Stanley Kubrick's Chicago

Check out this amazing series of photographs by young photojournalist Stanley Kubrick, hired to shoot Chicago in 1949.

In the Aisle

Loving these images by Chicago photographer Liza Berkhoff.

Year of the Rabbit

Since it's the Year of the Rabbit, and with Easter coming up and everything, I thought I'd make my own short list of favorite pop culture bunnies.There will be no Roger, Anna Faris, or Playboy love here. And while I do love me some Bugs, I was always more of a Road Runner gal. And sorry, Gummo was just too much for me.

1. Harvey: The 6'3.5" tall white rabbit who befriends social outcast Elwood (Jimmy Stewart) is a mischievous fairy fond of eccentrics, brought on by a few too many martinis. He is also a kind of spiritual godfather to Bianca the sex doll in Lars and the Real Girl. Thankfully Steven Spielberg is staying away from him.

2. Steve Martin's stand-up headgear: My favorite emblem of silly. I can just see the ears bouncing up and down while he plays a particularly rousing banjo number.

3. The rabbits of Lost: With all kinds of floating allusions to Alice in Wonderland, Watership Down and Of Mice and Men, the rabbits were everywhere. My favorite was number 8, used by Ben to play mind games with Sawyer. Mostly because I loved a good Sawyer-centric episode.

4. Frank: A creepier man-sized rabbit than Harvey, because, well, he's a harbinger of the apocalypse and whatnot. He's Harvey's evil twin. But that doesn't mean he's not a romantic.

Dynamite Dawn

This flickr set just made my day. (Thanks to Neato Coolville for the link.)

The Girl with the Most Cake

This morning found me daydreaming of an upcoming trip to my undergrad alma mater, excited to revisit my old haunts, even though the trip is weeks away. All the old pathways in my brain have opened and I'm back in the grunge era, when I was all cozy flannel and kinderwhore, eating tacos and hating life. I worked on our student newspaper when it was still paper, ripping out this cartoon of Courtney I was particularly fond of, back when she wore secondhand slips instead of couture. Nicely done J. Coats, wherever you are.

Zap!

A portrait of my old batgirl doll from the 70s. Apparently I played with her so much that her helmet, belt and boots are long gone. In a nice end to my week, she made Pop Candy's Action Figure Friday!

April Showers

Spring in Chicago is a real drag. The sky is grey, the flowers struggle to come up. I lust after spring dresses while still slogging around in my winter coat and boots. I've been working on this mix to pick myself up out of the dreariness (although it reflects it a bit too). You can play it below.