At Royal/T Café, Store and Artspace
8910 Washington Blvd, Culver City CA
The evening of February 4th, 2010
was a hare-y sitch for photographer Dirk Mai, as captured above by the boys of Polite In Public Photo Booth.
Har, a hardy-har . . . Umm, YEAH. How ’bout I spare you guys the slab of Velveeta? Sound like a plan?
That’s what I thought…
Chubby Bunny [L] and Yume Ninja [R] of Bubble Punch brought cosplay Correctness for us to look upon,
Whereas Lenora Claire — another ‘repeat offender’ on this humble Dot Com — fully LET US HAVE IT with a mind-melding, retinal-shattering, hot hot hottt hairstyle!
Oh! But what have we here? Per chance might it be one adorable little Kit Kat Lee?
As a matter of fact, yes — yes it is, indeed . . . and in the haus with her : band mate and business partner, the multi-talented Kaila Yu [L]!
Our exploration of Correct Culture continues with burlesque beauty Courtney Cruz, sandwiched between an Alice duo …♥
[ Oh, and pssst! A little "JSYK," just in case you're in the No instead of know ] :
The estimable Miss Cruz presents “tassle-twirling with a spin” at her once-a-month installment of The Devil’s Playground at Bordello bar. Described by journalist Erin Broadley as “Beyond traditional fan dancing and martini bathing,” the Devil’s Playground “integrates pop culture and niche fan favorites with the classic art of the striptease, modernizing burlesque with cleverly themed, character-driven performances like Video Game Girls, Comic Book Vixens and…Tails From the Crypt.” Known most recently for creating a disturbance in The Force for her Star Wars-themed bump-and-grind, it’s no wonder the L.A. Weekly deemed this Busty Storm Trooper’s resident troupe as Best Burlesque Club of 2009.
Pictured above: Cruz maintains a subdued demeanor with chanteuse Jessicka Addams and Mia Vixen, one of The Devil’s Playground performers.
Wait a minute. I mentioned this was an art opening; didn’t I?
Oh-Kay.
Unfortunately, the gallery ran out of catalogs; i.e., I’m afraid I don’t know whom to credit for the creation pictured above. That being said, please allow me to segueway back to other deep and meaningful content, such as
other photo booth antics I enjoyed . . . ditto, Ela Darling and The Dirkulous Maximus.
Caught here on the other side of the camera Previously captured on the other side of the lens — though retracted, since keeping her identity secret only intensifies the appeal — is was Nightranger‘s intrepid reporter Lina Lecaro, whose years of fearless ventures — from immersing herself deep in the trenches of trannies werkin’ the merkin to ravers wielding glow-sticks as if they were num chucks — have garnered her reputation as The Go-To Girl for Nightlife.
Incidentally, Lecaro “dipped into the population” this eve not only for the sake of a newspaper word count, but also to celebrate the completion of her first full-length manuscript. [ No, people: I didn't say script. Leave those to your dental hygenist, who'll likely have "something for you to look over" before the luxury of another kind of script gets written. Oy! ]
By manuscript, I mean book— of which her debut is titled Los Angeles’s Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving in the City of Angels. Its release date is May 1st, 2010, though you might as well go ahead and pre-order such an indispensable guide. Assuming you remembered to close out your tab at the bar last night, that is! Such a hassle, retrieving one’s 16-digits on plastic The Day After. Isn’t it? [AHEM!] I mean: So I’ve Heard.
“Besides: it’s not like I had a hang-over or anything! It was more like…a lean-over.” Yeah. That was it—
And Suddenly, It’s Evening : The Gold Vs Petker Runway Show and Death-Dance Riot
crept up on me like a shadow.
One moment I was in Iowa working with my comrades Dustin and Brian of Novice Industries; the next, rushing to hair and make-up with my pal Aldo o’ the Vento.
Aldo volunteered to assist me with Door Duty for the event, a favor which proved much needed the moment we stepped from what was intended as a brief “helloing” sesh — as pictured below, kicking off the evening with the lovely Jenelle Rensch, graphic design whiz [ and incidentally the mastermind responsible for my CC logo in its final incarnation ], Mssr. Aldo Vento Himselfness, model and co-star in Matthew Mishory’s biopic Delphinum: A Childhood Portrait of Derek Jarman : a beautiful, lyrical portrayal of the phenomenonicon, which is currently winding its way about the international film festival circuit. [ Not that you asked, though as I'm proud for all parties involved...let the record hereby note : the world premiere was 5 September 2009, at the Portobello Film Festival in London. ]
And oh, but oh : from one photograph to the moment that followed, how swift a shift in decorum. Namely, when AnnaLynne and Rachel McCord arrived at the venue, any semblance of order was tossed out the window like a stale copy of Us Weekly.
Image of AnnaLynne McCord and Clint Catalyst courtesy of
Deeply Shallow: One Man’s Adventure in L.A., by Albert Domasin
As rabid 90210 fanatics attempted to claw their way towards the living, breathing version of “Naomi” they recognized from their living rooms, I did my best to sneak the party of pretty-pretties into the inner sanctum : a seated area complete with Goodie Bags [ sponsored by Janome sewing machines, Fiji water, Tarina Tarantino jewelry, Amtrak, Josie Cotton, and Sebastian Hair Care Products ] that lived up to the name — incidentally, the precise locale where soon enough, leather metallic fabric † stitching nipped and tailored † silkscreened paintings † tricked-out hair with neon nets † make-up more surreal than real, and the spirit of unfettered creativity and unapologetic flamboyance would reign.
After all, why was everyone at the Social Club?
The MOST CORRECT runway debut of the retina-shattering, cardiac arrest-inducing atelier extraordinaire Jared Gold‘s latest collection : a collaborative effort with mega-watt visual artist Joshua Petker.
Above : Rockin’ some ‘tude, with pop legend Josie Cotton
A Brief : my first interaction with Mssr. Gold hearkens back to a bleak time in American history. We met shortly after his 2001 debut in Manhattan on September the 10th — an inauspicious moment for anyone to premiere clothing design, as it transpired mere hours before the atrocity known as 9/11.
Eight years have passed in the interim, and still: the creative outpourings of this inimitable virtuoso never cease to amaze.
That being said, it should come as no surprise that for his latest effort — a pairing of superpowers with painter Joshua Petker — my expectations were anything but low.
Pictured above : Petker with photographer Cyn Yen
Per chance you aren’t familiar : Mr. Petker’s art is most God, indeed. Over the span of the last few years, I’ve admired his murky-canvased beauties from afar — so when the opportunity presented itself this Christmas past, I was stoked to make his acquaintance and bear witness to a bit of the brainstorms and dark-clouded creative rumblings between these two masterminds.
All due respect, before I venture into the particulars of the Gold x Petker mash-up, please allow me to praise the work of this inventive gentleman . . .
Up first : two images pilfered from an interview in Fecal Face, a.k.a. the art-blog equivalent of masticating a corpus callosum.
“[Petker's] work is like that girl you know will destroy you but somehow you just can’t resist.” — Manuel Bello
Entitled “Hunting For Witches,” the painting [ above ] slaughters me, maing…SLAUGHTERS me!
And next, A portrait from Petker’s recent watercolor series [ 2009 ] :
So. Much. Gorgeous!
Fine art from a fine fellow : truly . . . truly.
At any rate, speaking of ‘fine’—there was no shortage of squealing over Twilight‘s hunkasaurus
Kellan Lutz
among the crowd at the Gold versus Petker extravaganza.
Full disclosure: I’ve never seen Twilight , nor have I read any of the books. Said another way? I wasn’t aware Who He Is—but not to worry…it’s not as if frenetic whispering girls and paparazzi flashbulbs going pop! were in short supply.
Short of the long? Mr. Lutz was a complete gentleman: there was none of the “Don’t You Know Who…” routine that’s as played-out as clunky monster boots. (Seriously, kids? Just. Don’t.) Equal parts accessible any coy, Lutz maintained a genteel decorum I often refer to as From The School of ‘Leave-Them-Longing.’
A rare trait in today’s tabloid-congested society, unfortunately. With yellow journalism the norm rather than the exception, these days it’s as if the lump sum of Tinseltown’s silver lining is tinged with rust.
I mean, let’s face it: once one is inundated with images of our ‘stars’ being— well, — as flawed and human as the rest of us? There’s a natural tendency for audience members to be less willing to accept Coleridge’s “Willing Suspension of Disbelief” in terms of an implausible premise.
However, the academic vernacular? Hereby duly noted. (Apologies for the yawnage, please.&.thanks!)
Instead, a shifting of gears to that hotness known as AnnaLynne. As for The CW’s “90210,” I did, in fact, see the two-hour premiere—though can’t say I remember much about the episode other than Cory Kennedy and Mark The Cobra Snake‘s cameo appearance.
*Appearances? I’ve been staring at this blue screen far too long, I’m afraid.
Whatever the case, congrats to the duo—both of whom have graduated from their former status as ‘fixtures’ among L.A.’s nightlife to full-fledged international phenomenons quite successfully.
As for AnnaLynne, her role as Eden Lord in Nip/Tuck’s fifth season was no mere incident of (envision air quotes) scene-stealing; it nabbed the entire season. Seriously? But seriously… Upon discovery of her 2009 win as “Greatest Break-Through Talent” at the Teen Choice Awards, my opine is succinct: well-deserved.
Oh yes…and since this is a city fueled by the mythic power of Celebrity,
It would be remiss to make no mention of rock icon Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins:
pictured here with the Cute-As-They-Come Kim Bruder
More images await “beneath the cut…”
However, since both the event and amount of photos collected –cough!STOLEN cough!–is of epic proportions, I’ve decided to divvy the lot up into three parts: Before The Madness (on which your gaze is fixed at this moment), Petker’s Paintings In Stiletto Pumps (the catwalk-stalking and crowd-gawking), and Dance.Music.Sweat.Romance (the after-party).
That being stated, Please! Click Away– for More Gore Gore Gorgeousness…
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