Spool No. 72's Coyote Navajo Rug Clutch

Another fashion appropriation sent by my sister, this one from the clothing website Spool No. 72. From perusing their website, they seem to be along the lines of Anthropologie, bohemian/vintage chic with maybe a little more "ethnic" flair thrown in there. The clutch description reads:

An exclusive for Spool No. 72. Made from a vintage Navajo rug each of our hand crafted clutches are one of a kind. The Coyote is truly a piece of art and is crafted from a native wool blend rug. Substantial in size the Coyote is adorned in breaided elk leather and a vintage horse blanket pin. 

and then, the line below:

Native hand crafted in the US

So does that mean the rug is Native made? or the whole thing is made by a Native person? There isn't any other information on the site to point one way or the other. I also happened to notice that their logo has an arrow through it :

 

And, when you click on the homepage of the company, the header reads "Spool No. 72: Rustic Native Inspired Women's clothing," but there is no further mention in the body of the page, just on the little blue bar above the browser window.

So I did some clicking, and I found their blog here. Along the right side is an section labeled "Native Inspirations" where I found even more bags:

(more after the jump plus an article I found about the boutique)

"Indian Saddlebred Tote"

"Foothills Clutch"

"Indian Arrow Tote"

"Buck Indian Rug Clutch"

Interestingly, none of the other bags say "Native hand crafted in America." They do all mention that they are made from "vintage Indian rugs", however.

On the blog there was a link to a NW source article about the company. The article, which can be found here, is entitled "Try on the American West with looks from Spool No. 72". It says that their merchandise "captures the essence of authentic American style and takes it to another level." There we go with throwing around the "authenticity" again.The article also notes that the clutches/bags are made in-house.

Overall, I'm a little perplexed. There's a chance that they could be a Native-run company, which would make sense given they claim the clutch is "Native hand made", but there isn't any further information to confirm/deny this. I'll keep looking around and keep you posted.

NW source article: http://www.nwsource.com/shopping/fashion/try-spirit-american-west-looks-spool-no-72

Spool No. 72 website: http://host5.shoppepro.com/~spoolcom/

Spool No. 72 blog: http://spoolno72.blogspot.com/

(Thanks sees!)

James Cameron's ex-wife on 60 Minutes

60 Minutes is reporting on the lady movie director who made Hurt Locker for "a measly $11 million."

Measly, eh.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She shakes the camera around. How terribly original.

If the movie's any good, it's a fluke. This is from the director of Point Break and K-19: The Widowmaker.

Aanchal Embroidery Silk Saree

Photoshop art of Indian Model
posing in Silk Saree

WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND COLOURFUL HOLI

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

If I ever die of a heart attack, I hope it will be from playing my stereo too loud.
~ Anonymous

Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization.
~ Lincoln Steffens

I think the best pictures are often on the edges of any situation, I don't find photographing the situation nearly as interesting as photographing the edges.
~ William Albert Allard, "The Photographic Essay"

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.
~ Ansel Adams

Fan Videos

One interesting thing. Andrew Koenig appeared in a Batman fan video. It's short. About 8 minutes. Very well made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYHieJQKZd8

Would it have been more interesting if it had been less stylish? How would a comic book movie like this look if it were filmed in a cinema verite style? Like an episode of Cops.

Let's see Batman as if Werner Herzog directed. As if Pasoloni directed. As if Jim Jarmusch directed.

Well, of course, this Batman video was done for the filmmaker's own purposes. People have made fan videos simply as fans, or to show what they can do technically and artistically to promote themselves as directors. Like any other short film.

I watched one feature length fan film on You Tube. I don't know if I could find it again. It was Star Trek. It had some of the original cast in it---Lt Uhuru was in it. Maybe Walter Koenig----I can't remember.

It was pretty well-made. They obviously spent a fortune on it.

It was also obvious that the guy who made it was an Ayn Rand nut.

The movie starts with Lt Uhuru talking to some Vulcan intellectuals. She tells them they should get rid of their motto, "The good of the many outweighs the good of the few," because it leads to genocide.

It leads to genocide, eh? So Hitler was just trying to help as many people as he could.

The Vulcans admit that, yes, their motto leads to genocide. And Ayn Rand was the most rational "philosopher" in the universe and was not at all weird-looking. But they explain that they pretty much ignore their motto, so it's okay.

Later, the commander of a star ship introduces himself before a battle:

"I am Captain Galt of the star ship Liberty."

I'm surprised there wasn't some Ayn Rand thing that would prohibit you from wasting tens of thousands of dollars and years of work making a movie you wouldn't exactly own the rights to, that you couldn't legally distribute or make any money from.

On the other hand, if you make a science fiction movie costing, say, $50,000, what are your real odds of getting it into any sort of distribution? What hope do you have of making any money on it, or even making your money back?

At least with a fan video, people will watch it.

For that amount, you can make an original science fiction movie and disappoint viewers with how cheap it looks, or make a "fan film" and have them marveling at how much money you spent.

It does seem like, with a Star Trek fan film, that it would be more within the reach of the filmmaker to make it a fan film of the original series.

For costumes, men would need a red, blue, or sort of yellowish tee shirt and black pants. Women would need mini-dresses and matching underpants in the same colors. Special effects would be easier. The scripts should be built around some Freudian Oedipal confict.

I don't watch any of the new Star Trek shows. But I was forced to sit through one episode. Had Whoopie Goldberg in it. They had children running around the Enterprise, they didn't have a single Jiu-Jitsu fight and the captain didn't sleep with even a single alien.

The old show WAS better.

I need some help figuring this one out...

(via Failblog.org)

Anyone able to help me out with the language/context on this one? 

Original post on Failblog: http://failblog.org/2010/02/25/pedobear-sings-you-to-sleep/

Jennifer Lopez Biography

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez was born on July 24, 1970. Her parents came to New York from Ponce, Puerto Rico. Jennifer Lopez is the middle of three sisters.

Jennifer Lopez went on her first tour - around New York City with her dance class at the age of 7. At the age of 16 Jennifer got a little break with a bit part in the film ''My Little Girl'' (starring Mary Stuart Masterson).

Her first love was still dance, and when she read about a scholarship to a dance school in Manhattan, she went down and grabbed the opportunity. At this time she was taking a full time course load at Baruch, working in a law office and taking her dance classes. Eventually this would lead to a falling out with her mother, who didn't want Jennifer to pursue dance as a career. When her mother gave her the ever popular ''you live by my rules as long as you live under my roof'' speech Jennifer took that as her cue to break out on her own. Not having anywhere else to live, she took up residence in the building where she took her dance classes. A year and a half of auditioning with no success brought Jennifer to the verge of a breakdown. But salvation would come in the form of a tour that sent her dancing across Japan. Before this, she had auditioned to be a ''Fly Girl'' for the show ''In Living Color'' but she had been turned down.

Jennifer Lopez, on her way back from Japan, she received a call from ''In Living Color'' asking her to audition again. This time she made the cut and it was off to Hollywood. She didn't really enjoy her time on ''In Living Color'', as she longed for an acting career that would put her in the spotlight. Her first television job as an actress, on the Fox series ''South Central'' came her way because the producer of the show was married to one of the other fly girls, and he took notice of Jennifer during a special Fox aired about the Fly Girls. ''South Central'' only survived one season, but she quickly resurfaced on television screens appearing as ''Melinda Lopez'' first in the short lived ''Second Chances'' series, then ''Hotel Malibu.'' In 1995 she jumped onto the big screen in her first major role, opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson in ''Money Train.'' She would go on to work opposite such talents as Robin Williams and Jack Nicholson, but it was her work with Gregory Nava, who directed her in ''My Family, Mi Familia'' that would lead her to the role that would make her a star.

Jennifer Lopez was chosen to play Selena Quintanilla Perez, in the official biopic of the life of the fallen Tejano star. Taking part in the production of ''Selena'' would impact Jennifer's life in many ways. On the personal side, Jennifer's fiancéé, Ojani Noa, proposed to her at the wrap party for Selena. The couple had met in Miami while Jennifer was filming ''Blood And Wine'' with Jack Nicholson. Ojani, a Cuban immigrant, was an aspiring model working as a waiter at Gloria Estefan's restaurant, Larios On The Beach. They were married in Miami on February 22, 1997, after knowing each other less than a year. Jennifer's sudden rise to fame with the release of ''Selena'' the following month would put an excessive strain on the marriage, and the couple filed for divorce just a little over a year after they were married.

After news of the divorce made headlines, the gossip papers quickly had her romantically linked to the likes of rap impresario Sean ''Puffy'' Combs, Sony Music President Tommy Mottola and Salsa singer Marc Anthony. Jennifer herself remains tightlipped - and rightfully so - on the subject of her personal life (although she has recently admitted that she is in fact having a relationship with Puffy). Back on the professional level, her role as Karen Sisco in 1998's ''Out Of Sight'', opposite George Clooney, has brought her into the major leagues, making her the highest paying Latina actress in history.

Playing Selena also brought back Jennifer's interests in being the ''all around'' entertainer, and she decided to record a demo of her singing, completely in Spanish. After a bidding war among a number of record companies, Jennifer was signed to Sony Music's Work Group label. Her first CD, a pop album with a Latin flavor (although mostly in English) was released June 1, 1999. Working with the likes of Emilio Estefan, Rodney Jerkins and Sean ''Puffy'' Combs, the music world is buzzing that Jennifer is ''the next Gloria Estefan'' set to become the mainstream Latin crossover star Selena herself surely would have been, had she been given the chance. That early prediction seems accurate, as her first single, ''If You Had My Love'' shot to 1 on the Billboard chart, and has been certified platinum (one million sales).

source

Have you ever seen a real Indian?: AICF's ad campaign

(image via http://www.americanindiancollegefund.org)

For some reason, this week has offered me a host of examples of insensitivity and ignorance surrounding Indian identity and identity politics. I've gotten in intense arguments and conversations in classes, I've confronted a colleague who told me, to my face, that the reason the US and Canada were different in terms of policies towards their Indigenous peoples was because "Well, I mean, in the US our policy was just to kill all the Indians. That's why there aren't any left, and we don't have to deal with them." I also overheard a student with whom I was discussing my research tell his friend: "I was like, Okaaay Native American, just talk about how we OPPRESSED you and your PEOPLE!"

So when I was deciding what to post today, I remembered these ads from the American Indian College Fund, an organization that provides scholarships and assistance to tribal college students. They're a little old, and their new campaigns--entitled "If I stay on the rez" and "Think Indian" are equally awesome and can be found here, but I think that these offer a powerful perspective that is rarely seen in print media.

After the jump, more of the ads and more discussion.

Judge Bill Thorne, Pomo. Judge for the Utah court of appeals, President of the National Indian Justice Center, skier, soccer coach for 25 years.

Hattie Kaufmann, Nez Perce, National network news correspondent, emmy award-winning reporter, traditional beadwork artist, marathoner.

Jarrett Medicine Elk, Northern Cheyenne/Assiniboine, business major, student  counselor, peer tutor, illustrator, public and motivational speaker

Rick West, Cheyenne, Attorney, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, traditional powwow dancer (and I would add--Stanford Alum!)

There are also a few more on the AICF website. The whole campaign can be found here.

I love these. Every aspect, from the attention-grabbing headline that makes the viewer question their preconcieved notions about what a "Real Indian" looks like, to the captions that demonstrate the subjects academic and career success; but also highlight their community/cultural involvement, as well as hobbies and other identities. It directly confronts what most of mainstream America would expect of an "Indian"--these are strong Native men and women, and they don't need tipis or feathers to show it. It's amazing how something as simple as putting "soccer coach for 25 years" can completely turn a stereotype on its head.

In addition, if you look along the right edge of each photo, there is a fact about reservation life, tribal colleges, or Indian education, and a link for more information about the American Indian College Fund. 

The best part is, the ads aren't confined to Native outlets. These ads were (and the new ads are) featured in Sports Illustrated, Time, InStyle, the Delta Airlines magazine, Oprah magazine, NY Times magazines, and more. All major mainstream media outlets. That's awesome. 

So, in light of my identity challenges this week, I thought I would offer a counter-narrative (I love that term) to the stereotypes clearly held in the heads of many Americans. I only wish the images of Natives that most Americans see everyday were more like these, instead of the other images that dominate this blog.

Keep up the good work, American Indian College Fund! I am such a supporter.

American Indian College Fund website: http://www.collegefund.org/