Birds Is the Word

As most of you regular kids know, one of my most active (and favorite) clients is Birds Barbershop.  Lately I've been (happily) up to my ears in work due to their latest endeavor:  Birds on East 6th.  The third shop in 3 years just opened last Wednesday, our own Mrs. Erin photographed the new digs:

For those of you in Austin, the new shop is located just east of I-35, a stones throw from my new favorite bars, Shangri La, Rio Rita, and The Good Knight.

The interior design was a collaboration between co-owner, Michael Portman; local design fave, Joel Mozersky; and graphic designer, Bryan Keplesky.  PSST... Erin and I scored that blue bench while thrifting a couple of weeks ago, so I guess I got to play dress up as well.  And, yes, that is a Joust machine you see lurking in the corner.  

The red Eames shell chairs were a craigslist score, as were most of the shop's accessories.

Bryan Keplesky used images from around Austin's east side to piece together his awesome mural.  Austin Style Watch has a great write up (with photos!) about the mural creation.  Here's the short version:  The mural was printed in black and white on long strips of 36" wide paper and applied like wallpaper.  A second version of the mural was printed on long strips of 36" wide yellow paper that was then torn to pieces and wheat pasted in little bits over the first layer.

Bryan also created the mural at the first Birds Barbershop:

The boys then used a cherry picker and screen printed the mural directly onto the shop's wall:

et, voila:

Erin didn't take these pictures... but raise your hand if you think we should get her in there.

Just to prove my point that Bryan is a graphics genius, I'm going to veer off topic for a minute

Selected works from his portfolio, top row: Posters for author events at local book shop, Bookpeople; Bottom left: Allen Demling campaign fundraiser poster; bottom right: Gang of Four poster (I own this one but haven't found a home for it yet)

Bryan also did these early Birds promo posters:

Luckily for me, Bryan has a day job at local ad agency, Door Number 3, so I do all the graphics for Birds now.

Above is the space-invaders inspired second Birds location on Burnet Road.  Sorry, I don't have a good mural shot of this store, but it's real real pretty.

Incase you weren't inspired by the badass interiors, you may be interested to know that Birds throws down several times a year.  Above is my boyfriend Dizzee Rascal playing at Birds on Lamar during SXSW last year.  Here's what our lineup is looking like this year:

This year's show will take place at the new shop, you can see a larger version of the poster here.

If I still haven't won you over, what if I told you that every customer over 21 gets a free beer? 

photo by Cory Ryan

yes, they cut ladies hair, too, and do a mighty fine job.  Guys and gals can download a coupon for the new shop here.  (Did I mention that I do their marketing, too)

So, there you have it, now you dudes know where I'm spending my days, and nights, and weekends.  Not too shabby, huh?

Happy Ox-picious New Year!

Confession: I totally stole that pun from my friend (wo de Zhonguoren pengyou, for all y'all Zhongwen speakers) who's hosting a Chinese New Year party tonight, but considering that today marks the new year of the Ox, it seemed fitting. I mean the pun seemed fitting, not the theft. Stealing is wrong.

Whoo hoo, happy 4706! What's that you say? Did you just wake up after a 2+ millienia long nap in a cryo-chamber designed to float you through the worst of the economic recession? No, it's just the crazy Chinese calendar. Even though this year is not looking particularly bullish in market speak, that shouldn't stop you for partying your tail off. So, let's get busy planning, shall we?

First of all we're going to need some decorations:

I know you peeps are cuckoo for garlands, so these beauties from Pearl River are sure to please. We're going to need some lighting, too:

I love these pretty pretty red lanterns from  Photocello2006's awesome Flickr set. Red is the appropriate color for Chinese New Year because it symbolizes fire and is said to drive away bad luck. Sounds like Wall Street might need to raise a trillion red lanterns, right?

A few colorful options mixed in, like these lanterns from Pearl River, never hurt anything... just don't choose white for your new year festivities.

In Chinese culture, white is for a totally different special occasion...

You can't show up for a party is your ratty old white T, so this Empress Coat should help you dress to impress. It's only $950... that's not going to be a problem, is it?

Or you could always try out one of these fancy outfits. One of these things is not like the other, but I'm not sure which is most bizarre.

It may be safest to stick with these beautifully embroidered (and cheap!) shoes from Pearl River. I'm sure even your male guests would enjoy having a pair.

Without a doubt, the most important part of any party is da booze.

Let's face it, you can never, ever, have too much beer. Tsingtao will do in a pinch, although I prefer Harbin. And for a serious new year's party, you're going to need a selection of the harder stuff:

Since I lived in Hawaii for five years and outside of San Francisco for three, I've had ample opportunity to sample a wide range of Asian liquors (during the salad days before I got knocked up, sadly). I wish I could recommend a delicious Chinese brew (yi ping jiou hen hao), but I can't. So, even though it's not culturally appropriate, I am going to suggest you go with smooth 'n' tasty Onigoroshi sake. You gotta love "The Demon Slayer."

Although booze is invaluable in getting the party started, food will keep it from getting out of control.

You do like pig snout, chicken feet and jellied sea cucumber, don't you? Oh, alright. You can have some yummy Peking duck, sweet treats and delightful dumplings.

Maybe you're an ardent do-it-yourselfer and have grand plans of cooking Chinese dishes to bring to the party. Let me tell you from painful experience: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME (unless you are Jesse). Now, I'm not Julia Child but I am a moderately competent cook. However, a couple of nights ago my Chinese buddy and I attempted to cook Har Gau, aka those yummy shrimp dumplings you love to eat at dim sum.

Very bad things happened. No this picture is not a post apocalyptic wasteland, or a rock quarry. These are our uncooked freaking dumplings, finished after almost FOUR HOURS of rolling and kneading the most m%$*#@f%^ing horrible tapioca flour dough in the universe. The first dumplings BFF pinched together actually turned out ok, but as the dough got drier things fell apart. Gold star to little buddy in the top left corner who actually resembles a dumpling. Oh, and the filling was delicious.

It's possible that this might have helped. Or maybe even just a real rolling pin. But the Dumpling Dynasty kit has the added bonus of being ridiculously cute.

Do yourself a favor and order takeout (what we're doing after our disastrous failure) and serve your food and beverages in beautiful dishes, like these ceramics from Pearl River.

Finish out your dinner with some Chrysanthemum or Oolong tea served in this blue and white tea set on a tray to help contain drunken spills. Also from Pearl River.

After dinner the real celebrations begin. You're gonna need fireworks. Lots of fireworks.

But not these fakey fake "fireworks" for wussy decoration purposes only. Puhleeze, people. I'm talking FIREWORKS:

Yeah, like those. After you're finished snap, crackle and popping, your entire neighborhood should be wheezing from smoke in an (appreciative) asthmatic fit.

No Chinese New Year celebration is complete without a lucky lion dance. Once upon a time, long ago in a faraway land (about 5 years ago in Hawaii), when I was in kung fu I got to stand on my husband's shoulders and practice to be the lion head. It was killer because: I got to be 10 feet tall, no one wants to be the butt end of the lion, and did I mention that I got to stand on TOP of my husband? That's right.

Hey, you beezies didn't think this party was free, did you? Oh, and don't forget to bring a little extra $$$ for the lion. Unless you want to have a very crappy year.

You know when the party's over, it's crazy late, and all you want is to crawl into bed and worry about the dishes tomorrow, but there's still this one drunk asshole stumbling around your house yelling "Whoo hoooooo!" and you don't know how to get rid of her?

This ought to do the trick. Happy Chinese New Year!

Playmania

Remember when the holidays were fun and awesome and filled with toys? My brother and I were so freaking excited on Christmas Eve that we staged reconnaissance missions to determine the specific nature of our gifts piled high beneath the tree. One of us (not me) may or may not have gone a bit far by actually unwrapping said gifts and PEEKING beneath the wrapping paper. I'm sure my brother will be annoyed that I'm ratting him out, but dude -- dad totally knows! It doesn't take a forensics expert to recognize that grubby fingerprints on mangled tape = one excited little brother. In an effort to recapture that sweet feeling of childish anticipation I am showering you with good time gifts today. Couldn't we all use a little more fun in our lives?

How much better is a chocolate wrench than a metal one? A lot. Just try eating a metal wrench... gross! I'm not sure these would work on real nuts and bolts, but thankfully there are chocolate versions included in the set. Yes, chocolate nuts.

Speaking of yummy treats, who knew design could be so delicious? Check out this edible version of an iconic Eames house by chocolatier, Thomas Haas. You can even see the recipe here. By the way, how does one grow up to be a chocolatier? I feel like I missed my calling.

The design savvy would also enjoy unwrapping these designer dolls by Olivia Lee. Choose from Empress of Architecture: Zaha Hadid, King of Plastic: Karim Rashid, and Chief of Ceramic: Jaime Hayon. The dolls are supposed to caricature the designers' personalities while also evoking the styles of their products. All I know is I always thought that Jaime is a cute and cuddly little dollypants.

I bet these Baby Cubs by Insurgent Wilderness Gruppo would satisfy your deep, dark bloodlust for adorable animal misfits. Eyeballs on a spit and blood spattered polar bear cubs, oh my! These dolls may be for grown up children only.

Remember how much cooler Nintendo was before the Wii? Just kidding... sort of. Get back to really basic with a lego rendering of Duckhunt. I love this inanimate tableau of lego taxidermy because those stupid ducks were hard to hit, what with their zigging and zagging. Can you tell I was never a gamer? If you can't master Duckhunt, you're kind of a loser.

If you have some extra legos left over after playing games, why not try to be a real champion? Whosoever can duplicate this bust of Freddie Mercury shall be bestowed with the title of Lego Queen (you, too, dudes).

Check out what this guy did with some blocks -- made a space invaders cutting board! You can even buy a handmade version, which they repeatedly and vehemently warn is only hand washable. I have included an illustration to reinforce their point, and also to point out that homeboy has a Linux sign over his sink. Hubby would approve.

If you ever hoped and prayed to find a Red Ryder BB gun under the tree, maybe you'll find this upgrade even more alluring. Hellz yes, that is a My Little Pony AR-15 with a purple night vision scope. Lucky Care Bear body armor sold separately.

You remember in The Christmas Story when Ralphie gets that big pink floppy eared bunny suit and, despite his abject misery, actually has to wear it? Don't do that to your kids. Sure, you might think this pea green knitted Yoda hat is cute, but will they?

On the other hand, everyone wants a knitted digestive tract. Everyone.

You know what else everyone wants? This crazy cute Monster Skin Rug by Joshua Longo. You should take a look at some of his other toothsome, deranged creatures. I would have included them, but I decided this should be a special holiday family post. Except for the chocolate nuts.

The holidays are all about spreading the love, so don't forget to include your furry friends in the gift giving process. Perhaps your feline would enjoy a collapsable cardboard Cat Playhouse. Obviously Clint is lovin' every minute of it. Oh yeah. I think I would have some Christmas claw marks if I tried to shove my half feral little buddy down the hatch, but that's just me.

Are you feeling the holiday sprit now? Feel like playing a game? Tell me about some of your favorite holiday presents and adventures. I live for your witty and incisive comments. No, really, I do.