Art Quoted

“Some days you wake up and immediately start to worry. Nothing in particular is wrong it's just the suspicion that forces are aligning quietly and there will be trouble.”

—Jenny Holzer

Supermodels Quoted

“We have this saying, Christy and I: We don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day”

—Linda Evangelista

See why Linda and Christy Turlington called the shots during the Supermodel era

What happens in Japan... will come to haunt you on the Internet

Cindy Crawford for Pocari Sweat





Brad Pitt and Wes Anderson for Softbank Mobile

Phoenix - Fences

Lego on Avedon

via Flickr

Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light

Looking at the work of the late Richard Avedon is a humbling experience. His portraits are the work of an exacting technician, a humanitarian, a true artist, and a cruel, neurotic genius. The 1995 documentary Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light gives comprehensive insight into what a unique visionary he was - and how he was definitely the kind of person you'd want to party with. If you can get your hands on this, it's definitely worth a look.

(FYI, I hear that Bob Mercer screens this doc in the SFU course CMNS 375 Magazine Publishing)

Avedon delivers quote-worthy sound bites here that inspire you to take pictures--or at the very least, look up his work and discover what a great force he was in American photography for more than 50 years. His work extends far beyond the fashion photography and handful or portraits we know him for today.

We've all seen his work, and you probably didn't even know it. If you've ever looked at the liner notes for the Beatles White Album, or 1, then you've seen Avedon's photography. This 2008 post from perpenduum.com looks at the influences of Lartigue and Avedon on the work of Wes Anderson, particularly in The Royal Tenenbaums.

Here's some great trivia facts to take to your next social event involving art or film snobs:

* An Avedon-style photo of actor Owen Wilson, in imitation of Avedon's American West photo of Boyd Fortin holding a disemboweled snake, was used in a prop for the film The Royal Tenenbaums; Wilson's mother Laura Wilson was a close assistant to Avedon.



* This famous (and fantastic) cast photo was taken by Richard Avedon:



A clip from Richard Avedon: Light and Darkness

ROFLMAO

Put down that glass of milk you're drinking before you read this, or it may come out of your nose:

From the Onion:

Oh No, Performers Coming Into Audience

PITTSBURGH—Audience members at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts are reporting that, oh God, no, approximately 20 extremely enthusiastic actors are approaching the edge of the stage and appear determined to continue their current musical number in the main seating area.

"Oh, man, are they? Shit," one audience member was overheard saying as the energetic ensemble began filing down previously unseen stairs and past the front row. "Shit, shit, shit."

Increasingly uncomfortable audience sources have also confirmed that the performers are proceeding down the aisle with crisp, larger-than-normal steps timed perfectly to the music. Even more shocking, some appear intent on interacting with non–cast members.

...While most theatergoers have avoided meeting the actors' gaze by smiling awkwardly and staring straight ahead, the roughly 76 people seated on the aisles have been less fortunate. Performers are currently removing them from their seats and are apparently forcing them to participate in some kind of humiliating choreographed dance.

Jesus Christ, one actor just did a jumping toe-touch from the stage into the audience, pumped his fist, and high-fived a fellow performer, prompting those in the first several rows to jerk back in their seats and shield their heads.

For more details, visit the Onion

Chinese Calligraphy, meet the 21st century

Here's a stunning site where you create your own music video for Spanish singer Labuat. It's all in Spanish but you'll understand what to do.

NB: Depending on your connection speed, it might take a while to load

http://soytuaire.labuat.com/

via Fubiz and FWA

Quoted

"Creative use of white space is about as realistic as a banker's bonus"

--Lindsay Nicholson, editorial director of Good Housekeeping UK, in an interview with The Guardian regarding the magazine's recent redesign

More from the Publishing Doomsday Files

Actually, it's good news! The only magazines that are dying, says Gabriel Sherman are stinkers or titles that service ad buyers before readers.

From Slate.com's The Big Money:

"...a closer look at the types of magazines that have closed reveals a more nuanced and, in many respects, hopeful portrait of the magazine business. According to a list compiled by Advertising Age, titles that have shut down in the past year come from the shelter, technology, travel, luxury, and teen categories. The reason for each category's challenges are obvious, from a meltdown in the housing sector to teenagers' wholesale abandonment of print for Facebook and Twitter.

"Yet the general conclusion that many extrapolate from these recent shutdowns is wrong. It's not that magazines are dying; it's that magazines that were created solely for advertising or market-share purposes are. New magazine titles often fail from a combination of bad timing, bad thinking, and a bad choice of brands to extend. Put simply, there are too many mediocre magazines."

"...Largely, these magazines never caught on with readers. And it's not surprising. Magazines are emotional products. They are objects of aspiration, passion, and desire. No one needs to read magazines, but millions of readers still subscribe to their favorite titles because they harbor deep connections to the glossy pages. As one veteran editor once explained to me, the best magazines make you feel like tearing open the plastic wrap the second that they arrive in your mailbox and curling up on the couch with them, ignoring whatever plans you had for the evening.

"Which is why the current downturn can be good for publishers. Magazines still offer an unsurpassed ability to marry literary ambitions with deep reporting, photography, and visual design. In this new media age, people talk about the importance of transforming readers into "communities." Magazines have never had a community problem. Great magazines have built enduring relationships with their readers that Facebook and Tumblr still aspire to. But in a race to grow their businesses, publishers put advertising first and editorial excellence second."

--"The Magazine Isn't Dying," Slate.com

Well said! P.S. Did you know People was a spin-off of Time magazine?

This kid is the best, full stop

"This kid is the best. Dude is like, "Doesn't even matter, lightning from my hands, what." He's like, "Lightsaber upside your head, bitch." Stan Winston is looking down from heaven and saying "Would a smile hurt?" And this kid is like "Relax, ghost. I run this."

Meanwhile, George Lucas is like "I need to get out of the kitchen, because it is filled with heat that I cannot take." Penguin legs. (Via Urlesque)"

via VideoGum

It's amazingly satisfying to pretend you're Daft Punk

Jill Barber charms SXSW (UPDATE)

UPDATE: Here's some Canuck-style gossip for ya. It looks like love over here... unconfirmed but my research tells me that Lawrence and Barber are sweethearts - thus, the mushy tweets.

CBCRadio3 host Grant Lawrence has been totally crushing on Halifax singer Jill Barber all week at SXSW, via Twitter:

"GrantLCBCR3 Seeing sexy Jill Barber play at Canada House at 1245pm"
"GrantLCBCR3 Best legs in Austin: Jill Barber"
"GrantLCBCR3 Jill Barber crooning sweetly at and seductively at Habana Calle 6. Nice break from the cacophony! Like being at a resort!"
"GrantLCBCR3 Jill Barber doing Sam Cooke's "Cupid", which is Jay Malinowsky of Bedouin Soundclash's all-time fave song."

You can hear the lovely tune as Jill performed it for GO! on CBC Radio for Valentine's Day below. She starts at 1:06:18 but the whole show is great. If this flash player doesn't work, search "The Soul of Love" at this link.

eeeeeeeeeee! (UPDATE - Trailer)

See the newly released trailer here
(THANK YOU, Andy)

THANKS, Matt (link fixed)

I'm working for HBO too

So, because of the lack of commentary due to general brain-mushiness at this time of year, this space is inadvertently becoming a series of press releases for things I am interested in seeing and reading (whoops).

Accordingly, here's a little promo for the Criterion Collection and HBO. The first is a trailer for Grey Gardens, the 1975 documentary by the Maysle brothers about Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Little Edie, cousins of Jackie Kennedy. The Beales are cult figures, known for their eccentric style, and for the controversy surrounding their mansion, Grey Gardens. The Beales neglected the estate until it fell into a state of squalor so severe, they were evicted.

Just below are sneak peaks at the 2009 HBO TV movie about the Beales, also called Grey Gardens, including reenactments of moments from the 1975 documentary. Drew Barrymore is lovely, don't you think?

The Great Food Revolution

I'm high off of a great tour of CBC Vancouver on Friday. I was lucky enough to hitch onto a SFU communication students field trip to the mothership, and since then, my love for most things CBC has been renewed. So, I'm excited this week about another series of food docs that's hitting the screen. Last year, The Current broadcast some great pieces about the global food situation called "Diet for a Hungry Planet".

The Great Food Revolution takes the microscope to North Americans', and specifically, Canadians', diets:

The Great Food Revolution is a rich and spicy stew of stories about a food revolution that has transformed the way we eat, drink and think about food. Food is the new status symbol. For a rapidly growing number of people, it’s a measure of personal sophistication and the magic ingredient for a long and healthy life. It is the 21st century’s magnificent obsession. Food outsells sex on the bestseller lists, TV chefs are revered celebrities, dining has become "an entertainment", nutritionists are the new therapists.

Four, hour-long episodes, shot in High-Definition television, chart the exotic course of this all-consuming revolution that has cut a daring new swath through staid family and national traditions and altered the course of the global economy.
desert

The Great Food Revolution is a celebration of our new culinary fascinations, told through character-driven stories that speak to the culture of food, the passion of the times and the forces of the future.

I'm always thinking about food - thinking about what to eat now and later, what I just ate, and also in a social, cultural, and political context - so these are right up my alley. I hope these interest you too.

Grayscale Bar

Like Monocle, Finnish magazine Kasino A4 reaches beyond the printed page. To represent their black and white magazine, the very stylish publishers of Kasino ran the Grayscale Bar at Colophon2009 for the duration of the magazine event in Luxembourg. Naturally only black or white drinks were served (ie coffee or vodka).

via MagCulture

Family Album

I'm currently doing research on photographer Diane Arbus for my very last undergrad paper (hurrraaay!). Arbus's last project was a Family Album (unfinished), which, among other themes, explored performance and decorum in family photographs and other formal portraits... or at least, that's what art historians think. Who knows what Arbus really had in mind.

There's an unexpected parallel to Arbus's work in a hilarious website I found this weekend. Sexy People is a blog devoted to recovering the "perfect portrait[s]." Like Arbus's work, they reveal the "freak" in all of us--especially those who had their pictures taken before 1990 at a local Sears portrait studio or by Artona.

Canada Honours Harvey

These pieces came by way of local filmmaker Jason Karman.

Last night, The National paid tribute to Harvey
[video | starts at 41:00]

CBC also filed a story online
[Yo-yo King Dies at 90]

From the family:

If you have any stories or memories you'd like to share with us about Harvey, please don't hesitate to send them to us at forharvey@lowehk.com and we will put them with his other memory items.

photo by Dean Buscher

Remembering Harvey Lowe

The Yo-Yo King of Chinatown dies at 90

By John Mackie, Vancouver Sun
March 14, 2009

They called Harvey Lowe a Chinatown legend, but that was something of an understatement.

Lowe hosted Canada's first Chinese-language radio show, was a nightclub fixture in the 1950s and '60s at clubs like the Marco Polo and the Smilin' Buddha, and a restaurateur who was involved with Chinatown hot spots like the Bamboo Terrace, the Kingsland and the Asia Gardens.

He was also the doorman at one of Chinatown's fabled gambling dens, taught Julie Christie how to smoke opium for the movie McCabe and Mrs. Miller and was once a regular on the Smothers Brothers TV show.

But his main claim to fame was as a yo-yo player. In September 1932, Lowe won the World Yo-Yo Championship in London, England. He took a $4,600 prize, and lived in London for three years, doing yo-yo exhibitions around Europe.

He visited the Eiffel Tower so often the guards would let "the little China boy" in for free. His manager insured his hands with Lloyds of London (as a gimmick: his hands were insured for only a day), and he taught the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) yo-yo tricks.

"Somebody has a picture of him playing yo-yo with me, the royal photographer," Lowe said in a 2003 interview with The Vancouver Sun.

"We tried to get that picture, but dammit, they wouldn't give it to us, because we wanted to use it for advertising."

Lowe died Wednesday at St. Paul's Hospital. He was 90.

Teaching yo-yo to a future king was a far cry from his childhood in Victoria, where he was born on Oct. 30, 1918, the 10th child of Lowe Gee Quai and Ming Yook.

His father was one of three brothers who set up tailor shops on Government Street in the 1890s. Through a bizarre immigration mix-up, all three were given the same English first name, Charlie, but were given different last names: Lowe, Hope and Wu.

Lowe's father died when he was three, and his mother supported the family by sewing. He was largely brought up by his father's concubine or mistress, who lived in the same house as the rest of the family.

"The Chinese want sons, so [my father] had a concubine," he said, noting that his mother had eight girls but only two sons.

"Imagine, both of them were living under the same roof. But they got along good. The concubine was the one that looked after me. The first mother gave birth to 10, and I had one [younger] brother from the concubine, so I was No. 11."

Harvey's fortune changed during the continental yo-yo craze of the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1931, Lowe bought his first yo-yo for 35 cents, and he was soon winning local contests.

"I had badges and wound up with a bicycle," he recounted. "Man, that was like winning a Cadillac in 1931."

He was so good, promoter Irving Cook offered to take him to London. Lowe won the World Yo-Yo Championship on Sept. 12, 1932 at the Empire Theatre in London. At the height of his yo-yo powers, he figures he could do 2,000 different tricks with his Cheerio yo-yo, which is now in the National Yo-Yo Museum in Chico, Calif.

In late 1934, he returned to Victoria and high school. But his mother sent him to Shanghai in 1937 so he could learn to write Mandarin. He lived through the Japanese occupation there during the Second World War, but in 1949 left China when Mao Tse-tung's Communists took over.

Back in Vancouver, he got a job as a doorman at the Dye Ning gambling club in the 100 block of East Pender.

"Five or six" gambling houses operated in Chinatown at the time as social clubs. Lowe said the attitude of the authorities was simple: "You can gamble all you want among you Chinamen, as long as you don't let the English in."

It was an easy job.

"All I'd do was watch the door and let the members in. Non-members are white," he laughed."As soon as reporters would come, I used to fake [not speaking English]. 'No can come in, sorry, sorry. No can come in.' So they don't talk long with me. 'No speak.' They'd all laugh and walk away."

He bought a typewriter and started writing stories about China, which he showed to Jack Short at radio station CJOR.

He wound up doing a half-hour show, Call of China, for 12 years.

In the early 1950s he opened the Smilin' Buddha Cabaret on Hastings Street, and in the 1960s he was stage manager at the Marco Polo, one of Vancouver's top nightclubs. In later years he worked as a greeter for Canadian Pacific Airlines at the airport, was president of the Chinatown Lions Club and worked in public relations for Aberdeen Mall in Richmond.

He was a one-off, a man with a seemingly endless supply of energy. In 1995 he had surgery to deal with a tumour "like a small golf ball" in his brain. Taking the tumour out was deemed too risky, so doctors "cleaned up" his brain the best they could in a 10-hour operation.

The surgery was successful, but left a lingering problem: memory loss. Lowe coped with it the best way he knew how: by doing yo-yo tricks. And after a month, his memory returned.

jmackie@vancouversun.com