It's not only an end of the year list, it's a contest! Send me your choices for best songs of 2006 and I'll compile all of the songs into a giant mix CD. The first 10 to reply will get a copy. You can send in as little as five songs or as many as 100, just make sure they were really released in 2006 - no exceptions. Email me your address for a CD and post your picks in the comments. Here's my list to get you going. I've left off Justin Timberlake and TV On The Radio on purpose in hope to lure you in.

Pudgy Girl's Best Songs of 2006 (in no particular order)

1. "Just A Thought" Gnarls Barkley - Everybody's got "Crazy" on their lists, but this song brought the tent down at Coachella 2006.
2. "Hips Don't Lie" Shakira w/ Wyclef Jean. - Guilty pleasure? Maybe. Gets the ladies shaking? Definitely.
3. "Gold Lion" Yeah Yeah Yeahs - I love gold. I love lions. I love love this song.
4. "Munich" Editors - Best free download of the week from iTunes.
5. "Love Me Or Hate Me" Lady Sovereign - I see many more kick-ass albums in this girl's future.
6. "Like A Pen" The Knife - Also my favorite music video of '06.
7. "LDN" Lilly Allen - Her UK record finally hit stateside. If you don't own it, you should get it now.
8. "Naive" The Kooks - Lilly Allen does a righteous cover of this song on the above-mentioned single.
9. "Little Lover's So Polite" Silversun Pickups - These guys are great and not just because we shop at the same liquor store.
10. "Living Proof" Cat Power - Is The Greatest Cat's greatest album? Probably. This song actually got her off her piano bench.
11. "Beecharmer" Nellie McKay w/ Cyndi Lauper - Nellie's sophomore album is just as long as the first and has just as much charm. I had a hard time picking just one track, but Cyndi Lauper's return deserves the props.
12. "Low Life" Scanners - I could sing along to this in my car five times in a row and I have.
13. "Handle with Care" Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Again, hard to pick one track, but it's my favorite cover song of the year.
14. "Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken" Camera Obscura - Also been on steady rotation all year long.
15. "Standing In The Way of Control" The Gossip - Is this list beginning to sound like an episode of Grey's Anatomy? Ok, now it is.
16. "Incinerate" Sonic Youth - Give it up for the new classics.
17. "Fidelity" Regina Spektor - This title track plus "Hotel Song" plus "On The Radio" might make this my favorite album of '06.
18. "Promiscuous" Nelly Furtado - Guilty pleasure for sure but everything Timbaland touches turns to gold.

Too obvious? You don't have to write an explanation, but I wanna know what you liked this year. Get listening!

Labels: DIY, music

And to all a good night.


May you get everything you wished for this year.

Labels: random

Jeffrey, the Project Runway winnin' punk rawkin ex-addict, shopping at Trader Joe's on Hyperion. In Silver Lake of course.

Labels: celeb sighting

Spike Lee will be on hand at Borders in Westwood tonight to sign copies of his newly released DVD When The Levees Broke. I gotta say, this is one of the most important, and unique documentaries to come out this year. It raises and answers so many questions left after the Hurricane Katrina disaster. For those of you unable to see it on HBO when it aired earlier this year, now is your chance. It doesn't heal any wounds. In fact, watching it may open new ones, but it is worth it and never more relevant.

Wednesday, Dec. 20
7:30pm
Spike Lee in-store appearance
Borders bookstore
1360 Westwood Blvd
310.475.3444

Labels: events, film, reviews

American Apparel founder Dov Charney is $350 million richer today thanks to the completion of his company's sale to Endeavor Acquisitions Corporation (a smallish investment firm). Charney will still be CEO of the friendly-sweat-shop, moustache-sleazin', panty-flauntin' company. But I guess the extra cash will leave him more time to flirt with barely legal employees and return to his first love: crotch photography.
According to NPR this morning, AA will still operate out of its one LA warehouse with no plans to expand and export labor. Right now they still pride themselves on paying their mainly immigrant staff twice the minimum wage. The staff can now also boast new Endeavor stock options.
Ho ho ho.


Buy an American Appalling 2007 calendar at Bingo's Craft Emporium, a lil' holiday boutique at 2201 Sunset Blvd. two doors down from Casbah Cafe.

Labels: newsworthy, shopping

Felt Club's craft fair last weekend was so much fun, I can't wait for another one. Fortunately, this Saturday is Bazaar Bizarre. Another alternative to the crafting and gifting world, there'll be plenty of unique handmade goods and even a clothes swap. Just bring a bag of clothes and $10 to exchange for as much as you can carry. Finally, that bag of stuff I couldn't sell at my yard sale will find a home and I can get all new junk.

Bazaar Bizarre & Swap O Rama Rama
Saturday, Dec. 16
11:00am - 7:00pm
Shrine Auditorium Expo Center
700 West 32nd Street
$2 at the door

Labels: design, DIY, events, shopping

Last week Universal Studios announced a $3 billion renovation plan. Along with the existing 158-hectare studio and theme park, Universal will add condos and more state of the art facilities to be completed in the next 25 years.

I’d like to take us all back to 1996 when Universal merged with Seagrams creating one of the richest corporate conglomerates of the time. Universal hired two funny unknowns, Matt Parker & Trey Stone, to shoot sketches for a Universal-Seagrams party celebrating the merger. They were given carte blanche with celebrities. (check out Steven Spielberg as the Jaws tour guide!) What better way to parody the Seagram’s merge than get Demi Moore, James Cameron and Sly Stallone in on the joke and re-create a 1950s instructional film? The star cameos are dated but the message remains the same: Everyone profits from corporate profit sharing! If it seems too gloomy, add a porcelain deer and drink a wine cooler!

"Your Studio And You" Part 1


"Your Studio And You" Part 2

Labels: newsworthy, videos

Haunting and beautiful. Kitschy and wonderful. Snowglobes may be more associated with tourist gifts than actual snow but Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz bring the holidays back to us in a unique way. They've been showing their exquisitely detailed snowglobes around the world for the last few years. They even had a diorama gallery in the Hollywood/Highland subway terminal in 2005. Enjoy the scenes below. If you're in Miami over the holidays the snowglobes will be on display at PULSE.

Labels: art, random

Gasp! Is it redundant or odd to critique a critique? Republish an article? This morning I read LA Weekly's cover story on the Silver Lake music scene, and while there isn't a lot of shocking information, it does a good job recognizing Silver Lake has always been a region, not a sound. The article deserves discussion. Plenty of artists have come out of here, defining themselves by their humble coffee shop/dive bar roots but there has never been one unifying movement or "sound" associated with it. Beck and Elliot Smith constantly defied expectations and genres unlike than say, the East Village scene in 1980s New York. And sure, you can always label the music, the people, even the brand of smokes they buy Hipster. But even that word has lost its meaning, gone the way of the Yippie it seems.
The Weekly gives props to local legends Autolux and Silversun Pickups as well as Hit Me Back, South Central teenagers with hardcore DIY know-how. The article outlines a history we all might not know. I was pleased to see attention paid to the Onyx Cafe, the coffee shop/performance space that used to be next to the Vista. How great would it be to see that reopen?

Labels: local, newsworthy, reviews

Felt Club's XL HOLIDAY this Saturday, Dec. 9 12:00-7:00pm. Handmade and crafty gifts fill the Ukranian cultural center for one whole day of fun. Support your local crafters. Enjoy plenty of vegetarian snacks, guest DJs and the editors from Make: and Craft: magazines will be there as well. Over 70 designers hawk their wares and mingle. First 250 in the door get swag bags. List of vendors and pictures of goodies in store for you here.

Felt Club presents XL Holiday Craft Fair
Saturday, Dec. 9 12-7:00pm
Ukranian Cultural Center
4315 Melrose (@ Heliotrope)
Parking lot on Vermont between Melrose & Monroe

Labels: design, DIY, events, shopping

Did you know LA has it's own Rockefeller Center? Okay, so the rink isn't that big and there's no 80 foot lit Christmas tree but the atmosphere at the downtown Pershing Square skating rink is just as festive. All winter long ('til the middle of January) the skating rink is open for business thanks to LA Parks & Rec. There will even be free concerts, outdoor movies, and lunchtime fun for all the downtown worker bees. Spaceland will host local bands on Thursday. Movies on Wednesday. Swing bands on Sunday. Disco cover bands on Fridays. Here's a schedule of the highlights:

12/7 Spaceland on Ice: Very Be Careful 9:00pm
12/14 Spaceland on Ice: The Submarines, Great Northern 7:00pm
12/20 Glide in Movies: It's A Wonderful Life 7:00pm
12/21 Spaceland on Ice: Los Abandoned 8:00pm
12/27 Glide in Movies: ET 7:00pm
12/28 Spaceland on Ice: Upground 8:00pm
1/4 Spaceland on Ice: Eskimohunter, Bodies of Water 7:00pm
1/11 Spaceland on Ice: Restaurant 9:00pm

$6 unlimited skating. $2 skates rental.
Ride the Metro and you're right there at the Pershing Square station and you get (1) free skate rental with your ticket. Otherwise convenient underground parking garage validates.

Labels: events, games, music

That's really what Saturday should go by now thanks to The Inaugural Irregular Tequila Tasting at Malo this Saturday night. Boasting to serve you the planet's top eight agave delights plus Malo's delicious tacos plus prizes and goody bags all for $30. And if that wasn't enough to ignite your hedonist fiesta, Pier Paolo Pasolini's Teorema will project in the background all night long. Grab a bar stool while you can still stand. Fiesta kicks off at 8:00pm.

Malo Restaurant & Cantina
4326 W. Sunset Blvd.
Silver Lake

Home James will be around to provide designated drivers for you too.

Labels: bars, events

Maverick Award Winner from Method Fest 2005 and Midnight Extreme Award from Spain 2006 doesn't read like your basic Sundance entry. That's because this is a movie starring actors with down syndrome from the mind of Crispin Hellion Glover.

Glover has gained a cult following since bursting on the scene as George McFly. When not donning the Thin Man persona from the Charlie's Angels movies can be found playing with rats in the Willard re-make, writing/illustrating books of the macabre, collecting antique medical equipment, attending the Church of Satan, and directing feature films.

Already in post-production on the sequel, Glover will attend all three screenings of "What Is It?" this weekend at the Egyptian Cinemateque conducting a Q&A and signing his books. Before the show will even be an hour-long slide show narrated by Glover of his illustrations and various creations.

Jane Ganahl from the San Francisco Examiner describes "What Is It?": "Scenes with naked women in elephant masks, Shirley Temple, Glover being lowered deus-ex-machina style into a Maxfield Parrish scene...It's like Fellini on psychedelics -- wildly creative but completely twisted."
Don't miss out. General Admission $18.

"What Is It?" & Crispin Hellion Glover's Big Slide Show
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Dec. 8-10
8:00pm
Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood
323.466.3456

Labels: events, film

I can't believe 5 days have gone by with no updates in sight. I'm as disappointed in myself as you must be. It just means I have work to do and graduate school to contemplate.

Dear friends of Libby's Vintage Home & Garden, I heard some sad news today. Owner Libby Simon will be closing shop and moving out of her beyond adorable store to pursue her art and landscaping career. By the end of the month, no more succulent displays, no more vintage hankies, no more antique lawn ornaments in Silver Lake. A frequent stop on my weekend stroll around Sunset Blvd. I will miss Libby's. To cheer us up she's having a holiday sale till the end of the month before she vacates. Vintage Christmas postcards make the best snail mail holiday items. Ornaments and handmade goodies abound there too. Libby will throw a holiday party for her friends and faithful shoppers this Friday night.

Libby's Vintage Home & Garden
3821 W. Sunset Blvd.
Silver Lake
323.663.2600

Holiday Reception Friday, Dec. 9
6:00 - 10:00pm

Labels: local, newsworthy, shopping

Kirstie Alley scouts the old Warner Lot in West Hollywood. Looking for her next Jenny Craig spot? Maybe. Woman looked tall, fierce & gorgeous rocking a white coat and thigh high white boots. Jenny Craig really does work I guess.

Labels: celeb sighting

This Saturday and Sunday marks the closing weekend of Takeshi Murata's strange and hypnotic video installation "Untitled (Silver)". Murata takes the 1960 Italian horror film, Mask of Satan and deconstructs it pixel by pixel with an original soundtrack by Robert Beatty and Ellen Mollé. Already a hit in San Francisco and New York the pixels swarm, morph and swirl before your very eyes with amazing affects. Art Forum described the experience as trippy and compared it to the Old Masters' melting paintings with the random computer connectedness of John Cage pieces.

"Untitled (Silver)" by Takeshi Murata
b&w single channel video on DVD
10 minutes
at The Machine Project
1200 D N. Alvarado
213-483-8761

Sat & Sun open 12 - 5pm

Labels: art, film, videos