the black rebels
the outsiders
lenny & squiggy - "helloooo"
"greasy moments from the big screen."
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1959, White Plains, NY. photo:Marvin Koner/CORBIS
“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” -JR
Stay Up & Stay Golden Grant's Golden Brand Pomade the premiere water-based pomade made in the good old USA
views from our manhatt'n bridge stroll. the "finest" from the lower east side school of arts.
Grant's Golden Brand Pomade the premiere water-based pomade made in the good old USA
sidney in his youth
pacino & lumet on the set of serpico
pacino & lumet - lifetime award
The film world lost a legend over the weekend when film director Sidney Lumet passed away at the age of 86. Lumet did not just make great films he made great NEW YORK films including 12 Angry Men, The Pawnbroker, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Prince of The City, and Network. But his work went beyond the boroughs of New York as he also directed classics such as The Verdict, The Wiz, Equus, and Murder on the Orient Express. Text and image via New York Public Library.
"Sidney Lumet was one of the greatest directors in the long history of film. Compelling stories and unforgettable performances were his strong suit." - Steven Spielberg.
Grant's Golden Brand Pomade the premiere water-based pomade made in the good old USA
A couple woodblock prints we would like to have from Japan-born artist Ray Morimura who began his career as a painter using abstract, geometric forms.
More images here.
Grant's Golden Brand Pomade the premiere water-based pomade made in the good old USA
THE RAMONES from Zoltan on Vimeo.
Here's damn good entertainment to get you through the remainder of the work week: The Ramones live at New York City's Palladium, January 7, 1978 - 26 songs in 54 minutes set to cheap sci-fi movie trailers. via:npr
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London-born actress Elizabeth Taylor, who hated the nickname "Liz", passed away yesterday at age 79. She grew up on screen when she came to fame at age 12 in National Velvet and went on to star in over 60 films and win two Academy Awards. She was also an AIDS activist, inspired by the death of her close friend Rock Hudson. Beyond her charity work and glamorous screen persona, she had a stormy life, which included eight marriages and a lifetime of health problems - skin cancer, seizures, stroke, brain tumors, diabetes, hip replacements, back operations, but somehow managed to bounce back with force and resilience from all these physical and relationship set backs. Co-star Paul Newman said "her life has not been an easy or a private one, but a series of tribulations, serious illnesses, senseless tragedy and lost love. One thing for sure: She is not afraid to take chances in front of people. I find a lot of actors who reach the top, they become very protective of themselves, and self-indulgent, but not Elizabeth. I was always staggered by her ferocity."
“I don’t entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I’m me. God knows, I’m me.” - Elizabeth Taylor
1932 - 2011
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brando
donald
jack
jimmy
the lighter side of legends
Grant's Golden Brand Pomade the premiere water-based pomade made in the good old USA
A "tip of the hat" to our hometown ~ Seattle.
Grant's Golden Brand Pomade the premiere water-based pomade made in the good old USA
We at Grant's like our females with a bit more substance. Because well, good looks nowadays are more than a dime a dozen, and of course with a credit card, it can be bought, altered, and airbrushed in an instant. Which is why I was impressed when I read this NY Times article that Hedy Lamarr, who was called the most beautiful woman in Europe in her day, was also a rocket scientist on the side. So who is this lady?
She was born Hedwig Kiesler in Austria-Hungary, the only child to Jewish parents, studied ballet and played piano before age 10, and starred in dozens of films opposite the likes of Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable. Her escape from Vienna to Hollywood is almost right out of a film - she supposedly drugged her maid then disguised herself as the maid to escape her husband who had ties to the Nazi. But of course countless Hollywood leading ladies have seen their share of drama off-screen. What set Hedy apart from the rest of the glamour set, was her brains and extracurricular activities. Together with composer George Antheil, Lamarr came up with an early version of frequency hopping intended to make radio-guided torpedoes harder for enemies to detect. Their frequency-hopping idea serves as a basis for modern wireless technologies. So with the exception of an arrest for a Winona-like shopping spree accusation, this lady had some skills.
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Paul Muni appearing in the 1932 original cinema production of Scarface. The film was loosely based on the life of Al Capone. Great Hair & Gangsters.
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When was the last time you used a pay phone? Exactly. With mobile technology, a phone booth has quickly become something of vintage novelty. Well, lighting designer Benoit Deseille and artist Benedetto Bufalino transformed this phone booth into an aquarium in celebration of the annual Festival of Light in Lyon, France. These photos demonstrate how artists can transform unused, forgotten or wasted objects into things that make people stop and enjoy. From PopTech.
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monroe & russell
Jane Russell (born Ernestine Russell), June 21, 1921 - Feb 28,2011. This quintessential Hollywood Brunette had the heart to go with the looks. ~Rest in Peace.
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Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera on view now at the Brooklyn Museum.
“There were details, accidents of light, which I'd missed when I'd been able to make only quick sketches of a setting. For example in Rob Shuffleton's barbershop in East Arlington, Vermont: where Rob hung his combs, his rusty old clippers, the way the light fell across the magazine rack, his moth-eaten push broom leaning against the display cases of candy and ammunition, the cracked leather seat of the barber chair with the stuffing poking through along the edges over the nickel-plated frame. A photograph catches all that.”—Norman Rockwell (1960)
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self portrait
Vivian Maier's photos have been making their way around the web recently thanks to John Maloof who bought the negatives to her work at an antique auction. This story is particularly interesting because her photos remained unknown and mostly undeveloped until Maloof's discovery - over 100,000 negatives and 3,000 prints. The auction house where Maloof bought Vivian Maier's photos acquired her belongings from her storage locker that was sold off due to delinquent payments. Maloof later found her name written with pencil on an envelope and decided to Google her about a year after he purchased the negatives, only to find her obituary placed the day before his search. She passed away only a couple days before that inquiry on her, leaving so many questions unanswered, and with her not knowing this man she had never met held her life's work and was about to share them with the world.
Vivian's Story Vivian Maier (1929-2009) was a street photographer from the 1950s to 1990s. She's a bit of a mystery, with some contradictory information out there. But here's what's been gathered about her so far: She was born in New York to immigrant parents, spent many years in France before returning to the U.S. where she worked in a sweat shop in New York when she was about 11 or 12, and later worked as a nanny in Chicago for about 40 years. In 1959 she traveled the world alone, where she photographed places like Egypt and Vietnam. She was describe as a tell-it-like-it-is and "keep your distnace from me" type of person, outspoken, a feminist, loved foreign films and learned English by going to theaters, and wore men's jackets and men's shoes most of the time. She was constantly taking pictures, which she didn't show anyone.
If you're in Chicago, Vivian's first U.S. exhibition will be held at the Chicago Cultural Center. Around 80 prints will be on display, including a sample of her color work, and will run 'til April 3rd. There's also a feature length documentary film about her in production now and a book of her work is expected to be released next Fall.
All photos are copyrighted under Maloof Collection, Ltd.
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self portrait
the godfather by al hirschfield
great comedians - w.c. fields, charlie chaplin, buster keaton & groucho by al hirschfield
self portrait
A barber chair just gained legendary status. And it wasn't in a barber shop. It was in the home of Al Hirschfeld.
Albert "Al" Hirschfeld is considered one of the most important figures in contemporary American caricature. He's best known for his simple black and white portraits with exaggerated faces, using a minimum number of lines. Hirschfeld had his quirks, like eating with his left hand, but drawing with his right. But his best quirk of all was that he immortalized these Broadway stars and celebrities while seated in a barber chair. But since his death in NYC in 2003 - just five months shy of his 100th birthday - the legendary barber chair's been collecting dust in his famous studio, and his widow recently decided to donate "his throne" to the Lincoln Center branch of the New York Public Library, where it will be permanently installed, along with his century-old drafting table. His widow said, "I thought this library was the right place for his work. He lived most of his life in New York. His main focus was New York City and the theater . . . his personal vision and style was something I felt belonged in New York."
Mr. Hirschfeld called his barber chair "the last functional chair" because it could go up, go down, swivel, and recline. His widow described his barber chair as "a predecessor to the ergonomic chair." Since he spent practically every single day drawing, he needed to find the most comfortable chair and found it in an old-fashioned barber chair at a used furniture place on the Bowery for $3, but by the 1990s the chair was falling apart (all that remains of this original barber chair is the base, and is on display at the Manhattan gallery of Margo Feiden). He finally agreed to replace it with a new barber chair that had been used in a shop in the Chrysler Building.
It took eight men to get this barber chair down the four flights of stairs from his East 95th Street apartment while black liquid dripped from the chair, apparently hydraulic fluid leftover from the Chrysler Building shop. Check out this article and video.
It's been years since his passing but his art and the barber chair lives on in new places. If you live in New York, check it out, along with a rotating selection of his drawings now on display. His drawings can also be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
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The weekend's here again folks. Depending on where you live, this nasty weather might be keeping you indoors. If that's the case, we highly recommend you rent a copy of Stop Making Sense, a concert film featuring Talking Heads from three live gigs in 1983 at Hollywood's Pantages Theater.
Stop Making Sense could very well be one of the greatest live concert films to date. Everything in this film is flawless: the most important element - the music, the performances from David Byrne and the entire band/background singers, the energy level, the lighting, the angles of the shots, the staging. Although Byrne came up with much of the staging concept (and the funding) for this film, director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, The Manchurian Candidate, Neil Young: Heart of Gold), put it all together the way a concert film should be presented. If you're a Talking Heads fan, or you just appreciate good music, you won't be disappointed.
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manhattan, lights out
lootin' in bed stuy, free for all? photo:tyrone dukes/ny times
son of sam nabbed. psycho killer ~ qu'est-ce que c'est
talking heads. ocean club, tribeca. photo:allen tannenbaum
bowery bum at cbgb (r.i.p.) photo:h.wang
1977: The first Apple computer goes on sale. Star Wars opens. Punk Rock is the new. Elvis dies at 42. Carter becomes president.
But it was the Summer of 1977 in New York City that people will always remember - a time and place of extreme highs and lows: Lighting strikes a Con Ed substation along the Hudson River setting off a chain of events resulting in the massive New York blackout, leading to mobs, fires, and looting. The Son of Sam murders terrorizes a city already swallowed by crime, violence, drugs, financial crisis, and decay. But it's also when the New York Yankees win the world series and uplifts the city, even for just a moment. And ultimately music saves the broken city - everyone from the Ramones to the Talking Heads to the Dead Boys to Patti Smith takes the stage at places that would later become legendary, like CBGB.
Great respect to Allan Tannenbaum for capturing the scenes of the most high-strung, prolific, eclectic city in the world.
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self portrait 1875.
Happy Birthday Paul.
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We at Grant's have the stereo on 24/7/365 listening to all genres of music. From Dylan to Devo, Stevie to Strummer ~ one thing remains constant: we love good music. Who has time for sub par tunes these days?
On that note, we received an email from Jim Gaudette a master guitarist and a loyal customer of Grant's. He introduced us to his music and gave us a little insight into his life. We love discovering new great music, thanks Jim.
Jim has been a staple in the New England music scene for over 20 years. He is an accomplished guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and music instructor, who has also been taught first-hand from many of the original music legends of the genres he specializes in. Praised by and received words of wisdom from: Johnny Cash, Brian Setzer, Carl Perkins, Scotty Moore, Billy Lee Riley, Reverend Horton Heat and legendary drummer Buddy Rich. Jim notes his favorite genres to play are: gypsy jazz, rockabilly, surf and classic country style. What more can we say, the guy has talent!
If you want to catch an uplifting show or learn from one of the best contact Jim.
tune in and turn it up Grant's Golden Brand Pomade the premiere water-based pomade made in the good old USA