Bob Dylan

Let’s all “high-five” Sharon here for making this happen.

Bob Dylan re-recorded his old-school song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”. The first one came out in 1963. The new version will be celebrated during the exhibition it was created for, The Expo Zaragoza 2008, whose focus this year is on “Water and Sustainable Development” worldwide.

There is an estimated 5 million visitors expected to attend the northern city of Spain, Zaragoza, from June 14 to September 12, 2008. Over 100 countries have confirmed their attendance. Special thanks to our Starworker in London, Johnna Jackson who represented at the Madrid presentation. Check it out.

EXPO ZARAGOZA official website

Peanut Butter Balls!

A few years ago, a friend served me these peanut butter balls. I just realized the recipe directions are filmed online by the girl who first served them to me… Audrey Bernstein!

(Audrey in her kitchen today)

How does one describe Audrey? I’ll try to be quick. Before I met her in the mid 90’s at one of her cool parties, she was a fixture in the Lower East Side art scene. Her muse stripes come from the fact she appears on an old Sonic Youth album cover.

(1987 photo shoot when she first moved to NY. Same time as Sonic Youth’s cover, Sister was released. Photo by Michael Lavine)

Her first party in the mid 90’s was called Mothra (named after Godzilla’s nemesis) where downtown rock luminaries like Atari Teenage Riot, Cibo Matto, and Moby guest DJ’ed. It was a creative time in New York… and a time before blogs blew up our spot, so the party had a good long run.

(Audrey with Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello at Mothra. Photo by Stefano Giovannini)

Her next party in the late 90’s was a famous Karaoke night co-hosted with Russel Steinberg. It was a no-name bar downtown where tons of indie hip bands attended and sang amongst their peers. The late Elliot Smith was a regular (moment of silence). Too many names to drop so I won’t. Just imagine the perfect mix of artists, civilians, media, and industry types.

(Cat Power and Audrey chillin’. Photo by Stefano Giovannini)

Let’s just say the well-kept-secret Karaoke night got covered in so many magazines like Vogue that the party eventually dissolved…. leading Audrey to her next mission, the west coast.

In Los Angeles, after hosting — you guessed it — more parties (remember Les Deux Cafe’s on Monday nights?), Audrey began to metamorphosize into her new creation, a sort of Bohemian-Martha-Stewarty type figure hosting swank dinners in her Silver Lake home — thus, the creation of Oh Audrey (link below, check it out for yourself).

Soooo, back to the peanut butter balls. Just watch it, and make some for yourself, and make some friends in the process. They are insane.

AUDREY’s episode for making Peanut Butter Balls

The New Museum + NYC

60,000 Square feet of art now on the Bowery!

OPENS TOMORROW. Designed by Tokyo-based architects Sejima + Nishizawa/SANAA, the building is the first new art museum constructed in New York City from the ground up below 14th Street. The layout consists of beautifully proportioned galleries, a theater, an education floor, the New Museum Store, a café, a top floor event space with roof terraces, and a few more treats.

PROFILE OF KAZUYO SEJIMA IN VOGUE

Little Fendi

a Fendi Scion.

19 year old Delfina Delettrez Fendi launched her first jewelry collection during the last Paris Fashion Week. The collection features Gothic-looking frogs, flowers, and skull pendants. Her inspiration is described as coming from her grandmothers “spooky wartime stories and antique crucifixes”. The elements are opposing yet complimentary — from luxe (gold, silver, diamonds) to natural (wood, bone, leather).

Her father is Bernard Delettrez, a French jeweler with a Roman atelier, and her mother is Silvia Venturini Fendi who was an influence and mentor on textures. As far as her own world and beyond, Delfina is now a super young mommy who just had a baby girl with Italian actor Claudio Santamaria. She is tight with actress/director Asia Argento who made a film for the line which played at Colette during the launch.

The 200-piece line runs $400-$3,000.
Colette in Paris

Kinokuniya - Yah Yah Yah

I visited the new Kinokuniya bookshop by Bryant Park and you don’t need to speak Japanese to appreciate this place. The visuals of their books, the taste of their food, the great stationary and pens will be enough to keep you busy. The other Kinokuniya shop is located at Rockefeller Center. Take a cooking class or drink some green tea while overlooking Bryant Park and watching the ice skaters skate and check out the mural they commissioned from Takehiko Inoue, one of Japan’s best-known manga artists.

Read more in The New York Times piece