The Gap hits Tokyo

The Gap has launched a new campaign for their 1969 denim line.  Their photo spreads feature real-life folks from around the globe wearing Gap denim, like this fellow in Nakameguro. Read more about The Gap's marketing campaign here.

Spartacus: two swords up

If you like blood, lust, passion, vengeance, swords, elaborate costumes, sex, British, Scottish, Aussie and Kiwi accents, dry humor, nudity, whips, togas, CGI, John Hannah and Lucy Lawless, then you will love Starz's original cable series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. It contains all of these things in spades. My husband and I don't always agree on what is entertaining, but Spartacus: Blood and Sand had us both hooked.  The second season of the series, called Spartacus: Vengeance, begins on Starz in January 2012.

Don't let the 3-inch platforms fool you.  John Hannah, as Quintus Batiatus (center), is one bad-ass Roman and Spartacus' biggest headache.

Young stars speak in Russian

Not for movie roles, but because THEY CAN while promoting their films in Russia.  Impressive!

Beep, beep! Bling, bling!

If I were a Japanese Lolita girl I'd totally slap this Hello Kitty license plate cover on my Nissan Versa.  Made by fashionblings on Etsy.

If I could vote one shoe off the island...

This is the fugly shoe that J. Crew keeps peddling as the hip sneaker for men who like to wear primary colors and no socks. No, this is the shoe your sinewy, gray-haired uncle wears when he runs on weekends. It's the sneaker the kid in khaki pants (hiked up to his armpits) wears as he taps out the beat during his Oboe solo. I think J. Crew shoppers who want to be sockless and casual should opt for leather boat shoes instead.

Wishes bloom in Little Tokyo

Naoko Ikeda, the owner of Blooming Art, has placed bamboo cuttings around her store in the shopping village of Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.  She invited passersby to write their wishes on slips and hang them on the bamboo branches. It appears that one Dwight Schrute has been shopping in Little Tokyo!

Read more about Blooming Art's trees and what people are wishing for in the L.A. Times.

Beastie Boys tee @ Urban Outfitters

Everything old is new again.  Shesh, shesh y'all.

Topics I've thought about, but never put on Ajumma's Pad

1) How dictators throughout history tend to have awesomely full heads of hair

2) What it's like to be an Asian woman with big boobs.  It freaks people out.  And I thought this photo was hilarious.

3) How I cannot tell actors Jeremy Piven (Entourage, Rush Hour 2) and Jon Favreau (Swingers, director of Iron Man and Elf) apart

Play that funky Vivaldi white boy

There are a thousand things I'd like to do in this lifetime, most of which I possess neither the talent or patience for. Learning accordion is near the top of that list.

Capybara says "Whassup California?"

As a guinea pig slave, I have mad love for their rodent-cousin the Capybara.  LAist reports that a wild Capybara has been spotted in central California.  Read the story.  Pic by Roberto Verza on Flickr

Update: It's true!  It's true!  Here are some photos of the Capybara in question via LA Times.

Dad + rice = ♥

 

Pic from Shaun in Korea

What's the deal with Jason Momoa?

I've been hearing the name Jason Momoa for a while.  I assumed he was a Pacific Islander college football player turned pro wrestler, turned hair model, turned actor.  I know he's taking over the role of Conan the Barbarian in an upcoming movie release.

Mention of Momoa passed without thought until I read his sage advice on how a man can release his inner barbarian.  He says, "I'd tell him to go on a trip solo. Get on a motorcycle, ride to the desert, drink beers, howl at the moon, and come back and ravage his woman and hold her like she should be held."  

I'm not even sure where to go with that.  (You can read more of Momoa's philosophies at I Need My Fix.)

According to the blogisphere, Momoa is 32 years-old. His father is Native Hawaiian and his mother is white with some Native American lineage.  Momoa was born on the island of Oahu, but raised by his mom in Iowa.  (I hope for his sake the part about Iowa is just a mistake on Wikipedia.)  Jason is 6'3".  He has fathered two children with his woman, Cosby Show actress and former wife of Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet.  Before becoming Conan, Jason starred in Baywatch, Stargate Atlantis, and Game of Thrones. The mention of hair modeling, football and pro wrestling fail to appear on his resume. Momoa is thrusting and slashing his way onto the silver screen as Conan the Big B on August 19, 2011.

 Via Just Jared

via The Berry

Via Cute Faces

A do-it-yourself renovation in the high desert

My eyeballs fell out of my head when I saw the home Edmund and Lizet renovated in Joshua Tree National Park, California.  The L.A. weekend warrriors purchased a run-down 1950s home in the desert and transformed it into an inviting retreat and rental for creative types.



Visit High Desert Homestead's rental site, here.

I believe in The Beatles

I sent this essay by 12 year-old Macklin Levine to two different friends this week, and both said they cried.  I did too.  If you love your dog, your dad or The Beatles, you'll be touched by Macklin's story featured on NPR's "This I Believe."

NPH ought to do H&K for free the way they resurrected his career



Though I loathed Harold and Kumar Go to Guantanamo Bay, I know I'll be seeing the 3rd installment of the franchise, A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas.  Photo via First Showing

"Dream House" is a nightmare for Daniel Craig

Dream House starring Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz looks very promising. The thriller opens on September 30, 2011.

Better late than never...

I've been saying for a while that Johnny Cupcakes ought to have an Asian man model their clothing.  They finally did it. Y'okay.  What am I going to complain about now?

Getting from Point A to B just got more fun

My new ride is a 2011 Tornado Red Volkswagen GTI.

Lady Gaga, Leo, Adam, You and I

Lady Gaga posed as a man for the cover for her latest single, "You and I."  I am pleasantly surprised how convincing Gaga looks as a male.  I get a Leo Romero mixed with Adam Goldberg vibe from her male persona.

 

Pro skateboarder Leo Romero +

Actor Adam Goldberg = 

Lady Gaga posing as a guy

Adam via Red Army Skeleton News. Leo via Emerica. 

Z is for Zombie

I'm more into ghosts than zombies.  In fact, the first season of the cable series The Walking Dead left me feeling like a corpse. But I figured The Walking Dead may be one of those shows that gets it rear in gear in its second season. How charming is Steven Yeun in this promo for season two from last month's Comic Con?

My top zombie films:

28 Days Later (2002)  Ironically humans are the most frightening part of this unsettling zombie piece by Danny Boyle.

REC (2002) Technically the zombies aren't dead in this Spanish film, but are infected with a virus that makes them act like violent flesh-eaters. Now I am creeped out by Barcelona apartments the same way The Grudge made me scared of Japanese houses.  Photo via Blood and Beer

Dead Snow (2009) Norwegians know zombies. And Nazis. And snow!  Photo from Dread Central

Raise your hand if you look like Rain

Most mornings when I leave the house I feel like this.

Or this.  (Whenever I put on glasses I instantly see Rain peering back at me.)

Frankly, I'd rather look like this.

Though my real dream is to look more like this.

Pics courtesy of Fat People of Color and No Good for Me

David kicks Volatile Organic Compounds to the curb

Ajumma's been without cable television for the entire summer.  David Bromstad has likely been pimping his Mythic color collections on HGTV for months.  I just learned about his low-odor, non-toxic paint line from a friend, and I think it's fabulous (and pretty).

See David's fab four collections at Mythic Paint.