My "Best" of 2011. Now Give Us 2012

This past year was an intensely awkward one, for all of us. It was a challenging, troubling year from whichever point of view one chooses to examine it. 2011 was, confessedly, an intensely awkward year. However, I -being the eternally "half-full glasses" I am- believe that it was not an absolute and total loss, (ironically though, "loss" was -for many- a defining word for this year). Some aspects of it seemed to gleam "through the ashes"; some events of significant, life-altering gravity, in a positive light this time,  did occur as well. So, what we should do is focus on some of the good things 2011 left us with. 

On a personal/professional level, 2011 was life-changing for me. This past, turbulent, year set the foundations -in a challenging way- for things which felt that they were meant to happen. I was urged to make choices and take actions for which I am the only person to be held responsible for the outcome, whatever that may be. 

I am not going to get all profound and mushy in this post, though I am prone to doing that lately; I will just focus on the "lighter" things which stood as some sort of "psychological support" -if you like- this past year. Below you will find a humbly assembled list of my personal "bests" and "favorites" of 2011. 

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Public Bureau Website & Shop Launched!

On November 30th, we (re)launched the Public Bureau website and the online store. I have been wanting to write about this since then, but an inevitably hectic schedule prevented me from doing so. 

The full Inaugural Series is online and available at the P/B shop. As mentioned on the website; "We consider the world to be our home. Thus, we like to think of our website as our international, boundaryless flagship store" so for the time being our garments are only available online. 

Pop by the P/B website and take a look, drop us a line, even.

Blast From The Past: En Vogue - Whatever

Really, what ever happened to En Vogue? They were supposed to reunite and release a new single this past fall. "Whatever" is one of my favorite songs from the 90s. The video is pretty awesome too. Directed by Matthew Rolston.

Snow White & The Huntsman

This looks really promising! (Despite the title's fittingness to a film of another genre...)

Whoever cast Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen is a genius... then again, it must be the same person who cast Kristen –bland-faced– Stewart as Snow White, so I retract my previous statement. However, I am willing to also retract what I wrote about Stewart, if she actually shows a hint of emotion in this film. 

The trailer looks phenomenally good and I am looking forward to seeing the special effects and the queen, of course. The soundtrack, if they go with what's in the trailer, sounds really interesting too. Now, let's wait until the summer.

Address Is Approximate

Address Is Approximate is a personal project by director Tom Jenkins of Theory Films.

"Story: A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View."

All the imagery was actually photographed and not processed or altered.

Most of the time I feel like this.

Lana Del Rey Album Cover

I know that the previous (from over a week ago) post was a Lana Del Rey post, but I just could not NOT post on this. This is the cover for Lana Del Rey's upcoming album (end of January) and it is pure perfection. Impeccable in every possible way. 

Friday Mode: Lana Del Rey Remixed By Nikonn

Image Credit: johnnyblueeyes.com

Friday's rock. Not that they stand-out any differently in my routine, but they kind of have that nice vibe to them. Anyway, this remix of Lana Del Rey's Blue Jeans by Nikonn from greek electro band Mikro (insert love here) is so fitting to today's mood. The (original) video to this song is awesome too.

Public Bureau Tease

Working on the new Public Bureau photos of the whole series. More to come.

Feist - How Come You Never Go There Remix

Feist just released the video to "How Come You Never Go There". I like the song, I love the video (below), I worship the remix by Clock Opera (further below).

Ana Serrano's "Salon Of Beauty"

"Salon of Beauty" is artist Ana Serrano's latest large-scale handmade cardboard installation depicting a "mashup" of small low-end neighborhood businesses which create an alternate Los Angeles inspired landscape. I love the sharpness paper gives to Serrano's work and I love the "polyphony" of colors and that typography… well she basically had me with her typography. The aforementioned multitude of color, which is really stunning, is present in her previous work too "Cartonladia"(image below).

The title of this installation is the name of a beauty salon Serrano actually saw in LA, where she was born and raised, which seems to be a direct translation from the spanish term for beauty salon: "salón de belleza". 

Now, I've never been to Los Angeles (though I am planning to do so next year if everything goes well) but I can understand what Ana Serrano wanted to convey through "Salon Of Beauty" and I bet you, she would be thrilled to find some similar "gems" in the cypriot urban landscape. 

(via / all images via anaserrano.com / video by Walley Films)