Pandahead: Issue 2 !

(pandaheadmag.com)

The multi-talented face behind Pandahead Morgan Hungerford explained to us: "Every Fall - it's excitement and ideas and (good) anxiety about buckling down and getting things accomplished." And Girlfriend is sure living that mantra. With the help of site designer Erik Loften, Pandahead has taken it to the next level with its on-line mag. In this issue, we find ambitious offerings of multimedia art and music from local artists, alongside lovely layouts of fashion and DC culture. "Chapter Four" and its drapey, relaxed aesthetic is highly coveted by Listopad. We are already excited about Issue 3...

Music for Lovers: Norman Greenbaum/Spirit In The Sky

All photos from Norman Greenbaum's website

A guy at my job asked me a couple weeks ago, "Hey, you know that song 'Spirit In The Sky,' right?" I stared at him blankly. Three YouTube seconds later, I realized that yeah, duh, of course I know "Spirit In The Sky." It's right up there with the birthday song and the Tomahawk chop. Who the hell hasn't heard "Spirit In The Sky"? I felt dumb for a minute, but it passed.

Then I did some research on Norman Greenbaum, the song's writer and performer. I chatted with him on the phone-- for work, not for fun-- and he was friendly and eccentric. I asked him to send me some photos of himself c. 1969, the year his song reached #1. And guess what, y'all, Greenbaum was a hottie.

His look was as iconic as the song, and it persists to this day-- from Portland, OR, to Brattleboro, VT, to Richmond, VA. Where Katerina and I went to school in Western Mass (c 2002-2007), this was The Look for men. Women have their own version, too, but there's something so effortlessly sexy about men who pull this off.

I became a little obsessed with Norman Greenbaum, c. 1969. Can you blame me?

Carly Vibin'

This week, Music for Lovers brings you "Why" by Carly Simon. There will be a pop quiz tomorrow, so please be careful to note the following Listopad faves:

- intentional frizz and volume
- questionably intentional bangs
- the best short-dress-and-high-boots combo we've ever seen
- awkwardness, budgetry, and what appears to be attempts at dancing

This song appeared on the soundtrack of the 1982 romantic comedy Soup for One.

Fandes

Hi guys. I started school on Monday!


(American Rhetoric.)

I am taking this really awesome class: the Anthropology of Food. Today, we discussed Andean farming traditions: how they've been in practice for thousands of years with no detriment to the soil or slackening in crop yields. These dudes have literally found the perfect way to farm!


(Ilhuicamina.)

They have also found the perfect way to dress!


(quintet.)


(Walking the Amazon.)

Note: sweet headgear, 50-inspired circle skirts, jewel tones, long braids, and baby-as-accessory. Listopad approves!

Friendship

Listopad recently spent some time with Ellen Van Dusen, who makes clothes.



Ellen is on the right. (Look at her cute hair!) She made both of these dresses. The one on the left is from a collection based on badass Color Field painters like Ellsworth Kelly, Mark Rothko, and Morris Louis.



She made this one, too.



And this one. (You may have spotted this dress in the window at Meeps. She has a bunch of her stuff for sale there under the label LN.)



Ellen told us that she considers the way the eye works when she's designing stuff. "I think a lot about shape and color," she says. "Your brain takes in flat shapes all at once -- when I look at an image, I like to know that my brain is processing it all at the same time. I work with seams and shapes for a flat look."



Ellen and I went to high school together here in DC. It was really fun catching up.

(If you want Ellen to make you something, e-mail her: ellen.vandusen@gmail.com.)

(Photos: Cathy Chung.)

Bagels for the Soul

This week's flavor: rye.


Double Dagger. (Pic: Patrick McCormick)

Today is Washington Post Dollar Mondays at Nationals Stadium! Two George Washingtons will get you admission the stadium and--wait for it--a hot dog! I am so fucking there .

Tuesday, Gnarls Barkley and Hercules and Love Affair play the 9:30 Club. If you're lucky, Cee-lo will bust out some solo shit.

Rob Walker writes Consumed, the New York Times Magazine column on consumer culture. His new book is called Buying In and he'll be talking about it at Politics and Prose on Wednesday.

Did you know that seniors, students, teachers, nurses, and active duty military officers get ten percent off their purchases at Rockville's Upscale Resale every day? You could make Thursday that day! Think about it.

The Apes and Double Dagger play at Comet Ping Pong on Friday. Rad pizza; rad music. Rad way to commence the weekend.

Gina Tibbot makes fucked-up, thought-provoking art. See her installation (Tibbott Family Pet Burial Recovery -- yes, it is as awesome as it sounds) at Project 4 before it closes on Saturday.

Vintage Maz

Today is a very special day.



Happy birthday, Martha! Like a fine wine, you only get better with age! (Note her prescient Big Love-FLDS steez. I am so into these massive, sculpted waves of hair and the Precious-meets-dowdy vibe. It's so aggressively matronly that it's basically punk.)