This most impressive Christmas tree belonged to silent film actor/ photographer/ renaissance man, Harold Lloyd. His home, Greenacres really sparkled at Christmastime and nothing reflected that sparkle more than his overstuffed Christmas Tree with more than 5,000 glass and handmade ornaments. As the collection grew, so did the tree. It eventually required several trees to be put together along with reinforced branches and stainless steel bolts. His grandaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, told Beverly Hills Resident of her Christmas tree memories:

“It started sometime around Thanksgiving. My grandparents would take me downtown to the train yards where the annual shipment of trees would arrive for the holiday season. We would pick out three large Douglas firs and they would be wired together to make one enormous, fantastic Christmas tree. It sat at one end of the garden room rising 20 feet in the air. It was 9 feet wide and almost 30 feet around. Imagine the amount of presents that can fit under a tree that is 30 feet around!

It took from Thanksgiving until Christmas to decorate the tree. Over the years, my grandfather had collected thousands of ornaments from all over the world. The tree held one-of-a-kind rare ornaments valued in the hundreds of dollars when they were first purchased in the `30’s and `40’s. The tree also held homemade ones that Harold received from his charity work.

I remember a jeweled encrusted ostrich egg, and a sequined football, (a reference to the college football hero Harold Lloyd played in his most popular film, “The Freshman.” I particularly loved a Christmas ball given to him by his friend, make-up artist, Wally Westmore, that was a miniature diorama depicting a bespectacled Harold in a red bathrobe trimming the tree.

One Christmas, I was with Daddy shopping for more ornaments in Saks Fifth Avenue. He plucked more and more ornaments off the store’s white-flocked display tree unable to decide which ones to purchase. Finally, he realized that every ornament on the tree would look nice at Greenacres and quickly decided right then and there to buy them all. Since there was no room on the tree at home, his impulse purchase had to include Saks white-flocked display tree as well! So the 12 foot, completely decorated tree, was shipped off to Greenacres and found a home in our front entrance hall. I have no idea where Saks put their presents that year after Harold left a gapping hole in their Christmas display.

One year we counted over 5,000 ornaments hanging from the tree and we still had enough left over to decorate 3 more trees just as big! Every year the tree grew larger to hold more ornaments; then one year it became a permanent fixture in our home. It was simply too large, too decorated and too engineered to disassemble. So we had it fireproofed and celebrated Christmas every day of the year!”

(via Beverly Hills Resident)

The post #MerryXmas: The Story of the World’s Most Fabulous Christmas Tree appeared first on World of Wonder.

This holiday season, Opening Ceremony founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon were one of three fashion designers chosen to decorate the ground floor of the White House and they got my old pal, artist Mark Gagnon, to create the seven custom-made tree toppers. This year’s “Timeless Traditions” theme was supposed to showcase long-held customs across the country while highlighting major moments in American history. Carol and Humberto decorated the White House Library, which houses a collection of over 2,700 books and they got Mark to make seven tree-topping book covers. When I saw the pics, I had to find out some more details and got in touch with Mark to ask him some nosey questions.

Amazing opportunity, Mark. How did you get involved in this project?
Over the years working with David Hoey at Bergdorf Godman, I have become good friends with many of the creative people working there. Johanna Burke and I both continue to contribute to Bergdorfs. She has created her own business doing these kinds of visual endeavors. She knew Su Barber who works for Opening Ceremony and put Su in touch with me.

What kind of parameters were you given?
None really, I just had to work with the quotes given by the White house. I also was asked to look at Olympia Le tan as source for inspiration. They asked for a few of the books to be openly animated. Other than that is was free range and I took advantage of it.

So, what’s your favorite topper…
I actually personalized two of them. The piece with the birds is dedicated to my 95 yr old Aunt. She is a World War II veteran and recently fell and broke her shoulder. She signs every card and letter with this little doodle of a bird. I used her drawing as the image for the cover. The pink book has a silhouette of my mom on it. She has had a few bad health issues as well and I wanted to make her laugh by telling her her portrait is hanging in the White House!

Will you get them all back or do they go in some White House archive?
I think I am getting them back…

…hopefully with a letter from Michelle or Barack!
Would be sweet. Why don’t you contact your friend Michelle and suggest it!

OK. I’ll text her right now…
(J/K)

We were both teasing, but I DID meet the FLOTUS last year and my Facebook profile pic is us together, so my friends are FOREVER reminded of this fact. Check out more of Mark’s fantastic work here and if you’re in New York City, oooh and ahhh over Bergdorf Goodman‘s amazing windows. Chances are Mark has his hand in their creation too.

The post #TopThis: This Christmas, Artist Mark Gagnon “Booked” a Dream Job at The White House appeared first on World of Wonder.

Santa’s got some competition. Each year dudes from around the world come together to attend The World Beard And Moustache Championships where they compete in some 18 categories across three divisions; Moustaches, Partial Beards, and Full Beards. Featured below are the best entires from last few years. (Merry Christmas, Nigel Zeff!)

(via Sad and Useless)

The post #Beardos: Some of the Best Contestants From “World Beard & Mustache Championships” appeared first on World of Wonder.

Doesn’t get any Christmasier than this: The Peanuts gang mosh to legendary hardcore punk rockers Bad Brains. (via Gawker)

The post It’s a Bad Brains Christmas, Charlie Brown appeared first on World of Wonder.

Gather around the laptop, children! It’s an all-new Christmas Day episode of Bro’Laska,!  Alaska and her bro Cory Binney sing Christmas carols and talk about their memories of Christmas past!

The post Bro’Laska: Alaska & Cory Get in the Holiday Spirit! appeared first on World of Wonder.

Ho, ho, ho! My holiday doesn’t get real until I’ve watched RuPaul’s Christmas Ball – a gay family tradition since 1993.

The post RuPaul, Elton John, La Toya Jackson, Nirvana, Belinda Carlisle, En Vogue, Eartha Kitt, Boy George, Fred Schneider, Little Richard & Taylor Dayne Wish You a Merry Christmas appeared first on World of Wonder.

Your Christmas Day just got a lot hipper. Future Islands just covered Wham’s “Last Christmas” and I think I FINALLY have enough covers to make an entire album of just different artists singing my favorite Christmas jam ever!

The post Holiday Tune for Today: Future Islands Covers Wham’s “Last Christmas” appeared first on World of Wonder.

One of my favorite posts from 2014:

The humpy Warwick Rowers have been EVERYWHERE in the news lately, promoting their nude calendar, but only WE have them singing Christmas carols in the WOWPresents studio… IN THEIR UNDERWEAR! Check out the internationally famous athletes AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE after the jump! It’s OUR Christmas present to YOU!

My GOD, they’re magnificent!

The post Holiday Beefcake Flashback! The Warwick Rowers Sing Christmas Carols… In Their Underwear! appeared first on World of Wonder.

December 26, 1956: David Sedaris:

“Shit is the tofu of cursing.”

I don’t recall what brought me to pick-up that hardback copy of Barrel Fever. With its iconic Chip Kidd designed cover, at my favorite bookstore, M Coy Books, in downtown Seattle in 1995. Remember bookstores? I am not an NPR listener (I like my radio to play Rock N’ Roll, please), so Sedaris was unfamiliar to me at this point. I do remember that The Husband read it first. I heard him crying with laughter as he read straight through it from the top of our loft bedroom. I was afraid he would fall down the ladder when he descended with the book in hand. The Husband: “Really, I believe this is the funniest thing I have ever read… it is called The Santaland Diaries. You have to read it right now, this very minute!”

We were off & away in Sedaris-land. I bought each of the next books, in hardcover, on the day they came out. I would dog-ear his pieces in The New Yorker. I would eventually extend my love for Sedaris to his boyfriend, Hugh Hamrick, & his insanely funny sister, Amy Sedaris.

“7 beers followed by 2 Scotches & a thimble of marijuana & it’s funny how sleep comes all on its own.”

Recalling his high school days in Raleigh, North Carolina, telling tales of his zany family, or life at their house in Normandy or the place in England with Hugh, Sedaris always writes in his unique voice about the absurdities of life. He has a remarkable ability to find the humor in situations that are melancholy, peculiar, or dire.

Sedaris possesses a wicked wit that speaks to me in ways I never thought possible. A perfect day? A summer afternoon on Sauvie Island outside of Portland, naked on a blanket, with a thermos of lemonade & vodka & a brand new David Sedaris tome.

“My hands tend to be full enough dealing with people who hate me for who I am. Concentrate too hard on the millions of people who hate you for what you are & you’re likely to turn into one of those unkempt, sloppy dressers who sag beneath the weight of the 200 political buttons they wear pinned to their coats & knapsacks.”

In the terrific, must-watch new documentary Do I Sound Gay?, filmmaker David Thorpe deftly explores the relationship gay men have with their voices. The film includes interviews, professional vocal coaches, speech pathologists & gay celebrities, including an hysterical section featuring Sedaris & Hamrick. Even if Hamrick does not sound convincingly butch, Sedaris may have one of gayest sounding voices this side of Truman Capote.

Of his partner of 25+ years, Sedaris writes:

“Hugh & I have been together for so long that in order to arouse extraordinary passion, we need to engage in physical combat. Once, he hit me on the back of the head with a broken wineglass, & I fell to the floor pretending to be unconscious. That was romantic, or would have been had he rushed to my side rather than stepping over my body to fetch the dustpan.”

Ironic that Sedaris has a birthday on the day after Christmas. The adaptation of his classic Santaland Diaries has become a Holiday staple for regional & community theatres, replacing seeing a production of A Christmas Carol as a family tradition. I finally was able to hear Sedaris’s own version on NPR when I was receiving chemotherapy at Christmas 2013. His voice is gay perfection.

In the September 28th issue of The New Yorker, Sedaris has an extremely original, hysterical essay about reluctantly asking Hamrick to marry him for strictly unromantic reasons, A Modest Proposal, a response to the SCOTUS ruling on Marriage Equality on June 26^th of this year:

“It occurred to me while standing there, cars whizzing by, that the day I marry is the day I’ll get hit & killed, probably by some driver who’s texting, or, likelier still, sexting. ‘He is survived by his husband, Hugh Hamrick,’ the obituary will read, & before I’m even in my grave I’ll be rolling over in it.”

We always take his Christmas collection Holiday On Ice (1997) off the Sedaris section in the bookcase & casually toss it on the coffee table as part of our tradition. My favorite is selection, Dinah The Christmas Whore, still makes me laugh & cry. It is quintessential Sedaris.

Cool tid-bits about eccentric Sedaris: he holds a keen interest in taxidermy; he does not drive or use the Internet or own a cell phone or an email account. Sedaris:

“I’ve always been convinced I would hit & kill a child, so I don’t drive because I’m afraid. Where I grew up, in Raleigh, you needed a car. I stayed at home a lot, & I had to entertain myself. Ultimately, I think not driving was good for me. & I never learned to type; I type with one finger. So I’ve never worked in an office, which was also probably good for me. As for the Internet, everyone tells me it makes you lose a year. A bread truck will go by, & on the side it says: ‘If you want to learn more about our products, go to www.breadtruck.com.’ Then you’ll go to a computer & look that up. But who cares about bread? Then there’s something else, & something else. I don’t want to lose a year like that. The world is already full of books & magazines.”

I am a fan of the odd little indie film C.O.G. (2013) starring cutie pie Jonathan Groff, whose character is a stand-in for Sedaris, Denis O’Hare & Corey Stoll. The film is based on a Sedaris piece about hitchhiking as a youth to Oregon where he takes a job picking apples.

Essential Sedaris: Barrel Fever (1994), Naked (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), Dress Your Family In Corduroy & Denim (2004), When You Are Engulfed In Flames (2008), Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (2011), & Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls (2013).

I think he is the funniest writer alive.

“If you’re looking for sympathy you’ll find it between shit & syphilis in the dictionary.”

The post #BornThisDay: Writer, David Sedaris appeared first on World of Wonder.

When unknown photographer Frank Larson died 50 years ago, his wife Eleanora boxed up all of their possessions and moved out of their retirement home in Lakeville, Connecticut. Carole Larson – the widow of Frank’s youngest son David – and her son Soren were sorting though old boxes in their attic and found these negatives. Soren said:

“I had seen a few examples of my grandfather’s photography over the years and always admired them – our old family photo albums have a few small prints of his work in them. My father also used to speak with admiration about his father’s love of photography and his weekend trips with his Rolleiflex into the city to film places like the Bowery, Chinatown and Times Square.

But when I opened the box and began to explore what was inside I was truly shocked at the quality and range of the images, as well as the effort, dedication and love he brought to the task. When Frank died in 1964, I was only three years old, and too young to remember this gentle, careful man.”

Inside the box were 100+ envelopes filled with 2 1/4 negatives. They were all marked by date and location, carefully sealed and left exactly as he packed them 50 years ago. Soren added:

“As I began unsealing each packet and holding the negatives up to the light, it was like a trip back in time, back to the New York of the early ’50s.”

Vivian Maier was a nanny and discovered in the same way. (She is the subject a fab documentary, Finding Vivian Meyer) Larson’s images are good, I would’t say great, like Meyer’s, but they are a time-traveling treasure trove glimpse of a long-gone New York City. You can see more of Larson’s work and order very reasonably priced prints here. (Not really sure of the edition size though?) They range from $140 for 11 x 14″, to $250 for 30 x 40″. That Star Is Born marquee or the ticket taker would look pretty great HUGE, huh?

(via Design Boom)

The post #PictureThis: These Fantastic Images of Long-Gone NYC Were Found in a Cardboard Box appeared first on World of Wonder.

World of Wonder gifted all their friends and Wowlebrities this year with something that is very “of the moment”, and might also be considered “SO 2015”, very shortly. A deluxe, branded selfie stick. (I had a hand in the box design, too… I DO apologize if you didn’t get one but I wasn’t in charge of the list, kids. Collector’s item.)

Thinking self-portraits while writing the next post about Frank Larson‘s newly discovered pics of NYC, I was reminded of Vivian Maier‘s amazing work. Maier worked for about forty years as a nanny, mostly in Chicago’s North Shore, taking pictures her spare time. She took more than 150,000 photographs – mostly of the people and architecture of NYC, Chicago, and L.A. But along the way she photographed herself hundreds of times and left possibly the best collection of selfies of the 20th century. Every photographer, professional and amateur, takes selfies, but Vivian’s take this most narcissistic of enterprises to new artistic heights. You can check her work here, and her book, Vivian Maier Self Portraits is available on Amazon. I’m still amazed that woman, this artist, was unknown in her lifetime and now is considered by many to be one of THE best street photographers of the 20th century. Incredible she never showed or even printed many of her fantastic life’s work. You can check out the intriguing documentary, Finding Vivian Maier on HBO, which even after it is told leaves her a mystery. For someone who was so private, she sure took a lot of photos of herself.

September 10, 1955

Untitled

The post #PictureThis: Vivian Maier Is THE QUEEN of The Selfie appeared first on World of Wonder.

December 27, 1901– Marlene Dietrich:

“I am at heart a gentleman.”

Don’t you continue to find her to be fabulous? She had quite the gay life. Marie Magdalene Dietrich, the smoky voiced Gay Icon, ended her cabaret show in the very dangerously conservative 1950s, with this toast:

“Please try to be gay tonight as I know it is so difficult to be gay in the morning.”

She had her own brand of dangerous glamour & she carried a smoky air of decadence. Blonde, Teutonic, with high cheekbones, a heavy lower lip, displaying the artifice of languor, Dietrich seduced audiences by innuendo.

Dietrich is an Ultra-Icon & she had a personal relationship with Gayness. She picked her men for eye-candy & her women for love, lust & laughs. She was a movie star when movie stars were movie stars. Dietrich’s thing was to be idolized, indomitable & indifferent. She didn’t like mistakes. She was a perfectionist. When her mentor, Joseph von Sternberg, the director of early films: The Blue Angel (1930), Morocco (1930), & The Devil Is A Woman (1935), would not relinquish control to her, she gave him up. Like Mae West, Dietrich didn’t let a little thing like a film business run by men tell her what she could do.

Dietrich possessed a profoundly complex personality, including her attitude about sexuality. She had a major magnetism for gay people from the very beginnings of her career: the campiness of her films, the casual approach toward convention, the trouser-wearing that nearly got her arrested,  her expression of world-weary disillusion, & her marvelous voice.

German born Dietrich’s was bravely anti-Nazi during WW2. She turned her back on her native country & for 4 years she actively worked against Adolf Hitler & his bad buddies. For her courage & commitment to the Allied cause, she was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in France & the Congressional Medal Of Honor in the USA, both nations’ highest honors that can be bestowed on a civilian.

Dietrich was an atheist, abandoning the Lutheran faith:

“If God exists, he needs to review his plan.”

But, she had honor, humor, & humanity. At a time when it could not have been easily accepted, she gave the world her own eye-popping style of sexual liberation. Fred Astaire stated that no one wore a tuxedo as well as Dietrich. She was a woman ahead of her time.

Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally & personally. In 1920s Berlin, she acted on the stage & in silent films. Her performance as the ultimate temptress Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel, directed by von Sternberg, introduced her signature song, Falling in Love Again (Can’t Help It), & brought her international fame & provided her with a contract with Paramount Pictures.

Hollywood films such as Shanghai Express (1932) & Desire (1936) capitalized on her glamour & exotic beauty, cementing her stardom, & made her one of the highest paid actors of the era.

When she dropped her mentor & frequent collaborator, Sternberg, after their highly stylized The Scarlet Empress (1934) & The Devil Is A Woman (1935) flopped, Dietrich, along with Joan Crawford & Greta Garbo, was labeled “box office poison” by the press. But she bounced back big when she played a Wild West saloon girl in the fun Destry Rides Again (1939) opposite James Stewart, singing See What The Boys In The Back Room Will Have.

Dietrich became a citizen of the USA in 1939, at the very apex of the troubles in Europe. Throughout WW2 she was a high profile entertainer on the frontlines. She still made the occasional film after the war, but Dietrich mostly spent most of the 1950s, 1960s & 1970s touring the world as a phenomenally successful cabaret performer.

Dietrich never fully regained her box-office clout, but she did give some of her most interesting performances working with the very best Hollywood directors: Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, & Orson Welles, in popular films: A Foreign Affair (1948), Stage Fright (1950) where she sang my theme song Cole Porter’s The Laziest Gal In Town, Witness For The Prosecution (1957), Touch Of Evil (1958), & Judgment At Nuremberg (1961). Her first film was The Little Napoleon (1923) & her final role was in Schöner Gigolo, Armer Gigolo (1979) opposite David Bowie, that’s 56 years of great performances.

Dietrich’s love affairs included many women, including: Mercedes de Acosta, Garbo, Eva Le Gallienne, Isadora Duncan, the great writer Colette, & Edith Piaf. She also had liaisons with men. Throughout her career, Dietrich had a long string of sexual & romantic relationships, some lasting for decades. They often overlapped & were almost all known to her husband. She had a novel quirk of passing him the love letters of her lovers, along with biting commentary.

During the filming of Destry Rides Again, Dietrich had an affair with Jimmy Stewart, which ended when the filming stopped. In 1938, Dietrich met & began a relationship with the writer Erich Maria Remarque, & in the 1940s with the French star & military hero Jean Gabin. Her last great passion, when she was in her 50s, was hot actor Yul Brynner. Her active sex life continued well into her 70s. Her many male conquests included: John Wayne, George Bernard Shaw & John F. Kennedy. Dietrich’s household included her husband & his mistress, first in Europe & eventually on a ranch in the San Fernando Valley. Now that is what I would dub “Modern Living”.

Dependent on painkillers at the end of her life, Dietrich withdrew to her apartment in Paris. She spent her last decade mostly bedridden, allowing only a few family & staff to see her. During this time, she was a prolific letter writer & spent a lot of time on the telephone (which she answered in the character of a maid), talking with friends & world figures, & surviving on a diet of champagne & autographs. She published a well written memoir Take Just My Life (1979).

Even though she gave up on her native Germany, Germany did not give up on Dietrich. She was made an honorary citizen of Berlin in 2002. Her memorial plaque reads:

 “Where have all the flowers gone?”

MARLENE DIETRICH

December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992

“I am, thank God, a Berliner.”

Marlene Dietrich: Anti-Fascist, Bisexual, Movie Star, Vegas Headliner, Fashion Icon, Recording Artist, & Gay Icon. She was friendly with Ronnie & Nancy Reagan, but I like to consider what today’s Republican Presidential candidates might think of Dietrich. Do you think any of them would know who she was? Just one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century & one of those damn immigrants.

The post #BornThisDay: Marlene Dietrich appeared first on World of Wonder.

Not much is known about this photo session that Allan Warren did with Gloria Swanson in her NYC apartment. Sorry, do I need to tell you who Gloria Swanson was? Well, at one time, she was THE biggest star in the world, when the movies, and she, were both young. She starred in dozens of silent films and was nominated for the very first Academy Award for Best Actress. She also produced her own films, including Sadie Thompson and The Love of Sunya and in 1929, she transitioned to talkies with The Trespasser. She’s best known for her role as Norma Desmond in the classic 1950 film, Sunset Boulevard. (She also starred as herself in her last film role in Airport 1975.)

I have a Gloria Swanson story. Indulge me, it’s short. When I first came to Manhattan in 1980, I was couch surfing for a while. I was staying in my friend photographer Bill Westmoreland‘s loft, I think it was in the W 30s? (Once Bill reads this, he can correct me on the details…) I was sleeping on the couch in the AM after a long night at Danceteria and the phone rang. Everyone was at work, so the machine picked up. I hear a voice on the other end leaving a message…

“Hello, it’s Gloria Swanson. I’m looking for Tim. Can you tell me where I might find Tim? Hello. Is Tim there…?”

I’m running around the loft trying to find the phone… dial tone. Damn. I missed talking to Gloria Swanson. Her autobiography had just come out and I was actually reading it at the time, so I had a few conversation points. What a fascinating life. Among other things, she was a health nut, a vegetarian from WAY back. Btw, Tim was a friend of Bill’s who once lived with him and did errands for Gloria occasionally.)

Anyway, these photos were taken a few years earlier in 1972, in the apartment she called from, at 920 Fifth Avenue.

UPDATE: I did hear from Bill about the details and I was pretty close…

Yes, my loft was on 37th st. in the Garment District…Tim was living with me for a while and yes, he drove Miss Swanson around and ran errands for her… after he moved out Miss Swanson continued to call for him at my number–I would tell her that Tim no longer lived here and would give her his new number…we chatted quite a few times over a 3 or 4 month period…until one day when I answered the phone and, after having given her his new number numerous times, I said,

“Glo, he doesn’t live here…try the new number”… to which she responded,

“Oh, yes Mr Westmoreland, I do think I have it in my address book, thank you so much.”

(Photos, Allan Warren)

The post #PictureThis: Rare Pics of Gloria Swanson at Home in NYC appeared first on World of Wonder.

Don’t get me wrong, I really love New York City. Lots of great place have closed due to what most people see as greed. I don’t want to come off like the “most hated man in America”, Martin Shkreli, but I think it’s called capitalism and fair market value for one of the most expensive islands on the planet. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s my point…

I was reading the great NYC blog Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York and came across the closing of a restaurant in my neighborhood that I’ve walked by a jillion times but never eaten in, Garage. Here’s the post;

Reader Elizabeth writes in that the last day is January 3. She says,

“their rent was going to be hiked to $50k a month. So they are closing. I am heartsick. My friend George and I had Thanksgiving dinner there many times over the years, and loved hanging at the big beautiful wood bar and listening to jazz. No plans to try to reopen in NYC.”

Garage restaurant has been on Seventh Avenue in the Village for about 20 years now. According to Vanishing, it was, duh, originally a garage. 75 years ago, it was the Nut Club, a nightclub that, among other things, hosted cockroach races. In the 1950s, it was jazz club The Pad and then Lower Basin Street, where jazz great Dave Brubeck once played.

Later, the building housed the Sheridan Square Playhouse, home of the Circle Repertory from 1969 – 1994, when they (were forced?) to move to a larger space shortly before folding. Garage, the restaurant, hosted jazz every night and had a jazz brunch on weekends.

OK. So as you see, the space has been MANY things, since it was a garage. Whoever got their car fixed or parked there, thought it was a disaster when it became a club, I’ll bet. From the comments section of Vanishing;

“Garage has been in that location at least since 1992 or 93. I used to live around the corner on 4th between Jones and Cornelia. Garage was always my wife’s and my first choice for brunch in the neighborhood when we craved something with jazz. It was also pretty good for people watching out the window on 7th from the bar.” –John

To which Scout replied:

“Oh, I am glad to see this awful place go, after they threw out one of New York City’s BEST Off-Broadway theatre companies, Circle Rep.

If you weren’t in NY during the 80s, you can’t know how important Circle Rep was; and they didn’t leave that space willingly, they were ejected in favor of a generic restaurant.

This space had been a theatre since 1958, and should always have been a theatre (and should be one again, but won’t)”

Get my point? New York City is CONSTANTLY changing. F.A.O. Schwartz is gone. So is Roseland… and the original Penn Station. THOSE were institutions. Garage restaurant was loved by many, as was Circle Rep. But it’s a Circle Game, kids. Something closes and something else opens. That’s the way it works.

Now there are legitimate slum lords and terrible situations where businesses lose their space and that sucks. And things that close down that we miss, I get that. But also realize that not every situation is horrible and unfair. On a purely pragmatic note, if you owned the Garage space and their rent came up for renewal, you’d let them stay and take a lot less $$ every month, year after year? You would? OMG! You’re a SAINT!)

New York City is self-renewing, it’s constantly changing. Something else will move into the Garage space. Maybe it’ll be your new favorite place, others might hate it. The city, and the world, is full of great things to do and see. So, let’s enjoy what we got while we’ve got it. Don’t get stuck in the past or you’ll miss the present.

(via Vanishing New York)

The post #VanishingNewYork: Another Restaurant Closes & NYC Weeps? appeared first on World of Wonder.

Artist Ellsworth Kelly has died, according to Matthew Marks of the Matthew Marks Gallery in Manhattan. He was 92. Born in Newburgh, NY, on May 31, 1923, Kelly studied painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston after his discharge from the Army in 1945. His formative years as an artist were in Paris, which he visited briefly during World War II. Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Jean Arp, and Cézanne were all huge influences. After being abroad for six years, Kelly decided to return to America in 1954. Upon his return to New York, he found the art world “very tough.” Although Kelly is now considered an essential innovator and contributor to the American art movement, it was hard for many to find the connection between Kelly’s art and the dominant stylistic trends.

In May 1956 Kelly had his first New York exhibition at Betty Parsons’ Gallery and he showed again at her gallery in the fall of 1957. Three of his pieces: Atlantic, Bar, and Painting in Three Panels, were selected and shown for the Whitney Museum of American Art‘s exhibit, “Young America 1957.”

Kelly shared a studio with fellow artist and friend Agnes Martin, up to the ninth floor of the high-rise studio/co-op Hotel des Artistes at 27 West 67th Street but he left New York City for Spencertown in 1970 and was joined by his partner, photographer Jack Shear, in 1984.

Kelly’s work is shown and collected throughout the world and his influence is immeasurable. Just two years ago, on the occasion of the artist’s 90th birthday in 2013, the National Gallery of Art in Washington mounted an exhibition of his prints; the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia put together five sculptures in a show; the Phillips Collection in Washington exhibited his panel paintings; and the Museum of Modern Art opened a show of the “Chatham Series”.

(via NY Times)

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OMGeee…Where to begin?!?! So many things that were awesome about 2015. So, narrowing it down to my top 5 was a bit tricky…and it might seem random, but I think that’s pretty much the theme for this past year…shenanigans, chillin’ on Instagram, gettin’ lit and owning your own politics…NO REGRETS!!!

DoYouEvenUnicorn

This has to be the best Instagram page ever!!! A friend of mine turned me onto this, and now I can’t look away! What started as a gag gift for a friend, the man behind the rubber unicorn head decided to get one for himself, strip down to his undies (or au naturel), and post pics on IG. The page has become a HUGE hit, and a symbol for sexuality, freedom of expression and alternative perspectives. Oh…and he’s SUPER HOT!

Ozone Generator

As we all know, you basically can’t smoke anywhere anymore without being shuffled down the street like a leper, or your neighbors forming a lynch mob because the smells emanating from your apartment are a bit pungent. Well, here’s your dream machine! The Hotel 350 is a super ozone generator that will turn your 420 aroma into that same smell you get on your clothes when you have them dry-cleaned. Turn it on for 60 min, close the windows, and exit. When you come home, it’s like a brand new apartment. AMAZING! Thanks for the tip rogersuperstar!

Transgender Advocates

As we all know, this has been the year when transgender issues were all over the media, from tv shows like Orange Is The New Black, Transparent and I Am Cait, to the fashion runways with models like Hari Neff, Andreja Pejić and Tschan Andrews. But my nod to the top girls this year that are consistent in their advocacy for their community, and fight for equal rights for all, regardless of your claimed identity has to go to Laverne Cox, JanetMock and Juliana Huxtable.

Laverne Cox has been the first at many things lately. Best known for her recurring role in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black as Sophia Burset, Cox was the first transgender woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award… she was the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine…and… she’s the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds. And if that’s not enough, Cox continues to speak out on transgender rights and social issues on her Tumblr and pens articles for The Huffinton Post.

 

Janet Mock first came on my radar when I read her New York Times bestselling memoir Redefining Realness (now available on Audible), where she talked about growing up multiracial, poor and trans in Hawaii and California. But it’s really a book about perseverance and finding your true self. It’s basically my go to when I need some guidance…WWJMD! Mock is an activist, writer, friend to Oprah and host of MSNBC culture show So POPular!…and she’s my heroine!

 

Juliana Huxtable is an artist, model and DJ who turns up wherever she goes! Besides being super sweet and knowing how to make you swerve on the dance floor, Huxtable is an urban poet who speaks volumes through melodies. You can hear her work on collaborations with gay hip hop artist Le1f, or at Hood By Air fashion shows, or on her fab SoundCloud. Her art was most recently featured at the New Museum “Surround Sound” Triennial in NYC.

 

I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones (Book)

“Put Some Grace In Your Face!!!“… The model, actress, singer, icon and sh*t starter GraceJones put out her long-awaited book I’ll Never Write My Memoirs this year and it’s my #1 bedtime story! It starts off a bit slow. Grace goes back to her childhood times in Jamaica, where she came from a strict religious background. All this being said just to set the foundation for how she became the extrovert and genius that she is. It’s all pretty much rebellion from the start. She later goes into the good stuff we all wanna know…stories about past lovers, her unquenchable thirst for new adventures, and of course, her opinions on everybody else’s art, or lack thereof…LOL. We had to wait forever for this…cause Grace is ALWAYS LATE…but, this book is one of her greatest performances yet!

Mx Qwerrrk

BONUS: The Piggy Top

And finally, for all you party queens who love sniffing a little amyl nitrite to loosen you up, but get a little clumsy when that little brown bottle gets slippery, designer Leo Herrera has come up with this beautifully brilliant bottle topper called The Piggy Top, made out of silver or gold, carved like a pig’s head. You can now wear your poppers around your neck! Not only is it utilitarian, it also serves as a sure sign to others that you’re up for some cheeky fun.

The post #WOWBestOf2015: My Top 5 Obsessions/Addictions…Unicorns, 420 Machine, Poppers & More!!! NSFW appeared first on World of Wonder.

Have you seen it? Did you have FASHION ORGASMS in the theater? Everything about Cate Blanchett as the (sliiiiiightly predatory) older lesbian in Carol was absolutely ON POINT. The wave in her hair! The accessories! The BROOCHES! My GAWD, the BROOCHES! And the little retro ladysuits! OHHH! My absolute favorite look though – the one that had me SWOONING in my seat – was THIS. Below. Whatwhatwhat is going on? It’s a suit. With a slit in the lapel? To slide the scarf through? It’s too MUCH! It’s too FANTASTICAL! Was it really a THING people did in the ’50s? Or was it just some divine inspiration for the character? For the movie? Either way, it’s time to make this a THING in 2016. SLITS IN LAPELS. Yes, it’s a new trend. I’m calling it. Make it happen, people. Do a CAROL tonight. And if you haven’t seen it yet, GO. NOW! You’ll regret not seeing it come Oscar time when Cate wins Best Actress. And keep an eye out for the scarf scene.

The post WOWBestOf2015: Carol, Carol, OMG, Carol and Her Brilliant Red Scarf appeared first on World of Wonder.

This little nit. Wtf. David Spade started beef with the President by calling him “thirsty” for appearing on the reality show Running Wild with Bear Grylls.

“Why is Obama on Bear Grills trying to survive in the tundra?” he said in a recently deleted tweet. “Isnt the idea to keep the prez alive? And why is he on a reality show?Wtf ?”

“I thought a president should have a little more dignity,” he told TMZ when asked his comments

“What president does reality shows? It just sounds weird to me, you know what I mean? It’s just too much,” Spade said The Saturday Night Live alum, who most recently starred in Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous 6 and Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, also pointed out the numerous talk show appearances made by the First Lady. “I think that Michelle Obama’s on Ellen more than I am,” he said. “It’s just a new world. It seems a bit thirsty.”

Says Jezebel in Obama’s defense:

Maybe Obama is just trying to have a good time during his last year in office. Plus, it’s Bear Grylls; it’s not like he’s showing up on Real Housewives and bullying Yolanda Foster. Spade also slammed Obama’s GQ magazine covers. “Leave that to Bradley Cooper,” he said. “You’re the president, you’re above all of us. You’re above stars, you’re above everything. When he’s trying to get in the mix like, ‘I want to present at the MTV awards,’ Alright, guy. Relax. You’ve got it.” Damn.

Methinks perhaps it’s HIM who’s a bit thirsty. What do YOU think? Is it unbecoming of a sitting president to be seen on reality shows and magazine? Or is that just the world we live in now?

(Photo of David: Pacific Coast News)

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That moment you realize you probably should have spent your money on the new Bentley Bentayga (or the way more sensible and redesigned Cadillac Escalade) than the extremely sporty new BMW with scissor doors. No big-girl-shading here! As a husky fellow myself, I’m just saying know what you’re getting yourself into and make sure you can get yourself out!

The post #TheStruggleHasNeverBeenMoreReal: Bear in a Tiny BMW appeared first on World of Wonder.

Here’s a rather arbitrary listing of the most handsome faces IN THE WORLD, in descending order of hotness, as compiled by something called “TC Candler Reviews.” It’s a bit hinky, I must say. Something in the milk ain’t right. For instance: Um, in what universe is Benedict Cumberbatch hotter than Jared Leto? And how can Gerard Butler be considered better looking than Tom Hardy? Or Tom Brady? Why is Theo James in the 90s and Chris Carmack (from The OC) #5? And how on earth does the number one spot go to (SPOILER ALERT)… Diego Bonita? He wasn’t even the hottest guy on Scream Queens. Watch for yourself and agree or disagree. Props to them for including models and actors from literally everywhere on the globe, but still… PewDiePie? Hotter than Anderson Cooper? I DON’T THINK SO.

Also: TC Chandler’s Most Beautiful Faces:

And be sure to check out my (MUCH MORE SENSIBLE) list here.

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