Doll Master

A spooky Korean film where at least five attractive people go to a doll museum to become models for future ball jointed dolls. Needless to say, it wasn't a good idea on their part.
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Korean, with English subtitles.

Parfum

"Perfume", the movie, is supposedly an adaptation of the 1980's historical novel written in German, Das Parfum.
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Not for the squeamish, the impatient, or the faint of heart. "Perfume" is set in mid-century 18th century France firmly amidst a time of gaily painted horse drawn carriages and unwashed human bodies. The pervasive stench of squalor and filth is juxtaposed against the finer scents of opulence and beauty. I found it to be an unusual film vaguely reminiscent of "Angels and Insects".
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Obession. Madness. Mayhem. Excruciating loveliness. A rich heady intoxicating mix. If you love velvet and mansions, labyrinths and roses, chandeliers and cobblestones, you just might like this rather odd film.
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Whether printed on paper or canned to film, it simply begs for a twenty-first century 'scratch-and-sniff' version.

Memoirs of a Geisha

I loved it.
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The film is long. However, it is two and a half hours of gloriously coreographed cinamatography, luxurious brilliant costuming, and a sappy happy ending.
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How could I not like it?
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I was pleased that Orchid's many oriental hair sticks were every bit as good as those in the movie, and I found myself wanting to make those shiney super high little black sandals for the new blue haired Orchid-sized piece which is currently under construction.

Gallery 4222

Gallery 4222

318 Wynn Lane

Port Jefferson, NY

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Photographic exhibition of 'Bebe' by Richard Gardner

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Opening Reception: March 15th 2008

From 6 to 9 p.m. in the evening

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Mark your calendar; I hope to see you there!

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The photograph shown is of Orchid. It is part of the 'Bebe' exhibition and was taken by the incomparable Richard Gardner. Visit: http://www.richardgardnerphotography.com/ .

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Orchid is wearing custom designed, hand crafted 'Precious', a C.F. Original dragon. 'Precious' is one of a kind, created specifically for Orchid. Visit: http://www.cforiginals.com/ .

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'Precious' will be on display and may be seen in person in April 2008 at the Jericho Library exhibition. Visit: http://www.jericholibrary.org/

Hat

"Sometimes it's so hard to smile

for the world

for the camera

and still have something left

You don't have to prove nothin' to nobody

Just take good care of yourself"

- Don Henley

The buzz is true. The latest batch of Richard's photographs has been completed. Amazing, intriguing, and irresitable as usual, the pile of beautiful work grows ever taller.

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The lovely photo shown here is a newly finished portrait of Orchid. While we do have a number of projects underway utilizing the photographs, to date, the only way to acquire the photos is from Richard himself. They can be reproduced for you in any size or any quantity. However, they are only available directly from him. Some of the doll photographs can be seen on his website under the exhibition "Bebe". Visit his website at http://www.ricardgardnerphotography.com/ .

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For those of you who would like to view some of the doll photographs in person to experience for yourself what the fuss is all about, you will have another chance beginning in March 2008 at 'Gallery 4222' . The gallery address is 318 Wynn Lane in Port Jeff. The opening reception is slated for March 15.

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And yes, I am very excited!

Happy St. Valentine's Day

"And now the ferris wheel has stopped.
You're swinging at the top,
Suspended there with him.
And he's the darling of the chic
The flavor of the week.... "
- Eagles

City of Masks

Turn to Daniel Hecht when you would like your fiction laced with just enough fact to make the uncanny seem plausible.
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City of Masks takes you on a journey to New Orleans where ghosts and voodoo abound.
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A.D.'s BunnyBoy is here with Orchid's white beaded wedding handbag that MiniRoses and I slaved over. BunnyBoy, who belongs to Orchid, was such a popular one-of-a-kind that we laugh and laugh that there was almost a fight over him. BunnyBoy was acquired by theDragonQueen's technique of "He's Mine!! I called it first!!!" He will be on exhibit for the first time in Jericho this April. My husband says he is the saddest little rabbit that ever lived.
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To keep tabs on A.D. or to try to snag your own BunnyBoy, visit http://www.angeldevilland.com/ .

Fowl Play

One of the things in Key West that's as ubiquitous as gay men, tourist t-shirts, and beautiful sunsets is the chickens.

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They rather large, very colorful, and they are simply everywhere. They are so used to the daily swarming hoardes of tourists disembarking from the tremendous ocean going cruise vessels, that they pose readily, frequently, and, perhaps, greedily for the cameras. This fellow positively preened with pride when I asked him if he wanted to do a blog shot.
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I also said to him, "Hey, I want to show everybody that tail while it's still attached to your butt. That's exactly the type of feathers that I bought for the wings on our 2009 show piece!"

Message in a Bottle

"I hope I find a message in a bottle.
....message in a bottle.....message in a bottle"
- Sting

To any beach going child, was there ever a more fervent heartfelt wish? How many of us have tried sending a message in a bottle, with the hope that if enough of us sent one, there would be one for us to find?
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Well, I found one. I tell you that I couldn't possibly make these things up, and I don't. Here is the photograph of it, to prove it. And, yes, we have the message. But I'll get to that part.
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No trip to the Sunshine State would be complete without a stop at "my beach", the beach I grew up on. For my entire life, since the time I was born, I spent the summers on Jones Beach and the winters on the shores of Jupiter Island. In those days, no one went to Jupiter Island; no one but me. I spent long long days and many many of them exploring the same stretches of sand endlessly. Back and forth. Over and over. So on this trip, I darted out of the car with a quick, "I'll be back!" and headed straight over the dunes for the white capped water. I found myself annoyed that they added a handicap ramp to the seemingly perpetually growing tiny boardwalk. On my beach, in my time, one slid on one's butt down the hill to get past the dunes to the smooth sand beyond.
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Once past the boardwalk, I was delighted to see that nothing had changed as nothing much ever does when it comes to the Alantic Ocean. I immediately went into "shell hunting mode" and saw that, as usual, there weren't any shells on my beach. And, I looked for Portugese Man O'Wars and saw that, as usual, you'd have to be careful and not get stung. And I looked. And I looked. And then I saw it.
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I thought, "No way. It couldn't be. It would be too good. Someone would have picked it up. It's not like the old days; there are people on my beach. Jeez, there's even a handicap ramp." Of course, I pick it up. And miracal of miracals: it is! Ohmygod, there is a god. The thing was a "message in a bottle"! Covered with live barnacles, all sealed up, with its message curled snuggily inside of it. Ohmygod.
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I quickly took it back to my husband. We gathered quite a crowd; there really are people on my beach these days. We shot a couple of pictures of the thing. Then we cracked it open. No, I did not save the bottle. We were not going to take smelly barnacles on our road trip around the east coast.
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The message is legible. It's hand written in adult script on two sides of a sheet of lined white paper. It's in a foreign language. No, I don't know which one. It wasn't French. We didn't think it was Spanish. We thought maybe it was Italian. It's hard to read because the ink did run a little bit. My best guess is that it might be a prayer for world peace because it has little Christian looking crosses marked on it. But that's blatant speculation. I have no idea at all what it says.
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Yes, I promise that I will try to remember and have my Italian sister-in-law look at it this weekend and see if she can translate it. For everyone who has heard about this 'bottle thing', I promise we'll find out what the message says and I'll be sure to tell you. There have already been alot of jokes because we've waited so long to get the thing deciphered. We tell people, "Well, guess what? If someone's stuck on an island, you sure don't want us to get the message. Our response to the sender of the bottle is: Hope you have alot of coconuts, you're going to be there awhile!"