Outfit of the Day! Birthday Edition Part One…

Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday with my parents and my good friend Teri.  We went to Trader Vic’s in Emeryville, my favorite restaurant in the whole world!

I wore my Bettie Page Clothing “Surprised” dress from their Gil Elvgren pinup line, pearl necklace and screwback earrings that my mother and grandmother purchased in Japan in 1966, a hairflower I made from a Sally’s banana clip and a Michael’s silk special, my suede-and-patent Sofft bow pumps (which you can’t see here), and my beaded 1950s Saks Fifth Avenue clutch purse (which I blogged about last year).

Surprised!  Birthday dress!

Surprised! Birthday dress!

Next weekend, another party!  I’m not sure what I’ll be wearing, but I’ll definitely share here after all is said and done!  :D

Music Collection: A Christmas Music Box

- StrangeBeat Productions presents yet another holiday tunes compilation, just in time for Christmas! -

A Christmas Music Box "cover" art

A Christmas Music Box "cover" art.

VOLUME 1: From Mannheim Steamroller to Elvis himselvis, these FOUR DISCS of Christmas tunes provide plenty of variety for your holiday parties, gatherings, and personal time.

JASON SEZ – For those of you who have “acquired” Christmas music from me in the past, much of this material will be familiar. Approximately 20 minutes of music have been added to round out these four volumes to full CD length, and the mp3s have been carefully retagged (and in some cases re-ripped) to match the quality of the next set we have for you!

Disc 1 – 22 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (various bitrates)

Disc 2 – 23 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (various bitrates)

Disc 3 – 24 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (various bitrates)

Disc 4 – 22 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (various bitrates)

VOLUME 2: Enjoy the many moods of the holidays with selections ranging from traditional instrumentals to jazz and rock ‘n’ roll. We’re giving you a whopping THREE DISCS worth of our favorite Christmas tracks PLUS the following:

KALI SEZ – Here’s a bonus collection of vintage holiday recordings, as selected in 1970 by Jack “The Voice of Disneyland” Wagner for the Disneyland and Magic Kingdom “Main Street U.S.A.” Christmas music loops. These tracks can be randomized or played in order as they appear in situ at the parks!

Disc 1 – 28 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (various bitrates)

Disc 2 – 27 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (various bitrates)

Disc 3 – 25 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (various bitrates)

Disc 4 – 30 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (128kbps)

  • Compilation produced by KALI PAPPAS and JASON PITTMAN
  • Art Direction by KALI PAPPAS
  • Engineering by JASON PITTMAN
  • Liner Notes by JASON PITTMAN and KALI PAPPAS

Available for download NOW!

Fashion Crap: And I do mean CRAP – recent costumes…

October was kind of a sewing nightmare. I really, really hate sewing. Like, I’d rather stab myself with a rake than have to deal with the cutting, the pinning, the seamripping, the rumpled fabric (right, I don’t even OWN an iron)…yeah, can’t stand it.

Well, since none of my beautiful Regency wardrobe fits (still), I had to pull together an 1814-ish evening gown out of my trusty-dusty purple silk sari (not a very period color, I know) for the Bay Area English Regency Society’s Congress of Vienna Ball. I had a role – Princess Bagration, the White Pussycat and Naked Angel – so I needed something that looked lush. At any rate, the job’s not TOO bad for a rush. I didn’t have time nor a proper pattern to make period stays, so the silhouette’s not the best. Oh well.

For Halloween, I made myself a Patrick Nagel “Rio” outfit, perfect for “dancing on the sand.” This image was apparently the alternate cover image considered for Duran Duran’s legendary sophomore album.

More images in my photo album.

Fashion Crap: Vintage beaded purses, anyone?

So nearly a year ago I promised to piggyback my antique jewelry post with a look at some of my spiffy vintage beaded purses.  Most of these purses came from my grandfather, the king of pawns and master of the Bay Area flea market.  It’s also possible that one or two of them belonged to my great-aunt Alice.

But FIRST, my awesome silk shawl from the 1920s.  This is the famous Shawlhead shawl, ifyouknowwhatImean.

Silk 1920s shawl.

Silk 1920s shawl.

Shawlhead

Shawlhead.

Shawlhead by Lani

Kali in 1920s silk shawl. Photo by Lani Teshima.

Okay.  So onto the purses.  First up is a cute, cream-colored purse with machine embroidery and white beading.  It has a sparkly clasp and metal chain, and looks to be from the 1960s.  There’s no maker or shop mark on the lining to identify it…

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This is Haunted Halloween!

Collection CD art...

"This is Haunted Halloween" collection CD art...

- A festive two hour collection of holiday tunes, debuting on October 1, 2010!  -

Disc One is packed with a selection of macabre party hits, from a new extended mix of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to Sheb Wooley’s campy “The Purple People Eater.”  Disc Two follows with pieces reflecting the darker side of Halloween.  Here, spooky film themes, ghoulish classical favorites, and other grisly tunes mix it up with creepy sound effects perfect for a stormy night.

Produced by Jason Pittman and Kali Pappas, this collection offers new presentations of old classics alongside several fun surprises.  But beware — this is not your average Halloween mix tape.  Listen and share!  If you dare…

Available for download NOW:

Audio files:

- Disc 1 – 17 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (128kbps LAME MP3)

- Disc 2 – 14 .mp3 files, tagged and labeled. (128kbps LAME MP3)

Expanded notes on the collection and the various tracks:

Liner Notes.pdf

- Liner Notes.rtf (text only)

Artwork:

- 3 .psd files, complete with gutters and ready for conversion/printing (CYMK)

- 5 .jpg files, at screen resolution for viewing (RGB)

- 1 .jpg file, 800×800 pixels, for use as cover art in your preferred media player

LINKS:

http://tinyurl.com/hauntedhalloween

http://bit.ly/hauntedhalloween

Mirror:

http://tinyurl.com/strangebeat

http://bit.ly/strangebeat