Designer Barbara Hulanicki may be in her seventies but – with her shaggy peroxide blonde bob, dark glasses and black jacket, jeans and boots combo – she looks like a rock star; which is appropriate as she is treated with the same reverence as a pop icon.

The woman behind the legendary fashion emporium Biba is now the subject of a documentary which, when it was recently shown at the Glasgow Film Theatre, proved to be a magnet for anyone interested in fashion. The scenes at her post-screening book-signing session were what you’d expect at the stage door after a pop concert.

No wonder Hulanicki drew an impressive crowd: Biba, is still a huge influence on today’s fashion – not only in terms of its look, which drew on the styles of the past while setting new trends – but also in its ethos of “disposable fashion”, which paved the way for today’s High Street shops. Barbara explains: “The idea was to buy things and then, when you were done with them, give them to someone else. Everything was £3.”

Biba began life as a mail order catalogue in 1964 and by 1969, the shop was the second most popular tourist spot in the capital (only the Tower of London attracted more visitors). “People would travel from all over the country every Saturday, because the fares were so inexpensive,” says Hulanicki. “There was a sort of club atmosphere about the shop – lots of people who went on to get married originally met there.”

During its heyday, Biba was to fashion what the Beatles were to pop music. It was also a mecca for the coolest celebrities of the day. Hulanicki recalls: “Anybody who was anybody at that time – whatever country they were from – would come in. Brigitte Bardot, Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithful … Barbra Streisand came in when she was pregnant. She went into the (communal) changing room with her great big belly, and took all her clothes off. But you know the girls in the shop were so blase about celebrities that I used to have to beg them for information on who had been in!”

As a student, Hulanicki’s style was very heavily influenced by two movie stars of the 1950s – Grace Kelly and, in particular, Audrey Hepburn. “Her style was just magic,” she gasps. “She was very simple and always wore black.” So, did she ever pop into Biba when she fancied a day-off from her Givenchy wardrobe? “No, but I heard she bought some of our clothes. Somebody told me that she actually said that the only place that fitted her shape was Biba. I was so thrilled! Of course, she was already quite old then…. she was 28!”

As Hulanicki moved on to her Biba period, she fell under the spell of movie stars of an earlier era: Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, neither of whom would have looked out of place lounging around in the decadent art deco fabulousness of the most famous of the Biba stores, all of which were designed inkeeping with their architecture.

Hulanicki walked away from Biba in 1976 after a prolonged period of difficulties with her new business partners. She and her late husband, who had worked with her at Biba, lived in Brazil for a while but, in 1987, wound up in Miami, a city which captured Hulanicki’s imagination – thanks, largely, to its once-glorious Art Deco architecture which she has helped to conserve. Over the last 20 years, she has worked as an interior designer, designing Miami Beach night clubs for the likes of Ronnie Wood and Gloria and Emilio Estefan.

Is she surprised by the ongoing, worldwide fascination with a shop that closed its doors over 30 years ago? “Isn’t it bizarre,” she says. “It keeps growing and growing. My son says that I get rediscovered every two years. It goes quiet then it starts again.” Of course, part of the reason for this is that the coolest, hippest celebrities all seem to own some vintage Biba.

Which of today’s famous fans does she think wears it well? “I love Kate Moss. I love all the bad girls – Amy etc. Everybody seems to collect this stuff, which is interesting – and very nice. But it’s strange because it started out as throwaway fashion!”

* Beyond Biba (November Films; £35) comes out as a special, limited edition (only 1000 copies) DVD on December 7 from www.beyondbibamovie.com. The standard edition of the DVD will be in shops in the New Year.

Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich once said, “I dress for myself. Not for the image, not for the public, not for the fashion, not for men.”

Compiled by Gail Umeham

Personals

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 3

Friends of Harry Goodwin will be leased to learn that he is again doing his expert repairs on fine china, glassware, silver and gold metals at his home, 1812 Tustin, B-2-1655.

Harry has done work for the San Diego Fine Arts Society and La Jolla Art Gallery and has established quite a reputation in this field.

*

Mrs. Harry Goodwin will fulfill a long-held ambition when she sails from San Francisco Jan. 22, to visit her sister, Mrs. Charles Brodie, who lives in Auckland, New Zealand, and whom she hasn’t seen for 27 years.  She expects to return in two months.

*

Mr. and Mrs. Nat Schiller recently spent a weekend in Pomona as guests of former San Diegans Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hyman.

*

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Tennen have recently moved into their new home at 3350 Wisteria Dr.

*

The long New Year weekend gave many an opportunity to visit near-by vacation spots.  All-time favorites, Las Vegas and Palm Springs, had the biggest “play.”

Esther and Lou Moorsteen and Diane and Frank Pomeranz started the weekend on Tuesday by flying to Las Vegas.  Among others spending the holiday there were the Harry Farbs, Leo Krasnes, and Sol Prices.  Reports say Marlene Dietrich’s gown is all the newspapers claim.

*

Taking advantage of the desert sun at Palm Springs were the Murray Goodriches, Irvin Kahns, Abe Ratners, Harry Snyders, Joe Rittoffs, and Bob Kaplans.

*

Among the first-nighters enjoying “The Silver Whistle” last Tuesday were Rabbi and Mrs. Monroe Levens, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Levins, Mr. and Mrs. Ben Harris, and Mrs. Harry Lipinsky.  Staff members Ray Bass and Edward Cherney were on hand for the opening, too.

*

On leave from Fort Ord, Alan Breslauer made the holidays more pleasant for his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Breslauer.

Cradle

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 3

“Fore” shouted Allan Lame, and four it was.  Born Dec. 27 was Jesse Robert, weighing 7 lb. 6 oz.  Allan and Pearl presented the latest member of the quartet to Marcia, Jerry, and Michael at the Bris held Sunday.

Here to see the ceremonies and greet the new grandchild, were Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Lame of Cleveland, Ohio and maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Krennen of Seattle, Wash.

Rabbi Morton J. Cohn and Dr. Joseph Kwint welcomed the newborn infant into the Jewish congregation

Born to Mr. and Mrs. Alex Majtlis of 1644 Fourth Ave., a daughter, Rose, on Dec. 21.  Brother Jackie, 5, willk welcome his native American sister.  The Majtlis’ came to America from Austria 2½ years ago.

Ushering in the New Year with a loud cry was Robert Bland Berman, 6 lb. 8 oz. son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Berman, born Jan 1.  This made it a celebration for the proud grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Edward Bland and Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Berman and great uncle, I. Heller, all of San Diego.

Junior Charity League

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 3

The last meeting of the Junior Charity League was held at the home of Sophie Stone, where the one annual fund raising affair of the club was planned.  A gala Valentine Card Party is to be held, at the Temple Center, on February 4^th, when a delicious luncheon will be served, and a valentine motif carried out in the decorations.  All proceeds from this affair will go to the Polio Foundation, a most worthy cause.  Donation (for the luncheon) will be $1.50.

At the close of the meeting Esther Moorsteen showed a film made by UNICAEF, titled “The Children,” showing the plight of the children of Asia and India, who so badly need help from the rest o0f the world.

Members of the Junior Charity League decided to help by a small personal donation to Mrs. Moorsteen, who volunteered to be chairman of this project.

The whole community is invited and urged to attend the club’s party on February 4^th.

Yo-Ma-Co News

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 3

Yo-Ma-Co Club officers to be installed on Sunday, Feb. 7, at El Cortez Hotel are Pres., Jack Brisker; V.P., Al Nadler; Rec. Sec., Mrs. Dave Brooks; Corr. Sec., Mrs. Milton Kassy; Treas., Dave Brooks; Sgt. At Arms, David Cohen; Aud., Ray Lowitz; and Membership Chrmn., Mrs. Jack Brisker.

Please Note

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 3

Due to the untimely passing of Mrs. Anna Shelley, mother of Mrs. Morton Thaler, the Hadassah Youath Aliya dinner, scheduled for Jan. 19, has been postponed to Feb. 21.

Mrs. Robert Strauss, president, announces the Youth Aliyah affair will take place in addition to the regular February meeting.

Unveiling

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 3

A monument in memory of Otto Rosenbaum will be unveiled Sunday, Jan. 10, at 2:00 p.m. at the Home of Peace Cemetery.  Rabbi Baruch Stern will conduct the services and read the memorial.  All friends of the family are asked to attend.

Double Talk

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 5

By Janet and Susan Solof
As New Year has arrived once more,
And resolutions are being made galore,
Go to school with a happy thought
Remembering everything that was taught.

New Year’s Eve brought the A.Z.A.’s and B.B.G’s on their toes as they gave a big dance.  The main event of the evening was the crowning of the Queen.  Susan Solof was the queen elected and her date Art Pogrell reigned as King.

As the football season comes to an end, we wish to congratulate Bernie Stolsoff and Dave Kenin from Kearney and Gary Naiman from hoover who received “ Letters.”  Good goin’ boys.

Make 1954 successful for the Youth groups.  Take an interest and an active part in them and support all of their affairs.  You will have fun too.

Phone your news—W-5-0679.

B.J. Sisterhood News

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 5

The Beth Jacob Sisterhood will hold its next luncheon-meeting Tuesday, at noon, on January 26, at the Beth Jacob Center.  All guests and members are invited to attend, as a most entertaining afternoon has been planned by program chairman, Mrs. Jack Brisker, and membership chairman Mrs. Sidney Rose. Mrs. Sam Bloom and her committee will sponsor and serve the luncheon.

In memory of Anna Shelley, Beth Jacob Fun Night has been postponed.  A date for this affair will be announced later.

Hadassah News

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 5

“ Bing, Bang!  Bingo!”  is the way president Mrs. Robert Strauss invites all women to be Hadassah’s luncheon guests on Jan. 20^th at 12 noon, in the Temple Center.  Besides the complimentary luncheon, each guest will receive a ticket on the mink stole and the opportunity of winning many other attractive and worthwhile prizes.

No formal business meeting is planned and reservations should be made as soon as possible with Mrs. David Block T-9611 or Mrs. Murray Samuels, W-8-2051.

Jewish Center News

Southwestern Jewish Press January 8, 1954 Page 5

A dance exhibition by Alice Mason, noted dance teacher, and her students, will be given on Tuesday, January 12, — 8:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 3227 El Cajon Blvd.  All 20-30 year olds are invited to participate in an evening of enjoyable activities, in addition to the special program.

A Table Tennis Tournament starts on Tuesday, January 19^th.

Juniors—Registration is now open for the junior (5-12 yrs.) ballet and creative dance classes to be held on Wednesday afternoons 3:00 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center and on Friday afternoons at trhe Portuguese Assembly Hall, 2818 Addison St., both under the direction of Mrs. Irene Timen.  Mrs. Timen has had many years of teaching both classical and modern ballet and has studied with Mikhail Mordkin, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Jose Jose Limón, Pavley, Oukrainsky.

The size of the classes are limited, so register early.

Discussion Group—Dr. Ernest Wolf, chairman and moderator of the Center Discussion Group announces that Dr. Virginia Voek, assistant professor of psychology of San Diego State College, will be the next speaker at the Jewish Community Center’s Discussion Group meeting on Wednesday, January 13^th, 8 p.m., at the Center, 3227 El Cajon Blvd.  Her topic is the series on “Psychology of Prejudice” will be “ Why the Hate—the Personality of the Bigot.”

**

“Adventures in Jewish History” is sponsored by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg. Our indexed “Adventures in San Diego Jewish History” series will be a daily feature until we run out of history.

Various artists. The Best of Christmas. Capitol STBB 2979, 1968(?). (on vinyl, from a thrift store)

I couldn’t resist the boldness of the title. The best of Christmas? And I thought Christmas as I knew it was already wonderful! … Heavy sigh. This album is probably the worst Christmas music I have ever heard outside of a department store. It’s an impressive slew of famous musicians, sucking. It’s not all crap – two or three out of the twenty tracks are listenable, and there’s a Nat King Cole track – but most of it is. Just bad, half-assed musicianship. 3/10 (Bad).

Probabilmente una delle donne più belle mai nate… Marlene Dietrich. Donna letale ed ammaliatrice infiammò le fantasie di un pubblico vastissimo. Nata in Germania conservò il suo fascino rigoroso che lasciava sapientemente intravedere una passionalità profonda.

Interprete eccezionale di film come L’angelo azzurro è rimasta nell’immaginario come un mito, la diva per eccellenza! Associabile solo a figure del calibro di Greta Garbo è stata sempre imitata, ammirata e rappresentata come termine assoluto di sensualità. Il suo stile anticonvenzionale, provocatorio ha fatto scuola e rimane imparegiabile.

Nel film Marocco appare in Frack, stupenda e fatale come solo lei poteva essere. Voci insistenti affermavano la sua bisessualità, ma tutto ciò non faceva che incrementare l’aura di mistero e fascino che l’accompagnava! Hollywood l’adorò, Hitler la corteggiò per anni definendola la sua attrice preferita.

Con la struggente interpretazione del brano simbolo della seconda guerra mondiale, Lili Marlene, divenne la portavoce di tutti i giovani soldati al fronte che vedevano in lei l’amore! Eccovi il brano con la voce della Dietrich, accompagnato da immagini di repertorio:

Questo brano meraviglioso rimarrà nella storia.

Nel film già citatovi, L’angelo Azzurro, mostra le gambe e sconvolge con un atteggiamento sorprendentemente moderno, ho reperito da Youtube lo screentest del film, un filmato eccezionale! (Cliccate prima su play poi sulla scritta). Buona visione!

“i thank god for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees & for the blue dreams of sky & for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.” — e.e. cummings

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough” — Oprah Winfrey

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.” — Woody Allen

“I do not think we have a “right” to happiness. If happiness happens, say thanks.” — Marlene Dietrich

Jax

“Purring is not so different from praying. To a tree, a cat’s purr is one of the purest of all prayers, for in it lies a whole mixture of gratitude and longing, the twin ingredients of every prayer.”  — Kathi Appelt (The Underneath)

“I am as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best. “ — Walt Whitman

“When we find someone who is brave, fun, intelligent, and loving, we have to thank the universe.” — Maya Angelou

“Everyday, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” — Dalai Lama XIV

“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” — Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia)

“The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. “ — Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.” — Kahlil Gibrán (The Prophet)

GiGi

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” — Marcel Proust

“Be present in all things and thankful for all things” — Maya Angelou

“Fell in love with a beautiful blonde once. Drove me to drink. And I never had the decency to thank her. ” — W.C. Fields

“True forgiveness is when you can say, ‘Thank you for that experience.’” — Oprah Winfrey

“Gratitude is a ‘heart’ memory” — French Proverb

“He was still too young to know that the heart’s memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and that thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.” — Gabriel García Márquez (Love in the Time of Cholera)

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” — Albert Schweitzer

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ” — John F. Kennedy

“I tell you this, my friends, in the experience of my life time, the failure and the pain have certainly outstripped the triumphs. But this has not destroyed my faith — my faith in reason, in truth, in human solidarity — but, on the contrary, it has made it indestructible. I see the hope of the world in you. And, from my heart, I thank you.” — Frida Kahlo

“Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough.” — Garrison Keillor

Happy Thanksgiving!

Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds comes out on dvd in December. To celebrate, here’s my unabrigded interview with the director earlier this fall. Two 20 minute sesssions, along with two different Swedish journalists. This is session one. Read the original story here and my interview with Col. Landa actor Christoph Waltz here (both in Norwegian).

How long have you wanted to do scene from a French Café?

QT: That’s a good question. The thing is, it’s only natural when we do a World War II movie, especially taking place in Nazi-occupied France, to do a scene in a French café, because I have a tendency to have scenes take place in restaurants all the time. The first scene for the first movie I ever wrote from beginning to end was Reservoir Dogs, and that took place in a restaurant. I’m a big fan of writing scenes that takes place in restaurants, so a French café is absolutely natural for me in the context of the story.

You have put a lot of attention to languages in the movie, which is not alway the case in WWII movies, where the Germans speak English with a German accent.

QT: The languages was definitely always in the script, it was always my intention. Some people are speculating, will that limit the movie’s potential, because of all the different languages? I think it’s the exact opposite. The stuff where the Germans speak like The Royal Shakespearan Company out of The Old Vic, I think that’s what makes those movies old-fashioned. That was like your father’s WWII movies. It was a contrivance you accepted then, but I don’t think people accept that anymore. Literally, that was makes them seem old-fashioned.

That’s one way of looking at it, just from an aesthetic way, but the other way is actually practical as far as the movie is concerned. Your ability with languages, either to understand them or to speak them, was the difference between life and death. Language itself is one of the most important aspects of this movie, as well it would be, in Europe. It wouldn’t even be the same thing if you were trying to deal with WWII as far as Asia was concerned. The movie could take place in China, and you wouldn’t have to speak anything other than Mandarin.

In the case of Europe, all the time you see movies like Where Eagles Dare. In it, Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood are supposed to be able to speak German so magnificently well that they could put on officer uniforms and walk into a tavern and just kick it in German, and they just know two-three-four ways about it. No worries whatsoever! For the contrivance of the movie, you more or less buy it.

But if Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood were speaking German, that would be a senseful element that would be brought into the movie. And because there would be German speakers out there, it would either be completely phony or it would be exciting. But then again, at the same time, it’s like the way a second generation person speaks German, that they learned in either Canada or they learned in America, is not necessarily the way a person who lives in Frankfurt is going to speak it. That’s just a whole aspect of excitement and suspense that I tried to take full advantage of, because it really hadn’t been explored to the depth that I was exploring it before.

Also, you have all these wonderful German actors, and what often happens in international productions. You’ll have American and British actors, speaking in their own language, maybe feign a Spanish accent, but maybe not. Jeremy Irons doesn’t do that, but then Antonio Banderas walks in, and he truly has a Spanish accent, but where the fuck does he come from? So he actually throws the film off by being authentic. With all these wonderful German actors in there, they all had to be speaking the right thing. That was also the reason that I didn’t cast Dutch or Swedish actors as, I wanted them to be German.

How will the movie be dubbed in Europe?

QT: I actually worked on the dubbing myself, especially when it comes to France, Italy and German. I ended up with a story that couldn’t be dubbed, because it wouldn’t make sense if everybody in the movie spoke the same language. What happened, in the case of Italy and France. German is German, but English will be dubbed. In the case of Germany, French becomes French.

There have been made a lot of WWII movies from historical sources. Was it important for you to make up your own story? To keep distance to History?

QT: You described it pretty well, that’s pretty much the same. I did a tremendous amount of research when I started to write the story a long time ago. I found that I was held back by the research, I got enamored with it. Six months doing research, and spent six months of trying to fit the research into my story. I wanted to show off all this knowledge that I gained, I wanted to give a history lesson.

But I had to get over that. When it comes to stuff like German cinema under The Third Reich, I already had a lot of information on that, so I didn’t need to do a lot of research as far as that was concerned. When I picked up the pen to start writing the story again, I already had done research about the occupation in France, so I had a lot of stuff back here.

I just wrote my story, I didn’t look up anything, and anything that I came to that I didn’t know exactly the historical right and wrongs of it, we’re talking about things like when was curfew during the occupation, I just made it up. I made it up so I wouldn’t have to go backwards. So I could just keep telling my story, I got the freedom to tell my the sory the way I would normally tell them. When I got to the end of it, I looked up the facts. And sometime I liked my way better.

This is the way I normally write, by not trying to make it any different. In a script you have tunnels that your characters can get into, and screenwriters put roadblocks in front of some tunnels, because they can’t afford to have their characters go that road if they want to sell it as a movie. I never had these roadblocks, but this time history itself was a roadblock. I was more or less prepared to respect these roadblocks, but when I got to them, I realised “fuck it”: My characters are gonna do what my characters are gonna do.

My characters don’t know that this is history, my characters don’t know that they can’t go down this road. History hasn’t happened yet, they can do it. If one wants to look at my story as a fairytale, then you’re more than welcome to look at it that way. I don’t look at it like that way. I look at like: My characters changed the outcome of the war. Now that didn’t happen, because my characters didn’t exist. But if they had existed, all that happened in this movie is very plausible.

It seems that Inglourious Basterds treats History like a Western movie treats the history of the American West. It’s more like World War II told as a western, populated with characters and myths.

QT: You guys are really good, I would agree with that. I did actually approach this movie as a way that you would approach a western. In westerns, there is reality and myth, and what survives is what survives.

How did you get to work with Brad Pitt?

QT: We always wanted to work together, but we’ve waited for the right character. While I wrote Aldo, it all came together. One of the things that make Brad so iconic for the role is… Brad’s in a great place as far his career and his superstar persona is concerned. He’s been around for a while, done a lot of movies and worked with some of the most talented directors. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s not a boy anymore. He’s grown out of his boyish good looks, and now they’ve become handsome manly good looks.

There is this special thing about working with Brad at this time, at this time in his career, this is one of the most exciting times to work with him. Both as part of his popularity is concerned, and as far his iconic stature and persona is concerned. He gets thrilling when you set up a shot and look through the viewfinder at him. I can imagine this is the same kinda thrill that Sydney Pollack felt when he was shooting Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford. He looked through the viewfinder, and thought he was at the movie theatre.

Cinema plays a big part in this movie, but do you think you could ever make a movie from a time where there was no movies?

QT: You mean before the 20th century? Yeah, I could do that. If I did a swashbuckler it wouldn’t be about the love of cinema, or maybe it would? A western maybe, how would that end up working out? I did not think that years ago, when I came up with the idea of Inglourious Basterds, that at the end of the day that the movie would end being this wild love letter to cinema.

I never thought of that when I came up with the idea of doing a WWII movie. But at some point, when I was writing the first scene between Shoshanna and Fredrick Zoller, it ended up as a conversation about Max Linder. Man, I’ll  do a WWII movie and it becomes a movie about cinema. I guess that’s who I am.

You must have enjoyed shooting the movie at the legendary Studio Babelsberg?

QT: That was so exciting! I’m a lot like Archie Hickox in the movie, and I have a fetishist love of German cinema of the 1920’s and those directors. Actually we were not only shooting in the studio, but at the same sound stages where Josef von Sternberg shot Der Blaue Engel. The place where we built the theatre, that was the stage Marlene Dietrich sang “Falling in Love Again”. And to actually walk the streets where G.W. Pabst walked, our productions offices were on Papst Strasse.

To make the movies where Papst made his movies, the fact that the studio logo was the False Mariah from Metropolis. It was more exciting than working at 2oth Century Fox. The history was lovely there, it goes all the way, our production manager’s office was actually Joseph Goebbel’s old office.

You picked your German actors from the very best of the crop?

QT: I was thinking about the international audience, and I didn’t want a famous person playing Hitler. If it’s Alec Guiness or Anthony Hopkins as Hitler you think “oh that’s Anthony Hopkins doing Hitler”. But if I watch a minor WWII movie and Hitler shows up, looking more or less like Hitler, I’ll go “okay, that’s Hitler”. I don’t really question it.

Martin Wuttke, who plays Hitler is very well known in Germany, where he had done one of the best Hitler performances ever, in a Brecht play where Hitler turns into a dog. He actually said no several times, so we had to talk him into it. In the case of Sylvester Groth, who played Goebbels, he played him before in Mein Führer, which was a black comedy. He’s an amazing actor, just look at the way he brings comedy into his Goebbels portrayal, especially at the scene that takes place at their little Hollywood luncheon. That’s the sequence that’s closest to Ernest Lubisch’s To Be or not To Be. I love the idea of dealing with Goebbels, not as this architect of evil, but as his job as a studio head. Dealing with him in this practical job, that he considered his number one job, and was the production of all these movies. He’s not like Louis DeMille, he’s not a businessman, he’s an artist at heart, much closer to David Zelnick.

And doing a WWII movie got you an opportunity to portray nazis, which you can say are very stylish villains, fashionwise.

QT: Well, whatever you want to say about the Nazis, you really can’t complain about their fashion sense, ha ha. They definitely had a very striking look, even their architecture was something to behold. It was a lot of fun, going through the uniforms and learning about them. Even the two guards outside Hitler’s opera box, those were special uniforms done for Hitler’s guard, and they have never actually been captured on film before. That was eye-opening and interesting.

What do you think of Stockholm? (obligatory question from Swedish journalist)

QT: This is my seventh visit to Stockholm, and it’s a very nice town, with a couple of bars I like. Also, you have one of the most amazing records stores in the world, Pet Sounds. Whenever you bring the name up to a vinyl collector, you think of the highest quality when you hear the name.

Part two of this interview will be published tomorrow.

 Dietrich Live by Marlene Dietrich

2009 (11 tracks, 27:32)

vocals

Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress. Although she was initially known as a “scream queen” because of her starring roles in many horror films early in her career such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that covers many genres. Her 1998 book, Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day, made the best-seller list in The New York Times. She is married to actor Christopher Guest (Lord Haden-Guest) and, as the wife of a lord, is titled Lady Haden-Guest, but she chooses not to use the title when in the United States. She is currently the spokeswoman for Activia. She is also a blogger for The Huffington Post online newspaper.

Trivia:

During the 1980s she was engaged to Hollywood production designer J. Michael Riva, the grandson of screen legend Marlene Dietrich. Her godfather was MCA-Universal CEO Lew Wasserman.

Saw her future husband Christopher Guest in the issue of Rolling Stone magazine with Cyndi Lauper on the cover. Guest appeared in a promotional photo for the film This Is Spinal Tap (1984) in full costume and makeup as a rock star. She fell in love at first sight of the photo and gave her telephone number to his agent.

Adopted two children with Christopher Guest: Annie Guest (b. December 1986) and Thomas (b. March 1996).

Daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.

Became formally known as Baroness Haden-Guest of Saling in the County of Essex (or, less formally, Lady Haden-Guest), when her husband, Christopher, inherited the barony in 1996 on the death of his father.

Graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall private school in 1976.

It was on her suggestion that Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) was made.

Her deleted scene from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) is included on the MGM Special Edition DVD, 2001, as the “Alternate Opening”.

Was asked to cameo in Scream 3 (2000), but declined.

Won a 2003 Grammy nomination in the Best Spoken Album for Children category for her recording of the children’s books she has written.

Measurements: 34C-22-32 (wardrobe on Forever Young (1992)) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Attended University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

When making reservations in exclusive London restaurants at short notice, she gives her name as Lady Haden-Guest, which apparently works better than Jamie Lee Curtis.

She told a German magazine that she will retire from making movies and that Christmas with the Kranks (2004) will be her last work as an actress. (November 2004)

Said in an interview on Good Entertainment, with Michael Medved (2001) (TV) that, ironically, horror films terrify her and she prefers not to watch them.

Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1992

Was one of the guests at Sandra Bullock’s and Jesse James’ wedding.

Godmother of Jake Gyllenhaal.

Two of her earliest roles make reference to roles played by her father. She appeared in the television series “Operation Petticoat” (1977), based on the movie that had starred her father, Tony Curtis. While on hiatus from that show, she was cast in Halloween (1978), in which the detective “Sam Loomis” was named after a character from Psycho (1960), which had starred her mother, Janet Leigh. Also, her father imitated Cary Grant’s voice for his role in Some Like It Hot (1959), and worked with Grant himself in Operation Petticoat (1959). Grant’s birth name, Archie Leach, was used as the name for John Cleese’s character in A Fish Called Wanda (1988).

Once said that Dan Aykroyd was the best on-screen kisser she ever worked with.

John Cleese found it amusing that her father, Tony Curtis’s real name was Bernard Schwartz. To tease her about this, during the production of A Fish Called Wanda (1988), he had the call sheets refer to her as “Jamie Lee Schwartz.”.

Around the time True Lies (1994) was released, Jamie appeared in a series of commercials for L’Eggs Pantyhose. The company also took out an insurance policy for her legs.

Amazon Specials!

Witness for the Prosecution

Pais: EU
Año: 1957
Género: Intriga
Duración: 114 min.
Dirección: Billy Wilder
Guion: Billy Wilder, Harry Kurnitz (Teatro: Agatha Christie).
Música: Matty Malneck
Producción: United Artists

Reparto:
Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton,Elsa Lanchester, John Williams, Una O’Connor, Henry Daniel, Norma Varden, Torin Thatcher, Philip Sonidoge, Ian Wolfe.

Descripción:
Un afable personaje, Leonard Vole, es acusado del asesinato de una rica dama, la señora French, con quien mantenía una relacion de carácter amistoso. El posible móvil del crimen es la herencia de todos los bienes de la difunta. A pesar de que las pruebas en su contra son demoledoras, el prestigioso abogado criminalista de Londres Sir Wilfrid Roberts acepta su defensa al creer en su inocencia.

Críticas:
“Excelente película, con la dosis de intriga de la obra de Christie, que crece en emoción hasta un final tan inesperado como sugestivo. El glamouroso reparto en el que destaca el impresionante trabajo de Laughton, hace el resto.” (Fernando Morales: Diario El País)
–
Tanto tiempo después sigue siendo ejemplar
Es “Testigo de cargo” una de esas películas que de tanto rizar el rizo en su final, se vuelve todo inverosímil pero que te quedas con una agradable sonrisa en la cara. Sonrisa al comprobar unos diálogos ingeniosos, con grandes toques de humor, con un sarcasmo tan sutil que pasa desapercibido.

Magistralmente interpretada por su trío protagonista: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton. Laughton lleva la interpretación en esta cinta hasta confundir su personaje con su propia persona. Cercano, bonachón y pícaro. Fantástico durante todo el metraje.
La película se hace corta. Ni el tiempo, ha podido borrar la brillante realización del director Billy Wilder.

Divierte, fascina, inquieta y sorprende. ¿Qué más se le puede pedir a una película?

La Dietrich siempre refinada, puesta para nuestro disfrute dice: “Nunca me desmayo porque no estoy segura de caer con elegancia“.

Y yo contesto: señora, con frases como esa y directores como el que le ronda la elegancia esta garantizada.
–
Orgía dialéctica
Permítanme unos segundos para recoger aire después de tan inmenso placer…

Gracias.
–
Divertimento criminal
Desde la primera vez que vi a Charles Laughton en una película, es la escala de medida que utilizo para valorar el trabajo de cualquier actor: me sorprende constatar que ningún Robert DeNiro, ningún Pacino, en fin, ninguna de esas supuestas luminarias del cine actual son dignos ni de besarle las suelas de los zapatos a este actor que fue pirata, abogado, capitán, contrabandista, rey, jorobado y sobre todo, inmenso director que con una única película se situó de golpe y porrazo en el especial Olimpo que reservamos para los muy grandes. Cuando un talento como este se junta con otra gran mente como la de Billy Wilder, obtenemos como resultado esa maravilla que es “Testigo de cargo”. Basada en un relato corto de Agatha Christie, mezcla soberbiamente el ritmo y los diálogos marca de la casa Wilder (aprende, Tarantino, esto sí que son diálogos) con la trama criminal de Christie, un juego de sospechosos, culpables e inocentes que cambian de signo. La película es en todo momento autoconsciente de su propia levedad: el relato de Christie, como muchas de sus novelas, nacen marcadas por un espíritu de divertimento, un juguete criminal para lectores y espectadores deseosos de convertirse en detectives.
“Testigo de cargo” no sólo rescata admirablemente las letras de Christie, además ofrece un recital de talento por parte de sus tres protagonistas, una encomiable agilidad narrativa que prohíbe el aburrimiento y uno de los finales más sorprendentes de la historia del cine (hay quienes consideran “previsibles” aquellos finales que pueden adivinar: cuando no lo consiguen, los llaman “engañosos”). Una película emblemática que sobrevive al transcurso de los años con la frescura intacta.
–
Gracias, Billy
Paradigma del género judicial, “Testigo de cargo” merece disfrutar indiscutiblemente de un puesto honorífico en el Olimpo de los grandes clásicos cinematográficos. Admitiendo de antemano la existencia de algún que otro gazapo o despropósito intrascendente en el clímax final, no estimo en ello motivo suficiente como para entablar polémicas bizantinas sobre si la película está sobrevalorada respecto a otros trabajos del director como “El apartamento”, “Perdición” o “El crepúsculo de los dioses”.
Wilder entremezcla sabiamente drama y comedia (las escaramuzas verbales entre Sir Wilfrid y su enfermera son antológicas ) hilvanando magistralmente, al mismo tiempo, un entramado argumental repleto de diálogos que no decae ni resulta tedioso en ningún momento.
Laughton está grandioso, Tyrone Power sobreactúa oportunamente y la hiératica Marlene borda su papel, sobretodo en la metamorfosis final de su personaje, contribuyendo a construir uno de los desenlaces más insólitos e inesperados de la historia del séptimo arte.
Gracias, Billy, allá donde estés, por seducirnos con tu cine sencillo, ingenioso y ameno. El público es soberano y no es casualidad el grado de devoción que te profesa.

Datos técnicos:
Tamaño:  1,66 Gb
Duracion: 01:51:33
Vídeo codec: Xvid (doble pasada)
Resolución: 640 x 384
Bitrate: 1671 Kbps.  Qf: 0.272
Audio codec: 0×2000(AC3, Dolby Laboratories, Inc) AC3
Bitrate Castellano/Inglés: 48000Hz  224 kb/s total (2 chnls)
Subtítulos : [(Castellano,gracias a ShooCat)-Inglés]

Capturas:

Escena de El Ángel Azul

Aunque la década de los treintas vio el surgimiento del cine norteamericano, no cabe duda que en aquellos años, el cine alemán fue el que marcó la línea. Y es precisamente en 1930 cuando el director Josef von Sternberg lanzaría una de sus grandes obras, Der Blaue Engel. En esta podemos ver como uno de los profesores ejemplares de un pequeño pueblo conoce a una actriz de cabaret, y por esa relación acaba descendiendo a niveles realmente dramáticos. Aunque se hizo un remake posterior, no le llega a la actuación de Marlene Dietrich, uno de los grandes símbolos sexuales de aquellos años. Es casi obligado el verla.

• 1900-1909

Lo irreal: La chica Gibson      

Dibujo creado por Charles Dana Gibson, pronto se convirtió en el ideal femenino de entonces y se transformó en todo un patrón de vida. Continúa…

Lo real: El vintage

El término era utilizado en las bodegas para señalar los vinos de las mejores cosechas, y derivó al mundo de la moda a partir de 1900 utilizándose en los diseños clásicos o retro. Como ejemplo actual tenemos los Oscar 2001 en los que Renee Zellweger y Julia Roberts lucieron uno de esos diseños vintage. Continúa…

1910-1919

Lo irreal: Fotografías de Hoyningen Huene para Vogue

Lo real: ‘La edad de la Inocencia’

Obra publicada por Edith Wharton en 1920, que recibiría el Premio Pulitzer un año después y que marcó un hito en el mundo de la moda, pues supuso una revolución para las mujeres que se vió reflejado en su forma de vestir. Continúa…

Lo real:

1920-1929

Lo irreal: ‘La Garçonne’

Publicada en 1922 supuso un gran eco a un nuevo estilo de vestir entre las mujeres de la época: pelo corto, pantalones y silueta tubular que masculinizan a la mujer creando una nueva feminidad. Continúa…

Lo real: Les Années Folles

A lo largo de los años 20′ la alta costura francesa vive su mejor momento. Son los años dorados de la moda, Vionnet, Poiret, Lanvin o Chanel liberaron a la mujer provocando un cambio en su manera de vestir y de pensar. Es una época para la exhibición del cuerpo femenino, la diversión y el consumismo. Continúa…

 1930-1939

Lo irreal: Greta Garbo y Marlene Dietrich

Son las máximas representantes de los años dorados del cine de Hollywood; años en los que la sensualidad, la provocación y el erotismo eran las máximas para toda creación filmográfica. Y no era menos en el mundo de la moda, en 1930 el modelo a seguir fueron las actrices como Greta Garbo y Marlene Dietrich, mujeres de hombros anchos y caderas delicadas, altas y delgadas. En este período el punto erótico se centró sobre todo en la espalda, resaltada por pronunciados escotes que provocaban más de un suspiro en el ámbito masculino. Las prendas de la época envolvían a la mujer en un halo de encanto, sensualidad y misterio. 

Lo real: Coco Chanel es quien lleva los pantalones

Su gran personalidad y su particular estilo a la hora de vestir marcaron un antes y un después en el pensamiento de la mujer. Después de que Poiret les quitase el corsé, Coco Chanel fue más allá en su provocación y les puso pantalones. Toda una revolucionaria. Continuar…
 

1940-1949

Lo irreal: Caldeando el ambiente

Pese a la austeridad reinante en toda Europa en estos años, Nueva York y París se meten de lleno en una lucha por ser consideradas capital del arte contemporáneo. La moda se concibe como un arte en su máxima expresión y los escaparates no se utilizan sólo para vender objetos, sino también para contar historias a través de fotografías. Continúa…

Lo real: El New Look de Christian Dior

Fue todo un acierto que le consagró a lo más alto en el mundo de la moda. Tras los oscuros años de la II Guerra Mundial, la Línea Corola presentada por el diseñador en 1947 y más conocida por New Look, pretendía reencontrar a la mujer femenina y coqueta con faldas con mucho vuelo, cintura ceñida y hombros redondeados. Continúa…

1950-1959

Lo irreal:  American Way of Life

Tras una época gris de austeridad y reserva, en los años 50′ las pasarelas empiezan a reflejar unas ganas enormes de vivir y,  por supuesto, de consumir. Es el momento de salir de casa, tomarse un tiempo para el ocio y divertirse, dejando todo lo malo en el pasado. Y eso lo saben reflejar muy bien las revistas que presentan la moda como un juego, el juego de jugar a ser la deportista, la chica sweater, la pin-up, la chica ‘Greace’; incluso ser ama de casa tiene su punto. 

 Lo real: La Jolie Madame

La colección otoño–invierno presentada por Balmain en 1952, que recibió el mismo nombre que uno de sus perfumes, Jolie Madame fue una propuesta que definió el estilo de la mujer moderna, “que debe vestirse de acuerdo al momento del día y a la actividad social que desempeña”. El estilo de los vestidos es: corte medio, talle marcado y decoraciones.

Inspirational Quotes

It’s the friends you can call up at four a.m. that matter.
            — Marlene Dietrich

The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.
            — Robert Fulghum, It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It

Work is not always required… there is such a thing as sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected.
            — George McDonald

The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.
            — Thomas A. Edison

Eighty percent of success is showing up.
            — Woody Allen

Human pain does not let go of its grip at one point in time. Rather, it works its way out of our consciousness over time. There is a season of sadness. A season of anger. A season of tranquility. A season of hope.
            — Robert Veninga

I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.
            — Og Mandino

We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
            — Albert Einstein

Clarice Lispector, 1961- foto Claudia Andujar

“What the legendary soccer player Pelé is to sport in Brazil, the author ´Clarice´ is to that country’s literary culture. Stunningly brilliant, beautiful and enigmatic, the daughter of Russian-Jewish émigrés achieved instant celebrity at the age of 23 with the publication of her debut novel Near to the Wild Heart.” This is how Amazon book reviewer Lauren Nemroff introduced Clarice Lispector in “Amazon Best of the Month, August 2009“ referring to Benjamin Moser’s biography Why This World.

Benjamin Moser. Photo: Tessa Posthuma de Boer

Whilst Pelé may have been “stunningly brilliant”, it may be stretching the analogy too far with the descriptions of “beautiful and enigmatic”, which Clarice certainly was. She has even been described as, “that rare person who looked like Marlene Dietrich and wrote like Virginia Woolf.” (Salamon, J. (March 11, 2005). An Enigmatic Author Who Can Be Addictive. New York: New York Times).

Of Moser´s Biography Nemroff said, “Now, after years of research on three continents, drawing on previously unknown manuscripts and dozens of interviews, Benjamin Moser demonstrates how Lispector’s art was directly connected to her turbulent life.” and, “Benjamin Moser’s, Why This World makes up for this long drought by offering a detailed and dramatic biography of Lispector’s incredible life and times. Based on new interviews with family and friends, recovered manuscripts, and other fresh sources, Moser crafts a moving and tangible portrait of the famously inscrutable Clarice.”

The New Biography

Clarice Lispector (1920-1977), is recognized as one of Latin America´s greatest writers and is only now being discovered by English readers, surprising given that “Clarice’s beauty, genius, and eccentricity intrigued Brazil virtually from her adolescence.”

Born into a Jewish family amidst the horrors of post-World War I Ukraine, Chaka Lispector was to escape to Brazil in 1922 and be re-named Clarice. She was to spend many if her early years living a humble existence in Northeast Brazil. First in Macaeio, Alagoas, then three years later in the Jewish neighborhood of Boa Vista in Recife, Pernambuco, where a monument to her exists today.

Whilst in Recife, her mother died (1930) at the age of forty-two, when Clarice was nine years old. Her father continued to struggle economically, but Clarice was still able to attend the Colégio Hebreo-Idisch-Brasileiro, which taught Hebrew and Yiddish in addition to the usual subjects. In 1932, she gained admission to the Ginásio Pernambucano, the most prestigious secondary school in the state at the time. A year later, she “consciously claimed the desire to write.”

In 1935, Pedro Lispector decided to move his family to the then-capital, Rio de Janeiro, where he hoped to find greater prosperity for them. There Clarice became a law student seeking justice for prisoners and then a journalist.

Around 1943, around the time of her marriage to a diplomat she published her first book, the critically acclaimed Near to the Wild Heart. Success in her career was not reflected in her challenging family and personal life. She had a longtime love for the homosexual poet Lúcio Cardoso among others, and one of her sons was diagnosed as schizophrenic fostering a growing sense of isolation in her.

Several of Lispectors works relate to her time in Northeast Brazil. Perhaps most famous of them was her last novel,  The Hour of the Star, whose main character Macabéa, a poor typist from Alagoas who is lost and isolated in Rio de Janeiro. This character, one of the most famous in Brazilian literature, has a name that refers to the Maccabees, and represents one of the very few explicit Jewish references in her work. The book focuses on Brazilian poverty and being marginalized.

Soon after The Hour of the Star was published, Lispector was diagnosed as having inoperable ovarian cancer. She died on the eve of her 57th birthday and was buried on December 11, 1977, at the Jewish Cemetery of Cajú in Rio de Janeiro.

Benjamin Moser will be signing copies of his biography at Livraria Cultura bookshop in Recife on Saturday 28th November from 7.30pm

The author gratefully acknowledges the many sources that were consulted in the writing of this article.  While they provide the foundation, the interpretation and opinion are entirely those of the author.

Paul Barnett is Founder of Recife Guide.

Sitting in a corner at a Chicago Starbuck’s, waiting for the Art Institute of Chicago to open, Josephine Baker is on my mind, as is the bisexuality of many infamous seducers and female icons. Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Josephine Baker, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keefe, Virginia Woolf… many many writers. It’s as if artistic sensibility makes what has been dubbed sexual deviation acceptable… but much more so for women. The women I write of were powerful, the masses hungered for them, and from the way history wrote them, few were shocked or scandalized by their sexuality. And yet, if Lindsay Lohan is in what’s clearly a complex relationship with a woman, it stirs a media frenzy… not necessarily a negative one, but still, why all the excitement? This isn’t a complete thought, but it is something my Phoeber and I were discussing last night. The straight community sees bisexuality as an outlet of heterosexuality, conducive to threesomes. The gay community often treats it as a step out of the closet for one who wants to maintain heterosexual privilege. It’s an odd conundrum that the quote about Baker toes:

From Wikipedia (Josephine baker article):

There also is evidence to support that she was bisexual. In the book about her life, titled Josephine: The Hungry Heart written by her son and author Jean-Claude Baker, he states that she was involved in numerous lesbian affairs, both while she was single and married, and he mentions six of her female lovers by name. Clara Smith, Evelyn Sheppard, Bessie Allison, Ada “Bricktop” Smith, and Mildred Smallwood were all African-American women she met while touring on the black performing circuit early in her career. She was also involved with writer Colette, and possibly with Caroline Dudley Reagan, who ran the Paris extravaganza La Revue Nègre. Not mentioned, but confirmed since, was her affair with Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Baker wrote that affairs with women were not uncommon with Josephine throughout her lifetime.

Despite the fact that he was her son, Jean-Claude Baker interviewed over 2,000 people while writing his book. He was quoted in one interview as saying, “She was what today you would call bisexual, and I will tell you why. Forget that I am her son, I am also a historian. You have to put her back into the context of the time in which she lived. In those days, Chorus Girls were abused by the white or black producers and by the leading men if he liked girls. But they could not sleep together because there were not enough hotels to accommodate black people. So they would all stay together, and the girls would develop lady lover friendships, do you understand my English? But wait wait…If one of the girls by preference was gay, she’d be called a bull dyke by the whole cast. So you see, descrimination is everywhere.”

Julian Humphries - with Nettie R. Harris

For the ultimate dinner in Valencia you have to go to the new Restaurante Dietrich, where you can enjoy a great dinner and a glamorous show at the same time. The restaurant is decorated in a great Marlene Dietrich Style and just their website is good to have a look at, once you figured out how to enter it, even if you don’t know any Spanish.

The price for the dinner-show are 15 € for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 18 € on Friday and 25 € on Saturday, but on Saturdays drinks are also included. They have various artists, dancers, singers and Valencia’s best known drag queens.

If you want to stay at an equally stylish place in Valencia, we recommend the Pink City Lounge B&B with a gay couple Luis and Pascal as your hosts and a cute and entertaining bluebird. The Restaurante Dietrich is very close to the B&B, as is every other thing that is important, like for example the gay sauna and the gay area. For more information, booking or direct contact to the hosts, send them an email…

Gör som Jean Paul Gaultier och hitta inspirationen hos Hollywoods dåtida filmstjärnor. På Jean Paul Gaultiers höstvisning 2009, kunde man se tydliga influenser av klassisk Hollywood glamour! Modellernas styling var inspirerade av gamla stilikoner som Marlene Dietrich och Brigitte Bardot. Stilen var följande; Sotade ögon, röda läppar, klassiska frisyrer, det dominerade catwalken! Glamour när den är som allra bäst, med andra ord!

Den looken och stilen tilltalar mej! Funderar på att göra en “extreme makeover” en dag och sedan plåta rejält! Har ju jobbat som modell och mannekäng innan, så why not? Ibland är det kul att förgylla vardagen lite och förnya sig!

Vad säger ni?? Visst var de dåtida Hollywoodstjärnorna grymt snygga????

Bilden från Jean Paul Gaultiers Höstvisning!

Marlene Dietrich.

Marlene Dietrich.

Brigitte Bardot.

Brigitte Bardot.

Rita Hayworth.

Marilyn Monroe.

Elisabeth Taylor.

Sophia Loren.

Grace Kelly.

Grace Kelly var en av världens vackraste kvinnor, anser jag.

“Once a woman has forgiven a man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast”.

- Marlene Dietrich

Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin

Das bleibt auch so und das hat seinen Sinn

Auf diese Weise lohnt sich die Reise

Und wenn ich Sehnsucht hab dann fahr ich wieder hin.

Marlene Dietrich

It may be cold in Berlin…but the Kinemathek at Potsdamer Platz is even more welcoming in the winter. And Marlene is Schöneberg’s most famous child…

Die neue Kategorie auf stonesand heißt Gossip Glossen. Dort gibt es Texte die nur eine Aufgabe haben: Den Leser zu amüsieren; hochwertigen Inhalt hierbei zu finden ist in dieser Kategorie fraglich.

Die circa 1500 Wörter große Reportage wurde im November 2009 in einem ICE verfasst und ist spielt im Bordrestaurant. Figuren, Fakten und Handlung sind frei erfunden. Dennoch war stonesand vor Ort, und somit hat die Geschichte vielleicht doch etwas Wahrheit in sich.

Ich nippe an meinem zweiten Bier. Mein Mp3 Player dudelt irgendeine komische SWR3 Musik. Die Landschaf zieht an mir vorbei, Strommast, Windrad und nichts als weite grüne Fläche. Stark, neuer Song ist angesprungen: Just a little bit by Whitney Housten. Da singt unsere schwarze Freundin für ein bisschen Respekt, when You get home Mister! That´s right. Und im Umkehrschluss gibt es dann einen dicken Kuss für den Mann?!

Das Bier zischt gut rein! Und Whitney singt, give it to me when you get home. just a little bit. Klar doch, die will doch richtig rangenommen werden. Es gibt doch kaum Frauen die nur kaum rangenommen werden wollen, genauso wie ich eigentlich keine Männer kenne, die ein leblose Partnerin sich im Bett wünschen: Für beide muss es abgehen!

Muss mal den Song wechseln, da ich einen ziemlichen musikalischen Mist ist auf meinem iPod habe. Schon besser. House. Wobei eins weiter! Geile Sache. Mix von meinem Kumpel aus Freiburg, Benedikt Weigmann, zu Prince-Kiss. Guter Beat, schöne Klavierzüge, und ne sexy Stimme der Sängerin, kann man lassen.

Back zum ICE-Speisewagen. Seit Wolfsburg hänge ich nun im ICE. Leider sind es über 5 Stunden nach München. Irgendetwas müsste ich ich eigentlich effektiv machen, könnte auch an meinem nächsten Artikel arbeiten, habe mich aber entschlossen dies nicht zu tun. Gibt es nichts schöneres als mit einem Bier im Speisewagens des ICEs durch Deutschland zu brummen?

Überragend, neuer Song ist angesprungen. Gott wie heißt der denn nochmals? Glaube der ist von Badly drawn Boy. Geht auf jeden Fall gut ab. Mein Bier ist gleich leer. Soll ich ein neues bestellen? Der Ober ist ein guter Mann. Sprich ein astreines Deutsch mit Akzent. Sympathischer Typ, der mein Bier verdammt schnell zapft. Gegenüber haben sich gerade Vater und Sohn hingesetzt. Diese begutachten gerade die Speisekarte. Wäre ich der Vater würde mein Sohn jetzt erstmal mit mir ein Bier trinken. Egal ob der noch unter 16 ist, Hauptsache der ist ruhig und gesellt sich zu mir. Der Junior inspiziert gerade die Karte.

Vater: „Was nimmst Du?”

Sohn: „Woher soll ich denn das wissen?”

Vater: „Ich nehme die Nudeln und ein Helles.”

Sohn: „Die sind doch keine Bayern hier vom Zugpersonal. Die Ossis haben doch keine Ahnung was ein Helles ist.”

Vater: „Mhm, dann eben ein Weißbier.”

Sohn schweigt.

—der überragende Ober kommt und nimmt die Bestellung auf—-

Die beiden schweigen sich an.

Was nimmt jetzt eigentlich der Sohn?Auch egal ich stecke mir wieder die Stöpsel in die Ohren und konzentriere mich meine Finger. Bier ist eigentlich leer. Eins ginge noch! Aber dann muss ich dauernd auf Toilette. Auch nicht gut.  Nun läuft Up side Down- Oh Boy you turn me ….ohh, ya, yesss! So ein Bullshit. Die ganze Amigesellschaft ist sowieso sehr schwierig zu begreifen. Einerseits gibt es da einige coole Socken, wie Dr. House(also der Schauspieler), Bill Clinton oder David Letterman. Jedoch auch viel zu viele Backpfeifen, wie die ganzen Stipendiaten, die aufgrund super Basketball-Skills in Harward oder Cambridge reinkommen. Ich bewerbe mich dann auch zum nächsten Wintersemester in München mit einem Fussballschuh an der TU.

Hhmm heißer Po ist gerade an mir vorbeigelaufen. Viel zu jung, tippe ich, aber hallo!

Mein Ober kassiert neben mir ab. Vater und Sohn sind immer noch mittellos, äh ich meine ohne Getränke sowie Essen.

Neben mir wird gepackt. Ober Iwan, so habe ich ihn eben getauft, bringt das Gesteck am Nachbartisch. Geht gleich los mit der Völlerei.

Postal Service läuft auf meinen Ohr. Guter relaxte Mukke und kein Main-Stream-Scheiss wie Robbie Williams. Wobei der tut mir eigentlich schon sehr leid. Hat graue Haare und hängt auf der Bühne rum. Seine jungen Jahre war er nur mit Drogen und sich selbst beschäftigt. Der hätte mal lieber so einen Beitrag wie diesen verfassen sollen.

Gott ich muß mal für kleine Jungs. Das Bier! Doch davor noch Bestandsaufnahme. Vater und Sohn sind am völlern. Natürlich geht das alles zivilisiert zu. Dies schätze ich immer am ICE-Boardrestaurant. Hier geht es ruhig und gelassen zu. Kein zu lautes Wort. Fast schon wie bei einem Staatsbesuch. Okay meine Lieben, ich muss mal kurz vor einige Minuten unterbrechen.

Bin zurück auf meinem Platz. Iwan kassiert gerade ab. Habe schnell auch noch die Rechnung bestellt.

Gone till November läuft gerade. Iwan hat mir gerade die Rechnung von über zwei Bier und der Chilli con carne gebracht. Stolze 15,40. Habe ihm 1,10 Euro Trinkgeld gegeben. Schau gerade auf die Rechnung. Der liebe Iwan heisst gar nicht Iwan, sondern mit Vornamen Hasan.

Das Boardrestaurant ist fast leer. Hinter mir sitzt eine alleingelassene Dame die Sudoku spielt. Schräg vorne sitzten an zwei Tischen zwei Herren. Der eine guckt versunken in die Landschaft, der andere, so scheint es ist mit Weintrinken und Kreuzworträtzel beschäftigt.

Irgendwie stinkt es hier gerade, nach Kuhmist. Wo sind wir denn gerade? Ah Gunzenhausen. Ob das alles erklärt?

Eigentlich wollte ich jetzt mich auf meinen Platz begeben und Blaue Engel mit Marlene Diettrich mir reinziehen. Fuck it. Ich bin zu faul!

Gerade gab es eine Durchsage. Jemand hat vor Donauwörth versucht den Zug zu stoppen. Personenschaden. Wir werden umgeleitet über Ingolstadt. Schaffen wir es noch vor 17.00 Uhr nach München? Ist es eigentlich fair, dass sich die Leute immer wieder vor den Zug werfen müssen? Es gibt doch hohe Bäume, Brücken oder die bessere Lösung den Psychologen. Jedes Mal müssen die Reisenden auf ihre Züge warten, da es solche wagemutigen gibt. Verständlich, wenn jemand ein wirklich schlimmes Leben hat, dies  zu enden ist legitim, aber bitte nicht auf meiner ICE-Strecke.

Silent Sigh läuft gerade. Ein trauriger Song. Diesem wittwen wir am besten dem Zugopfer. Ich hoffe mal es war kein junger Mensch, nehme aber stark an, dass es sich bei dem Personenschaden um einen jungen Menschen gehandelt haben muss. Wahrscheinlich ein Problem unsere heutigen Gesellschaft. Die fordert nur Leistung, Leistung und nochmals Leistung. Zudem kommt es erschwerend hinzu, dass flexible Anpassungsfähigkeit gefordert wird: Auslandssemester, mindestens drei Sprachen, und alles nach dem Motto: first Job-then Familiy.

Die Sonne kommt nochmals kurz durch. Sie schimmert über Mittelfranken. Auch über dem Toten auf den Gleisen? Kommt sie/er nun in den Himmel oder die Hölle? Gibt es in der Nachwelt auch Züge? Hoffentlich. Ich raste aus, wenn es im Himmel keinen Fussball geben sollte. Zudem will ich Zugfahren, Bier trinken, Steak essen und Sex haben. Vielleicht gibt es auch dort oben ein himmlisches Gefühl, was dann der himmlische Orgasmus ist?
Gut, da sind wir alle unwissend. Eines Tages werde wir wieder alle zu Staub und werden dann selber herausfinden, ob der Jude, der Christ oder der Moslem recht hatten, oder wird am Ende die Buddhisten durchstarten?

Wir sind gerade in Treuchtlingen gelandet. Schaut sehr düster hier aus. Die übergebliebenen im Bordrestaurant rasten gleich aus. Der Zug schafft es nicht wie geplant nach Augsburg um 17.00 Uhr. Dank des Zugbremsers. Tja, habe heute mal Glück gehabt. Nach München werden wir es bis 17:00 Uhr schaffen.

Mein Gegenüber hat mich gerade darauf aufmerksam gemacht: „Macht doch viel mehr Sinn jetzt bis München durchzuheißen, und dann wieder mit dem ICE nach Augsburg zurück zu fahren! Sind ja nur 30 Minuten.” Darauf hin gibt es einen Tumult vorne beim Schaffner. Mindestens neun Personen beschweren sich gleichzeitig. Das Restaurant ist somit wie ausgefegt. Warum setzt ihr euch nicht einfach hin und genießt noch ein Bier?

Die Dame in rot kommt zurück. Anscheinend leicht aufgebracht. Vorne beim Schaffner geht es weiter mit der Debatte.

Geiler neuer Song läuft auf meinem kleinen Tragbaren. Keine Ahnung wie er heißt, bestimmt ist er aus England. Purer Punk!

Hasan ist gerade mit der Rechnung zur Dame in rot. Bei ihr gab es einen Cappuccino. Bild hätte jetzt noch angefügt wie viel er denn gekostet hat.

Wir haben einen neuen Gast im Restaurant. dieser steht unschlüssig vor den Tischen und inspiziert die Karte. Wir er sich noch setzten? Nun checkt er die 1. Klasse aus, kommt zurück und schaut erneut auf die Karte, ladscht bei mir vorbei und dackelt durch das Restaurant. Unfassbar, nach dem Auftritt begibt er sich zurück zum Tumult.

Ich frage mal den Ausburger Herr nach, wie es um seine Ankunftzeit steht.

Ich: “Entschuldigen Sie. Wann kommen Sie nun an?”

Herr: „Viertel vor fünf nehmen wir dann den RE nach Augsburg. Also keine Ahnung wann genau wir in Augsburg sind.” Er zieht den Wein in einem Schluck weg mit dem Kommentar: „Ach, ja ja” und vertieft sich in seine Zeitungslektüre.

Vier Uhr. Noch eine Stunde bis nach München. Mir schmerzt der Rücken, ich habe Durst und Hunger zugleich. Das Chilli con carne war schon lecker, aber ein eher übersichtlicheres Mittagessen.

Jetzt reicht es. Ich gehe auf meinen Platz, öffne die Datei „Der blaue Engel” und drücke auf die Play-Taste: Film ab.

Over at Magpie Girl’s blog, the 8 things was inspired by Dia de los Muertos (“Allerseelen” in German, which means “All Souls”). I read her list of Saints and Sinners before I went to bed the night before last and somehow Rachelle ended up in my dream and she was getting cross at me for not being able to come up with 8 things for Saints and Sinners. Although, she assured me via twitter she would never get cross, I thought I better do it anyway.

So here are my 8 Saints and Sinners:

1. Albert Schweitzer: I went to a Grammar School in Germany that bore his name. 9 years. I loved school, absolutely blooming loved it. Hard to believe I know. But back to him. I never appreciated what a great man he was despite all the effort by our teachers and school to convey it. He was a man of great ethics. “Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.” He founded a hospital in Africa, Lambarene, he won the Nobel Prize, he loved music and was the founder of the “Orgelbewegung”. He was a doctor, a theologan and anti-colonialist (and that was huge back then). He was a follower of dreams. A truly great man.

2. Jane Austen: I am certainly not alone with my love for Jane Austen. She is one woman universally admired and loved. I love her books and re-read them often. Especially, Persuasion, which is my favourite. I like that she was a cynic. And that she possibly didn’t quite fit in. Why else would the “not fitting in” be such an important part in all her books.

3. My grandfather: I have no real memory of him, still he belongs there. With all the mystery of his past, his family and what happened during the war. Was he German, Czech or Hungarian or Austrian? I will never know.

4. Tante Else: My grandmother’s older sister. She married a Czech man and stayed in the Czech Republic after the war. Seamstress par excellence, when she came to visit she would sit over the sewing machine all day and produce the most wonderful items of clothing. She is also a style icon for me, as she was always impeccably dressed. And she was funny, if you were in her company you’d laugh until your belly aches.

5. My Grandmother “Oma”: As much as recent events have shone not such a nice light, as difficult as she was, as discouraging as she was and despite her protecting my father all my life, despite all of that, I do miss her. I love that the simple act of baking a cake can bring back happy memories of my childhood.

6. My best friend: Miss her. Every.Single.Day.

7. Albert Einstein: I always think if I’d met him I’d have cooked him “Knoedel und Rotkraut” (dumplings and red cabbage). Love his wit. And his intelligence. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

8. Marlene Dietrich: For all her faults, I admire her because she a) realised that the Nazis were bad news b) was at the frontline entertaining troups c) was dedicated to her art d) must have been an incredible cook and e) she loved Berlin.

Why don’t you play along, simply go to Magpie Girl’s blog and start doing an 8 things list.

vor meiner Garderobe

hier kann man sich das video anschauen THE VIDEO

THE LINK FOR AMERICAN VIEWERS

Was für eine Anfrage:  “Beyoncè möchte dich für ihren Auftritt bei den EMA haben, bist du dabei?” Meine Antwort war natürlich klar….

Zum Ema-Mix vom  Track “Sweet Dreams” (vom neuen Album) konnte ich vorher etwas üben.

1.Tag Probe: Ich bin nun die einzige Musikerin, Beyoncè hat die Streicher und das Schlagzeug rausgestrichen.

Das Taxi muß zum Bühneneingang, zum Glück hatte die Security das Kennzeichen, sonst wäre ich nicht durchgekommen.

Ich stimme meine Harfe, der Drummer von Green Day fragt mit über die Harfe aus.

Probe auf der Bühne, es ist kalt hier, mit Beyoncè-Double und Tänzern.Gar nicht aufgeregt, komisch.

Wie? Nun noch mehr Tänzer?Ein spontanes Tänzercasting wurde anberaumt.

Nach der Probe Shakira gesehen, sehr sympatisch.

Katy Perry samt Gefolge an mir vorbeirauschen gesehen, sie hat ihre Garderobe direkt neben meiner.

Und draußen hat es geschneit.

TÄNZER

2.Tag 8.30h komme an, lasse meine Harfe zur Bühne bringen, alle sind sehr zuvorkommend.

Jetzt gibt es richtige Pässe mit Fotos. Beyoncès Managerin nennt mich “Simmi”.

Proben mit neuen Tänzern, jetzt ist noch mehr Harfe im Track….

Beyoncè is in the house!  Sie kommt auf die Bühne und gibt mir die Hand: “Hey, Nice to meet you.” Wow, damit habe ich nun gar nicht gerechnet.

Sie ist ein Vollprofi, der Wind von der Windmaschine bläst ihr ins Mikrofon, sie bekommt ein anderes.

Der Sound gefällt ihr nicht, der projezierte Hintergrund + Laserfarbe auch nicht, die Deko muß  geändert werden.Alles, wie ich finde, zurecht  und sehr höflich

von ihr formuliert. Ich bin beeindruckt. Sie muß sich an die Bühne gewöhnen und übt das Rennen von der Bühne auf den Catwalk zu dem markierten Punkt, an

dem die Kameras sie am besten aufnehmen können. Ich gebe alles an der Harfe, sowie Beyoncè, die die ganze Zeit wirklich live singt und freue mich, daß ich

am Ende des Liedes ganz schön nah an ihr dran bin. Suchhunde müssen alle Kamerasockel, Unterbühne, Bühne,Backstage-Bereich, alle Jacken und Taschen

durchschnüffeln.

12h Ich muß zum Fitting und habe immer noch nichts gefrühstückt. Das unfertige Kleid, das eigentlich Shakira tragen sollte, trage nun ich. Es wird mir an den

Körper  genäht,  ich kann es nicht mehr ausziehen bis zum Gig (Marlene Dietrich hat übrigens ihre Kleider auch immer an den Körper nähen lassen).

Während man mir das Kleid an den Körper näht, ruft Radio JamFM an-wir machen ein live Interview.

Danach muß ich sofort zu dem Haare/Makeup-Leuten, später ist zuviel Stress.Mein Magen knurrt. Endlich sehe ich meine Künstlerbetreuerin und berichte

ihr, daß ich noch nicht zum Essen gekommen bin, sie eilt und bringt mir einen Haufen Bananen und Wasser.

13.30h Dress-rehearsal-d.h. Probe mit Kostümen. Die Tänzer tragen schwarze Anzüge mit roten Handschuhen, die Tänzerinnen knappe rote Outfits-Beyoncè

erscheint, sehr sehr sexy und machte mir ein wunderbares Kompliment.

Es ist eine schöne Probe mit neuer Choreo für die Tänzer.Ich bekomme einen Vorgeschmack auf den heutigen Abend.

14.30h Zeit für ein schönes Mittagessen im artist catering im 3. Og . Mit dem Drummer von Green Day geplaudert.

In meiner Garderobe entspannt, etwas von den Blaubeeren und Himbeeren, die dort standen, genascht und schon die ersten Fans draußen Kreischen gehört.

Nochmal in den dritten Stock zum catering gefahren, jemand sagt “Hi”, es ist AJ von den Backstreet Boys, die hier sitzen- auch die anderen Backstreetboys, Klitschko, David Hasselhoff, Green Day und Juliette Lewis lassen es sich schmecken .Nochmal mit

Green Days  Tre Cool geredet. Später schenkte er mir….. ein paar Drumsticks(?)

JamFM ruft nochmal an, um auf den neuesten Stand zu sein:zweites live-Interview.

19.30h Langsam wird es Zeit. Komisch, meine Nervosität hält sich in Grenzen.

20.30h Ein neuer Track! Eine Minute entfällt. Wo bleibt die Managerin mit dem usb stick, damit ich mir das vorher nochmal anhören kann?

21h Wo bleibt sie nur? Sitze mit einem freien Mitarbeiter  von Sony und dem Fotografen /Kameramann von Beyoncè in der Garderobe und unterhalte mich.

Der Mitarbeiter von Sony erzählt, daß er Beyoncè beruflich schon seit ihrem 16.Lebensjahr kennt.Kein Wunder, daß sie so ein Voll-Profi ist.

Endlich komme ich dazu, den Track anzuhören. Ok, dann mal schnell los, die Tänzer sind schon backstage.Ich renne zum Fahrstuhl und bekomme ihn noch gerade so.

Als ich hinauseile, dreht mich mich um, nanu, ich war gerade mit Jay-Z im Fahrstuhl gewesen, habe ihn gar nicht erkannt.

Shakira wartet auf ihren Red Carpet Auftritt und prüft noch schnell ihr Makeup in der Spiegelung ihrer gespiegelten Handtasche, sie sieht aus wie ein Mädchen und

sehr sympatisch, lächelt mich kurz an.

21.15h Katy Perrys Auftritt ist vorbei, ich kann backstage nur die Masse von Menschen erahnen, die nun in der Halle ungeduldig und lärmend auf Beyoncè Auftritt warten .

Letzter Kostüm+ Masken Check: alles noch schön.

Beyonce kommt: noch einmal geht sie mit den Tänzern das Ende des Songs durch.

Einmal kurz durchatmen und: raus.

Show Time in Berlin:Beyoncè+Harfe-Simonetta-der kleine weiße Punkt rechts bin ich

In Paris hat mich ein leicht bekleideter Tänzer auf die Bühne gefahren, hier lief ich an mich anjubelnden Menschen (ein merkwürdiges Gefühl, die kennen mich

doch noch gar nicht) auf die Bühne.

Katy Perry kam gar nicht wirklich dazu, unseren Auftritt anzukündigen, denn als das rote Herz mit Beyoncè zu sehen war, schrien alle.

Der neue Track fängt mit Harfe an, ich gebe alles. In meiner kurzen Spielpause luge ich zur Beyoncè rüber bin beeindruckt und genieße diese Momente.

3 Minuten später ist alles schon vorbei.

Ich gehe wieder an den kreischenden Menschen vorbei, nach hinten, um meine Harfe in Empfang zu nehmen und sie einzupacken.

Als ich fertig bin, sehe ich Beyoncè im Dunklen stehen, gehe an ihr vorbei, lächle sie kurz an, sie sagt: “Thank you thank you thank you. you look so beautiful.”

Ich kann nicht anders und umarme sie.

Auf dem Weg zu meiner Garderobe rauschen noch Tokio Hotel und Leona Lewis an  mir vorbei.

Ein schnelles Foto und dann heißt es umziehen, das Taxi wartet.

Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestelt (Falling in Love Again)  säv. Friedrich Hollander

Marlene Dietrich vuonna 1930. Dietrich esitti tämän sävelmän elokuvassa die blaue Engel .