Costume Jewelry

Costume Jewelry
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

Okay, so I still like to play dress up. The necklace is fake-me-out but the diamonds in my ears are real and were a 21st birthday present from my grandmother, Anor Phillips.

Dieter und Das Machen

Dieter und Das Machen
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

This hat makes me think of L.L. Cool J for some reason.
Right after we took this pic Dieter said, "Und now vee dance" and we slipped into the Existential Two-Step followed by the Bauhaus Shuffle.

Old McTynan Had A Sword

Old McTynan Had A Sword
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

Did I have a good Fourth of July? Hells to the yeah! That's a flippin' sword ya'll!

Young Stag

Juvenile Stag
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

I'm becoming a pro at photographing these guys. I know better than to pull a Steve Irwin and try to poke it or wrastle it to the ground so I can give it a noogie in front of my camera crew. I'm pleased with the results of my passive photography.

Introducing the Band

Introducing the Band
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

This month's Arts Alive in Old Town Eureka coincided with the 4rth of July celebration. This folk band was awesome. The banjo player reminded me of the days when I had my own banjo. I wanted to start a band called "Folk You" with my friend Abbey Foster but alas, we sucked. At least someone made it through the awkard "I don't have anybody to play 'Dueling Banjos' with" period. That was what really killed it for me.

Whatever Works

I went to see Woody Allen's latest film the other night and I must say I'm heartened and happy with what I've seen.

It's not "Annie Hall" (nothing ever will be) but it does have a faint "Manhattan" aura to it (because of the much older man with the young girl)- only it lacks the black and white graininess and booming Gershwin intro paired with some of the city's landmark architecture.

It's a brave step back toward what he's good at: Projecting his own neurotic tendencies and personal foibles onto a character who obviously represents some part of himself.

The main character, Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David), spends most of the film spewing out disparaging remarks against the general populous for their ignorance (this includes his young chess pupils), he constantly reminds those around him that he is a genius, he makes vague references to String Theory and he has panic attacks on a regular basis.

I felt a compelling connection to the character, I'm not gonna lie.

In one of the opening scenes he comes wailing down the steps at his swank NYC apartment announcing to his wife that death, "is unacceptable."

He meets and eventually falls for a young Southern girl whose naivety and low-cut tops finally touch something compassionate in him that was hidden deep down.

His misanthropy is not abated but it takes on a certain comedic charm from this point.

I liked the movie and I would go see it again with an understanding friend. It has a happy ending and it's witty and it pokes fun at intellectuals.

What's not to love?

Have Bruise, Will Poke

I went to the doctor Monday because I either had a bug that's going around work or the fact that I subsisted off hippie trail mix in Yosemite had played me an evil trick.

No doctor can resist the urge to poke about on a patient's guts when presented with the opportunity. The more you wince, the harder they poke "in the name of medicine."

This particular doctor got a twofer in that he found a bruise on my right hip bone and immediately went into suspicious raptures.

"Where'd you get that bruise," he asked, giving me a hard poke directly in the heart of the bruise.

I winced in pain (to his delight) and explained that I had fallen in the Subway in NY and that my camera had slammed into my hip.

He wasn't convinced. I could tell he wanted me to break down into tears and fess up to having some abusive lover.

No lover, no abuse- unless you can blame an inanimate object for assault.

He told me I had the bug and sent me home for a day of rest. His decision was to let the thing run it's course and I can only assume that it was in hopes that I would get worse before getting better and then have to return to his office for another round of gut poking.

I'm better now. Slightly thinner, but definitely on the mend.

My Cannon Rebel XT and I are going to couples counseling and I think we are going to be okay- as long as it understands that violence is never the answer.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

The Misty Trail

The Misty Trail
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

We fought hill and heat and agressive gray squirrel to get here but the view was worth it.

The Girls of Yosemite

The Girls of Yosemite
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

Vanessa has tasty hair. It's strawberry lollypop flavored.

Nature: We Make It Look Good

Nature: We Make It Look Good
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

I spent the weekend in Yosemite with some girl friends. Fresh air makes us act like divas- the granola eating, green-friendly, leave-only-footprints kind.

Four Days in New York

Kelly and Central Park
Originally uploaded by kellymphillips.

I've just come back from NYC where I had all sorts of misadventures and cultural exchanges.

I met a rabbi on a plane, bought expensive panties from Sam Ronson's sisters, had a man walk in on me in a bathroom at a rooftop club and got a few compliments from people with good taste.

I saw the Metropolitan Museum of Art and walked 1/4 of the Brooklyn Bridge and I saw the actor Diedrich Bader walking through Central Park with his children.

I ate well and drank well and I was kept in a state of perpetual entertainment.

Holistic Ya'll

I went for a massage yesterday.

As I waited for my appointment to begin I started making mental notes about the difference between the East Coast Spas I had been to and the California flavored ones.

In Alabama, the Spas were dedicated to helping women escape from their oppressive, white upper-middle class existences and all the drudgery that comes with that lifestyle.

Until you have sat in a position of power on the Junior League AND juggled all four of your extremely talented childrens' piano, ballet and soccer practices and then STILL had to dress yourself for an important fundraiser to help save the spotted Snarfdoodle of Southern Zanzibar, then you cannot even begin to know how difficult life can get.

I challenge you to walk a mile in their high-heeled Stuart Weitzman shoes!

At the Alabama spas you can get a relaxing Swedish massage or have makeup permanently tattooed on your face or look into facial treatments that utilize rare creams consisting of bumble bee butt fuzz and duck billed platypus egg yolk. You'll feel years younger!

On the West Coast, we find a more holistic "earthy" approach to massages.

When one enters a place of massage here, one tends to find a collection of new age literature, magazines devoted to the sale of essential oils and a calendar of upcoming retreats that involve going out into the woods and weeping over fallen pine cones that have been ravaged by squirrels before they could become trees.

Sometimes there are also open invitations to fly to exotic destination for meditation purposes. (Because finding a quiet space in your own home to meditate can't beat the excitement of paying for airfare, hotels, meals and the $150 "users fee" to go and sit in someone else's quiet space and do it.)

I have also noticed that when various women are giving me a massage here, they will perform some elaborate sort of breathing exercise, exhaling long breaths that smell faintly of granola and green tea. It's kind of creepy but since they aren't big, burly men who look like they've just been sprung from a correctional facility, I let it pass.

Sometimes they will attempt to "unblock my chi" which leads me to wince painfully and think to myself; "Sweet-ten-pound-baby-Jesus-on-a-pogo-stick, that hurts!"

Evidence of my newly unblocked chi can later be seen in the form of small purple bruises that decorate my body at the site of the former blockage.

Viewing these marks might lead some to feel alarmed but I know that I only have to mention the words "blocked chi" in order to restore the smile to their faces.

So clearly, depending on who you are and what you are looking for, each coast of this marvelous Nation of ours has something special to offer in the "healing art of touch" department.

The Aussies Have It

I accidentally discovered Empire of the Sun when itunes offered "Walking on a Dream" as the free single of the week.

The video for this song shows two campy Australians parading around Shanghai. The duo is composed of Luke Steele (the one who pirated Bowie's "Labyrinth" wardrobe) and Nick Littlemore (the one who can't stop baring his chest.)

Nick and Luke belonged to other electropop groups but of the two, Nick's group "Pnau" caught my auditory fancy.

As is the case when you search videos on You Tube, other selections are recommended based on what you look for. Through this I found "Lover's Electric," another Aussie electropop duo.

Detecting a trend yet?

I found this great remix of their song "Honey" and the album art displayed with it was for a Ministry of Sound album so I ordered it from Amazon.com.

The album arrived yesterday, straight from Germany. It had a note written in French and was wrapped in a bag that was allegedly from Bucharest.

All I wanted to do was dig out my DJ headphones and lock myself in my room with it for hours. A quick scan of the triple disk collection revealed a simple fact: the song wasn't anywhere on them. Sigh.

Another Aussie fave is the group "Sneaky Sound System." I love the lead singer's voice and her vixen faces. One of the videos for the group has Luchadors in it.

Here's a list of my favorite tracks from the above-mentioned groups:

Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream
Walking on a Dream (Pierce Classic Mix)

Pnau - Hard Biscuit
Embrace ft Ladyhawk
Enuffs Enuff (Dirty Birthday Remix)

Lover's Electric - Honey (Sam La More Remix)

Sneaky Sound System - When We Were Young
I Want Everything
Pictures

The song "Hard Biscuit" reminds me of.....well, you know.