South Pacific

I have a confession: I love the music of Rogers and Hammerstein. Walking cliche.....maybe, but I don't care! I recently bought the album of the 'South Pacific' music with none other than my Kiri Te Kanawa (who was fabulous last night, by the way), Jose Carreras and SARAH VAUGHAN! You don't know music till you hear Sarah Vaughan sing Bali Ha'i or Kiri sing....well.....anything! If only they had all gotten together to sing the music of Carousel I would be ecstatic as it's some of the most beautiful music ever written in my humble opinion! Buy your copy today on AMAZON (the used copies are very very cheap!) and you won't regret it! It's the soundtrack to my Saturday.

I got the album cover picture from amazon so the least I could do is link to their product, haha.

WORDLE

Have you wordle'd your blog ( is that a verb?). I read about WORDLE from life in a venti cup and was smitten! What a fun web application! Check out mine!

Brideshead Revisited

So are you as excited as I am that the new Brideshead Revisited opens in theaters in 2 weeks? I can't wait simply for the fabulous sets and costumes! The original series from 1981 was so great in itself that I can't imagine how they can improve on it other than shorten it to fit into one movie; but I'm going in with an open mind. Plus Emma Thompson (one of my favorite current actresses) is in it, you can't lose! To wet your appetite, I've included a few pictures from ONLINE
how great is that paisley throw?
Visit the OFFICIAL WEBSITE. If you can figure out how to navigate the complicated website, you can find intense documentation of all the sets and costumes used and a lot of information about the original book by Evelyn Waugh if you're not familiar.

Kiri Te Kanawa

In honor of going to see Kiri Te Kanawa perform this weekend, I'm posting her singing one of the most beloved opera arias of all time 'O mio babbino caro' from Puccini's Gianna Schicchi (1918). Even if you don't like opera, take a listen; it's short. The song title translated means 'my dear papa' and takes place in a comedy when the heroine tries to convince her father to let her marry her fiance after a big feud. The translation from wikipedia is

O my dear papa, He pleases me, and is handsome, handsome; I want to go to Porta Rossa to buy the ring! Yes, yes, I want to go there! And if my love were in vain,I would go to the Ponte Vecchio and throw myself in the Arno! I am aching, I am tortured! Oh God, I'd like to die! Father, have pity, have pity! Father, have pity, have pity!

She is my favorite singer for the smooth tone of her voice and the sort of distinctive 'twang' she has-so beautiful. I can't wait for the weekend!

Clever Idea

I found these images on apartment therapy a few years ago and always thought they were so clever. Everyone has had one of those rentals with a god-awful gold-colored colonial-esque chandelier in the dining room. This person's solution was to wrap the entire thing with christmas lights! Sure it's a little hokey, but what a great idea and look how fantastic the results are! If you are really smart you get a screw in plug so you can plug the lights into one of the sockets. This is the poor man's version of turning lemons into lemonade!

Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art

One of my favorite modern architects is Richard Meier. He is known for his distinctive modernist style; he is one of the 'IT' architects in museum design (forget Gehry, Meier is a master!).While in Barcelona earlier this year, I visited the Museum of contemporary Art (Richard Meier, 1995). Here his masterful use of white magnifies the play of light and shadows across the surfaces. It also allows the eye to focus in on the many different forms of the building; I especially love this play of curves vs. the linear. He uses the curves to mark different aspects of the building whether they be entrances or other special features -they occur with purpose. I love this rationality!!!

He's been around for awhile, in 1984 he was awarded the Pritzker prize (a sort of nobel peace price for architecture!). His signatures are the white metal square panels, expansive uses of glass rather than punched windows and the curves/linearity that I mentioned before. I hope you enjoy my photos!

Dovima

Dovima in 'Funny Face' (1957)

This weekend I was watching 'Funny Face' and was reminded of the model Dovima who plays a bit part as a flighty absent-minded model. She really was THE super model of the 1950s (along with Suzy Parker and Dorian Leigh) and had a few bit parts in movies. Her role in Funny Face was a bit true-to-life apparently according to blondeen:

Dovima loved comic books, a trait she shared with the character Marion she portrayed in Funny Face. There is a story concerning a location shoot she did with Avedon in Egypt. After arriving, someone asked her what she thought of Africa. To which she replied, "Africa? Who said anything about Africa? This is Egypt." When they explained that Egypt was in Africa, Dovima replied, "I should have charged double rate!" On the same shoot, she brought along a large trunk that Avedon assumed was filled with clothes. When he asked Dovima about the trunk, she told him they were her books. He felt he couldn't separate the girl from her books so they lugged them across the desert only to find out they were her comic books. 'Dovima with elephants' by Avedon in a Dior gown

She was known for her dramatic eye makeup:wearing it even while not working, even at the beach!

She really was an elegant woman and is in many of the most glamorous and well-known photographs from the time period. However her life was far from perfect. She suffered from her fame; not knowing who she was and many relationship problems. As white-haired model Carmen dell'Orefice (who is STILL modeling!!) remembers: "Sadly she could only be with men who beat her. I'd find her on my doorstep black and blue, and I'd take her in and she'd live with me."

Dovima by Avedon

Suzie Parker and Dovima

Sadly, she lost custody of her only child to her 2nd husband in a bitter divorce after 'kidnapping' her away from him. She never saw her daughter Alison again and couldn't support herself with her failed acting career in LA. She moved to Florida to live with her parents and lived there till she passed in 1990.

Read more about Dovima ONLINE or at Blondeen's DOVIMA headquarters.

fireworks

I was still sick Friday so opted to watch the fireworks from my roofdeck - luckily I have a great view of them even through all the fog we had! This is a short video clip I took of them and a few photos -
It was fantastic to watch the PBS special (from a few blocks away!) and then head up to see the fireworks a few minutes before they happened - no muss, no fuss! enjoy!