Quantcast
Channel: Amanda LePore – The WOW Report
Viewing all 11455 articles
Browse latest View live

It’s a Bad Brains Christmas, Charlie Brown


Bro’Laska: Alaska & Cory Get in the Holiday Spirit!

RuPaul, Elton John, La Toya Jackson, Nirvana, Belinda Carlisle, En Vogue, Eartha Kitt, Boy George, Fred Schneider, Little Richard & Taylor Dayne Wish You a Merry Christmas

Holiday Tune for Today: Future Islands Covers Wham’s “Last Christmas”

Holiday Beefcake Flashback! The Warwick Rowers Sing Christmas Carols… In Their Underwear!

0
0

One of my favorite posts from 2014:

The humpy Warwick Rowers have been EVERYWHERE in the news lately, promoting their nude calendar, but only WE have them singing Christmas carols in the WOWPresents studio… IN THEIR UNDERWEAR! Check out the internationally famous athletes AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE after the jump! It’s OUR Christmas present to YOU!

My GOD, they’re magnificent!

 

The post Holiday Beefcake Flashback! The Warwick Rowers Sing Christmas Carols… In Their Underwear! appeared first on World of Wonder.

#BornThisDay: Writer, David Sedaris

0
0

sedaris

December 26, 1956: David Sedaris:

“Shit is the tofu of cursing.”

I don’t recall what brought me to pick-up that hardback copy of Barrel Fever. With its iconic Chip Kidd designed cover, at my favorite bookstore, M Coy Books, in downtown Seattle in 1995. Remember bookstores? I am not an NPR listener (I like my radio to play Rock N’ Roll, please), so Sedaris was unfamiliar to me at this point. I do remember that The Husband read it first. I heard him crying with laughter as he read straight through it from the top of our loft bedroom. I was afraid he would fall down the ladder when he descended with the book in hand. The Husband: “Really, I believe this is the funniest thing I have ever read… it is called The Santaland Diaries. You have to read it right now, this very minute!”

We were off & away in Sedaris-land. I bought each of the next books, in hardcover, on the day they came out. I would dog-ear his pieces in The New Yorker. I would eventually extend my love for Sedaris to his boyfriend, Hugh Hamrick, & his insanely funny sister, Amy Sedaris.

“7 beers followed by 2 Scotches & a thimble of marijuana & it’s funny how sleep comes all on its own.”

Recalling his high school days in Raleigh, North Carolina, telling tales of his zany family, or life at their house in Normandy or the place in England with Hugh, Sedaris always writes in his unique voice about the absurdities of life. He has a remarkable ability to find the humor in situations that are melancholy, peculiar, or dire.

Sedaris possesses a wicked wit that speaks to me in ways I never thought possible. A perfect day? A summer afternoon on Sauvie Island outside of Portland, naked on a blanket, with a thermos of lemonade & vodka & a brand new David Sedaris tome.

“My hands tend to be full enough dealing with people who hate me for who I am. Concentrate too hard on the millions of people who hate you for what you are & you’re likely to turn into one of those unkempt, sloppy dressers who sag beneath the weight of the 200 political buttons they wear pinned to their coats & knapsacks.”

In the terrific, must-watch new documentary Do I Sound Gay?, filmmaker David Thorpe deftly explores the relationship gay men have with their voices. The film includes interviews, professional vocal coaches, speech pathologists & gay celebrities, including an hysterical section featuring Sedaris & Hamrick. Even if Hamrick does not sound convincingly butch, Sedaris may have one of gayest sounding voices this side of Truman Capote.

Of his partner of 25+ years, Sedaris writes:

“Hugh & I have been together for so long that in order to arouse extraordinary passion, we need to engage in physical combat. Once, he hit me on the back of the head with a broken wineglass, & I fell to the floor pretending to be unconscious. That was romantic, or would have been had he rushed to my side rather than stepping over my body to fetch the dustpan.”

Ironic that Sedaris has a birthday on the day after Christmas. The adaptation of his classic Santaland Diaries has become a Holiday staple for regional & community theatres, replacing seeing a production of A Christmas Carol as a family tradition. I finally was able to hear Sedaris’s own version on NPR when I was receiving chemotherapy at Christmas 2013. His voice is gay perfection.

In the September 28th issue of The New Yorker, Sedaris has an extremely original, hysterical essay about reluctantly asking Hamrick to marry him for strictly unromantic reasons, A Modest Proposal, a response to the SCOTUS ruling on Marriage Equality on June 26th of this year:

“It occurred to me while standing there, cars whizzing by, that the day I marry is the day I’ll get hit & killed, probably by some driver who’s texting, or, likelier still, sexting. ‘He is survived by his husband, Hugh Hamrick,’ the obituary will read, & before I’m even in my grave I’ll be rolling over in it.”

We always take his Christmas collection Holiday On Ice (1997) off the Sedaris section in the bookcase & casually toss it on the coffee table as part of our tradition. My favorite is selection, Dinah The Christmas Whore, still makes me laugh & cry. It is quintessential Sedaris.

Cool tid-bits about eccentric Sedaris: he holds a keen interest in taxidermy; he does not drive or use the Internet or own a cell phone or an email account. Sedaris:

“I’ve always been convinced I would hit & kill a child, so I don’t drive because I’m afraid. Where I grew up, in Raleigh, you needed a car. I stayed at home a lot, & I had to entertain myself. Ultimately, I think not driving was good for me. & I never learned to type; I type with one finger. So I’ve never worked in an office, which was also probably good for me. As for the Internet, everyone tells me it makes you lose a year. A bread truck will go by, & on the side it says: ‘If you want to learn more about our products, go to www.breadtruck.com.’ Then you’ll go to a computer & look that up. But who cares about bread? Then there’s something else, & something else. I don’t want to lose a year like that. The world is already full of books & magazines.”

I am a fan of the odd little indie film C.O.G. (2013) starring cutie pie Jonathan Groff, whose character is a stand-in for Sedaris, Denis O’Hare & Corey Stoll. The film is based on a Sedaris piece about hitchhiking as a youth to Oregon where he takes a job picking apples.

Essential Sedaris: Barrel Fever (1994), Naked (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), Dress Your Family In Corduroy & Denim (2004), When You Are Engulfed In Flames (2008), Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (2011), & Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls (2013).

I think he is the funniest writer alive.

“If you’re looking for sympathy you’ll find it between shit & syphilis in the dictionary.”

 

The post #BornThisDay: Writer, David Sedaris appeared first on World of Wonder.

#PictureThis: These Fantastic Images of Long-Gone NYC Were Found in a Cardboard Box

0
0

7126856566e98e31c13061b102c19b6af8daa3dc_840

When unknown photographer Frank Larson died 50 years ago, his wife Eleanora boxed up all of their possessions and moved out of their retirement home in Lakeville, Connecticut. Carole Larson – the widow of Frank’s youngest son David – and her son Soren were sorting though old boxes in their attic and found these negatives. Soren said:

“I had seen a few examples of my grandfather’s photography over the years and always admired them – our old family photo albums have a few small prints of his work in them. My father also used to speak with admiration about his father’s love of photography and his weekend trips with his Rolleiflex into the city to film places like the Bowery, Chinatown and Times Square.

But when I opened the box and began to explore what was inside I was truly shocked at the quality and range of the images, as well as the effort, dedication and love he brought to the task. When Frank died in 1964, I was only three years old, and too young to remember this gentle, careful man.”

Inside the box were 100+ envelopes filled with 2 1/4 negatives. They were all marked by date and location, carefully sealed and left exactly as he packed them 50 years ago. Soren added:

“As I began unsealing each packet and holding the negatives up to the light, it was like a trip back in time, back to the New York of the early ’50s.”

Vivian Maier was a nanny and discovered in the same way. (She is the subject a fab documentary, Finding Vivian Meyer) Larson’s images are good, I would’t say great, like Meyer’s, but they are a time-traveling treasure trove glimpse of a long-gone New York City. You can see more of Larson’s work and order very reasonably priced prints here. (Not really sure of the edition size though?) They range from $140 for 11 x 14″, to $250 for 30 x 40″. That Star Is Born marquee or the ticket taker would look pretty great HUGE, huh?

8933771584164b6788270f0bff84bd2c43af9519_840

2f3d9bb812ff66aaaff2ce1c785f18ebf014fa09_840

80aa4d38dce0f29bc92ab17fe0e5afe712c3d30e_840

401f21df1af2e8aedf5d370ae28b6e3fbde419f6_840

3602e72411532826d8d59fab46dbde91802bda9a_840

af87280df71d42be065d8a6ddfba1c0acbf55d2b_840

e8ca711c79606b8b56b6354898025d1779c86213_840

7e3cb52196a2fb5a520c48456b8bf393aeb835ae_840

0ca390b0c77a53b765fb990e0c9fd8839352b22f_840

2d08fad6d1b2a5ad3e7fb59a0d1b83d832ddf886_840

4f97d668d1b2c3fc0279fb6fee71fd27f021289c_840

8868681e2b43530c69dc2649b414709e2fd233ff_840

7eca6c11e4777294f9dff0cfad24fd9299189bac_840

9198f1f2901158c153b42d0d8d1d6cc10f4562d9_840

001 02

aac2ff77eec2d2ba6c3f58532cfe2e3bfceff057_840

002 02 crp sl

006 010

064 003 crp sl

088 009 crp

091 005

091 006

091 021

5f545acb2225945541de786630de670fe4b7660c_840

067 006 crp sl

(via Design Boom)

The post #PictureThis: These Fantastic Images of Long-Gone NYC Were Found in a Cardboard Box appeared first on World of Wonder.

#PictureThis: Vivian Maier Is THE QUEEN of The Selfie

0
0

7d4a6aaf-1b5e-428b-8a63-c654c95cff56-620x620

IMG_9514

World of Wonder gifted all their friends and Wowlebrities this year with something that is very “of the moment”, and might also be considered “SO 2015”, very shortly. A deluxe, branded selfie stick. (I had a hand in the box design, too… I DO apologize if you didn’t get one but I wasn’t in charge of the list, kids. Collector’s item.)

Thinking self-portraits while writing the next post about Frank Larson‘s newly discovered pics of NYC, I was reminded of Vivian Maier‘s amazing work. Maier worked for about forty years as a nanny, mostly in Chicago’s North Shore, taking pictures her spare time. She took more than 150,000 photographs – mostly of the people and architecture of NYC, Chicago, and L.A. But along the way she photographed herself hundreds of times and left possibly the best collection of selfies of the 20th century. Every photographer, professional and amateur, takes selfies, but Vivian’s take this most narcissistic of enterprises to new artistic heights. You can check her work here, and her book, Vivian Maier Self Portraits is available on Amazon. I’m still amazed that woman, this artist, was unknown in her lifetime and now is considered by many to be one of THE best street photographers of the 20th century. Incredible she never showed or even printed many of her fantastic life’s work. You can check out the intriguing documentary, Finding Vivian Maier on HBO, which even after it is told leaves her a mystery. For someone who was so private, she sure took a lot of photos of herself.

41rE9umpARL

51dR6Q4ibTL

140331_r24802-1200-1200

d8df4136b49bbc41e614c84998c0a730

September 10, 1955

September 10, 1955

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.51.05 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.51.14 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.51.35 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.52.11 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.52.20 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.52.31 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.52.51 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.53.03 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.53.27 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.53.39 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.53.56 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.54.09 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.54.19 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.54.32 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.54.42 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.54.57 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.55.09 AM

tumblr_n3h8n27uRs1qz6f4bo3_1280

vivian_maier_highland_park_il_self_portrait_bedroom_mirror_1965

Untitled

Untitled

VM19XXW04205-01-MC

VM1954W00130-07-MC

VM1954W02936-11-MC

VM1955W03420-05-MC

VMSP07med_0

Screen Shot 2015-12-25 at 5.51.22 AM

The post #PictureThis: Vivian Maier Is THE QUEEN of The Selfie appeared first on World of Wonder.


#BornThisDay: Marlene Dietrich

0
0

dietrich

December 27, 1901Marlene Dietrich:

“I am at heart a gentleman.”

Don’t you continue to find her to be fabulous? She had quite the gay life. Marie Magdalene Dietrich, the smoky voiced Gay Icon, ended her cabaret show in the very dangerously conservative 1950s, with this toast:

“Please try to be gay tonight as I know it is so difficult to be gay in the morning.”

She had her own brand of dangerous glamour & she carried a smoky air of decadence. Blonde, Teutonic, with high cheekbones, a heavy lower lip, displaying the artifice of languor, Dietrich seduced audiences by innuendo.

Dietrich is an Ultra-Icon & she had a personal relationship with Gayness. She picked her men for eye-candy & her women for love, lust & laughs. She was a movie star when movie stars were movie stars. Dietrich’s thing was to be idolized, indomitable & indifferent. She didn’t like mistakes. She was a perfectionist. When her mentor, Joseph von Sternberg, the director of early films: The Blue Angel (1930), Morocco (1930), & The Devil Is A Woman (1935), would not relinquish control to her, she gave him up. Like Mae West, Dietrich didn’t let a little thing like a film business run by men tell her what she could do.

Dietrich possessed a profoundly complex personality, including her attitude about sexuality. She had a major magnetism for gay people from the very beginnings of her career: the campiness of her films, the casual approach toward convention, the trouser-wearing that nearly got her arrested,  her expression of world-weary disillusion, & her marvelous voice.

German born Dietrich’s was bravely anti-Nazi during WW2. She turned her back on her native country & for 4 years she actively worked against Adolf Hitler & his bad buddies. For her courage & commitment to the Allied cause, she was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in France & the Congressional Medal Of Honor in the USA, both nations’ highest honors that can be bestowed on a civilian.

Dietrich was an atheist, abandoning the Lutheran faith:

“If God exists, he needs to review his plan.”

But, she had honor, humor, & humanity. At a time when it could not have been easily accepted, she gave the world her own eye-popping style of sexual liberation. Fred Astaire stated that no one wore a tuxedo as well as Dietrich. She was a woman ahead of her time.

Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally & personally. In 1920s Berlin, she acted on the stage & in silent films. Her performance as the ultimate temptress Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel, directed by von Sternberg, introduced her signature song, Falling in Love Again (Can’t Help It), & brought her international fame & provided her with a contract with Paramount Pictures.

Hollywood films such as Shanghai Express (1932) & Desire (1936) capitalized on her glamour & exotic beauty, cementing her stardom, & made her one of the highest paid actors of the era.

When she dropped her mentor & frequent collaborator, Sternberg, after their highly stylized The Scarlet Empress (1934) & The Devil Is A Woman (1935) flopped, Dietrich, along with Joan Crawford & Greta Garbo, was labeled “box office poison” by the press. But she bounced back big when she played a Wild West saloon girl in the fun Destry Rides Again (1939) opposite James Stewart, singing See What The Boys In The Back Room Will Have.

Dietrich became a citizen of the USA in 1939, at the very apex of the troubles in Europe. Throughout WW2 she was a high profile entertainer on the frontlines. She still made the occasional film after the war, but Dietrich mostly spent most of the 1950s, 1960s & 1970s touring the world as a phenomenally successful cabaret performer.

Dietrich never fully regained her box-office clout, but she did give some of her most interesting performances working with the very best Hollywood directors: Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, & Orson Welles, in popular films: A Foreign Affair (1948), Stage Fright (1950) where she sang my theme song Cole Porter’s The Laziest Gal In Town, Witness For The Prosecution (1957), Touch Of Evil (1958), & Judgment At Nuremberg (1961). Her first film was The Little Napoleon (1923) & her final role was in Schöner Gigolo, Armer Gigolo (1979) opposite David Bowie, that’s 56 years of great performances.

Dietrich’s love affairs included many women, including: Mercedes de Acosta, Garbo, Eva Le Gallienne, Isadora Duncan, the great writer Colette, & Edith Piaf. She also had liaisons with men. Throughout her career, Dietrich had a long string of sexual & romantic relationships, some lasting for decades. They often overlapped & were almost all known to her husband. She had a novel quirk of passing him the love letters of her lovers, along with biting commentary.

During the filming of Destry Rides Again, Dietrich had an affair with Jimmy Stewart, which ended when the filming stopped. In 1938, Dietrich met & began a relationship with the writer Erich Maria Remarque, & in the 1940s with the French star & military hero Jean Gabin. Her last great passion, when she was in her 50s, was hot actor Yul Brynner. Her active sex life continued well into her 70s. Her many male conquests included: John Wayne, George Bernard Shaw & John F. Kennedy. Dietrich’s household included her husband & his mistress, first in Europe & eventually on a ranch in the San Fernando Valley. Now that is what I would dub “Modern Living”.

Dependent on painkillers at the end of her life, Dietrich withdrew to her apartment in Paris. She spent her last decade mostly bedridden, allowing only a few family & staff to see her. During this time, she was a prolific letter writer & spent a lot of time on the telephone (which she answered in the character of a maid), talking with friends & world figures, & surviving on a diet of champagne & autographs. She published a well written memoir Take Just My Life (1979).

Even though she gave up on her native Germany, Germany did not give up on Dietrich. She was made an honorary citizen of Berlin in 2002. Her memorial plaque reads:

 “Where have all the flowers gone?”

MARLENE DIETRICH

December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992

“I am, thank God, a Berliner.”

Marlene Dietrich: Anti-Fascist, Bisexual, Movie Star, Vegas Headliner, Fashion Icon, Recording Artist, & Gay Icon. She was friendly with Ronnie & Nancy Reagan, but I like to consider what today’s Republican Presidential candidates might think of Dietrich. Do you think any of them would know who she was? Just one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century & one of those damn immigrants.

The post #BornThisDay: Marlene Dietrich appeared first on World of Wonder.

#PictureThis: Rare Pics of Gloria Swanson at Home in NYC

0
0

Gloria_Swanson_15_Allan_Warren

Sadiethompsonlobbycard

Not much is known about this photo session that Allan Warren did with Gloria Swanson in her NYC apartment. Sorry, do I need to tell you who Gloria Swanson was? Well, at one time, she was THE biggest star in the world, when the movies, and she, were both young. She starred in dozens of silent films and was nominated for the very first Academy Award for Best Actress. She also produced her own films, including Sadie Thompson and The Love of Sunya and in 1929, she transitioned to talkies with The Trespasser. She’s best known for her role as Norma Desmond in the classic 1950 film, Sunset Boulevard. (She also starred as herself in her last film role in Airport 1975.)

I have a Gloria Swanson story. Indulge me, it’s short. When I first came to Manhattan in 1980, I was couch surfing for a while. I was staying in my friend photographer Bill Westmoreland‘s loft, I think it was in the W 30s? (Once Bill reads this, he can correct me on the details…) I was sleeping on the couch in the AM after a long night at Danceteria and the phone rang. Everyone was at work, so the machine picked up. I hear a voice on the other end leaving a message…

“Hello, it’s Gloria Swanson. I’m looking for Tim. Can you tell me where I might find Tim? Hello. Is Tim there…?”

I’m running around the loft trying to find the phone… dial tone. Damn. I missed talking to Gloria Swanson. Her autobiography had just come out and I was actually reading it at the time, so I had a few conversation points. What a fascinating life. Among other things, she was a health nut, a vegetarian from WAY back. Btw, Tim was a friend of Bill’s who once lived with him and did errands for Gloria occasionally.)

Anyway, these photos were taken a few years earlier in 1972, in the apartment she called from, at 920 Fifth Avenue.

UPDATE: I did hear from Bill about the details and I was pretty close…

Yes, my loft was on 37th st. in the Garment District…Tim was living with me for a while and yes, he drove Miss Swanson around and ran errands for her… after he moved out Miss Swanson continued to call for him at my number–I would tell her that Tim no longer lived here and would give her his new number…we chatted quite a few times over a 3 or 4 month period…until one day when I answered the phone and, after having given her his new number numerous times, I said,

“Glo, he doesn’t live here…try the new number”… to which she responded,

“Oh, yes Mr Westmoreland, I do think I have it in my address book, thank you so much.”

Gloria_Swanson_5_Allan_Warren

Gloria_Swanson_6_Allan_Warren (1)

Gloria_Swanson_8_Allan_Warren

Gloria_Swanson_32_Allan_Warren

Gloria_Swanson_36_Allan_Warren

Gloria_Swanson_42

(Photos, Allan Warren)

The post #PictureThis: Rare Pics of Gloria Swanson at Home in NYC appeared first on World of Wonder.

#VanishingNewYork: Another Restaurant Closes & NYC Weeps?

0
0

Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 9.34.45 AM

Don’t get me wrong, I really love New York City. Lots of great place have closed due to what most people see as greed. I don’t want to come off like the “most hated man in America”, Martin Shkreli, but I think it’s called capitalism and fair market value for one of the most expensive islands on the planet. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s my point…

I was reading the great NYC blog Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York and came across the closing of a restaurant in my neighborhood that I’ve walked by a jillion times but never eaten in, Garage. Here’s the post;

Reader Elizabeth writes in that the last day is January 3. She says,

“their rent was going to be hiked to $50k a month. So they are closing. I am heartsick. My friend George and I had Thanksgiving dinner there many times over the years, and loved hanging at the big beautiful wood bar and listening to jazz. No plans to try to reopen in NYC.”

Garage restaurant has been on Seventh Avenue in the Village for about 20 years now. According to Vanishing, it was, duh, originally a garage. 75 years ago, it was the Nut Club, a nightclub that, among other things, hosted cockroach races. In the 1950s, it was jazz club The Pad and then Lower Basin Street, where jazz great Dave Brubeck once played.

Later, the building housed the Sheridan Square Playhouse, home of the Circle Repertory from 1969 – 1994, when they (were forced?) to move to a larger space shortly before folding. Garage, the restaurant, hosted jazz every night and had a jazz brunch on weekends.

OK. So as you see, the space has been MANY things, since it was a garage. Whoever got their car fixed or parked there, thought it was a disaster when it became a club, I’ll bet. From the comments section of Vanishing;

“Garage has been in that location at least since 1992 or 93. I used to live around the corner on 4th between Jones and Cornelia. Garage was always my wife’s and my first choice for brunch in the neighborhood when we craved something with jazz. It was also pretty good for people watching out the window on 7th from the bar.” –John

To which Scout replied:

“Oh, I am glad to see this awful place go, after they threw out one of New York City’s BEST Off-Broadway theatre companies, Circle Rep.

If you weren’t in NY during the 80s, you can’t know how important Circle Rep was; and they didn’t leave that space willingly, they were ejected in favor of a generic restaurant.

This space had been a theatre since 1958, and should always have been a theatre (and should be one again, but won’t)”

Get my point? New York City is CONSTANTLY changing. F.A.O. Schwartz is gone. So is Roseland… and the original Penn Station. THOSE were institutions. Garage restaurant was loved by many, as was Circle Rep. But it’s a Circle Game, kids. Something closes and something else opens. That’s the way it works.

Now there are legitimate slum lords and terrible situations where businesses lose their space and that sucks. And things that close down that we miss, I get that. But also realize that not every situation is horrible and unfair. On a purely pragmatic note, if you owned the Garage space and their rent came up for renewal, you’d let them stay and take a lot less $$ every month, year after year? You would? OMG! You’re a SAINT!)

New York City is self-renewing, it’s constantly changing. Something else will move into the Garage space. Maybe it’ll be your new favorite place, others might hate it. The city, and the world, is full of great things to do and see. So, let’s enjoy what we got while we’ve got it. Don’t get stuck in the past or you’ll miss the present.

Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 9.23.33 AM

Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 9.30.45 AM

Slide57

(via Vanishing New York)

The post #VanishingNewYork: Another Restaurant Closes & NYC Weeps? appeared first on World of Wonder.

#RIP: Artist, Ellsworth Kelly

0
0

cn_image.size.ellsworth-kelly

Artist Ellsworth Kelly has died, according to Matthew Marks of the Matthew Marks Gallery in Manhattan. He was 92. Born in Newburgh, NY, on May 31, 1923, Kelly studied painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston after his discharge from the Army in 1945. His formative years as an artist were in Paris, which he visited briefly during World War II. Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jean Arp, and Cézanne were all huge influences. After being abroad for six years, Kelly decided to return to America in 1954. Upon his return to New York, he found the art world “very tough.” Although Kelly is now considered an essential innovator and contributor to the American art movement, it was hard for many to find the connection between Kelly’s art and the dominant stylistic trends.

In May 1956 Kelly had his first New York exhibition at Betty Parsons’ Gallery and he showed again at her gallery in the fall of 1957. Three of his pieces: Atlantic, Bar, and Painting in Three Panels, were selected and shown for the Whitney Museum of American Art‘s exhibit, “Young America 1957.”

Kelly shared a studio with fellow artist and friend Agnes Martin, up to the ninth floor of the high-rise studio/co-op Hotel des Artistes at 27 West 67th Street but he left New York City for Spencertown in 1970 and was joined by his partner, photographer Jack Shear, in 1984.

Kelly’s work is shown and collected throughout the world and his influence is immeasurable. Just two years ago, on the occasion of the artist’s 90th birthday in 2013, the National Gallery of Art in Washington mounted an exhibition of his prints; the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia put together five sculptures in a show; the Phillips Collection in Washington exhibited his panel paintings; and the Museum of Modern Art opened a show of the “Chatham Series”.

7539_1012959308770830_779463337308530009_n

09202010_20mfa_photo2

CXRsy-RUoAAMmlq

3-green-blue-black-red_2007

Ellsworth-Kelly-Curves-on-White-Four-Panels-2011-via-Matthew-Marks-Gallery

heald_kelly_490x350

(via NY Times)

The post #RIP: Artist, Ellsworth Kelly appeared first on World of Wonder.

#WOWBestOf2015: My Top 5 Obsessions/Addictions…Unicorns, 420 Machine, Poppers & More!!! NSFW

0
0

uni1-560x306

OMGeee…Where to begin?!?! So many things that were awesome about 2015. So, narrowing it down to my top 5 was a bit tricky…and it might seem random, but I think that’s pretty much the theme for this past year…shenanigans, chillin’ on Instagram, gettin’ lit and owning your own politics…NO REGRETS!!!

 

 

DoYouEvenUnicorn

 

This has to be the best Instagram page ever!!! A friend of mine turned me onto this, and now I can’t look away! What started as a gag gift for a friend, the man behind the rubber unicorn head decided to get one for himself, strip down to his undies (or au naturel), and post pics on IG. The page has become a HUGE hit, and a symbol for sexuality, freedom of expression and alternative perspectives. Oh…and he’s SUPER HOT!

 

 

uni2-560x535uni3-560x442uni4-560x364

 

 

Ozone Generatorozone

As we all know, you basically can’t smoke anywhere anymore without being shuffled down the street like a leper, or your neighbors forming a lynch mob because the smells emanating from your apartment are a bit pungent. Well, here’s your dream machine! The Hotel 350 is a super ozone generator that will turn your 420 aroma into that same smell you get on your clothes when you have them dry-cleaned. Turn it on for 60 min, close the windows, and exit. When you come home, it’s like a brand new apartment. AMAZING! Thanks for the tip rogersuperstar!

 

Transgender Advocates

 

As we all know, this has been the year when transgender issues were all over the media, from tv shows like Orange Is The New Black, Transparent and I Am Cait, to the fashion runways with models like Hari NeffAndreja Pejić and Tschan Andrews. But my nod to the top girls this year that are consistent in their advocacy for their community, and fight for equal rights for all, regardless of your claimed identity has to go to Laverne Cox, JanetMock and Juliana Huxtable.

 

 

laverne-cox-560x560

Laverne Cox has been the first at many things lately. Best known for her recurring role in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black as Sophia Burset, Cox was the first transgender woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award… she was the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine…and… she’s the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds. And if that’s not enough, Cox continues to speak out on transgender rights and social issues on her Tumblr and pens articles for The Huffinton Post.

 

 

janet-mock

Janet Mock first came on my radar when I read her New York Times bestselling memoir Redefining Realness (now available on Audible), where she talked about growing up multiracial, poor and trans in Hawaii and California. But it’s really a book about perseverance and finding your true self. It’s basically my go to when I need some guidance…WWJMD! Mock is an activist, writer, friend to Oprah and host of MSNBC culture show So POPular!…and she’s my heroine!

 

 

juliana-h-560x747

Juliana Huxtable is an artist, model and DJ who turns up wherever she goes! Besides being super sweet and knowing how to make you swerve on the dance floor, Huxtable is an urban poet who speaks volumes through melodies. You can hear her work on collaborations with gay hip hop artist Le1f, or at Hood By Air fashion shows, or on her fab SoundCloud. Her art was most recently featured at the New Museum “Surround Sound” Triennial in NYC.

 

 

I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones (Book)

 

 

grace_jones_memoir_cover-560x841

Put Some Grace In Your Face!!!“… The model, actress, singer, icon and sh*t starter GraceJones put out her long-awaited book I’ll Never Write My Memoirs this year and it’s my #1 bedtime story! It starts off a bit slow. Grace goes back to her childhood times in Jamaica, where she came from a strict religious background. All this being said just to set the foundation for how she became the extrovert and genius that she is. It’s all pretty much rebellion from the start. She later goes into the good stuff we all wanna know…stories about past lovers, her unquenchable thirst for new adventures, and of course, her opinions on everybody else’s art, or lack thereof…LOL. We had to wait forever for this…cause Grace is ALWAYS LATE…but, this book is one of her greatest performances yet!

 

Mx Qwerrrk

 

 

times-qwerrrk-copy-560x67526-560x37331-560x37332-560x37350-560x37343-560x373andy-cohen-3-560x424

 

 

BONUS: The Piggy Top

 

 

BearTopGingerMedShotWebRes-682x1024-560x841

And finally, for all you party queens who love sniffing a little amyl nitrite to loosen you up, but get a little clumsy when that little brown bottle gets slippery, designer Leo Herrera has come up with this beautifully brilliant bottle topper called The Piggy Top, made out of silver or gold, carved like a pig’s head. You can now wear your poppers around your neck! Not only is it utilitarian, it also serves as a sure sign to others that you’re up for some cheeky fun.

The post #WOWBestOf2015: My Top 5 Obsessions/Addictions…Unicorns, 420 Machine, Poppers & More!!! NSFW appeared first on World of Wonder.

WOWBestOf2015: Carol, Carol, OMG, Carol and Her Brilliant Red Scarf

0
0

Have you seen it? Did you have FASHION ORGASMS in the theater? Everything about Cate Blanchett as the (sliiiiiightly predatory) older lesbian in Carol was absolutely ON POINT. The wave in her hair! The accessories! The BROOCHES! My GAWD, the BROOCHES! And the little retro ladysuits! OHHH! My absolute favorite look though – the one that had me SWOONING in my seat – was THIS. Below. Whatwhatwhat is going on? It’s a suit. With a slit in the lapel? To slide the scarf through? It’s too MUCH! It’s too FANTASTICAL! Was it really a THING people did in the ’50s? Or was it just some divine inspiration for the character? For the movie? Either way, it’s time to make this a THING in 2016. SLITS IN LAPELS. Yes, it’s a new trend. I’m calling it. Make it happen, people. Do a CAROL tonight. And if you haven’t seen it yet, GO. NOW! You’ll regret not seeing it come Oscar time when Cate wins Best Actress. And keep an eye out for the scarf scene.

Cate-Blanchett-Carol-Movie-2015 IMG_6832

The post WOWBestOf2015: Carol, Carol, OMG, Carol and Her Brilliant Red Scarf appeared first on World of Wonder.

Aw Snap: David Spade Calls President Obama “Thirsty” for Going on Bear Grylls

0
0

129374, EXCLUSIVE: David Spade seen filming on the set of 'Joe Dirt 2' at an office building in New Orleans. Spade was seen wearing a hospital gown and running shoes. New Orleans, Louisiana - Wednesday November 19, 2014. Photograph: © PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office: +1 310.822.0419 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE

This little nit. Wtf. David Spade started beef with the President by calling him “thirsty” for appearing on the reality show Running Wild with Bear Grylls.

“Why is Obama on Bear Grills trying to survive in the tundra?” he said in a recently deleted tweet. “Isnt the idea to keep the prez alive? And why is he on a reality show?Wtf ?”

“I thought a president should have a little more dignity,” he told TMZ when asked his comments

“What president does reality shows? It just sounds weird to me, you know what I mean? It’s just too much,” Spade said The Saturday Night Live alum, who most recently starred in Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous 6 and Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, also pointed out the numerous talk show appearances made by the First Lady. “I think that Michelle Obama’s on Ellen more than I am,” he said. “It’s just a new world. It seems a bit thirsty.”

Says Jezebel in Obama’s defense:

Maybe Obama is just trying to have a good time during his last year in office. Plus, it’s Bear Grylls; it’s not like he’s showing up on Real Housewives and bullying Yolanda Foster. Spade also slammed Obama’s GQ magazine covers. “Leave that to Bradley Cooper,” he said. “You’re the president, you’re above all of us. You’re above stars, you’re above everything. When he’s trying to get in the mix like, ‘I want to present at the MTV awards,’ Alright, guy. Relax. You’ve got it.” Damn.

Methinks perhaps it’s HIM who’s a bit thirsty. What do YOU think? Is it unbecoming of a sitting president to be seen on reality shows and magazine? Or is that just the world we live in now?

Unknown

(Photo of David: Pacific Coast News)

The post Aw Snap: David Spade Calls President Obama “Thirsty” for Going on Bear Grylls appeared first on World of Wonder.


#TheStruggleHasNeverBeenMoreReal: Bear in a Tiny BMW

The 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2015 – Agree or Disagree?

0
0

Here’s a rather arbitrary listing of the most handsome faces IN THE WORLD, in descending order of hotness, as compiled by something called “TC Candler Reviews.” It’s a bit hinky, I must say. Something in the milk ain’t right. For instance: Um, in what universe is Benedict Cumberbatch hotter than Jared Leto? And how can Gerard Butler be considered better looking than Tom Hardy? Or Tom Brady? Why is Theo James in the 90s and Chris Carmack (from The OC) #5? And how on earth does the number one spot go to (SPOILER ALERT)… Diego Bonita? He wasn’t even the hottest guy on Scream Queens. Watch for yourself and agree or disagree. Props to them for including models and actors from literally everywhere on the globe, but still… PewDiePie? Hotter than Anderson Cooper? I DON’T THINK SO.

Also: TC Chandler’s Most Beautiful Faces:

And be sure to check out my (MUCH MORE SENSIBLE) list here.

The post The 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2015 – Agree or Disagree? appeared first on World of Wonder.

MUST WATCH: A Drug Deal Told Through 160 Movie Titles

0
0

A drug deal goes down between a stoner and his dealer in this odd little video – but no other words are said except titles of movies, which you can follow along with the movie posters inside. Brooklyn-based comedy group POYKPAC partnered with the Fine Brothers to make it. Weird, but cumulatively rather impressive. (via Laughing Squid)

Screen Shot 2015-12-28 at 1.15.32 PM

Screen Shot 2015-12-28 at 1.15.14 PMScreen Shot 2015-12-28 at 1.19.54 PMScreen Shot 2015-12-28 at 1.20.05 PMScreen Shot 2015-12-28 at 1.20.22 PMScreen Shot 2015-12-28 at 1.19.20 PMScreen Shot 2015-12-28 at 1.19.28 PMScreen Shot 2015-12-28 at 1.19.37 PM

The post MUST WATCH: A Drug Deal Told Through 160 Movie Titles appeared first on World of Wonder.

Flashback 1974: Watch the First Big Gay Movie “A Very Natural Thing”

0
0

A-Very-Natural-Thing-images-709cbaa5-fe12-4130-a28f-1d04d63bc82

It’s your movie for a mid-winter’s afternoon: A Very Natural Thing. From the YouTube description:

An important film in the history of American gay filmmaking, “A Very Natural Thing” is considered the first feature film on the gay experience made by an out gay man to receive commercial distribution. The insightful story follows a 26-year-old man, Jason, as he leaves the priesthood and moves to New York City in the hopes of finding a meaningful gay relationship.

Of course, preceding it were the icky Boys in the Band (1970), Fortune and Men’s Eyes (1971) (which was co-produced by MGM, and dealt with the issue of homosexuality in prison), as well as Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), and Cabaret (1972) – but A Very Natural Thing was something altogether different. A Cinequeer points out, it was “one of the first positive American films about homosexuality. Aside from offering a groundbreaking story about two men struggling to maintain a relationship, it also documents, for posterity, a period of pre-AIDS gay liberation that is but a hazy recollection now for an entire generation.” Captured in all their gritty glory are ’70s gay discos, historic bathhouses, Fire Island orgies, and even one of the first Gay Pride parades. Pretty cool stuff.

From Cinequeer:

Even though the film screams 1970s, A Very Natural Thing (originally titled For As Long As Possible) is surprisingly unapologetic for its day. Both men, though closeted in their jobs, are not having self loathing coming out issues like most of the cast of 1970’s The Boys In The Band. … Though tame by today’s standards, A Very Natural Thing was quite a gutsy film. There is full frontal nudity, kissing, and a few sex scenes. I loved a throwaway moment where they buy a tube of KY Jelly and the pharmacist gives them a dirty look. The orgy and the trip to the baths are explicit for 1974 but not quite porn. (Gay porn already existed at this point, Wakefield Poole’s 1971 The Boys In The Sand is the most famous example.) Audiences were not used to seeing men being romantic together on the screen and these guys enjoy many intimate moments…

A Very Natural Thing, was savaged by the few mainstream critics who bothered to review it. The film was dismissed as a gay version of 1970’s Love Story and mocked for recycling the same standard Hollywood romance cliches….

The film was similarly dismissed by much of its target audience. We were in the throes of a sexual revolution in the early 70s and hip gay men who wanted sexual liberation found David’s quest for romantic love and monogamy to be outdated and square….

Gay films were a rarity in 1974 and director Larkin, knowing that his film was a milestone of sorts, threw everything but the kitchen sink into his opus. Some of his elements are disruptive to the narrative but remain important as documentary…

For all its good intentions, A Very Natural Thing will be remembered more as a political act than as a polished work of classic cinema. The cinematography is, at best, adequate. It is often too dark (especially the scene at the baths, though some of this may be attributed to the film’s age and the lack of restoration). Some of the dialogue is a tad stiff too. Modern audiences will need to forgive a few shortcomings but there is also much to savor. As noted earlier, the film documents a bygone age..

In closing, the execution might not always live up to the director’s ambitions but A Very Natural Thing remains a very important title in the queer cinema canon; a trailblazer that set the stage for many films to come.

Watch it in its entirety below. Or at least just watch the kick-ass ’70s gay disco scene in the beginning where they meet.

A-Very-Natural-Thing-images-2f4b4b6d-ab0a-4702-8c03-867ff1c83f7

averynaturalthing1 averynaturalthing6 averynaturalthing3 averynaturalthing2

(via SissyDude)

The post Flashback 1974: Watch the First Big Gay Movie “A Very Natural Thing” appeared first on World of Wonder.

Alyssa’s Secret: Alaska Edwards Pt. 3 – 2016 Fantasy

Viewing all 11455 articles
Browse latest View live


Latest Images