Foster The People is a 3 man outfit from L.A. with Mark Foster on keyboards, guitars, & vocals; Mark Pontius on drums; & Cubbie Fink on bass & backing vocals. This song was on my March Mix, but it continues to make me happy & get me moving. Totally adorkable!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
New Music: Foster The People & Pumped Up Kicks
Foster The People is a 3 man outfit from L.A. with Mark Foster on keyboards, guitars, & vocals; Mark Pontius on drums; & Cubbie Fink on bass & backing vocals. This song was on my March Mix, but it continues to make me happy & get me moving. Totally adorkable!
Gratuitious
I hope you don't mind. I needed to post something on Saturday, April 30th, to meet my challenge of posting everyday. Please, I entreat you good readers, forgive my sloth. I realize that you were aching for one of my my long biographical sketches of a famous gay person on their birthday. Even the Post Apocalyptic Bohemian needs to simply toss one off every once in a while.
Friday, April 29, 2011
So I decided to put some fashion focus on celebrities in this post. Here are some celeb styles I'm drooling over!
Loving Vanessa's jumpsuit!
Zoe Saldana in Dolce and Gabana
Miranda Kerr
Lauren Conrad
Nicole Richie
Alessia Ambrosio
I would love to have Jessica's Prada bag!
Loving Blake Lively's Brian Atwood shoes!
Blake Lively
Two fashion forward celebs, one dress
Diane Kruger Kate Bosworth
Emma Watson for Burberry
Kiera Knightly
Gwen Stefani
Kim Kardashian
Photos via Thevoguediaries, google images, and other sites
Color, turquoise AND sparkle shorts! Amazing!
Shantel VanSanten
Camilla Belle
Stay Tuned!
XOXO!
Born On This Day- April 29th... Celeste Holme
I met her once. It was really rather a thrill because I am true fan, & at the time, a musical queen. I was over the moon to meet the original Ado Annie from Oklahoma!. As a film smart, savvy young gay man my head was simply spinning to be meeting Karen, Margo Channing’s best friend in All About Eve, one of my very favorite films.
The occasion was being received back stage by Betty Garrett, after her one-woman show- Betty Garrett & Other Songs at the Westwood Playhouse in Spring 1976. Betty Garrett had been my acquaintance for a year, & we had recently been at a very informal outdoor dinner thrown by mutual friends. Betty & I had a very special conversation that evening that ended with Betty offering me the house seats to her show the next evening. I took her up on the offer, & the show was splendid, sparkling & sentimental. After her big finish, but before the curtain call, Betty looked into the house with her hands shielding her eyes & announced while pointing : "My dead friend Celeste & Stephen… I want to see you both in my dressing room in a few minutes.” I turned to the person next to me & nudged & whispered- “That’s me… I'm Stephen, I’m not Celeste.”
So, Oscar winner & consummate character actor Celeste Home, & little curly-haired redheaded Stephen hung out in the dressing room while Betty Garrett got out of costume & make up. Celeste Holm & our hero made small talk & loudly praised Ms. Garrett’s show. I heaped praise on Holme's stage performance in Mame, which I had adored in 1968.
I declined an offer from the 2 amazing stars of Hollywood’s golden era to move on to the next party as a team. Instead, I would opt for Studio One in West Hollywood, hoping that some hot man would shove that little brown bottle under my nose, the one that makes me feel so sexy & really connected with the thumping music. I did meet a beefy redhead that took me to his place in Venice Beach, used me for my considerable talents & then made me breakfast. I came to the fork in the road, & I made the wrong decision. I could have partied away the evening with the woman who introduced the world to the showstopper- I Can't Say No (by coincidence, the title of a chapter in my memoir- Jockstraps & Vicodin), instead I took the fork that might have gotten me forked.
Celeste, I was dense, I was callow, I was young. I was thinking with my dick. I apologize. Ask me again, I will devote a date to you & we can remember our friend Betty. Take me up on my offer. Happy 94th birthday! You out lived the entire cast of All About Eve. You are still one hot number!
Celeste Holm tells this story: She was nominated for an Oscar for a film she made with Loretta Young- Come To The Stable, in which they both played nuns! Loretta had become quite pious after having given birth to Clark Gable's love child (talk about virgin birth... she then adopts her own daughter) & Loretta Young announced to the cast & crew that there would no swearing or strong language on the set. Miss Young had set up a penalty box; if someone should slip up & use a Goddamn, fuck or shit, they would need to put a nickle in the box, with the proceeds going to a Vatican charity at the end of the shoot. Holme's good friend Ethel Merman stopped by the set to visit. Ethel took a 10 dollar bill out of her purse & slipped it into the Curse Box & loudly proclaimed- "There you go Loretta. Now you can go fuck yourself". I told this story to a group of 20-35 year olds that I supervise at my job. Not a single one knew of Celeste Holm, Loretta Young, Ethel Merman, or All About Eve, even the gay ones. I hate getting old.
Holmes also relates: "I walked onto the set of All About Eve on the first day & said, 'Good Morning,' to Miss Bette Davis, & do you know her reply? She said, 'Oh shit, good manners'. I never spoke to her again ... ever."
Celeste Holm lives in her native NYC. She married 5 times; she married her current husband, opera singer Frank Basile, on April 29, 2004, her 87th birthday. Celeste turns an astonishing 94 today.
The occasion was being received back stage by Betty Garrett, after her one-woman show- Betty Garrett & Other Songs at the Westwood Playhouse in Spring 1976. Betty Garrett had been my acquaintance for a year, & we had recently been at a very informal outdoor dinner thrown by mutual friends. Betty & I had a very special conversation that evening that ended with Betty offering me the house seats to her show the next evening. I took her up on the offer, & the show was splendid, sparkling & sentimental. After her big finish, but before the curtain call, Betty looked into the house with her hands shielding her eyes & announced while pointing : "My dead friend Celeste & Stephen… I want to see you both in my dressing room in a few minutes.” I turned to the person next to me & nudged & whispered- “That’s me… I'm Stephen, I’m not Celeste.”
So, Oscar winner & consummate character actor Celeste Home, & little curly-haired redheaded Stephen hung out in the dressing room while Betty Garrett got out of costume & make up. Celeste Holm & our hero made small talk & loudly praised Ms. Garrett’s show. I heaped praise on Holme's stage performance in Mame, which I had adored in 1968.
I declined an offer from the 2 amazing stars of Hollywood’s golden era to move on to the next party as a team. Instead, I would opt for Studio One in West Hollywood, hoping that some hot man would shove that little brown bottle under my nose, the one that makes me feel so sexy & really connected with the thumping music. I did meet a beefy redhead that took me to his place in Venice Beach, used me for my considerable talents & then made me breakfast. I came to the fork in the road, & I made the wrong decision. I could have partied away the evening with the woman who introduced the world to the showstopper- I Can't Say No (by coincidence, the title of a chapter in my memoir- Jockstraps & Vicodin), instead I took the fork that might have gotten me forked.
Celeste, I was dense, I was callow, I was young. I was thinking with my dick. I apologize. Ask me again, I will devote a date to you & we can remember our friend Betty. Take me up on my offer. Happy 94th birthday! You out lived the entire cast of All About Eve. You are still one hot number!
Celeste Holm tells this story: She was nominated for an Oscar for a film she made with Loretta Young- Come To The Stable, in which they both played nuns! Loretta had become quite pious after having given birth to Clark Gable's love child (talk about virgin birth... she then adopts her own daughter) & Loretta Young announced to the cast & crew that there would no swearing or strong language on the set. Miss Young had set up a penalty box; if someone should slip up & use a Goddamn, fuck or shit, they would need to put a nickle in the box, with the proceeds going to a Vatican charity at the end of the shoot. Holme's good friend Ethel Merman stopped by the set to visit. Ethel took a 10 dollar bill out of her purse & slipped it into the Curse Box & loudly proclaimed- "There you go Loretta. Now you can go fuck yourself". I told this story to a group of 20-35 year olds that I supervise at my job. Not a single one knew of Celeste Holm, Loretta Young, Ethel Merman, or All About Eve, even the gay ones. I hate getting old.
Holmes also relates: "I walked onto the set of All About Eve on the first day & said, 'Good Morning,' to Miss Bette Davis, & do you know her reply? She said, 'Oh shit, good manners'. I never spoke to her again ... ever."
Celeste Holm lives in her native NYC. She married 5 times; she married her current husband, opera singer Frank Basile, on April 29, 2004, her 87th birthday. Celeste turns an astonishing 94 today.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Born On This Day- April 28th... American Writer Nell Harper Lee
Seemingly impossible, I did not read To Kill A Mockingbird as a young person, & I didn’t see the film until 2005, at the Husband’s insistence. I certainly would have been better briefed for adulthood if I had encountered this masterpiece of an American novel in my early teens rather than early 50s. The book is in a tie for my favorite tome of all time.
Harper Lee is a noiseless nonconformist. Her cold shoulder towards celebrity is challenging to conceive of in today's culture, especially for a popular writer. Lee hoped her book would meet a "quick & merciful death”. It achieved immortality, the most popular American novel of the 20th century. The film version, has a perfect screenplay by Horton Foote that is so spot on that they have merged in peoples’ heads.
Lee has wry sense of humor. She was the editor of the humor magazine at the University of Alabama. When told that her book had great appeal for children, Lee stated: "But I hate children. I can't stand them."
In 1950, a young frumpy girl, fresh from the University Of Alabama, minus her law degree, moved to NYC from her hometown of Monroeville. She didn't think she was up to much, just renewing her friendship with her childhood buddy- Truman Capote. She said she was writing a book & that was that. She published that book in 1960.
To Kill A Mockingbird is a barely disguised version of her Alabama family & her town’s Southern racial consciousness inspired, but it is also about Lee & Capote, childhood chums who become personally & artistically linked legends. They were precocious children with little in common with their peers, Lee was too rough for girls, & Capote was too soft for boys. They each had emotionally remote mothers: Capote's was a self- centered social climber; Lee's was deeply depressed. Capote's father attempted to seduce Lee in her teens, & she punched him in the nose; Capote hated Lee's gossipy mother, & later used her in a story called Mrs. Busybody.
Lee became a friend to Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Atticus Finch. She remains close to the actor's family. Peck's grandson, Harper Peck Voll, is named after her. In 2205, she was portrayed on film by Catherine Keener & Sandra Bullock. Lee continues to live a quiet, private life in NYC & Monroeville. She remains active in her church & community. She avoids anything to do with her still popular novel (selling a million copies a year & having never been out of print). Lee hasn't published a book since the Pulitzer Prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960. Lee turns 85 today.
Harper Lee is a noiseless nonconformist. Her cold shoulder towards celebrity is challenging to conceive of in today's culture, especially for a popular writer. Lee hoped her book would meet a "quick & merciful death”. It achieved immortality, the most popular American novel of the 20th century. The film version, has a perfect screenplay by Horton Foote that is so spot on that they have merged in peoples’ heads.
Lee has wry sense of humor. She was the editor of the humor magazine at the University of Alabama. When told that her book had great appeal for children, Lee stated: "But I hate children. I can't stand them."
In 1950, a young frumpy girl, fresh from the University Of Alabama, minus her law degree, moved to NYC from her hometown of Monroeville. She didn't think she was up to much, just renewing her friendship with her childhood buddy- Truman Capote. She said she was writing a book & that was that. She published that book in 1960.
To Kill A Mockingbird is a barely disguised version of her Alabama family & her town’s Southern racial consciousness inspired, but it is also about Lee & Capote, childhood chums who become personally & artistically linked legends. They were precocious children with little in common with their peers, Lee was too rough for girls, & Capote was too soft for boys. They each had emotionally remote mothers: Capote's was a self- centered social climber; Lee's was deeply depressed. Capote's father attempted to seduce Lee in her teens, & she punched him in the nose; Capote hated Lee's gossipy mother, & later used her in a story called Mrs. Busybody.
Lee became a friend to Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Atticus Finch. She remains close to the actor's family. Peck's grandson, Harper Peck Voll, is named after her. In 2205, she was portrayed on film by Catherine Keener & Sandra Bullock. Lee continues to live a quiet, private life in NYC & Monroeville. She remains active in her church & community. She avoids anything to do with her still popular novel (selling a million copies a year & having never been out of print). Lee hasn't published a book since the Pulitzer Prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960. Lee turns 85 today.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Here was yesterdays outfit. During the summer I tend to live in maxi dresses. I have always loved them. They are just effortlessly chic and SUPER comfy! Lately though I have enjoyed layering loose sweaters on top of them to give alittle warmth on the slightly cooler Spring days. But come summer, this little gem with be fully exposed in all her glory!
Jazz Hands! Not sure what was going on here...
Hat - Forever21
Sweater - Forever21
Maxi Dress - Anthropologie
Belt - Linea Pelle
Bag - Misako (Spain)
Sandals - Steve Madden
All Jewelry - Vintage
Stay Tuned!
XOXO
Girlfriends
Diana Ross and Mary Wilson (with Florence Ballard reflected in mirror) backstage at The T.A.M.I. Show, 1964
Female impersonators, 1964In both instances, we're fairly certain someone got bitch-slapped shortly after the shutter clicked.
A Sunday Kind of Love
1960's girl group cult artist, Josephine Sunday, performing on American Bandstand and doing her best to make you forget Ronnie Spector's name.
Drive
Somehow I feel the failure, partly because there is a sting of truth in it, & partly because I tend toward anthropomorphism, grieving for the loss of life for a plant, believing that electronic equipment hates me, & knowing that I failed in my love for an automobile.
I have always held that Happiness is not a state of being, but rather Happiness is in the moments. For a few tiny moments in my considerable life, the stars aligned, my luck stuck, & all the points came together & everything worked. That was when I experienced an extended era of ecstatic enchantment. The blessed bliss brought prosperity, pleasure & possibilities for a life well lived.
The early 1970s: goofy, original good looks that only the young can posses because they don’t understand that it will all be gone someday. I could do nothing wrong. It all came easy to me: meaty roles in the theatre, meaty men in my bed, attention, admiration, humor, hilarity & hopefulness. Boston, LA & NYC.
Seattle 1982- 1989: Hot boyfriend, hot apartment, hot buzz about my acting on stage & in commercials, films, & TV. My image is on the side of buses, on the back page of the newspaper, on billboards, & I am mentioned in the press. We can rarely go a day without my being recognized & commented on by strangers & feted by friends. The hot boyfriend considers that it may not be all that good for me, but he remains a fan, attending all of my opening nights. I gym daily. I have single digit body fat. Sexual performance is never an issue. Never a mention that I might party too much.
Portland 2002-2006: comfortable, curious, & cultivated. We own our own home for the first time. Our Own Home. The boyfriend becomes my husband. We have respectable employment. The Husband is thin, tan, talented, sleek & sexy. He wears beautiful clothing at work & no clothing at the beach. We have hundreds in checking & thousands in savings. We vacation in NYC, seeing Broadway shows & shopping. We weekend in Palm Springs, imbibing & inhaling poolside.
For a couple of weeks, I had been eyeing a bronze Volkswagen station wagon at a car lot on the way to the gym. On one of those happy days, I walked into the lot & drove out in that station wagon. After decades of driving clunkers, I had a real automobile for the first time & it felt fine.
In my beautiful new car, handsome silver fox husband at the wheel, singing along to Tegan & Sara’s Walking With A Ghost & Dave Matthew’s American Baby from my summer mix, driving along a rustic rural road on Sauvie Island on a perfect August morning, headed to the nude beach with a book, blanket, & a thermos of vodka lemonade, having already dropped a half a hit of E… I was experiencing perfectly, profoundly happiness.
2011: barely1 ½ incomes, bills, hospital visits, prescriptions, old dog, crushing depression, strained relationships, strained budget, strained bank accounts. Yesterday, it was agreed that the Volkswagen would go. I calculated that we would save us $8000 a year by not paying car payments, insurance, gasoline, & maintenance. We will sock it away & someday purchase an old pick-up truck so we can go to Lowes, the salvage shops & nurseries. We will join ZipCar for $75 a month for 15 hours of driving (enough for the Husband to deal with clients). They pay the insurance & the fuel. ZipCar has a car parked just at the end of our block.
We will not be able to be able to be spontaneous. If the Husband forgets an ingredient in tonight’s dinner, it will require a trip to the supermarket 10 blocks away.
I have that tingle of tumult for trying something strange & unaccustomed. We will walk when willed. Bicycles are in order. I don’t need a lot: house, garden, dogs, books, music, local watering spots. Using the ZipCar & leaving the neighborhood will be our big adventure.
Your host, a decade ago, with his 1970 Ford Pickup Truck
In Seattle, I a drove a red 1970 Ford pickup truck & the Husband got around in his yellow 1960 Ford pickup. It seemed too daunting to get them both to Portland when we moved. The Husband sold his truck & I traded with my father, my pickup for a junker. I always mourned the letting go of those 2 trucks. Now with the giving up of the station wagon, I feel remorse. Why does this place I find myself in make me maudlin & make me cry? It is just an automobile; they come & they go. It always ran perfectly, it never gave me any trouble & the bronze Volkswagen Station Wagon came into my life at a point when my existence was uncommonly, uncharacteristically upbeat, & dare I say, for a moment… happy.
A Morning With The Post Apocalyptic Bohemians...
This is an aesthetic that the Husband finds to have an agreeablely austere allure:
This is the actuality..
with ample amounts of accountability on my part:
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Joan Arden
Trivia time: In 1925, MGM teamed with Movie Weekly magazine to hold a contest, bestowing $1,000 upon the lucky reader who chose the perfect name to rechristen their latest starlet, Lucille LeSueur. But, there were multiple entries with the winning name: "Joan Arden." Rather than award multiple prizes, the thrifty Metro went with the second choice: "Joan Crawford."
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