MODEL OF THE MONTH

my photos of DARE WILLIAMS from the last kinky camera club.



for more info- antebellum@earthlink.net
to see more of my photos- rickcastro.com

GOLDEN SHOWER

another reason why i love albuquerque, NM.
don the pro- piss pig... he is a regular celebrity in albq.

W HOLLYWOOD FINALLY OPENS

is hollywood, the new hollywood?


The W Hollywood Hotel finally opened this morning after a ribbon-cutting ceremony that included celebrities Jimmy Kimmel, Robin Thicke and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The hotel is part of a $600-million complex that most notably surrounds a public plaza that leads to the Hollywood and Vine Metro stop across from the landmark Pantages Theatre.


The Los Angeles Times’ architecture critic, Christopher Hawthorne, didn’t quite glow about the beauty of the hotel or the development, which includes 143 W-branded residences, 305 hotel rooms and a 375-unit apartment block called 1600 Vine. He called the complex “rather ungainly” and said it “is not what you’d call an elegant addition to the rapidly expanding Hollywood skyline.”



How much does it cost to stay at the hotel? on the Starwood website rooms start at $259 per night. Use the special rate plan “WOPEN” when booking through March 31.
READ MORE-

POLITICS NOT AS USUAL

perhaps obama has taken a hard-learned lesson with the election results in massachusetts and upped his game, because this televised Q&A with the GOP was brilliant and ground-breaking.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

it may very well be pure politics, but he held his ground- steadfast and ups the ante on political debate.

finally adults are having an adult conversation and really saying something with substance.
this seemingly little televised interaction will change the face of politics as we now know it.
2010- is the year of change.... BIG CHANGE.

YOU HAVE A VERY BIG MOON

Tonight- FRIDAY'S full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year.

It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon.

This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights. Each month brings another full moon name.
some are also calling it a "SUPER MOON."

Tonight it will be about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than lesser full Moons of the year, according to Spaceweather.com.

As a bonus, Mars will be just to the left of the moon tonight. Look for the reddish, star-like object.


Many people think full moons cause strange behavior among animals and even humans. In fact several studies over the years have tried to tie lunar phases to births, heart attacks, deaths, suicides, violence, psychiatric hospital admissions and epileptic seizures, and more.
i think it's the best time to start something new or put a new idea out there.
The moon does have some odd effects on our planet, and there are oodles of other amazing moon facts and misconceptions:

A full moon at perigee also brings higher ocean tides. This tug of the moon on Earth also creates tides in the planet's crust, not just in the oceans.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

after 97 years,(!!) the PASADENA PLAYHOUSE is closing it's doors.
besides being a cultural and architectural landmark, i have personal memories of attending performances at the playhouse throughout the years. i remember the production of~
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ERNEST with a then washed-up post-teen actor named patrick dempsey..
i also remember running into him at the local rotisserie and thinking," that guy is dreamy." this was over 10 years ago....
but i digress.

i want you readers to understand the gravity of this closure- one of LA reigning cultural centers... if the PP can shut down after 97 years... nothing is safe.



please read the full story by mike boehm of the LAtimes-

The Pasadena Playhouse will close Feb. 7 after the final performance of its current production of "Camelot," leaving its future in jeopardy as company leaders explore ways out of its financial woes, including a possible bankruptcy filing.

Stephen Eich, the executive director hired last June to run the theater, said 37 employees learned at a staff meeting Thursday that they would be out of work. The playhouse is essentially out of cash to continue running, he said, and faces more than $500,000 in immediate bills, plus more than $1.5 million owed on bank loans and other debts that have dogged the nonprofit company since the mid-1990s.

Founded in 1917, the Playhouse was designated in 1937 as the state theater of California.

Eich said that tapping into about $6 million donated for a capital campaign to refurbish the playhouse was not an option. "It just would not be any way for us to solve the problems of the place. Those monies are restricted for the building."

Instead, he said, he and longtime artistic director Sheldon Epps and the playhouse's board will try to come up with a plan to set the company on its feet, rather than try to keep it going on the hand-to-mouth basis that became impossible as a down economy took a toll on donations.

Asked the playhouse's chances of surviving a shutdown, Eich said, "There is an unequivocal desire for the playhouse to survive. It seems to me that for that to occur, our position in the community needs to be redefined as it relates to the city and the funding community. Work needs to be done."

Eich said the playhouse had pinned its hopes on finding a donor who would give $5 million to have the 684-seat main stage named in his or her honor, but that never materialized.

The Playhouse's financial problems surfaced in late September, when it closed a show a week early to save expenses -- "The Night of the Child," a drama by Charles Randolph-Wright that starred Jo-Beth Williams as a woman trying to recover from a family tragedy.

Eich said at the time that four employees had been laid off, and that the playhouse needed donations of more than $1 million by year's end to cover up to $600,000 in bills and create a cushion as it headed into the 2010 season. The playhouse also quietly scaled back its season. The playhouse made its name nationally starting in the late 1920s, when, in addition to staging plays, it was home to a university-level theater training program that also featured a branch operation in New York City. Nick Nolte, Charles Bronson, Robert Young, Raymond Burr, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and Sally Struthers were among its students or staff members

The nation's economic woes came at a time when the playhouse had been focusing some of its planning and fundraising energy on visions of bigger things. In 2007 it had announced that architect Frank Gehry was donating his services to design a new, 300- to 400-seat theater to augment the main stage, a 684-seat house in the Spanish colonial building that's a California historical landmark. Before tackling that larger project, Gehry was going to redo the existing second stage, the 86-seat Carrie Hamilton Theatre. It's named in memory of the actress daughter of playhouse board member Carol Burnett (Hamilton died of cancer in 2002), and has been home to the Furious Theatre Co., whose leader, Damaso Rodriguez, is associate artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse.
READ MORE-

mike.boehm@latimes.com

ART LOS ANGELES CONTEMPORARY AT THE PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER

opening night of ART LOS ANGELES CONTEMPORARY was interesting......
i enjoyed finally meeting matt wobensmith from GOTEBLOD and the guys from SEMIOTEXTE, but what can i say....
LA has always been known as movie capital.... if we're going to be known as an art center it's up to local artists to step it up a notch.

photos by jaime palmera


Charro Negro Galeria had a cohesive and great vibe.. other's should take note...

(a collection of plasters from- Charro Negro Galeria, Guadalajara)


(detail of the plasters)



(barbie mummified @ Otero Plassart gallery )


(me & the boys from SEMIOTEXTE)


(jaime palmera & me)


(this was an art display.. at the end of the evening it was all stepped on)

Art Los Angeles Contemporary is an international contemporary art fair held January 28-31, 2010 at the iconic Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. The fair presents 55 top international blue chip and emerging galleries from around the world, with a strong focus on Los Angeles galleries. Participants showcase some of the most dynamic recent works from their roster of represented artists, offering an informed cross section of what is happening now in contemporary art making.

In addition, the fair hosts a comprehensive programming series, including world class artist talks, panel discussions and an artist film screening series all on site at the Pacific Design Center.
FOR MORE INFO-

KERMIT GETS FISTED

kermit the frog was rushed to the hospital with complaints of severe abdominal pain.
what the x-rays discovered was something nurses and doctors hadn't seen since the free-love-hedonistic- gerbil-fetish- 1970s.

LEATHER CLOSE-UP

courtesy of my frenchie collector & antebellian~ marc donnadieu

STRONG TOILET PAPER

creative idea for toilet paper dispenser. courtesy of my frenchie collector & antebellian~ marc donnadieu

TEA TIME

tea @ antebellum is reaching a fetishized fever pitch....
all my las palmas neighbors wait each day in anticipation for 5pm- tea time.

here is a pic from my doll of a neighbor- angeline rivas, owner of cavern.

(today we had red mudan served in the antebellum teapot, accompanying by chocolate cookies and blood oranges)

THE KINKY CAMERA CLUB

(photo- nick burger, model- dare williams)

the KINKY CAMERA CLUB met once again last sunday and it was a very fun salon, if i might say so myself..

(KCC photo by new member~ jim bush)

(photo-jim bush)

our guest model was DARE WILLIAMS, a young man, sporting the mushache style of the late 1800s. he look modern and vintage at the same time. great look!


(photo- nick buger)

the idea behind the KCC was to create a camera club with the same feeling as the camera clubs from the 1950s. specifically IRVING KLAW's camera club. MR. KLAW was the fetish photographer who made BETTE PAGE famous. because america was so prudish and afraid of sex, (has anything really changed?) back in the 1950s, mr. klaw was eventually forced out of business and brought to trial.

here' some pics from KINKY CAMERA CLUBs of the past year~(photos- boots bryant)







about 2 years ago i decided to recreate mr. klaw's camera club, but with men as models! the KCC took a long time to take off, and for awhile almost ended, (like the fetish book club and the sketch salon- RIPs) but because 2010 will be a rip-roaring year, i am happy to say the KINKY CAMERA CLUB is now a success!




(photos- boots bryant)
the KCC mets once a month @ antebellum gallery. we are open to photographers of all levels, from beginners, to hobbyists to pros. to become a member please contact-
antebellum@earthlink.net

DISCO BALL BOOTS

here are the boots i will be debuting @ antebellum's valentine's day exhibit- JOHN PALATNIUS: TOMORROW'S MAN.

handcrafted by our talented artist~ RAYMOND SANDOVAL.
belts are also available for custom orders- contact- antebellum@earthlink.net

BY GEORGE

does anyone remember BY GEORGE on hollywood blvd or AH MEN on santa monica blvd? probably not.. way before your times.

here is an example of the designs they used to carry

RUPAL'S DRAG RACE

rupal's drag race 2nd season started off with a bang!.. check it out~

TEA TIME

(high tea @ chado tearoom in west hollywood)

yes it's true.... as the arbiter of fetish that i am... as anyone who knows me, knows my greatest fetish, my biggest passion is my love of.........

TEA!

i drink it all day long.. host daily tea parties with my las palmas neighbors everyday @ 5pm, (if you're lucky you may be invited)
and meet my sister once a month for tea and catch up @ a different tearoom each time. at this point we have been to hundreds of tearooms, (the drinking kind, not sexy-doodle)
now joining the bandwagon is my dear friend KATE. she is now equally obsessed with tea and we will also visit monthly tea rooms. anyone what to join us?
our first venue is CHADO TEAROOM in west hollywood. my favorite tearoom in LA and the BEST tea selection, (besides antebellum).

ROBERT & RANDY

"Randy Jones and the great artist Robert W. Richards at Birdland, NYC.
Robert Richards was the first artist to do an illustration of Randy Jones and THE VILLAGE PEOPLE way back in 1977.
ROBERT RICHARDS will have an exhibition @ antebellum later this year... perhaps RANDY JONES will perform @ the opening?!
stay tuned to antebellum.blogspot for updates.

FASHION AS FETISH

Adam Kimmel's- 2010 Casino Collection


Spongebob Squarepants and the Grinch had a love child, or several in Adam Kimmels new Fall collection.

For Fall/Winter 2010 Adam Kimmel continued to find inspiration in American hero’s. In the past we’ve seen Gerard Malanga, (from andy warhol & the velvet underground) and Krantz work alongside the NY based designer, this season see’s George Condo collaborate with Kimmel.

Kimmel’s clothing is American in every way, inspired by American culture and taking direct influence from the lifestyles of its innovators. The collection entitled ‘Casino’ takes inspiration not from Condo’s iconic paintings as much as from the characters and their suggested lifestyles, to bring it back to the artist, Condo’s characters are used as templates for the models head masks, which were masterly crafted by Gabe Bartalos, a Hollywood prosthetic artist best known for his work with Matthew Barney.

and check out kimmel's fashion show presented as a vegas casino....
fashion is once again merging with art and becoming interesting ... finally!- welcome- 2010!!

GRAFFITI ORGY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY~KLAUS NOMI

my dear friend and living doll, AMY BASTIDA dressed her son MAX as KLAUS NOMI in honor of his birthday- today- janruary 24-
Happy Birthday, KLAUS NOMI...We miss you.


Klaus Nomi (January 24, 1944 - August 6, 1983), was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona.
Nomi was known for his bizarrely theatrical live performances, heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and a highly stylized signature hairdo which flaunted a receding hairline. His songs were equally unusual, ranging from synthesizer-laden interpretations of classical music opera to covers of 1960s pop standards. He is perhaps best remembered by the general public as being one of David Bowie's backing singers during a 1979 performance on Saturday Night Live.

Nomi was one of the first celebrities to contract AIDS. He died in 1983 at the age of 39 as a result of complications from the disease.

Klaus Nomi - The Cold Song (Live)
Uploaded by Yoda63. - See the latest featured music videos.

PIN-UP

sean parker~ what a beauty.. those lips!

ohmygod.....obsession!~ i am fuckn obsessing on sean.. that makes for a good model.