Gossip04 by Aishti

04 DEC 09-JAN 10

nothing like A good

cAtfight

FIRST WE TAKE CAPE TOWN, THEN WE TAKE BERLIN

CLIMB YOUR WAY TO THE TOP – IN HEELS

SEXY STARLETS TELL ALL You don’t exist until they tAlk About you

Ready to steam up the night? Then, zip up your leather jacket because it’s time to flirt with winter and all its wonders: after partying in Cape Town and scorching the dance floors of Berlin, we hit a string of Beirut bars to unearth the city’s most popular Happy Hour haunts. Indie rockers Vampire Weekend tell us how they keep their sound fierce, while filmmaker Shirin Abu Shaqra and super muse Namalee Bolle dish about London, divas and headless puppets. If you’re craving sensational style, check out our selection of Christmas gift ideas and then peruse our fashion pages to put together a fierce New Year’s Eve outfit. When the cold weather drives you indoors, don’t fret: just delve into our movie and music selection, and stay hip even when you’re hanging in your own pad. Till next year, Gossip

DIRECTORY Publisher Tony Salamé Group TSG SAL / Editor-in-chief Marwan Naaman / Creative director Malak Beydoun Project editor Eyad Houssami / ART director Laurent El Khoury / associate editor Natasha Tohme writers Bettie Jane Adams, Summer Banks, Gretel Blackwood, Eveline Chao, Ziad Gedeon, Ruby Gotham, Tala Habbal, Sleiman el Hajj Ilze Hugo, Jana Jammal, Sassafras Loy, Matt Nash, Giulia Pines, Shirine Saad, Kristin Julie Viola PHOTOGRAPHERS Enzo, Nour el Khazen, Sophie Perl, Marc Philbert, Ieva Saudargaite, George Sokhn, Bachar Srour, Tanya Traboulsi stylists Mariam Saab, Sivine Samadi, Saskia Weber / illustrator Ghadi Ghosn production Fadi Maalouf, Maria Maalouf / coordinator Ghada Kadri / Responsible director / George Chahine / Printing 140 El Moutrane St., fourth floor, Downtown Beirut, Lebanon / gossip@gossip-beirut.com

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citizens

GOT MY ERIN CRUSH You may know her as Whitney Port’s BFF from The City, but that’s about to change. After just one season, Erin Lucas is parting ways with The Hills spinoff series, though something tells us we’ll still be seeing quite a bit of her through the camera lens. Considering her father is AC/DC guitarist Cliff Williams, it comes as no surprise that Erin takes to the spotlight so easily. We spoke with the sassy starlet about life on and off the small screen, her famous father and her enviable style. How did you meet Whitney? We met at a music festival, Coachella, three years ago. Our ex-boyfriends are best friends, and we all shacked up in a tiny RV for the weekend. That was the first time we met, and we just kept in touch after that. Was there a particular moment when you realized just how big the show had gotten? There was never one defining moment of cognizance for me. Rather, it sort of came in waves. Doing the Elle magazine shoot with The City cast and also the Maxim shoot solo…those were definitely defining moments! But I think the most bizarre (and cool) thing is when people recognize me on the streets.

The sassy starlet from The City takes to the spotlight so easily Do you think you were accurately portrayed on the show? The format of shows like The City don’t really allow for all sides of a personality to be portrayed...it’s just the nature of the beast. That said, I feel like certain sides of my personality were definitely accurately portrayed. I am a huge goofball with a serious case of verbal diarrhea. I’m glad my silly one-liners got some airtime! Ever regret anything that you did or said on-camera? No way! I have grown into the woman I am today because of all the mistakes I’ve made and lessons I’ve learned in the past. I mean, I was definitely embarrassed watching myself sometimes. But hey, what can I do about it? Just shrug it off and move on. Life is too short to take anything too seriously.

What compelled you to leave the show? I’ve always wanted to be a TV host, ever since I was a kid. But when I was offered a spot on the show, I figured, why not? It was such a rare and exciting opportunity – something I’ll have to look back on for years to come. I’m so glad I did it – no regrets, but hosting is always what I’ve loved and wanted to do. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Do you think you will remain friends with the girls on The City now that you are no longer a part of it? Of course! Sami [Samantha Swetra] is one of my best friends, even though our friendship wasn’t really depicted on the show. However, over time I’ve realized that certain people weren’t as good of friends as they portrayed themselves to be...so I won’t be putting much effort into continuing those relationships. Any upcoming projects that you can share with us? I recently filmed some episodes of [online reality show] Concrete + Cashmere as a guest judge and have been doing a bunch of photo shoots…but basically I’ve been super busy throwing as much stuff against the wall as possible, seeing what sticks. Lots of projects in the works!

Your original surname is Williams. Why did you change it to Lucas? I never wanted to be known as “the daughter of AC/DC’s bassist.” I wanted to make a name for myself, on my own. My mother and I came up with the idea over a few glasses of wine. Lucas is my brother’s name. It sort of started out as a joke actually. But after a while it stuck. Are you a fan of The Hills? I used to watch it in college, but I haven’t caught an episode since. It’s so bizarre for me to watch now that I’ve not only learned but participated in the process of making this kind of show. It takes the mystery out of everything! I much preferred watching it before I knew what went into creating such a project. You always look so effortlessly put together. Any style secrets you can share with us? Well thank you, you’re making me blush! My mom gave me the best advice, and I’ve always stuck with it: focus on one thing. If you show the legs, don’t show the boobs. If you’ve got dramatic eyes, don’t do a dramatic lip. Less is more. I don’t like looking too “done.”

[ Text Kristin Julie Viola ]

nightlife

Party destination:

WHEN PLANNING A WILD NIGHT OUT IN CAPE TOWN, IT’S ALWAYS A SAFE BET TO START WITH LONG STREET. A BRIGHT MISHMASH OF CANDY-COLORED VICTORIAN BUILDINGS PACK THE SIDEWALKS LIKE POP ART SARDINES, AND AT DUSK THE STREET SWARMS WITH EAGER REVELERS. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN, THE GRITTY EAST CITY IS FAST BLOSSOMING INTO A VORTEX OF MAYHEM WITH SCORCHING DANCING DENS SPRINGING UP IN OLD WAREHOUSES. AS WINTER DESCENDS UPON THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, THE SOUTH AFRICAN CAPITAL BURSTS INTO SUMMER FROM NOVEMBER TO MARCH, SO MAKE LIKE A TRUST FUND DEBUTANTE AND EASE INTO A NIGHT OF PARTYING WITH SUNSET CRISTAL AT ONE OF THE CHAMPAGNE BARS LINING THE AZURE BEACHES OF THE CAPE TOWN PENINSULA.

CAPE TOWN

KINK

THE WAITING ROOM

THE ASSEMBLY

As the name implies, this laid-back burlesque-themed club (adjacent to a late-night lingerie boutique) is positively kinky. Order a naughty cocktail like the Ben Dover or Spank the Skank, and sprawl on the red and turquoise velvet couches while a projection screen loops retro erotica: from skirt-lifting Can Can girls to Betty Page flicks. Even the bathroom is in on the theme – with playful graffiti proffering suggestive proposals like “touch my electric fuzz.” 3 Park Rd., Gardens, T 27.21.424.0752.

Retro furniture and copper Tom Dixon mirror ball lights adorn this plush red joint above Long street’s hippest burger bar, Royale. Flanked by skyscrapers, the Waiting Room’s fairy-lit rooftop is chill and laidback during the week, but the club turns electric on Friday – kicking off with explosive beats at 4pm with Early Friday parties, hosted by students from Cape Town’s Michaelis Art School. 273 Long St., City Center, T 27.21.422.4536.

The city’s premier live music venue is squeezed between rows of old industrial warehouses, and there’s nothing but a giant, encircled “A” that marks the entrance to this place. A concrete tunnel leads you up into a loft, where the hottest bands and electronica acts, like Fokofpolisiekar and Freshlyground, burn up the dance floor. The three-dimensional walls, Blade Runner booths and wooden rafters of the Assembly give the place a trippy vibe. Oh, and if it’s your birthday, bring five friends and get in for nada. 61 Harrington St., East City, T 27.21.465.7286.

HONORABLE MENTIONS ASOKA

This Zen-chic hangout, popular with the slick set, boasts a massive olive tree in the center, with its branches growing majestically through the roof above. 68 Kloof St., Gardens, T 27.21.422.0909. FICTION

A host of crazy beats – from Dub to Glitch to Nu World Afrobeat – reverberates through the bouncy wooden floorboards at this retro electronica den. 226 Long St., City Center, T 27.21.424.5709. HEMISPHERE

CHEVELLE

EVOL

To fit in here, you need deep pockets and a taste for the finer things – Veuve, Dom and Margeut are de rigueur. A maze of multilevel rooms bursts with bars, dance floors, plush private booths and two VIP areas where Hollywood celebrities rub shoulders with models and sports stars. Massive Indonesian brass doors open onto to the main dance floor – the Temple – where mainstream pop blasts from the speakers. 84 Harrington St., East City, T 27.21.461.8701.

On Fridays, a scruffy East City hangout called Hectic on Hope becomes Evol for the night. Saunter up the narrow steps (Kate Moss once twisted her ankle here) into a dimly lit dive, and you’ll find creative types in skinny jeans and edgy hairdos talking about obscure sub-sub-genres of indie rock and nursing Black Label beer. The locals tend to be territorial and can give you the cold shoulder if you don’t dress the part. Hectic on Hope, 69 Hope St., East City, T 27.21.465.4918.

Cape Town’s highest club sits on the 31st floor of an inner-city skyscraper, and the 180-degree bird’s eye view over the city’s blanket of lights is reason enough to ride the elevator to the top. ABSA Center, 2 Riebeeck St., City Center, T 27.21.421.0581. ZULA SOUND BAR

This creaky old Victorian abode puts on its party shoes at night, the windy rooms playing host to everything from live reggae, ska, funk and rock to spoken word poetry, stand-up comedy and African beats. 194 Long St., City Center, T 27.21.424.2442.

[ Text Ilze Hugo ]

music

POP GO THE GIRLS While the Pussycat Dolls get raunchier than Pamela Anderson and as Girls Aloud spend more time denying split rumors than recording albums, the Wonder Girls, an irresistibly perky quintet from South Korea, are soaring to fame faster than you can say Spice Girls. The choreography from their hit song “Tell Me” conquered dance floors across the globe, like the Macarena on Red Bull, and suddenly everyone from France to the Philippines was uploading a clumsy rendition of the dance onto YouTube. After touring with the Jonas Brothers this year and dropping their first English single, “Nobody,” the ladies are cooking up their first full-length English album, which is sure to cement their status as international pop stars.

“We went to 48 different cities in two months! How crazy is that!” says veteran Wonder Girl Mimi with a gush.

The girls were brought together by K-Pop (Korean Pop) genius Park Jin-young, also known as JYP. A former pop star himself, JYP burst into booming ‘90s Seoul as a producer, digging up talented teenagers across the nation and sending them off to his star academy for professional dance, voice and acting training and even language study. (The Wonder Girls are all fluent in English and Mandarin in addition to their native Korean tongue.) “I was a trainee for a long period of time, and when I finally debuted with the Wonder Girls, I was so grateful,” says Sunye, queen bee Wonder Girl, who trained for five years.

formula: take a known hit (in this case, ‘80s synthpop queen Stacey Q’s “Two of Hearts”) and revamp it so that it’s fit for karaoke. Then, pair it with infectious but simple dance moves and top it off with the sexy charm of fresh-face teenagers singing about crushes on boys in school uniforms. “We’re really just ourselves, and we want people to know who we are,” says Sunye of their seemingly innocent image.

JYP has done this before: he took a backup dancer and turned him into one of the world’s most influential people. Korean superstar Rain (that hot guy in the Wachowski brothers’ Speed Racer and the upcoming Ninja Assassin) has sold out New York’s Madison Square Garden, and he was ranked as one of the world’s most influential people by TIME magazine and as one of the most beautiful by People.

They have the sexy charm of teenagers in school uniforms The Wonder Girls were introduced to the world one by one in an MTV Korea series back in 2007. Their first album, The Wonder Years, released later that year, climbed the charts in Asia with the catchy bubblegum pop single “Tell Me” that launched the epic dance craze.

Whether or not the Wonder Girls will star in bigbudget features remains to be seen, but as the Motown jive of “Nobody” ripples across the radio waves, K-Pop continues to dominate charts across the globe, and the teenage sensations have got their sights set on mainstream stardom.

“Tell Me” is a prime example of the Wonder Girl super

[ Text Bettie Jane Adams ]

music

SINK YOUR TEETH INTO

THE VAMPIRE True Blood and New Moon hype is driving everyone wild with bloodsucker mania, but Vampire Weekend wouldn’t have it any other way. The New York indie rock band, founded only three years ago, is set to release their highly anticipated sophomore album Contra in January, and they’ve given us an exclusive sneak peek into their new record, sure to fuel their skyrocketing success. “We got to elaborate on influences that were only hinted at in the first record,” says Vampire Weekend’s bassist Chris Baio. “It’s fiercer and faster than anything we’ve made before.” Back in 2006, when garage rock and ‘80s retreads defined the New York scene, the adorably brainy foursome caused a furor thanks not only to their obvious talent but also to their audacity in defining a new genre, Upper West Side Soweto – after the African beats in their music and the Columbia University neighborhood that brought them together. “Making an album is a months-long process,” says Baio. “You obviously have emotional swings. I definitely felt anxious at times.” On first listen, it’s easy to see he’s got nothing to worry about.

The album showcases ska and hip-hop influences along with the same bouncy world-music beats that spiced up their eponymous debut. There’s even a ballad this time: the dreamy, intoxicating “Taxi,” whose lyrics paint a picture of a love that turns the world upside down, transforming the mundane into the enchanted: “You stand this close to me/ like the future was supposed to be/in the aisles of the grocery.” But the real standout is “Cousins,” the new single. Every bit as addictive as the band’s first breakthrough track “A-Punk,” this one also has a delightfully manic video to match. “It was shot in an alley in Chinatown in July and is a series of frenetic, tracked shots,” says Baio. Sprinkled with raindrops and confetti, the video bursts with objects morphing into other objects: frontman Ezra Koenig pulls a cocktail glass out of his pocket, turns a cardboard cutout of a shoe into an actual shoe and transforms his own arm into a gorilla’s arm, which he then yanks off and empties of colorful balls. Of course, such sleights of hand might seem uncharacteristic of a band that has achieved fame based on its sincerity. But then again, Vampire Weekend’s swift flight to the top has always seemed a bit supernatural.

[ Text Giulia Pines ]

Vampire Weekend’s swift flight to the top seems supernatural

what to do

Watch sexy girls in short skirts knock each other down in public. On wheels

WHEELS LIKE

Raquel Welch as she appeared in the 1972 roller derby flick Kansas City Bomber

HEAVEN

It’s a typical Saturday night at the Doll House. Gori Spelling and Donna Matrix – eyes lined, nails painted, lips rouged – are lacing up their skates and strapping on their mouth guards while the Los Angeles Derby Doll “jeerleaders” rally up the crowd. The screaming and stomping becomes deafening as the girls start whizzing around the banked track. Woe be to the stray guy who lurches too close to the action – roller girls have been known to lose control and go flying over the railing, slamming into audience members. Roller derby, an all-female sport of beauty, brains and brawl, is making a huge comeback, bolstered by a strong dose of girl power. “People interested in just watching women skate and block and fall can get that,” says roller girl Chaos Fury. “They also come to realize that the sport is much more strategic and mentally challenging than they originally thought.” Even so, players like Chaos, a three-year veteran who competes in the Pacific Northwest, admit that this new flash of interest is spurred largely by the titillation factor involved in watching sexy tattooed girls in fishnets and short skirts knocking each other down in public. On wheels. As for the players, they’re lured by a straight-up desire to play a down and dirty, competitive contact sport but in the process discover, beneath the ink and studded

belts, a network of women who kick ass, in every sense of the term. “The women running my league blew me out of the water with their confidence and ability,” says Smarty Pants, a founding member of the roller derby movement from Austin, Texas who has traveled all over the world to build new leagues. Not to imply, of course, that it’s nothing but love and warm fuzzies out on the track. These girls are out for blood. As Kimfectious puts it, “I like to compete. I like to be pushed. I like to sweat. I like to hit people.” Broken legs and bruises are de rigueur. Kimfectious has suffered a concussion and several broken fingers over the course of her career with San Francisco’s Bay City Derby Girls. And Smarty Pants has fractured her hand and recalls one gory tumble that left her with a black eye for six months. Ouch! In a far cry from the sport’s poky Chicago debut in 1935, new leagues are popping up in Amsterdam, across South America and even Abu Dhabi. Looks like there’s no end in sight for total roller girl domination.

[ Text Eveline Chao ]

citizens

about a puppet who loses his head and finds a camera to replace it, also premiered at the Lebanese Film Festival last August. The film was in part inspired by street photographers, people who walk the sidewalks day in and day out to find that perfect shot, she says. “They have a weird understanding of life. They’re above reality a bit.” And that feeling is something Abu Shaqra knows first hand. She got her start with photography, traveling the streets of European capitals during the summer of 2006. “I always knew I had an eye for photography,” she says, admitting her tries at being a shutterbug as a kid always failed. “I had a little film camera but never got to develop the pictures. I could never put the film in right, and they always came out white.”

CINEMA FANTASTIQUE She laces moments of fantasy into a documentary about an iconic diva

Shirin Abu Shaqra makes her own reality. A film director with an eye for the surreal, she fuses cityscapes and brings street lamps and fountains to life just as smoothly as she laces moments of fantasy into a documentary about an iconic diva.

From the follies of youth, however, she’s come a long way. Abu Shaqra now studies in France at Le Fresnoy, an edgy contemporary arts college, where she’s working on her latest film. “The aesthetic is different from my earlier films,” she says.

The 30-year-old Lebanese filmmaker is winning acclaim for her genre-bending style and is currently working on her fourth picture – and first full-length film – in France. This summer her short “Un instant mon glamour?” took the top prize at the Lebanese Film Festival.

Conversations is complete fantasy and set in a city created by blending film and photographs of the places she’s been. And she’s been all over. Born to Lebanese parents in Doha in the late ‘70s, Abu Shaqra has lived in Qatar, Lebanon, Canada, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and France.

The 40-minute film features the life story of the female Egyptian singer Wadad, but it isn’t simply a documentary. “The writing of history isn’t objective,” Abu Shaqra says. “Why not do a documentary that isn’t objective?” The film blends Wadad’s real life with fantasy scenes the filmmaker created based on the diva’s songs. Wadad is known for her many stormy love affairs, and the first tune Abu Shaqra heard, “Btindam,” caught her ear. “The words of the song are very provocative,” she says. “It’s not your normal love song.”

Her latest film, which combines 2D and 3D formats, will be released in 2010 and will certainly not be your traditional tale. “The story?” she asks, seemingly struggling to give a synopsis. “I’m recreating a city, and in the city there’s a story that happens between a streetlight and a small fountain statue. These are the characters.”

And Abu Shaqra isn’t your normal director. She first tried her hand at filmmaking in 2007 with the more classical short documentary “Out of Sabra’s Barrels” after spending years working as a researcher at St. Joseph University, where she also studied. From there she directed another, far more surreal short – “Walking Distance.” The stop-motion film,

[ Text Matt Nash ]

citizens

StArch:

the next generAtion

Will Lebanon ever have its own independent fashion showcase? Certainly, if fashion designer Rabih Kayrouz has his way. Inside the recently revamped Starch boutique in Saifi Village, Kayrouz brings together emerging fashion designers in what looks like a local replica of London’s famous On/Off fashion week, a twice-yearly event that serves as a sort of launching pad for the United Kingdom’s most promising designers. Much like On/Off launched important designers (Hannah Marshall, Ashley Isham, Emma Cook and more), Kayrouz – through his Starch initiative – is providing exposure for Lebanon’s new crop of fashion visionaries. This second season of Starch features hip, edgy clothes by three of Lebanon’s most promising fashion creators, and in a nod to the Lebanese fascination with sleek, design interiors, Kayrouz even commissioned an interior design student to re-imagine the retail space. “I am extremely excited about developing the Starch concept and taking it far,” says Kayrouz.

1. RONALD ABDALA

2. DIANE FERJANE

3. RAYYA MORCOS

4. RIZKALLAH CHAARAOUI

Ronald Abdala has an eye for timeless glamour. With more than a dozen years in the world of fashion under his belt, he’s developed a taste for sophisticated tailoring. “The whole basis of my work is balancing out the European/American market with the Arab market by focusing on shape and structure rather than embellishment,” says Abdala. His new line features film noir-inspired evening wear.

East meets West in Diane Ferjane’s twist on traditional Arab regalia. She adorns slim cut jackets with chaotic calligraphy and hikes up silky sherwals to create sexy tube-top jumpsuits. She’s an alumna of Ecole Supérieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode (ESMOD – Beirut), and her background as a costume designer for theater and television shines through her bold statement pieces.

Rayya Morcos is the ingénue behind hip ready-to-wear label Bird on a Wire, and it’s her cleverly constructed square Tshirts that distinguish her light and fun approach to fashion. “When I started doing my 80x80 T-shirts, I was just having fun, playing around until people on the street started complimenting me,” she says. “My clothes are very whimsical and anything but serious.”

An architecture student at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA), Rizkallah Chaaraoui makes his solo debut as the interior architect who revamped the Starch space, which now feels like a portal to Middle Earth, with white tree stump stools and clothes hanging from branches. “My aim was to contrast the various elements of the shop,” he says.

[ Text Tala Habbal Photos Nour el Khazen ]

style

THE ART OF A CAMPAIGN Industrial installations, funky animations and pop art illustrations meet edgy designer fashion in the fall/winter 2009-10 Aïzone campaign, “Stand Up and Be Counted.” Style gurus teamed up with three emerging artists – Yasmeen Ayyashi, Sandra Ghosn and Amandine Brenas – to deliver Lebanon’s first fashion advertising initiative that promotes young talent. From billboards to magazine spreads, the campaign, developed by H&C Leo Burnett, launches the work of these fresh creative minds into the spotlight. Gossip chats with the three artists and gives you a glimpse into what they’re all about.

Yasmeen Ayyashi

Installation artist While she’s not busy dreaming up collaborations with English sculptor Antony Gormley, Ayyashi, 24, hangs out at Balima in Saifi Village with her sketchbook and a laptop, polishing up her latest graphic design project. But it’s her installation, “Formless,” which she describes as “a mechanical womb” of print, sculpture and sound, that’s featured in the Aïzone campaign. “I like the idea of having my installation flirt with things that are different,” she says. “Fashion is based on form. ‘Formless’ is, well, based on the loss of the form, so I think the contradiction in concept is interesting.” Amandine Brenas

Sandra Ghosn

Illustrator Shuttling between Beirut, Paris and Doha, Ghosn, 26, is an Oscar de la Renta kinda girl. Back in the day, she wanted to be a nutritionist, but next thing she knew, she was studying graphic design at Notre Dame University, “not knowing really what it was,” she says. It wasn’t long before she was winning prizes for a book cover design she did for Elfriede Jelinek, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist. These days, Ghosn is sharpening her wit in modern literature at the Sorbonne in Paris, ruminating on Guy de Maupassant.

Animator “Somewhere in the ‘80s, a young girl decides to change the world for the better through pixel art,” says Brenas, 28, when she tells the story of her animation now appearing in the Aïzone campaign. Her art – animation, sculpture and video art – is colorful and minimalist, inspired by the likes of Wes Anderson and Maroun Baghdadi. She’s currently working on a documentary animation project about the Phoenician alphabet and, during those precious weekend nights, steals to Basement to unwind with some good Massive Attack.

[ Text Eyad Houssami Photos Ieva Saudargaite ]

GIRL’S RIGHT TO

PARTY [ Photos Marc Philbert

Styling Saskia Weber Hair Didi for Ï Day Spa Makeup Christian Abou Haidar ]

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wearing an Armani Jeans top, Sachin + Babi jacket, Kova & T leggings, Balmain shoes, DKNY belt, Noir bracelet and Benoit Missolin hair band

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in a Diabless dress, Isabel Marant top and Gucci shoes. Her bag is by Dolce & Gabbana

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in an Alice + Olivia top, Current/Elliott shorts, D&G belt, Disaya bracelet, Le Silla shoes and Marc Jacobs sunglasses. Her bag is by Dior

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in an Alice + Olivia top, Etoile by Isabel Marant sweatpants, Disaya bracelet and Balenciaga shoes. Her bag is by Marc Jacobs

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wearing a Julie Brown top, D&G pants, Roberto Cavalli shoes, Marc Jacobs necklace and vintage hat

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wearing a D&G T-shirt, Current/Elliott waistcoat, Bash shorts, Rock & Republic belt, Roberto Cavalli shoes and Disaya bracelet

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wearing a Jay God Frey dress, Doma jacket, Le Silla shoes and vintage gloves. Her bag is by N by Nicole

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wearing an Elizabeth & James T-shirt, Tory Burch jacket, Marc Jacobs skirt and Gucci shoes

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wearing Members Only leggings, a D&G T-shirt, Tory Burch jacket, Balmain shoes and Marni bracelet

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style

[ Text Tala Habbal ]

style

LIGHT AS LEATHER [ Photos Bachar Srour

Styling Sivine Samadi Hair Didi for Ă? Day Spa Makeup Christian Abou Haidar Location La Colina Country Club, Rabieh ]

Opening Ceremony pants, Oakwood jacket

Diabless top, Jimmy Choo shoes, Ela Stone ring, Stella McCartney skirt and bracelet

Dress, cardigan and jacket,

Opening Ceremony dress, Theory waistcoat, Nando Muzi shoes

all by Theory, with Nando Muzi shoes

DKNY T-shirt, Manoush leggings, Oakwood jacket, Jimmy Choo shoes

D&G jacket, Balenciaga top, Rock & Republic leggings, Balmain shoes

style

helmet head

Unusual Riders helmet, Tokidoki T-shirt, Dsquared jacket, Glen Prince scarf and Jimmy Choo sunglasses

furry face

Dellera fur hat, vintage sunglasses, Twisted Heart hoodie, Ice by Iceberg leggings, Marc by Marc Jacobs bag and Julie & James necklace

ice, ice baby

Ice by Iceberg cap, LTM T-shirt and Ed Hardy jacket

lady fedora

Borsalino hat, Manoush top, Elizabeth & James jacket, Diesel scarf and Ela Stone bracelet

scarf and wool

Hat Attack snow cap, Manoush cardigan and Glen Prince scarf

tipping it slow

Borsalino bowler, Frankie Morello shirt, Dsquared cardigan, Kiniwit scarf, Stella McCartney brooch, Diesel jeans, U-Boat watch and Lula bracelet from Kulte

fuzzy felt

Borsalino fedora, Theory shirt, D&G tie, Diesel cardigan and Theory jacket

boy in the hood

Prada Sport snow cap, Diesel T-shirt and Alice + Olivia jacket

the scarlet hatter

Borsalino fedora, Tory Burch top, Virgin waistcoat and Marc by Marc Jacobs necklace

Ray-Ban raid girl got groove

Borsalino hat, Manoush top, Ed Hardy scarf, Ines et Marechal waistcoat and Current/Elliott jeans

heAds OR tAils: How to wear a hat in style

hatwoman

Marc by Marc Jacobs hat, Armani T-shirt, Opening Ceremony shorts, Julie & James bracelets and Lula bow tie bracelets from Kulte

[ Photos Bachar Srour

Styling Mariam Saab ]

style

GIVE IT TO ME 2. 5.

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24 SHINY CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

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1. Paul & Joe T-shirt 2. Marc by Marc Jacobs hair barrette 3. Casio G-Shock vintage watch 4. Dsquared necklaces 5. Marc Jacobs wallet 6. Dolce & Gabbana cufflinks 7. Jade Jezebel Jagger earrings 8. Vuarnet vintage sunglasses 9. D&G shoes 10. Cartier LOVE necklace 11. Diesel Fuel For Life fragrance 12. Balenciaga bag 13. Juicy Couture bracelet 14. Roberto Cavalli bracelet 15. Anya Hindmarch purse 16. Gucci key holder 17. The One fragrance by Dolce & Gabbana 18. Gucci mirror 19. Dolce & Gabbana shoes 20. Gucci shoes 21. miu miu bag 22. Noir rings 23. Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shadow, Goldstone 24. Chloé bracelet. Available at Aïzone.

style

SLICK PICKS

ALL THINGS WE WORSHIP AND ADORE

cobra craze

He’s not just an edgy photoblogger: the Cobrasnake also sells fab hipster wear online at the Cobrashop. W shop.thecobrasnake.com

alt rock revival

In the buzzworthy new book Grunge, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and photographer Michael Lavine capture the rise and fall of the ‘90s grunge movement.

lola takes after her mama

Even though she’s only 13, Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Ciccone Leon (aka Lola) is turning heads with her sassy, rebellious fashion sense.

resto art

Xavier Veilhan’s giant schoolgirl shoots through the roof of Café Germain in Paris, integrating sculpture into the dining experience. 25 rue de Buci, 6th arrondissement, T 33.1.4326.0293

anglo pop

Thanks to Alexander McQueen and TopShop, the Union Jack print is cropping up on umbrellas, T-shirts and handbags by the likes of Gucci.

snap it while it’s hot vespa chick takeover

Shooting graffiti on your digicam is the new stamp collecting: keep that camera handy so you’ll have something to share with your grandkids.

In the latest Beirut transit trend, ladies are zipping around on motorbikes, taking back the streets in style.

‘80s denim

Current/Elliott’s acid wash jeans are favorites with Hollywood style icons like Megan Fox and Sarah Jessica Parker. Available at Aïzone.

papercup read

From Purple Magazine to Wallpaper*, Papercup in Mar Mikhael has got a terrific selection of art and fashion magazines. T 03.443.783

marge bares all

Marge Simpson made quite a splash as the cover girl of Playboy’s November issue, commemorating the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons.

Garance is gold

Fashion blogger and photographer Garance Doré may be married to The Sartorialist, but she is making her own mark both on the Net and in the fashion universe at large. Visit her popular blog at garancedore.fr

cult fave

Tim Burton’s zany movie just gets better with time.

peruvian snuggle

Keep your ears toasty with a Peruvian hat, the must-have accessory for the snowy season.

comeback kick

They’re baaack! Doc Martens, the high-top boots that punks wore in the ‘80s and that grunge dudes worshipped in the ‘90s, are in style again.

citizens

GOOD GOLLY

MISS BOLLE Namalee Bolle is what you might call a tastemaker. She is a stylist for magazines and catwalk shows; the “official” muse to design duo Basso & Brooke; a pop singer who performs at underground parties; and together with her friend Steve Slocombe, one of the founding editors of SUPERSUPER, a zeitgeisty East London-based fashion and lifestyle magazine. Over the last couple of years the mag’s clown-bright color palette and scattergun design have embodied the United Kingdom’s nu-rave aesthetic. “I’ve been talking to people in Mexico who want to start their own SUPERSUPER magazine there,” says Bolle, who is sipping a coffee while swinging gently in a wicker bubble chair that’s suspended from the ceiling, ‘60s style, in a Shoreditch café near her offices. “They’re definitely not afraid of color in Mexico! A lot of countries aren’t. But until a few years ago, people in the United Kingdom were really afraid to wear bright colors.”

She’s a zany-yet-chic fashion icon who likes to break the rules Photogenic and edgy in pictures, in the flesh Bolle is knockout beautiful, with a wide, open face and a warm, friendly demeanor. She attributes her upbeat attitude and zany-yet-chic fashion sense to her family background. “I get my sense of optimism and being a positive person from my mom, who is from Sri Lanka. She used to pick me up from school wearing layers and layers of different brightly colored clothes.” Her father is Dutch, of German-Jewish descent. In terms of taste, “he’s always favored beautifully simple design, like functional Scandinavian stuff. He taught me the value of classicism. I do know what the design rules are! I like to break the rules.” After high school, Bolle studied fashion journalism, winning the Guardian newspaper’s prestigious Young

Fashion Journalist of the Year award in 1999, before becoming a fashion editor at Sleazenation magazine and founding SUPERSUPER. She says her interest in clothing has a lot to do with the different social codes it can represent: “It’s the anthropological aspect of fashion that gets me really excited, the tribal side to it.” She and Slocombe briefly ran a boutique in Brixton, South London, called Stefans Superstore, selling trendy designer wear. The singer M.I.A, who is also of Sri Lankan heritage and is now a Grammy and Academy Award nominee, was among the customers. It’s also where Bolle met Basso & Brooke, the designers who soon gravitated toward her not only as a stylist but as an inspirational figure, a muse. “It’s a romantic idea, isn’t it, being someone’s muse?” she asks. “Almost like a pre-Raphaelite thing.” They base their outfits on Bolle’s persona and have even used an image of her face as a print.

Music seems to be preoccupying Bolle more and more. Later this year she will be in LA to work on new tracks, and she is currently distributing some of her songs through the music streaming site www.we7.com. She likes to layer aggressive percussion with approachable melodies. “I want my songs to be good enough to stand up on their own,” she says. “When you do your own thing, other people feel empowered to do their own thing too.” On her left upper arm, Bolle sports a small tattoo of the © copyright symbol. “I got it when I was a teenager to show that I’m one of a kind,” she says. “It felt like a way to package my uniqueness.”

[ Text Gretel Blackwood ]

citizens

GOTTA SING

GOTTA DANCE!

Nadim Naaman starred in The Sound of Music in London “The bad news is I am going to have to get my legs waxed,” says actor Nadim Naaman. He is about to start rehearsals for this year’s Christmas show at the Watermill Theater near Oxfordshire, playing the title character in a musical production of the Roald Dahl story James and the Giant Peach. The original 1961 book is the fantasy tale of an orphaned boy who magically enters a huge peach and befriends the insects inside. “I’m definitely going to have to find my inner child!” says the 24-yearold about performing as an eight-year-old boy.

cabaret experience, Naaman was part of Elton John’s choir, performing at the 2007 Concert for Diana).

Naaman is an established musical theater actor whose past roles include a well-received turn on the West End stage in The Sound of Music in 2008 – he played Rolf, the love interest of Liesl von Trapp, who dances with her in the famous rainstorm scene.

His drama teachers at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, where he studied intensively after a drama degree, suggested that he might want to adopt a stage name. But Naaman decided instead to try to use his unique qualities to his advantage: “It’s worked out well because nobody else in the industry has my name,” he says. “People remember me because I’m not John Smith.”

When we met, Naaman had just auditioned for a part in a Hollywood movie: “A Middle Eastern film, about Saddam Hussein’s son and his body double. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the part.” Raised and educated in London, Naaman speaks with the kind of thoroughly perfect English diction that people used to call a “cut-glass” accent. Maybe that’s also something to do with being a professional singer, used to taking the care to be note perfect (as well as having musical and

He says casting directors are often confused by the combination of his English voice, Middle Eastern name and ethnically ambiguous appearance: “It can be tough because you never know which way to play it. Sometimes for an English part, they look at my name and say ‘but he’s not English.’ But when I want to play a Middle Eastern part, I have to persuade them that I’m ‘Arab enough.’”

James and the Giant Peach runs until January 3, 2010 at The Watermill, Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom, T 44.1635.46044, W watermill.org.uk

[ Text Gretel Blackwood ]

what to do

TURNING JAPANESE

Japan’s king of pop art, Takashi Murakami, is at it again, creating waves with his distinctive style of blurring the lines between mediums. This time he is melding film, music and art in a unique collaboration with two of Hollywood’s big names – actress Kirsten Dunst and director McG. The stage is London’s Tate Museum, where his work is featured alongside other pop artists in the current exhibit “Pop Life: Art in a Material World.” His unusual piece of art, “Akkihabara Majokko Princess,” is a fourminute film that stars Dunst singing a cover of “Turning Japanese” by the rock band the Vapors.

Dunst, of Spider Man, The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette fame, dons a bright blue wig, a pink tutu of sorts, checkered thigh-length leggings and pink heels for this one. She plays the role of Majokko, a princess character from Japanese anime. In the video she is seen dancing and singing through the streets of Tokyo, at times joined by anime characters that include toys made by Marakami’s KaiKai KiKi production house. Murakami and McG, whose credits include Charlie’s Angels and Terminator Salvation, came together for a few days last August for this unusual short film in the streets of Akihabara, a busy shopping district in Tokyo

that is the place to go for electronics. It is also the hood that attracts fanatics of manga, video games and anime. It will be interesting to see if Murakami will succeed in bringing together film, music and art. Unfortunately the only place to see it for now is at the Tate, so those not planning a trip to London will just have to wait. “Pop Life” runs until January 17, 2010 at the Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1, T 44. 20.7887.8888, W tate.org.uk

THE DOUBLE LIFE OF MALTE MARTIN often surprising designs, which he sometimes places in very commercial settings – on billboards and kiosk walls and also in metro stations. At a distance, a Malte Martindesigned sandwich board appears to be nothing more than an advertisement, but up close, the viewer realizes that it is something else entirely: a political message, declaring “An immigrant is primarily a man that others take for an immigrant.” His roadside “billboards,” rather than displaying ads for soft drinks or chewing gum, feature dreamy, otherworldly photographs. And his video installations, through the use of lights and shadows, morph bleak urban buildings into beautiful works of art. Graphic designer and video artist Malte Martin does indeed lead a double life: he was born in Berlin but lives in Paris, and although he works in advertising, he rails against the “cacophony” that commercial advertising creates. Instead of loud and brash promotions, he strives to create “low tension” publicity for his artistic clients.

Although Martin’s work is often fleeting – the public installations change, and his advertisements are quickly replaced by the next promotion – his “Double Vie” exhibit at Paris’ Galerie Anatome provides an opportunity to peruse his portfolio and ponder what art means to advertising and what advertising means to art.

Even in his personal artwork, Martin explores the connection between art and commerce. He takes traditional advertising techniques, such as prominent typography and arresting images, and applies them to his whimsical,

On view until December 23 at Galerie Anatome, 38 rue Sedaine, Paris, T 33.1.4806.9881, W galerie-anatome.com

[ Text Jana Jammal, Sassafras Loy ]

style

LET'S TALK ABOUT

LACE, BABY

Young Hollywood appears to be infatuated with lace. The ever-so-slightly gothic, antique-looking fabric is making star appearances on cocktail dresses, tights and even shirt collars, transforming simple outfits into edgy, baroque, rock-infused affairs. Take a cue from Rihanna, Keira Knightley and Blake Lively: they’ve all been spotted in some kind of lacy outfit. Whether it’s full-length lace stockings or a stylish top with a lace edge, the delicate fabric gives clothes both classic and cutting-edge vibes. To avoid looking like a lingerie model, it’s best to choose subdued colors and up-to-date cuts, like Diabless’ crisp, deconstructed take on the white lace shirt.

A lace blouse over a bra or camisole paired with a big-shoulder blazer sexes up your daywear with a little peek-a-boo fabric underneath. Taking you through the evening and into the next morning, black lace is every girl’s best friend for a hot night out – Alice + Olivia’s layered black lace mini will steal envious looks at the clubs. Also check out Rozae by Rozae Nichols, Juicy Couture and Isabel Marant’s Etoile line for a range of lace options from delicate and feminine to sexy and punk. And for you guys out there who think that lace is just for girls, think again. Fall’s androgyny trend looks to the Victorian dandy of 1890, when men embraced all kinds

of fabrics, from fine wools to velvets to, yes, even lace and ruffles. Go for subtle, like fashion designer Zac Posen, and let a bit of ruffle on your cuffs show. Remember that lace is your centerpiece: pick one item from your wardrobe, like a lace-adorned jacket or choker, and organize the rest of your outfit around it. This look also demands attitude: you’ll turn heads when you walk out in lace, so make like Lily Allen and own it.

[ Text Summer Banks ]

music

We decided to govern the country’s music scene On June 7, 2009, Lebanese elections day, Beirut rock band the New Government launched a new e-album, All In. While the whole world was apprehensively watching the political situation, fearing a violent outburst, the band’s hard-hitting media coup emphasized the absurdity of it all: a typical move from a band whose very name denounced Lebanon’s perennial political instability. “There was no government then,” says guitarist and Lebanese indie music guru Zeid Hamdan, “so we decided to govern the country’s music scene.” At the time, that scene basically consisted of one experimental post-punk band, the Scrambled Eggs. The New Government’s lo-fi mix of Brit pop, new wave and sometimes cliché Middle Eastern beats was a true novelty. With their rich but accessible sound and sassy, dandy-esque performances, they have since hooked fans in Lebanon as well as Europe, where they regularly stage sold-out concerts, the most recent of which took place in London last November. But despite the groupies and the tours, it’s not easy being a Beirut indie rock band. The New Government’s three members, Hamdan, drummer Jeremie Régnier and guitarist Timothée Régnier, all work several jobs to be able to cover the costs of their production.

From the start, the New Government was daring, musically as well as politically. “I killed the prime minister. I killed the famous journalist. And the next one on my list was an agent communist,” they sang over the intense rhythms of their eponymous debut album. Some titles referred to Beirut’s carefree party scene, like “Mozambique”: “We’re dancing cheek to cheek…I think it’s all right now…” As Hamdan puts it, “You can’t ignore what’s going on around you. The uncertainty affects everyone.” Still, the musicians refuse to be classified as political activists; they just follow the inspirations of the moment: Beirut, love stories, nature, Bowie or the Beatles. Though the Beirut music scene is much more prolific than in the band’s early days, it’s still difficult for musicians and artists to survive. “Our long-term plan is to reach commercial success though for the moment we’re still not covering our basic costs,” says Timothée Régnier. But, he adds, it’s nice to see Lebanon tune in to new sounds and ideas. “When you live in a city where you have to fight for art to exist, you realize that atrocious things can happen in a city without art. Going out to concerts, looking at exhibitions, that’s very positive, and so much better than staying at home to watch Star Académie.”

MUSICAL

UPHEAVAL

[ Text Shirine Saad Photos Tanya Traboulsi ]

nightlife

eVerybody HAppy?

BEIRUT BARS MAY BE NOTORIOUS FOR LATE-NIGHT SHENANIGANS, BUT ANY VETERAN OF THE SCENE WILL TELL YOU THAT IT ALL STARTS WITH THE RIGHT HAPPY HOUR. AFTER BAR-HOPPING IN AND AROUND THE CAPITAL, GOSSIP HAS FISHED OUT THE TRENDIEST HAPPY HOUR SPOTS – FROM A HIPSTER BUNKER IN GEMMAYZE TO A SARBA CLASSIC – SO THAT YOU’LL KNOW EXACTLY WHERE TO KICK OFF A NIGHT OF ENDLESS PARTYING.

O’ CACTI TREESOME

HABANA

This out-of-town restaurant and bar charms with its stone walls, vaulted ceiling and attentive service, but it’s the excellent cocktails that keeps the loyal clientele coming back for more. Happy hour special: 50% off drinks Music: low-key with live band on Thursdays Vibe: quaint and chill Fashion: casual chic The crowd: couples and girls’ night out When: 7:30-9pm Where: Sarba, facing Versailles Center T 09.638.166

There’s a tree smack dab in the middle of this bunker-like bar, and Treesome is always packed on party nights, with hipsters occupying the coveted Victorian bar stools. Happy hour special: 50% off drinks What to order: cosmo Eye candy: the bartender Hookups: occasional The crowd: students and 20-somethings When: 7-9pm Where: just off Gouraud street – swing a left after Le Comptoir Parisien T 01.569.494

DRAGONFLY

With its high, arched ceilings, leather booths and dim lighting, Dragonfly is one of the more cozy and laid-back watering holes – a perfect place to sip margaritas. Happy hour special: 50% off drinks Music: sax starts cooing at 7:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays Vibe: intimate but lively Overheard at the bar: psychics versus astrologists What to do afterward: sober up with sushi When: 6-8pm Where: Gemmayze, across from Copper T 01.561.112

It’s bright (thanks to the skylight above the bar) and colorful, and the appetizers are scrumptious: O’ Cacti offers authentic Mexican flair with a modern twist. Happy hour special: 30% off drinks, 20% off appetizers Vibe: a magnet for after-work dates Perks: newly renovated, posh yet easy on the wallet When: 7:15-9pm Where: Zouk Mikhael, second left after Espace 2000 T 09.214.877

[ Text Sleiman el Hajj Photos Tanya Traboulsi ]

wireless

URBAN NIGHTLIFE: THE NEW

MEDIa GAME Foursquare has become all the rage, and now even Ashton Kutcher is playing along a neighborhood watering hole, “the only real currency that comes with being mayor is social capital,” says Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley. New York hotspot B Bar and Grill was pulsating with scenesters and the heavy beats of Santigold on a crisp autumn night. While the bartender served up Brooklyn Lager from the tap, Lawrence Lewitinn, 24, was engrossed in his iPhone playing Foursquare, the social networking game that’s fast become all the rage. First revealed at the hipster-heavy South by Southwest Music Festival, Foursquare was an instant hit. In the past few months, it’s become the game everyone wants to win, and now even Ashton Kutcher is playing along. How does it work? After signing up and downloading the iPhone app, all you have to do is start “checking in” – Foursquare lingo for sending in your location and broadcasting it to all your friends. Basically, you can map where your peeps are partying at any given moment. “It worked out well for me because I have a couple of ex-girlfriends on there,” said Lewitinn at B Bar. “We can find out where the other is and avoid each other.” But the revelers at B Bar didn’t just want their friends (and exes) to know where they were. They were also competing for the highest Foursquare honor – the title of “mayor,” proving that they had been there more than anyone else. While it can lead to a free drink at

And that’s the genius behind Foursquare. Instead of gluing you to a computer screen, it encourages you to go out and experience the best your city has to offer. “I can basically tell you every bar and restaurant I’ve been to in the past five years,” says Foursquare engineer Harry Heymann. And while it’s built to appeal to nightlife buffs, it works for almost any location: users add new places daily, anything from a café to a museum or bookstore. Oh, and Demi Moore’s hubby? Ever since he signed onto the service, the blogosphere has been buzzing with predictions that his support will push Foursquare over the edge. So, it’s no wonder they have plans for world domination: “We’re in over 20 cities,” says Crowley, “and we want to blow it out until it’s in 200 cities.” Remembering how Twitter users broke through its confines and co-opted the service for their own purposes, the Foursquare founders hope their loyal followers will do the same. “Twitter was designed to do one thing,” says Heymann, “but then people found 1,000 different ways to use it.”

[ Text Giulia Pines Illustration Ghadi Ghosn ]

what to do

24 HOURS THE EPICENTER FOR TECHNO, STREET ART AND INDUSTRIAL DANCE CLUBS, BERLIN ATTRACTS BOHEMIANS FROM NEAR AND FAR LOOKING FOR AN ART-FRIENDLY VIBE. THE WALL, WHICH DIVIDED THE CITY FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY, FELL BACK IN 1989, AND THIS WINTER BERLINERS ARE CELEBRATING TWO DECADES OF GERMAN REUNIFICATION WITH VINTAGE FASHION, PILSNER BEER AND ALL-NIGHT PARTIES. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF 24 HOURS REQUIRES GOOD SHOES, A DAY TICKET FOR THE TRAINS AND A DOSE OF WANDERLUST AND ENDURANCE FOR EUROPE’S LARGEST 20TH-ANNIVERSARY PARTY. 9AM: BERLINER BREAKFAST

The streets of Prenzlauerberg are full of quaint apartments, art students and mothers bundling up their children. Snatch a table among the hipsters at Sowohl als Auch (88 Kollwitzstr., T 49.030.442.9311), whose moniker means “both…as well as.” Breakfast in this Art Nouveau restaurant and bakery means fluffy omelets, cakes, trays of cheeses and rolls under the Gustav Klimt-adorned walls.

11AM: SHOPPING IN MITTE

Mitte, the current city center, is dotted with sleek galleries and boutiques – like Wolfgang Joop’s Wunderkind Vintage. You’ve been eyeing those ‘80s colors and slim cut styles on the streets, so head to the vintage Made in Berlin (19 Neue Schönhauserstr., T 49.30.212.30601) or Cash (11 Rosa-Luxemburgstr., T 49.30.280.42251) – a clearinghouse for designers like Marc Jacobs and Raf Simons hidden in a concrete structure typical of the communist era.

IN BERLIN 1PM: SHABBY CHIC CAFÉ

11PM: TAKE A WALK ON THE EAST SIDE

After you’ve exhausted the galleries and boutiques, it’s time to recharge your batteries. Housed in a pre-World War II building, Café Cinema (39 Rosenthalerstr., T 49.30.280.6415) evokes the type of speakeasy featured in Johnny Depp’s Public Enemies.

A long, seemingly harmless stretch of concrete lines the river to the east. This is pretty much all that remains of the Berlin Wall. Now, it’s called the East Side Gallery and features murals on the subject of freedom, freshly painted for the 20th anniversary of reunification.

2PM: DIONYSUS AT THE MUSEUM

3AM: MORE THAN WORTH THE WAIT

A quick jaunt under the train tracks takes you to the Pergamon Museum, the most popular museum in Germany, with its three-story altar to Zeus and a special exhibition on the metamorphosis of Dionysus, god of wine and debauchery, which runs until January 31.

Any proper night out in Berlin ends at Berghain (1 Am Wriezener Bahnhof), a gigantic, two-clubsin-one factory. You’ll see the line long before you get there, but don’t be discouraged. Even though DJ Mag voted it the top club in the world in 2009, you can get in during the winter if you go in a small group and wear appropriate clothing – think understated androgynous, limited jewelry and slim, dark jeans.

4PM: CHOCOLATE AND FASHION TREATS

Former chocolatiers for the German royalty, Fassbender and Rausch (60 Charlottenstr., T 49.30.204.58443) now decorate their store with scale chocolate models of Berlin landmarks and rows of truffles. For wardrobe candy, Friedrichstrasse offers plenty of high-end boutiques, with cozy coats and intense boots filling both the sidewalks and store windows, like that of Italian designer Marc Cain (61 Friedrichstr., T 49.30.200.77219).

8AM: BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER

Once out of Berghain, you’ll be looking for sustenance and quiet. Knot your scarf and take a cab over the Oberbaumbrücke bridge to Kreuzberg to savor a Döner Kepab, Berlin’s version of shawarma, as you stroll along the river Spree.

6PM: A REAL LIFE FAIRY TALE

The Weihnachtsmärkte – Christmas markets – run from late November into the New Year in multiple locations, and they take you back in time as the scents of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove waft through the air. Vendors set up shop in little fairy tale cabins and decorate them with giant heart-shaped cookies, red and green ropes of licorice and mugs shaped like boots for mulled wine.

8PM: DINING IN TOTAL DARKNESS

The unsicht-Bar (14 Gormannstr., T 49.30.243.42500) offers a different kind of eye-opening dining experience: you spend the entire meal in complete darkness. Matt Damon, John Malkovich and Natalie Portman have all made the pilgrimage to Germany’s first “dark” restaurant, where you order your food and drinks in the lit foyer and are then escorted into the dark dining room by the blind waiters. When you can’t see, suddenly every other sense becomes sharper.

[ Text Summer Banks Photos Sophie Perl ]

music

The Music HYPE album previews

Weezer Raditude

The ultimate Calirockers milk that trademark emo-meets-surf sound in their most indulgently pop album to date. The guys already have us hooked on the bouncy first single “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To,” and they flash their cooler side by featuring Lil’ Wayne in “Can’t Stop Partying” and covering MGMT and Lady Gaga on “Kids/Pokerface.” But why the nerdy name for their seventh album? Frontman Rivers Cuomo asked Rainn Wilson – Dwight from The Office – for the ultimate album name, and the answer was Raditude. PLAYLIST Kitsuné Maison Compilation 8

The French indie-electro label/fashion house lays down this eighth compilation since Kitsuné’s establishment in 2002 and reveals a royal flush of provocative tones and techno threads. Their new fashion line meshes sexily with the smooth beats in “Let’s Go Surfing” by the Drums, while the French Horn Rebellion will definitely have you “Up All Night.”

Robbie Williams Reality Killed the Video Star

The Britpop divo is gyrating back onto the dance floor this fall with his first album in three years. Adding one last-minute song as a tribute to the late Michael Jackson, the “Rock DJ” singer goes back to his cushy ‘90s rock roots and pumps up a newer electro vibe with tracks like the spirituo-sexy “Bodies.”

Rama’s Whisper Out of the Lucky Fountain

Ramy Tibi, Riad Hajjar and Carl Zogheib bust out feel-good acoustic rock in their self-released debut album. With layered vocals and dizzying guitar riffs in tracks like “Building a Hole,” this trio provides a folksy sound that’s a breath of fresh air in the electro-saturated Beirut music scene.

Lupe Fiasco Lasers

This is allegedly his final album: 27-year-old rapper Lupe Fiasco is thinking about hanging up the mic and calling it quits. With the positive and socially progressive vibe in tracks like “Shining Down,” the New York hip hopper is an antidote to the commercialized violence in today’s rap scene – he also spins a damn good beat.

Norah Jones The Fall

Escaping from the jazz world in her fourth studio release, the Texas-born songstress turned to rock producer Jacquire King – known for his work with Kings of Leon and Tom Waits – for a harder-edged sound. She’s swapped the piano for a guitar in songs like “Chasing Pirates” and has us addicted to the catchy hooks mixed with her breathtaking vocals.

With his slick progressive house, DJ maDJam, aka Ahmad Ajam, is notorious for raising dance party mayhem. Check out his smooth playlist, crafted especially for Gossip. 1. “Do

it with Me” by Austin Leeds (Late Dizingoff mix) 2. “1988” by Youandewan 3. “Your Tiny Mind” by Relation (Lifelike remix) 4.“ZYVOX” by DJ Moguai 5.“Rubin” by EDX 6.“Call Me” by Christian Falero vs. Subway Rockers (Colorless mix) 7.“Where are You Now” by Andre Lodemann 8.“Miami to Atlanta” by Pryda 9.“Lamur” by Guy J 10.“I’m Not Alone” by Calvin Harris (Deadmau5 remix) 11.“Life in Technicolor” by Coldplay (Joe T. Vannelli vocal mix) 12. “Let Me Be Real” by Fedde LeGrand (Hook N Sling mix) 13.“The Take” by Paul Harris 14. “Pandora” by Rodriguez Jr. 15.“Starstings” by Jody Wisternoff 16. “We are the People” by Empire of the Sun (Shapeshifters remix) 17. “Reflections” by Alan Fitzpatrick

wireless

TECHBYTES DJ Hero

Designer arguileh

halo graffiti light

Typographic clock

This exciting new music video game challenges players to mix Nirvana and Marvin Gaye into one slick track. DJ Hero features over 100 songs and a wireless turntable so you can scratch and crossfade until dawn.

Next time you’re looking to puff some tufahtein, whip out this arguileh, developed by the brains at Lebanon’s very own Tribudesign. Sleeker than the traditional three-part water pipe, the stainless steel contraption recently won a coveted Red Dot design award.

With French designer Aïssa Logerot’s new gadget, graffiti artists can play, draw and write with light – in thin air. Structured like an aerosol can, the LED even functions like spray paint: shake up the Halo to recharge the battery with kinetic energy.

A no-nonsense time-telling device, Qlocktwo literally spells out the time every five minutes. The clock, handmade in Germany by Biegert & Funk, is also available as an iPhone app, Qlocktwo Pocket.

Foldable electric bike

Robotic fish

Butler table

Sunshade contact lenses

Perfect for the city, the YikeBike can speed up to 20km/hr with its electric, eco-friendly motor. It’s light at about 5kg only, and all the moving parts are hidden out of sight to minimize maintenance. The black carbon frame packs easily, so it’s both practical and snazzy.

While they swim underwater seamlessly, these robot fish were designed to inspect sunken ships, gas pipes, coral reefs and anything your libido desires. They look so much like the real thing that other sea creatures and hot swimmers won’t even look twice.

No need to hire a waiter for your cocktails. Balancing on two wheels only, this Japanese robot table – or butlerbot – can take your cocktails right up to the guests. You can even bark orders at it (remote in hand), and it will deliver. Just don’t drive it over the ledge!

Playing outdoor sports in the sun can be difficult, but not anymore thanks to the latest Korean invention: tinted contact lenses that act as sunglasses. Four shades for different weather conditions, and you get to look your fabulous self while dishing out those tennis serves.

WII FITNESS

Gucci app

Personal cycle lane

DualView camera

It’s about time someone put some fun into home exercise: Nintendo has released a new version of its ultrapopular Wii Fit exercise program so that you can play games with your body while toning specific muscles, with a bit of yoga thrown in for good measure.

Snazz up your iPhone with the Gucci iPhone app, a software developed in collaboration with superstar DJ Mark Ronson that grants you exclusive access to Gucci products, fashion shows, sleek playlists and even a virtual turntable.

Because Beirut isn’t famous for its cycling lanes, it’s a good idea to strap the portable cycle Light Lane on the back of your bike. This gizmo will emit a laser beam directly behind the bike so that frustrating drivers will leave you in peace.

The people at Samsung have unveiled the DualView TL220, a must-have digicam with a 1.5-inch LCD screen on the front (and of course a touch screen on the back) so that you and your besties can perfectly frame yourselves in the pic.

green

ECOBUZZ WHEN COMPOSERS MAKE MUSIC FROM TREES, WHEN SHOES TURN VEGAN AND WHEN AUDIOCASSETTE REELS BECOME THE LATEST FASHION STATEMENT, THE CREATIVE POTENTIAL OF THE GREEN MOVEMENT SEEMS BOUNDLESS. FROM BRISBANE TO THE VIVIENNE WESTWOOD RUNWAY, WE DISH UP THE LATEST BREAKTHROUGHS IN ECO-FRIENDLY INNOVATION.

1. RECYCLED CD CASE STRUCTURE The ultimate in recycled architecture, the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion – to be showcased at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 – is made from recycled CD cases. It boasts a 1,000-square-meter solar energy device on its roof to heat water and generate electricity. On the cooler side, the pavilion will collect rainwater, transforming it into a misty spray to clean the air and act as an eco air-conditioner.

2. CASSETTE TAPE TIE

This might be the best way yet to recycle old cassette tapes! Artist Alyce Santoro has designed limited-edition Sonic Fabric neckties that are made with audiocassette tape and dark hues of polyester. Supposedly, when you run a cassette player head across the tie, you’ll actually hear loops and layers of a New York City sound collage.

3. MUSIC FROM A TREE Diego Stocco is playing his tune off a tree, literally. The young composer uses a stethoscope, a pencil sharpener and a couple of microphones connected to a laptop to compose a funky tune with mucho beat and percussion. Natural sounds come from bowing twigs, shaking leaves and knocking on bark. Check out “Music from a Tree” on YouTube for the ultimate earful.

4. ANDREA AIR PURIFIER The Andrea air purifier uses common houseplants to clean air like no other. Tiny fans around the plant rotate wind through leaves and roots, sucking out the worst in the atmosphere, so the plant removes chemicals like formaldehyde and benzene from upholstery, paint and carpeting.

5. WORLD’S LONGEST FOOTBRIDGE The longest footbridge in the world, the new Kurilpa Bridge in Brisbane, Australia, will save the city almost 38 tons of carbon emissions a year. The bridge also generates 100 KWh of energy per day thanks to its 84 solar panels – enough to illuminate the bridge through the night.

6. HONDA U3-X UNICYCLE It looks like it’s going to topple over any second, but the U3-X electric unicycle from Honda is sturdier than you think. It has an ingenious internal self-balancing system, as the single large wheel actually contains several small, motor-controlled wheels that let this prototype (not yet on the market) move forward, backward, sideways and diagonally.

7. VIVIENNE WESTWOOD VEGAN SHOES FOR MELISSA Vegans don’t eat or wear animal products, so they need super eco-friendly shoes. Hearing their prayers, Vivienne Westwood created the Wing Collection for Melissa, the Brazilian shoe manufacturer. Styled in true Greek god style with comfy jelly soles, these ultra-light shoes are reputed to be non-toxic and made in a sustainably managed factory in Brazil.

8. PUBLIC GRASS ART How about some really green art? Ling Fan, a Chinese artist/architect, is the brains behind Floating Green, a public art installation that blends grass with outdoor furniture and sculpture. It’s like a natural green carpet folded and contorted into shape, modeled by a giant monster. There are no signs to “keep off” the grass. Instead, you’re encouraged to touch, smell and feel this green experience.

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movies

WIld WInter flicks

movies to watch

This new incarnation about the legendary Sherlock Holmes has all the makings of an exciting action-adventure/mystery/period piece. Guy Ritchie directs, Robert Downey Jr. plays the iconic detective and Jude Law slips into the role of trusty sidekick Dr. Watson. Rachel McAdams adds a bit of sexual tension as Irene Adler, a woman of great intellect and beauty, who often engages in verbal sparring matches with Holmes. Set in the late 1890s, author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story follows the beloved characters, who are charged with stopping a conspiracy - led by a menacing villain named Blackwood (Mark Strong) - one that could possibly destroy the whole of Britain. Along with Holmes’ signature pipe-smoking ways, eccentric personality and exceptional sleuthing skills, this film showcases a more physical side of the dashing detective. Catching this flick in theaters is elementary, my dear friend, elementary.

Sherlock Holmes

New Moon

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Nine

The young hotties (human and vamp) are back in Twilight’s sequel. Find out how Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) deals without true love, aka dreamy vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). For starters, she engages in reckless behavior and seeks comfort in Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), who, turns out, is more than human. Eventually, Ed returns, trips to Italy ensue and Bella is forced to make a life-changing choice.

Heath Ledger’s last film, released almost two years after his death, is a fantastical romp through London grit and dreamscapes galore. The story follows the theater troupe of immortal Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) as they entrance audiences with a magical mirror, a portal into the depths of the imagination. But the curtains draw to a close on the spectacle when the devil comes to claim Parnassus’ teenage daughter.

This stop-motion animated film is a collaboration of creative geniuses Roald Dahl, author of the original novel Fantastic Mr. Fox, and director Wes Anderson. With George Clooney voicing Mr. Fox and Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, there’s no question the furry-tailed duo will outwit the three meanie farmers intent on killing them for stealing their chickens and turkeys. Guilty as charged, but they had to feed their pups.

Will Nine garner any awards? Odds are certainly excellent if director Rob Marshall’s Academy Award karma follows him from his last smash-hit Chicago. Based on the juicy Broadway play, Nine refers to the cadre of seductive and smart women that envelop the crazy world of a famed Italian film director, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. Among the A+-list actresses: Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Marion Cotillard. new oN DVD

December 7

December 15

December 29

January 19

The Hangover

Ponyo

Taking Woodstock

The Tudors: S3

Capitalism:

Che

Get drunk on belly laughs in this already-aclassic comedy.

The Japanese anime hit follows the adventures of a love-smitten mermaid.

Hippies takeover Bethel, New York, and Woodstock is born.

Juicier than any modern soap, Henry is still all about the dramz.

A Love Story

Cheer on Benicio Del Toro as he launches revolutions across Latin America.

Michael Moore sticks it to the Man.

what to do

DATEBOOK Through January 3

Through January 10

Through January 16

Through January 17

Biennale de Lyon France The French biennial looks at the spectacle of everyday life through more than 70 works of art from around the world.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs tour United Kingdom, Australia The art-rock trio, famous for their postpunk dance sound, rallies up the crowd with tracks from their latest album, It’s Blitz.

“America” Beirut Art Center This multimedia collective exhibition reflects on the contemporary mythologies of American civilization.

Dress Codes ICoP, New York Art stars like Yto Barrada and Thorsten Brinkmann cast an eye on style and beauty in this global survey of photography.

Through January 31

Through February 10

Through March 31

Through April 26

Muse tour Around the world The prog-rocker trio tours the world, showcasing the orchestral and sci-fi suites from their album, The Resistance.

Arctic Monkeys tour Europe The English indie rock band does the European circuit, unleashing hits from their latest release, Humbug.

The XX tour Europe, United States, Canada The critically acclaimed cult superstars from London bust out the hits from their eponymous debut album.

Tim Burton MOMA, New York Marvel at Tim Burton’s brilliance as a director of fables, fairy tales and fantasies at this multimedia retrospective.

December 6

December 7-27

December 9-16

December 9-February 10

BLOM Beirut Marathon Downtown Beirut Tighten those shoe laces and prepare yourself for the 42k marathon (or the 10k fun run for you amateurs).

Desires, Nightmares, Dreams The Running Horse, Beirut Get inside the mind of the artist at this collective exhibition with works by Nathalie Labaki, Clara Gebran and more.

Dubai Film Festival Madinat Jumeirah The sixth edition of the festival will screen more than 180 films from over 66 countries.

Noise Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut The creative folk of Bidoun magazine curate this fascinating exhibit about the art industry.

December 11-13

December 17-19

December 26-January 3

January 21-31

Sunburn Goa, India Party with thousands of ravers as international electronica superstars rev up the crowds on the beaches of India.

Sundance Film Festival Park City, UTAH The hottest flicks of 2010 are screened at the largest independent film festival in America.

Meredith Music Festival Blip Festival Victoria, Australia Brooklyn, New York The annual alternative music festival The chip music festival brings together features Animal Collective, Sia and Gameboy maestros and Nintendo DJs who Yacht Club DJs. create music from videogame consoles.