Above:
Norm by New Manhattan Studios
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Friday, December 30, 2016
Happy New Year?
Images from Sergio Canteros (TheArmouredEye)
New Year's is a time for reflection and in that spirit, this space originally contained a post that ended up being rather a downer. Since FH tries to focus on the positive, I deleted it, from here.... I then cut and paste it on The OVER-FLOW. (The more than multi-purpose sister site...) I will simply then just give a great big welcome to 2017. I wish for all of you, a year of laughter between the trials, positive moments mixed in with the tough ones, and new experiences to balance out the things we must do every day. FH's theme for 2017 is 'firsts' so check back in the new year for 12 more months of artists that inspire me, models who arouse and fascinate me, more birthdays, more blasts from the past and so many more of my favorite things.
New Year's Rockin Eve
Don't look so sad,
It's not so bad you know.
It's just another night,
That's all it is, it's not the first
Barry Manilow: It's Just Another New Year's Eve
Ok, I have to start off by saying that I have not watched New Year's Rockin Eve in many many years. I have never seen any of it since Dick Clark died and Ryan Seacrest took over. When I am not out on New Year's Eve, I either have a movie on or check in on Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. But.. when I was a kid, New Year's Rockin Eve was where it was at on December 31st.
The Eighties:
Erin Moran & John John Schneider
I remember begging baby sitters to let me stay up and watch til the ball dropped. I remember being at 'kid' parties, but being back home before the ball drop. I remember having no plans during the 90's and looking forward to seeing Dick Clark and his celebrity co-hosts. Those co-hosts are whom I am saluting tonight. They were usually the 'hot' TV star of the moment on a network show.
Charlene Tilton & Tom Wopat
Some of the women pictured, were scotched taped on my bedroom walls. Many of the men, were in images in a folder I kept hidden in the back of my closet... The show, and it's hosts clearly had an impact on me as many of the men who co-hosted are featured in 'Blast from the Past' features on FH. (but not all, Stephen Baldwin...)
Lydia Cornell & Anson Williams
In addition the hottest of television hunks, there was a female co-host as part of the 'Hollywood' portion of the show, introducing the music acts while Dick Clark held the fort down in New York. I remember being shocked to find out the 'Hollywood' portion of the show as not live. As Margaret Cho confirms in a quote below, the TV celebrities and music acts filmed their portions long before New Years, long before the calendar even had a chance to get turned to December.
Ted McGinley & Emma Samms
Clark, and New Year's Rockin Eve and American Bandstand were part of my childhood. Shows I remember seeing before I actually remember seeing. Seacrest was new at the time, and didn't, and doesn't hold the same nostalgic and iconic stature as Dick Clark. As time went on, I was also watching less and less TV, and I was far less connected to the hosts, the show, or even the music, that always seemed just a little bit 'last year'.
Brian Wimmer & Marg Helgenberger
But... I had a whole lot of fun compiling this visual collection of TV hosts from the years just before, during, and just after I watched the show. Some of the actors are still working steadily today, some are seen from time to time, and some have vanished off the entertainment landscape. But I love these New Year's styled promo shots, full of color, full of balloons, streamers and whistles. They encompass all that New Year's was during the hay day of New Year's Rockin Eve!
Kirk Cameron & Lori Loughlin
Shannen Doherty & Stephen Baldwin
Joey Lawrence performing (1993)
Margaret Cho & Steve Harvey
'In 1994, I co-hosted Dick Clark New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, and we filmed that shit nowhere near New Years. It was like in July or something really early like that. The show was shot in different locations and put together in post like a quilt, but I remember my patch was done at a big megastudio in Orlando, florida, probably MGM or Disneyworld. I am not sure which theme park it was, but I remember at the airport I had to take a tram so it must have been Orlando.'
Yasmine Bleeth & Jamie Walters
Stacey Dash & Donald Faison
I think the last time I actually watched a full edition of New Year's Rockin Eve must have been in the mid nineties. By then, I would have been in University and although I am sure I still caught portions, my excitement for the New Years tradition had severely waned. But.. when I was in jr and senior high, Dick Clark and company were an important part of my early traditions. I applaud Dick Clark for working even after his 2004 stroke strongly impacted his health, appearance and voice. It was sad near the end watching him hand the torch to Ryan Seacrest, Clark's mini me doppelganger.
John Stamos & Heather Locklear
Clark, and New Year's Rockin Eve and American Bandstand were part of my childhood. Shows I remember seeing before I actually remember seeing. Seacrest was new at the time, and didn't, and doesn't hold the same nostalgic and iconic stature as Dick Clark. As time went on, I was also watching less and less TV, and I was far less connected to the hosts, the show, or even the music, that always seemed just a little bit 'last year'.
Brian Wimmer & Marg Helgenberger
But... I had a whole lot of fun compiling this visual collection of TV hosts from the years just before, during, and just after I watched the show. Some of the actors are still working steadily today, some are seen from time to time, and some have vanished off the entertainment landscape. But I love these New Year's styled promo shots, full of color, full of balloons, streamers and whistles. They encompass all that New Year's was during the hay day of New Year's Rockin Eve!
Kirk Cameron & Lori Loughlin
1990's
Shannen Doherty & Stephen Baldwin
Joey Lawrence performing (1993)
Margaret Cho & Steve Harvey
'In 1994, I co-hosted Dick Clark New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, and we filmed that shit nowhere near New Years. It was like in July or something really early like that. The show was shot in different locations and put together in post like a quilt, but I remember my patch was done at a big megastudio in Orlando, florida, probably MGM or Disneyworld. I am not sure which theme park it was, but I remember at the airport I had to take a tram so it must have been Orlando.'
Yasmine Bleeth & Jamie Walters
Stacey Dash & Donald Faison
The End of the Party: Norm by New Manhattan Studios
The Night Before:
No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
It's the end of the party
It isn’t a Going Out on New Year’s Eve story. It doesn’t end with the confetti...
By the time the confetti floats slowly down from above, New Year's Eve has already reached it's climax. The confetti at most parties is released at the stroke of midnight marking the end of both the year, and the night. New Years is one of those holidays that, depending on what kind of year you've come through, evokes a range of emotions from excitement hope to sadness and regret. It is a night of looking forward and reflecting back over the last 12 months, and for some, the many years that preceded it.
The Morning After:
This visual story, begins at midnight, just after the confetti came down. Norm is alone on the dance floor. Norm's waltz partner exited the party, not waiting for a midnight kiss. The story then quickly flashes forwards, to the morning after. Norm is now home, thinking back on the emotional roller coaster that was the night before.
The details are a bit hazy, the noises and music from the party were still ringing faintly in his ears. The many glasses of wine, followed by a few glasses of champagne had left a thick grey haze over his memories of those hours leading up to midnight. His memory of the early part of the night however remained clear. The beef tenderloin, the roasted potatoes. The strawberries they fed each other as those around them in the restaurant looked on. Their jaunt back to his apartment to tear off their New Year's formal wear, have lightening fast, but incredibly intense sex, only to have to get dressed all over again before heading to the party.
This is where Norm's memory really gets foggy. He remembers the laughing, the drinking, the dancing. He remembers bit of a conversation that turned quickly into a confrontation. He remembers seeing a flash of a red heading out the door just before the witching hour as he stood alone in the middle of the room. He looks down and glances at the white mask on the couch, thrown there with his jacket and tie the night before.
The mask was not the one he had worn last night, nor the mask worn by the one in red. They both had on black masks. This mask was white, a significant detail that Norm remembered. The white mask was worn by third person. The inciter, the provocateur whose words had led to how his evening had progressed and how his New Year's Eve ultimately ended.
As his memories began to slowly piece together, his feelings of confusion and of the sadness of an ending began to dissipate. A slightly hesitant, but sly smile began to form on Norm's face. The sound of the shower being turned on in the next room brought on a dangerous wave of excitement as Norm headed into the bathroom to discover and identify, the face and body of the person behind the white mask.
Behind the Scenes:
Visual storytelling is often a collaborative effort. For Norm's New Year's Eve, the story came together with the work of 3 photographers, one model, one owner of NMS and the over active imagination of one blog writer. Some of you remember the model. Norm made his debut this past February, helping FH readers celebrate another holiday, Valentines Day. (The Red Session & Heart Throb) The photographers included; Tim, FH favorite Alex Corso, (pictured with Norm above) and of course Wes, also owner and storyteller of New Manhattan Studios.
That confetti, so important in the stories beginning, was also responsible for how the story ultimately unfolded. Wes originally organized a New Year's shoot with FH in mind. Norm was also enthusiastic about returning to help celebrate another holiday on the site. But... during that first shoot, Wes struggled to get the confetti and streamers to work for the effect Wes was going for so he, along with Tim who was also shooting, gave up trying to control the unruly props after about 25 minutes. 'The “wall” of silver streamers tore in two before we could get started and the confetti was appearing as large noise on the images.'
But... Wes is not one to give up... ever. His motto is if at first we don't succeed, schedule a second shoot! Wes was committed to the New Year's theme, and to working again with Norm who quickly has become one of the studio's favorite models. When Norm return for the re-shoot, it was now Alex working with Wes on the shoot. This time, they shot in one of Wes's favorite locations, a friends studio/office on Madison Avenue. Without the confetti and streamers, this time the focus was on the morning after, and emotional fall out of the night before. Wes and Alex got some great shots from the second session, some of the best, Wes is planning on using in a future issue of Captured Shadows. You can check out more of Wes' thoughts on Norm's New Year's Eve on the NMS blog HERE:
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Happy Birthday today December 29th
Happy 44th to actor Jude Law!
Check out more of Jude HERE:
I remember vividly the first time I laid eyes on Jude Law. It was before The Talented Mr. Ripley and A.I, and even before I bought a DVD of Wilde. I was a little late to the Internet party. I think the first time I dialed up was at work in the late 90's. It was still another year or two before I bought a computer and dialed up from home. One of the first places I found to enjoy the male form was a place I know many of you are familiar with, the old Campfire Video forum.
It was there that I first saw promotional images of a 21 year old Jude Law from the Broadway production of Indiscretions. (Les Parents Terribles) The play also featured Kathleen Turner, Roger Rees, Cynthia Nixon and Eileen Atkins. The play made it's debut in April 1995, ended in November 1995, and landed Law his first Tony Nomination for Best Featured Actor is a play. Law was nominated again in 2010 for his turn in Hamlet.
Act Two of Indiscretions opens with Law soaking in a bathtub, and for 220 performances, emerges naked naked from the tub to dry himself off. I remember seeing the images of Cynthia Nixon, with a wet and naked Law thinking he was one of the most beautiful men I had ever seen. Sadly, the play had closed long before I first saw the images, so could not be one of the lucky audience members to witness Jude rising naked from that tub.
Law's nude scene was also before most people had handy phones with camera's to catch every memorable moment. I did however satisfy my Law love by joining Amazon and ordering the DVD of Wilde. Law's talent and beauty was on full display in a memorable performance that captured the young actor on the verge of the stardom that was about to come his way. Happy 44th Jude!
Edging Towards Eighteen
'I'm still growing into my tongue.'
Luke Dunphy
Now that FH has reached 10, it is a bit odd to be featuring actors, that were just kids when the site was started. But... that is the case with many teen actors and idols. Many actors, I first watched as 'the son' on some sit-com, are now doing nude scenes in their movies and on their HBO shows. I know I'm not the only who noticed that Nolan Gould has gone from cute to hot. I think the producers of Modern Family have clearly noticed as well.
Over the past few years, as Nolan, and his character Luke Dunphy, have been inching towards eighteen. The show has been playing up the young actors sex appeal for awhile, even before his 18th birthday. Not only have there been more and more sexual innuendo's, said by, and about Luke, the show has been giving him more and more 'story line reasons' to get off his shirt. Well... the adorable Nolan turned 18 this last October, and Modern Family wasted virtually ZERO time finally being open about exploiting Nolan's appeal.
Nolan Gould shares some holiday shots from his trip to Bora Bora on Instagram
In the November episode The Alliance, (which I just caught up on on DVR) Luke's attributes are clearly seen by a member of the golf club he is working at. The Cougar in question has good taste, and brings Luke back to her house to do a few household chores, without a shirt, and she hopes pants as well. Luke's grandfather Jay figures out what is going on and heads over to rescue him before she manages to get Luke's blank pants down, and on the floor.
The Alliance
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