Painter, pencil pusher, model, photographer & cosmonomad. Born in Moscow of Russian and Uighur descent, I was raised by a troupe of gypsy scientists from space, who sold me to an American technological research facility in 1992. After a daring escape, I graduated from the LA County High School for the Arts and retreated into an underground studio where I studied with the revered Madame Von Kuntzertag, followed by a brief stint at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I’ve traveled the world gathering art and fashion expertise and am thrice certified as official Finesse Monitor to the Khan throne. I scheme & work on an excess of projects in my secret Angel City den with a nano-companion named Micron, surrounded by mannequins & paint fumes. Interests include adventures, universe-trotting, various art forms, collecting odd medical tools, literature, dancing, speeding down empty roads at 3 am with the windows down and the music up, arcane/ultramodern technology, and space-travel.

I’m a co-founder of Coilhouse – a blog and a print magazine that focuses on alternative culture.

In addition to writing for Coilhouse I contribute urban exploration + event photo galleries to ChinaShop and occasional fashion rants to Haute Macabre.

I’m a staff photographer at Suicidegirls.com – that’s also where I got my official pro-blogging start with “What’s Zo Wearing?” – a weekly fashion column that ran from November 2006 through February 2008.

Contact: zoetica [at] gmail [dot] com

My posts on Coilhouse

Click here to see all of my Coilhouse posts

My posts on Chinashop

Click here to see all of my posts on Chinashop

My Posts on Haute Macabre

Click here to see all of my posts on Haute Macabre

What’s Zo Wearing?

Click for an archive of my first fashion Column on Suicidegirls.Com

In 2001 Combs announced that he was changing his nickname from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy, earning him comparisons to fellow name-changing musician Prince… His romance with singer/actress Jennifer Lopez was closely followed in gossip columns; the two broke up in 2001. That same year Combs went on trial for weapons charges stemming from a 1999 Manhattan nightclub shooting in which three people were injured; at trial’s end he was acquitted of all charges… In 2005 Combs announced that he was again changing his name, settling on simply Diddy. In 2006 he was prompted to change his name following a lawsuit filed by English music producer Richard “Diddy” Dearlove; Combs settled out of court and agreed to release his 2006 album Press Play under the name Diddy in the U.S., but under P. Diddy in the U.K.

This is an interesting history to the uninitiated, but the rap is kinda cheesy but the story is pretty accurate so it’s still worth a quick look.  Enjoy!

Here is a slightly less corny bio:

Actress, dancer and model Nicole Austin, known more popularly as Coco Austin, Coco Marie, Coco-T or just plain Coco was born on March 17, 1979 in Palos Verdes, California. She is the daughter of a pair of actors who met on the set of Bonanza, and has one sister. Her sister, when young, would mispronounce Nicole’s name as ‘Coco’, and the nickname stuck.

Austin was raised for her first ten years in California, after which point her family relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Austin proved something of a tomboy growing up, enjoying football and a number of other normally ‘boy’-centric sports.

That didn’t mean she shunned other pursuits, however, and when she was only 6 Austin began training in dance at the behest of her parents. Her mother introduced Austin to the stage very early, having been involved with a number of productions in Albuquerque, and soon enough Austin found herself appearing in modeling competitions. By 14 she’d won the Beverly Hills Studio modeling contest, taking a $10,000 scholarship home with her. She attended school with fellow future luminaries Hilary Swank and Jessica Alba.

Once she turned 18 Austin began specializing her modeling experience, moving particularly into swimsuit, lingere and body modeling. She began entering swimsuit competitions and appeared on a number of calendars and videos. In that same year she won the Miss Ujena Contest in Mexico.

Despite her popularity Austin decided she wanted better breasts, however, and shortly after getting surgery to enhance their size and shape she began modeling in the nude. In 2001 she began working for Playboy, appearing at a number of parties at the Playboy Mansion. She would only stay with them for six months, though Austin has appeared in the magazine since then In this time she also began appearing in a number of R-rated films, beginning with Southwest Babes in 2001. More would follow in subsequent years with Desert Rose, Angel Blade and The Dirty Monks.

Austin has since become a pin-up celebrity, appearing frequently on magazine covers and in videos covering her photo shoots. She also puts out frequent calendars showcasing her body and has a website that receives a large volume of visitors every week.

Austin achieved a new height of fame when she married rapper and actor Ice-T. The two appear together frequently at public events, often with Austin appearing in provocative ensembles. The two have also featured together in a number of television appearances (always as themselves), the most prominent and interesting of which was probably her appearance on Celebrity Family Feud where she and Ice-T fought it out with Joan Rivers and daughter Melissa Rivers.

Austin’s latest role is in the newly released movie Thira. She appeared alongside husband Ice-T in the movie, though hers is the spot of a secondary character. She has also recently appeared again in the March 2008 issue of Playboy.

Have you seen that gorgeous model-looking chick that’s got Usher sprung in the video for ”Love In This Club?” Turns out, she’s a recording artist in her own right. Keri Hilson is about to be huge. And she’s one of those rare people who deserve to be. For Keri, music was a childhood friend she kept throughout adulthood. “In school, I would get in trouble for singing all the time. I unknowingly hummed every chance I got. It got so bad my friend’s nicknamed me ‘Keri-okey’”. She wears that name proudly on her sleeve, and in credits for every major hit she writes.

Destined for stardom since day one, the Atlanta native’s determined spirit first materialized all before she’d turn a teenager. While performing in school plays and winning talent shows all around Atlanta, she taught herself how to write songs at twelve. Impressed with Keri’s vocal ability, her piano-turned-voice teacher ushered her into a studio session where she learned the nuances of recording music. “That was when I really knew that I could take music seriously,” she says. “But at the time, I didn’t know if there was such a job as production or songwriting.”

“I come across a lot of people who are opportunists and they’re like, ‘If it happens, it happens.’ I’m not one of those. I’m a go getter.” True to her words, by 18 she was arranging songs, cutting vocals and engineering sessions. While on her journey to making a name for herself as one of the strongest songwriters out there, Keri eventually ran into producer Polow da Don working in recording studios all over their hometown Atlanta. One afternoon, he asked her the pivotal question—”‘What producer do you think would get you where you want to be as an artist? Who would musically inspire you the most?’ I said, ‘Timbaland- hands down!’” Little did she know, Polow had already been talking to the Virginia Beach producer about her potential. Polow called her one morning with the news that Tim wanted to meet her. Keri was elated. “I wasn’t freaking out,” she recalls of that morning, “I was prepared. While I had taken all this time to hone my craft as a songwriter, I always believed that I would eventually get to be an artist. Everything I experienced, everything I felt growing up, all the work…I was just like, ‘Ok. Wow. This must be it. It must be happening.’”

It was definitely happening. As soon as Keri and Timbaland met there was chemistry. “A lot of nights we would just listen to other people’s music and critique it. Not for the sake of study but to listen to it and discuss it. We don’t agree all the time. Definitely not. But I think that’s what happens when you get two strong creative minds in the same room.”

Even better things happen when you get three strong, creative people in the same room. September 2008 will see the release of Keri Hilson’s first album, “In A Perfect World…” It is being issued as a joint release from Mosley Music Group (Tim’s label) and Zone 4 (Polow’s label) as an imprint of Interscope Records (Jimmy Iovine’s label). The album is about relationships, it’s emotive, human, gorgeously and deliberately imperfect. “No human is exempt from the realities of life—heartbreak, love, failure, success—I want my album to convey a sense of reality. That’s the standpoint that lent itself to the title. There will always be something you’d change if only you lived ‘In A Perfect World…’ and I’m no different.”

The highly anticipated debut features her indomitable songwriting skills, the genre-obliterating production of Polow da Don and Timbaland, and Keri Hilson’s undeniably incredible voice. “I deliver my songs with emotion,” she enthuses, “I don’t like a lot of effects. It takes away from the emotion. Like the raspyness of my voice in ‘Slow Dance’ (written with Justin Timberlake) for example. I love the way I sound on that track—straightforward, throwback, and old school. I don’t want that feeling taken away. I’m so particular about those emotions. I don’t want anyone to walk away from my album just thinking, ‘that sounds nice.’ Anybody can do that. I’m much more concerned that they walk away thinking, ‘that felt great.’”

For her humility, the album is as dizzyingly good as it should be. It’s a watershed moment that meets both goals—it sounds and feels great. The songs are unconventional. It’s universally appealing in its pop offerings (infectious hooks are plenty) but the arrangements are challenging in how many layers there are to listen to. Heavy synth-laden basslines to the classical guitar in the tensely urgent Polow-produced “Ready to Fall,” Keri anchors it all with a pitch-perfect voice that is refreshing in its versatility. From the sweeping cinematic orchestration of Timbaland’s “Mic Check” (“I loved harnessing all that aggression in my voice.”) to the speedy cascading electro bassline of “Return the Favor.” The mutual trust between artist and producers allows them to take bold risks. Keri shouts out all the “fly girls” on her song “Get It Girl”. “A ‘Get It Girl’ is focused on getting everything she wants out of life. She is strong, independent, determined, loves to have fun, always stays fresh – and no matter what, accepts no limitations.”

“In A Perfect World…” represents a world where music is music and you can’t put it in a box. It’s a catalyst for Keri to defy categorization, “I want to be a point of reference” states Hilson. “Hip-hop has become pop; pop is hip-hop. Music is definitely changing. I want to be the crux of that. I want to be a reason, not a result.”