Hallowmas

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& soon forgotten
Eallra Hālgena ǣfen

All Hallows' Even ~e'en

Beauty is but of the Skin

Where Ugly's to the bone
Beauty will but fade away
While Ugly holds its own.

image from the incomparable BibliOdyssey.
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erlkonig fini all hallows eve

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the artist Leonor Fini

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?

Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.

"Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?" —
"Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?" —
"Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif."

"Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir;
Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand." —

"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?" —
"Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind." —

"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehen?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein." —
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"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?" —
"Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. —"

"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt." —
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!" —

Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Müh' und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

Happy Halloween. Next!

Zabar's bakery-counter ticket.

Fast and Fancy Filet will Green Peppercorn Sauce

One our favorite fall / winter dinners thats easy to prepare for 4-6 people is Filet Mignon with a creamy peppercorn sauce. It's fun to prepare on our Wolf range stovetop with friends hanging out in the kitchen with a glass of wine during the prep. We alternate recipes sometimes using black crushed peppercorns and Madeira Wine or Green Peppercorns in brine and Cognac, both with heavy cream. We usually serve  this with Haricots Vert on the side.

Next time I going to try this dish with Cognac and White Wine as posted by Graham on Cookbook.ca.za.



Last nights preparation for four:

1 3/4 cups beef stock or canned beef broth

• 3 tablespoons butter


• 4 6- to 8-ounce filet mignon steaks (each about 1 inch thick)

• 1/4 cup chopped shallots


• 1 cup whipping cream


• 3 tablespoons Cognac or brandy


• 2 tablespoons drained green peppercorns in brine

Boil stock in small saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Cook steaks to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plate (do not clean skillet).

Add chopped shallots to same skillet and sauté 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add reduced beef stock, 1 cup whipping cream, 3 tablespoons Cognac and green peppercorns. Boil until mixture thickens to sauce consistency, about 6 minutes. Season sauce to taste with pepper. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve. Check out more recipes on Epicurious.com.





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It's Foto Friday!

Gisselle, an angelic Brown Baby, knows how to rock

a Blessed  Brown Girl tee!

Don't Worry, Be Hapa

(Above) Top model contestant Nicole channeling her Japanese/Malagasy identity

On America's Next Top Model a few days ago, host Tyra Banks transformed each contestant into some combination of two nationalities in a "Don't Worry, Be Hapa" model challenge.  You can bet there was some controversy surrounding Banks' choice to darken the models' skin with make-up as some people find the change of skin color insulting (calling it "Blackface") while others find the challenge an intriguing and interesting celebration of culture.  What's your take?

where you'll find me-reading

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When this book, unread,

Rots to earth obscurely,

And no more to any breast,

Close against the clamorous swelling

Of the thing there is no telling,

Are these pages pressed!

When this book is mould,

And a book of many

Waiting to be sold

For a casual penny,

In a little open case,

In a street unclean and cluttered,

Where a heavy mud is spattered

From the passing drays,
Stranger, pause and look;

From the dust of ages

Lift this little book,

Read me, do not let me die!

Search the fading letters, finding

Steadfast in the broken binding

All that once was I!

poem excerpt from Edna Saint Vincent Millay's The Poet and His Book

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A Kitchen Design that is Modern, Hip, Glam...Oh and Functional!

    We wanted to create a 21st Century look in this mid century modern house. A professional style kitchen that would be "eat in" intimate but also accommodate a staff for larger catered events as well.

The Floors are Italian Silver Travertine. This gray (silver) and brown marble has exactly the perfect warmth and depth of color to coordinate nicely with the quarter sawn oak cabinets and stainless steel appliances and countertops. We used Italian Statuary marble, white with heavy gray veins to contrast  and offset the other materials in the room. Note that the Statuary countertop on the island is one very large piece and it is book matched with the vertical end panels. 

The elliptical table is 1960's Milo Baumann and the Oak Chairs are 1950's Hans Wegner. 1950's' Italian blue gray Glassware.  

The Light Fixtures are from Boyd Lighting in San Francisco. The Professional Dual Fuel Double Oven Range is a 48" Wolf Range with Six Burners and a Griddle.

The kitchen cabinets were built by Henrybuilt in Seattle. We worked closely with Henrybuilt to create a look that blended the modern with the authentic appeal of this mid century home.  We achieved a look for this kitchen that is both sophisticated, modern and technically advanced. We combined horizontal and vertical grained quarter sawn oak panels with stainless steel countertops and appliances. We used linear full length steel pulls that added just the right punctuation. We made custom oak doors with frosted glass panels that concealed the pantries. All built out of oak to be cohesive with the kitchen design. 

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The One Brown Girl Challenge

Lighten up a little.

There is no way around it:  We all get angry from time to time.  But in order to avoid unnecessary stress (and all of the stuff that comes with it), it's not a bad idea to step away and take a deep breath and then carefully examine a situation that angers you before you (over?)react.  Sometimes, just sometimes, our reactions can be based on our own sensitivities about a subject/situation and we find out later that what we thought was awful/insensitive/crazy/hurtful isn't necessarily a personal attack.  Lighten up a little.  And then later if you find the anger is justified, take a proactive approach as opposed to a hysterical approach.  It'll certainly help keep your blood pressure down.

what they're READING now

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I checked back in with my reader's from the Summer Reading Series. Here's where they are and what they said-

An Aesthete's Lament


The one I am reading right now? I just finished (last night) "Rage for Fame," a biography of Clare Boothe Luce ... The next book I shall read is "Conversation Pieces" by Mario Praz ...

theHouse of Beauty and Culture

There is a growing stack (In House, More is More - Tony Duquette, and the new book on David Hicks among them) that I have not even had a chance to look at. This is a very bad habit. I still haven't yet read Pat Montadon's book (2007) or Kevin Sessum's Mississippi Sissy (2007). And, the books I ordered last week (Divas on Screen being among those) are due in on Tuesday! But I digress, in answer to your question I am currently reading: Madeleine Vionnet by Pamela Golbin (new), Wallace Neff and the Grand Houses of the Golden State by Diane Kanner (2005), and Mother of Sorrows by Richard McCann (2005)

And undoubtedly next week I will look at the bookcase with all my unread books and think, but, there is nothing to read! Oh, the caprice of it all.


JCB
Oh, I am never reading just one book! Right now: Angela Davis-Gardner, Plum Wine.

"A mystery that unfolds as beautifully, delicately, and ceremoniously as a lotus blossom. One of the most memorable novels I have read in many years." —Lee Smith, author of The Last Girls

& Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance. I am organizing my book week for next month...and will finally write that little piece on seasonal reading you suggested (inspired by the Paris Review interviews).le style et la matiereBooks? You do mean books, don't you? The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (rereading - inspired by a certain LA post); The Art of Arts by Anita Albus profound reflections on painting, art, symbols of human life through an examination of Dutch art and thinkers of various cultures; Decorating is Fun by Dorothy Draper (I understand Jennifer Boles' inspiration; they are both light and breezy but get down to important brass tacks in an original way); Ghost Stories by Edith Wharton (seasonal yes, but I'd never read these and they are worth reading at anytime)... Mrs BlandingsI am reading the Cecil Beaton biography by Hugo Vickers &Emily Evans Eerdmann’s Classic English Design and Antiques. Can’t wait to see what else is on everyone’s bedside tables!& MeIf nothing else-checking back in with all makes me know I am not alone. As HOBAC says of his growing stack-And undoubtedly next week I will look at the bookcase with all my unread books and think, but, there is nothing to read! Oh, the caprice of it all.Currently reading- Clarence John Laughlin Prophet Without Honor by A.J. Meek, along with reviewing his published photography books. When I want to switch it up- I go to Ottoline Morrell: Life on the Grand Scale by Miranda Seymour.On my groaning bedside table, next up- Journey Into The Mind's Eye by Lesley Blanch and The House of Life by Mario Praz. Both books recommended by AAL and the Lesley Blanch book by Lucindaville. On the book's jacket, Blanch writes "My book is not altogether autobiography, nor altogether travel or history either. You will just have to invent a new category." In the fiction category-Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel the 2009 Booker Prize winner.


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Team Uncool Wears: Adidas Jeremy Scott

Recently we hit 'Swallows inn' in the delapadated dark old China Town in the Johannesburg CBD. Theres nothing better than cheap food and prancing around with some clothing we cant afford on. Anyways, we where joined by artist Kudzanai Chiurai, writer Montle Moorosi & our very own Bee Diamondhead.

Check out the snaps.

Ct09

Photographs by Chris Saunders

September Issue

Have you ever dreamed of becoming a fashion photographer. Throwing in your day job and living in a world of models, magazines and beauty just like Richard Avedon, Craig McDean and Mario Testino. Of travelling to exotic locations and creating photos out of this world with the world's best stylists and most prestigious magazines.

If you do, my advice is NOT to see the new documentary September Issue. Even though I have been living in the photography world for the best part of ten years this movie made me feel like laying down my camera - it was like seeing everything you dreamed of in cold hard daylight and Madame Wintour's daylight is about as warm as a winter's day.

September Issue, follows American Vogue's Editor Anna Wintour and her collaborators as they put together the biggest September Issue in Vogue history. Anna Winter in the fashion world has rock-star status but it is her side kick Grace Coddington who breathes life and beauty into the fashion with her incredible style working with worlds best photographers. Whilst Madame Coddington is out at the coal face, pouring love, sweat and tears into creating the most beautiful fashion photos possible, Madame Wintour back at the office cuts through the results with a machete, passing over some of the most beatiful photos ever created as though they were rotten apples, reducing them to the cutting room floor because the garments aren't in 'colour', don't appeal to Madame Wintours taste or aren't pin sharp - emotion isn't something that interests Madame Wintour. We see hundreds of thousands of dollars hit the rubbish bin as Madame Wintour trashes entire photographic stories.

Madame Wintour was the famous inspiration for the film 'The Devil Wears Prada' and in someways I feel that the film was actually kinder to her than this documentary. We see the real story, the way jackets are featured in her magazine not because they inspire her but so the stores can sell more, the way she waves away entire designers ranges because they don't have any coloured garments in them and how she promises retailers she will 'talk to the designers' about paring down their ranges. Is Anna god or does she just think she is?

We all have our dreams, I have almost bought every issue of Vogue Italia (almost never American Vogue - can't bare the cheesy smiles) since I started photography. My dream would be to work for Italian Vogue. I don't think two editors could be any different. Franca Sozzani is known as the photographer's angel and she would probably pick up off the cutting room floor all the photos Madame Wintour threw out. Vogue Italia chooses photographers who put emotion into their photos, movement and blur is often chosen over pin sharp because it gives the story emotion. Franca Sozzani in an interview with Liberation says - that the photo and the feel comes first, it is not important if you can see the dress or not. She has supported and promoted photographers such as Paolo Roversi with his blurry soft focused images, who has inspired photographers like myself to search for something other than pin sharp. Peter Lindbergh's gorgeous black and white images of women have also been a regular feature in Italian Vogue, Ellen Von Unwerth has packed incredible spirit into her images and Steven Meisel has been allowed a free hand since Sozzani's inception (and the models don't have to smile)! Deborah Turbeville is allowed to create wistful photos in extraordinary settings.

I ask what wonderful images could Grace Coddington produce if she had another editor? What if Grace Coddington worked for Italian Vogue, what magic they could make?

RJ Cutler, the director does a brilliant job, September Issue reminds you that the fashion industry is exactly that, an Industry with a capital I. Anna Wintour shows herself to be closer to a ruthless Rupert Murdoch than a true lover of beauty, the bottom line is about bucks.

Maybe RJ Cutler would like to turn his camera on another Vogue, maybe Italian Vogue, something that will warm our photographers hearts instead of filling them with fear.

If you want to be a fashion photographer get this months ITALIAN VOGUE and get inspired!!

The Brown Girl World: Ismath's Story

"I will admit: I’ve avoided the sun so I wouldn’t get darker. I’ve gone swimming at night instead of during the day to avoid tan lines. It’s completely and utterly ridiculous. I should enjoy the sun’s warm rays and get some exercise! But where do these thoughts come from? We weren’t born with the innate ability to distinguish between skin colors and assign meanings to them. But for some women, the fair skin battle draws them into deeper depths than just avoiding sunshine during the day."  Read more here.

Hardware at HILLWOOD, & Ladies of the Club

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knock knock?


& more about Hillwood- It is impressive. It is FABULOUS! As I mentioned in a previous post- when I go through these grand houses I like to find things I can take home-that is to say IDEAS I can take home.

An Emerald?

1929 Giulio De Blaas
this portrait of MMP & her daughter Nedinia hangs in the upstairs hall

Why Yes- I will, thank you-I admit it to be one of my favourite stones & NO I don't have any-YET.

Have a look at Mrs Post's:

this breathtaking photograph is from the November Town & Country
click to Enlarge the images to see the incredible detail

I am woefully inadequate to talk about emeralds-any kind of jewel. I turned to the expert- Debra Healy. She is a fine jeweler,an authority on & a historian of jewelry & launched two blogs in the Summer. Her books include : Tiffany et les Joialliers Americains, American Jewelry: Glamour & Tradition, Hollywood Jewels: Movies, Jewelry & Stars. Her absolutely wonderful blogs are Diamonds & Rhubarb (here)- and Paris Originals (here). Neither will disappoint.

Debra said:

From ancient Sanskrit sources it is known that emeralds have be valued and used for over 1500 years in India. After Pizarro’s ruthless conquest of the Incas, even new world emeralds found there way into royal Indian collections. The princely states of India were ready recipients for any fine large stones found throughout the world .

The Large Central Stone In Mrs. Post’s brooch has a carved Mughal floral motif . It is roughly dated from its inscription “The servant of Shah Abbas” it is not known weather it was Shah Abbas I (1557-1629) or Shah Abbas II (1633-1667). It is known that large emeralds were coveted by Shah Jahan, a contemporary of Shah Abbas II. The other emeralds in this piece were probably carved in the 19th century.

This Brooch was originally made by Cartier London for stock in 1923. It was altered by Cartier New York for Mrs. E.F. Hutton ( Marjorie Merriweather Post) in 1928. It was later altered again in 1941 to its present shortened form.

I love these Mughal emeralds they were handled so deftly by Cartier during this period. The carved emeralds give an exotic orientalist flair to these large sumptuous jewels. They are set off so perfectly by the hard edges of the brilliantly cut diamonds and black enamel.

(Can you imagine that it was shortened in 1941 to its present form of 8 inches? The brooch is made up of eight hundred round diamonds & 250 carats of emeralds.)

Jewelry history is a fascinating study through which we can see the financial status and aspirations of a nation, and its wealthy elite. The migration of great gems from European royal treasuries in the 19th century. Into the hands of the new wealth of America tells us a lot. Families like the Vanderbilts, the Walsh-McLeans, the Dukes, and the Huttons acquired some of the most famous gems in History.

Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Collection is an outstanding example illustrating this time in history- an American entrepreneurial fortune, Russia’s misfortune, and their desperate need for cash. Mrs. Post-Davies personal fortune, and her yacht the, Sea Cloud, in Leningrad harbor shopped the country. Cash is king.

The Russia and India treasuries were transported to Europe in 1917-1950. Gems are indeed a form of flight capital. Many were then sold to Americans. Now we are coming full circle- who are the clients? Newly minted Indian Billionaires, Russian Oligarchs, Central Asian and Saudi petroleum princes. The gems are changing hands yet again. America is no longer the great buyer. This tells us even more.

It is impossible to determine the origin of a sapphire or a ruby with out a laboratory. Examination with a jewelers loupe can be helpful, but a certificate is essential to establish the true value in the marketplace today. By microscopic and other laboratory tests the source of origin is established through analysis of the trace elements within the crystal.

...and ladies of the club

Mrs. Ronald Tree or as we refer to her- Nancy Lancaster & her rubies, pearls & diamonds. Mrs. Tree, always innovative-commissioned Cartier in 1930 for this sautoir necklace could be worn as a long necklace, or transformed into a bracelet & shorter necklace. Made up of 450 carats of charged fiery rubies, 90 pearls and 21 sparkling diamonds, it must have especially have done so on Mrs. Tree at Ditchley.

more from a conversation with Debra:

I once read several books on Vedic Astrology, I was interested in use of precious gems to augment unfavorable aspects of ones chart. Books with titles like,“ Gems and Astrology a guide to health and prosperity” - I was prescribed a yellow sapphire by a Brahman astrologer. I could not wear it. Apart from that, I love all exquisite gems. I remember the first time I saw a sizable Kashmir Sapphire, I felt as if I had a weight on my chest, as if I could not breathe, it literally took my breath away.

A unique cushion-shaped Kashmir sapphire weighing 42.88 carats

Similarly the first time I saw a true Burma ruby, it has a quality of light like no other . If you put a UV light over it, it fluoresces (Lights up) like the tail light of a Ferrari.

There are very few Burma rubies over 5 carats this 19.41 carat stone is exceptionally rare. It is set in a ring, surrounded with diamonds.

Image Christie’s

Having spent some of my formative years in Iran, as the daughter of a diplomat, I love Persian turquoise.

Here-Persian turquoise, engraved and inlaid with pure gold inscriptions of sacred text from Iran. These stones are still on the lapidary sticks on which they were cut and engraved.( 19th century)

My tastes are diverse, and every jewel has a story-



Our Darling Duchess WWW & her Indian style bib necklace of turquoise, 294 carats of royal amethysts & diamonds. Cartier's 1947 exotic concoction of color and mix of precious and semiprecious stones was daring & made way for the hippie chic gypset style icons of the 1960's and today. Would the Duchess be amused?
( oh & yes the necklace had a matching set of ear clips.)

Daisy Fellowes posed by Cecil Beaton in 1937-wearing the HINDU necklace created for her in 1936. Here it seems all the elements merged into a rarefied riot of stones, shapes and colors that became known as a Cartier signature look known as Tutti Fruitti. The necklace is featured in T&C as modified by Fellowes' daughter in 1963. Here again are all the emeralds, rubies and nearly 250 carats of sapphires- a stunning pile of rocks!

Town & Country features 9 of "the Lucky Ladies of Cartier" in the November issue. Bruce Weber has a new book chronicling the spectacular jewelry of Cartier and the women that loved wearing them, CARTIER: I LOVE YOU.

Of course Debra did a Fabulous post of the Bruce Weber book earlier in the year- Cartier 100 Years in America here.

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The Cinerama Dome & Michael Jackson

We're going down to LA to see Michael Jackson's "THIS IS IT" but the really exciting thing is that were going to see it at the Cinerama Dome.

The Cinerama Dome 1963 by Welton Becket, 6360 Sunsent Blvd. Hollywood, Ca.

Photo courtesy you-are-here.com.





A geodesic dome built for the Cinerama format, this mini-Epcot like structure is a wonder of 1960's showmanship. Featuring an enormous curved screen and ample seating underneath the large dome, the Cinerama Dome is famous for blending first run films with the occassional revival classic. The Cinerama Dome opened November 17, 1963 with 937 seats and the World Premiere in 70mm of "Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Additional 70mm films included the West Coast premiere of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" on February 17, 1965, the World Premiere of "The Battle of the Bulge" on December 16, 1965 and the World Premiere of "Ice Station Zebra" on October 23, 1968. In 1999, The Dome exhibited an exclusive week long showing of the original "Blade Runner" answer print.

For more information about historic cinemas go to Cinema Treasures.

Michael Jackson's "THIS IS IT".... here's a link to the trailer.

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Teamuncool fashion likes: Designer Maaike Mekking

MM