ANTEBELLUM BLOG

6/7/11

PIN UP- WOW!

PIN UP WITH A CAPITAL P!
model & photo courtesy- Aymeric DeVille

PIN UP- WOW!

PIN UP WITH A CAPITAL P!
model & photo courtesy- Aymeric DeVille

‎2400 Laurel Canyon Boulevard.... on several occasions, it is said that at almost the exact stroke of midnight, people have witnessed an old carriage pulled by white horses dart out onto the canyon road from Lookout Mountain as though at full gallop.
reposting by christopher lissner/los angeles/antebellum corespondent

At some point in his career, the great HARRY HOUDINI, escape artist extraordinaire, entered into the motion picture business, relocated to Hollywood, purchased a lavish estate on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, and spent much of his time there. The house had parapets, towers, an indoor theatrical stage, underground tunnels, secret passageways, basement pools and a secret deep dark cavern where Houdini kept a locked chest with all his greatest secrets. To this day no one’s ever found it! The estate was destroyed in a massive fire in 1959, but Harry Houdini still haunts the site, roaming through what’s left, cobblestones, and decrepit marble staircases that survived the fire. Occasionally one can see his ghost standing alone on a staircase, still haunting the ruins of his old estate. His form can also be seen wandering the garden grotto.

A good story, but IT'S NOT TRUE.

Shortly after the fire in 1959 everyone started assuming that the house that was burnt to the ground was Houdini’s house. And although, it was magnificent, and creepy, and weird, everything Houdini’s house should be, it wasn’t his house. It’s all rumor. A rumor that seems to have sprung up in the 1960s, especially after the house stayed vacant after the fire ripped through the area.

Where did the rumor come from?
Well no one really knows, but there are two likely sources. The first is that the house did at one time belong to R.J. Walker. Again according to conjecture and rumor, Walker was apparently a good friend of Houdini’s and the rumor states that before his death, Walker bequeathed the house to Houdini. However, Houdini’s name fails to appear on any of the property deeds, invoices, transfers of title, etc for the estate. Course, this rumor keeps alive with people claiming, that Houdini lived and stayed at the guesthouse across the street, which was connected by an underground passageway. And others claim that he visited once in a while when he was working on some movies in the area. In reality, Houdini would stay at the ALEXANDRIA HOTEL, (downtown LA) when he was in town to perform his act. When he was in town to work on his movies, the movie studios often put him up as close to where they were shooting as possible. Even more, there has been no credible link established between R.J. Walker and Harry Houdini. And second reason for the rumor, Houdini’s wife, Beatrice, moved into the Laurel Canyon area after Harry’s death, ironically around the corner from the Walker Estate.

Other aspects of the story state that the previous owner, the wealthy owner of several furniture stores (this makes some sense as supposedly R.J. Walker may have been a wealthy department store magnate) had a homosexual son who got into an argument with his lover, and through him off a balcony letting him fall over thirty feet to his death. According to the story, this occurred at a party and the wealthy furniture store owner, spent every dime getting his son off. The house, now cursed, was sold to HODINI.

Rumor also has the property up for sale back in 1999 for a reported $1,777,777.77.
Seven is often considered a lucky number.

According to Dennis Hauck’s Haunted Places, Houdini’s mansion is located at 2398 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, near the intersection of Laurel Canyon Drive and Lookout Mountain Avenue.

for more info about hodini- READ MORE-

6/6/11

PATRICK HOELCK- WARD OF THE STATE

here is a short film created by emma jones in regards to PATRICK HOELCK'S photos @ WARD OF THE STATE exhibition.
if you look closely @ 00.52 you can see my TONY WARD TEA CUPS!

Ward of The State from Patrick Hoelck on Vimeo.

A NEW MR. WARD

i just recieved this from my very-longtime pal & muse- TONY WARD-

hi all,

Just a quick, belated note to tell you about the birth of my new son
AURELIUS BALTHAZAR WARD.
He came two weeks early, so 6 days ago on 31 May, 2011.
he was readmitted to hospital one day after we got discharged as he had lost more than 10pc of his birth weight and was dehydrated and was put on a drip. It was a scary time for Angela and I but we got him home last night.
Anyhow, just wanted to share the good news.

Hope you are all well.

TONY WARD
Ps..Bit of trivia for you for the blog -
we are all ABWs...the ABWs..and that wasn't an accident either:
ANTHONY BORDEN WARD, ANGELA BRUCE WARD, AURELIUS BALTHAZAR WARD!

TONY WARD AND HIS 3RD CHILD- RUBY LOVE SATO WARD- 2005- PHOTO- RICK CASTRO
posted by anthony borden ward- london/antebellum corespondent

DIRTY SHOW HITS LOS ANGELES

please join RICK CASTRO @ HIS ANTEBELLUM MOTEL ROOM @
THE 2ND~DIRTY SHOW LA 2011

here's the info-

DIRTY SHOW LA-2011
City Center Hotel
1135 West 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015

This exhibit will be legendary.

Not just a return to the same motel, but a genuine Bienalle (so fancy, the City Center is now a Hotel with a "Ho" (don't worry, there will still be plenty of "Mo"). It will be room after room of fine-art as we transform the entire east wing of the hotel into one of the largest exhibitions of erotic art in LA history.

Featuring all new art, loads of steaming hot erotica from new artists, and brand spanking new submissions from our LA favorites, we are blown away by who is in this show. There will also be exhibitions-within-the-exhibitions including-
GROUP SEX, some interior insanity by BUGHOUSE, world-renowned artists from across the seas brought to you by the
MUSEUM OF PORN IN ART, and we are engorged with anticipation of the ANTEBELLUM MOTEL ROOM orchestrated by February's Dirty Show® guest artist and fetish guru, RICK CASTRO.

We are kind of keeping this on the down low, so let your friends know about it (please help spread the word, as it is not being advertised).

Friday & Saturday June 10-11, 2011
The show opens at 7pm ends at 11
There is a $15 donation at the door.
Bring loads of cash- all art is for sale - except performance art.
You must be 21 with valid picture ID.

NO UNAUTHORIZED
CAMERAS ALLOWED!
(There will be plenty of cameras and video; if you do not wish to be documented,
please wear a mask)
Doors will temporarily close when and if we feel capacity is reached.
Come fashionably early - there is no better way to start your evening.

Do not park in the mo…Hotel parking lot. Out front is bad too.
Enter through the back alley.

DIRTYDETROIT.ORG

WOW CEO GOES ANTEBELLUM

sent from my longtime associate and ceo of
WOW, (WOLRD OF WONDER) RANDY BARBATO

Hard at work at WOW HQ! Im "reading"
13 YEARS OF BONDAGE and wearing my
NEW ANTEBELLUM T-SHIRT!

WARD OF THE STATE: TONY WARD- ON FILM

CHECK OUT THIS INTERVIEW BY HEATH DANIELS -
OPENING NIGHT- WARD OF THE STATE: TONY WARD ARTIST MUSE

Tony Ward- Ward of the State from Heath Daniels on Vimeo.

21ST CENTURY MAN- PHOTO- RICK CASTRO

THE KINKS DO HOLLYWOOD BLVD

THE KINKS' song "Celluloid Heroes, "(1972)
is about HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD and the personalities engraved therein. A number of landmarks are referred to.

21ST CENTURY COUPLE

6/5/11

HOLLYWOODLAND

went to the presentation of writer Mary Mallory's
HOLLYWOODLAND tonight @ THE HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE MUSEUM.

PEG ENTWISTLE in 13 WOMEN

AIDS HITS 30

unfortunately TODAY IS AIDS 30TH BIRTHDAY.
i remember the first time i heard the term AIDS.
origanally called GRID, (gay-related immune disease) a glaring example of homophobia as a matter of fact.

the early years of AIDS were very dark for someone like myself;
a gay young man in my early twenties.
AIDS cast a shadow over my entire life and altered world course forever.

here is some info from APLA-

On Sunday, June 5, we will mark an important milestone in the history of the AIDS epidemic:

It marks 30 years to the day since the first reported case of what would eventually become known as HIV was documented in a briefing issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The briefing explained that five men, all of whom were "active homosexuals," had presented at doctor's offices in Los Angeles with a range of symptoms that seemed very different from any disease that was known at the time.

One of those physicians, Dr. Michael Gottlieb, predicted that this new disease would be "bigger than Legionnaires' disease," which had killed 20,000 at the time.

In fact, Dr. Gottlieb was right: To date, more than 30 million have died of AIDS-related causes worldwide, and over 32,000 have died right here in Los Angeles.

In remembrance of those we've lost over the past 30 years, I ask you to consider taking two action steps right now.

Please visit our Online Memorial Wall and send us an e-mail with the names of friends and loved ones that you have lost to the disease. We will add them to our wall, and then we will display those names at this year's AIDS Walk Los Angeles event on Sunday, October 16.

With deepest appreciation,

Craig E. Thompson
Executive Director
APLA

************************************************
on a more conspiratorial note... here is an opinion by filmmaker
BRENT W. LEUNG & KNOWLDGE MATTERS
about current AIDS testing.

NEVER ENOUGH LEATHER

6/4/11

BONDAGE FOR TODAY

photo courtesy- captured guys

BOOTS IN B&W

6/3/11

DR. DEATH IS DEAD

Jack Kevorkian Dead: Assisted Suicide Advocate Dies At Age 83
BY Catherine Pearson First Posted: 06/ 3/11

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the controversial assisted suicide advocate, has died at a Detroit-area hospital at the age of 83.

Kevorkian's attorney and friend, Mayer Morganroth, told The Associated Press that he died early Friday morning at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, where Kevorkian had been hospitalized for kidney and respiratory problems.

"He says nurses played classical music by Kevorkian's favorite, Johann Sebastian Bach, before he died," the AP reports.

An official cause of Kevorkian's death is not yet known.

Kevorkian, a proponent of "right-to-die" legislation, earned the nickname "Doctor Death" after a string of assisted suicides in the 1990s.

He was released from a Michigan prison in 2007 after serving eight years of a 10 to 15-year sentence for second-degree murder. (Kevorkian was acquitted in three earlier trials; a fourth ended in a mistrial.)

In the 1999 case, Kevorkian administered a deadly combination of drugs to Thomas Youk, who was suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, the devastating neurodegenerative disease that can lead to paralysis. It was captured on video and broadcast on "60 Minutes."

"It's not necessarily murder," Kevorkian told Mike Wallace in an interview. "But it doesn't bother me what you call it. I know what it is."

Kevorkian, who was trained as medical pathologist but stripped of his medical license, admitted to being present in at least 130 suicides of terminally ill patients between 1990 and 1999. He also developed a suicide machine, which according to WIRED, was essentially an automated drip hooked up to an IV needle that patients could personally trigger.

Many groups and individuals were vehement in their opposition to Kevorkian and his views. In 1995, the American Medical Association called him a "reckless instrument of death" who "poses a great threat to the public," The New York Times reports.

But others hailed Kevorkian as a hero.

"I think that Dr. Kevorkian was a man who sought out humanity," said Frank Kavanaugh, a member of the board of directors of the Final Exit Network, a non-profit and right-to-die organization. "He was a very controversial figure, but I think even critics would agree that because of that, hospice care has really boomed in the United States."

Kevorkian's attorney told the Detroit Free Press that he was present at the time of his death, as was his niece.

"It was peaceful," he told the paper. "He didn't feel a thing."

READ MORE-

ROUGE HOOD

photos courtesy- Enzo Youtouze- paris/antebellum corespondent

ALL ABOUT HIS MOTHER

my doll of a friend- JASON NORTH recently lost his beloved mother-
LORETTA NORTH.
as a dedication to her & him, i present this memorial jason lovingly put together to honor his mum.
although i never had the pleasure of meeting her, jason has a striking resembalance, so i see her in him.

ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
by jason north

ברוך אתה ה' א‑לוהינו מלך העולם, דין האמת.
My Mother passed away at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday morning the 29th of May 2011.
It was just a few weeks shy of her birthday. She was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer in 2005, and endured surgeries, various Chemotherapy Regiments and Radiation. My sister cared for my Mum with great dedication over the course of 6 very long years. My sister's skill and devotion were exceptional. When I think of my Mum, images pop up in the corners of my mind.

I remember her Plush Doll Pig named Primrose, the 3 Magi that she had constructed out of Aluminum Foil Caps from Wine Bottles, or her UN-Orthodox manner of teaching me the Birds and the Bees from the Flowers and the Trees. I am fortunate to have been able to have spent time with her, reminiscing and saying goodbye. She is still alive in my mind, and through images online...