And now a message from DAN KOHLER, in which he explains the tenets of Yacht Punk. This is an initial exploration of the style and attitude, so more specifications may come with time.

MANIFEST-O — Let it be known that the following document marks the beginning of a MOVEMENT.

Item 1: the YACHT PUNK

The YACHT PUNK (heretofore denoted by the letter Y) is more than a person.  It is an ethos.

* the Y is all class
* the Y is subversive
* the Y wears his/her clothing in the classic cuts defined by (but not limited to) Ralph Lauren and Lacoste, and flaunts his/her individuality through the incorporation of non-traditional colours and trimmings

-the Y wears green suede boating shoes

* the Y owns more navy blazers than sweatshirts
* the Y is at home in clubs, be they “country” or “dance”
* the Y likes to cause trouble, so long as no one is hurt
* the Y is well traveled, knowing by heart the following cities: Paris, London, New York and Downtown Tokyo
* the Y hangs vintage maps on his/her walls, of places both familiar and exotic

-the Y does not distinguish for guests which locales are familiar to the Y and which are exotic

* the Y can be messy at times, but never dirty
* the Y reads over-sized magazines, many of which are difficult to find
* the Y judges, but does not vocalize
* the Y has seen more of the world than the United States
* the Y likes traditional American snack foods (nachos, pizza, chips, cookies) made with artisanal ingredients
* the Y enjoys a quiet filthy joke made in private at a classy event such as a ball or gala
* the Y is proud to have attended public school (rarely bringing up in conversation the numerous A.P. and college level classes taken during said public school career)
* the Y likes drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike) and is often aware of new bottled juices and waters before the masses
* the Y does not wear sports-wear outside of the gym

-the Y belongs to a local gym, not one of these fitness chains

* the Y enjoys the weather, so long as it does not interfere with the Y’s plans
* the Y picks his/her pumpkins at a farm, not a store
* the Y does not claim to like all types of music just to appear amiable

-the Y prefers music from Scandinavia

* the Y is good at packing
* the Y is a member of many fictitious bands
* the Y does not enjoy video games made after 1996
* the Y used to play chess
* the Y likes facial hair, but not too much
* the Y is best-represented in celeb culture by EZRA KOENIG of VAMPIRE WEEKEND (see: above photo)

IF YOU ARE A Y KNOW THIS:
YOU ARE NOT ALONE

WE ARE EVERYWHERE
WE JUST DON’T FLAUNT OUR PRESENCE

Y FOR LIFE

This is the sole worthy picture I took at Comic Con. Note the lack of crazies in costume. I was disappointed. There was a man who resembled Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons though, so that contented me. I guess all the attention given now to comic-based movies is sort of mainstreaming the Comic Con audience; I had no reason to be there other than for the movies.

This is just a snap of the crowd awaiting a panel discussion about Marvel comics. I don’t know why I was there. Dan said there might be noteworthy information that I could pitch to another magazine. This might have been the panel where I was expecting to hear if Thor—the transgender superhero—was going to be played by a man or a woman in the movie adaptation. Sadly that was not revealed. Dan led me astray! Astray I tell you! I did get to talk to the cutest nerd ever though (guy closest to the camera), who twittered the whole event with his left hand and held a recorder in his right hand. These people may be mainstream now, but they are serious.

I finally looked at some of the pictures I took while in Miami for the Panasonic seminar, and I was surprised to find that some of them turned out well. I’m getting better at understanding composition, and the little point-and-shoot cameras they gave us to walk around with did a fairly good job of capturing the colors of South Beach. The above picture is my favorite because I like the lines of the hotel and the palm tree.

As I don’t want to post too many pictures on the main page, click through to see additional photos from the trip.

(read on »)

Dan is known for taking the worst possible pictures of people. Mainly because he’s too preoccupied with being quirky and different. But these turned out OK maybe! I’m not saying I’d hire him to photograph my wedding, but if I were going to post used clothes on eBay, I’d totally let him take the pictures.

Dan gave me coaching for the bottom two. The first was me looking at something that went by me very quickly, and the second was me reacting to a chocolate bar that fell from my hands. This is good stuff. Note the discarded Chuck on the bottom left, as I took my new boat shoes for a spin.

Oh, hello. I got new shoes. They are bright green suede, as you can see. Also, they are boat shoes. Can you imagine?? Green suede boat shoes. I suspect however that they are completely useless on a boat because water is not friendly to suede. But really, why are boat shoes meant for boats anyway? They slide easily on wet surfaces.

Dan was with me when I bought these. He said they are so me because they are “yacht punk.” I agreed and said, I will start a new movement. He said, you are the movement.

Someone in the Popular Photography photo lab was kind enough to let me use a Nikon SLR camera this weekend (maybe a D90?), and since I didn’t come across nearly as many weirdos in costume at Comic Con as I had hoped, I convinced Dan to ham it up in Washington Square Park so I could mess around with it. As you can tell, it was really hard to get him to loosen up.

I think the pictures turned out pretty nice, considering I didn’t really know what I was doing. The triptych below is a thumbnail by the way; you can click on it to make it bigger.

Today I ponder: What does one wear to Nerdfest ’09, aka Comic Con? (I call it that out of love; nerds are my people.) Dan [a nerd] said I need to take my outfit seriously.

I could go the route of Indie-ish Reporter by wearing jeans, Chucks, and a button down; It would scream, “I’m just here to observe! Please keep your distance!” so I don’t have to. Or I could actually get into the Comic Con character by wearing wackadoo garb.

Since I don’t see myself showing up dressed as Thor (who Dan informed me is a superhero that underwent a sex change during the series and is thus rivaling The Disabler for Bridget’s most obvious hero incarnation), I figure I could try for the Enid-from-Ghost World (by way of Luella Bartley Spring 2008) look:

Note the tiny batman symbol on the cardigan. I think this may be a happy medium.

And with this post, it’s official: I should be reading comic books. This is almost like college where I knew every miniscule detail about the theater department, but had nothing to do with theater itself.

Amazing news! The Saucier’s blog has linked to POP Effect! This is a coup and a great honor, considering The Saucier’s is one of the most popular blogs among the Sakraida media network. Congrats to the staff (Jenny, occassionally; Ali, once; me, all the time).

I made a short film which depicts pretty much every conversation I have with Jackie lately. It is a tribute to friendship. (It may take a minute to load completely.)

Morgan has a nemesis! And she’s French, naturally. Capucine is an adorable little francaise (nicknamed Amelie Jr.) who spins magical stories about animals who lose their way (view her famed video here). Naturally Morgan is getting jealous, which means: It’s baby’s first rival!

So far the feud is thus: Capucine has been quoted as saying, “There was something going amiss because there was a crocodile who was sleeping in the grass and when you stepped on him, he would eat the babies.”

To which Morgan retorted: “Mamamamamamamamama.”

The fight may not progress very far until Morgan learns how to do more than wave at her toys and say Mama or Dada in a circuituous string.