Sunday, August 10, 2003

Paris - 1991 In 1991 the Gulf war was raging and many designers cancelled their Spring fashion shows. Not Yohji Yamamoto, who chose "We shall overcome" as his theme. My involvement with Yohji happened because of a photograph taken by Ken Barker in Dallas in 1990. We were out on tour, opening for Basia across North-America for 12 or 13 weeks, when I received a call from the record company's publicist who told me that in Dallas I was going to be taken to a local photographer, who was going to take a photo of me for Vanity Fair magazine. Ken took some very nice photos and when they were published, somebody at Yamamoto took notice and invited me to be part of the Spring 1991 show in Paris. I had been to Paris several times before, including once by myself when I was a teenager and thought that this would be a great opportunity to get back to the beautiful city on somebody else's dime...and yes, it flattered me that they thought I would look good in Yohji's clothes.... I arrived in Paris sometime in February, I believe and met Yohji and the other "models": the great saxophonist Charles Lloyd, one of the guys from Tears for Fears, John Cale of Velvet Underground fame, and many more. I was impressed with Yohji's ability to pick clothes that complemented the personality of each person. He also adjusted his choices after seeing us in person. For the duration of my stay in Paris I had a chauffeured Mercedes at my disposal, which was great. To me Paris is really a city best explored on foot (and Metro).....but, of course I did make use of the car and the knowledgeable driver. I was not used to having somebody doing things for me and when my driver took me to a restaurant for lunch I would insist on him joining me for the meal. It was ironic that only 14 years earlier I had spent several nights sleeping under the bushes of the Champs-Elysee with a backpack and sleeping bag, living on a diet of French bread and coffee and now I was staying in one of the best hotels in Paris and was being driven past the bushes I had slept under..... The show went well and received great reviews. I still have two of the wonderful suits I modelled that evening. And a great pair of shoes.... 10:37:33 AM    comment []; Let it rain...... 10:36:13 AM    comment []; 1996 photo for "Opium" album 10:34:33 AM    comment []; Is streamripping illegal? Some folks on #joiito turned me onto "streamripping". This is software that stores songs played on Internet radio stations as mp3's with meta data and everything. RadioLover is streamripping software for the Mac that lets you record multiple radio stations in parallel. You can drag and drop the songs into iTunes and sync to the iPod. The quality seems fine. I can listen to my favorite radio stations from all over the world when I'm walking in the park with my iPod. Is this illegal? It is SOOO useful it MUST be illegal. ;-p UPDATE: For the record, I've just bought several albums on Apple's Music Store and Amazon that I didn't know about until I started messing around with RadioLover. [Joi Ito's Web] If it is useful and fun it must be illegal! 10:02:45 AM    comment []; mp3.com doesn't get it! Don't you hate when the people who should most "get it" TOTALLY DON'T GET IT! Neeru@Creative Commons We would love to help you offer Creative Commons license to your users — it’s free, and a great way to make clear the rights and restrictions artists would like to offer their fans. Legal Department@mp3.com Nothing replaces the legal protections provided by registering a copyright with the US Copyright Office--most certainly not your “free license.” This email is formal notice for you to cease and desist from further contacting our artists through our web site to solicit for your product/services, which are not sanctioned by us. Legal Department Music & Media Vivendi Universal Net USA, Inc. [Joi Ito's Web] What do you expect? Vivendi are for Sale aren't they? They obviously don't get it! 9:59:26 AM    comment [];

© Copyright 2003 Ottmar Liebert. Last update: 9/1/03; 10:38:09 AM.