GenEx

Thanks for the downgrade!

You should all be fired!

Banner flown over Wall Street. Via HuffPo.

And I thought Fette Sau was delish

 

Hello.

It seems it's been ages since I've had the time and/or motivation to sit down and really write a post on this blog. As opposed to sharing with my readers cool things I turn up on the net and elsewhere (such as the lovely and irrepressible Chloe). There are several reasons for this.

The last year has certainly been a busy one, and that's good news for an advertising freelancer. After my 4-month stint in Atlanta, I'm just now wrapping up a 4-month new business pitch with an agency here in New York. My future employment prospects are still cloudy but there's a general push to find "full-time" work in the city I live in and be done with it already. The freelance train is getting old, especially since we've gone global and work in any city.

Part of me thinks - thanks to the infantile behavior of certain Republican congressmen - we'll soon be thrown into another worldwide recession and selling ourselves on streetcorners. Which will leave plenty of time for blogging. But another part of me realizes that facebook has so completely taken over the world that blogs for many of us aren't as necessary as they once were. Given I can share just about everything imaginable there, it seems redundant to say it all again here. 

I'm not closing for business. Just thinking out loud.

DIVACATION

Above, the lovely Courtney and Miriam - hosts of this past weekend's DIVACATION in Provincetown - a wonderful weekend celebration for Courtney's 40th birthday. The weekend was part wedding (with a glamorous reception at Garden Renovation nursery) and part drag party (with an over-the-top bash at Vixen complete with red carpet and step-and-repeat). Yes, all men were required to attend in full drag - including yours truly. I haven't laughed that much in a long time.

Would you like it straight? Or broken?

See more at BL33N.

Celebrate Fr33dom!

 

The Depeche Mode Motherload

My friend Ray recently pointed me in the direction of a major event for Depeche Mode fans. Not a concert tour or a new album - but an auction. Alan Wilder - who was in the band through the Devotional period - is putting up for auction around 300 lots including many of the synthesizers he used to create the albums / play the tours as well as jackets, clothing and memorabilia. The official auction site can be seen here. 

There are a few bands that defined my teenage experience and Depeche Mode was one of them. New Order, The Smiths and R.E.M are probably the three others. Because of this, the albums those bands released or that were in our collective consciousness from about 1987 until 1990 are particularly dear to me. They feel - as do the bands themselves - as part of my formative years as any other experiences I had.

Depeche Mode has always had a certain knack for marketing and graphic design. They are probably responsible in some ways for my interest and eventual study and love of design. The bands album covers - particularly Music For The Masses - haunt me till this day. And their tour shirts are second to none.

I have spent quite a bit of time (and money) hunting down some of the old shirts from those tours, so to see the entire shirt collections from each tour on offer is rather mind blowing. If for no other reason, to now have a true record of exactly what was on sale the day of the show. 

I do wish Alan had not signed the shirts but that's besides the point - these collections will fetch thousands and I have no intention of bidding. The shirts I own in the MFTM collection above (the ultimate) are the top center with the band's faces on black , and the top right with Music For The Masses on black. I've passed up the lower right white shirt as the graphic on that was is huge and doesn't wear well. I would kill for any of the Rose Bowl specific shirts which I believe are the top and bottom 4th in from the left. The white version of the faces shirt I own (bottom, middle) is impossible to find and worth a fortune. As is the DM black polo on the upper left. You're looking at history, here.

The Violator shirts are also pretty great and I just found the black rose shirt (third in from the left) on ebay. I used to own that one, along with the white one 2nd in from the left which was one of those XXL shirts so common in the 80's. It kills me that I got rid of these shirts but we're stupid when young.

The auction is to take place on September 3rd in Manchester but is also open to the online community. It will be an unprecedented opportunity for the grabbing hands to grab all they can. For a steep price, I imagine.

Hysterrr

Via the NY Times.

Getaway

I'm leaving tomorrow for a well-earned 4 night stay in the Hamptons (Bridgehampton, to be exact) to celebrate the 4th of July. 

For many, the Hamptons represents the moneyed class, a party scene, and all things stuffy and pretentious. But for me it is more good friends, home cooking, big pools, great drinks and relaxation.

Beautiful but not ostentatious homes, tan skin, hearty breakfasts.

And time to forget about the city. 

I Love New York

There are no words.

The news came I believe around 10:30 PM last Friday. My friend Shawn and I were co-hosting a Pride party for about 100 on his terrace and it was just starting to pick up. Everyone was on their iphones or crowded around the television in Shawn's tiny living room/kitchen. There was no particular moment of exclamation or a chorus of screams. Just smiles and laughter and a feeling that all was well. The party continued to grow and the atmosphere became celebratory - it was the perfect night.

I've always felt obligated to participate in Pride activities in some form or another. I think it is our duty to show the world what a critical mass we are - and the more people at a parade or on the news or hosting events there are, the better. At no time have I felt more pride in my home state than this past weekend. The vision of the Empire State Building lit up in rainbow colors, overlooking the myriad parties and events going on throughout the city - it was one of New York's' finest moments. 

It was electric. It was New York.