Milan in the afternoon

Random shots of Milan taken in May. Great weather and the light was fab.

 I love how the camera captured every detail.

At the Piazza Duomo.

Romulus and Remus mosaic detail at Piazza Duomo.

At the Palazzo Reale

Girl

A friend's daughter doing The Shark. 
I thought it was pretty reminiscent of U2's Boy... but that's just me and my penchant for grainy black and white shots. What up, Anton Corbijn.

Adios Dennis (Dennis Hopper, 1936-2010)

Earlier in this blog, I'd written about Dennis Hopper's terminal cancer and that he was dying. Well, he's gone. Great actor, brilliant director, amazing photographer, fantastic artist, lousy husband. 
Dennis-Hopper-Prostate-Cancer-Bones.jpg

Everyone talks about Easy Rider and Blue Velvet but do you guys remember the brilliant scene he did with Christopher Walken in True Romance? 
dennis2.bmp thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com


Here it is in case you were living under a rock in the 90s:





He was also always at the right place at the right time, capturing the zeitgeist of the West Coast art scene in the 60s. Here's a link to some of his most famous pictures from www.thedailybeast.com: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-09-24/dennis-hoppers-sixties/
Also check out the extensive back story to Easy Rider, and indeed the rebirth of American cinema in the 70s in the Peter Biskind book, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.

Shakespeare & Co.

My favourite bookshop in the world is a tiny place in Manhattan called the Gotham Book Mart. Old, musty, a favourite with everyone who's anyone in New York. Patti Smith debuted her poems there, Woody Allen has done readings there. When I had the amazingly good luck to visit, they were still using an old-fashioned machine (of the hand-cranking kind) to add up my Edward Gorey purchases (they specialised in Gore-y, among others). When I went back to find it in 2007, my heart sank when I saw the grills barricading the shopfront, signaling the end of an era and a way of life.

In the absence of the bookshop, is Shakespeare & Co., the next best alternative. It has a very different vibe from Gotham--trendier (and I say this with gritted teeth) and much beloved by tourists because it has marketed itself incredibly well. Quite unlike Gotham which prided itself with a quiet dignity (okay, they could be a little snooty). I'm being cynical and bitter because one beloved bookshop closed but that shouldn't mean I should condemn the other. 

Shakespeare & Co. is a worthy institution (original owner Sylvia Beach published James Joyce's Ulysses when nobody wanted it) and proof that people still read books and love them. Everyone is friendly there and you're more than welcome to sit and read for hours. There are writers-in-residence living upstairs in return for service in the bookshop and the upper tier showcases letters from fans all around the world. 

I come here every time now. Just in case. But there seems to be no sign of this bookshop ever letting up, thank god. Please don't go in the summer -- it really is like making a holy pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Mecca--crowded, sweaty and frustrating.

Goodbye Dede (Dede Allen, 1923-2010)

Apparently, the best film editors are all made up of women: Susan E. Morse (Woody Allen's longtime editor), Thelma Schoonmaker (Scorsese's), Marcia Lucas (George's ex wife who helped save Star Wars--true story.)... and then there was Dede Allen.

Who knew a woman was behind some of the most iconic films of the 70s? 

https://www.editorsguild.com

Some of the movies in her impressive repertoire:

http://joycereview.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/the-hustler-paul-newman-jackie-gleason.jpg

http://www.littlegoldenguy.com/posters/1967/1967_Bonnie_and_Clyde.jpg

http://www.impawards.com/1973/posters/serpico.jpg

http://www.takehollywood.com/assets/images/Dog_Day_Afternoon.jpg

http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1010/467188.1010.A.jpg

http://reviewinghughes.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/bfast-letter.jpg

Here's a great article from Salon detailing her genius (includes a detailed analysis of a scene in The Breakfast Club): 

http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/film_salon/index.html?story=/ent/movies/film_salon/2010/04/19/dede_allen_obituary

More Than Meets The Eye

These were taken last year at the Prada Transformer exhibition in Seoul (grazie mille, Miuccia!) Famed architect Rem Koolhaas  designed the event space to rotate each time a new exhibition was displayed. We the Waist Down skirt exhibition and managed to chat with Koolhaas and Miu Miu (who is a rare breed of fashion designer--not a whiff of diva about her).

Must thank my point-and-shoot for behaving that day. Imagine if I had my Pen with me... 

Or maybe it has nothing to do with the equipment. 

Maybe it's just my fabulous sense of composition ;)

\

Tranquil moments...