This fabulous opening gala will include an all store celebration where party guests will enjoy lavish hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, dinner and dessert buffets, live entertainment and the opportunity to do some sneak preview shopping in the new store. There will also be vignette modeling featuring new spring fashion throughout the store.

Honorary Chairs are Debbie Autrey from Long Beach Museum of Art and George and Beverle Ray from Community Family Guidance Center. Event chairs are Maggie Reep and Luis Morente from Long Beach Museum of Art and Briana Knabe and Kathy Lovell from Community Family Guidance Center.

When: Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Price: $75.00 per person

Please use our fax, email or mail form to make your reservation online now or call 562-439-2119 ext. 336

he Friends of the Signal Hill Library is honored and pleased to present Author and Iconic Male Supermodel Burce Hulse talk about his book SEX, LOVE, and FASHION. A memoir of a male model.  Mr. Hulse will discuss his life and experience in the world of high fashion … Mr. Hulse will be available after for a book signing …

Monday, November 16, 2009
7:00 p.m.
The Signal Hill Community Center
1780 E. Hill Street
Signal Hill, CA  90755
Call (562) 989 – 7323 for more information.

I guess, technically, it really was an auction but that’s not descriptive enough.  Maybe a gala, an affair, a pageant, a real “to-do”, a moveable feast or, as my Dad might have called it,  a “heck of a shindig” ….had he been allowed in, which is doubtful.

When Christie’s held the soiree of soirees to unload  (pardon me “offer”) the effects of the life long partnership of Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Berge, at the Grand Palais exhibition space, it was a six day affair that was attended by more than 30,000 people. In addition there were over 10 auctioneers taking non-stop phone call bids for six days. St. Laurent, of course, died last year and my guess is that he and Pierre had pre-ordained the auction of what they had collected over their 50 years together. To have a successful gathering in Paris it was considered essential to have Yves St. Laurent in attendance.  Yves made this one through his and Pierre’s decades of collecting.

The 10 page spread in the July edition of Architectural Digest is something to behold, especially if you are in-between jobs or on short rations, so-to-speak. I freely admit that my knowledge in the world of art is lacking. Without using a lot of cliché’s trying to support my ignorance (“I know what I like”, etc.) I confess that my admiration is usually limited to  say ….”that cost how much?”

Well this collection is something you have to see to believe. Over 6 world records were set for art works and there must have been 50 set for furniture. Those of you who are true aficionados will revel in it and those who don’t know anymore than I do will share my astonishment

The magazine spread displayed many of the items sold with a tag of what room they were in at Pierre and Yve’s digs. (Paris and New York) The first page displayed 12 items of furniture and some bric-a-brac that sold for a little over $53 million. I liked a wooden sculpture that resembled a large nut cracker but I thought that $37 million was too much.  I wouldn’t have paid a penny over $35 million. There also were some lack luster jugs that sold for about $130,000 but there was another pair of jugs that looked a lot nicer and went just under $3,000,000.  I think at that price they are called a “brace of vases”….with a long “Aaaaaa.”

The second and third pages were identified as “The Grand Salon 1976” but the total here was a   paltry  $32 million. Admittedly that didn’t include whatever was paid for some partially empty liquor bottles but it did include an old leather chair that went for $28 million! ( I’m almost sure I saw its twin  at a Belmont Shore garage sale just before Christmas.)  I did like the four nice wooden chairs that were a bargain, I guess, at $132,000?, and also a very nice piece of wooden statuary of a pregnant pelican….I know, I know,  pelicans don’t get pregnant .. but I don’t think the artist knew it.   Anyway it was only $774,000.

When I got to the fourth and fifth pages, “The Grand Salon 2008” I finally saw something I recognized….(see I’m not totally a tyro)  A Matisse that sold for $10 million and a de Chirico for $14,233,226.  Imagine adding twenty six dollars to a $14 million dollar bid to win?

I thought one of the highlights of the auction happened before it began. Mr. Berge, is not only an unique collector but a businessman with a wonderful knack for negotiation. Prior to the sale a dispute had unfolded over two Qing dynasty bronze animal heads, a rabbit and a rat, originally looted from an imperial palace in China but purchased legally. China had demanded their return, but a French court ruled the evening before the sale that the auction of the heads could proceed as scheduled.

The issue had become a heated one in China, stirring nationalist indignation. Mr. Berge countered that the heads belonged to him, saying, however, he would gladly give them to China if Beijing would “observe human rights and give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama.”  The heads were sold.

I know Yves was a brilliant and creative man but some of these things must  have been purchased when he was in one of his drug induced hazes. But then that begs the question, what about the bidders this year who were willing to pay more than Berge and St. Laurent did when they bought these things.

Which begs the next question….what the heck do I know?

The grand total of the sale was almost one half a billion dollars!  Perhaps not enough to help GM or AIG but certainly a wonderful contribution for “”Research on AIDS” and other charities created by St. Laurent and Berge. 

A most noble gesture by two true “Renaissance Princes.”

[istillhavenotfoundwhatimlookingfor] or

[iamtheonlyone] or

[imahustlerbaby] or

[iwanttof*ckyoulikeananimal] 

For those of you who are nuts about music the way I am, you may recognize these words instantly.   They’re music lyrics.  I stumbled upon these a month ago while reading some blog and fell in love with the idea of these shirts.  After a bit more investigating I fell in love even more.

i/denti/tee is the brainchild of a group of music lovers who have partnered with ITunes and Edun Live.   For those of you unfamiliar with Edun, its a clothing company founded by U2 frontman and humanitarian Bono and Ali Hewson.   EDUN LIVE supplies the tees. Each one is ‘grow-to-sew’ African – from the cotton they source, through the spinning and knitting stages, all the way to the final logo print on the inside of every music tee.  Every i/denti/tee tee is printed on an EDUN LIVE blank. So the benefit of each purchase goes back to the people working on the product in sub-Saharan Africa. And every purchase comes with an iTunes code (USA only) that is good for 10 free songs of your choice at the iTunes Store.

Every lyric i/denti/tee prints is licensed for use, which means money goes back to the people who brought the lyric to life – the publishers and the song writers. So each i/denti/tee t-shirt has a “copyright” patch sewn onto the back, to showcase its authenticity. Let’s see Canal Street try to bootleg that.

To help reinforce the spirit of music, each i/denti/tee is packaged in a vintage, vinyl-style album sleeve; so it looks and feels just like a 12″ record when you get it. These premium packages are great to collect and they make the perfect last minute gift for the Holiday or any special occasion.

The price makes these TShirts a definite splurge….but the do-good aspect and free ITunes help justify the added expense some.   To find out more about i/denti/tee shirts click on the banner below.