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scotianostra · 2 years

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Christ’s Church at the Tron.

Or to ordinary folk of Edinburgh, just the Tron Kirk. The Kirk was initially commissioned by Charles I in 1633, one of two churches he commissioned when he designated St Giles as a cathedral.

The foundation stone was laid in 1637 and the building first used for worship in 1641 (as indicted by the tympanum carving above the doorway) although it was not finally completed until 1647. The church was dedicated to Christ, but became known as ‘Christ’s Kirk at the Tron’, and afterwards simply ‘The Tron’, due to the presence of the ‘salt-tron’ – a public weighing beam – just outside the church.

The Tron was designed by John Mylne, the Royal Master Mason, with a mix of Palladian and Gothic elements. On the exterior the large stained glass windows with tracery are topped with pediments and the entrance front and corners are decorated with ionic pilasters. The interior has mostly been stripped out but the original hammerbeam-style roof, with a sexfoil pattern, survives. This is extremely rare and was designed by the Royal Master Wright John Scott, who was also responsible for the one at Parliament Hall.The City of Edinburgh Council has given the green light to SHBT to take forward a project to restore the much-loved Tron Kirk on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.

The building was originally T-shaped, but was truncated in 1785 to form the present rectangular building. This redesign was carried out by John Baxter in order to make way for the construction of South Bridge and Hunter Square. The original spire, added by Thomas Sandilands in 1671, was wooden. This burnt down in 1824 and was replaced by the present octagonal stone spire one designed by brother architects Richard and Robert Dickson. Later in the nineteenth century Robert Rowand Anderson carried out renovations to the interior of the Tron Kirk, this involved the creation of a new gallery and a new pulpit in 1888, which were later removed during renovations in the mid-twentieth century. Anderson’s renovations likely coincided with the installation of the Victorian stain-glass windows which are still present.

In 1952 the congregation moved out of the Tron Kirk and the Church of Scotland sold the building to the City of Edinburgh Council. The building lay unused for several decades before being partially restored between 1974-76. This involved the restoration of the steeple by Andrew Renton and archaeological investigations which led to the discovery of the surface of Marlin’s Wynd and the foundations of other earlier buildings underneath the main floor. Marlin’s Wynd is now believed to be the oldest surviving paved street in Scotland.

In 2003, the Tron was placed on the Buildings at Risk Register. It has since cycled through various uses, including as a tourist information centre, a festival venue and a book shop. From 2018 to December 2020, the building was leased by Edinburgh World Heritage Trust.

In May 2021, City of Edinburgh Council agreed to let Scottish Historic Buildings’ Trust (SHBT) take out a long-term lease of the Tron in order to develop a new project to restore this significant and much-loved building. The SHBT will now develop a feasibility study to set out a future vision for the Tron. In the interim, they will fulfil a management role for the building, liaising with all existing and new tenants to make sure that the building is open for business as soon as possible.

While the feasibility study for the restoration is developed, Scottish Design Exchange will run a boutique artists’ market in the Tron Kirk, which will be open to the public from July 1st this year

#Scotland #Edinburgh #tron kirk #old town #history #My pics

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passionate-reply · 3 years

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This week on Great Albums: the first hint that Cabaret Voltaire had a future on the dance floor, and weren’t meant to make hissing tape noises forever. Find out how The Crackdown took them from the industrial underground and into the (relative) spotlight. Full transcript below the break!

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’m taking a look at Cabaret Voltaire, one of the most important acts in the development of “industrial music” in the late 70s and early 80s. They came up right alongside groups like Throbbing Gristle and Clock DVA, and their earlier work is strident and subversive, full of harsh, hissing textures, and dense compositions that almost dare you to make sense of them. This era of their career came to a head with 1981’s Red Mecca, an album inspired by political turmoil in Western Asia, and often considered their great masterpiece.

Music: “Spread the Virus”

While this earlier work was extremely influential, sowing the seeds of all manner of noise and industrial music to come, Cabaret Voltaire didn’t stick with this sound forever. That’s where their 1983 album The Crackdown comes into the picture. After founding member Chris Watson left the group to pursue a career in sound engineering for television, Cabaret Voltaire were reduced to a duo of Richard H. Kirk and Stephen Mallinder, and on this album, the two of them would push their sound into significantly poppier territory.

Music: “Animation”

Listening to the surprisingly bright synth effects on “Animation,” you can start to see why Cabaret Voltaire are sometimes remembered as more of a New Wave act, in spite of those rough beginnings. Much more focused on digestible hooks and melodies, The Crackdown saw significantly more mainstream success and appeal than anything they had done before. Still, it’s selling this album a bit short to position it as a straight-up pop record. It’s really kind of a transition point between their more avant-garde work and their more dancefloor-oriented output later in the 1980s. “Animation” is definitely a bit of an outlier, sonically speaking, and it’s also a bit buried in the tracklisting, only appearing at the end of the first side. By contrast, the album opens with “24-24.”

Music: “24-24”

“24-24,” and other tracks on The Crackdown, really lay out what I’d consider the “classic” Cabaret Voltaire compositional structure: they center around these repetitive grooves, which are quite funky, and catchy in a dark way, but also somewhat unsatisfying to listen to, never quite resolving like a pop song, but smoldering in the back of your mind. They’re just oppressive, smothering, lingering around like pestilent miasmas, weighing you down like something you’ve got to haul on your back. While a lot of the lyricism of Cabaret Voltaire tracks is pretty inscrutable, I’ve always thought of “24-24” as a representation of the withering grind of working life--where there once was “the old 9-5,” here we have the all-consuming “24-24,” a shift with no room for rest. There’s a similar theme of inescapable, constant pressure on the album’s title track.

Music: “Crackdown”

The title track of The Crackdown is also its closing track, and it’s yet another in the fine tradition of closing tracks that get to bask in a substantive runtime and spin an almost cinematic narrative. While “24-24” wears the listener down with its cyclical, repetitive, hamster-wheel structure, the title track is jumpy and uneven, giving it an unpredictable quality. Its theme appears to be that of the surveillance state, and the stress of living in a world of tension and paranoia, where the punishment of the titular “crackdown” could be lurking around any corner. Not only are individuals watched from above, by the force of authority, but also by each other, among themselves, enforcing conformity by ratting out their peers. But perhaps the most effective take the album has on that “oppressive” song structure is “Just Fascination.”

Music: “Just Fascination”

While tracks like “24-24” and the title track pit individuals against the larger mechanisms of society, “Just Fascination” translates that sense of struggle to something completely internal, portraying a battle between the superego and the id. The “private fascination” described by the song could be deviant sexual urges, morbid curiosity, or, really, any sort of vaguely heretical thoughtcrime you can think of. It’s pointing to a universal experience of nagging thoughts that hunt you down and refuse to leave your mind, and I think that deep relatability gives it a lot of power.

On the cover of The Crackdown, we see Kirk and Mallinder portrayed as photographers, and their lens is turned, quite defiantly, to look at *us.* This image plays with the roles of the observer and the observed, giving us a vision of artists who are not simply here to be seen and serve as entertainment, but rather choose to gaze back. When combined with the title, “The Crackdown,” and the theme of surveillance, one can read the tripod-mounted camera as an icon of the Panopticon, the classic symbol of authority’s watchful eye. The image appears both off-center, and washed over in lurid, unnatural colours, reminiscent of a photographer’s colour test printing. This effect adds a lot of general visual interest to the cover, and makes it stand out quite a bit more than it would otherwise, but it also casts Cabaret Voltaire back into the role of being observed, as the subject of photography themselves. It also hints at the way mechanical reproduction can fail, or be inadequate--the world doesn’t really appear in this colour palette, after all. Or at least not to human eyes.

Another bit of symbolism on this cover I find quite interesting is the compass, which appears on the right-hand side. While the compass visually rhymes with the tripod, it’s worth noting that it also has a long history as a symbol of God as the creator and architect of the universe, and divine order and symmetry. It’s also sometimes invoked as a representation of the need for proper conduct, and staying within the rules of good behaviour. Because of these associations, compass imagery has often been used by various ritual societies, most notably the Freemasons. Cabaret Voltaire’s usage of this symbol is probably as subversive and tongue-in-cheek as their use of the “all-seeing eye” of the camera.

Earlier, I mentioned that The Crackdown serves as a transition point for Cabaret Voltaire, and that their later works would see them push further into making dance music. If you’re in the market for more of that, and this album is still a bit rough around the edges for your taste, I’d recommend their 1984 follow-up, Micro-Phonies. Featuring tracks like their arguable greatest hit, “Sensoria,” Micro-Phonies puts more emphasis on that bouncy, funky, bass-heavy groove, and in many cases starts pushing closer to something like verse/chorus structure.

Music: “Sensoria”

My favourite track on The Crackdown is “Talking Time.” Between its whispering hook, “don’t touch,” a sample asking us to wait “five minutes,” and the fact that it ends in another sample that’s apparently clipped off mid-word, “Talking Time” really feels like a track that’s aware of the fact that it’s dragging us along as listeners, and toying with our expectations. It also has one of the bounciest synth sequences anywhere on the album, surprisingly enough. That’s all for today--thanks for listening!

Music: “Talking Time”

#music #album review #album reviews #cabaret voltaire #industrial #industrial music

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illustraction · 4 years

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STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET (1960) - A VISUAL TRIBUTE TO KIRK DOUGLAS (Part 9/10)

This 1960 adulterous drama sports one of KIRK DOUGLAS‘ best acting as the bored successful architect/husband who gets seduced by the girl next door, bombshell Kim Novak with incredible on-screen chemistry between the two lead actors

The movie that Douglas as always since 1955 co-produced is a must see

Above are the superb Italian movie poster painted by Ercole Brini for the 1966 rerelease along with the original italian fotobusta poster and the US half sheet (click images for details)

Director: Richard Quine

Actors: Kirk Douglas, Walter Matthau, Kim Novak

All Our KIRK DOUGLAS movie posters are here

If you like this entry, check the other 9 parts of this week’s Blog as well as our Blog Archives

All our NEW POSTERS are here

All our ON SALE posters are here

The posters above courtesy of ILLUSTRACTION GALLERY

#illustraction Gallery #illustraction #kirk douglas #kim novak #Strangers When We Meet #Richard Quine #Walter Matthau #1960 #movies #Movie Poster #film #vintage #Italian movie poster #fotobusta #photobusta #Ercole Brini #half sheet movie poster

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bobbybones23 · 3 years

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This morning I was browsing through various articles on Cabaret Voltaire when I noticed the sad news that guitarist, keyboardist, composer, producer and cofounding member Richard H. Kirk had passed away at the age of 65. Oddly and coincidentally I had been contemplating writing an article on them and decided today would be a good day and then the sudden tragic news. Now I feel compelled to write a tribute to him and one of my favorite bands. Cabaret Voltaire members Richard H. Kirk, Chris Watson and Stephen Mallinder along with Throbbing Gristle and a select few other contemporaneous artists of that era were the architects and innovators of sound experimentation with tape loops and electronic drums to produce electronic industrial music. Their defiance of the pomposity of what was your commonplace status quo of rock music steeped in virtuoso playing was evident in their stripped down minimalist and dehumanizing elements sprinkled with Dadaism. They were art schooled and celebrated Dadaism and were drawn to communist politics. Taking several cues from musical mentors such as Roxy Music, especially Brian Eno’s “non-musical” approach to instrumentation and writers like William S. Burroughs and the cut-up technique. Formed in 1973 in the industrial city of Sheffield, England, their name was derived from a Zürich Dadaist nightclub. Originally signed to Rough Trade Records and to Some Bizzare/Virgin and later to Mute Records among others. Richard was from the industrialized part of Sheffield and hence apropos and fitting to pursue the industrial element. Their often extreme lyrics and Richard H. Kirk’s abrasive guitar playing was simpatico with the later punk rush but their home was with the industrial post-punk fans. They paved the way for other electronic bands, namely The Human League also from Sheffield. They are pioneers and their seminal work is a huge influence and contribution to post-punk music and beyond… R.I.P. Richard H. Kirk (March 21, 1956 - Sept 21, 2021) 💔🥀🖤⚡️💔 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ #RichardHKirk #CabaretVoltaire #IndustrialMusic #ElectronicMusic #PostPunk #Pioneer (at Sheffield, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUG6obOrTnp/?utm_medium=tumblr

#richardhkirk #cabaretvoltaire #industrialmusic #electronicmusic #postpunk #pioneer

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ghostbustershq · 3 years

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Out Today, Randy Edelman's 1989 Ghostbusters II Score Album!

The wait is over! After 30+ years of fans wondering if they’ll ever get an official release of Randy Edelman’s bouncy and jovial score to Ghostbusters II, today is the day! Sony Masterworks has remastered and released 16 tracks, including three that have been newly recorded and one scored for the film but not ultimately used.

Stay tuned to the HQ for an in-depth analysis of the score, we’ll be doing our best impression of David Collins soon and trying to line up some of the cues with the film to see what and where material was unused or altered in post production.

And don’t forget the vinyl release hits October 16th. As previously mentioned here on the site, there are glow-in-the-dark Barnes and Noble and Mondo exclusives forthcoming. Stay tuned for more information on those as it develops.

In the meantime, here’s much more information from the good folks at Sony Masterworks:

GHOSTBUSTERS II

ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE BY RANDY EDELMAN

AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER & ON CD TODAY

SCORE TO THE 1989 FILM CLASSIC WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON VINYL BEGINNING FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 – PREORDER NOW

NEW YORK, NY – For the first time ever and 32 years after the film’s 1989 release, the Original Score to Ghostbusters II is now available to stream and on CD format today from Sony Classical – LISTEN HERE. Featuring score music by award-winning musician, producer and composer Randy Edelman, the 16-track album includes original recordings of the film classic’s score as well as 3 newly re-recorded tracks and an additional song originally recorded by Edelman for the film but not featured in its final production. The album will also be available in vinyl format beginning Friday, October 16, arriving as a gatefold set featuring photos from the film – PREORDER HERE.

Of the score, composer RANDY EDELMAN says, “In Ghostbusters II, the characters and storyline were expertly conceived and then acted in the sequel brilliantly. The story took place a few years later, but in a sense each character already had a distinct personality, which hadn’t changed a bit. In a way, they carried their own music and soul with them. Their interactions in each scene would determine if musical accompaniment was necessary, and, in most cases, it was not. The new storyline and menace the city of New York was facing, the dark nature of the evil Carpathian, that was where this score would be most urgent. That and the supernatural, explosive and inventive methods of the group of our forward-thinking pals, was where the heart of my score would and should lie. Though I had watched and thoroughly loved the original film several years before, I decided not to view it during my involvement with the sequel. I knew I needed to carefully sculpt a musical palette for this new specific screenplay and did not reference any aspect of the original movie, trying to give Ghostbusters II a well-deserved, new color all its own. I will always appreciate the fact that this decision of mine was never once questioned.”

Speaking of his collaborators to the project, Randy continues, “Upon looking back at any score after so many years, a composer is surely cognizant of those who they were surrounded by, in a process that is always so challenging in many ways. In the case of the sequel to Ghostbusters, I was working on one of my first large scale orchestral works and one that followed the great success of the first movie. I was assisted by the great orchestrator, Mr. Greig McRitchie, music editor Kathy Durning, and engineers Elton Ahi and Robert Fernandez. I have elsewhere here thanked [Director] Ivan Reitman for a stern, yet assuring hand, in his direction at all times, and his confidence in trusting me totally throughout the always delicate process. The large orchestra gave me a spiritual high at each session, and I thank all the wonderful players who participated and lent their talent to my efforts. I got to revisit a few thematic moments for this collection, and it was a blast to be able to do that. It brought back all those incredible memories, and made that magic happen right now, once more. How lucky to experience it over again – I am one fortunate piano player!”

ABOUT RANDY EDELMAN

Music royalty with a career challenging the longevity that rivals the Queen of England, composer, conductor, singer and celebrated piano phenomena Randy Edelman has long been given tribute as one of the most profound and recognizable film, television, and sports soundtrack architects on the planet. A hybrid fusion of Mozart and Bruce Springsteen, there seems to be a certain bedazzlement or wizardry connected to him and his music that leaves a trail of glitter behind never to be forgotten.

Raised in Teaneck New Jersey, Randy was born with the ability to hear music and transcribe it onto the piano. After a brief quarrel with fate where Randy was temporally thrust into the pursuit of pre-med, he moved into full-time piano and composition study at the Cincinnati Music Conservatory where he was then able to follow his unquestionable destiny. He eventually procured an arranging assignment at James Brown’s King Records. In 1970 Randy relocated to New York to work as a staff writer at CBS Records while simultaneously playing piano in Broadway pit orchestras.

Like a seductive alchemist Randy began to write and record his own albums transforming the world’s anguish into a narrative of truth and granting him a thriving audience in the UK and a television spot on “Top of the Pops.” After enjoying the triumph of the British collective effervescence at the London Palladium and Drury Lane Theatre, Randy began to pursue a new interest in LA where he became interested in creating the life, blood and essence of the movies through music, making the plainest faces come alive with promise.

Randy is responsible for creating an endless cascade of many of the world’s most known soundtracks including: Ghostbusters II, 27 Dresses, While You Were Sleeping, The Last of the Mohicans, Kindergarten Cop, Dragonheart, XXX, Twins, My Cousin Vinny, The Mask, Beethoven, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Anaconda, Mummy 3, Gettysburg, Billy Madison, Leap Year, The Whole Nine Yards, EdTV, Daylight and an endless array of others. Some of the television shows and series he scored include: MacGyver, Mr. Sunshine, Backdraft 2 for Netflix, and Citizen X for HBO. These credits only touch the surface of his accomplishments. He has also created the music for “Dare Mighty Things” for NASA’s final Shuttle launch, “Wimbledon, Grand Slam Tennis Series” for ESPN, “ESPN Sports Century,” and even the NBC “on air” Olympic Theme, of which he has celebrated over 20 years of Olympic themed glory keeping the musical flame alive.

Aside from crafting and orchestrating the scores that gave life to the films, a myriad of artists have covered and recorded Randy’s original songs from his solo albums. Included in that catalog is Barry Manilow’s “Weekend in New England,” The Carpenters’ “I Cant Make Music” and Nelly’s “My Place,” reaching Number 1 on the Billboard Hip Hop charts. Others include Willie Nelson’s “Down in the Everglades,” Patti LaBelle’s “Isn’t it a Shame,” Olivia Newton John’s “If Love is Real,” Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Blue Street,” Royal Philharmonic’s “Grey,” and a list that continues endlessly. Randy has also opened live in breathtaking arenas for icons such as Frank Zappa and The Carpenters.

Randy has also received some of the most prestigious awards including BMI Top Grossing Film Awards, BMI’s highest honor, the Richard Kirk Award for Outstanding Career Achievement, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Film Scoring and Composition, the Best Accolade from the Los Angeles Film Awards, an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts and an Emmy for the close of the Olympic Broadcast.

Like a musical Chameleon, Randy continues to compose and record, lighting up the world like fireworks plunging into the night sky and shattering the darkness. The grand composer of modern and future times has just released his highly anticipated anthemic song of hope and inspiration titled “Comin’ Out the Other Side.” The single is now available worldwide via Soho Records. The song promotes an epidemic of joy and happiness as a grand finale to a time best forgotten….

He continues to work on the score for his musical, “Short Cut,” telling of the construction of the Panama Canal. Most recently Sony Masterworks is releasing Randy Edelman’s orchestral score to Ghostbusters II in all formats....

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harltonempire · 3 years

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Good morning! ☀ Continuing with our virtual 'Doors Open', let's take a look inside the @windsorarms. This neo-gothic style building was designed by architect Kirk Hyslop of Toronto and built in 1927. The Toronto International Film Festival was founded in the hotel in 1976, and the hotel's involvement in the Festival continues to this day. The hotel has been known to be frequented by many celebrities including Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Woody Allen, Richard Burton, Richard Gere, Britney Spears and Tina Turner. Photos: @tyfshum . . #Toronto #TorontoPhotographer #TorontoBlogger #TorontoPhotos #TorontoTourism #TorontoHistory #CityOfTO #WindsorArmsHotel #DoorsOpenToronto #DoorsOpenOntario #PhotoOfTheDay #InstaMood #Architecture #Design (at Windsor Arms Hotel) https://www.instagram.com/p/CO0L9C0NV_G/?igshid=sd06faikryd6

#toronto #torontophotographer #torontoblogger #torontophotos #torontotourism #torontohistory #cityofto #windsorarmshotel #doorsopentoronto #doorsopenontario #photooftheday #instamood #architecture #design

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architectnews · 3 years

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Edward Mazria wins AIA Gold Medal for 2021

American architect Edward Mazria has scooped the 2021 AIA Gold Medal prize in recognition of "his unwavering voice and leadership" in the architecture industry's fight against climate change.

The esteemed Gold Medal award, which is the AIA's highest annual honour, is given to architects in recognition of their contribution to the field.

The institute said Brooklyn-born Mazria was selected by the jury for his longstanding dedication to "motivating the profession to enact positive change and take immediate action".

Mazria is the architect behind the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. Photo is by Robert Reck

"An amalgam of architect, researcher, advocate, and influencer, Mazria's impact on the AEC industry is profound, helping to plot a new course for practice in the 21st century," explained the AIA.

"As one of the world's foremost experts on the built environment's role in both causing and curing climate change, Mazria addresses the global threat as a design problem," it said.

"Facing countless challenges and a client base of 7.5 billion humans, his leadership and positioning of architects as a critical resource is creating a healthy, just, and carbon-positive future."

The Stockebrand Residence in Albuquerque is one of his best-known projects. Photo is by Richard Rush

Pratt Institute-educated Mazria, who is also an established author and educator, is best known for helping to establish the AIA's Committee on the Environment and founding the pro-bono organisation Architecture 2030 in 2002.

Architecture 2030's mission is to transform the built environment from a major polluter into a solution to the climate crisis. According to the AIA, it has "shaped some of the world's actions on climate change".

This is through initiatives like the 2030 Challenge, which invites architects to make all new buildings and renovations carbon-neutral by the year 2030, and speaking to world leaders at events including the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference to shed light on the industry's environmental impact.

Prior to founding Architecture 2030, Mazria authored The Passive Solar Energy Book following a period of working in a teaching position at the University of Oregon with a focus on passive solar-energy systems.

The book, which remains widely referenced to this day, informed the design of some of his best-known buildings that include the Stockebrand Residence, the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, and Georgia O'Keefe's estate, Sol y Sombra, in New Mexico.

Sol y Sombra was built by Mazria for artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Photo is by Kirk Gettings

In a letter supporting Mazria's nomination, architect Marsha Maytum said his work had ignited "a global network focused on sustainable growth and urgent climate action".

"Ed has been a tireless advocate, a consummate communicator, a skilled designer of innovative tools, and most importantly, a master builder of powerful alliances across professions, industries, and governments," she said.

"Mazria's voice in the wilderness about architecture's potential to change the projected path of impending global climate change seemed a formidable if not unattainable goal in 2003," added Thompson Penney, the 2003 AIA president.

"In the ensuing decades, his unwavering voice and leadership have shown that it can be done and in fact is being done," he concluded.

Mazria is the 77th laureate of the prestigious AIA Gold Medal award. A number of well-known architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Louis I Kahn, IM Pei and Moshe Safdie have also been bestowed with the honour.

This year's recipient of the award was Arkansas architect and educator Marlon Blackwell. In 2019, it was given to Richard Rogers after James Polshek scooped the prize in 2018.

Paul Revere Williams became the first black architect to receive the medal in 2017, a year after it was given to husband-and-wife team Denise Scott Brown and the late Robert Venturi.

Main portrait image is by James Stillings. All imagery is courtesy of Mazria.

The post Edward Mazria wins AIA Gold Medal for 2021 appeared first on Dezeen.

#Architecture – Dezeen

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aros · 7 years

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West End House / Richard Kirk Architect

#interiors #houses

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spatula · 7 years

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(via West End House / Richard Kirk Architect | ArchDaily)

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popentertainment-moviereviews · 5 years

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MIKE WALLACE IS HERE (2019)

Featuring archival footage of Mike Wallace, Malcolm X, Bette Davis, Salvador Dali, Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Leona Helmsley, Jimmy Fratianno, Paul Meadlo, Bill O’Reilly, Johnny Carson, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Nixon, Ben Bradlee, Anwar Sadat, Diana Dors, Manuel Noriega, Emile Zola Berman, Arthur Miller, Oriana Fallaci, Thomas Pike, John Ehrlichman, Drew Pearson, Lillian Roth, Thomas Hart Benton, Shirley MacLaine, Gen. William Westmoreland, Rod Serling, Jeffrey Wigand, Ayatollah Khomeini, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Morley Safer, Larry King, Frank Lloyd Wright, Chris Wallace, Barbara Walters, Kirk Douglas, Steve Kroft, Lesley Stahl, Ed Bradley and Barbra Streisand.

Directed by Avi Belkin.

Distributed by Magnolia Pictures. 91 minutes. Rated PG-13.

In an archival interview clip here, legendary 60 Minutes journalist Mike Wallace acknowledges that he was not necessarily a good husband or father. He was away from home too much. The work always came first. In fact, if he had a call from his wife and a call from CBS at the same time, he would take CBS every time, he admitted.

This trait may not have made him a good family man, but it did make him a heck of a good journalist.

And, in a period in history when good journalism is under attack from all sides, it is vital that we remember how important a strong and vital press is to the country, and to the world.

Therefore, smartly, this documentary downplays his personal life. Oh sure, it touches on the vital stuff – his childhood, his early show biz roots, his finding one of his sons dead, his multiple marriages, his depression and suicide attempt – but Mike Wallace is Here spends most of its time being an study of 20th Century history and one newsman’s relationship to it.

And it is all done with archival footage – either of 60 Minutes and some of Wallace’s previous jobs (the black and white footage from the early TV series The Mike Wallace Interview is particularly arresting) and several times where the script was flipped and Wallace consented to be the interviewee rather than the interviewer.

We may not always see through the man – though a good deal of insight is to be gleaned here – but we always, always see the newsman.

Wallace was known for his incisive interviewing skills, and those are on display here. A mixture of real curiosity and a dogged determination to get to the truth, Wallace was never afraid to ask the hard questions and would not let his interview subjects deflect and wriggle away. Interestingly, when he was on the receiving side of the questions, he would sometimes try to rebuff the hard questions – a fact that he acknowledged was slightly hypocritical – before eventually giving the hard answer.

Mike Wallace is Here is not merely a timeline of the life of a man – which it is – but it also acts as a quick history of the world in the 20th Century. Wallace interviews everyone – politicians, religious leaders, corporate leaders, criminals, actors, authors, military men, whistleblowers, dictators, architects, journalists. Through his questions, and the subjects sometimes begrudging answers, we relive some of the most consequential occurrences of the last century.

As far as his own life, it shows a boy who goes into radio because he was self-conscious of his acne and his looks. Through talent and circumstance, he becomes a jack-of-all-trades in the early days of television: game show host, actor, announcer, pitchman. He’d do anything. In fact, he had to live down his reputation as a TV hack when he decided his true interest lay in investigative journalism and interviewing.

He realized this interest through two groundbreaking shows – Night Beat (1955-1957) and The Mike Wallace Interview (1957-1958). Both were simple in theory, Wallace and someone of interest in the news sitting and smoking and Wallace tossing hard questions at the subject. Both were acclaimed and revolutionary TV, but both also cause controversy and lawsuits, leading to early cancellations.

Eventually Wallace found the venue for his hard-boiled interviewing style when he was hired to co-host a new CBS “news magazine” (a totally new concept at the time) called 60 Minutes. The rest is history.

Mike Wallace is Here is a treasure trove of snippets from old interviews from the 37 years he worked for the show. It is also a reminder of a time when news was a loss-leader for the networks, when the truth was the dominant cause of news reporting, not ratings. Which is not to say that kind of journalism is extinct now, it is just more uncommon.

The film opens with a clip of Wallace interviewing former FOX News host Bill O’Reilly. Wallace obviously had little respect for the man, referring to him as not a journalist, but an op-ed columnist. “That wasn’t an interview, that was a lecture,” he told O’Reilly after showing a clip of O’Reilly shouting down one of his guests.

However, O’Reilly surprised Wallace by saying that he grew up idolizing Wallace and he was just the natural progression from Wallace’s interview style. This obviously stung Wallace, because while it was obviously not completely right, it was also not completely wrong.

In a world where the president brays on and on about fake news, Mike Wallace is Here is a bracing reminder of how vital a strong fourth estate is to the world. It is a smart look at a time when the press was respected. And hopefully it will be a map to get us back to that place.

Jay S. Jacobs

#Mike Wallace is Here #2019 #Movie Reviews #Mike Wallace #Jay S. Jacobs

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fridaypail0-blog · 5 years

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Vivid Entertainment’s Bill Asher dumps $14.5 million in Montecito

The Montecito/Santa Barbara area has recently seen a spate of mega-dollar real estate closings — property transfers for well into the eight figures, the latest of which went down last week. A gorgeous estate just north of the quaint downtown shops on Coast Village Road was quietly sold.

Christened El Cielito, the lavish compound was designed in 1920 by acclaimed architect George Washington Smith. The 3.28-acre property is quintessential Santa Barbara in style — Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, verdant lawns and lush foliage — and offers distant, super-narrow views of the deep blue Pacific. It’s barely even a peek-a-boo, but it’ll do. Hey, any ocean view is better than no ocean view.

The main entrance to El Cielito. Fancy!

Unfortunately, Yolanda spent lots of time researching this place but was unable to turn up any interesting owner names from back in the day. We’re sure a knowledgable Montecito local will happily tell us how obtuse we are and inform y’all about who built this place. It must’ve been somebody important! But for now, the name(s) shall remain a mystery.

Anywho. We do know that the estate was purchased in late 1995 by Saturday Night Fever producer John Badham, who flipped it just two years later to President Trump’s BFF Tom Barrack — a private equity bigwig and CEO of Colony Capital. In 2014, Mr. Barrack quit-claimed the property to architectural designer Laurel Beebe Barrack, one of his three (or four?) ex-wives and mama of his son Nicholas.

But Ms. Beebe Barrack didn’t hold onto the spread for very long — she has other interesting projects in the works, we imagine. By late 2016, she had slapped a $20 million pricetag on the beast. After a change of realtors and several big pricechops, the ask eventually tumbled to $15.5 million. Records show the estate was finally sold in late February (2019) for a discounted $14,500,000.

Per records, the proud new owner is Vivid Entertainment co-owner Bill Asher, an Alaska native and current Montecito resident — he and wife Julia Asher (née Mavris) currently reside on a multi-acre estate nearby. That place, sadly, was seriously impacted by the major Montecito mudslides of 2018.

But we digress — more on the Ashers’ current spread a wee bit later. For now, we know some of y’all might be wondering how this couple can afford a $8.1 million Montecito estate and a second, even larger $14.5 million compound down the street. Well, if you don’t already know what Vivid Entertainment is, allow Yolanda to explain.

Vivid is arguably the most successful adult entertainment production juggernaut in the whole wide world. And adult entertainment, of course, is better-known as porn to all you uncouth hooligans. Or filthy smut, as your grandmother would say. Vivid’s productions feature all sorts of interesting “performers“.

Perhaps Vivid’s best-known “hallmark,” if you will, is its ownership of the most (in)famous celebrity sex tapes in history. Paris Hilton, Tila Tequila and Farrah Abraham all proved to be mega-successful Vivid video stars. And Kim Kardashian’s career-kickstarting video — appropriately titled “Kim Kardashian, Superstar,” reaped untold millions for Vivid and launched her krazy klan on their path to billionairedom. It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world! And we sure do love it.

Despite the raunchy products Mr. Asher peddles, he’s got admirably refined real estate taste — as you can tell from his swanky new Montecito pad. Yolanda would love to show y’all more of it, but unfortunately the property was yanked off the MLS just prior to closing. Still, you can find plenty of tantalizing photos here, here and here for your real estate porno enjoyment. We apologize for the inconvenience.

The irregularly-shaped flag lot is completely walled for security and features three gated access points, all of them camera-watched. The main entrance — located off the main boulevard out front — features an epic long driveway that passes between tall hedges before dead-ending at a party-sized motorcourt.

Just around the corner, on a narrower side street, are two additional gates — one providing direct access to the detached garage (for the homeowners) and a discreet service entrance meant for household staff, groundskeepers and other hired help/peasant folks.

As for the home’s renovated interiors, they are done up in a casually luxe, very contemporary sort of manner. Original details are virtually nonexistent, for better or worse. Ebonized hardwood floors flow throughout the main rooms, and the kitchen has beautiful tile of a dark henna color.

Six bedrooms and eight bathrooms are spread between the main house and one-bed guesthouse, which combined total nearly 9,800-square-feet of living space. The deluxe master suite includes his-and-hers bathrooms and dressing rooms/closets.

The entire 3+ acre lot is fully and breathtakingly landscaped with emerald-green lawns, at least four reflecting fountains/pools, a proper north/south tennis court and mature specimen trees.

Back in early 2017, as already mentioned, the Ashers forked out $8.1 million for an “European Country” manor in Montecito with a guesthouse, seven-car garage and nearly 12,000-square-feet of living space.

This property is located a wee bit north of their new estate — closer to the Santa Ynez mountains — and was unfortunately mud-flooded last year. We assume the Ashers will soon be lookin’ to unload the 3.5-acre spread, but it is not yet listed on the (open) market.

Back down in Los Angeles — where Vivid is headquartered — the Ashers long resided in a charming Colonial-style house in the hoity-toity Hancock Park neighborhood.

Mr. Asher’s lovely (former) Hancock Park home

In October (2017), the Hancock Park residence was listed with a $5,750,000 asking price. Shortly thereafter — in December — the property was sold for $5.3 million to screenwriter Russell Gewirtz, best known for writing the screenplay for Spike Lee‘s Inside Man. The Ashers continue to maintain a more modest LA home in the Hollywood Hills.

And as for Mr. Barrack, he’s also been quite busy on the real estate front in recent years.

Mr. Barrack’s former Santa Monica manse (sold for $30+ million)

Back in 2014, Mr. Barrack paid $24,500,000 for a brand-new Santa Monica behemoth with an indoor basketball court and other fancy gizmos. In 2017, the contemporary Colonial mega-manse (built by “starchitect” Richard Landry) was sold to entrepreneur Kirk Lazarus for a record-bruising $31+ million.

Mr. Barrack now resides in a $13 million contemporary casa above Brentwood’s Mandeville Canyon. And let’s not forget that he’s still attempting to unload Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch — now owned by his Colony Capital firm — for a newly-reduced $31 million.

Listing agents: Riskin Partners, Village Properties

Source: https://www.yolandaslittleblackbook.com/blog/2019/03/05/bill-asher-vivid-montecito-house/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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peacebus6-blog · 5 years

Text

Vivid Entertainment’s Bill Asher dumps $14.5 million in Montecito

The main entrance to El Cielito. Fancy!

The entire 3+ acre lot is fully and breathtakingly landscaped with emerald-green lawns, at least four reflecting fountains/pools, a proper north/south tennis court and mature specimen trees.

Back down in Los Angeles — where Vivid is headquartered — the Ashers long resided in a charming Colonial-style house in the hoity-toity Hancock Park neighborhood.

Mr. Asher’s lovely (former) Hancock Park home

And as for Mr. Barrack, he’s also been quite busy on the real estate front in recent years.

Mr. Barrack’s former Santa Monica manse (sold for $30+ million)

Listing agents: Riskin Partners, Village Properties

Source: https://www.yolandaslittleblackbook.com/blog/2019/03/05/bill-asher-vivid-montecito-house/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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architectnews · 3 years

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Nancy and Rich Kinder Building Houston

Museum of Fine Arts Houston Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, Architect, MFAH Texas Photos, USA

Nancy and Rich Kinder Building in Houston

Nov 16, 2020

Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, Museum of Fine Arts Houston

Design: Steven Holl Architects

Museum Of Fine Arts Houston Opens New Steven Holl Building On 21 November

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s 22,000-square-metre

Nancy and Rich Kinder Building by Architect Steven Holl

Opens to the Public on Saturday 21 November

The Kinder Building opens with the first comprehensive installation of the

Museum’s collections of modern and contemporary artworks, drawn from the

collections of Latin American and Latino art; photography; prints and drawings;

decorative arts, craft and design; and modern and contemporary art

November 16th, 2020 – The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will open its Nancy and Rich Kinder Building to the public on Saturday, November 21, culminating a week of previews for staff, donors, members, and community partners. To celebrate the public inauguration of Houston’s newest cultural landmark, which completes the decade-long expansion and enhancement of the Museum’s Susan and Fayez S. Sarofim Campus, the MFAH will offer free general admission to all of its gallery buildings throughout the weekend and to the Kinder Building through Wednesday, November 25.

The third gallery building of the MFAH, dedicated for the display of the Museum’s outstanding and fast-growing international collections of modern and contemporary art, the 237,000-square-foot Kinder Building has been designed by Steven Holl, Principal and Lead Designer of Steven Holl Architects, who also designed the master plan for the Sarofim Campus. The landscape architects for the 14-acre Sarofim Campus are Deborah Nevins and Mario Benito of Deborah Nevins & Associates/ Nevins & Benito Landscape Architecture, D.P.C. The Kinder Building is named in honor of Richard D. Kinder, Chairman of the MFAH Board of Trustees, and his wife, Nancy Kinder.

Gary Tinterow, Director, the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair, MFAH, said, “A century after the Museum’s founding by a group of local art lovers, it is thrilling to place the finishing touches on the Susan and Fayez S. Sarofim Campus, the most complete expression of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. None of them could have imagined the scale, scope, and sweep of the museum campus, nor the breadth of its collections.

But thanks to hundreds of generous donors, led by the Sarofims and Nancy and Rich Kinder, we have been able to construct magnificent new facilities for the display of the art of the preceding century and of our time, and to provide new plazas and gardens that will make the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston the cultural hub of the region. I extend my gratitude and congratulations to Steven Holl and Chris McVoy and repeat my heartfelt thanks to the legion of patrons who made this vast undertaking possible.”

Rich Kinder said, “Nancy and I are overjoyed to see this wonderful building open its doors to the public in the heart of a beautifully expanded and landscaped campus. This opening means so much to us because we know what it means for the people of Houston, who make this institution their museum, day after day. We thank everyone who shares our deep belief in Houston and has worked to make this day a reality.”

About the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

The Kinder Building is opening with the first comprehensive installation of the Museum’s collections of modern and contemporary artworks, drawn from the collections of Latin American and Latino art; photography; prints and drawings; decorative arts, craft, and design; and modern and contemporary art.

A flexible black-box gallery at street level is devoted to immersive installations, including The Hydrospatial City, 1946-1972, by the Argentinean artist Gyula Kosice and Caper, Salmon to White: Wedgework, 2000, a light-filled environment by James Turrell. A windowed gallery facing Main Street features Lezart I, 1989, a monumental installation by the Brazilian artist Tunga, adjacent to a gallery presenting the Museum’s kinetic sculptures by Jean Tinguely, a historic 1965 acquisition. Moon Dust (Apollo 17), 2009, an installation of suspended lights by Spencer Finch, hangs in the café space.

The second-floor galleries are organized by curatorial department. While incorporating all major movements and representing the internal histories of different media, the galleries also challenge familiar narratives by cutting across national borders and in some cases chronological categories. The third-floor galleries feature thematic exhibitions, with artworks from the 1960s onward. These inaugural exhibitions are Collectivity, featuring works that activate a sense of community; Color Into Light, showcasing the dynamic role of color in the work of artists in the United States, Latin America, and Europe; LOL!, with works that use humor as a strategy; Border, Mapping, Witness, which considers maps and borders in geographic, social, and political terms; and Line Into Space, examining how artists have explored line in multiple dimensions and media.

These first installations in the Kinder Building are accompanied by eight major site-specific commissioned works. Commissioned artists are El Anatsui, Byung Hoon Choi, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Ólafur Elíasson, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Cristina Iglesias, Jason Salavon, and Ai Weiwei. These commissions join additional recent acquisitions featured in the Kinder Building, including works by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Glenn Ligon, Martin Puryear, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Doris Salcedo, and Kara Walker.

About the Susan and Fayez S. Sarofim Campus

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building stands in complementary contrast to the Museum’s existing gallery buildings—the Caroline Wiess Law Building (designed in the 1920s by William Ward Watkin, with later extensions by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) and the Audrey Jones Beck Building (designed by Rafael Moneo, opened in 2000)—and in dialogue with the adjacent 1986 Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, designed by Isamu Noguchi. The trapezoidal concrete Kinder Building is clad in vertical glass tubes that emit a soft glow at night in a pattern across its facades. Five rectangular courtyard pools are inset along the perimeter, emphasizing the building’s openness to its surroundings.

The redevelopment of the Sarofim Campus and off-site art-storage facilities has been the largest cultural project in North America, with some 650,000 square feet of new construction. Steven Holl Architects designed the master plan for the redevelopment, along with the Kinder Building and a new home for the Glassell School of Art. Lake|Flato Architects designed the new Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Center for Conservation. Both the school and the conservation center opened in 2018. Green spaces by Deborah Nevins & Associates, in collaboration with Mario Benito, help unify the 14-acre campus and make it a walkable urban oasis in Houston’s increasingly dense Museum District.

Installation view of Byung Hoon Choi’s Scholar’s Way, designed 2018. Sited on the west facade of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building: photo © Richard Barnes, courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Support for the Campus Project

Bank of America is the Lead Corporate Sponsor for the Kinder Building inaugural presentations, supporting the five thematic exhibitions on the third floor. “Art has the power to bring communities together – something we need now more than ever,” said Hong Ogle, Houston market president, Bank of America. “At the new MFAH Kinder Building, Bank of America is helping bring modern and contemporary art to light in Houston, including thought-provoking presentations that reflect on ideas of community and bear witness to social injustices and struggles of our time.”

Installation view of Ólafur Elíasson’s Sometimes an underground movement is an illuminated bridge tunnel, 2020, in the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: photo © Richard Barnes, courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building opening is sponsored in part by a major grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Installation view of Ai Weiwei’s Dragon Reflection, 2019-20: photo : Thomas Dubrock, courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The MFAH initiated its Campaign for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in January 2012 with a goal of $450 million, including funds for operating endowment. The campaign has exceeded expectations, raising more than $470 million to date.

Exterior view of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building: photograph : Peter Molick

Steven Holl Architects

Steven Holl

Museum of Fine Arts Houston Nancy and Rich Kinder Building information / photos received 150920

photograph : Peter Molick, Thomas Kirk III

Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

Previously on e-architect:

Feb 2, 2012

Museum of Fine Arts Houston Expansion

New Facilities For Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Museum of Fine Arts Houston Expansion design by Steven Holl Architects, NY, USA

2011 Museum of Fine Arts Houston Expansion Architects

Museum of Fine Arts Houston original gallery building architect : Mies van der Rohe

Museum of Fine Arts Houston – existing gallery building architect : Rafael Moneo

Museum of Fine Arts Houston Expansion information from MFAH

Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA

Houston Architecture

Houston Building Designs

Houston Ballet Design: Marshall Strabala, Gensler image : Nic Lehoux Houston Ballet Building

Rice University Dormitories – North College redevelopment Design: Hopkins Architects photo © Robert Benson North College Rice University

Texas Architecture

Perot Museum of Nature & Science, Dallas Morphosis Perot Museum of Nature & Science

Houston Architects

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland

Comments / photos for the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building Houstonpage welcome

Website: USA

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