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La D de Dior Watch

For the ladies Dior has released two new watches called "La D de Dior." Yea, the name sounds a bit like a grade school rhyme, but you get the point. Each in an 25mm wide steel case the two watches have very different personalities. The first looks like it got into a fight with a paper cutter, and ended up almost as a checker-board mess. I jest (a bit). The piece does look interesting, and I would be interested to examine how it is put together.

The basic round lugless look of the case is pleasant. Nothing super unique as I've come to expect from Dior. Each has a diamond decorated crown as well as diamond lined bezel. The model to the right has a black leather strap (patent leather?) and a simple dial with needle hands, diamond hour markers, and a black Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial. Actually quite nice, but simple. "Checkers" on the other hands is the same, but "squared." Easily the more visually interesting of the two, it won't have as many takers I think. Though quite nice for Paris' fashion forward crowd. Inside the timepieces are Swiss ETA quartz movement. La de da to the store for your La D de Dior.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: d, dior, la, watch

Banksy's Latest Coup: Exit Through the Gift Shop

by Ariston Anderson (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Auctions, Celebrity Shopping, Art

What would cause the world's most elusive and most illustrious street artist to make a film with never before seen insights into his own life? To get back at a man who used his name and took advantage of his friendship of course. The art world is abuzz with the latest work from the genius that is Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop.While the film is not about Banksy, as the hype would have you believe, it's worth seeing for the rare footage into both Banksy's physical and mental studio.

To tell you straight off, you're not going to see Banksy in the film. You're going to see a hooded figure, face blurred and voice disguised, that may or may not be Banksy, embedding the narration with signature Banksy quips. The most revealing clue into who Banksy is, who some sources peg as Robin Gunningham, is a wedding ring on a male hand, shown when the artist is at work. And that Banksy has a team of assistants, any one of whom could have played Banksy in the film, to help produce the massive work. But trying to peg the identity of Banksy is of course not the point of the film.

What you are going to see is a giant art world hoax surrounding amateur filmmaker, Thierry Guetta, turned amateur artist, Mister Brainwash. There's no information given on how involved Bansky was in the actual filmmaking, although by putting his name on the resulting work, it's clear he directed the narrative into a con story, a con named Mister Brainwash.

Thierry Guetta was a successful L.A. storekeeper who lived with a camcorder glued to his hand. After years of recording his day-to-day life, he stumbled upon something worth filming after visiting his cousin, the Atari-cum-mosaic inclined street artist Space Invader. He followed him for years, leading to his entry into the underground scene, filming the movement's multitude of stars: Swoon, Neckface, Poster Boy, Zevs, and Shepard Fairey. After failing to get any ins toward the most coveted subject of them all, Banksy, Guetta's luck changed when Fairey rang him up one day. Banksy was in L.A. and needed someone to show him around. Following his guidance into where to paint in L.A., Guetta gained Banksy's trust and friendship. As Banksy's entourage didn't contain a more worthy photographer, he began bringing Guetta into his more outlandish stunts, for posterity's sake, including the installation of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner inside Disneyland.

Tags: Angelina Jolie, Banksy, Brad Pitt, damien hirst, film, LA, London, mister brainwash, Neckface, Shepard Fairey, street art, Swoon, Theirry Guetta, Zevs

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Porsche Boxster Spyder debuts at LA Show

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

The Porsche 911 comes in more flavors than Haagen-Dazs, from GT3 to Turbo, Cabrio to Targa and every permutation in between. Notwithstanding the odd designer edition, however, its kid brother the Boxster has had relatively few iterations. But now the diminutive roadster is catching up with the new Boxster Spyder.

Announced back a couple of weeks ago, the Porsche Boxster Spyder has made its official debut at the LA Auto Show. It packs more power (320hp) in a lighter package (176lbs less than the stock Boxster) with a decidedly upscale if minimalist approach. Deliveries begin in February with a base price of $61,200.

Gallery: 2009 LA Auto Show: Porsche Boxster Spyder

Gallery: Porsche Boxster Spyder

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Tags: 2009 la auto show, 2009 los angeles auto show, 2009LaAutoShow, 2009LosAngelesAutoShow, boxster, boxster spyder, BoxsterSpyder, la, la auto show, LaAutoShow, los angeles, los angeles auto show, LosAngeles, LosAngelesAutoShow, porsche, porsche boxster, porsche boxster spyder, porsche spyder, PorscheBoxster, PorscheBoxsterSpyder, PorscheSpyder

Budget Culture Night In LA: Wine And Fast-Paced Theater At "Leads & Misfits"

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events

Broadway in New York City got hit hard as the current recession is keeping theater fans from attending performances. Who can blame them? Even for culture devotees, $100 or more per a ticket can seem like a spurious expense when times are tough. The good news is that quality performances are still available at reasonable prices. One such example is a theatrical showcase of up and coming writing and acting talent in Los Angeles. The show is called "Leads & Misfits" and is playing three shows on May 12th (already past), 19th, and 20th - for just $10 per a ticket.

So why see it? A lot of good reasons. This is not old-style boring theater. Think of it as acting for the attention deficit generation. 21 scenes are packed into an hour and half, and the show includes 19 up-and-coming actors with 8 additional writers. The scenes are edgy and amusing. Take for example a parody of CSI Miami done in a comical Shakespearean style. The showcase includes diverse talent from New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Included in the price are also wine and hors d'oeurves. A pretty good deal for a night of culture and rising talent in a past-faced, fun to follow performance. Best of all, you can experience culture in LA without the traditional cost associated with it.

May 19th and 20th shows are at 8pm at the Lyric Theater at 520 La Brea Ave in Los Angeles. For tickets, reservations or inquires, please contact leadsandmisfits@gmail.com.

On LA Weekly here.

Gallery: Leads and Misfits flyer

Tags: LA, leads misfits, LeadsMisfits, los angeles, LosAngeles, theater

Museum to Sell Louis Vuitton Handbags?

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags, Events

Care to go designer handbag shopping at the local museum?

Wait...what?

Not just any local museum will do, but if you're in the vicinity of the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A. you can totally go do that. Or you will be able to, once their exhibit honoring Japanese artist Takashi Murakami opens at the end of October. From October 29th to February 11th the museum will have high-end Louis Vuitton handbags and other pricey leather goods available for sale.

The explanation? Some say that in general with museums lately "the lines between commerce and pure art are increasingly blurred." Yeah, that's pretty blurry.

Via Styledash

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Tags: art, boutique, handbag, handbags, l.a., la, los angeles, LosAngeles, louis vuitton, LouisVuitton, museum, museum of contemporary art, MuseumOfContemporaryArt, sale, vuitton

Pit Bulls Are Popular in LA

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Pets, Celebrity Shopping

Vogue may have picked the Dandie Dinmont Terrier as the top dog for the summer, but celebrities and celeb-wannabes in Los Angeles all seem to be picking up Pit Bulls instead. Jamie Foxx has two and one even has a staring role on the TV show Veronica Mars. The dogs are being welcomed with open arms by the dog-loving community in the city, and registrations have doubled in the past few years. But unlike the toy dogs that can be simply tucked away in a bag if they misbehave, pit bulls require excellent training and many precautions in their care before they make safe pets - and hopefully the trendy pooch lovers will keep this in mind before getting their own.

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Tags: breed, dog, dog breed, dogs, la, los angeles, pet, pit bull, PitBull, trend, trendy

Suri and Shiloh Sweaters

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Celebrity Shopping

I have heard it said that there is a knitting craze among the Hollywood hot list, but it seems rather unlikely that they're sitting at home knitting sweaters when Los Angeles is in the midst of a major heat wave. But it might be true because a popular LA knitting store, Suss Designs, is now selling sweaters inspired by Suri Cruise and Shiloh Jolie- Pitt. Suri's sweater is emblazoned with her initial, while the Shiloh sweater has two cartoon faces that might represent Brangelina's other kids, Zahara and Maddox. The sweaters are selling for $109 (Shiloh) and $89 (Suri) at Suss's LA boutique.

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Tags: brangelina, celebrity babies, heat wave, hollywood, knit, knitting, la, los angeles, shiloh, suri, sweater, tom cruise

Los Angeles on a Plate

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

This commemorative 12-inch serving plate has a map of downtown Los Angeles on it, complete with roads, freeways and various important buildings denoted in red. I wouldn't recommend using it as an actual road map if you're trying to get somewhere, but it makes a fantastic table accent and conversation piece. The orange and green markings are not smog, but are areas that are being developed as we speak (read/write). The plates were designed for the 2006 American Institute of Architects Convention, which took place in LA last month. Only 400 of the porcelain plates were produced. Price: $48.

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Tags: commemorative plate, la, limited edition, los angeles, plate

I [heart] LA

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

It seems like a lot of people, celebrities in particular, are very bi-coastal these days. We know that they must have more of an affinity for New York or LA. To let everyone know about your preference, check out these textured disc pendants by Zoe Chicco. They feature scripted "I [heart] NY" or "I [heart] LA" on sterling silver ($150), 10k gold ($330) or 14k gold ($420). All the discs are 1 1/2-inches in diameter and are suspended from 18-inch chains, in silver or 14K gold, as appropriate. A necklace like this would also make a beautiful graduation gift for a daughter/niece/etc who is going off to college in, or departing from, one of these cities.

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Tags: city, gift, gold, graduation, la, necklace, ny, pendant, silver, zoe chicco

CAT-430: A Tent With Serious Altitude

by Anne Metz (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

For years, cyclists, runners, skiers, triathletes and other aerobic athletes had a choice: they move to high-altitude locales (like Boulder, Colorado) or they could lose.

The reason for this? As you probably know, the thin air at high altitude stimulates production of the oxygen-carrying red blood cells that make aerobic exercise easy.

All this changed in 2002, when Colorado Altitude Training (headquartered, not coincidentally, in Boulder, Colorado) launched its first simulated altitude tent. Suddenly athletes based in Miami, New York, or LA could have the benefits of living at 12,000 feet.

For a mere $7,745, you, too, can get high with the CAT-430, Colorado Altitude Training's walk-in tent.

More than seven thousand dollars may seem steep, but ask yourself: how much is it worth to beat your friends in the local 5k? how much is it worth to rule the Versa-Climber at the gym?

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Tags: 5k, altitude, Boulder, CAT, LA, miami, New York, NewYork, red blood cells, RedBloodCells, versa-climber

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