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Fornarina::UrbanFashion

24 Jun

With the current ease of manipulation and then dissimulation of information came an over saturation of promotional information. This saturation comes in the form of flyers, emails, social network messages and groups. Every morning, i receive and invite to at least fourteen-teen or twenty seben heif new events on my facebook. I could chalk that off to my popularity and be happy about it (as the leo side of me wants to) but i have to be honest and think that this is a little over the top. With this being said, every once in a while, i encounter an event invite that is really worth while. A friend of mine i met out in Paris, someone whose actual name was very elusive to me, invited me to the FORnaRINA Urban FASHion Show.
Now, lets start with his name. When he was introduced to me, my friend Laura just said his name was Crazy, so i started thinking that was his name. then another called him paul. then his facebook said de. To this day i am not sure wat his name really is, but hes a cool cat either way.

Anyways. After the signup and printing of the tickets, i rushed out of class to meet MRint at the Carosel du Louvre to see what was really good with this fashion show. I mean, admittedly lame as i am, i had no idea who fornarina was or wat their brand was abt but they hooked me at urban fashion show. It seemed like the place i needed to be. As i rode the one train to the lourve, i had the usual pregame jitters. You know, when ur headed out, to meet a friend, go to a new club, hit a new party, you always get a lil nervous en route, wondering if its poppin schmackin, yankin. You kno. you worry if u will get in smoothly or if u will b subject to some form of hatred from the harbinger of Hate that is the bouncer community. (PS: i actually jocked some girl at the Glow concert for having a “I LOVE HATE” t, but really it would have been better if it was a i love hate from all but security. lol. Anyways. Again. As i pulled up, meaning, as i strolled over from the metro platform, i saw caught in a mixed emotional moment. I was struck but the extreme length of the line to get into the event. First, reassurance. Yes, i must be in the right spot. then anguish. Wat the fuck am i gonna do about this line? then, hope. Do i kno anybody in line ahead of me? then, sadness. I do but she is like three ppl ahead. Damn.
Once i finally got in the wait was worth the while, the hour while. There were hella (yea, hella) different rooms, a party room, a show room, a VIP drink for free room, a room with a giant pink dinosaur, a room with stupid amounts of pink bicycles… Really, it was like an adults playground. There was a dance floor (that heated up as the night went on), free heineken, all kinds of candy, and kettle corn. models doin interesting interpretive dance numbers telling stories of underwater kingdoms and stuff (yea, just a crazy as it sounds) and then to top it off, i get bumped dumb hard by security. Yea, i was just minding my business, watching the lil model show/story, and then some big ugly fake fabio ponytail mf nearly knocked me over. Im thinkin damn, again with the hate. But then all was put into perspective. I saw why space was being cleared. The bouncers had tried to subtly sneak Lindsay Lohan into the event. Two ppl away from me, following me around the world. I felt pretty good about wat i was doin with my life. Like the french say “La vie est BELLE”.

Life Retroed: Flamingo or is it Flamenco

16 Apr

Back back back, a couple of three seven weeks ago, when i went to Province, we had a very nice traditional Camargaise dinner of bull stew and traditional rice. I had some weird potato casserole. Apparently the french are new to this vegetarian thing so when i put that on my app for the trip they thought that meant i didnt eat cheese in the first course but that i did only in the second course. Pretty silly if u ask me. Sometimes its vegan, sometimes its veggie, sometimes its a lil meat sauce. They are all confused. Silly carnivores. Anyway, i found myself, hungry, staring at a bottle of wine NYU paid for and listening to a Flamenco band. This posed a linguistic problem for me because, being for the same sect as MRint. i didnt know wat language to speak to the Band members in. French? makes sense since we were in france. Spanish? Since we were listening to Spanish music, singing in spanish, that makes senses too. Or english, cause they knew i was american so they spoke to me in semi comprehensible english. Either way, wine, counselors a lil bit on, and spanish music make for a memorable night in the south of France.


N see, we saw some flamingos too… ha


(btw: mia got gigs)

Alotta Bull!

7 Apr

Like i said b4 in the PROvence post, we spent one glorious weekend down in the dirty dirty of France. While down there in the Camargue region, we were taught, ad nauseam, about their famous bulls. The region is known for its “toro sauvages”, which are free range bulls so to speak. They run around freely and are more gangly and scruffy then other bulls i have seen before in america and spain. A night of flamenco and bull stew (which meant a veggie meal of potato for me) rounded out day one of the trip. Wine flowing and spanish music rounding out a typical night in southern france. hmmm. if you are slightly confused, dont be alarmed, because i was just as confused. I was sitting in france, on a cultural visit, listening to flamenco and the macarena, and not knowing whether to speak spanish english or french to the lil band that was playing. Again, really weird stuff. But, after a couple bottles of wine for the table, some bull almost all around, it was a great night. The morning started off cold and windy, as we caught one of the 55 cold days in the region according to our host at the ranch, a nice weathered cowgirl who owned the place. While rollin hard on our tractor we were able to see where the toros roamed at the ranch Mas lou Rayas and how the cowkids (PC for cowboys and cowgirls) managed to heard these wild bulls. It was pretty interesting to see how they used one real OG bull with a bell to calm everyone down and serve as a leader for the others. But, ad nauseam does mean we had a little too much bull then we liked, as we were served stew again for lunch. Which also meant that i had a plate of rice for lunch, and more wine. But hey, isnt that wat school trips are abt, wine on an empty stomach


The aforementioned famous horses of the region are so wild and pack such a kick that the cowkids have to have a reinforced harness to keep them strapped on. like the trojan man said, stay strapped at all time for you protection.

¡Its ProVENCE not ProVINCE!

2 Apr

As i said before, I am a little bit behind right now. I think three weeks ago by now, i headed down to the south of france to Provence, more specifically to Nimes and Saintes Maries de la Mer in the Camargue region of France. If weird southern accents (yea they have the same funny stigma in france) or sunny days wasnt enough to draw you down to these quaint towns then the bulls and horses will. Apparently, Camargue is famous for their unique bulls, rodeo and their horses that turn white with age. So much so that Sarkozy (current and controversial new French President) came down during his campaign to the very ranch (Mas lou Rayas) that we visited. This entry can only cover the beginning of the trip, since it was bursting with fun times and cultural factoids. To start, we took the TGV or the Trein Grand Vitesse, which travels at abt 175 MPH to my knowledge. Either way its real fast. Made me a little dizzy. We got down there on a beautiful day, the type that is nearly impossible to come by in grey and gloomy and rainy and cold PAREE. That first day, we hit this crazy roman aqueduct called Pont du Gard. Its real nice, and they put it together without using mortar or concert. Some pretty crazy stuff in the words of the smart shop owner in Holland. Then we hit the Arenes, a roman coliseum that is supposed to be just a well preserved as its bigger counterpart in ROME (though, admittedly, i have never been to rome so i cannot compare). Learned of Romans and Gladiators in anticipation of a bull dinner and flamenco dancing… and anticipation that you will now participate in with a {TO BE CONTINUED}

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The Du0 back at it again, southern fried, taking it around the outside (get ur MACdre Game up)

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Failed attempt at kicking the stationary metal bull. sad, very sad, but amusing all the same.

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…. And success, though i cannot say thats how the Matadors would handle the situation.

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