Brandon Flowers and the Case of the Purple Hoodie Obsession

Since half of my blog hits come from Brandon Flowers fashion researchers anyway, I might as well help feed the curiosity further...

Also, I tried searching BFlow's now-infamous purple tiger zip-up hoodie on Google and the results were insufficient at best. People out there aren't obsessive like I am and they have no easy way to acquire all the useless BFlow-related knowledge I already have stored in my mind. So I'm here to help.
Mr. Flowers first stepped out wearing the purple tiger / zebra print hoodie sometime early 2009... I think. Something like that. It caused a huge frenzy among fans. "What IS this new piece of clothing that is NOT the pheasant feather jacket atrocity (okay it's not that bad, but it's been worn enough times, ok) that he wears constantly? he is actually wearing something new? the shock of it!"

Little did we all know, Brandon would wear the damn hoodie EVERY SINGLE TIME he doesn't wear some variation of the feathery blazer.

He wears it almost every time he gets out and meets fans after, before, and between concerts (that's not me scribbled out, I don't know who/why that is. I just found it through my BFF Google):
He wears it to schmancy celeb events. Where he meets bitchasscuntwhorefaces that need to GTFO NOW. LIKE RIGHT FUCKING NOW. STEP AWAY FROM THAT BEAUTIFUL MAN NOW PLEASE AND THANK YOU. Homewrecking bitch. Brandon, watch your back, Sienna Miller has the bloodthirsty look in her eyes and she'll rip apart your perfect little family the first chance she gets. Uhum. Where was I. JK, anyway Brandon would never cheat and be with that... thing. Moving on before I convulse at the thought.

He even wears it during once-in-a-lifetime performances with Coldplay and Bono (at the Royal Bush Hall, War Child benefit gig):

And while leaving BBC 1 studios in London with Ronnie, being photographed by them pesky paps:
Aaaand while being followed by the damn paparazzi. Poor baby, look how nervous he is with the clenched fists. You can see those evil monsters' reflections in the windows.

I'm sure he thinks he's being all clever wearing this because of the song on Day & Age, Neon Tiger. Get it?? Heh heh heh.... yeah okay Brandon, sit down.

That's one pretty neon tiger, innit? That's what I got by searching purple tiger on Google. Did I mention Google is my BFF?

Do you sense a *theme*? You don't? Well let me hammer it in your head further along with Brandon. He fucking LOVES THEMES you see. So maybe that explains this floor in concerts. And.... this. Oh yeah and this. Got it now? Thought so.

So back to neon-purple-tiger-zip-up-hoodies. Brandon always wears it the same way- under the equally-tired denim jacket of mysterious brand, with a T-shirt under it all and tight black pants or jeans, with boots. It's the Official Brandon Flowers Casual Look, '09. Here I created a very scientific analysis of the outfit, click to enlarge and experience full effect (recommended):

Now for the head-scratchy part. Killers fans were all a-fuss over this sweater. Where is it from? Where can I buy it? It looks so very... familiar... OMFG, DUH. They sell some version of it in every single mall store in the entire world.

This is from Wet Seal:

Now H&M also has one. But similar is not the SAME, is it?

Nope. Well worry not, here is the original 100% authentic Brandon Flowers Tiger Hoodie:


It has been meticulously proven by obsessive fans to be the real deal. The strings are just right, the color gets gradually darker as it gets lower in the hoodie. All there. Now where is this exclusive rockstar piece of history from?

Forever 21.

FOREVER FUCKING 21.

Brandon, if you're really trying to fight off the gay rumors, this isn't a good place to start (JK JK I know he's not really gay you crazies, I just like to kid about that silly dandy).

And no, Forever 21 didn't create a replica to sell to die-hards. First of all Brandon isn't famous enough for that, and secondly fans found it only days after Brandon first wore the thing. And it was on sale online for something like $24, no less. I will say, though, that purple tiger hoodies popped up aaall over the place a while after he wore it. I'm just saying ok.

But seriously, what is Brandon doing shopping there? Was he with his wife? Did she buy it for him? I'm just... I don't understand. And it makes me appreciate him more because he's just insane, man. I love insane people.

So on any normal day, if I ever saw this piece in the mall, I would be like "blah whatever" and move on. But now it was worn by my #1 Favorite Famous Person in the World, and it was no longer just an average colored animal print hoodie. Oh no. It was suddenly the most beautiful thing in the world and I HAD TO HAVE IT. So have it I did. I promptly ordered it and here it is:

No I am not ashamed. Okay maybe I am a little. Okay a lot. I can't even explain, I just wanted it, alright? And I'm not the only one, about a bazillion Killers fans bought it too. Not that that makes it any less pathetic. Forever 21 HQ must have had a great deal of bewilderment over the sudden spike in sales of this particular hoodie.

All I can say is Brandon brain-washed me and I bought the damn thing like some Killers zombie. Here I am wearing it a la Bflow with a jean jacket. I swear i didn't buy THAT because of him- i got it as a gift from my mom's friend a few weeks ago. yes I admit I freaked out a little (a lot) now that I had the "set." But it fits horribly so no cigar. You can't really tell in the picture though.

Unfortunately the legendary hoodie is not selling online anymore. Sorry guys. Blame Forever 21, and blame me for not writing this earlier, as in half a year earlier, because I was too lazy. I guess you can go badger a Killers fan and try to buy it off of them (good luck with that) or some unassuming average teenager with a love for colored animal prints.

SO that's all with the epic story of the purple hoodie. Here, a gift for lasting this long in my rambling post- a photo of Brandon as a wee 80's child. No comment necessary:
...Oh alright maybe just a few comments. Mesh T-shirt? Laser background? BAHAHAHAH. But doesn't he look just precious?

Paris, Not France: A Review (of Sorts)

Yeah, I watched it.

The documentary about Paris Hilton filmed in 2006 called Paris, Not France, which aired on MTV recently:



And yeah, while watching it, I fell for the evil bigwigs' plan and saw Paris as a human. And I thought, "she's not all that bad." So I felt for the girl.

So shoot me!

I'm not saying I would want to be her best friend, but I understand her and get that she is a human now. Which is good. It probably helped that I have warmed up to her now that she has lost a lot of attention (fickle audience and all), and she was really funny and sweet this one random time I was watching Life on the D-List with Kathy Griffin and she guested. Plus I used to love The Simple Life when it first started. And I've always respected her a bit more for not getting a boob or nose job, as a fellow weird-nosed tiny-boobed female. Finally, I've been watching lots of band documentaries for no particular reason as of late (Radiohead's Meeting People Is Easy, Metallica's Some Kind of Monster...) so watching this continued the trend of seeing the not-so-great side of success and fame.

Weirdest part was probably seeing how she changes her voice from "public" cutesy coo to "real" deep man-voice. WTF girl.

I'm not even going to try to explain myself further because there is no way to justify this apparent lack of good judgment on my part. Plus, I can't remember more specific reasons for appreciating the documentary and her in it, even though I just finished watching it a few hours ago. I have Alzheimer's.


I excitedly went on my computer after to finally read what Rich from fourfour wrote about it, because I was sure he would have a similar opinion to mine (why do I only enjoy opinions that are he same as mine? Eesh). But to my chagrin, his review was waaay negative and harsh. He just sounds ultra bitter and 'tis quite unbecoming of that lovely man.

Some of the things that bothered him (these are direct quotes):

1. She complains about the press running her through the mud, but admits that she's addicted to reading it.

2. She talks about the importance of being humble, but then refers to a gaggle of squealing Japanese admirers as "worshiping" her.

1. Yeah, because that's real life, Rich. I also complain that eating junk food makes me gain weight but damn if I don't enjoy the hell out of it while I'm eating. Life is full of contradictions. Especially when you're a celebrity "living the dream" yet having to deal with some overwhelming and not-so-great side-effects.

2. The thing about Japanese admirers "worshiping" her- I did notice when she said it, but it didn't annoy me because she said it so matter-of-factly. She wasn't saying it in a cocky above-everyone way, she said it more like she felt detached. It's like when my friend from Beverly Hills gave me a tour of her house but seriously acted like the whole place was blah- no affectation, it just really meant nothing to her. It was kind of like that when Paris said it.


And, I mean, damn, those Japanese fans were worshiping her! They were fucking crying and screaming and looking at her as if she was the second coming of Jesus. So, yeah, she wasn't exaggerating. It's not cool of Rich to put that down because those words look much worse in type than in video, and he should know better than to take things out of their context like that.

But, oh well. Haters gonna hate. And I'm a big hater too so I shouldn't be talking. I think my thing is that I go *against the grain* because I'm a *rebel* like that, so I hate on people that the masses like too much without good reason and I (like on?) people that the masses hate too much without good reason. I'm just trying to balance the world out, yo! Oooookay I'm pathetic I'll go sit down now.

ONTD, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down

Yes lovely people of Oh No They Didn't, you're bringing me down so much that you've dragged me out of my blogging dry spell.

I usually consider everyone on ONTD absolutely comic-/social-/intellectual-/insane-ly genius. But today I am disturbed because the masses at ONTD have overwhelmingly gone against my personal opinion and common sense not once but THREE TIMES. This is a travesty. Usually they at least have two-sided intense and hilarious arguments, but now it's just a million clones saying wrong, stupid stuff. Because it disagrees with me, the all-knowing one. I will not have any of this.

1. Rachelle Lefevre replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard in third Twilight film. Summit Entertainment claimed "scheduling conflict", but it turns out she was shocked to be replaced.

ONTD: They're all like "OH EM GEE I can't believe Summit (the production co. or something) did this they are such heartless assholes!! She was PERFECT and was, like, the only one that physically fit the role! And she cared about her role! HAbakBDKLFFND!!!!!"

ME: WTF ONTD, hasn't it been a million years since you were so passionate about Twilight? Like, ever since it got really annoying and we found out the film was shitty as all hell? So where is all this uproar coming from, I thought you were all indifferent. Unless you're all shams. Also, no, Rachelle was NOT that good. I'm actually very glad she was replaced and Bryce will be great in her place (as great as the shitty script allows). Rachelle just took the role too damn seriously and it pissed me off. Tell me this quote from her after the replacement news doesn't just grind on you:

This is a story, a theatrical journey and a character that I truly love and about which I am very passionate.

Uh, Victoria is like the most annoying and useless thing in this series. Why the fuck are you passionate about her. Maybe you should question your judgment. And ONTD is all "she was the only one that loved the movies and took them seriously!111" And that is a good thing how? Anyone who takes it seriously, especially at her age, is kooks. ONTD, you disappoint me.

P.S. My bias against Rachelle MIGHT be mostly the film stylists' fault. She was dressed as if she was on crack and wandered off from a film about Woodstock festival, not to mention her roots were very prominently showing. Vampires' roots don't fucking show, my grandma's dog knows that. I'm talking to you too, "blonde" "prettiest vampire ever" girl in the film. Forgot her name, she plays Rosalie. OK I looked it up- Nikki Reed. That shit ain't right. She dressed horribly too. Whoever styled this movie should be shot, is alls I'm saying.

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2. Seth Rogen VS. Entourage. They're having a petty feud and you can click the link because it's too dumb to recount here.

Keep in mind- I'm biased because I have some, er, familial ties to the latter. But STILL, no one is calling out Seth for being the one who actually initiated the feud and made a big deal out of it. The right thing to do would be to wave the mention off and be the bigger man. But he had to bitch about it on E! Top Ten (seriously?). Basically he sounds like a crybaby and should shut up. But most of ONTD is siding up with him. Disappointing. I like him too, but he should just accept jokes about him the way he jokes about others. The jokes weren't even that offensive. And they give him and Knocked Up some attention again. Even Judd Apatow got it.

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3. It's On With Alexa Chung


This is a very sore point because they have constantly been bashing the girl, and she doesn't deserve it. They constantly say that her show is horrible and awkward and boring and blahblahblah whenever she comes up. You know what, ONTD, when it comes to this you are all jealous bitches so STFUD yourselves please. Eesh. She is brills on the show. Finally MTV does something right and you overwhelmingly deride it? Not cool. At all. And she is still doing a greeeat motherfucking job. More about that later.

So step it up, ONTD. Your opinions are falling to the lame as shits side. Don't do this to me!! You're supposed to be the One True Voice.

Alexa Chung Update

I've recorded and watched every "It's On with Alexa Chung" episode so far. It's good, okay!



I just wanted to send props to the talented cutie ptutie Conor Knighton of Infomania, who I already gushed about here 5 million years ago. MTV, do you know how impressed I was with you after I got over the shock of seeing him on the show? Good job! You deserve a pat on he back for that decision.

He was great, especially for his first time. And you could tell Alexa liked him because she gave him a high-five in the end. Hey, MTV, keep your good streak going and bring him on the show again. I would also be pretty awesome if you brought Sarah Haskins, also of Infomania and Current TV fame, who does the revered "Target Women" clips.

Hmm other suggestions for future celeb-gossip-guests (I love how they keep rotating):

-Perez Hilton. That would be hilarious. Seriously, get on that.
-Trent of Pink is the New Blog
-Michael K of the hilariously snarky blog Dlisted
-Kathy Griffin. yeahhh girl.
-Rosie O'Donnell. HA.
-Tom Green. OMG can you imagine.
-Rich from the fourfour blog. Please! Also his famous cat Winston would get major bonus points.
-Tracie, the girl that does the "Pot Psychology" videos with Rich on Jezebel
-the ~famous mods over at ONTD - mattchew03, ecctv, and brenden
-Martha Stewart. or Ina Garten! omg how great would that be if it was both of them.
-John Mayer. He's funny, mmkay.
-Joel McHale of The Soup!
-some of those people from the now cancelled Best Week Ever THE SHOW. Not the blog and that horrible BWE blog woman (ok gosh she's not horrible I know I know BUT SHE IS) Michelle something or other. Not her. I'm talking that guy that was always high... people like that. BTW Michelle or whatever was a mega bitch the second time she was on "It's On." WTF girl, chill and go away.
-Adam Lambert. Yeaaahh.
-Simon Amstell or Alex Zane! bring some British imports por favor.
-Kanye West! Hhahaha.
-Lady Gaga. yes please.

Ok that's enough. MTV show poducers pay attention, I have provided you with solid gold right there.

Also, the more the merrier on the same show. Today three members of some sketch comedy group talked with Alexa about the gossips and it was a lot funner with less awkward silences than usual.

And Alexa, you are marvelous darling. The girl is a natural. Keep doing your thang.

"It's On" with Alexa Chung: an Overly Thorough Review of the Premiere

I tuned into the very first episode of "It's on" with Alexa Chung on MTV today- all proper timing and everything. I don't really know why. Possibly because I have known about this girl for a while now (you're so damn slow USA!)- even before she started dating Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys (lucky girl). I knew about her from a discontinued music interview show in the UK called Popworld, which she hosted with equally awesome Alex Zane. Here is a sample interview that proves she's got it going on- she asks Panic at the Disco questions and they act like idiots. So she treats them like an evil bitch, obv, and I love her for it.

It's funny- I know I would hate this girl in person, but on TV she's just very entertaining and doesn't take shit from anybody. Breath of fresh air for MTV- if they don't beat it out of her, that is. I'm not going to hold my breath.

............Michael Cera gave Alexa a snuggie as a gift teehee............

The show itself was mixed. It's the first episode, so I can't judge too harshly, but most of the downers were MTV's fault and the high points were Alexa's.



Lame:

- That woman wearing the horrendous striped top, talking about celebrity gossip with Alexa at the beginning of the show. I couldn't catch her name and I haven't found it anywhere, not even on the official website for the show. [EDIT: I found her! Michelle Collins]. Maybe the producers are trying to hide her as a quick fix? 'Twould be nice, because she was TERRIBLE. Okay, okay- not that bad, but she just didn't fit with Alexa at all. She did this cheesy commentary that would go fine with Entertainment Tonight but looks like crap in contrast with Alexa's straightforward, no-BS snarkiness. And you could tell Alexa wasn't having any of it either- she kept looking disgusted after each awkward comment she peeped out. See what I'm saying- Alexa can be mean in a way that is very satisfying- especially in this case- on TV, but would be a huge turn off in person. Think Blair Waldorf. Anyway, this idiot of a woman- oh, fine, she seemed sweet, whatever- but she's so wrong for the show. She brought everything down. This calls for a catty gay guy or something to take that dullard's place and match Alexa's wit. MTV producers- I know you're surfing blogs for reactions right now, so listen to me- FIRE THAT WOMAN and hire someone better. You can switch her to host some crap reality show, whatever. Just take her out.

-the Internet pimping. Goodness gracious, MTV. I swear sometimes I think these old exec dudes are like "if we mention twitter the kids will cream themselves!!" No they fucking won't idiots, it doesn't work that way. You don't just integrate a bunch of useless mentions of Facebook statuses and feature illiterate tweens twittering and call it a show. Granted, the "internet integration" wasn't as bad as I expected after initially reading the press about the show. But it was still bad. We're watching TV for a reason, MTV. So no more twitter commentary (don't you want people to post the interviews online and have them 'go viral'? You don't want that ugly rectangle covering half the screen).

-Too fast-paced, too much crap going on. Actually at first with the celeb gossip part, it was really slow because that other woman was talking nonsense and it looked like Alexa was utterly bored by her. But then the show went into overdrive and it jumped from pictures of cats on heads to relationship advice to beat-boxing, and surprises left and right. Too much.



Good:

-The set was nice. It reminded me of Good Morning America or the View or something, but in a good way. I'm just glad it's nothing like TRL. It's new for MTV. Fresh.

-Alexa. I'm impressed with MTV for hiring her. First Russell Brand, now her- not bad. Now they just need to bring Alex Zane and Simon Amstell over- maybe even Zane Lowe, and Jonathan Ross- and I'll be happy. Anyway, back to Alexa- I can't wrap my head around HOW she is so confident and seemed completely unfazed about hosting this show in the US for the first time. Yes she has done this in the UK for 3 years, but it seems like since this is her first US and MTV show, she should be stuttering and blushing and instead she was owning it as if she has been in that same studio for five years already.

-She is not going to be MTV's puppet. She knows what she wants the show to be and she will not be afraid to wrangle it out of her guests if she has to. I just hope, again, that MTV won't crack down on her too much (they inevitably will to some degree. Bastards).

-that idea to have Jack Black and Michael Cera narrate over the trailer was hilarious , but it didn't really work out because the stupid fucking producers decided to show them staring at the screen and talking instead of making the video full-screen and letting the viewers enjoy the narration! Otherwise what is the point? That part pissed me off. It was such a good idea, too, and I feel like now the producers or whoever will probably think it failed and throw it out. Tragic. Oh and Jack Black was right, they should have the actors narrate over a scene instead of a trailer, which is too fast-paced. Michael Cera was hilarious in this part by the way hahahah. He just kept saying "heey" and finally he admitted "I'm bad at this." I love Michael Cera.

Here are exclusive videos that will probably be taken down, The first is of Alexa interviewing lovely ol' Souljah Boy. You can witness the annoying twitter updates here too. Distracting!

http://www.rapradar.com/focus/soulja-boy-tell-em-checks-in-with-qits-onq.html

And go to this link to see a video of a young female beat-boxing champion (Julia Dales) being surprised by one of her heroes, Rahzel:

http://nahright.com/news/2009/06/15/video-rahzel-vs-julia-dales/



And an official MTV video, of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt making a surprise visit:

It's On with Alexa Chung - MTV Shows

By the way, not that anyone cares but this IS my blog after all muaha- I'm not that into Alexa's style. It's okay but it's not worthy of all the 'fashion icon!!111!" praise it gets. She wears nice things, but for some reason it doesn't seem natural. Almost as if she doesn't choose the clothes herself, although I know she probably does. I think what it is is that nothing she wears is very original. Also her current hair is a cop out of this era MIA, just sayin':



If you do want to know what label and brand and blah blah Alexa's clothes are, MTV's Buzzworthy Blog will be updating readers on what Alexa is wearing daily, so keep your eye on that.

New Epic Video from the Killers

A Dustland Fairytale. Gorgeous beautiful gorgeous beautiful gorgeous beautiful. Enjoy (before it gets taken down):



The director is Anthony Mandler, who also did the When You Were Young video. I salute you sir.

Childhood is "In," Didn't You Know?

I was looking through the Cobrasnake Coachella 2009 pictures, because I still do check that site out sometimes, plus I wanted to see some sweet Bflow goodness... and I stumbled across this:



No this is not just random photo of young aspiring hipsters. The girl on the left is wearing my childhood sheets. It bugged me out for a second to see someone wearing my beloved Minnie Mouse bedsheets, until I realized oh durr she cut them up and sewed them into a dress. Now I know I usually like to poke fun at or, rather, bash endlessly (possibly jealously?) everything that has to do with hipsters, but even I have to admit that I was impressed by this creativity. So all I have to say is, you go girl. That is fucking awesome right there. And where can I get a sewing machine and lessons to make me an exact carbon copy of that dress? Fuck originality, I want that fucking dress and I still have the sheets stowed away in the back of some closet at home.

Speaking of the Cobrasnake, He posted this music video he filmed on his website:



Again, I know I'm being too easy on the guy (is my college turning me into a hipster enabler?? oh shiiiit. Too many hipsters, too little resolve). Nah, but I really thought it was sweet. I know there must be some kind of illegal activity going on with a 25-or-whatever-the-fuck-Mark-Hunter's-age-is-year-old-dude (with a creepo mustache no less) filming a scantily clad, seemingly under age "nymphet" (ew I feel creepy and Humbert Humbert-y using that word. i hope I don't get hits from child molesters now. But then again a hit is a hit and I'm in dire need for more traffic ever since I've abandoned my poor blog.... kidding! I will not stoop that low, promiseeee. uhum). that was a long parenthetical aside. Where was I. Oh yes, well the video is actually nice with the beach and the sun. Maybe if it wasn't so damn creepy, it would be even better. But honestly I've never hated Mark Hunter as much as others seem to, so I tend to keep my mind open when it comes to him. The trendy techno-y song is not so bad either. Apparently it's called "I'll get You" Classixx feat. Jeppe/ Kitsuné.

This is what it says by the video:

Exclusive video directed by Mark "The Cobrasnake" Hunter
When the most famous photoblog in the world meets the nicest music label on Earth, you get a wonderful association presenting the finest of the new American scene.

Please, welcome Kitsuné x The Cobrasnake !

Out on digital Worldwide 06-01-2009!

Aah it feels good to be back and blogging. I'll try to keep up now that summer has begun. I'm in NYC for the next to weeks (be jellis, it's ok) so I should have some things to report back on. Laters.