CasaSugar

This Magazine Cover Was Drawn on An iPhone

GeekSugar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:30:38 -0700

The cover of this week's issue of The New Yorker was created using an iPhone. Artist John Colombo created the portrait of a west side Manhattan diner using Brushes, a $5 painting application. It's not the first cover he's created using the app; the first appeared last Spring. Since last June, Colombo has been posting his weekly Brushes illustrations on The New Yorker blog Finger Painting.

Brushes is one of the apps that's coming to the iPad, which hopefully means many more gorgeous, detailed illustrations are to come. To see a video of the cover's creation, read more.

The New Yorker Profiles Kelly Wearstler

CasaSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:00:06 -0700

The “presiding grande dame of West Coast interior design,” Kelly Wearstler, is featured in a six-page profile in the Sept. 14 issue of The New Yorker.

I've always considered Wearstler (pronounced "Worst-ler") an enigma - wife of a hotel mogul, author, Top Design judge, crimped-hair enthusiast, Southern belle, ex-Playboy model - but her design skill is irrefutable. So, it was interesting to read about how the girl who grew up in a cluttered Myrtle Beach home decorated in a "blowsy Provincial style" became the face of ornate, layered, over-the-top Hollywood Regency style.

"You don’t hire her for her subtlety, you hire her for what her critics call ‘muchness'," said a client. Her style, as it turns out, is governed more by instinct than intellect: "I don't have time to think things through a lot. I just do how it feels," she says. I was also intrigued to hear that she thinks of herself as having "a very European sensibility" that's "well travelled, collected." Pick up a copy to read the full text or read an abstract online.

Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan Describe Their Greenwich Village Home

CasaSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:00:27 -0700

Most of us describe our homes in fairly generic terms, tossing out "modern," "traditional with a twist," or "relaxed Regency," if pressed for a characterization. Well, leave it to Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan to turn dull description on its head.
To hear how they describe their home, read more.

In the June 22 issue of the New Yorker, Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan take writer Ariel Levy through a tour of their Greenwich Village apartment. While there weren't any photos of the apartment, the quotes were vibrant enough to paint quite the picture of their home (and if you're curious, check out these 2005 photos from the New York Times. In the meanwhile, I have to share my absolute favorite quotes from Jonathan and Simon, as they describe their style:

"Palatial gay fantasia." - Doonan
“Glamorous romper room . . . Because Johnny and I are very infantile."- Doonan
“This is the antithesis of the two-room flat where I grew up." - Doonan
"It's mantique-y" - Adler

Painting by Simona Galeckaité

Could You Give Up Print Magazines For Digital Editions?

GeekSugar — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:00:07 -0800

Digital editions of magazines are nothing new, although it feels pretty momentous to hear that prestigious magazine The New Yorker is launching its digital version, with all of the content being made free to its print subscribers.

Here's the thing - I'm a magazine junkie. I subscribe to so many magazines, I can barely get through them all in a month. I love seeing the shiny new covers in the mail, flipping through them when I get a spare moment - I've always loved them. When I hear that titles go digital, I rejoice (more ways to access the content), but I also secretly fear for the fate of the print editions. What if everyone switched to reading magazines online and my beloved magazines stopped greeting me in my mailbox? I don't know if I could deal.

Could you make the switch from paper to exclusively digital?

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Keeping the Faith: Are Abstinence-Only Pledges Unrealistic?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:30:00 -0800

Ever think evangelical teens are most likely to be the next Juno? You might be onto something. While religion may be a good gauge for attitudes towards sex, it is not for sexual behavior.

A national survey talked to 3,400 teens between 13 and 17 and found that evangelicals are the most likely to say they do not believe in sex before marriage, yet they are just as likely to have it - if not more. Seventy-four percent say they do not believe in premarital sex, compared to 50 percent of mainline Protestants and 25 percent of Jewish teens. Second only to black Protestants, they lose their virginity on average shortly after turning 16.

While the effectiveness of abstinence pledges that are so popular among evangelicals has long been contested, I never knew inflation was a problem. A pledge movement often collapses in a school when it becomes too popular. As soon as it loses its magical minority milieu - 30 percent is the tipping point - teens feel less unique and pledges get tossed aside like last year’s yellow.

Minding the gap between sexual beliefs and behavior becomes even harder when looking at the outcome of abstinence pledges. To find out how effective they are, read more.

According to a 2001 estimate, 2.5 million people in the US pledged to abstain from premarital sex, yet more than half of them do it anyway. Pledges do have some impact though. Teens who take them lose their virginity 18 months later than those who do not and have fewer partners on average.

Once religious conviction gets factored in, pledges sounded even more effective. Those who scored high on religiosity - defined by behaviors like going to church and praying at home - are more likely to abstain. But better indicators are the strength of social networks and quality of relationships with parents. Teens who live with both biological parents and feel their families understand them, pay attention to their concerns, and have fun with them are the most likely to delay sex - regardless of how religious or what religion they are.

What do you think about abstinence-only pledges? A good guideline? Or unrealistic and only for the most religious?

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Weekend Reading: Alec Baldwin's Insecurities

BuzzSugar — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:00:08 -0700

It's funny, isn't it, how and when actors' personal lives begin to sabotage their professional lives? Lindsay Lohan, once a promising young talent, is in the process of rebuilding her career after issues with drugs, alcohol, and bar fights. Then there's Tom Cruise, who has been in career rehab ever since he jumped the couch. Major celebs are more than just talent, they're entire brands, and going off brand is usually career suicide - unless, of course, you're Alec Baldwin.

This guy is known to be, well, a little odd and even a loose cannon. But no matter what terrible, weird thing comes out about his private life, he's such a great addition to any cast (30 Rock is the most recent perfect example) on TV or in movies that I for one tend to ignore that other stuff. I mean, look at him. I can't even type this post without looking at his picture and cracking up.

In this way, he is totally fascinating to me. Which is why I for one will be curling up with this giant, illuminating profile on Baldwin in The New Yorker this weekend. To see some of the tidbits that got me hooked, just read more.

Baldwin's "rhetoric" brings to mind for the reporter a scene where his character on 30 Rock looks at an "equestrian painting" and says, "I wish I were a horse - strong, free, my chestnut haunches glistening in the sun.”
Even though he is enjoying a career rejuvenation right now (a career many actors would kill for), he is still "very conscious of what is lacking in his life - a spouse, for example, and a film career something like Jack Nicholson’s, and the governorship of New York."
Of Tina Fey, he says, "She’s so bright you’re always wondering if you’re boring her" and says that his 30 Rock character, Jack Donaghy, is based on SNL creator Lorne Michaels: "Jack Donaghy is Lorne, first and foremost. 'What am I, a farmer?' That is Lorne. I think he said that. Lorne’s got a tuxedo in the glove compartment of his car. Lorne is a big-ticket A-list New York water buffalo. He’s big on the Serengeti. Lorne is a person who seduces you into thinking that if you take his advice and play your cards right you're going to end up with his life."
And then there's stuff like this:

"In East Hampton, I’m a nudist and I eat meat," Baldwin - a vegetarian - had said before my visit, expanding on the idea that he lived a quite different life on Long Island than he did in New York. "I shoot deer with a bow and arrow. I smoke the deer meat and eat it every morning with my eggs and toast. I am a homosexual. I listen to rock music, loud."

Interesting guy, right? What do you think? Will we ever truly understand the mind of Alec Baldwin?

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OMG I Totally Do This!

GiggleSugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:00:00 -0700

Ugh, I'm passive-aggressive - my pet peeve! I guess from now on I'll just have to slam the door in everyone's face.

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New Yorker Cover Called "Offensive" By Obama Camp. Is It?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:32:18 -0700

This week's satirical New Yorker magazine cover showing Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and Michelle dressed as a terrorist has been called "tasteless and offensive," by the Obama campaign.

The illustration hits newsstands today and shows Obama wearing traditional Muslim garb and his wife dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder, standing in the Oval Office doing the "terrorist fist-bump" in front of a mantle-top portrait of Osama bin Laden, next to a burning flag. No stone unslammed, it seems.

The Obama camp statement says:

The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.

The magazine, however, said the cover:

Combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are. The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall? All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover.

No word yet on apologies for the rest of the New Yorker cartoons. Who's side do you see - is this pointed satire, or tasteless and offensive?

Grand-Theft Auto It's Not. Video Games Ease Soldiers' PTSD

CitizenSugar — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:00:52 -0700

Soldiers and Marines are iron tough in battle - though the biggest enemy they face sometimes doesn't show up until they get home. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or major depression afflicts nearly 20 percent of troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. One-half don't seek treatment. But a new treatment, Virtual Iraq, allows troops to delve into their trauma without landing on the couch.

With many soldiers avoiding treatment out of fear of stigma, a customized version of the best-selling videogame Full Spectrum Warrior has become a promising option. Since 2005, the Department of Defense has poured funding into it and two other virtual-reality programs targeting PTSD. And psychologists like JoAnn Difede - who treated Sept. 11 victims with a similar program called Virtual WTC - are hopeful. She said:

You don't have to do any work. You don't have to engage in any mental effort. We'll do it for you and then, gradually, we'll let you get involved in the experience in sensory detail.

Slow and steady wins the race with this therapy. A patient's readiness to move on must be carefully assessed. Looking at an Iraqi street scene may begin and end the first session, but slowly sounds and smells and actions are added. It can take months.

How is this even helpful? To see how, read more.

It's a form of prolonged-exposure, or immersion, therapy. The idea is to expose a patient to the source of trauma over and over until the event or situation no longer triggers fear. If you remember psychology and this sounds a lot like "habituation," it's because it is. (Does Pavlov ring a bell? Heh! Bell.)

While results are still pending on the efficacy of Virtual Iraq so far it's promising. After a few weeks of exposure, one marine was able to sleep without medication, felt more relaxed, and could joke around. He said:

Before I felt like there were two people in me. The marine who was numb, who was a tough guy, and the civilian in me, the real me, the guy who isn't serious all the time, the guy who can take a joke. By the end of therapy, I felt more like one person.

Should we be exploring more cutting-edge methods of treating the whole soldier? Could forcing them to relive the sights, sounds, and smells of battle, actually help soldiers cope?

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New Yorker Cartoon Finally Makes a Point!

CitizenSugar — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:00:23 -0700

There is so a first time for everything. I usually despise a New Yorker cartoon with all of my being (and don't get me started on the caption contests) but this one is actually timely, poignant, and came very, very close to making me chuckle!

I love that it speaks to the whole flag pin wearing of the candidates debate that's been featured so prominently recently.

Does this cartoon speak to you? Are flag pins really proof of patriotism? Can you just live it instead of wearing it?

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