Born On This Day- October 31st... Straight, But Not Narrow Baritone, Brian Stokes Mitchell

The Baritone voice in song is my favorite sound on earth or in the heavens. Check out Broadway leading man Brian Stokes Mitchell's stunning baritone on his self titled album from 2006. Perfection. He produced & did the arrangments!

Mitchell is that rare commodity, a really masculine musical theatre leading man in the mode of Richard Kiley, John Raitt, or Alfred Drake. He is a 5 time Tony Nomineee & winner for Kiss Me Kate. I loved him as Frasier Crane's nemesis & neighbor on Frasier. Other credits: George Gershwin's Oh, Kay!, Jelly's Last Jam, Kiss Of The Spider Woman, Ragtime, King Hedley II & Man of La Mancha . This season he appeared in th new musical Woman On The Edge Of A Nervous Breakdown, for which he one a Drama Desk award. Mitchell also appeared in the City Center Encores! productions of Jule Styne's Do Re Mi, Bob Merrill's Carnival!, & Kismet ,& the title role in th Kennedy Center revival of Sweeney Todd, part of Stephen Sondheim's 70th birthday celebration.

I am sorry to bring it down to this level, as always, but OMG!, isn't he just too yummy?

Born On This Day- October 31st... Ethel Waters

When doing research for my posts, I am always struck by the cruelty, hatefulness & challenges that were/are foisted on minority artists & performers in the past century. That their work should be adored & rewarded, but the artist would still need to enter a theatre or hotel by the back door. That these amazing performers persevered & gave us so much is a testament to the power of art.

Ethel Waters rose from stardom from a most-obscure beginning, a whore's alley in Philadelphia where she lived in poverty with her mother and grandmother. She faced unspeakable racism during her rise to fame. Ethel Waters was born on October 31, 1896, as a result of her mother's rape at age 13, Ethel Waters was raised in a violent, impoverished home. She never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. Waters: "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family." Despite this unpromising start, Waters demonstrated early the love of language that so distinguishes her work. Waters' birth in the North and her vagabond life exposed her to many culture, & gave to her interpretation of southern blues a unique sensibility that pulled in eclectic influences from across all American music. Ethel Waters: singer, dancer, actress, & evangelist, never be confined to a single identity. As a singer, she played with styles, doing what was called- “race music” & doing white standards.

Waters married at the age of 13, but soon left her abusive husband & became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel working for less than $5 a week. On her birthday- Halloween night 1913, she attended a party in costume at a nightclub in Philadelphia. She was persuaded to sing 2 songs, & impressed the audience so much that she was offered professional work at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. She later recalled that she earned $10 a week, but her managers cheated her out of the tips her admirers threw on the stage.


She was a street kid whose highest aspiration was to be a lady's maid. Instead, she found herself in vaudeville. As an actress, in films like The Member of the Wedding, Waters gave the “mammy” roles real edge & depth. Her life was as varied as her singing. She was a Catholic who could swear like a sailor. She was a lesbian whose loud fights with her lovers made more proper lesbians like Alberta Hunter label her a disgrace to their tribe. She joined Billy Graham & toured the country. Her signature song had been Stormy Weather, but once she joined the Graham crusade, she never sang it again. Waters: “My life ain't stormy no more”, which was good for her & bad for her fans. Her best known recording was her version of the spiritual- His Eye is on the Sparrow.




In 1933, Waters made a satirical all-black film entitled Rufus Jones for President. She went on to star at the Cotton Club, where she sang Stormy Weather. Waters: “I sang it from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed & suffocated." She took a role in the Broadway musical revue As Thousands Cheer in 1933, where she was the first black woman to appear in an otherwise all white show. In addition to the show, she starred in a national radio program & continued to work in nightclubs. She was the highest paid performer on Broadway, but she was starting to age. MGM hired Lena Horne as the ingénue in the all-Black musical- Cabin in the Sky, & Waters reprised Petunia, her stage role. The film, directed by Vincente Minnelli, was a success, but Waters was offended by the attention given to Horne, & she was feeling her age.


She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1949 for Pinky. In 1950, she won the NY Drama Critics Award for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play- The Member of the Wedding. Waters & Harris repeated their roles in the 1952 film version. In 1950, Waters starred in the TV series- Beulah but quit after complaining that the scripts' portrayal of African-Americans was degrading.


Waters was the second African American ever nominated for an Academy Award. She was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Waters' recording of Stormy Weather was honored by the Library of Congress. It was listed in the National Recording Registry in 2004. Waters was approved for a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. However, the actual Star has not been funded, & as of her birthday in 2010, public fundraising efforts continue.

Born On This Day- October 31st... Master Voice-Over Actor- David Ogden Stiers

Fellow Oregonian -David Ogden Stiers is the 2 time Emmy nominee for his work on M*A*S*H, who came out of the closet last spring at the age of 67 . He has had a long career on stage, in television & on film, frequently working in the films of Woody Allen. But his greatest success has been in the world of voice-over work. Among Ogden Stiers many voice credits: Cogsworth in Beauty & the Beast, both Ratcliffe & Wiggins in Pocahontas, & the Archdeacon in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He also voiced a character in the English version of Spirited Away, distributed by Disney. Ironically, Ogden Stiers said it was his later, very successful career as a voice actor that caused his reluctance to come out any earlier:

David Ogden Stiers:“I enjoy working & even though many have this idealistic belief that the entertainment industry & studios like Walt Disney are gay friendly.For the most part they are, but that doesn’t mean for them that business does not come first. It’s a matter of economics…A lot of my income has been derived from voicing  Disney & family programming. What they might allow in a more known actor, they prefer not having to deal with in minor players.”

Ironically, it was the flamboyant nature of some of those roles that he says contributed to his staying closeted. “Cogsworth, the character I did on Beauty and the Beast, could be a bit flamboyant on screen, because basically he is a cartoon,” he said. “But they didn’t want Cogsworth to become Disney’s gay character, because it got around a gay man was playing him.” Regarding this signature role in the classic Disney film (which Odgen Stiers also narrates), the actor reportedly ad-libbed the last part of Cogsworth’s famous advice to the Beast on what to give Belle: “Well, there's the usual things: flowers... chocolates... promises you don't intend to keep...”

Ram Revilla murder suspects apprehended

Ram Revilla killed in his home last Friday.

Two suspects in the murder of actor Ram Revilla have been arrested by the police Monday, ABS-CBN reported.

They are Michael Cruz Altia and Roy Francis Tolisora who are alleged hired killers. The two, including 3 other suspects who are still at large, are accused of shooting and stabbing Revilla to death inside his house in Parañaque City, last Friday, as well as shooting Revilla's girlfriend Janelle Manahan who survived the attack.

Revilla's brother who happens to be Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. had offered P500,000 bounty for information that would lead to the apprehension of those involved in the crime.

According to a TV Patrol report, the "love-triangle" angle as motive in the killing of the 22-year old actor had been dumped by investigators since there is not enough evidence to support it.

Meanwhile, an ABS-CBN report says that investigators are now looking into the possibility of a relative to have masterminded the murder.

Kim Chiu is Meg Magazine's November 2011 covergirl

Kim Chiu is on this month's cover of Meg Magazine! Check out the said cover below:

Kim Chiu's Meg Magazine November 2011 issue

In this issue, our pretty Binondo Girl talks about this year bringing out the "tougher, more beautiful and better" her.

Also included in this issue are articles about the best of 2011, dozens of gift ideas, how to have a super- hero or villain look, steps to avoid gaining weight during the holiday seasons, and a lot more.

The issue will be out this November 2011.

7 billionth baby arrives in the Philippines

7 billionth baby Danica May Camacho | Photo courtesy of AP

The 7 billionth occupant of the world has arrived! She is Danica May Camacho, a 5.5-pound premature baby, who was born at 11:58 p.m. on Sunday at Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila, Philippines.

The symbolic 7 billionth baby was welcomed with a chocolate cake marked "7B Philippines" and various gifts including a college scholarship.

Since thousands of baby are being born each hour, it is impossible to determine who and where the 7 billionth will be born. The United Nations decided to hold a series of "7 billionth baby" festivities worldwide which started in the Philippines and will be held in other parts of the world, today, October 31, 2011.

Dr. Eric Tayag of the Department of Health told the media that 7 billion is something to think about "deeply."

"We should really focus on the question of whether there will be food, clean water, shelter, education and a decent life for every child," he said. "If the answer is 'no,' it would be better for people to look at easing this population explosion."

The world's population had reached its first billion in 1804. A century after, another 1 billion people were born, cascading in the 20th century: 3 billion in 1959; 4 billion in 1974; 5 billion in 1987; 6 billion in 1998.

October Songs... When October Goes

& when October goes

The snow begins to fly

Above the smokey roofs

I watch the planes go by

The children running home

Beneath a twilight sky

Oh, for the fun of them

When I was one of them

& when October goes

The same old dream appears

& you are in my arms

To share the happy years

I turn my head away

To hide the helpless tears

Oh how I hate to see October go

I should be over it now I know

It doesn't matter much

How old I grow

I hate to see October go

Manilow/Mercer

1984

He is one of my very favorite lyricist. In his last year, as he was dying of bain cancer, Johnny Mercer became extremely fond of Barry Manilow, in part because Manilow's first hit record was Mandy which was the name of Mercer's daughter. After Mercer's death, his widow arranged to give some lyrics never used he to Manilow to possibly develop into complete songs. Among these was When October Goes. Manilow applied his own melody to the Mercer lyric.
 
I sang this heartbreaking song when I performed with a jazz trio in the 1990s. It somehow fit my voice technically & emotionally. It was actually cathatric to give voice to it. I sang When October Goes at a gig in late October 1998 & I remember The Husband saying: "You really have the most amazing voice, most people don't know what you can do." I simply glowed; The Husband is a tough critic.
 
Don't you find it heartbreaking?

Born On This Day- October 30th... Post Apocalyptic Muse, Ruth Gordon

She has been such a major part of my life for so long, it is hard for me to remember a time when she was not busy being my muse. A quote from Ruth Gordon- “Never Face The Facts” has been my motto for much of my life, & will be my next tattoo. Her point was, if she had owned up to the fact that she was 5’1’’, not really pretty & that her drama teachers said she had no talent… well, she would never have become Ruth Gordon.

I treasure & have read & re-read her 3 volumes of memoirs- Myself Among Others, My Side: The Autobiography Of Ruth Gordon, & Ruth Gordon- An Open Book. I know it started for me with with Inside Daisy Clover, a film that had a very real impact on me at an early age. My adoration for her was cemented with her Oscar winning performance in Rosemary’s Baby. & then Harold & Maude became the most important movie of my youth. I had a friend who was in Harold & Maude as an actor & another friend who was the set decorator on the film. I had heard all these stories about it during the filming, but I was unprepared for how much I would fall in love with this little movie that went on to be a cult favorite.

My life motto, from Ruth Gordon, was posted on a wall of our cottage in Seattle by The Husband.

The daughter of a former ship captain, Ruth Gordon knew what she wanted to do with her life after witnessing a performance by stage actress Hazel Dawn in Boston. Over the initial objections of her father, Gordon decided upon a stage career, studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She made her debut in Peter Pan with Maude Adams: "Ruth Gordon was ever so gay as Nibs," wrote influential critic Alexander Woollcott, who became a valued & powerful friend to Gordon, & did what he could to encourage her & promote her career. With such stage hits as Seventeen, Serena Blandish, & Ethan Frome, Gordon was one of Broadway's biggest stars of the 1920s & 30s; privately, however, her life was put into shambles by the premature death of her first husband- actor Gregory Kelly.

She was the toast of the West End in London during her successful run in The Country Wife. She created the role of Dolly Levi in Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker (1956), a role written for her, & the basis of the musical- Hello, Dolly!. She remarried in 1942 to the brilliant playwright Garson Kanin, 16 years younger than her. It was a union that lasted more than 4 decades.

Combining stage work with appearances in such films as Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) , Gordon began to collaborate with Kanin on writing projects, with such delightful results as the Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn comedies Adam's Rib (1949) & Pat and Mike (1952), as well as the Judy Holliday vehicle- The Marrying Kind (1952). Gordon returned to the cameras for Inside Daisy Clover in 1966, before taking on role of an elderly neighbor in Rosemary's Baby (1968).

When receiving an Oscar for her performance, the 72 year old Gordon brought down the house by saying, "You have no idea how encouraging a thing like this can be." Gordon was unforgettable in 2 films from my high school years: Where's Poppa? (1970), in which she played the obscenely senile mother of George Segal, & of course, Harold & Maude (1972), as the free spirited soul mate of a death obsessed young man, played Bud Cort, who remained her lifelong friend in real life. The story of her early life was made into a film- The Actress, directed by George Cukor, with a screenplay by Ruth Gordon. She was portrayed by Jean Simmons & Spencer Tracy played her father. She was born 116 years ago today. She remains very special to me.

Hallo.

Dese is de Pumpkins

Dese is de costumes.   And yes,  I know we are tactless.   Wheeee!

Katy Perry Live In Manila Concert 2012 | Ticket Prices, Venue and Schedule

Katy Perry is coming back to the Philippines! The "Fireworks" singer is set to stage another one-night concert in the Manila on January 22, 2012 at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, according to music-video products retailer Odyssey.

Katy Perry Live In Manila Concert 2012

Ticket prices and other information about the said Katy Perry Live in Manila Concert 2012 will be posted here once available. You can like Noypistuff on Facebook for the meantime: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Noypistuff/117502194997452

 Update: Katy Perry Live in Manila 2012 Concert Ticket Prices:

Diamond (Reserved Seating) - P10448
Titanium (Free Seating ) - P6844
Gold (Free Seating) - P3710
Silver (Standing) - P1620
Bronze (Standing) - P889

Tickets will be available starting November 8, 2011. For ticket and other inquiries, please call 891-9999 or 470-2222.

An award-winning recording artist, Katy Perry has released chart-topping singles such as "I Kissed a Girl," "Teenage Dream," and "Fireworks." She is currently touring the world for her California Dreams Tour which has the setlist below:

Encore: "California Gurls"
"Teenage Dream"
"Hummingbird Heartbeat"
"Waking Up in Vegas"
"Ur So Gay"
"Peacock"
"I Kissed a Girl"
"Circle the Drain"
"E.T."
"Who Am I Living For?"
"Pearl"
"Not Like the Movies"
"The One That Got Away" (Performed in replacement of a medley)
Medley: "Only Girl (In the World)" / Big Pimpin'" / "Whip My Hair"
"Thinking of You"
"Hot n Cold" (contains elements of "I Want Candy")
"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (contains elements of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun")
"Firework"

Most probably, they will be the same songs that Perry will perform in Manila.

Katy Perry had visited Manila for a one-night concert back in 2009.

Erich Gonzales meets Mario Maurer (Photo)

Erich Gonzales has met Thai actor Mario Maurer in person for the first time in a dinner on Thursday.

On this photo posted by Joyce Ramirez of PR Asia on Twitter, Erich and Mario look so good together, making fans excited about their upcoming movie titled "Suddenly, It's Magic."

Mario Maurer and Erich Gonzales | Photo courtesy of Joyce Ramirez

To be shot mostly in Thailand, Erich and Mario's movie, according to Ramirez, will be about "a Thai celebrity who was betrayed by the one he loves so he escapes his country and visits Manila where the story begins."

Mario is currently in the country for his Penshoppe endorsement. He as well signed a one-movie contract with Star Cinema on Wednesday. His movie with Erich will reportedly be released next year.

Meanwhile, Erich is gracing on the cover of Women's Health Magazine's November 2011 issue. Take a look of her cover photo here: http://noypistuff.blogspot.com/2011/10/erich-gonzales-shamcey-supsup-nora.html

Head Was Born On This Day In 1887

Edith Head believed modesty was unbecoming & that you should have anything you wanted in life, but you had to be dressed for it. Edith head knew about dressing. The legendary designer saw all the Hollywood greats stripped down to their underwear or less. As the stars gazed upon themselves in the studio wardrobe mirrors, Head was the woman standing behind them, making them look impossibly glamorous while carefully avoiding glamour herself.

 

Hollywood's most famous & influential costume designer, as well as its most prolific, Head had a career that lasted 6 decades. She designed clothes for 1,131 films , an average of 35 a year, she dressed virtually every star who shimmered on screen in the golden age of movie making. Head was the last costume designer to be under contract to a major studio, Paramount. She was a woman who succeeded in a world, which in her day, was dominated by men.

Head wrote a pair of books: The Dress Doctor & How to Dress for Success, & played herself, giving a fashion show commentary in the 1955 film- Lucy Gallant, with Charlton Heston & Jane Wyman.

She could be a bit playful with the truth, taking credit for designs she had not created: Audrey Hepburn's little black dress in Sabrina & the Newman/Redford wardrobe for The Sting, for which she won an Oscar. Always discreet about the size & shape of the stars' bodies, she knew about all the skeletons in their closets, but she was never one to gossip.

Head knew about the intimate secrets of Mae West's vast bosom, Gloria Swanson's wide waist & tiny feet (size 2 1/2), & swan necked Audrey Hepburn's broad shoulders. She often boasted that she was a magician: “I accentuated the positive & camouflaged the rest".

Head would make the stars, with all their flaws, look a million dollars, & she influenced the way millions of women dressed too, as a designer for Vogue patterns at a time when home dressmaking was all the rage, although Head could not sew herself.

Her costume designs for films went global. The sarong she fashioned for Dorothy Lamour in the 1936 film The Jungle Princess, Head had her stitched into it, made the actress a star & was copied by every swimwear manufacturer in the US. It is still copied today.

For Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun (1951), Head accentuated the teenage star's bosom & tiny waist with a strapless, bouffant-skirted white ballgown, scattered with violets. It became the prom dress for American teenagers when it was copied by all the leading department stores. According to Head, Taylor had the most beautiful shoulders in Hollywood, so she created dresses for her to show them off.

Bette Davis: "Edith Head’s life was all about glamour, 60 years of it, in the most glamorous place in the world- Hollywood," Head designed the brown silk, sable trimmed cocktail dress Davis wore as Margo Channing in All About Eve, warning everyone as she swept down the staircase for the big party scene to fasten their seat belts because it was going to be a bumpy night. Davis tried on the finished gown the bodice & neckline were way too big. Head was horrified, but Davis pulled it off her shoulders & shook one shoulder sexily: “Doesn't it look better like this anyway?" Head won one of her 8 Oscars for that film. Davis later bought the dress for herself, because she loved it so much. Head: "There were 8 important men in my life, & they were all named Oscar."

Head was working as a language teacher at the Hollywood School for Girls in 1932 when she bluffed her way into Paramount's wardrobe department. She already had a B.A. from Berkeley & a master's from Stanford, but then went to study art at the Otis Art Institute & the Chouinard School. She was hired by the studio as a sketch artist, although the fashion drawings.

By 1938, she was head designer, working on every prestigious production the studio made, and left only in 1967, when she joined up with Universal. Head spent the remainder of her career here, thanks to her friendship with Alfred Hitchcock, including Tippi Hendren's smart green suit made of textured tweed that would snag easily during an avian attack.

Head's career was not without controversy. After winning her Oscar for The Sting, she was sued by the illustrator who really designed Redford & Newman's clothes. The truth about her design of Audrey Hepburn's little black dress emerged only after her death, when the Paris couturier Hubert de Givenchy quietly admitted that he'd come up with the frock that was copied everywhere & worn by a generation of women; Head had designed all the other costumes in the film.

Head also adored Grace Kelly & was upset when the actress slighted her by not inviting her to design the wedding dress when she got married to Prince Rainier of Monaco. She did create Princess Grace's grey going-away suit, though.

Head: "I regret never having dressed Marilyn Monroe, never designing uniforms for the Chicago Cubs, & being alone. It is much easier being remembered than trying to remember." It was an open secret in Hollywood that Edith Head was a lesbian.

In the Pixar film- The Incredibles, the personality & mannerisms of the film's fictional superhero costume designer- Edna Mode’s sense of style, round glasses, & assertive no-nonsense character are very are a direct homage to Head's legendary accomplishments & personality.

I am so in Junior High School, & I, of course, think it was fun to write the word- HEAD 24 times.

 

From Edith Head's HOW TO DRESS FOR SUCCESS:

 

How to attreact & keep a man:

1. Decide want kind of man you want.

2. Find out what kind of girls he likes.

3. Know what kind of fashions pleases him.

4. Don’t masquerade in clothes you hate just to attract a man. Be sure you are really, deep down inside, this kind of girl. If not, find another man!

5. Learn all you can about him: his hobbies, his interests, his likes, his dislikes.

6. Be interested in his interests.

7. Choose your wardrobe to please him & suit his way of life.

8. After you get him, stay the way you were & don’t relax into a post-marriage slump of careless marriage.

9. Look reasonably enticing in the morning & better at nightFrom her book- Dress for Success, Edith Head’s Success Formula For Dressing To Get A Man & Keep Him:

Born On This Day- October 28th... Francis Bacon

"I would like my pictures to look as if a human being had passed between them, like a snail, leaving a trail of the human presence." Francis Bacon

Thinking about him this morning, trying to wrap my head around doing this post, I had remembered that The Husband was not a fan of his paintings. I texted him to receive a quote as a jumping off spot for the post: “Francis Bacon… what are your thoughts?” The vegetarian Husband’s text in return: “I haven’t had Bacon in decades.”  Me either.

Francis Bacon: "We are potential carcasses. If I go into a butcher's shop I always think it's surprising that I wasn't there instead of the animal." To Bacon, the world was a slaughterhouse on the verge of annihilation at any moment.

Bacon was an enigma. He was fiercely atheistic, believing life was delusive & meaningless. Yet he stated: "You can be optimistic & totally without hope." Bacon was acerbic & boorish but gentle & generous to friends & relatives. A gay man into S&M. but right-wing politically.

Bacon possessed a despairing & sarcastic sense of humor, with a disdain for convention. He once booed a member of the British royal family who had decided to sing before a crowd at an event. Publicly dissing Princess Margaret may have seemed cruel & shocking, but it also demonstrated his honesty & sense of criticism. When a member of the royal family asked him what he did for a living, Bacon stated: "I'm an old queen.”

Bacon's honesty & enigmatic personality is on display in his paintings. He is considered by many art historians & critics to be the greatest post-WW2 painter. He has inspired awe with his paintings of twisted body parts & distorted animalistic human faces, intensely concerned with the torn & lonely human condition.

Bacon's paintings portray profound aloneness, pain & inner turmoil. He saw violence, hatred & human degradation as essential elements of life.

Bacon expected his paintings to assault the viewer's nervous system. Bacon: "I wish to unlock the valves of feeling & therefore return the onlooker to life more violently." Toward the end of his life, he was delighted to hear that a woman viewing one of his paintings in Paris had closed her eyes & crossed herself.

Bacon's art was profoundly impacted by his homosexuality. At some point in his adolescence, Bacon had sexual encounters with the Irish grooms at his family home, possibly the same grooms who carried out horse whippings ordered by his father. The hurt & humiliation of the whippings, combined with the sexual attraction for the grooms are revealed in some of the violent sexual imagery in his paintings. Bacon felt that the expressions of human sexuality were limitless: Bacon: "You need never have any other subject, really, it's a very haunting subject."

Bacon was banished from the family home when he turned 16. Having surmised that cleverness & chance were his driving forces, Bacon went to London to see what waited for him. He took a series of odd jobs & entered the gay underworld where earned extra money being picked up by wealthy gay men.

 In London Bacon would read Nietzsche, & tossed off what ever was left of any religious belief & came to the conclusion that life was futile unless he could somehow do something extraordinary with it.

After some time, his father made an attempt to straighten him out, entrusting him to the care of a family relative traveling to Berlin. Things did not go the way his father planned. Bacon & the relative became lovers.

In Berlin, Bacon immersed himself in the decadent & disturbing world of gay cabarets, transvestite clubs & sex parties that offered a menu any experiences he could desire. As a pretty young man, he had no trouble getting picked up & making money.

In Berlin, Bacon also discovered the functional art of the Bauhaus movement which influenced the design of the furniture he began to build a few years later.

Bacon escaped the gay circles in Paris when he turned 17 years old. In Paris he attended exhibitions of the work of Picasso, his first big influence. Other influences at this time included artists Soutine, de Chirico, Arp, & Dali, the art magazine Cahiers d'Art, & Luis Buñuel's film Un Chien Andalou. Bacon was also influenced by the exhibit- Documents which contained photographs of a screaming mouth & pictures of bloodied animal carcasses & Positioning in Radiography, a reference book which had photographs showing the position of the body for X-rays to be taken & the X-rays themselves.

4 years later, unable to make a living in Paris, Bacon returned to London, with him images of violence, carcasses & screams that would impact his art for the rest of his life. In London, he took up with Roy de Maistre, a father figure & lover. De Maistre had wealth, which enabled Bacon to spend time designing & manufacturing furniture. De Maistre was also a painter, & the couple held a joint art exhibit in their garage.

 Bacon met the inspiration for some of his greatest paintings when a young man burgled his home in 1963. Bacon’s relationship with George Dyer was stormy, sad & shocking. They were a couple for 8 years. 2 days before the opening of the Francis Bacon Retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1971, Dyer was found dead from a drink & drugs overdose in the bathroom of a hotel in Paris. Bacon painted portraits of Dyer obsessively, both during his life & after Dyer’s death.

George Dyer on film & in paint

 In 1974, Bacon met John Edwards, not the douchy politician from North Carolina, but a young man from the East End, with whom Bacon formed his most enduring friendship. While on vacation in Madrid in 1992, Bacon was admitted to a private clinic. His chronic asthma, which had plagued him all his life, had developed into a respiratory disease& he could not talk or breathe very well. He died of cardiac arrest in April 1992. He bequeathed his entire estate, valued at £11 million, to John Edwards, not adultery prone senator who thought he might be president, the British one. Edwards donated the contents of Francis Bacon's chaotic studio to the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. Bacon's studio was carefully reconstructed in the gallery.

I am not huge fan of Bacon’s work. I can barely bring my self to study his paintings, I find it too difficult to spend a lot of time with, but I understand the skill & the talent. I believe that his paintings represent places that I can skirt around & not linger.

If you want to know more watch openly gay Derek Jacobi as Bacon & my ocassional lover Daniel Craig as George Dyer in the film Love Is the Devil (1998).

Edwards with Bacon

Self Portrait

Ellona Santiago of InTENsity shines on 'X Factor'

InTENsity, one of the finalists of USA's "The X Factor," has a Filipina member named Ellona Santiago.

Ellona Santiago's profile picture on Twitter

During the group's performance on the first live episode of the show, Ellona, 14, was specially mentioned by the judges for her impressive singing.

"You in the red jacket have got an amazing voice," judge Simon Cowell said.

After all the Group Category contestants performed, it was revealed that InTENsity, who did a cover of Kenny Loggins' "Footlose," will be advancing to the next round of the competition together with 11 other acts.

Check out InTENsity's "Footlose" performance below:

InTENsity performing "Footlose" by Kenny Loggins

Manny Pacquiao is Men's Health Magazine's November 2011 coverguy

Boxing champ and Sarangani Representative Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao is delivering a knockout punch on the cover of the November 2011 issue of Men's Health Magazine Philippines. Check out Ninong Pacman's cover below:

Manny Pacquiao's Men Health Magazine Cover

 Manny Pacquiao is currently in his final three weeks of intense training for his fight next month, his defense of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title against three-division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez. The highly anticipated boxing duel will be held on November 12, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

$1 million coin: World's largest, most valuable gold bullion minted (Video)

$1 million coin minted in Australia.

A $1 million coin, which is the world's largest gold bullion coin, has been minted by The Perth Mint, Australia's historic precious metals Mint.

Inspired by the popular Australian kangaroo gold coin series, the $1 million coin is made from 99.99% pure gold. With a massive weight of 1,000kg, the magnificent giant coin symbolizes one of the Mint's most extraordinary accomplishments in its 112 year history.

Australia's $1 million coin measures nearly 80cms wide and more than 12cms deep, making it the new biggest gold coin in the planet. The previous record holder was the 1 million dollar gold maple leaf coin released by the Royal Canadian Mint in May 2007 - the coin weighs 100kg and measures 50cms in diameter and 3cms in thickness.

Perth's $1 million coin is also the world's most valuable gold bullion coin. It reportedly has a USD55 million price tag on it.

Watch the world's largest and most valuable coin being made through the Youtube video below:

$1 million coin being made in Australia | Video courtesy The Perth Mint

Born On This Day- October 27th... NYC Wit Fran Lebowitz

She is one of my idols. If you don't know her. you really should & you can start with the documentry- Public Speaking directed by Martin Scosese. Fran Lobowitz turns 61 years old today. Martin Scorsese’s 90-minute talkfest in which essayist & humorist Fran Lebowitz explains almost everything 2010 was quite the year for documentries about funny women, along with Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work. 

The Scorsese flick is a sophisticated affair in which a series of interviews with Lebowitz at the Waverly Inn are seamlessly intercut. The film is the world view of a very witty & very cynical New Yorker who likes few of the changes she’s seen in her adopted home since she arrived 40 years ago.

The writer Lebowitz became famously paralyzed, she calls it “writer’s blockade” but she has few peers as a public pontificater. This gift has allowed the writer to be able to afford to stay in NYC & to hang out with famous friends.

I am mad jealous of the idea of having a Manhattan career out of a pair slim volumes of essays & then chatting away for the next 4 decades.

But conversation at Lebowitz’s level was once a much respected occupation, as Scorsese reminds us in brief clips that show us folks like James Baldwin, Gore Vidal, & William F. Buckley on talk shows back in the 1960s.

Lebowitz mentions at one point that she was thrilled & inspired as a young person by one of Baldwin’s many appearances on the David Susskind talk show, pointing up how today’s talk show in comparison,with guests that are pre-interviewed & plug thier product for 5 minutes.

“Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass”

I always loved & looked forward to Fran Lebowitz's pieces in Interview Magazine, hired by Andy Warhol himself. I will still re-read her books- Social Studies & Metropolitan Life, both published more than 30 years ago. Cranky, sardonic, witty, & dry; her essays make me think & make me laugh. She was named one most stylish women in Vanity Fair's International Best-Dressed List, & is known to sport tailored suits by the Savile Row tailor Anderson & Sheppard. Lebowitz has a reoccuring role on Law & Order as a judge. She had the best Proust Questionaire, on the back page of Vanity Fair, ever. I think her quips are on a par with Dorothy Parker:


"All God's children are not beautiful. Most of God's children are, in fact, barely presentable."

"Andy Warhol made fame more famous."

"As a teenager you are at the last stage in your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you."

"Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying."

"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater suggest that he wear a tail."

"If you are of the opinion that the contemplation of suicide is sufficient evidence of a poetic nature, do not forget that actions speak louder than words."

"In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra."

"Polite conversation is rarely either."

"Romantic love is mental illness. But it's a pleasurable one. It's a drug. It distorts reality, and that's the point of it. It would be impossible to fall in love with someone that you really saw."

"The opposite of talking isn't listening. The opposite of talking is waiting."

Mario Maurer and Erich Gonzales' movie 'Suddenly It's Magic' to push through

Mario Maurer and Erich Gonzales will be pairing up for a movie under Star Cinema soon!

Mario Maurer and Erich Gonzales movie "Suddenly It's Magic" in the works! | Photo courtesy of "Solid Erichong"

A few months ago, it was reported that Thai heartthrob Mario Maurer who inked an edorsement deal with Filipino clothing line Penshoppe will also be doing a movie in the country. During that time, however, it was not yet clear who will be his Filipina leading lady in the upcoming movie. Kim Chiu's name came out but according to reports, it was Erich Gonzales who was recommended by Star Cinema because of her "acting skills" and "Filipina looks" which made her a "perfect fit for the role."

Mario Maurer has arrived in Manila on Wednesday and on the same day he signed a one-movie contract with Star Cinema. It was revealed that day that it is indeed Erich Gonzales who will topbill the movie with Mario Maurer.

The said Mario Maurer-Erich Gonzales movie has been given the title “Suddenly It’s Magic” and will be released in 2012.

According to Joyce Ramirez of PR Asia Worldwide, "Suddenly It's Magic" will be about "a Thai celebrity who was betrayed by the one he loves so he escapes his country and visits Manila where the story begins."

Erich Gonzales, Shamcey Supsup and Nora Aunor | November 2011 Magazine Covers Roundup

Young Kapamilya actress Erich Gonzales, beauty queen Shamcey Supsup, and Superstar Nora Aunor are among the female celebrities who are gracing on the cover of the November 2011 issues of popular magazine publications in the country. Check out the said covers below:

"Maria la del Barrio" star Erich Gonzales is Women's Health Magazine 2011 covergirl.

Miss Universe 2011 Third Runner-up Shamcey Supsup covers Metro Magazine's November 2011 issue

Superstar Nora Aunor graces on the cover of the November 2011 issue of Preview Magazine

Which magazine cover do you like best? Feel free to comment below.

The Brewer Boys' 'Faith' not enough to send them to 'X Factor' Finals

The Fil-Am singing duo of "The X Factor," The Brewer Boys, did a good job in their rendition of George Michael's "Faith." Judge Simon Cowell noted that they "progressed."

However, comparatively, the Brewer Boys’ performance could not stand up to the competition for judge Paula Abdul, who cut the boys from her category.

The Brewers Boys were among the 5 semifinalists who were sent home during last night's live episode of USA's "The X Factor." The boys shared the same faith with Tiah Tolliver, Simone Battle, Phillip Lomax and Dexter Haygood.

“We feel good. We just want to thank the judges. Thank you so much, Miss Paula, for everything. We've learned a lot,” Justin Brewer said on last night's show.

Check out below The Brewer Boys' "Faith" performance:


Read more about The Brewer Boys here: http://noypistuff.blogspot.com/2011/10/filipino-american-brothers-justin-and.html

Nicholas Sparks arrives in Manila

Internationally-bestselling author and screenwriter Nicholas Sparks is now in Manila, Philippines. He arrived Wednesday night and is in the country for a couple of book-signing events.

Nicholas Sparks will be at The Podium at 5 p.m. tomorrow, October 28, 2011, and at Powerbooks Greenbelt 4 on October 29 at 11 a.m. He will be signing copies of his latest top-selling novel "The Best of Me."

Via his official Twitter account, the 45-year-old writer said he is enjoying his time in Manila.

"Having a fantastic time in Manila! What a wonderful place! And the people are great!," he said.

Sparks had also shared learning Tagalog from his aunt who is from Manila.

"Aking tiyahin ay mula sa Maynila. Siya itinuro sa akin (sic)," he tweeted "I tried to say that my aunt is from Manila. She used to talk to me and taught me to say some stuff."

One of the best selling novelists in the world, Nicholas Sparks has written some of our most beloved bestsellers such as "The Notebook," "A Walk to Remember" and "The Last Song." The three books had been turned into movies.

Born On This Day- October 26th... Anthony Rapp

Blond, wiry, intense, likable Anthony Rapp has worked in several genres as a child, teen & adult. Rapp has also established a steady career as a character actor in films. I know him from his role as Mark Cohen, the uptight aspiring filmmaker in the film version of Rent, having missed it on stage. Her created the role & played in Rent Off-Broadway & on Broadway. Rent is the late Jonathan Larson's musical phenomenon that ran for years without my ever catching a production.

In films, the young actor made his debut as a lad with a crush on an older woman in Adventures in Babysitting, as an obnoxious, bespectacled anti-Semite in the 1950s-set  drama School Ties & as a high school outsider who gets lucky in Dazed & Confused .

Born in Chicago, Rapp began appearing in musicals at 6 years old & made his professional debut at 9 in a road tour production of Evita. As a child he toured in The King & I with Yul Brynner & at age 10 was on Broadway The Little Prince & the Aviator. Rapp originated the role of Ben, the son of affluent, gullible parents in the Broadway production of John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation & in the film version.

Rapp has been openly & vocally gay, he prefers the term "queer" since 1992, proclaiming that the revelation has not hurt his career in the least. Back on stage, he was Charlie Brown in the 1999 revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, & he played the title role in The Commonwealth Shakespeare's production of Henry V in Boston in the summer of 2002.

He is a totally talented cutie. I think it is swell that he sang REM's Losing My Religion for his audition for the original production of Rent. I was pleasantly surprised with the film version of Rent, & his work was the highlight. Rapp has a memoir about his days in Rent, as well as his mother's struggle with cancer, & his experiences growing up, entitled Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, & the Musical Rent. He lives in NYC with his partner- actor Rodney To. He turns a very boyish 40 years old today.

Have any readers seen him live?

'Ang Elevator ng Lagim:' Interactive Youtube video from TV5

TV5 has a very cool way of promoting its new horror program titled "Regal Shocker."

A screengrab of "Ang Elevator ng Lagim"

The network has come up with an interactive Youtube video called "Ang Elevator ng Lagim" which looks spooky and for sure will get many people interested. Check out the video below which will link you to a few more. Its setting is inside an elevator and it will ask you to select which floor will you choose to go to escape death. Be careful in choosing - a wrong move will cost your life!

"Ang Elevator ng Lagim" Interactive Youtube Video courtesy of TV5

Hint: Think "Date"

"Regal Shocker" will premiere on TV5 at 8:30p.m. on November 5, 2011 (Saturday).

Great job, Kapatid!

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Born On This Day- October 26th... Julian Keith Strickland

Keith Strickland: "I don’t know. I toyed with the notion of doing other stuff with other musicians. But I had a moment of clarity: Why not just do this for the B-52’s? Then I kept thinking I had to write in a particular mindset for the B-52’s, which was a mistake. Once I got around that, Funplex flowed more freely. But I still just kept missing deadline after deadline. I guess I’m just not that ambitious."

Keith Strickland is "the cute one" with that "tacky little party band from Athens Georgia"

Originally, Strickland was the band's drummer, but following the 1985 death of Ricky Wilson, the band's guitarist and another founding member, he moved from the drums to guitar. Strickland has also played keyboards on many of the quirky, cutting, dance-a-riffic B-52's recordings, & has sung backup vocals on a handful of songs. Like both other male members of the B-52's - lead singer Fred Schneider & the late Ricky Wilson, Strickland is openly gay. Keith lives with his partner in Woodstock NY, Athens GA, & Key West.

Domani Dave, if you happen upon Mr. Strickland today, give him a big birthday kiss from me.

Top-Earning Dead Celebrities 2011 named by Forbes

They may be dead but they are earning way more than many living people. Here's this year's list of "Top-Earning Dead Celebrities" compiled by financial website Forbes.com.

1. Michael Jackson (d. 2009) – $170 million
2. Elvis Presley (d. 1977) – $55 million
3. Marilyn Monroe (d. 1962) – $27 million
4. Charles Schulz (“Peanuts” cartoonist, d. 2000) – $25 million
5. Elizabeth Taylor (d. 2011) – $12 million
6. John Lennon (d. 1980) – $12 million
7. Albert Einstein (d. 1955) – $10 million
8. Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss, d. 1991) – $9 million
9. Jimi Hendrix (d. 1970) – $7 million
10. Stieg Larsson (author, d. 2004) – $7 million
11. Steve McQueen (actor, d. 1980) – $7 million
12. Richard Rodgers (songwriter, d. 1979) – $7 million
13. George Harrison (d. 2011) – $6 million
14. Bettie Page (actress, d. 2008) – $6 million
15. Andy Warhol (d. 1987) – $6 million

The Forbes' "Top-Earning Dead Celebrities" list takes into account any deceased famous personality who has earned at least $6 million between October 2010 and October 2011.

"For the most part, earnings come from things like music royalties (John Lennon), book sales (Dr. Seuss) or the licensing of one’s image and likeness (McQueen)," Forbes wrote.

'Praybeyt Benjamin,' 'Puss in Boots,' 'In Time' etc. open in cinemas this week

Here are the movies opening in local cinemas this week.


"Praybeyt Benjamin" - When a civil war in the Philippines breaks out, a gay man born into a military family is forced to enlist in place of his ailing father."
Cast - Vice Ganda, Andrew Wolff, Derek Ramsay, Jimmy Santos, John Lapus, Paolo Hubalde, etc.
Director - Wenn V. Deramas


"Ang Sayaw Ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa" - A college stude30 Minutes or Lessnt pursues an attraction to his literature professor by enrolling in her dance class. He enlists the help of her assistant to help him learn the dances, and their closeness reveals something more.
Cast - Jean Garcia, Paulo Avelino, Rocco Nacino, etc.
Diretor - Alvin Yapan


"30 Minutes or Less" - Two would-be criminals kidnap a pizza delivery boy, strap a bomb on his chest, and instruct him to rob a bank for them. The pizza delivery boy now has just a few hours to complete this task, or else the bomb will detonate.
Cast - Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Jesse Eisenberg, Nick Swardson, etc.
Director - Ruben Fleischer


"I Don't Know How She Does It"- A working mom tries to balance her responsibilities at work with her duties as a parent. She seems to be pulling it off, but when a large project comes her way, she's pushed to the limits of her abilities.
Cast - Sarah Jessica Parker, Busy Phillips, Christina Hendricks, Greg Kinnear, Olivia Munn, Pierce Brosnan, etc.
Director - Douglas McGrath


"Puss In Boots" (Opens on Friday) - Before the hero Puss in Boots met the Shrek the Ogre, he set out on a quest to save the world from a couple of outlaws bearing an ancient, destructive power.
Cast - Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, etc.
Director - Chris Miller


"In Time" (Opens on Friday) - When Will Salas is falsely accused of murder, he must figure out a way, with the help of a beautiful hostage, to bring down a system where time is money -- literally -- enabling the wealthy to live forever while the poor, like Will, have to beg, borrow, and steal enough minutes to make it through another day.
Cast - Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, etc.
Director - Andrew Niccol