Clearly, I am a bit John le Carre crazy this week, and who can blame me? His role in the spy genre has been monumental. Rather than accepting the limited definition of?”spy thriller” as action packed, vacant, and absurd?(which are fun too), he lends a complex and insightful voice.

Much of that insight comes from his own experiences as a secret agent. The character played by Ian Richardson in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for example was based on a real man in le Carre's career.

Still writing and still speaking out, most recently saying “How Bush and his junta succeeded in deflecting America's anger from Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein is one of the great public relations conjuring tricks of history.” le Carre continues to be one of those discerning men that the world needs more of. You know, the kind that can pull of plaid blazers and send educated people into a tizzy with his daring forthrightness.

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Posted on November 26, 2007

Things that make you go hmm… This mannish thing has taken it upon himself to judge what people look like. It's astonishing. Along with his friends, Mr. Toad and Ratty, they have systematically taken any life out of the red carpet.

Just like how the Oscars themselves used to be soo much more fun when Rob Lowe was jazz handling Snow White, we like to see the over the top and the extravagant!

But you should see the fangs that come out when someone looks different or daring. They feel happiest praising the Christine Lahtis and Jane Leeves of the world and, while I have no particular problem with those ladies, the fact that the were given coveted Golden Hanger Awards makes me feel like going to my high school prom only to discover that my unassuming English teacher has been crowned prom queen.

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Posted on November 12, 2007

Everyone knows that Tom Savini is the guy who made horror movies cool again. From making his own head explode in Maniac, to driving a harpoon through Kevin Bacon's throat in Friday the 13th, to all the blood and guts of the Romero classics Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and, my personal favorite, Martin (his first feature), he's the most revered working special effects man in the business.

Savini's face is just as familiar to his fans as his work since he's acted in many of the films he's worked on including the recent Rodriguez/Tarantino Grindhouse and do you remember the biker guy from Dawn? That's him too.

If you want to learn the craft of gruesome deaths and monster modeling he runs a sixteen month program in Pennsylvania. Also in his home state: what has got to be the coolest haunted house around, Terror Mania in Pittsburgh which features his grisly creations. It's only $13.50 and just thinking and daydreaming about it is already making my Blood Manor experience seem like child's play. Unfortunately, the event is cancelled for this year, I hope it's not because Tom was spending too much time getting rock hard abs.

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Posted on October 29, 2007

How could I be unaware of such magnificence? For that matter, how did the whole world seem to forget it? Born in Missouri, Pandit developed a more adventurous and totally untrue background story (too cool) wherein he was raised by a Brahman priest and a French opera singer. He starred in a local California TV show where he never spoke, just gazed intently into the viewer's eyes and played on his organ.

Despite his successes as a musician, a silent TV star, being considered the Godfather of Exotica(!) and all his other accomplishments in style and just plain craziness, he has long faded into the background and is all but forgotten today, though Re/Search included his music on Incredibly Strange Music, Vol. 2. and he did have a cameo in former Brix Pick, Ed Wood.

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Posted on October 15, 2007

When I was growing up, my sister and I would play intricate, complex games with our large collection of magazine cut outs. Alaia's form fitting dresses and tiny smiling face were images we came across often. One could even reasonably say he helped formed our views of sexiness. Always fiercely independent, Alaia is hands-on in every step of the creative process and does all the pattern-making, cutting, fittings and pressing himself. While his contributions to style on one hand may seem dated and reprehensible (he's responsible for the body suit and lycra shorts) there's no doubt that his seductive, clingy, zipper creations have had a lasting impact on his fans and his successors. After practically vanishing from the scene, he is still inspiring and making clothes for a select clientele including Victoria Beckham and Carine Roitfeld.

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Posted on October 1, 2007