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Is That Depression In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Unhappy To See Me?

INTERNSHIPS FOR THE JOBLESS
Lois Draegin, 55, lost a six-figure editing job. She now works unpaid for a start-up website, trading her knowledge for new online skills.

Baby Baby It's A Wild World

Just realized in addition to the ones I posted about the other day, this Georgina-Chapman-of-Marchesa-as-Marchesa-Luisa-Casati spread appeared in the March issue of US Harper's Bazaar.

I went crazy trying to find animals for this shoot-- especially the cheetah. The cheetah that ended up being used was a "plush cheetah sculpture" handcrafted and painted by artists at Hansa Toys. Before finding this life-size wildcat substitute, I was put in contact with a man named Larry Wallach who lives in East Rockaway and wrangles wild cats and other exotic animals. He literally has tigers in his back yard, and had even recently rescued an albino kangaroo from a coke dealing ring who were hiding blow in its pouch!

COKE-A-ROO!

Some may remember the national news story about the man who was keeping a 500 lb Bengal tiger in his apartment, and Larry the "Tiger Man" was the one who helped rescue the cat.

Here's a news story about Larry Wallach AKA "Tiger Man" and one of the biggest characters I've ever had the pleasure to speak with.

This kind of stuff is why I loved working at a fashion mag with a decent budget for shoots! Speaking of fashion, see below for some of the inspirational shots of Marchesa Casati used for the shoot. Just like the animals she so loved, she was a dangerous creature--Sadly most of all to herself.

Joseph Rous Paget-Fredericks (As seen on the cover of Marchesa's biography Infinite Variety)

At the Ball of Famous Paintings 1935 Man Ray

Paul Poiret with model

1922 Man Ray Portrait

1912 Baron de Meyer

Ms. Christensen You're Trying to Seduce Me

While I was still at Harper's Bazaar, I helped coordinate this photoshoot with Chuck Bass-- I mean, Ed Westwick and Helena Christensen in the March 2009 issue. I thought it turned out pretty awesome! (In response to the much discussed SJP/Vreeland editorial and cover: The newstand cover is (and are always) a total collage made by the art department, and the photos of SJP were based on actual photos of Diana Vreeland. If your qualm is with SJP's age, well, she ain't gettin' any younger, folks!)

Now on to Bass:

Photos shot by Terry Richardson at the St. Regis hotel and Tom Ford store









Also worked on this editorial called 'Street Chic' shot by Peter Lindbergh that turned out so much better than I'd imagined! It was shot right before Halloween weekend and Catherine McNeil actually borrowed the bunny suit for her Halloween costume. Funny.



See the rest: STREET CHIC

Evening Weather Update

It's still snowy and cold outside.




If it doesn't stop, I'm a little worried for my sanity.

Oh no no nooo. Don't be silly, sillies! I don't have a job. It'd be nothing like that! 

Okay. Back to reading 25 Things About Me Memes. Ahhh.

Beauty Booty

As the winter seems to be closing in on us here in NYC (Currently 26 degrees F!!), I celebrated MLK Jr. day big time in my apartment getting over a head cold, and wallowing in my own pity. With my cold has come lots of scaly skin, raunchy smells, and of course, aches and pains. Wanna make out? Just kidding. Luckily, pre-leaving-fancy-magazine-job, there was a sale of all beauty products given to the mag for testing, and I acquired something like a bushel of shmancy skin swag for so cheap I can't even discuss it!

My faves out of those that I've tried:

DOUBLE DEFENSE Face and Body SPF 30 By Somme Institute
This moisturizer is thick enough to deal with my winter scales, but not make me feel like I'm wearing a grease mask. Since I've been blowing my nose every five minutes, I've developed quite the attractive chap 'stache, and this stuff has been a soothing godsend! I'm also digging the 30 SPF provided I get to see the light of the sun again!

NEOCUTIS Bio-Restorative Skin Cream with PSP

Not that I need to reverse the signs of aging, but my boyfriend used this stuff, and said he totally noticed a difference in his skin. As a (mostly) ex-smoker, he says this stuff reversed the havoc that the cancer sticks began around his eyes.

SOS KIT FIRST CLASS FLIGHT Pure Rosewater Mist by Sheerin Okho
I don't think this particular mist is sold anymore, but now comes in a sheer lotion. Whether working all-nighters or traveling coast to coast, this spritz was an automatic eye opener, and smells amazing due to its natural ingredients (Rose, jojoba, ginseng).

I'll update when I get to the rest. My bathroom would look like Sephora if I had all the stuff I scored in view!

Failing Economy? Schmailing shmeconoshmy! Buy Some Stuff!

ANTHEM magazine was supposed to be doing a "Cool Stuff In '09" article, which in a sad, sad 20 page cut, turned into an online project. I know some of the items were included in their Holiday Gift Guide, but the other 70 some odd items disappeared into dust. They may have appeared on Anthem's site, but I'm not sure.

Regardless, here are some of my blurbs:

PROJECT YOURSELF

The Optoma Pico Projector, an itty bitty video projector retailing at $430, hit shelves this December—it’s perfect for slideshows of holiday folly and impromptu, lo-fi movie dates. This little baby projects an image from most smart phones, iPods, and other handhelds for instant entertainment straight out of your pocket, with a maximum image size of 66 inches. One caveat: the amplified sound is as teeny as the 4.2-ounce device itself, so get an earphone jack splitter to watch with a buddy.

RETRO FLASH
Buying a digital camera can be tricky these days. On one hand you need something pro for those weather-beaten captures of your cross country trip next summer. On the other, you need something fast to bust out when you find your roommate locked out in nothing but his socks. Olympus understands. Not much bigger than a Twinkie, the compact, Olympus Micro Four Thirds Camera is smaller than its big bro the Four Thirds Camera, and comes fully equipped with auto-focus, interchangeable lenses. To top it all off, looks like a mini-version of your dad's leather bound job from the 70's.

THE DUTCH ODDITY

It's a motorcycle! It's a car! No-- It's a Carver One. This 3-wheeled Dutch hybrid vehicle steers like a car, but carves like a motorcycle for tight handling, earth-friendly fueling, and safety. And did we mention it’s fast as hell? The compact design allows tandem seating for a passenger, and easy parking in crowded, urban environments. While this should be available in the U.S. by late 2009, you might have to swim across the pond to try out this ride sooner; the release date in the U.S. for this fuel-efficient car-cycle keeps changing due to our heavy road rules and regs. (President Obama: Do something!) Check it out in Europe in 2009, and cross your fingers for a swift American release.

Object Oriented

Every morning, without thought, I take her in my hand, get her wet, and stick her in my mouth. She feels so under-appreciated-- So used! (I’m talking about my toothbrush, with its stoic curves, of course). Have you ever thought to examine and appreciate the mundane accessories that populate your life—the toasters, the forks, the pencils? If so, take note: filmmaker Gary Hustwit is a lover of objects, and in his upcoming film Objectified, he and his associates show us the beauty in those every day objects that we often forget to adore. "The term objectified has two meanings, " Says Hustwit, "One is 'to be treated with the status of a mere object.' But the other is 'something abstract expressed in a concrete form.' It's the act of transforming creative thought into a tangible object, which is what designers in this film do every day." Although Hustwit will be giving thought to those tangible things that many consider mundane, Objectified features some of the top chihuahuas in the design and art world—Paola Antonelli, Curator of Architecture and Design at NYC's MoMA, Jonathan Ive, Senior VP of Industrial Design at Apple—so expect bells and whistles on those forks and pencils.

MMMMMM Toasty!

When I turned sixteen, I got my first car for my birthday with the only condition being that I pay for the gas and maintenance myself. This resulted in my working in one of the offices of my dad's company for a couple hours after school daily for my final two years of high school. I pretty much had it made. 70% of my duties was going on ice cream runs for the gals in the office in my new wheels (White '91 Buick Regal with red leathuh interior!), and the other 30% of my time was spent gossiping with them. Finally, the day of doom came around when I was reprimanded for sporting daisy dukes and platforms in the office, and that was it. Being the pigheaded gal that I am, I decided anyplace must be better than that stuffy dump. That day I took my first steps down the long, winding, magical path of THE FOOD INDUSTRY!!

My first job was hostessing at Razzoo's Cajun Cafe, a chain whose only other locations are oddly in Texas. We opened the restaurant in Charlotte, and were taught to greet customers with a big ol' smile and a spirited, "Hey Y'all!!!" I was fired after a week and a half. I began thinking that perhaps serving others was not my forté . I took a leave of absence from the industry to think it over, and checked out the retail side of things slinging Doc Martens in the mall shoe store, Journeys--after all, their slogan is "An attitude you can wear."

Following that job, I jumped from movie theater employee, to Renaissance Fest serving wench, to bank teller, and eventually to a short stint at Quizno's, which is where I saved up a meager amount of cash to move to Bushwick, Brooklyn. Thanks Quiznos! It wasn't until I moved to New York that I really dove into the service industry head first.

My first waitressing job was in a dingy irish bar and restaurant that paid me just enough to barely make rent. The job ended 8 months after it began when the bartender threw a cup of tartar sauce on me. Though I stuck around in the service industry this time, I vowed to never waitress again no matter what.

Check out this great essay on the very industry that feeds you, me, and paid my rent for 5+ years:
IN WHICH YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE LOSING A PIECE OF YOUR SOUL

I. NEED. JOB.

I don't read Gawker daily, but I just caught up on the back-posts and, wow, they are on top of their shit! I wasn't really going to talk about this, but since GAWKER is, I suppose I will too.

Last Thursday, June 26th after organizing a huge breakfast for some PR company beauty product launch in the place of my previously happy employment, I was called to a meeting with the general manager of the place. In that meeting, the grand announcement was that the restaurant had been sold, and everyone there was immediately out of a job. That place was Bette-- owned by Miss Bungalow 8 "Nightlife Queen" Amy Sacco, which Gawker knew about the next day. CRAZY.

Here's the article:

Is this the end of Amy Sacco? We're going to say it is. The onetime NYC nightlife queen's restaurant Bette in Chelsea—formerly considered a complement to her club Bungalow 8, a food-and-fun empire that would never be destroyed—is closed. No big to-do; just a lock on the door, and the end of an era. What happened?

A tipster to Eater says:

At Bette last night for the closing party. I live and work in the area and dined there fairly regularly. The bartender told me that Amy Sacco sold the restaurant and gave the staff about 8 hours notice.

Cold. Why, we remember a few years back when we were talking about Sacco's "quest for total domination," and HBO was planning a story about her rise to fame. She had so much success in the city, she said she'd rather die than return to her native Jersey.

Then things started to slowly go downhill. Rumors flew that Sacco was stiffing her PR agency; the usual suspects started placing bets on when Bungalow 8 would close. Her doorman struck out on his own. She tried to export her magic to London, but failed to find the same popularity.

Sacco recently called New York nightlife—and herself—"overrated." Now she's been proven right.

YES, GAWKER. The notice given was completely cold. I cannot say much more, as I loved working at Bette. I loved all those I worked with, although I stood in the same room with Amy only once the entire time I worked there (She did give me hand-me-downs from goody bags she didn't want though, which was nice.) I actually had gotten up at 5am to throw a private event beginning at 7am that ended up being a total stressful nightmare, to only have my hard work followed by the news that I was out of a job before noon. I might as well tell you friends, lurkers, and stalkers, I was and still am in shock.  The meeting promptly commenced with a round of drinks on Bette. Cheers! 

(I did not attend the closing party, however. I chose to stay home and ordered Chinese food, watched movies with my boyfriend, and sulked like a good sport.)

NOTE: Even though it's easy and fun to pick on Ms. Sacco, we should all be looking at this from a much broader angle. I've watched the cover counts in several popular restaurants in NYC decline over the past year or so, and it wasn't because they had lost their edge. People simply can't afford to blow all their dough on decadent dining right now! Sacco's decision to chuck Bette was probably just good business sense. She's simply cutting off the (non-profitable) fat to save room for the meat (i.e. whatever other endeavors she is sitting on these days.) As I mentioned in my previous post, Jann Wenner may be looking to do the same thing! Everyone knows the economy is in the toilet, but if the rich kids are watching their backs, is anyone looking out for the rest of us?