The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Playboy goes retro, slashes price to 60 cents Posted: 15 Sep 2011 02:23 AM PDT  Octogenarian Hef — 58 years of a stylish life of posh nightclubs, wild parties, men's fashion, free speech and, of course, naked women. — Reuters pic Hefner is slashing the cost of Playboy's October issue, which hits newsstands today, to 60 cents. His editors have styled the men's magazine with retro look matching 1961, when the first Playboy Club was founded, and linked it to the debut of TV show "The Playboy Club" by putting star Laura Benanti on the cover — and inside the pages. "It's hard to put into words the fact that, obviously, everything changed for me in that time frame," Hefner told Reuters. And that statement from a man who has made words one of the centrepieces of his life.  The October 2011 cover released to Reuters. — Reuters pic The magazine that made its biggest splash publishing nude pictures of Marilyn Monroe was, by that time, being read by millions. From late 1959 through 1960, he held his first jazz festival, hosted his first TV show and opened his initial Playboy Mansion in Chicago. "Those were some of the best and most romantic years of my life," Hef said. There is no doubt Hef will take a bath at newsstands with the October issue. But Playboy makes more money from subscriptions, and Hef said he expected to significantly make up the losses with increased advertising.  The April 1963 cover released to Reuters. — Reuters pic "This issue is a love letter to vintage Playboy," Jellinek said, "At the same time, we're also being relentlessly modern." Broadway's bunny Indeed, among the hottest fashion trends for men are retro looks inspired by TV shows such as "Mad Men", which no doubt was an inspiration for other period programmes such as NBC's new "The Playboy Club", a fictional primetime drama about what goes on behind the scenes of one of the '60s-era nightclubs. The October issue is inspired by that lifestyle, with a 10-page spread featuring original Playboy "Bunnies", women who worked at the clubs, and an "insider's guide" that offers the chance to win a trip for two to the current Playboy Club at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Benanti, 32, an actress and singer who won Broadway's Tony for a revival of "Gypsy" and stars in TV's new "Playboy Club", slips into one of the Bunny costumes for the cover, then sheds some of her clothing for pictures inside the issue. "I was nervous, but everybody made me feel comfortable," she said of her photo shoot with little more than a scarf. The performer hadn't aspired to be a Playboy model. "Never. Never, never, never. My focus was being on Broadway . . . on my talent and never on my physical" looks. But she talked with past models and "learned how much they loved the job and how much fun they were having", she said. Where the TV show is concerned, Hef and Jellinek are excited about its September 19 premiere. If it's a hit for NBC, the publicity should bolster the magazine and real clubs, and if it's a miss, they don't see it as harming the Playboy brand. As for criticism from conservative groups and activists — including long-time Hefner detractor, feminist Gloria Steinem — who have called on viewers to boycott the show because they claim the magazine and the programme objectify women, Hef has been hearing that since 1953. He sees their calls as little more than trying to get publicity for their own causes. "I recognise there is a need to get publicity, so one has a certain motivation," he said. "I understand why Gloria would say the things she is saying because nobody remembers her, and I find that sad because I think she is a well-meaning lady." — Reuters |
| September 11 art show stands out for what it avoids Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:48 PM PDT  Sculpture "Woman on a Park Bench", by George Segal, as shown in this handout photo. — Reuters pic supplied Works in the show, "September 11", which opened last Sunday at New York's MoMA PS1, make reference to the World Trade Center towers or to a blue and sunny sky reminiscent of that day, but let viewers make their own connections to the deadly attacks. In fact, most of the 70 or so works in the exhibit at MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art's satellite location in the New York City borough of Queens, were made before 2001.  A man takes a picture of One World Trade Center through a window overlooking the construction site in New York. — Reuters pic "There were certain things that we did not want to see, I think in part because of how much we have been forced to see," said MoMA PS1 curator Peter Eleey, describing the challenge of assembling an art show on the well-documented tragedy. The torrent of images from September 11, Eleey said, "dramatically complicated how art could respond". So he chose instead to avoid showcasing it directly. Curators installed a 1999 audio recording called "World Trade Center Recordings: Winds after Hurricane Floyd" by artist Stephen Vitello in the basement boiler room of the museum. The recording is of eerie creaks and groans of the skyscrapers as they were buffeted by a hurricane. An untitled 2008 work by artist Roger Hiorns consists of mounds of silvery dust of a pulverised passenger aircraft engine spread on the floor in a seemingly haphazard way. A photograph by American artist William Eggleston of a hand twirling a colourful iced drink in the sunny cabin of an airplane might bring to mind how an ordinary flight turned into a hellish nightmare. The photo, "Untitled (Glass in Airplane)", is from the 1960s. The show also includes a light installation by James Turrell, and works by American artists Diane Arbus, Alex Katz and Ellsworth Kelly. It ends on January 9, 2012. — Reuters |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Features To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan