Awww... Missed It!

via Nothing Elegant

I have been a bit obsessed this year with the look of Dia de los Muertos. I have always liked the pageantry and colour of this holiday, and for us up here in Canada, whose second culture is French not Spanish, it is particularly exotic and not very commonly seen. This year in particular I was pretty taken with many of the photo shoots I found while looking for inspiration for our All Souls shoot. I came very close to recreating the look for the shoot, and almost wish that I had stayed with that inspiration, as the concept would be so much fun to work with. I will have to keep in in mind for next year. With all my fascination though, I didn't pay much attention to the actual date of DdlM. Apparently it is November 2nd, and I missed it. I still want to share some of these gorgeous images with you though. I hope you like them as much as I do! Which is your favourite?

via El Dia de los Muertos

via something in letters I can't get my keyboard to do

via El Dia de los Muertos

Sunday Thoughts: iLonely

iPod. iPad. iPhone. Has the world of techno-connectivity that seems to be symbolized by the humble lower-case "i" done more than just create a media iCon? For sure Apple / Mac is not responsible for the Age of Information's addiction to tech savvy connesseurism of tools and gadgets that are so "easy to use" that I'm sure more than one toddler has phoned Japan while their parent has unloaded groceries at the checkout. Absolutely our dependence on Facebook is not solely because it is the easiest way to re-connect with those we love when Friday night shenanigans result in another "I lost my phone- everyone send me your #!!" scenario. Our adoration for apps is not entirely the fault of the Apple store whose fabulously sleek interface has revolutionized the way our culture views media marketing.

I am the Apple girl in my family. Having dated a statistically significant number of geeks over two decades has taught me that Macs are superior. Period. Go ahead... argue. Won't make a difference, nobody else has swayed me yet. But strangely, while my uber plugged in sister still totes a PC in her stylin' laptop case, it is she that is the Apple poster child. Her ears have sported the buds of every Pod the wee letter "i" has been a part of. She was the first person to show me the bazillion reasons there were for me* to jump on the Smartphone bandwagon.

*Regular readers will know that I am still sans mobile and am possibly the only person in North America who is still land line dependent. In fact, I am waiting to chance upon a vintage rotary in a great colour, which should suitably confuse and frustrate my family. 

Li'l Sis is the demographic that Apple has coveted since it made the horrific and near fatal error of ignoring the concept of home computing  way back in the day. They played catch up for years before one of their more briliant marketing teamsters came up wtih the concept that would change the name of the game forever. Sexy. iPods are not small and convenient listening devices, they are crazy unique dance moves to indie tunes you have never heard before but know you should love. iPhones are not a way to enjoy the wonders of mobile communication, they are a way to let the world know who you are via rainbow hued cases, jeweled bling and wicked cool ringtones. And PC vs. Mac started it all by turning geekdom covetable with a campaign that imprinted on us the idea of computer-tech-network-engineer-graphic-artist-webmaster-hacker types being infinitely cool and mightier than thou.

These days, the more wired you are, the higher up the ladder you seem because chances are, you are one of the first to see it tweeted that Beyonce is preggers and that Miss Kardashian is over a foot shorter than her basketball playing hubby. And we all know that knowledge is power! Yes, in a rush to keep up with the "Joneses" of the digital age, we have immersed ourselves in a gloried display of how important "i" can be. It is a time to celebrate your unique attitude, style and sparkly contribution to society and show the world via cute txt lingo how fabulous you truly are.

But what about the "we"?

No, not the Wii (Nintendo's answer to unhealthy closeted gamers is to create quality family time playing "team sports" in front of the telly, of course) ... I am talking about real, actual, person to person communication using only the tools we used for all the centuries before this one. Our ears and our mouths. Julian Treasure has taken it upon himself to study the dying art of listening. He points out that the louder our world gets, the more distracted we are and the more removed from healthy society we become. I recently spoke to an old friend from high school that said since returning from life in Thailand, he has noticed a vast disconnection in North American society. That striking up a conversation with somebody is near impossible what with having to interrupt their texting or iPod listening.

People these days are busy even in their downtime, and our brains are becoming so overloaded with non-information that we simply have very little room left for the things that are... or should be... important. Politics, education, daily interaction... family... all are taking a backseat to a glossy new interface that we are mistaking for life. I notice this every day walking down the street with my four year old. I live in a small town (pop. 10 000) and when my now eight year old was wee, he spent most of his time out of the house chatting up anyone who would give him the time of day. Which was on average, pretty much everyone. The bus, the grocery store, the park... nobody was exempt from his tales of what was his favourite new toy or book. That was four years ago, and today, when my second tries in vain to converse with the people we run into on our walk downtown, he is mostly blocked by earbuds or a qwerty pad... and the most he receives is a polite but uninterested nod. Most of the time he is ignored completely. Now I am of course biased because I think everyone should drop what they are doing and indulge my son in conversation, but I was raised to not interrupt people and to give them their space and that is now the lesson learned in repetition. It isn't hard to see the difference though. Even without a degree in Humanitarian Studies, or whatever area it is that studies the effects of human interaction on the psyche, I can tell you how unhealthy this all is. Perhaps if I didn't take personal offense via my child, I wouldn't notice. But then, when we see more and more relationships being "built" on bank accounts and boob jobs, perhaps the art of social interaction is something that should be paid more attention to.

Maybe. Just a thought.

Sunday Thoughts: The Way of the Budgie

I am fascinated by the psychology of marketing. This is paradoxical as I am also completely against a consumerism based culture. Which is ironic in that I write both a blog about things and stuff, as well as a blog revolving around the wedding industry which is relatively redundant in a modern society where the church no longer rules and girls are not the property of her father but is rather an industry based on charging obscene amounts for unneccessaries we have been taught since Barbiehood that we truly must desire to be happy. Right. I digress.

I am passionate about the creative process. My world has always revolved around creating in some form or another. I am unsure where it comes from as my family and friends growing up, while supportive of the arts, were not devoting much of themselves to creative pursuits. I was taught that money was not only important as a means to getting by, but also as a demonstration of who you were. Thankfully I was also taught values and interests that won out and cleared another path for me, however economically unviable it may be :)

A couple of years ago I took a marketing class that focused on branding and how to translate your business into print and various areas of advertising. I spent the last bit of the class trying to explain to the instructor how I was searching for a name that was simple and organic without sounding too organic. The thing about living in the Kootenays is that it is very easy to be pegged as what I like to refer to as a "budgie"... those who try to live simply, shun pop culture for the most part, and eat a rather "seed" based or natural diet. We have a high per capita tofu consuming population and to use the word organic in Nelson is to pigeonhole yourself beyond redemption. Once you are labelled budgie, your abilities in the business side of town are much hindered. It's a small town.

So before we even got to the actual name figuring we had to debate the demographic being feathered or otherwise and then came the part where I had to stand by the concept of people paying at least $80 for a pillow. As I myself find this strange to a certain degree, I tried in vain to explain that when certain people see good design they will pay what you charge. I have to admit though that there is a fair amount of frustration in knowing that those people are not the majority of Nelson's populace. We are a young, hip and vibrant town, but that energy comes from all the starving artists out there. If you want to make a living in this town as an artist, you have to find a way to do it remotely. I think "the world is your oyster" is a phrase that we creative types are clinging to in an attempt to convince ourselves that as long as we have access to the WWW, we will be just fine.  But at the same time, our values are finally returning to us and we are being hit with the question "If an overabundance of stuff and whatnots is such a huge part of what is wrong with the world today, then why am I trying to make a living by making more stuff?"

The handmade movement is such a greatly empowering entity. It allows the minority to be part of the equation. Single moms can try to make a living from home, students can supplement with part time, non invasive work and artisans are feeling that their skills might again be worth something. The lure of "cheap" and "mass produced" are no longer holding the sway they once did. Our economy in the toilet means that the higher ups are paying attention to details that they never would have in better economic climates. We are all standing tall while we steamroll the "Made in China" system. Yay us! But then, how do we make the right choices in choosing what to make? I often see people get down off their soapbox after a particularly brilliant schpiel about living simply so others can simply live... only to take up a needle and thread to sew more pretty stuffies and coffee cup sleeves. How big is our scope, exactly?

More and more I am seeing that the way of doing things is changing whether we are ready, aware, involved... or not. I am finding more people who are making huge changes in their lives. Not simply changing their light bulbs to CFCs, or upping their blue box capacity... but digging up their front yards to garden and tossing their cable subscription. Choosing not to drive, buying less... educating through leading by example. In a world where Disney rules and toothpaste brands are fighting over the rights to sell mint tooth cleaner with the top rated cartoon face, maybe the best bet for everyone is to worry less about the bottom line and think more on the common denomenators. Community, health, love and understanding... imagination and play... support and caring and selflessness. Maybe trading in the second car for more quality time via fewer soccer camps. Eating dinner at the table with healthy conversation is worth more and says more about the family than the cottage at the lake, or the size of the toybox.

Let's get back to making quality, dependable and beautiful necessities and work hard at trimming the excess. If less is considered to be "needed" then people will eventually learn that it's not about saving a buck, but putting that buck where it counts... and that buying something to last, maybe even to pass down through the generations, is in fact better than the "convenience" of disposable anything. Make less and get paid what you are worth. It sounds easy. Let's make it so.

Ron and Draco... All Growed Up

 I don't know about you all, but I was completely addicted to the Harry Potter books till the movies came out. Not that I have any many issues with the movies, but you know how it is with an amazing book... the possibility of cramming it into an hour (or three) at the theatre is next to impossible. It was years ago now that I read them, but I still feel a great fondness for the characters. 

 

This is perhaps why I feel so amused by the idea of casting Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy in the roles of male model. I most certainly understand the savvy concept, the brilliance of borrowing their characters without actually using their persona to sell product. Marketing psychology fascinates me, and this shoot is bang on, but it still seems kinda like they should not be throwing Weasley and Malfoy in a room together with the purpose of selling clothing. It seems, I don't know... dangerous? LOL

 Either way, the idea to shoot Rupert Grint and Tom Felton at the Magic Castle in LA was pretty genius. Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders shot the pair himself on Polaroid film (also genius) and the results are exactly what the clothing should be represented by. (It doesn't hurt that the label's acronym is BOO which fits with the castle's creepy bits for a lookbook hitting the populace in the face right before Halloween.) More than anything, it's great just to see these two just having a good time.  

 All in all, a pretty brilliant scheme. Well played.

The Last Great Glamour Icon Says Farewell

Larry King: "Elizabeth Taylor was a great friend, a great star and one gutsy woman. She was so special. You won't see the likes of her again…"

She of the violet eyes.

It goes without saying that Liz Taylor (or Dame Elizabeth Taylor to the little people) was one of, if not THE biggest name in Hollywood. She was known not only for her multiple Oscars in a plethora of movies that were destined to be classics, but also for the drama she brought off-screen to the media surrounding Hollywood. She was not only one of the major catalysts of Superstardom and Celebrity, but also of the idea that we as a society should be interested in the private lives of the rich and famous, because... well, she made it interesting.

“I’ve always admitted that I’m ruled by my passions.”

Stephen Fry: RIP Dame Elizabeth Taylor, surely the last of a breed…

Nobody can say that Taylor was not an intelligent and extroverted woman, especially the way she lived life as she pleased before the time that women in North America were allowed to do so. She always walked a fine line between putting on a grand show for the cameras and being labeled "too riske" for the common good. In the end, her tumultuous and drama-laden life and career earned her a cemented place in top ranks of Hollywood Icons, but in every sense, she also left that status far behind when she showed the world that she was also a giving and charitable lady of grace as she took on work benefitting AIDs research before it was a popular issue.

With co-star Montgomery Clift whose life she saved.

She has always been noted by her peers as being  a good and kind person. Her life on camera started with her early years and the choice of her relationships followed alongside.

On the set of Lassie Come Home

Wearing the Golden Football of one of her first notable bfs.

Nothing captured the media's attention more though, than the extravagance that Liz embodied. And nothing displayed that more, than her multiple weddings, their subsequent drama, and her choice of grooms.

Wed Conrad Hilton in 1950 at age 17.

Attendees in yellow organdy...

The hotel heir accepts a sweet token...

Liz married the first "Nicky" Hilton at her most extravagant wedding in 1950. Much of the wedding was promoted and paid for by MGM as her movie "Father of the Bride" opened one month later. Her $1500 dress was a gift from the studio, a creation by MGM studio designer Helen Rose (who also created Grace Kelly's wedding gown). The white satin dress, accented with seed pearls and beading, featured a sweetheart neckline that was covered with a chiffon overlay. She also wore a veil attached to a cap combined with a pearl tiara. The dress was very similar to the one she wore in Father of the Bride.

The marriage lasted eight months. To be fair, she was only seventeen at the time and although he had been sober for his courtship with her, he reportedly fell off the wagon during their wedding reception and was a less than stellar groom, flirting with other passengers on their honeymoon voyage and gambling. He was also, she would reveal later in life, abusive, although she would not recognize this trait until she felt less jaded with subsequent marriages.

If you ask me, in this photo taken while they settle a property dispute, he still looks pretty enamored. She looks much wiser. He went on to date Natalie Wood and Joan Collins, then wed and divorced an oil baroness before his early death in 1969.

wearing a fairly modest suit and pearls

One year later, Liz was married to British actor Michael Wilding in London. Michael was twenty years her senior and she was his second wife. He provided for Liz the stability she needed after her dramatic, albeit short, first marriage and she fell into the role of wife more easily in this second marriage.

While fairly accomplished in film and on stage overseas, Michael contracted to MGM during his years with Liz and co-starred in mainly dull roles. His most memorable role in the US was the Pharoah in the Egyptian.

This marriage lasted five years and saw Liz birth two sons, Michael Jr. and Christopher. During her final days of being Mrs. Wilding, Liz was swept off her feet by the producer of "Around The World In 80 Days".

Weds Mike Todd in February 1957.

In 1957, only three days after her divorce from Michael Wilding, Liz wed producer Mike Todd. Although 24 years older than she, she has admitted publicly that although not always easy, this was her happiest marriage. "He had a joy, a relish about being alive, a vitality that was so contagious," she wrote. "He was a fabulous con artist, could con the gold out of your teeth, but was terribly, gregariously generous." 

Liz's parents to the far left. Liz wears a hooded silk gown.

It was with Todd that she had baby girl Liza (short, of course for Elizabeth). Tragically, Todd would die when his plane, Lucky Liz, crashed in 1958 in New Mexico. Eddie Fisher, Todd's best friend, stated that no fragments of Todd had been found, and that his coffin contained only his ring. The marriage had lasted 418 days.

Liz and Todd attend Derby Day with Fisher and Reynolds following.

Marries Fisher in a green silk hooded number.

 In the time that followed, Liz would be portrayed in the media for being a home-wrecker as she married Eddie little more than a year later. An extremely popular pop singer, Eddie Fisher left his wife, Debbie Reynolds to marry her. It seems widely assumed that he had designs on her when she was married to Todd.

Liz, Eddy and Debbie.

When interviewed, Reynolds graciously said that she could understand being dumped "for the world's most beautiful woman (Taylor)", previously a close friend. Taylor and Reynolds later resumed their friendship, and mocked Fisher in their TV movie These Old Broads, wherein their characters ridiculed the ex-husband they shared, named "Freddie."

Fisher visits Taylor on the set of Cleopatra

Her next marriage to Richard Burton may have been karma for Fisher. While filming Cleopatra, Liz was to have an affair with her co-star where director Joseph Mankiewicz described their chemistry as "like being locked in a cage with two tigers".

Liz cutting Richard's hair the day her divorce from Fisher finalizes.

Frocked in yellow chiffon.

A few flowers in her hair.

Promptly after the release of the movie left Fisher for the Welsh actor. They wed in Montreal in 1964, nine days after her divorce from Eddie Fisher was finalized. They stared in many movies together, most notably "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" where they seemed to portray their own stormy off-screen relationship.

Some of my favourite photos of Liz were taken during this marriage. I think it was a time where she had come into her own both as an actress and as a person... and probably felt an equal to Burton, which may have contributed to their tumultuous relationship. Regardless of the media feast that they provided for the paparazzi, she seems to be more peaceful and relaxed in many of the photos taken during this time.

Dress no. 2

The two divorced in 1974 and remarried in 1975... and divorced in 1976.

That same year Liz married Senator John Warner. This marriage lasted until 1982. Liz states that when Warner was elected she started to feel redundant and began to eat and drink "with abandon" to try to console herself. She said "I had nothing else to do".

In October 1991, she married for the eighth and final time to Larry Fortensky, a construction worker. She had met Fortensky, 20 years her junior, while in rehab. The opulent ceremony was held at Michael Jackson's 2,700-acre Neverland Ranch. Jackson gave away the bride, who wore a pale yellow gown by Valentino. Fortensky's best man was Liz's hairdresser, Jose Eber. Among the 150 guests were Liza Minnelli, Eddie Murphy and former first lady Nancy Reagan. The marriage ended in 1996.


"I think I ended up being the scarlet woman partly because of my rather puritanical upbringing and beliefs," she once said. "I couldn't just have a romance; it had to be marriage."

Rest in Peace and Love Dame Liz, you will be missed.


* Hotel heir Nicky Hilton (married May 6, 1950-divorced January 29, 1951)
* Actor Michael Wilding (married February 21, 1952-divorced January 26, 1957)
* Producer Mike Todd (married February 2, 1957-his death March 22, 1958)
* Singer Eddie Fisher (married May 12, 1959-divorced March 6, 1964)
* Actor Richard Burton (married March 15, 1964-divorced June 26, 1974)
* Actor Richard Burton (2nd Marriage) (married October 10, 1975-divorced July 29, 1976)
* Senator John Warner (married December 4, 1976-divorced November 7, 1982)
* Teamster construction-equipment operator Larry Fortensky (married October 6, 1991-divorced October 31, 1996)

Photo credits to Time/Life, Splash, About.com