1/28/12

COLETTE



COLETTE was the surname of the French novelist and performer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
 (28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954)




It's the birthday of novelist Colette, born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette in a village in France (1873). 
She's the author of more than 50 novels, including Gigi (1944), which was made into a movie. 
She died in 1954 at 81 years old, the first woman in the history of France to be given a state funeral —
 6,000 people filed by her casket and covered it in flowers. She said, "Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. 
But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it."


reposting courtesy~ fayette hauser

1/25/12

KLAUS NOMI TEA PARTY


my doll of friend- AMY BASTIDA & I celebrated KLAUS NOMI'S 35TH BIRTHDAY with our annual tea party. this year we didn't get a chance to do up a grand event so it was just her & i.
we had our klaus nomi tea salon @ antebellum's tea garden. the weather was spectacular.
we chatted about all things klaus and promise to have a full event next year.

the tea menu~

junchiyabari j4~ himalayan orange tea from le palais des thes~ (courtesy michele lamy)

served with

lahmajoon's- Armenian meat pies, chicken & potato
klaus nomi tuxedo chocolate dipped strawberries
cream filled canopies
fruit tartlets
cream puffs

here are some images~




amy loves to dress her son up as klaus nomi. 
she does a great job!
klaus nomi

max bastida as klaus nomi

PORTFOLIO

all photos courtesy~ darren ankenbauer~ san francisco/antebellum correspondent

THE FAIROAKS PROJECT

soon to be a book. 
The Fairoaks Project almost wasn’t.  Frank Melleno’s collection of photographs documenting life at San Francisco’s short-lived Fairoaks Hotel was consigned to a shoe box for almost three decades and would have remained there to this day had Melleno not shown them to his friend Gary Freeman. Freeman, a photo restorer and gallery owner, was immediately struck by their beauty and historical significance. Out of that meeting in 2007 grew the Fairoaks Project, the aim of which was the restoration, digitization, production and exhibition of Melleno’s work.  The Fairoaks Project includes the selection of fifty-one restored images that were exhibited under the same name in June of 2010 at the drkrm/gallery in downtown Los Angeles.  To a casual viewer, this slim volume of candid, provocative, often sexually explicit images might come across as some sort of soft core fluff. It is not. To crack the spine, leaf through its pages, and examine its images is to open a portal onto a secret place lost long ago.

photo courtesy~ frank melleno

1/24/12

TODAY IS KLAUS NOMI'S BIRTHDAY!


KLAUS NOMI  (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona.
today is his birthday.. he would be 68 years old.
Nomi was known for his bizarrely visionary 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 like Chubby Checker's "The Twist" and Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes".
 He is remembered in the US as one of David Bowie's backup singers for a 1979 performance on Saturday Night Live.
David Bowie & Klaus Nomi - The Man Who Sold The World from André Goldvasser on Vimeo.

Nomi died in 1983 at the age of 39 as a result of complications from AIDS.
ANTEBELLUM GALLERY and AMY BASTIDA are obsessed with klaus nomi and host a tea party annually in rememberance of klaus.
(i will post pics soon) here is amy's masterpiece, her son max dressed as klaus nomi!

photo courtesy- amy bastida- tjunga/antebellum correspondent

HEADLESS IN HOLLYWOOD



NOW INTO DAY 7 OF THE SEVERED HEAD CASE OF HOLLYWOOD,

 let's look @ the facts that mainstream media is not fully reporting or not reporting at all.....


According to friends and family, Hervey Medellin’s boyfriend told them Medellin left their third-floor apartment on DeLongpre Avenue Dec. 26 but that he continued to hear from him until Jan. 4th.
 The boyfriend told family friends that when Medellin did not return he became concerned and reported him missing Jan. 9th.
Los Angeles police and coroner’s officials identified the remains Friday as those of Medellin, a retired Mexicana Airlines employee known for his love of art and hiking and who sometimes walked his dog in the hills.
where is the dog??
hervey was said to be an avid art collector. what kind of art did he collect and who owns the art now??
The sources stressed that detectives were not fully clear on the motive in the killing of Medellin. 
But investigators are looking into whether he was killed by someone he knew.
Detectives have not made any arrests, so far.
Friends have said Medellin hiked in Griffith Park, near the area where his body parts were found last week.
Medellin also once owned a Los Feliz condominium with another person, according to a resident who now owns the property.
Andrew Hill, who lives on the second floor of the DeLongpre building where Medellin lived,
said he heard a lot of commotion on the floor above him at about 3 a.m. three weeks ago. 
He said he heard furniture being moved as well as screaming and yelling. 
He said he spoke to detectives Thursday and they asked him when the garbage was taken out.
On Thursday evening, police served a search warrant in the complex on de longpre ave. They towed a silver Honda from the building about 7 p.m.
Police have noted that Medellin was childless and lived with a roommate, but newer reports have found that his roommate was in fact his boyfriend. Christina Serenyo, Medellin's niece, told KTLA that the family didn't know that he was in a gay relationship until the investigation into his murder.
She says that relatives are "grief-stricken," but that they haven't been able to connect emotionally to Medellin's boyfriend.
"He was just very short, that's all I could say," she said of a phone call with Medellin's boyfriend. "I don't know if he was agitated... I can't even guess. I don't know what happened."
 The boyfriend is speaking out, saying he's afraid for his life.

Through his screen door, the boyfriend of the victim, 66-year-old Hervey Medellin, expressed his fear to KTLA.

"I'm afraid for my life," said the boyfriend, who identified himself only as 'Gabriel.'

"You know this area -- I'm afraid they'll come back and do something to me."

Gabriel wouldn't elaborate and wouldn't allow a KTLA camera into his apartment, which he had shared with Medellin for the past year.

Police have questioned the boyfriend several times, but he is reportedly not a suspect, or even a person of interest in the homicide.
The coroner's office said the body parts belonged to 66-year-old Hervey Coronado Medellin.
The ID came as police revealed they had interviewed the bodyguard for actor Brad Pitt
 as part of the investigation.
Commander Andrew Smith said the man was not considered a suspect. It is understood that he was interviewed because he lives nearby.
why did they interview brad pitt's bodyguard??
it turns out that at one time brad pitt wanted to purchase THE SPOTLIGHT bar on
 cahuenga ave.
the victim was a regular @ the spotlight and various former patrons of the spotlight have been questioned. the spotlight once the oldest gay bar in hollywood, ( since 1962) was a local watering hole for trendies, alcoholics, trannies, hustlers, street people and myself for many years. the spotlight closed it's doors for good last september 3rd.

brad pitt reportedly made aggressive offers to purchase the bar. 

i would also like my readers to take note.. 
although dramatic, true beheadings in real life are very rare- marie Antoinette,  
glenda vittimberga are exceptions.
  jayne mansfield was in fact not a true beheading since she was severed just under her nose.
another minor tidbit- filmmaker david lynch is said to be OBSESSED with this unfolding story.
photo- steve diet godde

here's a bizarre ongoing video blogger who keeps posting updates

TWO FACES OF RON ATHEY

CIRCA 1986~ 89

photos courtesy~ ron athey~ london/antebellum correspondent

1/23/12

FLAUNT- JUSTIN


HEADS UP




COPS ARE INVESTIGATING SPOTLIGHT BAR PATRONS REGARDING
 “HEAD IN A BAG” MURDER

We heard a little info about the “head in a bag” found in the Hollywood Hills. 
Since the murder victim was identified as Hervey Medellin, 66, a retired airline employee, investigators are looking for people who used to frequent the Spotlight dive bar in Hollywood, which closed last September 5th. This sleazy but popular and well-known bar was almost half a century old – Keifer Sutherland drank there and Brad Pitt tried to buy the place at one time.

 Police are following a tip that the murdered man met someone there awhile back and he may be a suspect. .

i find it interesting the brad pitt once tried to buy the place, and he was also one of the neighbors questioned about the murder!

reposting courtesy~ alex gildzen  & mamie van doren





JAMES FRANCO~ ALL ABOUT ME

wow... what nerve.. leave it to mainstream hollywood to take credit for everybody and everything.
check out this long diatribe from JAMES FRANCO talking about himself non-stop and taking all the credit for HIS new film- SAL.
based on the book by  MICHAEL GREGG MICHAUD.
not only does the star of the film- VAL LAUREN get to say nothing,  go to 5:15  when james can't even remember how to pronounce or who wrote the book!
franco's demeanor is becoming very madonna.

VARIOUS STAGES OF KINK








repost courtesy~ denny leather slave~ turin/antebellum correspondent


TEATIME ON BLACKBURN AVE

artists & collectors~  KENE J. & LOUIS J.
had me over to their estate on blackburn the other day.. what a treasure! they have an amazing personal collection of art and "objets d'art."
we then sat down for my favorite part of the day~ TEA TIME.
various pastries of prune, apricot and apple served with a fine chinese black tea.
as a kicker, kene served me a side cup of PRINCE OF WALES in a nice cock tea cup.... yum!


photos courtesy~ kene j. ~ miracle mile/antebellum correspondent

1/22/12

THE WITCHES HOUSE

the  famous witches house in beverly hills, california.
now fully renovated.


The Spadena House, also known as THE WITCHES HOUSE
is a storybook house in Beverly Hills, California. Located on the corner of Walden Drive and Carmelita, it is known for its fanciful design that intentionally cause it to look dilapidated and old, and is a landmark included on tours of the area.
The house was designed by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver, who went on to play a major role in Storybook architecture. It was originally built in 1921 to serve as the offices and dressing rooms for Irvin Willat's film studio in Culver City, and was moved to its present location in 1934. The converted private home, with its pointy, lopsided roof, tiny windows and stucco with a distressed paint job were then surrounded by an intentionally overgrown English-style garden and a moat-like pond.[
The first residents of the home, the Spadena family, lent the house their name. A second family moved in and renovated the interior in the 1960s, making some exterior alterations including a skylight visible from certain angles. The moat began leaking under the second family's ownership and they filled it with dirt, and planted a garden. By the time the house came on the market again in 1997, it had fallen into disrepair. 
Because of the value of its prime location, it was unable to immediately find a buyer uninterested in a teardown of the property. Consequently the real estate agent, who did not want to see the home torn down, purchased it and began a gradual renovation. After tall, black fencing was initially placed around the lot, the owner received hate mail from people who thought he was going to tear it down.
The home has been called a precursor to Walt Disney's concept of Imagineering, whereby stage sets become fully realized environments. And, architect Charles Willard Moore once described the building as the "quintessential Hansel and Gretel house."
The residence still appears to this day in movies, including 1995's Clueless.

BOOTED BRUTHA


BACKSTAGE


SIGN OF THE TIMES