Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Happy Birthday Adrian Pasdar
Paging Dr. Feelgood
Days Of Our Lives did a truly extraordinary job with Will's coming out storyline last year. Chandler Massey earned a much deserved EMMY and and his struggle, and subsequent acceptance of who he is, was riveting to watch. Sadly, Will has not been nearly as interesting since coming out of the closet. The show has not shied away from the storyline, in fact I have been impressed how far they have pushed the daytime envelope with love scenes. What the show has not done very well however is depicting being gay as interesting as they wrote the lead up.
Will's story has always been the most interesting to me, and given it's current state, I have not really been watching on a regular basis the last several months. A certain someone however has had me checking back on the goings on in Salem. The mystery of why the show decided to re-cast Cameron became apparent the past few weeks with the introduction of a new storyline. The good doctor is in need of some extra money, but instead of simply getting a loan, in true soap style, Dr. Davis decides to moonlight as a stripper.
If your going to recast a role, especially that of a doctor/stripper, hiring a male model is a pretty good bet. DNA Cover boy Nathan Owens fills out the scrubs, and his stripper shorts, just fine. The character, and the actor, started off sort of slow but Owens is finally starting to look like he is enjoying the job. Besides his modeling work, you might recognize Owens as Rihanna‘s love interest from her 'California King Bed' video.
Owens has an incredible look, one which he says comes from being a multi-ethnic mutt. Any dog lover knows however, that it is the mutts that are truly the most beautiful, special and loving. Check out more of Nathan on his Facebook HERE:
Aloha: Iconicshot
'Thanks for your interest in my work, Tye......I feel so honored to imagine being part of Favorite Hunks!'
I first came across these beautiful images when seeking subjects for my theme day featuring artists from Hawaii back in November 2011. The photographer, Rian from Iconicshot, jumped right on board and was enthusiastic to be a part! Rian let me know early on however that his health was not the best and when he was doing well, his spare time was devoted to his family. When spare moments did arise, Rian promised to work on editing shots and send them on as when he felt they were ready.
Over the next 12 months, images began to arrive, about one every month or so. In addition to the images, what I loved so much about opening Rian's e-mails were the stories he sent along with them. Stories of the model, the shoot and his life. I of course wanted to share Rian's images, but more importantly, I want to ensure I share his story.
'Though I never expected to one day be a photographer, I did leave my home in Hawai'i as a young man seeking my future as an artist. My wish was to become a children's book illustrator (though my greatest wish was to one day know the joy of raising my own child). In the early eighties, it was still unheard of for gay men to have children…..it didn't even seem to be a remote possibility. I thought the next best thing would be for me to nurture children through my art - so I began my foundation year in illustration at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco in the fall of 1980. A year and a half later I was putting school on hold while the world turned terrifyingly upside down. Instead of classes in color theory and perspective, I was learning how to care for the sick and the dying. I promised myself that I would return to school as soon as there was some understanding, assistance and resolution to the nightmare of why so many men were dying but that day was far, far away. I spent the next 15 years caring for and losing every friend I had and every lover I cherished.'
'In 1996, when I was in my mid-thirties, my last surviving friend passed away and I found myself all alone. When I surfaced from my grief, I kept my promise to myself, returned to art school and began my sophomore year. Sixteen years after I first started art school, my career goals had shifted somewhat. During the most horrible years of the AIDS epidemic, a little animation company in the Bay Area was coming into being and creating the most amazing short films each year. Their work knocked me out and every year, with the release of their latest short film, I was filled with intense yearning as they were just across the bay. My life was consumed with illness, death and heartbreak and I wanted so much to run away and join the magical people at Pixar studios. When I returned to school as a sophomore there was a 3D animation major being offered with an emphasis on developing a portfolio for Pixar. I threw myself into my schoolwork and though it was a sleepless and rigorous time in my life, I couldn't have been happier. I thrived in school.'
'Halfway through those thrilling, sleepless years at the art academy, I met the most beautiful man. And during my junior and senior years I fell deeper and deeper in love. As fate would have it, just before I graduated, he was offered a promotion with a substantial raise. The "catch" was that the position he was being offered was in Southern California. It didn't seem possible that we would separate our lives so he could take the job in San Diego and I would continue on my way to Pixar. He promised me - if I would take a chance and come with him (and turn away from my dream of working at Pixar) that he would not rest until we were able to have our own child and a happy home to raise our baby in. Being a father and raising a child had ALWAYS been my greatest dream…..and I loved him, believed him and followed him to San Diego.'
'Our daughter was born in April of 2007 and I was obsessed! I bought a good camera and began taking pictures of her every day from the moment she was born. She was my life, my joy, my muse, my dream come true! Soon, I began to really enjoy the role of photographer and I was producing images that I was very proud of. Then my kid starting crawling and suddenly every image I took was a blur as she swiftly dashed away from me and my camera. After months of no longer being able to get decent shots of my kid, I gave up and thought about trying to shoot other people. That's when I found Model Mayhem and that's when I found my first model, Joshua. I was so nervous when he responded to my email and set up a date to shoot. Though Josh knows now, I tried to not appear like I had never taken pictures of anyone outside of my family before. In the end, our first day was very successful. Joshua's shoot gave me the confidence to keep going and during the past two years I've been fortunate to attract the interest of many beautiful men who are interested in collaborating with me for the the illustrative style that I bring to my images from my animation and illustration background.'
Last July, Rian's e-mails slowed down. They still came, but health issues left him weak. Although tired, he was still determined to send on enough images for a feature. There were plenty. My last e-mail from Ryan was last month. Still hopeful, Rian said he was hoping a blood transfusion would provide him a bit more energy to write more. Sadly, cancer stole another light in April, stealing the creator, but not the beauty that he created. There was such love in all of Rian's e-mails to me. He loved my blog (he read the articles and said it was my writing that had he and model wanting to be on board), he loved his work, the beauty around him, his partner and especially the girl he called a four year old "super-ball" who most days was bouncing off the walls. R.I.P Iconicshot and thanks for the beauty you shared.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Just Because: The Hair
Just something sort of sexy about him.... But, sadly, Shakira decided to choose the Janis Joplin imitator. I however, preferred the voice, not to mention the mane, of Kentucky's Brandon Roush.
The Way We Were
When I was a kid, Robert Redford was the hunk my mother and her friends yakked about as they smoked and drank coffee before Another World began. As I got older, I became a fan of Redford but mainly because he directed one of my favorite films of all time, 1980's Ordinary People. There was something about the film and Timothy Hutton's performance that hit a cord in me. (Kudos to Ordinary People, FH 2010) It has only been the last couple of years however that I have begun to appreciate Redford as an actor and an icon of male hunkdom.
Below: With Natalie Wood in This Property Is Condemned(1966)
With the increase in cable movie channels, there is an opportunity to see Redford in his prime and I have been able to watch many of his movies, especially those from the 70's. The Way We Were probably gets the most play, and after several viewings, the latest this week, I finally see why. I am not sure the movie is one you can truly relate to until your older. The pleasure and pain of a lost love, one so important in forming you have become is something most of us don't really understand until we are older and have been through it. I think my deepest love (except the one yet to come) occurred in my twenties and now that a decade has past since it ended, and only now with distance, can I look back on the time without pain taking over my memories.
The Way We Were (1973)
Both Barbra Streisand and director Sydney Pollack have talked about how hard it was to convince Redford to take on the role of Hubbell. Initially Redford saw the role as simply eye candy and resisted roles that played to his heartthrob image. Eventually he saw what we did. Hubbell is one of my favorite Redford roles and not only a more difficult role than Streisand played, but also more complex. Hubbell was certainly man candy, Redford always was, no matter how hard he fought. The actor also created a rather unlikable, yet totally irresistible character, that drew you in even though you knew he would never be able to totally commit.
Redford is an interesting actor to research. Like Hubbell, there are complexities to his relating to his image of a romantic hunk. Redford fought it, but maybe not really that hard. He focused on the work, yet there always seemed a part of him that knew his looks were what set him apart. It would almost be impossible to do anything else really, but embrace it.
Ads for Baz Luhrmann's new version of The Great Gatsby play pretty constantly on television these days. I loath most remakes, and wish instead, that older versions of classic movies would just be released in theatres instead. Will be interesting to see, although Leonardo DiCaprio is a good actor, I am not sure anyone could capture the magic that Redford had on screen, and am not sure why anyone would try.
The Great Gatsby (1974)
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