Self Evident Truths
On Wednesday I got my haircut at The Seagull Salon, which is partially owned by the one and only Johanna Fateman of Le Tigre. When summer humidity strikes, I tend to look frazzled at best, with one exception in July of last year when I woke up with the most glorious curls. However, that seems to have been a one off occurrence relating solely to shower sex and not my hair’s triumph over the oppressive heat of a New York summer.
I have wavy hair but prefer to wear it straight which is doable about 8 months out of the calender year. I asked Luke (pictured above) to chemically straighten my hair, but he wisely counseled me against applying the same chemicals used for embalming to my scalp (especially as it wouldn’t combat humidity) and instead suggested I try a haircut that would skip straightening and presuppose I wear it curly. I was nervous, and I think Luke may have known because I said “I’m really nervous.”
However, my haircut rocked and still looked great today (If I do say so and actually my friend Melanie did too).
Bonus: l have a good 3 months (at least) to test out my shower sex theory.
Last week, Lorber Films and the Consulate General of Denmark hosted an intimate screening of the captivating, often sublimely shot, Armadillo at The Crosby Hotel. It was followed by one of the most educational and thoughtful Q&As I’ve ever had the privilege of attending. Director Janus Metz, second on the right, borrowed the term, militaristic humanism, from his girlfriend, an anthropologist, to describe Denmark’s NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan. The film caused quite the controversy in Denmark, raising questions of War Crimes, and Metz explained that some of the soldiers did feel betrayed by him. However, Danish journalist and panelist Louise Stigsgaard Nisse, who covered the story and is seated second from left onstage, asked one of the best queries of the evening when she asked Metz to comment on camaraderie and whether any of the platoon members count him among their friends, to which Metz replied in the affirmative.
The film truly is a cinematic and journalistic masterpiece.
I would be remiss not to mention (and frankly, incapable of not mentioning) that Tim Hetherington, the co-director of Restrepo, and Pulitzer-prize winning photographer, Chris Hondros, were killed covering the war in Libya today. It is a brave, unique soul who can go into war zones and/or embed, in search of both the humanity and lack thereof in warfare. If we don’t understand both, we won’t have a shot in hell of fixing anything. Hondros’ last photographs can be viewed here.
(Photo: Asbjørn K. Høgsbro, Consulate General of Denmark)
