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tabloidtoc · 5 years

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Us, July 8

Cover: Bombshell Scientology Lawsuit -- Leah Remini, Tom Cruise, Kirstie Alley

Page 1: First Look -- Elisabeth Moss

Page 2: Red Carpet -- lovely in lavender -- Sofia Carson, Sanaa Lathan, Ava Duvernay, Emilia Clarke

Page 3: Maren Morris, Natalia Dyer, Brie Larson, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Meagan Good

Page 4: Who Wore It Best? Chloe Grace Moretz vs. Olivia Wilde, Nicole Kidman vs. Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner vs. Bella Thorne

Page 6: Loose Talk -- Kumail Nanjiani, Eva Longoria, Keegan-Michael Key, Diplo, Melissa McCarthy on Lizzo

Page 8: Contents

Page 10: Hot Pics -- BET Awards -- Lizzo, Billy Ray Cyrus and Lil Nas X, Rihanna and Cardi B

Page 12: Amanda Seyfried and Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore, Rita Ora, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner

Page 14: Camila Cabello, Pink, Ava Phillippe, Busy Philipps

Page 16: Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade and kids Kaavia and Zion, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt and son Gunner, Mario and Courtney Lopez and kids Gia and Dominic, David Beckham with kids Romeo and Cruz and Harper

Page 18: LGBTQ Pride -- Lisa Vanderpump, Halle Berry honors Alison Moed, Taylor Swift and Todrick Hall

Page 19: Heidi Klum, Tituss Burgess, Jonathan Van Ness, Evan Rachel Wood

Page 20: Hollywood dudes love pampering too -- James Franco, Patrick Dempsey and Jillian Dempsey, Will Smith, Jason Behr, Billy Porter

Page 23: Stars They’re Just Like Us -- Kendall Jenner, Chris Hemsworth, Jessica Alba, Ewan McGregor

Page 24: Hollywood Dads -- John Legend

Page 26: Love Lives -- Chris Lane and Lauren Bushnell are getting married

Page 28: Ciara and Russell Wilson coordinate their outfits, Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson’s marriage is four decades strong, Pamela Anderson and Adil Rami’s date nights are for relaxing

Page 30: What’s in my Bag? Jeannie Mai

Page 32: Hot Hollywood -- The Royal Foundation split between Prince William and Prince Harry because Meghan Markle wanted to be more involved and Kate Middleton wanted to be more hands off

Page 33: Gwen Stefani’s birthday shout-out to Blake Shelton, Felicity Huffman is hoping that she is a suitable candidate for a halfway house instead of prison after pleading guilty in the college admissions scandal, Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger honeymooned at a Four Seasons in Hawaii, the woman in Jim Edmonds’ infidelity scandal Jennifer McFelia Villegas has a history of harassing other MLB athletes

Page 34: Feuds of the Week -- Bella Thorne vs. Whoopi Goldberg, 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? stars Paola and Russ Mayfield wanted an at-home birth for their son Axel, Caught in the Act -- these stars should have locked their doors while getting intimate -- Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell, Kevin Hunter and Wendy Williams

Page 35: Hilary Duff is happy with fiance Matthew Koma, VIP Scene -- Kylie Jenner and Anastasia Karanikolaou, Dylan McDermott, Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria, Mindy Kaling, Alicia Keys, Rachel McAdams, Wilson Cruz

Page 36: Cover Story -- Scientology -- What the A-list members know

Page 40: How We Got Our Best Bodies Ever -- Kelly Clarkson, Kim Kardashian

Page 41: Jennifer Lopez, Jessie James Decker

Page 42: Post-baby slimdowns -- Eva Longoria, Kate Hudson, Kate Upton

Page 44: Inside Jennifer Lopez’s It’s My Party tour

Page 46: Celebs are leading the A-list’s green beauty revolution -- Justin Bieber

Page 47: Jessica Alba, Miranda Kerr, Gwyneth Paltrow

Page 52: Beauty -- Curl Power -- Blake Lively, Tracee Ellis Ross, Taylor Hill, Martha Hunt

Page 54: Us Musts -- Stranger Things

Page 56: Himesh Patel of Yesterday

Page 57: T-Pain hot tracks

Page 58: Fashion Police -- Tessa Thompson, Gemma Arterton, Nick Cannon

Page 59: Whitney Port, Madonna, Jennifer Morrison

Page 60: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me -- Nancy Grace

#tabloid #scientology #cos #leah remini #tom cruise #kirstie alley

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thewineauctionroom · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://wineauctionroom.com/not-all-bad-news-as-online-auctions-help-pick-up-the-real-world-slack/

Not all bad news as online auctions help pick up the real-world slack

The World of Fine Wine’s auctions and secondary market correspondent, Chloe Ashton, looks at the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the fine-wine salerooms and secondary market

The resolve of the wine industry is being tested. Following an uncertain start to the year, the global health crisis descended on an already-unsteady fine-wine market, forcing a complete halt in business for the on-trade, while the off-trade scrambled to come up with contingency plans to sell and deliver wine with new, “Covid-safe” procedures. Over half-way through the year, the picture is far from bright for restaurants and bars, but off-premise sales offer a glimmer of hope.

After falling 2.5 percent between January and April, the Liv-ex 1,000 index bounced back in the latter months of H1 2020 (fig.1). Also gaining ground lost at the start of the year, and following seven consecutive months of decline, the Liv-ex 50 index (made up of Bordeaux first growths) experienced a positive pivot, rising 3 percent between March and June. The Bordeaux-dominant Liv-ex 100 index continued its downward trend, dropping 2 percent over the first half of 2020.

In regional terms, the Bordeaux Legends 50 index finished H1 2020 where it began in January, and the Bordeaux 500 index fell half a percent short of the same (fig.2). Matthew O’Connell, Head of Investment at BI Fine Wines, qualifies their fluctuation within the context of this year’s Bordeaux en primeur campaign: “Prices were 25 percent down on average—even more for some of the biggest names”. Release prices slashed to gain traction amid the pandemic nevertheless came with a trade-off: a widespread reduction by the châteaux of volumes brought to market. “Fewer customers were able to get hold of the brilliant, and brilliantly-priced wines,” he explains, adding, “In many cases, we had demand five times higher than our available allocations.”

While the combination of attractive prices and high demand caused heavy secondary market trading of Bordeaux 2019s, its impact appears short-lived—the region’s Liv-ex trade share percentage declined further through the first half of 2020, reaching an all-time low of 46 percent by the end of July (fig.3).

Burgundy, too, falls victim to the pandemic, its regional index falling 2 percent in the first six months of the year. While showing signs of a faster recovery by July, it was Liv-ex’s worst regional performer in H1 2020—a consequence of sky-high prices having further to fall during harder times. Less expensive wines from outside the two traditional French fine-wine regions fared better. Despite a reported 33 percent decrease in global sales of Champagne, Liv-ex’s Champagne 50 index is the best regional performer of the year so far, rising by 2 percent between January and June 2020. The Rhône and Italy 100 indices also performed well.

In the UK, regional diversification is firmly afoot. BI recorded a 30 percent increase in turnover from Italian wines over the past 12 months, while trades on Berry Bros & Rudd’s online trading platform, BBX, continue to diversify. “Italy, Rhône, Spain, and North America claim slightly bigger shares each year”, Buying Director Max Lalondrelle told me.

The same cannot be said for Hong Kong. The pandemic, plus political turmoil, has taken its toll on business, particularly given the city’s strong on-trade focus. Bordeaux continues to trend downward: “HK cellars are full of Bordeaux,” says Thibaut Mathieu, Managing Director of Corney & Barrow Hong Kong. “It’s hard to offer mature Bordeaux to an HK collector who is probably sitting on hundreds of clarets, bought while en primeur was still hot,” he continues. Burgundy nonetheless still holds its trade share in volume, albeit at “a more affordable price point” for immediate consumption at home.

Uncertainty for the future generated by the health crisis has translated into thriftier purchases across fine-wine markets. While this does mean a decrease in average sale prices per bottle, the positive takeaway is volume. Indeed, Corney & Barrow’s Hong Kong business for home delivery “has picked up significantly.” “We are selling two to three times more than last year,” Mathieu explains. Tom Harrow, Managing Director of Honest Grapes, echoes a similar sentiment for the UK, with business “operating at a level between 1.5 and double our normal Christmas period since lockdown.”

Auction update

By contrast, the spring live-auction season of 2020 was understandably quiet, with fully operational physical auctions an impossibility for much of the second quarter. Live-auction revenues in the first half of the year reached an unprecedented low of $124 million, down 48 percent on H1 2019 (fig.4). The total number of lots offered saw a smaller reduction (36 percent), meaning a 20 percent decrease in average value per lot ($3,204 in H1 2020 vs. $4,008 in H1 2019). Geographically, the Hong Kong auction scene has been the hardest hit of major wine cities, its live sales experiencing a near-70 percent drop in value compared with January to June 2019.

But while the gavel in Asia was less active during the first six months of the year, its customers were not. Private Chinese buyers were responsible for the highest bids in live auctions conducted by American houses, as well as proving their ongoing thirst for fine wine in several online-only auctions.

The US earned a 67 percent share of global live-auction revenues from January to June 2020. Front-runner Acker Merrall & Condit exceeded its H1 figures on the same period last year, generating $46.6m from live and live-streamed sales (fig.5). Following a well-timed introduction of online-only sales in September 2019, a further $8.6m from digital auctions brings Acker’s H1 2020 total to $55.2m. Zachys also adapted quickly to customers stuck at their computers, arriving “first out of the gate” with its Studio Sales—auctions streamed online with a live auctioneer and online bidding.

In NZ we are also experiencing strong online sales which provide our vendors with that extra confidence when they hand their wines to The Wine Auction Room.

Further success stories of 2020 are found beyond the traditional hubs. The impressive performances of Baghera (Geneva), Heritage (Los Angeles), and Skinner (Boston) compared to the same period in 2019 suggest decentralized trade, linked not only to a requirement for activity closer to home during the pandemic, but also through wider use of online resources for fine-wine buying internationally. Indeed, the digital pivot has already proved of higher importance this year than ever before. With the exception of Christie’s, every major live auction house also offering online-only auctions grew their digital revenues in the first half of 2020 compared with the same period last year, to the collective tune of $26m (a surge of 21 percent).

Online-only auctions still garner lower top-lot prices than their live counterparts, but their upswing in value during the pandemic-ridden months of 2020 relative to 2019 is astounding. The average winning bid value of digital wine auctions in H1 2019 was $4,500, but $17,000 in H1 2020 (an increase of more than 270 percent).

Though 2020’s global auction value thus far is a far cry from the dizzy heights of H1 in 2019 and 2018, the market has shown encouraging signs not only of continued activity and the strategic agility to facilitate it, but also generosity. Auction houses sprung to the aid of the hard-hit on-trade and health charities. Zachys teamed up with Union Square Hospitality Group, raising funds for unemployment relief through the sale of rare wines from its restaurants’ cellars. French online auction platform, iDealWine, received donations from more than 100 Bordeaux châteaux, generating €134,600 for medical charity Protège Ton Soignant. WineBid—the world’s largest online auction platform—also arranged a charity sale, with proceeds going to the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation Covid-19 Relief Fund.

In addition to its generous support for an industry in need, WineBid also saw an all-time high in bidding traffic. CEO Russ Mann is optimistic about the permanent changes that 2020 will have brought to fine-wine buying behavior. “Within a $325 billion industry, online wine sales have thus far penetrated as far as c.$10 billion—just 3 percent,” he explains. “I think the pandemic has generated in three to five months the same progression for the industry as we’ve seen during the previous three to five years.” WineBid itself has had systems in place to replicate the physical elements of a live auction for many years. It possesses technology for 360° examination of bottles through hi-res photography, as well as fast-paced “e-bay style” bidding on a weekly cycle, recreating the excitement of a live auction room.

Perhaps a silver lining of this difficult year, therefore, is an openness to buying differently, and from farther afield. Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Wine, Jamie Ritchie, explains thus: “Whether live or online, out of Hong Kong, New York, or London, our sales this year have proven that the appetite for wine transcends geographical boundaries, as collectors across different time zones are prepared to place their winning bids by any means.” True to this, and despite the ongoing political unrest, Hong Kong showed early signs of some upturn in July. Sotheby’s rescheduled season of spring sales in the city generated $23m, its three-day auction series becoming the third highest-value wine-sales series ever in Asia. Christie’s first live sale of the year also took place in Hong Kong, resulting in “very strong market response,” and a final sale value of $5.5m. Other big players have plans to make up for lost ground through the autumn. After its “busiest June ever,” Zachys is set for an exciting Fall season, including its inaugural European sale—the auction of wine from three-Michelin-starred Florence restaurant Enoteca Pinchiorri.

Through these challenging months the fine-wine industry has shown resilience, and its customers, loyalty, with both parties adapting to the “new normal” without compromising the pursuit of their mutual passion. London-based private members’ club, 67 Pall Mall, reacted quickly and creatively, replacing the physical space of its tasting rooms with a “virtual” membership. The shift saw live tastings conducted through Zoom, for which participants received “tasting packs” in advance, complete with tasting mat, storage, and serving instructions, thermometer, and 75ml samples of the wines. Merchants, too, leaned into their screens, increasing digital activity through video-led tastings. Tom Harrow, Director of Honest Grapes, is delighted with customer-engagement levels achieved over the past few months. “We really grabbed the medium of video by the horns, moving our entire events program online very early into lockdown.” Appetite for online tastings has continued, albeit “a little less frequently, as visits to bars and restaurants become possible again.” The months of lockdown ended on a positive note for Berry Bros & Rudd, too, with BBX seeing its number of monthly trades increase by 15 to 20 percent, and “more active buyers and sellers each month.”

With the world slowly re-opening, it will be interesting to see how the industry’s new digital advances develop. Old habits die hard, but as the coronavirus dust settles—complete with a global recession and an unemployment crisis—so loom once again the longer-standing political threats entrenched before this unprecedented year began: Brexit, US tariffs on wine, Hong Kong’s national security law. Now is the time for all those interested in fine wine to fasten their seatbelts—there may well be a bumpy ride ahead.

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wineanddinosaur · 4 years

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We Asked 12 Wine Pros: Which Rosé Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck?

As bars and restaurants continue to navigate the coronavirus pandemic and reopening phases, VinePair asked the bartenders and drinks professionals below to provide a virtual tip jar or fund of their choice. More resources for helping hospitality professionals are available here.

Arming yourself with a supply of chilled rosé is one of the best decisions you can make during the summer. No matter its country of origin, rosé is consistently food-friendly and complements an array of summertime staples, while providing pairing possibilities for any season’s dishes.

Thankfully, the rosé market continues to grow, adding new and enticing options to try beyond the always heavenly Provençal rosés. And with the average price of rosé at less than $20, it’s the perfect wine for stocking up.

To help make your next backyard shindig a success, VinePair asked beverage professionals from coast to coast which pink wine offers the best overall value. Read on to learn about recommended varietals and emerging rosé regions to keep your eye on.

“I love to drink local, and here in Southern California, you can’t get more local for me than Santa Barbara. One of my absolute favorites is the rosé ‘Love You Bunches’ from Stolpman Vineyards. It’s 100 percent Sangiovese with tart cherry and mouthwatering watermelon flavors that will leave you with an empty bottle before you know it.” — Marianna Caldwell, Assistant General Manager and Sommelier, Cassia, Santa Monica, Calif.

Donate: The United Sommeliers Foundation

“The 2019 G.D. Vajra Rosabella Rosato is a tart and tasty rosé that retails just under $20. With crisp notes of strawberry blossom and cherry, Rosabella shines on its own or paired with a picnic in the park.” — Kaitlyn Gibbs, Beverage Director, Louie, St. Louis

Donate: Kaitlyn Gibbs Venmo

“2019 Gaspard Rosé. Made exclusively for New York-based natural wine importer Jenny + Francois, this quaffable rosé always hits the spot. Made in the Loire Valley of France from local grape varieties using sustainable winemaking practices, it is the definition of a crowd pleaser.” — Luke Sullivan, Head Sommelier, Gran Tivoli & Peppi’s Cellar, NYC

“La Vieille Ferme Rosé, made by the Perrin Family of Château de Beaucastel fame. This Grenache-Syrah-Cinsault blend is widely available and over-delivers at its sub-$10 price point. It’s a perfect weekday wine for any couple, and if you’re hosting a summer cookout for a large group, it’s available in box format, which brings the price down even more.” — Andrew Pattison, Beverage Director, Sushi Note, Los Angeles

“I first tasted Maison Noir’s ‘Love Drunk’ rosé years ago, and it’s never been far from my mind since. André Mack — the founder of Maison Noir, and the first African American to win the title of Best Young Sommelier in America — has created the platonic ideal of a rosé: zippy, fresh, with enough complexity but not too much. After all, don’t you just want to drink?” — Jamie Harrison Rubin, Former General Manager, Ambra Restaurant Group, Philadelphia

Donate: Jamie Harrison Rubin Venmo

“Las Lilas Vinho Verde Rosé from Portugal is one of my faves. A blend of indigenous varieties, this rosé is light and bright, bursting with juicy red cherry and floral notes. This wine makes me think of the beach, and the best part? It retails at around $8.” — Etinosa Emokpae, Wine Director, Friday Saturday Sunday, Philadelphia

“Domaine Maestracci ‘E Prove’ Rosé 2018. When talking about valuable and high-quality rosé wine, Corsica is always my first thought. High level of production, just as [good as] the Provençal neighbors, lesser known and more affordable, and above all, a touch of distinctiveness that you would expect from [such] an independent land as Corsica. Located in the northwest of the islands, between the Monte Grossu and the Mediterranean Sea, the family-owned Maestracci estate produces this refreshing and delicate yet deep and elegant rosé from traditional grapes of the islands: Niellucciu, Sciaccarellu, and Grenache. I strictly recommend it with the classic Corsican bouillabaisse [Provençal fish stew]. — Mariarosa Tartaglione, Head Sommelier, Ai Fiori at The Langham, NYC

Donate: Mariarosa Tartaglione Venmo

“Rosés from the south of France, specifically Provence, are probably the most widely celebrated, and many international vintners model their juice after this style. Clean, bright, crisp, tangy — all the zing of a mineral-driven white wine, with the lifted texture and berry profiles of a light red. Domestic and other New World rosé tends to be a lot more fruit forward and a little fuller on the palate, more melon and bubblegum notes, and occasionally a lactic quality, almost like fruit-at-the-bottom yogurt. Some of my personal favorites are from Spain in Basque Country: Txakolina (pronounced cha-ko-lee-nah) is often white, but the producer Ameztoi makes a sensational rosé style called Rubentis. It’s like the strawberry limeade of wine with a touch of prickly effervescence and without the sweetness.” — Kyle Pate, Sommelier, Tinker Street, Indianapolis

“Commanderie de Peyrassol, Côtes de Provence Rosé. This wine was a staple on the list every spring and summer at a former restaurant I worked with, and with good reason. The estate is located in the heart of Provence, and the first recorded harvest took place in 1256. Madame Rigord began to bottle and sell the wine in 1981. She wrote a book titled ‘Le Dame de Peyrassol,’ which discussed her role as one of the only women being at the forefront of winemaking at the time. The wine is such a classic and still remains to be so unassuming while over-delivering in a category that has become synonymous with marketing and brand recognition. Their farming and vinification practices are organic — no fungicides or pesticides are used in the vineyards. The wine expresses each and every vintage while still remaining complex and clean.” — Madeline Maldonado, Beverage Director, da Toscano, NYC

“For the last few years, Forlorn Hope’s ‘Queen of the Sierra’ Rosé has been at the top of my list for quality-to-price ratio. Matthew Rorick and the team at Forlorn Hope are making characterful yet accessible wines using natural principles, and their wines are a great introduction to new-school California wine for those unacquainted. Bright, zippy, with strawberries playing against a refreshing salinity, this unfiltered rosé will appeal to natural wine drinkers, while also pleasing fans of more conventional wine with its energetic freshness. I love fuller-bodied rosé, and this medium-bodied offering is an accessible way to dip one’s toes into expanding their rosé horizons.” — Brendan Biggins, Beverage Director, Grand Army, Brooklyn

Donate: Food Issues Group Venmo & Service Workers Coalition. Brendan also suggests two resources for groups providing wine training to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, here and here.

“Thibaud Boudignon is one of my all-time favorite producers in the Loire Valley. His rosé of mostly Cabernet Franc is bone-dry but has beautiful fruit and a really amazing salinity. Boudignon is practicing biodynamics in the Loire, and this direct-press rosé just over-delivers.” — Theo Lieberman, Beverage Director, 232 Bleecker, NYC

Donate: 232 Bleecker Gift Cards

“POP 300, Rosé of Pinot Noir, Napa Valley, Oakville, Calif. 2018. This is a rare and delicious rosé made with grapes from arguably the most famous vineyard in Napa Valley: To Kalon Vineyard. Yes, you read that correctly. There is Pinot Noir planted in To Kalon Vineyard. Winemaker Luke Russ has had access to this fruit for a little while now and is producing small lots of this delicious summer sipper. Notes of underripe cranberry and cherry intermingle with aromas of fresh red flowers. The palate is satisfyingly juicy with a lightning bolt of freshness on the mouthwatering finish.” — Carey Vanderborg, Sommelier, PRESS Restaurant, St. Helena, Calif.

Donate: Feed Our Families – Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Helena and Calistoga

The article We Asked 12 Wine Pros: Which Rosé Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/12-best-quality-rose-brands-price/

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johnboothus · 4 years

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We Asked 12 Wine Pros: Which Rosé Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck?

Donate: The United Sommeliers Foundation

Donate: Kaitlyn Gibbs Venmo

Donate: Jamie Harrison Rubin Venmo

Donate: Mariarosa Tartaglione Venmo

Donate: Food Issues Group Venmo & Service Workers Coalition. Brendan also suggests two resources for groups providing wine training to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, here and here.

Donate: 232 Bleecker Gift Cards

Donate: Feed Our Families – Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Helena and Calistoga

The article We Asked 12 Wine Pros: Which Rosé Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck? appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/12-best-quality-rose-brands-price/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/we-asked-12-wine-pros-which-rose-offers-the-best-bang-for-your-buck

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isaiahrippinus · 4 years

Text

We Asked 12 Wine Pros: Which Rosé Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck?

Donate: The United Sommeliers Foundation

Donate: Kaitlyn Gibbs Venmo

Donate: Jamie Harrison Rubin Venmo

Donate: Mariarosa Tartaglione Venmo

Donate: Food Issues Group Venmo & Service Workers Coalition. Brendan also suggests two resources for groups providing wine training to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, here and here.

Donate: 232 Bleecker Gift Cards

Donate: Feed Our Families – Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Helena and Calistoga

The article We Asked 12 Wine Pros: Which Rosé Offers the Best Bang for Your Buck? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/12-best-quality-rose-brands-price/ source https://vinology1.tumblr.com/post/624979446963781632

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wearewillpower · 6 years

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Meagan Trozzo ‘19

“William Paterson University has given me the foundation to grow in ways I never thought possible. This year I competed as part of a team of two students representing William Paterson at the Russ Berrie Institute's 12th Annual National Sales Competition. I was so proud when our team won first place in the competition, as WP has only won this competition two times in the past 12 years. Individually, I also earned first place for the sales role play event, and came in second place for the individual overall competition out of 130 students from 40 schools from all over the world.

Based off of this, you might think I was some kind of veteran at these competitions, right? Wrong. This past fall, I competed for the very first time in William Paterson's Professional Sales Challenge Triathlon. At first I was terrified and actually had to force myself to participate. But I knew I had to summon my Will. Power. and take the leap, and I was determined to be as prepared as possible. In advance of the competition, I joined the Professional Sales Club and enrolled in a Professional Sales class. My hard work paid off as WP gave me the opportunity to not only compete in the Triathlon, but to qualify to compete in the National Sales Challenge. The faculty and staff of William Paterson took me further. After qualifying, the faculty dedicated nine hours each week to train us for the competition. They didn't have to do this -- they were adding this to their regular schedules. But, because of their dedication, I gained the confidence to compete. And we won. All thanks to Will. Power.”

#WillPowerStories #wearewillpower #wpunj #william paterson #WPZZ

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ihonestlydk10 · 8 years

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Untitled #219 by jenni-xo-nunez-13 featuring an eyebrow kit

Blue t shirt / River Island high-waisted jean shorts / Black and white shoes / Moschino clutch, $630 / Vintage jewelry / Blue jewelry / Charlotte Russe gold ring / RetroSuperFuture pink glasses / Iphone cover case / Baseball hat / Benefit oil free foundation, $48 / Eyebrow kit, $42 / Eyebrow makeup, $30 / Eyeko mascara, $21 / Smith Cult eyeliner / Lord Berry long wear lipstick / NYX makeup primer

#polyvore #fashion #style #River Island #Moschino #Charlotte Russe #RetroSuperFuture #Benefit #Eyeko #Smith & Cult #Lord & Berry #NYX #clothing

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how2to18 · 7 years

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THE GRAND EXPERIMENT continues. Reviewers, at least some of them, experienced a kind of wonderment at the appearance of the first three volumes of the Graphic Canon. Five years later, the wonderment has deepened to just this side of bafflement. Not that editor Russ Kick, known for his work in the underground press way back, and his exposure of government secrets later on, means to be secretive. Not in the least. Indeed, he is so attached to his indirect creation (that is, the work of the artist-adaptors, and only occasionally his own adaptation scripts) that he provides a sometimes intensive, sometimes casual introduction for each entry. He really wants this project taken seriously in the large field of comic art. And understandably so, since he has managed to create something unprecedented in comic art, at least in the English language.

Or perhaps the reader is only likely to infer that claim because Kick’s volumes have now reached thousands of oversized, intermittently color pages, and stand to reach many more. The initial series of three volumes covered assorted literary genres across the ages, from antiquity to present, in more or less chronological order. This was followed by two volumes of children’s stories, told without much talking down or dilution of the scary parts. Now we have passed on to the world of noir, where practically everything is scary, and not much in a supernatural way.

There is so much good art and fine storytelling in this latest volume that complaints and criticisms seem almost niggling. But I consider the vision or map rather too broad when we can go from Solomon and Sophocles to de Sade, from Boccaccio to Nathaniel Hawthorne to Agatha Christie, within a single volume. “Crime and Mystery” becomes, in the process, a catch all for the stories that fascinate the omnivorous editor, and for which he has found a talented (mostly very talented) set of illustrators who also usually functions as adapters.

But crime and mystery, as a generic category, might be defined more precisely as literary responses to the social realities of the last couple centuries. Slavery, mass slaughter, and so on are, of course, present in previous eras and just as monstrous as they are today. But what sets off crime and mystery as a genre, what makes it the object of endless treatments in every phase of popular culture, is modern property relations. The novel in general emerged to transcribe the drama of the worthy rising bourgeoisie against sinking aristocrats, and for Dashiell Hammett and Columbo right down to the classic years of Law & Order, the contemporary master class is ultimately the guilty one. Hammett himself, as a teacher of mystery writing in the left-wing Jefferson School of the 1940s, supposedly told his students, “Look for the money, always look for the money.”

Never mind. What is here is remarkable enough. I am especially drawn, for instance, to Sophia Wiedeman’s retelling of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter in black and white with the use of one color, of course red. I am not sure that Wiedeman has captured the interiority of Hawthorne himself and his acceptance of guilt, as a descendant of New England’s pitiless Puritan settlers, for the American conquest of the land from its earlier inhabitants. But the fate of women, one woman, caught in the maw of patriarchal judgment — Wiedeman nails that, for sure.

Elsewhere in the volume, Rick Geary brings his vine-like style to Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment and captures the heart of the story, its essential action, in only a few pages. Another painterly Dostoyevsky, this one Hadar Reuven’s The House of the Dead, invokes the Holocaust with its scenes of men in beards in a monstrous prison.

Arriving in the 20th century, Sarah Benkin misses the crypto-racism of the wife and murderer of her husband in James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice (“He’s so greasy!” the scheming missus says about her husband in the original), instead showing hubby as a jolly Italian American. She also misses the lust that drives her collaborator into the murder. But the essential story is here, anyway. Ellice Weaver’s full-color version of Iceberg Slim’s Pimp, meanwhile, works as a series of amazing paintings with a subordinated narrative.

It would be easy to go on indefinitely, but I’ll mention only a few more examples. Theo Ellsworth’s adaptation of Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is a 30-page comic novella in itself, so intense that the reader gets a feeling of emotional exhaustion, in a good way, pages before the end. Robert Berry has made a section of James Joyce’s Dubliners into a Mutt and Jeff dialogue of sorts, in a bow to the immortal (for old time comics fans) Bud Fisher as much as to Joyce. As I am an admirer of R. Sikoryak’s intriguing approaches to comics history, I find his rethinking of de Sade as a series of comic book covers in “Sadistic Comics” — with an improbably helpless Wonder Woman at the center — utterly delightful. That may exhaust my list of particular favorites in the volume, except for the adaptation of Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins’s short story “Talma Gordon” (reputed to be the first mystery published by an African-American writer) by C. Frackes, herself a rising feminist artist.

If I commit myself to describing particular stories, it’s because every generalization about this volume fails and must fail. While each piece, taken by itself, is not necessarily strong or convincing, together they convince.

Convince us of what? That is the question, at least for this reviewer. We can usefully examine The Graphic Canon from another angle. The international sweep of its cast of artists and writers offers impressive evidence of a global comics community. It also testifies to Russ Kick’s amazing capacity for outreach. But as with Kick’s career, we find the essential origins of the series in the breakthroughs of the 1960s and 1970s, breakthroughs that left behind so many of the limitations long imposed upon comic art.

The comics-reading public, mostly readers under the age of 30, know little of this history today. Superheroes of every kind; quirky and sexy personal stories of mostly inward or troubled youngsters; the occasional historical saga (March, eulogizing John Lewis within his lifetime) — these comprise nearly all of today’s menu of comics, to judge from sales and advertising on the web. Hardly remembered now, except as an influence on today’s graphic memoirs, the distinct comics of the Vietnam Era and a decade after profited from artists’ ownership of their uncensored comic art, delivering up marijuana use, feminism, denunciation of corporations and the government, and flagrant sex of every variety, often flavored with humor. (The Southern California feminist series Tits & Clits Comix comes to mind.) Contemporary readers, excepting academic or those with a taste for the “old stuff,” tend to be familiar with only a fraction of this body of work — perhaps R. Crumb and Art Spiegelman, along with slightly younger figures like Alison Bechdel, Lynda Barry, and the Hernandez Brothers.

Stop for a moment and contemplate what that origin of a new comics, a new comic art, meant. It was a ragged community (just ask the feminists), but it was a real one. It recalled, in American life and art, nothing so much as the Works Progress Administration artists of the 1930s or the group gathered around The Masses magazine in the 1910s. These had rebellion of form and content, narrative and style, written all over them, but also a vision of a different relation between art and popular life in a better future. In the comics world, this is what slipped away by 1980 or so.

The elevation of comic art followed, although its arrival at true respectability arguably awaited Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize in 1992 — and arguably, dolefully, also awaited the return of the cutting-edge comics publishing locus from California back to New York, its historic location. Today, with the advance of college teaching into visual culture, the comics canon is taught very much as the canon of literature has been taught forever. In part, this is the nature of canonization: the few remembered, the mass of artists forgotten.

But this is also the case because the comic art anthology, pretty much the foundation stone of underground commix, has practically ceased to exist. Post-1970s efforts, like Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly’s Raw magazine, could not be sustained financially. My own series of topical anthologies ended with the volume Bohemians (2014), because these efforts no longer seemed worth publishers’ attention. The annual Best of Comics anthologies and the more or less annual World War 3 Illustrated appear too infrequently, and have too few pages, not to mention idiosyncratic editorial tastes. Rumors of a revival of Arcade, the Spiegelman and Bill Griffith–edited anthology from the late 1970s, appear to be unfounded, for various reasons.

Altogether, we see too little work side by side — and more than that, we get far too little sense that comic art has a purpose comparable to the socialist modernism of a century ago or the counterculture of the late 1960s. Perhaps the website The Nib is the exception, because its social criticism comes fast and furious, day by day, topic by topic. But we need more, much more, with a dialogue among artists and their admirers, editors, and others. At least, this is my conclusion after 50 years as an editor.

Russ Kick’s Canon thus does something that too few venues for comic art do nowadays. It is, for now, the most sustained anthology of comic art in the English language — the best showplace of what comic art is today and what it can do. That’s quite an accomplishment.

Paul Buhle was publisher of Radical America Komiks (1969) and has edited a dozen comics since 2005. His latest is Johnny Appleseed, drawn by Noah van Sciver.

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