the amazing John Curry - photojournalist extraordinaire.

I suppose the point of this is to point out that you can, indeed, be all lovely on a thrifty budget. That is where thrift stores come in handy. The skirt is GAP ($5 at Agora), the hoodie Old Navy ($4 at Goodwill), the boots were a gift (thanks, Mom!), and the tights were like $2. The only thing about the outfit that cost anything substantial were the amazing knit fingerless gloves I am wearing - and wore pretty much all winter - and they cost me a whopping $12.

Next Friday we will start the actual scenester fashion analysis. We may find someone on the street that we think looks particularly rad, or we may snap a candid of something very unfortunate. Who knows?

Philosophy Manifests Itself as A Magical Tollbooth - Didn't You Know?

The first book to get props from the Indiosyncracy girls: The Phantom Tollbooth.

Written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer, this book tells the story of a young boy named Milo who, bored and apathetic, receives a mysterious package consisting of a toy tollbooth and a map. He hops into a toy car, begins his "game", and realizes quite quickly he's been transported to a land of mystery and information.

Translated into several languages, the book has been widely acknowledged as a rather sophisticated children's story, with a sweeping allegory and metaphor thought to whoosh right over the heads of its target demographic.

I, however, disagree. A child's mind is an open thing, absorbing any and everything it comes into contact with, and it is very often underestimated. Milo's quest for knowledge within the confines of the story is considered to be something very adult - however, the allegory provides an interesting outlet for the theme. I'd like to suggest that this journey toward wisdom is explained in such a colorful and simple manner that it may infiltrate the child reader's thought process, encouraging he or she to not only embrace the idea of attaining wisdom, but perhaps even changing the way the reader perceives the process of learning.

Probably too much exposition, I realize, for our first 'indie' book recommendation. Theme, literary devices, and allegory aside, The Phantom Tollbooth is a pretty amazing read. Kate and I both loved it as kids, and it hasn't lost any appeal to us as adults.

To leave you with one of my favorite exerpts from the book - one of many, I might add, but one that has the potential to speak to everyone:

"You're on the island of Conclusions."

"But how did we get here?" asked Milo.

"You jumped, of course," explained Canby. "That's the way most everyone gets here. It's really quite simple: every time you decide something without having a good reason, you jump to Conclusions whether you like it or not. It's such an easy trip to make that I've been here hundreds of times."

"But this is such an unpleasant looking place," Milo remarked.

"Yes, that's true," admitted Canby; "it does look much better from a distance."

Le film francaise du jour

Morning! Today we have a wonderful little film called "Paris, je t'aime." Broken up into eighteen short films by different directors, almost all of the twenty arrondissments of Paris are represented. The pieces follow, reveal, hide, study, imitate, and reinvent love. I admit, this is one of my favorite films - it's basically wonderful. Some parts are feel good, other parts make you wanna cry, and some bits are just hysterical. Some are in French, some in English, and one is mostly in Korean.

The directors and actors involved are rather star studded. Director wise, we have the Coen's, Gus Van Sant, Christopher Doyle, and Wes Craven just to name a few, while our casts include everyone from Maggie Gyllenhaal (who gets wickedly high) and Elijah Wood (starring in a fantastic pulp vampire sketch) to Nick Nolte, Natalie Portman, Marianne Faithfull, and a magical cowboy Willem Dafoe.

If you don't already own this film, I suggest you at least go out and rent it. The short the film ends with is beautiful enough to prompt tears. So I leave you with this trailer.

Huzzah for Art!

Today we shall talk about art.

Well, we won't talk about it very much, but we will will mention a local Athens artist that we feel deems mention. This artist is Joe Havasy.

If you live in Athens, you know who Joe Havasy is, or you've at least seen his art around. It usually depicts something cute, being eaten or destroyed by something scary. Or something cute eating or destroying something equally cute. Bunnies, puppies, kitties, alligators, very attractive girls... etc.

His art is an acquired taste. It is also amazing. He is the quintessential Athens. Check it out, check him out, buy his pieces - we support "the creative soul" and Joe Havasy is included in that category. We will be, in later posts, encouraging you to do the same thing with other artists. As always, please feel free to make suggestions of your own!

On a musically unrelated note...

This doesn't have much to do with the music theme of Mondays, but I made Liz into a dress form last night and she wanted the pictures posted. Now I can customize clothes for her when she's not even around! Good times. 

Unfortunately, since my dress form was made of a t-shirt, wax paper, plastic wrap, and duct tape, it got rather warm in there. I had to cut it off of her before she fainted, so it's still a work in progress. Hopefully I can get it finished without her having to get back in it - because I don't think she'd be willing.

First Ever Monday Morning Music Club!

Ok, so I lied a little - the music stuff most likely won't be posted in the morning. But it sounded nice, so there you have it.

For the first bit of music sharing with the world we have the incomparable Phantom Planet with their slice of brilliance "Do the Panic." Click that sucka to hear it!

This altern SoCal rock band dished out this PoppyFantastic little dance tune on their album Raise the Dead. Another track that I HIGHLY-HIGHLY-GoListenToItRightNow recommend from that album is "I Don't Mind." That was almost the song of the day, but the sister thought the other was a better representation of what we're trying to do here. (Read: it sounded more upbeat and she liked it.)

Unfortunately, Phantom Planet has been on an indefinite hiatus for a while now. This doesn't mean that they're broken up, but it sure does mean that we don't have any shows of theirs to go see. So if you find any of these kids walking the streets, let them know that they're missed.

I'd love to hear suggestions for next time. Thanks, team!

Hi, Team!

Hello and welcome!

This is our first post, and we are nervous. But since our audience is ... well, us, we can dispense with the hesitance and the pleasantries and get right down to the business of whatever it is we do here. Which is what we will be expounding upon. Hopefully.

Here are our plans: you shall receive a daily dose of indie brilliance that is categorized thusly.

Crazy Music Monday - we will select a song for your listening pleasure -- let us know if you enjoy it, think we suck, or have suggestions for the next week.

Art is Great Tuesday -- we will feature an artist, either local, web-based, or really well-known, depending on our mood and who impresses us. Send us yours, if you would like, or a link to your site or blog. If we like you, you rock!

Film Hooray Wednesday! -- obviously we pick a film, and rate it on a scale of one to ten Hoorays. This is not all we will talk about on Wednesdays, but it will be featured. Because we need a feature, and like movies.

Props to Reading Thursday -- this will be props to some kind of text, whether it be book, screenplay, pamphlet, or propaganda. You should read! It improves the vocabulary, and aids in developing that indie street cred we're all trying so hard to attain!

Look of the (Fri)Day -- we discuss (compliment and/or bash) 'hip' trends, complete with pictures. Some are quite flattering, while others are less than so. You know who you are. This can include clothes, hair, body art, make-up, and accessories.

It's Good to Be Here on Saturday -- fun things are going on in the world. The scenery is pretty, there are great parties, rock stars are everywhere, and good times are had by all. We are located, however, in the Georgia, so we will be pining together this day for things unseen and far from us. (Unless something amazing is happening in Athens, and then we will gloat.)

Hella-Cool Random Sunday -- and then, on the seventh day, we rested. We're gonna post something really neat (like a great brownie recipe, or the history of yoga, or the fact that armadillos can grow up to 5 feet long!) and you will like it. Promise.

Okay, so there you have it. Check back every day for something fun! Hopefully we can keep up with our daily posts. There are two of us, so we got this.

Love,

Elisabeth and Katie