Beach Sloth Doesn’t Suffer for Fashion

Every day I'm hustling.

                I don’t suffer for fashion. It suffers for me. Fashion remains one of the few things I haven’t discussed here at length. Perhaps it is because I’m a sloth and hang upside down most of the day. Sleeping doesn’t require really fancy clothes. Clothes are expensive. Money is better used for cushy headphones. No one needs to worry what I look like, as I have taken the ‘disheveled’ style and mastered the art form. 

                 Lookbook.nu offered a way of receiving feedback on my sweet style. As I perused the many people who had joined the online fashion diary, I thought “Seems chic”. Immediately I joined. Now I was part of something greater than myself. Now I could be surrounded by stylish people who didn’t look down on me. Perhaps I might learn something about this elusive group of people whose motivations and desires escape me. They might even help me out. 

                Last Saturday I hung out with fashion types. I wanted to understand what exactly made them tick. Apparently they had founded a boutique clothing line based out of New Jersey. Though I consider myself somewhat successful in my endeavors, I haven’t started a clothing line or even a company. A mere blogger, I don’t have a company to back me up.  Even more amazingly, they managed to get some coverage from a blog, NBC’s blog. Part of my brain thought about teaming up with some obscure direct TV channel to increase our popularity together.  

                All of them were better dressed than I was. Usually this happens to me. I tend to wear clothing I know I’ll be comfortable in when it rains. By telling me about this, I tried to ‘step up my game’ conversation wise. We discussed those things endemic among twenty-somethings: money, bands, vague goals for the future, a slight feeling of disappointment in everything, etc. That worked out.

                Now I am trying to learn their habits. I have a few head starts. Someone gave me this thing called a ‘comb’ I plan on using later on this year. More exotic gifts came including this strange thing you rub against your feet. That way, your feet are smooth. People have commented on my feet. Perhaps I missed my calling as a foot model, earning that sweet money cake. 

                Besides the joy of learning how to dress (a skill I think I will never quite ‘get’) I learn a more important skill: the ability to talk about it. This ability will allow me to look like I’m about to get all fashionable. People will look at me and say “That sloth knows what he’s talking about” as I speak to them with unkempt hair, a slight mumble and stubble which hides from my razor. Standing there as this delightfully honest mess who at least has finally cracked their secret code of language, if not exactly their sense of style. 

                I want to hug all the fashionistas out there, virtually. Let me know what a good look for a sloth is. Should I wear a suit and tie, or should I wear something more casual, more befitting of my species. Let me know, I want to make Lookbook proud. Send any full-length body pictures of sloths to: beachsloths@gmail.com. Thank you. 

MDMA Films: Bebe Zeva Premiere!

                Finally, it happened: Bebe Zeva came to New York City. Tao and Megan Lin had eagerly waited for this very week. All the kindness Bebe bestowed upon those young rapscallions could finally be reciprocated. New York prepared for her arrival by having some of the best weather it has had since October. So says the weather man, but I don’t always believe what he says. 

                The sun shone brightly on the fortuitous day of March 20, 2011. For on this day, everything changed. My faith in MDMA Films would be affirmed, despite the constant reminders of Tao and Megan Lin doing drugs together. Bebe Zeva’s documentary would be arriving, nay, premiering in my beloved Apple; the biggest Apple on the east coast (originally planted by Johnny Appleseed so many centuries ago, when he arrived in America with the Vikings).

                Hurriedly I got on the subway to see this film for myself. Sitting across from me was some bland couple, a boring couple. Together this couple inspired countless numbers of Americans to avoid relationships for fears of seeming sad and disappointed. These two talked about the plague of “Tosh.0” or, how they referred to it as, ‘that funny show’. I sat in my seat; mortified fans of the show not only existed in real life, but were in my very subway car. So many things popped into my head to tell them, all of them positively profane and vulgar. I wanted to dissect the premise of that vile, rotten, pathetic, egregious error of a show to these not-so-fine individuals. I’m a reasonable sloth though.  Instead, I looked up and waited for my stop. Better things were coming my way.

                 Bebe, in case you missed my previous posts, is fashion blogger from Nevada. Unlike most bloggers, she actually knows what she’s talking about, a doubling refreshing prospect in this mega-blog universe. You can visit her site here. In the documentary, she spends a day with Tao and Megan as they explore Las Vegas together. The documentary is funny since they are such low-key people in a city as silly as Las Vegas. 

                All of them had a blast in the big city. According to various online photographs, they explored parts of Brooklyn. Parts of Brooklyn I actually know and visit, though I didn’t bump into them. I was busy with this excellent bakery in Greenpoint which had the best poppy seed bread I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. Literally, tears rolling down my face good. 

                I approached the Soho House with something approaching caution. Some of the people in this building I had written about on here. I breathed deeply. Perhaps after this I might end up no longer being able to write about them again. Would seeing them and meeting them forever change my perception of them. Part of me wanted to remain hidden, away from view in the comfortable confines of the internet. I could support them from afar, offering auxiliary support. Maybe that would be easier than interacting in real life with people whose work I admired. 

                To learn more about Bebe Zeva, please purchase her DVD out now on the fine MDMA Films. It is wonderful. Support a wonderful Fashion blogger. Support the fantastic Tao and Megan Lin. Have a great day.

MDMA Films: Bebe Zeva Preview 2

               Usually a movie doesn’t get a second trailer. The first one ought to be enough. MDMA Films is no ordinary company. How many film companies decide an entire movie will feature the actors doing drugs the entire time, real drugs, not faking some response. I’ll tell you: precious few. Actors wait until after the filming has ended before acting in such a manner. Just ask Charlie Sheen, ask him how hot that’s working out for him.

                Bebe Zeva comes out March 20^th, 2011. Tao and Megan Lin tend to every one of Bebe’s needs, and not needs. Feeding her ice cream, using positive re-enforcement when she does a good job, it seems they are getting in touch with their kind selves. Playlists apparently seem to be a specialty of hers, a gift not all people are granted. I’m glad they came out with this second trailer, which upon first viewing seems pointless (names of people are tightly edited together) but actually makes quite a bit of sense.

                Names pass by, whirling in your mind. References are edited to become only references, perhaps a nod to our culture of constant referencing of other pieces of information. Sure, this did exist before the internet, like political satire, but I feel a lot of information has become ‘ghetto-ized’ meaning people can better and more effectively live inside their own interests with no interaction whatsoever of anything else. For examples, just see how writers cater to a particular crowd, TV caters to a crowd, and music you can hide yourself away in forever. Though I am partial to Tao Lin's work, so I guess I do this to some degree.

Writers are mentioned besides Tao, Travis McFarland in particular. Carles of Hipster Runoff is mentioned multiple times. Whether or not this is deliberate or a conscious decision on her part is unclear. Editing it in that way shows how she originally started her online career at his infinitely ironic website. 

                Honestly, I get the impression Bebe would’ve been internet famous no matter who she met first, whether it was Carles or some other, possibly nicer blogger. Tao appear to be a far kinder person towards her than Hipster Runoff’s master ever was. Even though Carles is funny and provides occasional insight, keep in mind writers aren’t all kind. William S. Burroughs shot his wife in the head and neglected his son. Despite his failings, he managed to produce some fantastic work. Clearly Carles isn’t this bad, but his treatment of those he features on his blog show a certain callous mean streak. He wants you to ‘get vulnerable’ with him since that’s the easiest way he can break you down. Tao, on the other hand, is the natural friend of Bebe helping her along by doing legitimate work on her documentary. Critics of Tao’s books state his writing allows for a reader’s interpretation, it doesn’t enforce a particular emotion or way it wants you to feel. MDMA Films works in this interpretative vein. 

                All of MDMA Film’s other films lack multiple trailers. Watching this kind of trailer, with all its references, shows off exactly a specific type of culture. Each mention suggests a particular kind of haute indie taste, the kind that I obviously am more than partial to, I embrace it. References take up a larger and larger portion of our lives, allowing for people to sort of create their own universe where they can interact with others.                

                I’m not sure how many more trailers these guys are going to put out for Bebe. However many they are, they are worth it. She deserves it.

MDMA Films: Bebe Zeva Preview

                A teaser trailer came out today showing off the relationship between Tao Lin and Bebe Zeva. I’ll be honest; I found some of the earlier video trailers to be nothing more than valentines Tao and Megan made together. With this particular outing, Tao’s discovered a little thing called “Editing”. Usually the previews for most of this stuff appear to be random scenes taken at random. Here he has it formatted in such a way that people might actually want to ‘see’ it.

                I’ll be honest: from the first time I mentioned Tao Lin on here, he’s grown on me. When you first encounter his zany weirdness, you wonder “Is this guy serious? Is it all a ruse?” The more you encounter him, read his books, watch his ‘movies’ the more those answers don’t matter. Basically, you get the impression from this trailer that he and Bebe are good friends. Despite their obvious age differences, they seem to be peas in a pod regarding temperament at least. Seeing them together, their sense of humor meshes well, and they do approach something verging on wit. 

                Megan is in the background for this trailer. Rather than being someone to throw a damp, wet towel on, she is in the background. Maybe their idea is to adopt Bebe, forming an unstoppable trio of zaniness. I can’t even think of how much money they’d get from their parents if they adopted someone, particularly if they don’t actually need to provide her with anything, since she already has parents. I only put this idea out there since Tao’s been trolling his own Though Catalog pieces, asking for somebody to loan him $5000. For a brief moment, I almost offered a $5,000 loan to him, but I decided against it since I’d have to reveal my true identity which he could sell for an additional $12. Didn’t want to risk it, I will need a lot more than that very shortly anyway.

                Watching it, it looks focused. Probably this is the most focused effort I’ve seen from the MDMA films. It has a point, to explore Bebe’s psyche and reveal her innermost thoughts, like how many twitter followers a toothbrush or public toilet seat might have. You know; the really important, core of my existence type of stuff. 

                Perhaps I’m the audience for this: it sure can meander (MDMA films have that as a principle I guess) but it is definitely their most appealing outing. Everything, even the inventions (like how they pretend she’s homeless) is funny. I enjoy things where there’s no concrete plot or organized structure. It appears to have been fairly well-edited and if you’re fond of Bebe or Tao (and many people are fans of both) it offers you something great.

                The biggest selling point is how it may attract new followers to Bebe. Honestly, there was a lot of ambivalence about who was cooler: Bebe or Project Girl on the hit blog Hipster Runoff. Now the two seem to be working together. And if you didn’t like Bebe before, either finding her too haughty or self-aware, this is a good place to realize why she became the model for Hipster Runoff. She seems actually really nice in this, like a person you’d want to be friends with. 

                Easily this is the best MDMA films trailer ever. One might be tempted to buy it for reasons other than Tao Lin/Megan Boyle charity and it is out now. Perhaps I judged the project wrong; this little glimpse is making me almost re-consider my original harsh assessment of their idea. I’ll have more of an open mind for their future previews. 

                In closing:

                “You’re the cutest homeless girl I have ever met in my life.”

Breaking News: Bebe Zeva’s first feature film.

MDMA films is a film production company founded by Tao Lin and Megan Boyle. Up to this point, they had focused exclusively on themselves wandering about ingesting drugs. Usually done in one take, they offer two opportunities, one for you the viewer and the other for the production team. As a viewer, you get to learn and discover who Megan Boyle is, because I never heard of her before. Besides this obvious benefit (she is genetically pre-disposed to being adorable, a condition that she shares with Tao Lin) you learn about how writers act when on a various controlled substance. They earn the sweet money cake, and have started to do so with huge sums of money they procured from the Wall Street Journal (choosing a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch and increases readership, brilliant!).

                Today all of that changed. Bebe Zeva’s documentary is due out on January 11^th, 2011. For those of you not in the know, Bebe was the first Hipster Runoff girl. She wooed Carles and he responded in kind by writing articles professing how much he cared about her. While the attention she received wasn’t universally positive (some called her ‘entry-level’) it gave her the confidence needed to propel her into the blogosphere, where she currently lives.

                Now she maintains a tumblr and twitter presence. Her main focus appears to be fashion and music, and she’s been interviewed countless times over the internet. Now, by having her documentary, she can be propelled into the ‘real-life-o-sphere’. In this area, normal people may learn about her, besides those living on the bleeding edge of internet hipster culture.

                However, Tao Lin’s decision to do this may have unintended consequences. Sure, Bebe is definitely AN HRO girl, but she isn’t the only one anymore. Carles in his infinite wisdom sought new members to enhance his online brand. Now the clever and delightful Catholic School girl (riding the Catholic School wave) Allie Teilz has become a permanent fixture on the HRO circuit, in fact garnering more attention from Carles as of late. So maybe Tao Lin ought to do a documentary on Allie as well in order to remain impartial on the Bebe/Allie debate raging throughout the HRO community.

                Both of them should have their own specific documentaries on the MDMA films project. Why not? Tao and Megan appear to desperately need money, since those drugs they enthusiastically consume do not come for free. Having additional offerings to the public would not only expose Tao Lin’s work, but HRO’s work in the online hipster scene. All of these things could be easily tied together. Failing to do so may cause friction between some of the most influential figures Generation Y has produced as of now. 

                Probably the film I would most want to purchase would be the “Snacks the Cat” documentary. Carles had her crowned as the winner of the Halloween contest, yet painfully little is known about this person. Lacking any sort of online presence, she exists in that strange bizarre place known as real life. Without a tumblr or even a mere twitter, she has captivated the audience on HRO. Is she even a real person? All we know is that she is from Idaho and very meme-able. Using inferred logic, we can only conclude that she may be Mormon, since Mormons are very meme-able (via ‘Big Love’, Mitt Romney, not drinking caffeine, etc.). Her documentary would focus on how she grew up on a small cabin, pulling potatoes out of the ground and learning how to make a mean potato chip. 

                I like all three of these internet personalities and want all of them to expand their personal brand. I want all three of these people to come together, like how those transformers combined into one giant robot, to overtake the entire meme-i-verse. Certainly I hope they become BFFs in both internet and even real life. But my important question to you is what team are you on? In the space below, please choose your favorite:

1.       Team Zeva 

2.       Team Teilz

3.       Or the third party candidate, Team Snacks the Cat (She lacks the following/financial clout of the other two, hence she’s the third party.)

4.       All of the above (via the ‘not rocking the boat’ strategy)