2/16/13

RICK CASTRO'S HATS FOR BETTE MIDLER


way back in the day~ (1978 thru 1982) i designed costumes & hats for BETTE MIDLER.
I  was very young, all of 20 yrs.... and very naive. at the time bette was about to go on a promotional book tour with "a view from abroad." she asked me & my partner michi to create hats for each of her city stops. the first one we created was a typewriter which i believe she wore in NYC.

 the second was this design~ an airplane circling the globe~ based on the iconic  hollywood landmark~ CROSSROADS OF THE WORLD. 
bette wore our hat at b. dalton book shop in Westwood. the reaction was enormous. she got tons of press and even said our name on the radio. 
announcer~ "bette who created your hat?"
bette~ "I LOVE RICKY"


 drawing of a design for bette's "thighs & whispers tour." it was never made.

hats design & drawings by rick castro~ circa 1980

HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE'S POSTITION ON MILLENNIUM PROJECT



 
Preservation Issue:
Hollywood Heritage's Position on the Millennium Project (Capitol Records Building) proposed for Hollywood.

Following a recent meeting, a Hollywood Heritage member contacted our office
and asked if we could clarify our position on the proposed Millennium project for the Capitol Records property.  The Board of Hollywood Heritage and its Preservation Issues Committee are continuing to meet with Millennium regarding the project.

Our only public position at this time is our response to a draft EIR which is as follows:


February 16, 2013


Srimal Hewawitharana, Environmental Specialist II
Los Angeles Department of City Planning
200 N. Spring Street, Room 750
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Ms. Hewawitharana:

Re: Millennium Hollywood Project, ENV-2011-675-EIR

The Board of Directors of Hollywood Heritage, its Preservation Issues Committee and its members, thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the Millennium Hollywood Project, and the accompanying Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR).

For three decades Hollywood Heritage has been an advocate of the preservation and protection of Hollywood's historic resources. We support the goal of preserving what is most significant in Hollywood, while encouraging responsible new and infill development. Our organization has nominated many of the current Historic Cultural Monuments, listed the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District in the National Register of Historic Places at the national level of significance, provided technical assistance to developers and owners of significant properties, and participated in public policy discussions through the formulation of the Community Redevelopment Plan of 1986 and subsequent urban design plans, specific plans and in property entitlement discussion involving historic resources. These efforts have resulted in the rehabilitation of significant landmarks and districts in Hollywood.

Our expertise in this area has led us to the conclusion that the Millennium Hollywood project has significant and adverse impacts on a number of Hollywood's historic resources.
CEQA guidelines define a project as having a significant environmental impact when the project causes a substantial adverse change in significance of a historical resource as defined in State CEQA Section 15064. The City of Los Angeles CEQA Thresholds Guide (2006, p. D.3-3) also maintains that a project would have a significant impact on historic resources if the project results in a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historic resource by construction that reduces the integrity or significance of important resources on the site or in the vicinity via alteration of the resource's immediate surroundings.

While we appreciate some of the mitigation measures designed to preserve the historic Capitol Records and Gogerty Building, we believe that the proposed project would substantively alter the context in which these buildings gained their significance by compromising the immediate surroundings. Portions of the project are grossly out of proportion with the identified resources, thereby minimizing them and irretrievably altering their setting. Additionally, while we appreciate the inclusion of open space, the current design significantly changes the pedestrian environment of Hollywood. Like many previous developments, it draws pedestrians away from the street and irrevocably alters the historic street wall along Vine and Argyle.

We also find the current version of the Millennium Hollywood Draft EIR to be deficient in its assessment that the project would not cause an adverse change in significance for the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment Historic District.

The heart of Hollywood is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and functions as one of the City of Los Angeles' major tourist destinations and economic engines. The Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment Historic District is a 12 block area of the commercial core. The district contains 103 of the most important buildings in Hollywood, listed at the national level of significance in the National Register of Historic Places. The development pattern of the 1920s and 1930s was characterized by the construction of buildings of generally 12 stories at major intersections, flanked by one and two-story retail structures.

The District was formally designated by the National Park Service on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior in 1985. At the time, there were over 60 contributors and approximately 40 non-contributors which all dated from the 1905-1935 period of significance. Since its listing, the District has seen significant and positive restorations, now having the largest collection of restored historic theaters in use in the nation. The District can count the beneficial reuse of the Broadway and Equitable Buildings, the Hollywood Professional Building, and the Nash Building, and many restorations, spurring the renaissance of Hollywood. But the District has suffered the loss of several contributors, and has seen the addition of overly-large developments such as Hollywood and Highland, the W Hotel and Madame Tussaud's.

The current Millennium Hollywood project fails to significantly address the negative impact created by the mass and height of the proposed development in regards to the existing structures in the vicinity. This will be the largest tower in the area. While creating opportunities to see landmarks such as the Hollywood Sign from areas within the development, the project fails to address the fact that these new view lines will alter views that have been publicly available since the inception of these landmarks.
In the "Related Projects" section of the DEIR, which compares this project with other projects nearby, unapproved, proposed developments are used alongside existing structures, allowing the square footage increase that this project suggests to be seen as more reasonable. However, the structures included on the comparative chart are all less than one-third the size of the proposed Millennium tower. The only project that is as large is the proposed redevelopment of the Paramount Studios Lot. At 1,385,700 sq. ft., the Paramount Lot is a much larger property and does not have any single building of a comparative height as proposed by Millennium.

The addition of the proposed tower will overwhelm contributing properties in the district and the proposed "separation" of new and old construction is simply not an adequate mitigation measure.
Hollywood Heritages appreciates the efforts of the project's developers and will work diligently with them to ensure the preservation and protection of all of Hollywood's historic resources.

Sincerely,
Bryan Cooper
President, Hollywood Heritage, Inc.

END OF THE WORLD


I REMEMBER JAMES STONE


this photo was taken by me~ rick castro~ the first time i met james stone. 
at the time his name was jimmy smith and he was "straight!."
 i met him thru friends ray hamby & jeff gardner. 
we were all so young.. actually i was approx. 10 years older than everyone.
as you can see the date is~ saturday~ march 14th~ 1897 @ 7:30pm... that is when i took this photo of james.. it has been in this datebook ever since and will stay there for now on.

this is an update i've received on facebook etc... 
James Stone Remembered - Memorial for James Stone to be held~
 TODAY~Saturday, Feb. 16th, 5 to 8 pm with service starting at 6pm. The Village 1125 N. McCadden Place L.A. 90038. 
Please spread the word. — with James Stone.
i am not involved with this event, in fact i cannot attend as i'm at antebellum tonight, so  i am posting for all that want to say good~bye to james. 
i am saying good bye ~here
RIP MY LONGTIME FETISH BUDDY~RIP

21ST CENTURY COUPLE

GENNIE GOOSE~ MEET GRANNY GOOSE


HAPPY HOUR @ ANTEBELLUM










PRESENTS~
OUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTION FOR 2013~
HAPPY HOUR 
@ ANTEBELLUM
EVERY SATURDAY~
6PM TILL 8PM
RED WINE
VODAK SHOTS
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GALLERY WILL BE OPEN EVERY SATURDAY~ 1PM TILL 8PM

SOLID GOLD FACIAL

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10TH ANNIVERSARY: THE DAY PEOPLE SAID NO TO WAR

Unreported: 10th Anniversary Of The Day The World Said NO To WAR...

While it did not prevent the Iraq war, the protests proved its clear illegality, demonstrated the isolation of the Bush administration policies, helped prevent war in Iran, and inspired a generation of activists. February 15 set the terms for what global mobilizations could accomplish. Eight years later some of the Cairo activists, embarrassed at the relatively small size of their protest on February 15, 2003, would go on to help lead Egypt's Arab Spring. Occupy protesters would reference February 15 and its international context. Spain indignados and others protesting austerity and inequality could see February 15 as a model of moving from national to global protest.



In New York City alone on that singular afternoon, some of the speakers had particular resonance for those shivering in the monumental crowd. Harry Belafonte, veteran of so many of the progressive struggles of the last three-quarters of a century, called out to the rising U.S. movement against war and empire, reminding us that our movement could change the world, and that the world was counting on us to do so. "The world has sat with tremendous anxiety, in great fear that we did not exist, he said. But America is a vast and diverse country, and we are part of the greater truth that makes our nation. We stand for peace, for the truth of what is at the heart of the American people. We will make a difference that is the message that we send out to the world today."

READ MORE~


repost courtesy~ lee mently~ los angeles/antebellum correspondent

WHAT IS MARLON TEIXEIRA DOING TODAY?

JUST BEING CUTE AS A BUTTON!





MOVIE SHOT OF THE DAY

Les Diaboliques~ 1955 French black-and-white  feature film 
directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Simone SignoretVéra Clouzot and 
Paul Meurisse. It is based on the novel Celle qui n'était plus
 (She Who Was No More) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac

X~RATED SEX FOR TODAY






RANDOM THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

FEB~ 16TH~ 2013~ 6:06AM