Leo Fuchs

Photography Appreciation

Born in Vienna, Leo Fuchs moved to New York City with his family in 1939.  His first work was in Broadway nightclubs as a glamour photographer.  

Considered a "pioneer of celebrity photography," Leo Fuchs spent most of his time in Hollywood taking pictures of icons and sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s. 

Paul Newman (1959)

Audrey Hepburn (1958)

Gregory Peck and Mary Badham (1961)

You can see more of his "never-before-seen" photos at the following link: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201011/leo-fuchs-photographs-hollywood-archives.

Sources: GQ, November 2010; http://leofuchs.com/; http://www.leofuchsarchives.com/

Gilda Radner's "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals"

Acting Appreciation

Remember Baba Wawa the Saturday Night Live character that was a spoof of American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters?  That was one of many characters created by comedian Gilda Radner.

Born in Detroit, Michigan on June 28, 1946, Gilda Radner began her acting career along Eugene Levy and Martin Short in the film adaptation the musical Godspell. 

She then joined other comedians such as John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray to be a part of perhaps one of SNL's best cast. 

 
After winning an Emmy Award in 1978 for her work on SNL, Gilda Radner starred in her Broadway Show, Gilda Radner - Live from New York.

Sources: Wikipedia

Iggy Pop - Candy

Music Appreciation (A Retrospect)

There was a girl in eighth and ninth grade whose nme was Candy, and I remember her becoming famous.  Not because of who she was or what she had become, but of the song that was in mainstream radio and video. 

I recall watching Kate Pierson and Iggy Pop in the Candy music video.  Honestly, I had developed a crush on Kate Pierson, and this video didn't suppress my attraction.

The Girls of Summer

Photography Appreciation

"Spruce Girls" by Vern C. Gorst

The Pretenders - Back on the Chain Gang

Music Appreciation

American rock heroine Chrissie Hynde is better known as the lead vocals of The Pretenders.  The band was formed in Hereford, England, while Hynde was in London working for a popular weekly music magazine in the early 1970s. 

The English band found international success with their third single, "Brass in Pocket," which also debuted as the seventh music video on MTV on August 1, 1981.   

Back on the Chain Gang was released in 1982 shortly after their guitarist James Honeyman Scott's drug overdose.

Source: Wikipedia

Diego's artist influence in the hub of Capitalism

Art Appreciation

A coworker and a good friend of mine put me up to a task. 

He gave me an assignment to write about Diego Rivera, known for his murals, in New York City.  Needlesstosay, I took on his assignment.

Before I focus on the artist and his artistic influence while in the money capitol of the world, I should provide a quick history without naming his most famous spouse. 

Diego Rivera was born on December 8, 1886 in Guanajuato, Mexico.  He studied art at a very early age and continued it through his young adult years in Madrid, Paris and Italy before returing to Mexico City.

While in Mexico City, he participated in a government sponsored mural project that allowed local governments to hire artists to paint murals on government buildings.   The commissioned murals caught the attention of other governments--for example, the neighbor to the north. 

Not long after, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller convinced her husband, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to commission Diego Rivera to paint a mural on the ground floor of Rockefeller Center--the national landmark in the heart of Manhattan.

Diego Rivera's mural represented a man who is caught in the middle of the crossroads being capitalism and socialism. 

To provide a perspective of the time, America was experiencing the effects of the Great Depression.  Jobs were scarse, especially in the major metropolitan areas.  People worked odd jobs for little pay and in unfair labor conditions. 

Diego Rivera wanted to portray the unfair labor treatment in capitalism, something that he felt was corrected and avoided in socialistic governments. 

After Rivera's presentation of the mural, the Rockefellers received many complaints on how Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin was portraited with wonderment.  Soon after, the mural was covered and then removed. 

Diego Rivera never worked in the United States again. 

 

Sources: http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects06/sdtber/rockefeller.html; http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade30.html; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/visualarts/diegorivera_a.html; Wikipedia

Animals question themselves?

Scribbles of a seven year old

I thought I would share a scribble from my son's poetry journal he kept at school.  What I like is how he draws question marks over each animal as if they question what they are rather than he wondering how they were made.

Things I Want to Know

When I think about the animals

There's lots I want to know,

Like how the zebra got his stripes,

And why the turtle's slow.

I wonder 'bout giraffe's tall neck

And how long it could grow.

And just who taught the fireflies

To make that special glow.

Perhaps someone could tell me

About peacock's feathered show,

Or how the worm got stuck with living

In a home so low.
But more than any other thing,
I really want to know--
Just how come my Aunt Hilda
Makes her goldfish war a bow.

-Anonymous