photo by Alan Light

Available at Oak.

I was home visiting my parents a few weeks ago in the desert where they live, Kennewick, WA, part of the Tri-Cities- Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick. You might recognize the name from the Kennewick Man and even seen something that resembles it from an episode of “The Simpsons”-  Homer works at a plant similar to where the top secret Manhattan Project (where the A-bomb was assembled) was rooted in Hanford, a mere 20 minutes away.

I coerced my lovely cousin and part-time muse, 20 year old Alex Aaron, to let me take some flicks of her and answer some questions about living in what Forbes named “one of the best small places for business and careers”.

10 Best Things About Living in the Tri-Cities, WA
1. Target! The Go Collection (there is never a quarrel about that girl that just walked away with your size), basic closet staples for cheap, and you can pick up some groceries as well.
2. Thrift stores/antique stores. The stores we have are always well stocked with everyone else’s throw-away’s, the staff aren’t pretentious nor will overcharge.
3. Bigger cities such as Seattle, WA or Portland, Oregon are only 3&1/2-4 hours away. The drive is always beautiful, scenic, and mountainous. Orchards, vineyards, great American cookin’ “Mom and Pop” restaurants and historical sights line the way.
4. The Gorge in George, WA is also only about 3&1/2 hours and houses one of the most beautiful outdoor ampitheaters, especially when the sun sets. Sasquatch Festival rounds up the best indie/rock/punk/folk bands and artists yearly. (NIN and Jane’s Addiction this last year, sort of an odd touch mixed with Gogol Bordello, Kings of Leon, Santogold)…anyway, 35+bands, comedians and DJs for $250. Awesome. Other events held at the Gorge include various rappers and Warped Tour.
5. Hanford, Battel, Bechtel…the T.C. is immune to economic crunches because of the large flow of government funds. . Everyone uses their credit cards like there is no tomorrow! And the water may be contaminated with radioactive waste due to the plants…
6. www.washingtonwine.org
7. No need to parallel park! Whee! I abhor and dread the possibility that I may have to parallel park and I will drive farther to find a parking lot.
8. Also, there is no such thing as valet parking nor pay to park. Although, there are a lot of cops, they’re not very forgiving, and the cabs charge mucho dinero.
9. No need to worry about the fashion concious, or the seasons. Dress accordingly to the weather and wear whatever you want. The trash will keep drinking their beer, the rest will scowl because you stand out and the random kids will be your bff and ask you for a cigarette.
10. Thank GOD for iTunes because there are no record stores around here.

Last week a friend of mine asked if I could help round up some awesome people for a video shoot for Terry Lynn’s “Jamaican Girls”, directed by Nabil Elderkin, so I called in a handful of folks for the shoot on Monday. My friend Dianna Lunt who I worked with for a while at H.O.D. happened to be styling the shoot so it was awesome to be on set with her too. The production went down at the Charleston Bar on Bedford Ave in Williamsburg (not far from my house and office, so convenient!)

I’m a fan of Nabil’s work so I was psyched to help out. Nabil’s directed a couple videos for Kanye West (including his latest “Paranoid” featuring Rihanna), Seal, and K’naan. You can check some of them here: www.vimeo.com/nabilelderkin. He also photographs Kanye frequently and it turns out we’d met the week before at the men.style.com party hosted by ‘Ye through our mutual friend Willo.

Coincidentally, Red Stripe and The Fader are throwing a Terry Lynn party next week for her album release. You can listen and download her music here: www.thefader.com/redstripe/age_verification

Anyways, some friends came through to make the video hot :) Check out the pics.
___

L to R: Nichelle, Venus, Ruby, Hana, Myself, and Tisha “Boobies” Brown

Terry Lynn rocking the crochet chain jewels.
That piece was so heavy she had to bring in a stool between takes.

Tisha working the Worship Worthy floral body suit w/ Dianna’s vintage DKNY denim shorts.

Tisha, Hana rocking crochet shorts, and Hanna in RetroSUPERfuture shades.

Kim always makes it hot even with neon paint on her face.
That’s Neal/Teamworks’ Peace Leaf in the background.

Girl on the right was gorgeous… Especially rocking the Alexander Wang suede/leather moto jacket.

Director Nabil Elderkin got his hands dirty too.

Dianna with her awesome new short ‘do!

Keep your eyes peeled for the final video to be posted here soon!

1. Drake: So Far Gone Mixtape. Click on banner in right side bar.

2. DJ Soul’s Big L 5/30 Tribute Mix
Here’s what Soul has to say about his mix:
It’s been ten years since the rap game lost Lamont Coleman, better known to the rap world as Big L. At the time of his murder, it was rumored that Jay-Z had signed him to Roc-A-Fella Records and the two were forming a group named “The Wolfpack”. It was a tragedy to see L’s career cut short when he was on the verge of becoming the next big thing in hip-hop.

On Saturday, May 30th of this year (which would have been his 35th birthday), I dropped this mix to remind people how ill L was on the mic. A huge thank you goes out to Donald (Big L’s older brother) for allowing the project to happen! I also want to thank Lord Finesse, DJ Premier, Rich King & Bobitto for assisting with the mix.

Download the mix here: http://www.zshare.net/audio/60739968c4845d20/

BLOG LINK WITH TRACKLISTING click HERE.

3. Miike Snow. My new fave band!
“Animal” (Crookers Remix) is my fave:
Download singles HERE.

On July 26th. And, yes, I’m super psyched I had to make a short sampler for everyone!
Click here to see the event online.

Almost forgot to mention the concert is FREEEEEE!!!

Central Park Summer Stage

I bought one of these pairs of shoes, then saw the other pair at a different store and bought those! I returned the first pair.
Which pair do you think I ended up with?

left: Jeffrey Campbell
right: Office UK

Here are some randoms of how it all went down on Tuesday night for the Sunglass Hut x Claw Money event featuring Max Glazer, Nick Catchdubs, and Sean Paul. Cory Kennedy and the Arab Parrot were there to host!

Here’s one of Erin Magee (MadeMe) and Nicole (Nina Sky) at the SH store on 34th. Waiting…

Then Sean Paul finally showed up.

Officially for Sunglass Hut

Here’s Cory Kennedy on stage while Sean Paul performs

And of course… Cory said she “loves Worship Worthy!” I hooked her up with a bag of goodies. Cory, send me pics!

Killed time at the new Ace Hotel before the afterparty.

Ate a gazillion of these:

Bernadette and Adam G choppin’

After party for Federation Sound’s 10 Year Anniversary at Santos… Badda Badda Girls

and has been on frequent rotation since. Here’s the unplugged version.