R.I.P. Tony Curtis (June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010)

you can't say 'Bombshell' on an airplane #3 - jeanne carmen

antler magazine

i just discovered Antler Magazine and i'm diggin it. if you haven't already, read back issues here, and if you already love it, heads up - the new issue drops tomorrow :)

kings of convenience

my mind is a virtual jukebox on most days. i know not who or what is pushing the buttons, but there's usually a random song playing in there at any given moment. this particular moment, for whatever reason, i am visited by my favourite Kings of Convenience song, so i thought i'd share it with you all. pretty much all of their songs are extraordinarily lovely, but this one remains my absolute favourite. may it play in your mental jukeboxes often. xo.

hall of dames #20 - yvette mimieux

of French and Mexican heritage, the stunningly beautiful Yvette Mimieux was born in Los Angeles, California on January 8, 1942 (same birthday as Elvis - just so you know). she caught my eye many years ago when i first saw the 1960 spring break film Where the Boys Are, the stellar cast of which includes Dolores Hart, singer Connie Francis, the man with the tan - George Hamilton, and Timothy Hutton's dad, Jim Hutton, of whom Timothy is the spitting image. if you haven't seen this film, do yourself a favour and rent it, 'cause it's awesome. i'm sure you'll find, as i did, that miss Mimieux is a bit of a show stealer.





Yvette played the part of 'Weena' in the film version of H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, and had notable performances in The Light in the Piazza (1962) with Olivia de Havilland, Diamond Head (1962) and Toys in the Attic(1963). unfortunately, most of the films Mimieux would appear in after 1963 were both critical and commercial failures. she did, however, enjoy a small comeback in 1976 with Jackson County Jail, a now popular cult film about a woman falsely imprisoned who is brutalised by a sadistic prison guard.






Yvette, who retired from acting in 1992, is also an anthropologist and real estate investor. she lives with her second husband, Howard Ruby, whom she married in 1986. Mimieux's first husband was film director Stanley Donen. the two were married for thirteen years, from 1972-1985.

tiny treats

ever since i was a little girl there has been a special place in my heart for all things mini. i see these tiny renderings and involuntarily turn to mush. the way some women are with babies, i am with mini things :) if you like mini things too, go see more of Stephanie Kilgast's work at PetitPlat.

only in my dreams

money's been kinda tight around here lately, which sucks even harder in the face of reams o' disgustingly awesome fall fashions that make me wanna cry into my empty purse. there are three particular stores whose wares i purchase often in my dreams, and much to my chagrin, their fall collections are even more beautiful than i could have imagined:

1. Cath Kidston (also pictured above)

2. Lena Hoschek

3. Anthropologie (which recently opened up a store near me, thus adding salt to my wound)

*sigh*

what a dreadful morning i'm having, my friends. awoke to a broken lock on the front door. whilst waiting for the superintendent to fix the thing, checked my mail for the first time in weeks, only to find a collection notice for a 12 year old phone bill from my university days -that my roommates apparently decided not to keep paying after i'd left- to the tune of a thousand dollars (which i surely do not have). also in this treasure trove of mail was a letter from my condo board asking for 60 bucks in payment for a noise complaint made against us in June [just a wee get together, but the balcony door was left open and apparantly my neighbours are ancient and no fun]. set out on my way to work, the heavy weights of debt upon my shoulders, and halfway through my ride, the left brake on my bike up-n-falls right off. just hangs there, dangling from the brake line [like i can afford to fix my effing bike right now]. upon arrival at my place of business i purchased a big giant coffee in the lobby, only to discover that the lid was ill-fitted when i dribbled hot coffee all down the front of my shirt. i have since advised my colleagues to keep me at arms length for the remainder of the day, lest a 16 tonne anvil should fall from the sky in my direction. poop. this is my life. here's hoping your day is going infinitely better than mine.

niagara

my weekend in Niagara Falls was awesome! i lost 50 bones in the casino, but i got some great pictures! these are some of my favourites. my lady friends and i also went to one o those old timey photo places where you dress up like saloon girls and they take your picture in sepia. the results were fabulous, but i'm not allowed to post them. boooo.  and just for fun, here's some delicious jambalaya and me eatin' it! 

oh, and in case there was ever any doubt, the king is everywhere :)

hall of dames # 19 - jean seberg

Jean Seberg was born on November 13, 1938, in Marshalltown, Iowa, where she quite likely would have remained had it not been for a worldwide contest organised by Otto Preminger, in search of a fresh face to star is his new film. at just 17 years old, Jean was chosen from 18,000 hopefuls to play Joan of Arc in St. Joan (1957). unfortunately, the film was a marked failure, and Seberg's next film, Bonjour Tristesse (1958), was only a moderate success. [Jean is absolutely marvelous in Bonjour Tristesse, by the way, which was written by then 17 year old Françoise Sagan, and if you haven't yet seen it, you absolutely should.]




then along came Jean-Luc Godard, who cast Seberg in his New Wave masterpiece Breathless (1960), bringing her renewed international attention. this would prove to be the role Seberg is most associated with, and her two most famous American films were Paint Your Wagon (1969) with Clint Eastwood and Airport (1970), which would become a trend setter for '70s disaster films.

Jean starred in 37 films in Hollywood and in France, but much of the publicity she garnered in her short lifetime surrounded the actress' personal life. Seberg had four husbands. her first marriage, in 1958, was to French film director Francois Moreuil, who directed her in La Récréation (1961), a year or so after the couple had divorced. this first marriage failed as a result of Jean's affair with French author and diplomat Romain Gary, who would become her second husband the subsequent year. Seberg and Gary had a child together, Alexander Diego, but this marriage would not last either as Gary discovered Seberg was having an affair with Clint Eastwood during the shooting of Paint Your Wagon. Gary reportedly confronted them both and challenged Eastwood to a duel, which he declined.

during the late '60s and early '70s, Sebreng became increasingly involved in anti-war politics. because of her association with several members of the Black Panther party, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover considered her a threat to the American state and began an undercover campaign to discredit her. Jean's telephone was tapped and her private life closely observed. in 1970, the FBI circulated a false story via gossip columnist Joyce Haber, that Seberg, now seven months pregnant, was carrying a child fathered not by her husband Romain Gary, but by a member of the Black Panthers Party, Raymond Hewitt. although Gary acknowledged the child as his own, Seberg confessed to him that the pregnancy had been the result of an affair she'd had with student revolutionary Carlos Nevarra during their separation.

the FBI scrutiny took a tremendous tole on Jean. she gave birth prematurely to a daughter, Nina, who died two days later. Seberg shocked the press and crushed their inuendos by presenting the body of her dead (caucasian) child at a press conference. she and Gary were divorced by year's end. on each subsequent anniversary of her daughter Nina's death, Jean attempted suicide. in 1978, she miraculously survived an attempt to take her life by throwing herself under a train on the Paris Metro.

in 1972, Jean married film director Dennis berry. the two remained married until Jean's death, though they were separated during the last few years of her life. suffering from clinical depression, Seberg became increasingly dependent on alcoholol and prescription drugs. on May 31, 1979, she was married to Algerian playboy Ahmed Hasni in a brief ceremony. this marriage held no legal weight, however, as Jean was still married to Berry. Hasni persuaded Jean to sell her apartment on Rue du Bac, and kept the proceeds fro himself (reportedly 11 million francs in cash), announcing that he would use the money to open a restaurant in Barcelona. the couple departed for Spain but Jean was soon back in Paris alone, and went into hiding from Hasni, whom she claimed had grievously abused her.

in August of 1979, Seberg was reported missing. eleven days later, she was found dead in the back seat of her car, parked close to her Paris apartment. the police report stated that she had taken a massive overdose of barbiturates and alcohol. a note found in her hand read "Forgive me. I can no longer live with my nerves." while 'probable suicide' was the official cause of death as stated by the French coroner, many questioned how she could have operated a vehicle with such a high amount of alcohol in her body, and without the corrective lenses she had maintained were absolutely necessary for driving. rumours flew that Jean's suicide was masterminded by the FBI, but this has not been proven. at just 40 years old, survived by her 16-year old son Diego and her three ex-husbands, Seberg was interred in the Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris, France. her funeral was attended by such notables as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. a year later, Romain Gary, Jean's second husband, took his own life.