nick rhodes...scared or cold?

okay, this is a shot clearly from the late 1984 publicity phase of the duran duran history. it was around the same time they released the 'wild boys' video, as is evidenced by the weirdo angular graphics and stone-resembling background all their stuff had in common around that time. i don't know for a fact, but i would almost bet money this picture was part of some 'wild-boys'-related promotional picture-sleeve something or other. i mean, i'm pretty sure i didn't own it, because i'm not real familiar with this photo. but i would bet each duran had their own 'shot' in whatever imported product it was. but hey, this shot is all about nick. and i'm trying to decide... is he scared of soemthing? or is he just very cold? judging by the fact that he's on some roof with his bulky girls' coat wrapped tightly around him, i'm guessing he's probably just cold. he looks so much like a chick from an american high school at that time. like, even molly ringwald in 'sixteen candles' looked slightly more like she could kick your ass. hey, don't get me wrong, i love nick, and totally respect his artistic ways. but this particular photo is 'very hilarious.'

ann, unintentionally hilarious

man, i wanna start off by saying i'm one of the biggest ann-margret fans i know. in fact, as far as i know, only jean-lucien digs her as much as i do. that being said, this shot really cracks me up. its not that she looks bad, because she doesn't, she looks incredible, with her hot boots and groovy black sweater-dress thingy. she could've stopped there, and just looked very groovy, but for some reason, she decided to 'goof around' with a belt or something, holding it up to her head like its some kind of 'crown,' and pooching up her lips, 'i'm hot'-style. hey, ann... you don't need to try so hard to get our love. we love you like, 'normal.' i don't really have that much more to say about this one... like, i think it speaks for itself.

d2 three-way

hey, it sounds a bit sexier than it looks. i realize we haven't had a duran-related horserace in a little while, so here's a shot i found a few days ago. and man, just one word about the clothing... namely, nothing says 'late 1980's' like quilted, shimmery, oversized blazer-jackets, complete with insane shoulder pads. and hey, like, let us not forget, that all-important staple of high style, the 'useless fancy brooch!' yes, back in 1986-to-88, nothing said 'i'm in style and i know it,' like a cheap-ass, non-genre-specific, mall-bought, glitzty brooch! man, i can't even begin to estimate how many jean-lucien and i had over just those few years. hey, going out to meet some friends in early 1987? well then, time to don your 'taiwanese' synthetic satin oversized shirt with the lonnng untucked tails... and, the cherry on the top of your fashion 'don't?' ...well, everyone in 'the know' knew it was a 3-and-a-half-dollar 'distressed' metal fantasy brooch, with a swirly or vaguely military-fied design, complete with some hot pink or golden amber plastic cabochons stuck in. yes, pin it just beneath the chin of your 'all the way up' buttoned shirt, and you were ready to create 'fashion jealousy' with every step!

oh wait, i'm supposed to be talking about duran duran. well, to make a long story short, john wins. again. and it looks like he knows it, too.

strumbie dreams of 'mice cream'

or something similarly deelish. yes, if my strumbelina was human and therefore capable of logging on to planetcool, she just might gig me real hard in the arm for posting this potentially embarassing shot of her, asleep on a cardboard box in my kitchen area, with her very adorable little pink tongue sticking out! like, a few days ago, i walked over to the sink to rinse out a glass or something, and i looked down, and there she was, snoozing, that tongue very visible-and-cute-to-human-eyes! so i tiptoed over to get my camera, hoping she wouldn't like, yawn and reel that baby back in. but, as you can see, she stayed asleep, and i got her. how cute is that? hey, i think she knows i'm posting about her... she just jumped down from her perch and trotted over to me like, 'whatcha doin'?'-style. hey, until she grows thumbs and the power of human speech, i think i'm in the clear. (click to very adorably enlarge)

misfits

this is one of my favorite publicity shots of marilyn, like... ever. i'm not even sure why, i just love it. first of all, this shot was taken during the production of the 1961 john huston film 'the misfits.' it was the last movie marilyn would ever complete. monty only made a few more. a long time ago, i used this shot of marilyn to make a gorgeous collage. (i think it was me that made that one... its been so long, sometimes i forget.) well, i'm pretty tired, otherwise i'd be more eloquent. ummm, what else? both R.E.M. and the Clash wrote songs to montgomery clift. and have you ever seen monty in the george stevens classic 'a place in the sun' with elizabeth taylor? a devastating but frighteningly human performance. you can't talk me out of monty. and i do love norma jean. and i love the way she looks in 'the misfits.' so healthy and sexy... i think its mentioned in the script that she's a size 16. and hey, we also get a sweet indulgent helping of eli wallach and thelma ritter. 'the misfits.' a must.

glam homework

yeah, i find it almost physically and psychologically impossible to keep any kind of notebook for any considerable length of time and NOT decorating it. so, here's an example of some more of the wild and ink-consuming hand-drawn borders i can't help but flourish over the top of every slice of notebook paper that passes through my hands. i just can't help it. i clip tiny dazzling pop culture picksh and whip out that non-toxic glue stik, and all those plasticoated prismatic stickers and metallic rainbow rollerball pens, and voila! we end up with a thoroughly illuminated volume of darling humor and keen observations... and other stuff. so just for the hell of it, here's a hastily-done heading back in the year of 2005. lets see... we have georgina hale from the movie 'mahler,' then john-rhys myers and ewan mcgregor frolicking from 'velvet goldmine;' then, appropriately, at the end, we have the southern glam bisexual patron saint himself, mr. michael stipe. dig it. (click to enlarge)

paul's pint

yeah, i still don't have all that much on the ball tonight. (again) and this is clearly evident in tonight's post. its british star of stage and screen, mr. paul nicholas, with a beard, having a pint. that's it, kids... that's it!

it's art

okay, i'm still behind as far as posting is concerned. tonight i had to start a new picture file, so that's taking some time. but as usual, i wanted to mark my place. here's a groovy notebook illustration jean-lucien made a long time ago. and it features, amidst the lush colors, mr. peter 'hippy' tork, reminding us to 'know its art.' its on my desktop as we speak. i love the shades and satiny texture this one has. considered it was scanned in on a now-dead scanner, it still looks pretty gorgeous. plus, i had to cook for seven people tonight, which always stresses me out somewhat. i made spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread. and hey, everybody chowed down, so that's a good enough review for me. i feel pretty mellow now, with six new inches of glittering snow out there on the deck. and man, its cold, cold. but me and the kitty are cozy and warm inside. and we send our love. "...meow!" (yeah, thanks strumbie.)

the who explodes

hey lovers. i haven't posted in the last couple of nights. well, my days and nights just haven't gone that way. and i had a stressful day today, too. so um, i hope all of you are doing groovily. man, we just got like, five more inches of snow up here! like, there was still almost five inches permafrozen on my back deck from when it 'snowed big' the last time! oh well, i guess my mood is alright. but since i had some stress earlier, i thought i'd post this groovy picture of the late 60's 'who,' ...i think they might be on the smothers brothers or something, taking out their stress and agression by destroying their instruments. i love you all, and hope to have less stress tomorrow. (i almost spelled that, 'less stree...' yeah, i hope i have less 'stree' too, whatever that is.)

hazy lunch

i found this groovy picture tonight on my pearldive. as you can see, there's the hot 'silver fox' himself, mr. ian holm dressed for his role as tom frost in david cronenberg's 1991 film 'adaptation' of the william s. burroughs novel 'naked lunch.' in the film, ian and the 'always kinda frail' miss judy davis are married. i think her name is joan, right? anyway, apart from this shot being straight-up groovy, i also think its kinda funny. as you can see, this photo wins the 'hazy award' from 'maximum diffusing gauze' usage. and this might sound mean, but i think they broke out the 'kind filter,' to make judy look better and younger, and NOT the then 61 year old ian holm. i mean, i hate to 'bag on' judy, i do think she's beautiful and all that, but... well, you've seen judy davis. its been a long time since i rolled that flick. like, there's a lot of 'buggy' action going on, i mean of the 'six-legged' variety. i mean, yeah, i know they're only like, fake bugs and fake clackety insectizoid typewriters, but they still kind of scheeve me, you know?

more carroll

yes, there's no such thing as too many sultry photos of the great carroll baker. i know i had this one in my collection at one point, but i lost it somewhere, and tonight i found it again. i love her in this picture. she looks so sultry and her hair is a lot closer to her natural color. that would tell me that it was taken relatively early in her film career. mmm, she had everything marilyn had, sex-appeal-wise... and i daresay she was at least as good and actress, if not better. so carroll, if you're out there somewhere, i just wanna tell you that your talent and bombshell good looks live on on planetcool. so um, dig it, the satiny sex appeal that IS miss carroll baker.

owl towel

hey, what's more '70's,' decor-wise, than an owl? an towel decorated with an owl, that's what! hey, don't get me wrong, i dig 'owl decor' as much as the next 'child of the 70's.' like, i remember in my grandparent's house in morganton, north carolina, there was this exquisite 'owl-themed' ceramic salt and pepper shaker rack thing... it was a smallish black wrought iron 'tree,' on the 'branches' of which hung about nine different shakers, all owl-shaped, with tiny little holes in their heads for the seasoning to come out of. i loved that damn chintzy thing, man! hey, it bugs me more than i'd like to admit that the whole set is probably now in a damn landfill someplace. like, that owl-caddy should be mine! i remember my step-grandfather used to make breakfast on sundays, when we'd visit... the small groovy house was filled with the enticing scent of bacon... and when we'd get to the table, there'd be petite glasses of cold orange juice, whitebread toast and margarine, scrambled eggs, bacon, and anything else you could want. i miss those mornings... only because i was in love with that house... and deeply in love with the person sitting beside me. jean-luc, i loved you then, and i am totally in love with you now. here's to the comfort of 70's owls... may the groovy comfortable wisdom live on. (?)

happy birthday jean

okay, i can't do this post without admitting a lesbian crush. i've been wild about jean simmons since the first time i saw her ... playing the 'prim-on-the-outside, wild-on-the-inside' sgt. sarah brown in the 1955 film adaptation of the damon runyon musical classic 'guys and dolls.' she starred opposite a sexy and young singing marlon brando, and she turned me on every bit as much as he did. i loved her voice and her delicate dark features. she and marlon both did their own singing. she's actually english, born in a small part of london known as crouch hill. and in her later years, she was evidentally a bit of a drinker. (good luck, sister.) she was also striking in 'elmer gantry,' alongside such greats as burt lancaster and the sassy shirley jones. i love her because she proves that a smart dark-haired 'good girl' can be every bit as sexy as a blonde slutty one. so happy 80th birthday, miss jean merilyn simmons. i dig you the most. (click to enlarge)

fan book, fan book!

yes, before there was the internet, there was the glossy and glorious 'fan book,' and i daresay no other band (except maybe culture club) had as many fan books as those hot boys from birmingham, the pretty lads of duran duran. most of the best fan books, (not surprisingly) were made in japan, and was full of that cute indecipherable japanese writing. but the pictures needed no translation. they were big and glossy and glorious, and in many cases, 'never before seen.' i had several of those wonderful d2 fan books myself, but i can safely say i never had this one. so i have no idea if it was worth 'the bucks.' but i dig the cover... from the hot pouty shot of le bon, to the cheesy and barely adequate red lettering. i'd love to get a look at the pages. looking back on it, living in the sleepy small southern town i grew up in, its surprising that i got my hands on any decent fan books at all. so um, here's to fan books. perhaps lucynell can tell us if there were similar books released of her two main fave 80's bands, U2 and the police. how 'bout it, lucy? any decent fan books there?

shrimp stamp

hey, hey, it sounds a lot grosser than it looks, right kids?? i'm not talking about some weird new crustacean kabob-fied dish down at 'exotic joe's,' (the place that made 'crab ribs' famous)... no, i'm talking about the achingly mod late 60's celebrity coupling of female model jean shrimpton, and hot male screen actor, mr. terence stamp. here they are together, looking groovy for you. and apparently, they were a real couple, 'between the sheets in real life,' you know. the movie 'blow-up' was apparently based loosely on her experiences with a fashion photographer named david bailey who worked with her at the time. i wonder if its any coincidence that her next relationship was with terence, a bloke who (arguably) somewhat resembled david hemmings, who played the weird photographer in the antonioni flick. terence was something of a golden boy in england at the time, after making well-deserved sexy waves in peter ustinov's 1962 film adaptation of melville's 'billy budd.' (stamp's screen debut.) like another of my fave stars, miss carroll baker, terence booked it off to italy around 69 and made a few italian films, before returning to english-speaking parts around 1969, and was even considered for the title role in 'alfie,' but turned it down. he and caine were even flatmates at one time. (mmm, slashfickers, start your engines, your '...you don't have to say it mate,' engines.) they are a lovely couple though. (click to really enlarge, like... to make them like, the computer equivalent of like, wall-sized.)

tom waits : sixteen shells from a thirty-ought-six - video

hey, its from the 'for some reason only released on VHS' -copy of tom waits' genius stage show 'big time.' dig it, it's always been one of my favorites.

jaws is on!

hey, three words i never mind hearing. in fact, jean-lucien and i have a sort of unspoken pact that if one of us sees that 'jaws' is on cable somewhere, we drop everything and give the other one 'the call,' ... yes, the '...jaws is on' call. you know what i always say; 'jaws' always puts me in the mood... and what mood is that? the mood to watch 'jaws,' that is! yes, its one of those movies that i know by heart, and still, it never gets old. so you can just imagine my surprise when my darling lucynell let me know that she saw 'jaws' for the first time like, two or three days ago! i'm glad she liked it, but i don't know if she realizes that jean-luc and i have seen it like, an insane 'rocky horror picture show' amount of times. you give me ANY line-cue from the 'jaws' script, and you know i'll come up with the next line like, 99.9% of the time. and the book is great, too! i just snagged this great bloody shot... its the short but intelligent mr. matt hooper, checking out the just-caught jawbone 'bite radius' of the speared-and-docked infamous 'tiger shark.' and it just so happens that this particular picture seems to have been autographed by mr. richard dreyfuss himself. so lucy, i say let yourself fall backwards, 'nestea-plunge'-style, into the vast refreshing gory cresting saltwater roller-coaster ride that IS speilberg's 1975 masterpiece 'jaws!' woo-hooo! 'jaws,' man... 'jawwwwsss!!'

flash ponytail

hey, i'm going fishing tonight. i'm overdue to pearldive for fresh picksh and junk, so i'm leaving 'the planet' in the very sexy and capable 'hands' of valmont's dreamy ponytail. yes, i took this shot from the dvd... hey, you know a guy is 'sexy-from-all-angles,' when you go out of your way to get a shot 'from the back,' like where you can't even see his face. i amped up the color a little bit... well, not too much... more like i fiddled around with the contrast. even that sassy hand on his hip adds to the sultry coolness. hopefully i'll have something more for you guys tomorrow night, because you know i love you all. sweet dreams.

pop trash

hey, i just ran across this gem, and i thought i should pass it along. honestly, i think it more or less speaks for itself. yes, we've got the gangly party animal iggy 'james austerberg' pop, with a brew in one hand, and almost-deb's tit in the other. and deb herself is managing to look almost-conscious as she grabs ig around his spindly waist. and whoa, she's got that tongue out, just to prove what a wild 'nightlife' chick she is. i imagine there was some lofty conversation going on that night. and i wonder who's holding the camera? andy warhol, maybe? alexander gudnov with a coke high? liza minnelli? perchance miss tatum o'neal? hey, who knows? but i dig the picture. sleaze at its finest.

old duran

hey, i know the poster is a bit old and faded, but i thought we could still get a horserace out of it. i never had this poster on my wall, i can testify to that. i had dozens upon dozens of D2 posters, but i know i never had this one. and its from 'way back,' like maybe 81, or somewhere around there. so hey, let's take a look. mmm, as per usual, roger and andy are out, out. so who's left... sadly, i think i have to cut nick at this point, too. so its down to simon and jt. mmm, hey... i'm kind of torn here. simon looks rather butch and sexy up there with his uncharacteristically dark hair. and john looks like he's having a bit of a hair gel overload. hmmm, i think i'm gonna give it to simon. i love that old school striped shirt. and i know john can look a lot better. the 'planet earth' era was not his best look. so i guess simon it is. (mmm, i don't sound like, super-enthused about it.)