Summer Crush

I always have summer crushes. I used to think that it was pathetic but then I kind of feel that it's getting pretty essential in my life. Well don't bother summer, every time I spend too much time without a certain activity, I tend to get really involved with something I do at spare times, which includes reading a huge stack of magazines, tidying up my bedroom, drawing, or listening to music. Especially music.

It goes like this ; I'll have not much to do on holidays so I hang in front of my computer and I listen to too much music of a certain artist (or just a wad of music), then I get used to the melody, and eventually, I'll get addicted to the music. Then I'll start searching the musician's info and read their biography, then I will tend to end up having a certain crush on that person. It happened a couple of times. Last year, it was both Vampire Weekend and Klaxons (I especially love Simon Taylor-Davis' hair). This year? I've been listening too much Yeah Yeah Yeah's lately, and Karen O is on the cover of Nylon, and Nick Zinner just happens too look so good. So yeah, this year it's Nick Zinner ladies and gentlemen.


By the way, please do follow me on twitter. I need people who would hear my nonsense.

MAG - addict

People always have certain addiction. Most girls might be addicted to clothes, some are addicted to chocolate or even boys. Boys on the other hand might be more addicted to football, cars or automobiles, or like my brother, he's addicted to Lego and Starwars. Ever since I was in elementary school, I always had this thing for magazines. I can't live a day without reading them, I collect them and refuse to throw them away. I can read a magazine over and over again even if it is say, 20 years old. I love old magazines and I don't really see the difference between new magazines and old magazines. To me, they are all the same. They both happen to be good reading sources, and even if the information included is like, really old and certainly not current, I don't care, because to me, gaining old information is better than no information at all. I guess I spend most of my allowance on magazines.

Well, anyway, I am a magazine addict. If only I never throw any away, I bet my collection might just hit more than 500 magazines. It includes Donald Duck, Teen Vogue, Nylon, Vogue, National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller, National Geographic Adventure, Elle, Elle girl, Teen People, Girlfriend, Cosmogirl, and some of my sister's GoGirl! I even have amounts of football magazines, and if I add my brother's auto and wizard magazines, it might be far over than 500. I've been throwing out some of them though, just to empty space so I can buy more magazines :). But I never ever ever throw out my Teen Vogues, Nylons and National Geographic series. Never. Vogues and Elle are worth keeping too.

Realizing my addiction on printed media, I figured out that I want to write reviews on the magazines I've been constantly reading for the past 4 or 5 years. Just to share my opinion.
The reviews you are about to read are pure my thoughts. People are different, so if there is any of my opinion that you find weird or harsh or wrong, don't worry, I might be the one who is jumping out of line. Here we go.


National Geographic
(+) It is rich with information you need to know about the world. It has fascinating photos and it includes scientific opinions and facts that can make your mouth accidentally open while reading. The articles and stories are brilliant!
(-)Sometimes, the articles are way too long, and I can get easily bored when they talk about minerals or some sort of chemistry thingy (*chemistry has never really been my thing). The language is slightly tough, but it's good for your vocabulary.


Teen Vogue
(+) I find Teen Vogue as a really chic magazine to read on. They have fashion pages that are relevant for the teen mass with simple yet smart layout. Leigh Belz (music features editor) has a great sense of music. Also, Teen Vogue is always a good way to spy on up and coming models.
(-) I think that the articles are slightly too short and too general. Also, sometimes, Teen Vogue could be extremely thin and that still includes too much advertisement.


Vogue (I only have a couple my mom gave to me after she reads it. I constantly read them from my aunt or some of my friends, or just from magazine stalls. Ha.)
(+)Brilliant fashion editorials with amazing photographs by the most talented photographers. They have first class fashion and beauty spread and is always a great way to see profiles of new designers and fashion legends. I love Tabitha Simmons page!
(-) Lots of the articles are certainly not my age (plastic surgery, post-pregnancy diet, aging?) and are also often too long and boring (to me). The clothes and stuffs are out of reach for a teen like me $.


Nylon
(+)Very artistic layout, amazing music review, and this magazine is more stylish instead of fashionable. The articles are right sized, just perfect for my age and my taste. It includes some of the best cult fashion designers as well as indie actors and actresses. There are also a lot of fun stuffs.
(-) The magazine itself is too big. Nylon also seems to overrate some people (CK, PG). They also have quite a lot of alcoholic drink, cigarette and condom advertisement. So, you need to handle it with care, don't let your very little sister or brother to get to involved. Ha.
*ps : i didn't mean to drop names there, and don't get me wrong, i don't have any hard feelings for CK or PG. love ya xo.


Album Donal Bebek
(+)Classic! and funny.
(-) I don't often see Don Rosa's comic strips anymore and that is sad, because to me, Don Rosa is a legend! He makes the best Donald Duck comics.


I still have loads of magazines I read, but I think the ones I told are the ones I read most and over and over again. And the National Geographic review, it includes NatGeo Traveller and Adventure too. Don't get me wrong, I also read Indonesian magazines, but since my sister is the frequent buyer, it all ends up in her room.

There are also magazines that I haven't been able to own yet, like NME and I.D magazine. As soon as I have the chance to own them (read : enough money to buy or I'll head to the magazine thrift store), I will. Right now, I read them through the internet, but not holding the magazine in your hands is never enough for me!
There is also one magazine that I wish is still available for me to read and raid which is Sassy. I heard that it was pretty much like Nylon from the 80's. oooooh. Does someone own a piece of Sassy? Could you lend it to me? Please? ;-)

summer feel 09

I love the feel of midyear holidays, they are just so identical with sunny days and great vacations. There are hints when you finally start to feel that the time has come. I call it the summer feeling. It varies for everybody; whether school has finally come to a long break, the weather is getting nicer, Mum booking flight tickets to somewhere far and fun, or for me, it could be something as simple as the annual Nylon music edition. Well, to be honest, I wasn't really into reading Nylon until just last year, when I purchased my first Nylon Magazine, but I tell you what, I fell deeply in love with the magazine as soon as I laid my eyes on it.

I will give you a couple of reasons why Nylon is so awesome : First, it's a magazine for real, I mean, they don't tell you steps you need to get a boy's attention, or here is how to diet -they don't even do horoscopes!- which to me divines coolness. They tell you to be who you are -they embrace people's uniqueness. They have the most amazing girls and guys on the magazine, and what I meant by amazing is that those people have interesting stories to tell, which does not only include their sense and taste of fashion or music -or who they're dating-but also they're opinion on real things going on. It's really inspiring, because real people like us needs to listen to stories from real people and real lives in order to live the dream. Like an article I loved so much from last year's summer issue (featuring Scarlett Johansson the cover), was one about Beth Ditto. It was a hint of inspiration to me.

The second reason why Nylon is brilliant is that it's the complete mix. Not only fashion and music, but lifestyle, traveling and cool gadgets too. And they pack it in the right proportion ; fun and light with articles not too short or exaggeratedly long, just perfect for the young folks. Plus, they have a guy editor-in-chief! I guess that is where the coolness come from, Marvin somehow designed a mediawork that makes us stick to the ground without letting go of the dreams and imagination.

Anyway, the music issue is back, and it is better. Why? Hello! They have Karen O on the cover! Could I ask a better person to fill her position? Emm, no. But I do expect Regina Spektor on the cover sometime soon. Karen O is an amazing women, and in this issue, she's not lonely. When you get to page 144, you'll see Nick Zinner and Brian Chase too. What a relief! (I kinda have this crush on Nick so yeah, I think he was pretty good looking there :9). There is also Jarvis Cocker, The Plasticines, Patrick Wolf, Harry Mcveigh, Adele, and "I kissed a girl" 's video director, Kinga Burza. Swell eh?

Also, with a bunch of cool tunes from Nylon available to download for free, I think I am starting to feel the summer breeze already.

Nylon, you owe me.