This penthouse apartment high above Riverside Drive in Manhattan was surrounded on all sides with windows and had a breathtaking view of the Hudson River and the Palisades.   The panoramic and sunlit views had one drawback, however; the floors, carpeting, and furnishings were bleached from the sun and the water’s reflective glare.

While at Parsons, I had learned about conservation while working at the Archives of American Art.  I recommended Dan Venet from CHB Industries who provided UV protection for all the windows. CHB’s recommended film, VKool VK70, provided a seamless and virtually invisible barrier to solar fading damage, preserving the panoramic window views while offering cool comfort and protection vital to safeguarding the artwork and furnishings that are the hallmarks of this fine residence. The film’s coverage is invisible and offered the additional benefit of reducing the glare so the views looking out are more crystal clear.

Once the UV fading issue was resolved, the Perfect Dream Client and I had a lot of fun working together.  We talked every decision through and she was available for visits to showrooms and meetings with contractors. I believe the process should be an exploration, where we are open to new ideas and possibilities. Selected fabrics were warm jewel tones (different tones of blue, rusty reds, gold, touches of green, lavender) mostly Donghia and Manuel Canovas, then we determined paint colors and shopped for carpeting.  Usually I am adventurous with wall colors; here I didn’t want to compete with the gorgeous views and to highlight the beautiful fabrics as well as a few Biedermeier pieces so we kept the background warm and fairly neutral.  Strategically placed additional mirrored panels gave the entry into the living room more depth and elegance.

Warren Farrell is an icon for  radical mens cells as Osama bin laden is for the violent Jihad movement.  References from his books can bee seen on nearly every radical mens cell in the world.    In his book The Myth of Male Power, he distorts the perception of women as though they are an object to exploit and despise of if they do not submit to every demand.   His literature has become the precipice of rage towards government and the erosion of basic human rights of women and children at their mercy.    One of the most alarming aspects of this leader, is his promotion of incest and rape:

In penthouse magazine interview, he referred to incest as though it were a positive experience for all family members concerned:

In an article called Jihad and rape go hand in hand, the words are different, but the intent is the same:

One of the quotes of Warren Farrell, compares womens rights as though they are the war instigators:

The Al Qaeda had a similar message when France made a law against burkas to stop the subjecting of women:

In both statements, it was made out to be that those who try to promote the rights of women are the ones who are terrorists.

“She stared at me, and neither half of her once-beautiful face was friendly.

‘So, you’re the vampire girl?’

I stiffened. ‘Yes. Are you the wolf girl?’

She laughed, as did Embry and Jared. The left half of her face warmed. ‘I guess I am.’”

The Twilight Series, New Moon. Stephanie Meyer

I would love to be able to explain this one to you. I would love to tell you that it is simply the collective sigh when Taylor Lautner first takes his shirt off by the broken bike. I would love to tell you it’s because creatures from another world are obsessive and fixate on their loved ones and that’s all there is to it. I would love to tell you its as simple as Robert Pattinson walking slow motion toward you;  fantasies, daydreams and soft porn.

But there may be more to it than that.

Women (regardless of the male opinion of this) on the whole feel that men will let them down. The advantage women who date supernatural beings have over women who date human males is deep and complex. A supernatural being will fall inlove with your scent, or some abstract genetic makeup or because you were the chick that picked up the book in the bookshop in which he has been imprisoned for thousands of years.  The woman can grow old, fat, ugly, dull and be really bad in bed, and he still acts as though there are no other women on the planet. He won’t be looking at other women and he will still treat her as the centre of the universe.

The woman has to do nothing to secure this. She simply has to be.

All human beings really need is something to live for. A thing that is so important to you that you will give your life over to it. All human beings aspire to this and need it to progress through their day that will lead them to the inveitable (a death that confirms our status as of no consequence what so ever) and for a woman there is no higher status than to be the raison d’etre for a sexy divine man that every other woman wants.  To be the ultimate object of desire, so that he will humiliate himself by confessing love in the face of your scoffing and objections, beat up anyone who tries to hurt you and show a tiny little bit of obsession, creates the deep stirring of lust for any woman.  It also gives her a love that really is worth giving her life over to.

So if you’re wondering why supernatural beings are so essential, these are some of the reasons that may shed a light. I suspect, just like the porn queens the men so admire, the fact that warewolves and vampires don’t actually exist has a bit to do with it as well. If they aren’t real, you can indulge in any fantasy you want, and you will never have to be confronted with any ugly reality.

In romance novels women can indulge in all sorts of delicious fantasies without ever having to deal with ugly realities, like infidelity, the wandering eye, beer bellies, ungracious burps as the only thanks at the end of dinner or farts in the bed.  The men in these films and books are just like the girls on the covers of Playboy, and Penthouse and their ilk. They’re supernatural, look vaguely human, but not really, and most of all never, ever act like any real human beings.

So I decided to plunge right into the deep end of the pool . . . .

Frank Stockton is the kind of artist that your grandmother would scoff at all while telling you about some painter called Whistler. Nope, Frank Stockton is more than an artist, he’s an illustrator, so by default, more storyteller than engineer. Scope an abundance of Stockton illustrations on his site. The three illustrations in this post are part of a series called “Live Tonight” and were featured in the June 2008 Penthouse issue. For the local cats, you can grab prints of these at the Nucleus Art Gallery in Alhambra, or on their website.

]]> http://aliontheair.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/a-wolf-in-ed-hardy-clothing-behind-the-scenes-at-the-pick-up-artist-summit/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:56:30 +0000 aliontheair http://aliontheair.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/a-wolf-in-ed-hardy-clothing-behind-the-scenes-at-the-pick-up-artist-summit/

I am lucky enough to be invited to lots of interesting events from the most rocking concerts to fringe to freak flag waving nights of hedonism. Sometimes, though it may be a bit off topic for me, I am offered a curiosity I just can’t pass up on.

My friend, Harmon Leon, is the brilliant and warped mind behind Strike TV’s Infiltrator and Freedom Haters. As you might remember, I wrote an essay on the Hollywood dream for his book American Dream. I also played his tacky girlfriend in a brilliant Infiltrator piece on gun control which you can read about here.

From time to time Harmon and I will chat about what projects we are working on or events we are covering:

ME: I’m going to interview Wolfmother this weekend. How about you?

HARMON: Oh, I’m going to Vegas to join ‘Hookers for Jesus’ for the weekend.

Say wha? Well, no offense to the Cosmic Egg dudes but that kinda trumps my rock journo dealio. No question.

So when Harmon had to preach to sinners and hand out bibles in casinos with former ladies of the night, I gladly stepped in for him when he couldn’t be in LA for the 2009 PUA World Summit. That’s PUA, as in: Pick Up Artist. A whole hotel convention ball room filled with pick up artists running their ‘game’ on girls and spreading the word on how to land birds. Um, yeah. I have to go.

With Harmon’s best wishes and a little Hooker Jesus prayer, I tarted myself up in my tiger dress and went to the Renaissance hotel.  I thought about this move and knew I had two options. Wear three multi-media Cosby sweaters and glasses and make it easy for them to talk to me as an asexual journalist…or basically go dressed as a blow up doll personified and see if they can contain themselves long enough to make a slimeless impression on the world. Yes, I knew I was throwing myself to the wolves, but it’s what we embedded journalists do. We put ourselves in harms way for the story. I braced myself for the onslaught of Drakkar Noir.

I checked in as Harmon’s replacement – he being a columnist for Penthouse, and whipped out my little flip camera. I was a bit concerned I was going to be shunned – I thought I would be seen as the enemy seeing as I had ovaries and all, but I was greeted with open arms, a gift bag filled with k-y jelly and condoms, and lots of pick up lines. Someone thought their game was going to work and work fast.

I met with the PUA summit founder Vince Kelvin and he introduced me to a few of the speakers, Hypnotica, Speer, Mehow and Sexual Chocolate who all proceeded to tell me that they were NOT like Mystery and the OLD game. That was about trying to trick a woman into bed. Boo to that. The real purpose of this weekend’s conference was to help men become better men so that they could be better for us women.

Wow, that’s like just what I wanted to hear. Because I’d be a bit turned off if they were trying to pick me up or trying to just get me into bed. But I can really get behind a bunch of guys who are trying to improve their lives and be better for me. I guess I had this whole ‘pick up artist’ and ‘game’ scene wrong. Mea culpa.

True, the tables of ‘Cassanova Crew’ tees, Affliction and Ed Hardy clothes racks, and flyers promising to be part of the ‘pussy pounding posse’ didn’t quite match what they were telling me. But when I brought this up to them, I was told that all the merch was just promotional to get the guys in the door. Once the dudes were in the door, that’s when the real healing and transformation began. It was set up that way. For us women. For women all over the world.

It was very educational. From learning about how to loosen a girl up, to discovering that the holy spirit is actually spunk – I can only imagine the knowledge passed on to the guys who went through the whole weekend master class.

I’ve included some clips of my conversations below complete with bits of NLP, subliminal anchoring via touch and speech patterns, and blatant inappropriate flirting. And yes, I did get asked out on a couple dates. They seemed really nice. I think they’d like me even if I was wearing a big ole Cosby sweater. Should I go?

2 Bedroom Penthouse

$650 USD/night, prices vary after Christmas week

This beautiful penthouse is located 1 block from the famous 5th Avenue and just steps from Mamitas Beach Club, this building is new has its own pool and solarium with lounge chairs just for the penthouse. Decorated with chocolate-colored minimalist, with A / C in each of the bedrooms and central air living room and dining room. This condo is suitable for 6 people, has 2 bedrooms each with bathroom. The master bedroom has a king size bed and bathroom, while the second bedroom has 2 Queen beds. Totally equipped kitchen with microwave, coffee maker, etc..  Plasma TV, bed linens and towels for the bathroom and the pool clean and in perfect condition. No laundry room, but we offer laundry room service targets. Private parking, green areas and common pool with palapa. This area is decorated with a relaxing atmosphere and great to enjoy the marvelous Mexican Caribbean.

Don’t miss this spectacular 2 BR/2 BA penthouse with private roof deck, central air, two skylights and a complimentary one year Home Buyer Warranty! Centrally located on pristine Marlborough Street in the Back Bay! This home has 2 large living rooms (one currently used as a library/dining room) & a lovely renovated kitchen w/granite counters. Pvt. roofdeck features 2 head houses (one provides generous storage) & water supply. Convenient in-unit Asko washer/dryer. Basement features a bonus bicycle storage room.

Last night LoftSeven played host to yet another great event. Smirnoff threw a benefit for the Surfrider Foundation and it was a blast. Free cocktails, live music featuring Lil Dragon, and some excellent appetizers. I love seeing so many people in the penthouse. That place was built for a party!

An attractive property with impressive views from a spacious 50 m² (538 ft²) south facing terrace. This penthouse is located in Calahonda, Mijas Costa in an attractive gated complex with multiple pools and gardens. Built to high standards, the penthouse offers 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, underground parking, A/C, pre-installed alarm, marble floors, ensuite bathroom, satellite television, electric awnings and much more.

Currently on sale for 239,000€.

For more details contact info@arribaestates.com

A professora Rachel Whitwell, de 26 anos, pode perder o emprego em uma escola na Nova Zelândia após  posar nua para um site australiano de uma revista masculina

Rachel é namorada de Steve Crow, que trabalha no ramo pornográfico, está sendo investigada pelo conselho dos professores da Nova Zelândia.

Em entrevista ao site da revista “Penthouse”, ela contou que já escreveu contos eróticos e tem seu próprio estúdio de “pole dance” (do inglês, dança no mastro).

Para o diretor do conselho de professores, Peter Lind, o fato de a professora ter se exposto pode interferir no seu trabalho. “O que é privado e o que é público é sempre uma área cinzenta, mas, quando eles se cruzam, nós investigamos”, destacou ele.

O contrato de Rachel vai até setembro de 2011. Ela lecionou na escola Yendarra, em Otara, até um ano atrás, quando se afastou para passar mais tempo com sua filha. Mas ela pretendia voltar a dar aulas.

Rachel disse que as fotos nuas não vão afetar sua capacidade de ensinar e de se relacionar com os alunos. “As pessoas vão confirmar que sou uma professora muito boa”, disse ela.