Devil's Playground

Thought Santa Monica was named after a saint, but maybe it really is Sin City?

Has Jake been touched by the devil? Well, you know what happens when you hang out with someone who knows all about hooking horns.

Did he make a deal to turn back time? Cause wow! Maybe need to check for a picture in the attic.

Tagged?

Notice anything about this picture of Julian?

Something that you haven't seen before? Because the last time we saw Julian shirtless he was wearing a little less than this. Hmmmm..... interesting


Do you think it is another little shout out - or do you call that a whisper about someone else. Kind of like his sweater, the toothpick and the hat to hat moment.


Now on for the musical portion of our show.

Somehow I can see a good Southern boy getting excited about movie called Damn Yankees. I wonder if he will help with rehearsals. You know he could handle being Mr. Applegate and Lola - you to help out for the cause. But you wonder if he would change the words to "Whatever Austy wants Austy gets..." And as for being Applegate - well Jake could just say the devil made him do it. Should call we just call him, Austin El Diablo?

Make Some Noise

Austin talks about making some noise, shouting it out aloud in his latest post over on Southern Gothic Productions.

He used great examples and one of my favorites from Network - "I mad as well and I'm not going to take it any more"
But here's OMG's Top Ten Things Austin's Yelling.

10. Aaahoo, I was in London (Name the song that's the inspriration)

9. I know the Prince of Persia!

8. Wild Turkey calls

7. "Hook 'em Horns."

6. "Yes I love that man of mine."(Name that movie)

5. "Toooooooooothy"

4. &$#K &%@K Goose

3. Some general comments ; )

2. "Al Dente!"

1. "Backgammon baby!"


Another thing the Nichols Network Tribute Shout does is give a geography lesson. Manhattan not just NYC, but Manhattan huh. Over looking the lights of Hollywood? Well you'd have to be up in the hills then, and a deck or balcony? Sounds like its something permanent up there that he's yelling from.

And his question about movies with people yelling from the top of things. Come on Austin a cinephile like you should know - James Cagney in White Heat and Major Kong on the bomb in Dr. Strangelove.


You think Austin howls about this dapper player?
Jake rolling in the Royce and in the club



Thinking Jake didn't need much convincing to do Jamie's video, after he heard the chorus.

Blame it on the goose
Got you feeling loose
Blame it on petron
Got you in the zone

Blame it on the a a a a a alcohol
Blame it on the a a a a a a alcohol

And you sure as hell knows he sings this one around the house, but you wonder if he howls too?

And Ron Howard? That's one of his childhood friend's (Bryce Dallas Howard) dad. How funny is that.

That's just Lincoln Thinkin'

"'Razor Face' - Elton John - One of the greatest inspirations for Pedestrian. Lincoln Booth is a razor face, for sure. You'll see."

This is one of Nick Gray of the Southern Gothic's song pics. His comments make you wonder

"I heard he's back looking for a place to lay down"

"Oh it must be hard for the likes of you to get by
In a world that you just can't see through
And it looks so cold
How does it feel to know you can't go home"

"You're a song on the lips of an aging star"

"Razor Face, oh amazing grace
Protects you like a glove
And I'll never learn the reason why
I love your Razor Face "

Is Lincoln a photographer who figuratively has no home, no where to rest? Has he never settled in? Or has he burned it all behind him? Is he so closed off behind his camera that he never is a part of it? That he's been living the charmed life so long, but it's all so empty? Is it Mona who changes that?

Just some Lincoln thinkin'



One more thing - love that a song that is a inspiration for a character Austin is drawn to is a song that was in Moonlight Mile. Funny how life and art weave themselves together.

Let it Roll!

Too much Gras in my Mardi. Or maybe too many pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. Or mayb e because the cable people had to come out again!
Thanks for your patience.

Today is all about living it up one last day before many start Lent. It's the time to have fun and not worry. The time for reflection starts tomorrow.

So Laissez les bon temps roulez!

From what we know it seems like Austin can enjoy a good party, and from the pictures so can Jake when he has the right company. Would it be the Pantless Prince with a Santa hat or the " 'scuse me while I lose my shirt" southern gentleman who would get the king's ransom of the beads? Would love to see Jake be the monarch at the Orpheus Krewe Parade. Take note Bruck - Prince of Persia - celebrating Mardi Gras next year ---a Persian float. But who would he throw more beads to?
There is something to be said about Mardi Gras and its debauchery and celebration - no one is worried about anything. There is nothing that can't wait. Sometimes we need days like that, where you stop and let it all go even if it's for just one day you can get back to all the dramas that life brings later.

So put it all aside, and enjoy. Just for one day - or may half of one by the time this post is done. Cause tomorrow -it will be all there for you to find.

And the King Cake? I think Jake and Austin would have no problem making one of those. They already know how to hide the baby.

Convention Time

Hollywood is a industry town. They don't build cars or make widgets, they make movies. And it is town based on movies - not just on movie stars, it supports carpenters, electricians, caterers, hair stylists, seamstresses, set designers, animators, middle managers, accounting departments, directors, and yes studio heads. The Academy Awards is the big convention of the year. Everybody shows up for one of the different events. It's not very different from other industries. You have to talk up your products, some are promoting what they did, other are there to keep current and look to make business contacts. Networking, looking for work, and slinging the bull by the bar. Is it any different from anything you've gone to?

It is just a big business convention, one that brought in $130 million for LA, the parties are like those hospitality suites, the awards show, the key note address recognition to those who has outstanding performance, the outstanding salesman of the year award, remember who they lost in the past and its a little YEAH US convention - to make them all feel better and boost morale for the next year.

And before all the brouhaha about walking into a party together. How more business can you get. But seriously - why do you want to put yourself through that cause you know he's gonna look better than you. I mean he was born to be in a tux. The best dress next to that could look like Mrs Ropers Muu Muu. Someone said carpooling I say Bingo. Annnnd who was the one who had to do the red carpet? The one who's movie is opening in 3 weeks. ABC people - ABC. Always Be Closing. You got to get some projects set up for next year cause you have nothing on the planner.


Now look around at the award crowd, how many of them are doing the same damn thing, and some of them even worse, those who stood up front married and with kids, and it's all a cover. Is there outrage over Franco bringing a date? Or comments about Pattinson or Hirsch not? That the host has as many rumors or that one of the biggest box office makers who presented last night has more?


Last night was a business convention that the public gets to watch. It's up to you if you get sucked into the spin of it or not. Will you buy this year's product?

What it should be about is not who walked with who, or where they walked, or dresses, or jewelry. It should be about the movies, the story - the performances on screen.




Congratulations to Heath's family and Matilda that have the recognition of his accomplishments of his career. Congratulations to Milk for breaking down more walls, and to the cast and crew who showed support of equality with the White Knot. To Sean and Kate, for roles, and performances that showed their talents as the consumate actors they are. Congratulations to Slumdog Millionaire for a story that captured so many. And congrats to Buttons - who received the awards they excelled at.

Out Spotlight LXIII

Today's Out Spotlight is Academy Award winner Pedro Almodóvar Caballero.

Born on September 25, 1951 in Calzada de Calatrava, Spain, a rural small town of Ciudad Real, a province of Castile-La Mancha in the administrative district of Almagro. La Mancha is the windswept region of flat lands made famous by Don Quijote as one of four children (two boys, two girls) in a large and impoverished family of peasant stock. His father, Antonio Almodóvar, could barely read or write, working most of his life hauling barrels of wine by mule. His mother, Francisca Caballero, turned her son into a part time teacher of literacy in the village and also a letter reader and transcriber for the neighbors. At eight he was sent by his family to study at a religious boarding school in the city of Cáceres, Extremadura, with the hope that he might someday become a priest. His family eventually joined him in Cáceres, where his father opened a gas station and his mother opened a bodega where she sold her own wine.

While Calzada did not have a cinema, the streets where he lived in Cáceres contained not only the school, but also a movie theater. “Cinema became my real education, much more than the one I received from the priest,” ]

Against his parents' wishes, he moved to Madrid in 1967. His goal was to be a film director, but he lacked the money to do it and Francisco Franco had just closed the National School of Cinema so he would be completely self-taught. He became a student by such directors as Billy Wilder, Douglas Sirk, Alfred Hitchcock, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Luis Buñuel, Edgar Neville, Federico Fellini, George Cukor, Luis García Berlanga and neorealist Marco Ferreri. To support himself, he worked a number of odd jobs. He found permanent job, working as a administrative assistant for twelve years at a telephone company. Working only until three in the afternoon, he had the rest of the day to pursue his own interests in films.

In the early seventies, he grew interested in experimental cinema and theatre. He collaborated with the vanguard theatrical group, Los Goliardos, where he played his first professional roles and met Carmen Maura, who has starred in many of his films. He was also writing comics and contributing articles and stories to a number of counterculture magazines, such as Star, Víbora and Vibraciones.

Madrid’s flourishing alternative cultural scene became the perfect scenario for Almodóvar's social talents. He was a crucial figure in La Movida Madrileña (Madriliene Movement), a cultural renaissance that followed the fall of the Franco regime. Alongside Fabio McNamara, he sang in a glam rock parody duo. He published a novella, Fuego en las entrañas (Fire in the Guts). Writing under the pseudonym "Patty Diphusa" , he penned various articles for major newspapers and magazines, such as El País, Diario 16 and La Luna. He kept writing stories that were eventually published in a compilation volume, El sueño de la razón (The Dream of Reason).

Around 1974, Almodóvar showed his first short films on a Super-8 camera. By the end of the 1970s they were shown in Madrid's night circuit and in Barcelona. These shorts had overtly sexual narratives and no soundtrack: Dos putas, o, Historia de amor que termina en boda (1974) (Two Whores, or, A Love Story that Ends in Marriage); La caída de Sodoma (1975) (The Fall of Sodom); Homenaje (1976) (Homage); La estrella (1977) (The Star) 1977 Sexo Va: Sexo viene (Sex Comes and Goes) (Super-8); Complementos (shorts) 1978; (16mm).

“I showed them in bars, at parties… I could not add a soundtrack because it was very difficult. The magnetic strip was very poor, very thin. I remember that I became very famous in Madrid because, as the films had no sound, I took a cassette with music while I personally did the voices of all the characters, songs and dialogues.” After four years of working with shorts in Super-8 format, in 1978 Almodóvar made his first Super-8, full-length film: Folle, folle, fólleme, Tim (1978) (Fuck Me, Fuck Me, Fuck Me, Tim), a magazine style melodrama. In addition, he made his first 16 mm short, Salome. This was his first contact with the professional world of cinema. The film's stars, Carmen Maura and Felix Rotaeta, encouraged him to make his first feature film in 16 mm and helped him raise the money to finance what would be Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón.

Openly gay, he has incorporated elements of underground and gay culture into mainstream forms with wide crossover appeal, thus redefining perceptions of Spanish cinema and Spain.

Almodóvar made his first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap (Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón), in 1980 with a very low budget and a team of volunteers shooting on weekends. The film was based on his photo-novella, General Erections, previously published in the magazine El Víbora (The Viper). Pepi, Luci, Bom consists of a series of loosely connected sketches rather than a fully formed plot. It follows the adventures of the three characters of the title: Pepi, who wants revenge from the corrupt policeman who raped her; Luci, a mousy, masochistic housewife; and Bom, a lesbian punk rock singer. The central theme of the film, friendship and female solidarity, appear repeatedly in Almodóvar’s filmography.

His second film Labyrinth of Passions (Laberinto de Pasiones) is a screwball comedy about multiple identities, one of Almodóvar’s favorite subjects. The plot follows the adventures of two sex-crazy characters: Sexilia, an aptly named nymphomaniac, and Riza, the gay son of the leader of a fictional Middle Eastern country. Their unlikely destiny is to find one another, The film is an outrageous look at love and sex, framed in Madrid of the early 1980s, during the so called Movida madrileña, a period of sexual adventurousness between the dissolution of Franco's authoritarian regime and the onset of AIDS consciousness.

Dark Habits (Entre Tinieblas) has an almost all-female cast featuring many of Almodóvar's favorite leading ladies: Carmen Maura, Julieta Serrano, Marisa Paredes and Chus Lampreave. The narrative centers upon a cabaret singer, who, running away from justice, finds refuge in a convent of destitute nuns, each of whom explores a different sin. The mother superior, a drug addict worse than the fallen woman trying to redeem, falls in love with the singer. It is a satire of Spain's religious institutions, portraying spiritual desolation and moral bankruptcy. It explores the force of desire in characters who are ruled by their intuition rather than reason.

Law of Desire (La Ley del Deseo). The narrative follows three main characters: a gay film director who embarks on a new project; his sister, an actress who used to be his brother (played by Carmen Maura), and a repressed murderously obsessive stalker (played by Antonio Banderas).

The film presents a gay love triangle and drew away from most representations of homosexuals in films. These characters are neither coming out nor confront sexual guilt or homophobia; they are already liberated.

Almodóvar’s next film was his first huge international success: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The film, staged as a faux adaptation of a theatrical work, details a two-day period in the life of Pepa, a professional movie dubber who has been abruptly abandoned by her married lover and who frantically tries to track him down. In the course of her search she discovers some of his secrets, and realizes her true feelings.

In his next movie Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Ricky (played by Antonio Banderas), a recently released psychiatric patient, kidnaps and holds hostage an actress (played by Victoria Abril) in order to make her fall in love with him. “I’m 23 years old, I have fifty thousand pesetas and I am alone in the world. I will try to be a good husband for you and a good father for your children,” he tells her.

Different than his previous films, the story focuses on the compelling relationship at its center: the actress and her kidnapper literally struggling for power and desperate for love. The film’s title line ¡Tie Me Up! is unexpectedly uttered by the actress as a genuine request. She does not know if she will try to escape or not, and when she realizes she has feelings for her captor, she prefers not to be given a chance.

His film All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) grew out of a brief scene in one of his previous films, The Flower of My Secret, telling the story of a mourning mother who, after reading the last entry in her dead son's journal about how he wishes to meet his father for the first time, decides to travel to Barcelona in search of the boy's father. She must tell the father that she had their son after she left him many years ago, and that he has now died. Once there, she encounters a number of odd characters - a transvestite prostitute, a pregnant nun, and a lesbian actress - all of whom help her cope with her grief. Agrado, a pre-operative transsexual she tells the story of her body and its relationship to plastic surgery and silicone, culminating with a statement of her own philosophy: “The more you become like what you have dreamed for yourself, the more authentic you are”.

The film received more awards and honors than any other film in the Spanish motion picture industry. Its recognition includes an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, a Golden Globe in the same category, Best Director Award and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Award at Cannes; the French Cesar for Best Foreign Film, the Goya Award as best film of the year, best Actress in a Leading Role for Argentine actress Cecilia Roth and a twelfth Annual European Film Award.

His 16th film, Volver (Return), return him home and is set in part in La Mancha. The film opens showing dozens of women furiously scrubbing the graves of their deceased, establishing the influence of the dead over the living as a key theme. IT follows the story of three generations of women in the same family who survive wind, fire, and even death. The film is an ode to female resilience, where men are literally disposable.

After 30 years he returned to his first format, a naughty short entitled La Concejala Antropofaga (The Cannibalistic Councilwoman), premiered on Spanish cable television Canal + last week. The short is a spin-off from his next forthcoming release, Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) which stars Almodovar's favourite actress and muse Penelope Cruz in a four-way love story shot in film-noir style on the island of Lanzarote, it is the story of a bored local politician driven by a desire to gobble up a man whole.

Just some of the many clips

Short : Salome (1978)

Law of Desire "La ley del deseo" (1987)

Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown

All about My Mother

Oscar Wild

OMG's Oscar Edition

It's all about Oscar - and it might get some people grouchy. Let's open up a little can of ...

The Curious Case of Zodiac

While Benjamin Button is visual stunning and the special effects in digitalization, aging and transformations are leading the way, and it has that trademark golden light of a Fincher film, is it really better than Zodiac? Is the Academy correcting a mistake but not recognizing what I think, was a better movie, from performances to the storyline in Zodiac, by overnominating Benjamin Button with 13 nominations? Did Pitt have a better performance than RDJ did in Zodiac? Shouldn't he lose points for what he uses as a Louisana accent? Did Jake lose out again because he played it with a quietness that some overlook, as not as inspiring, but really looking at it with a critical eye, constraint as an actor is even harder. (The less is more theory) Was it the lack of closure in the ending? Was it that Zodiac is designed not to be watched once but several times to get the whole thing? And isn't really Button really Forest Gump meets Cher in a "If I Could Turn Back Time" montage?

Hollywood has a history of right wrongs have they know they've blown it. Are they recognizing Fincher now because they know they screwed him before?

And then there's Heath.


While the Joker is an incredible performance on its own no doubt, this nomination and very possible win for Heath, seems to be recognizing the entire body of his work.

Now not everything Heath did hit the high mark, (Four Feathers?) but he how found himself in roles that transformed him. While most here would say BBM, you have to remember his role in Monster's Ball. That was the first role that really showed something different from what Hollywood wanted him to become and caught a different kind of attention. This was a serious contender in Hollywood not just for the way he looked on screen. Then his performance in Brokeback too both him and his acting to another level, and held Hollywood in his hand. Why didn't he win? Why didn't Jake? Why didn't BBM take it all? And in between Ennis and the Joker - Heath traveled from Casanova to a drug addict, from the frivalous to the deadly serious. Think ahead 10, 15, 20 years? What will people remember Heath for - wil it be Ennis Del Mar or The Joker? Now think about what this award is for - now ask yourself - is Hollywood honoring him for just one role? And if so, which one really?
More to think about:

Has the Oscar gold dulled? There is the Oscar curse. But does a nomination or a win really bring the level of work that you think it does? An interesting article in Variety.

Is the expectation of the public and the media outrun the reality of what Hollywood is churning out? Or it the way Hollywood runs itself that creates its own problems?


Now for something fun:

You can say yes to the dress and there is nothing better than playing fashion police, but then there's ... actual broadcast.

Yes Wolverine doing the Oscars is something special, but just in case there is a lull or two, how about some Oscar Bingo to pass the time.

Oscar Bingo

Who ever wins or loses, take a moment and remember what you love about movies. Remember that first movie you saw, the first movie that captured your imagination or the first that brought your tears. That's what it's really about.

Sorry for delay - I was watching Moonlight Mile - and Ebert was right - Jake should have gotten a nomination for it. I forget how amazing he is in it.

Man oh Man

Wow - when you look at the pictures from then till know, you realize that Austin didn't mature just as an actor, and a sometimes gentleman.



And then you look again and realize this is what makes all the difference. It is great to see!

Global Green USA - 10 Reasons to Build Green Schools

Walk like an Egyptian

Jake popping in Fred Leighton and in Egypt? It sounds like he is practicing his former co-star Hayden's role in Jumpers. Is that script supervisor job available again? Or Does Doug Liman want to make a Jumpers on the Moon and call it "Moon Bounce"? Jake would have to go on a solo mission, cause if you saw a movie around Christmas time, the Bounce Bounce is not someone's favorite. ; )

And in these times of recession and thinking greener and leaner why waste money and make a huge carbon foot print going all the way to Egypt, when you go to Vegas by hybrid and boost the economy and save the environment a little? You can stay in a pyramid at the Luxor. And there are cameras (ok sercurity cameras) everywhere. Wait that might be the too much. Then again - you can do Venice and New York at the same time. Talk about a whirlwind - and it totally time efficient for those check lists.

And being close to home maybe there is time for a like wild (turkey) goose chase... cause you know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, well unless your publicist calls ahead.

Yeah you can dance but can you walk the walk Jake?


Evolution of Dance ( Egyptian Edition)
A little less locomotion but walking in the right direction.

Less Fosse more Suzanne Hoff - hand higher and use those eyes to sell it big guy.

Clearly more Goose than Tut. But you got the point down.

The head action is more back and forth and not so side to sign. This is just a little too Kattan even for a Night at the Roxbury

Lose the hat and the horse and add right hand from your goose on SNL and you got it.

Brulian Rulin?

The CW Source, an unofficial source for news and gossip about The CW posted this :

"We’re just wondering if we can go through one season of One Tree Hill without having to whip out the defibrillator, scream “Clear,” and bring the show back to life! The latest rumor is that Chad Michael Murray is considering leaving the show at the end of the season. The buzz is that after six seasons the actor is prepared to leave Lucas Scott behind and make himself more available for movie roles.

Wha…wha…what?

The rest of the OTH cast has signed on and from what we’re hearing that it’s actually looking like season seven might happen with or without CMM. But without Lucas, can the show really go on? "

Would they bring Austin/Julian back to be the main storyline of the 7th season of OTH? It seems like the Brulian bandwagon is growing. He and Sophia have the chemistry to have fans waiting week by week to see that what happens?

And it sounds like Austin likes working in the Wilmington area.

What so you think do? Will the CW do the 7th season and figure out a way to bring Julian back? What would be the storyline? Would it be a smart move for Austin to commit to the last season of series, knowing there is only one season left?


The CW Source


And yeah, Round Three - is on - this afternoon - oh yeah, don't ask.

XY....Z

Baby - it's all about good jeans.

Now while a tee and jeans is kind of de rigueur, its all about how you look in them that makes you go from good to God in them as the beat pulses and the lights are low.

What do you think? Good jeans make the best of both?

They both have shown on screen what those back pockets and denim cover, what do you think?

Is Jake's baggy ones saying he is taken man and don't bother looking? Or is he just like 'em to hang and leave a lot to the imagination?

And Austin - looks he's got the fine art of teasing in some of his, but sure that his pairs for partying are little bit tighter. Cause we know that boy likes to show off his ... ahem... assets, well at least in automobiles.

Let's not forget what Ted's NY eyes said:

Denim Addendum: “Both had on blue jeans wrapped around perfect butts,” added our boyish spy, above, for the really important deets. Jake’s dude-pal/whatever “probably had the better butt,” sassed our unsubtle source. “It was slightly rounder, and his jeans fit a bit more snuggly.”

Speaking of jeans - kudos to Levi's

Bold decisions Levi's has made over the years.

In 1897:

Founder Levi Strauss donates funds for 28 scholarships at UC Berkeley with half going to women.

1940s:

Levi's integrates its factories in California and vows not to locate facilities in municipalities where segregation is mandated.

1980s:

Levi's pioneers workplace practices and policies on HIV/AIDS that are later adopted by hundreds of employers around the world. Levi's also becomes a founding member of the Global Business Coalition on AIDS.

In 1992:

Levi's becomes the first Fortune 500 company to extend health benefits to the unmarried partners of its employees.

In 2007:

Levi's is the only California company to file a brief with the state's Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage.


In 2008:

Levi's joined a campaign to defeat Prop 8, which seeks to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. The company pledged $25,000 to Equality for All, the association leading the No on 8 charge. And Robert Haas, Levi's chairman emeritus, along with his wife donated $100,000.



Remember it's not about how much those back pockets cost ya, its who's hand slides in them.

Let go my Lego

Announced at the New York Toy Fair over the weekend was a deal between Disney, Pixar and Lego. And what does that mean? That coming in April 2010 you will be able to build your own Prince of Persia world in Legos. A few Lego kits and you too can make the Kingdom of Dastan, Prince of Persia.

But will it come it with a Prince to put in the castle? Will Jake join the ranks of Harrison Ford be made into a Lego microfigure? But will they give the Prince that everyone wants? Sans shirt or will he be dressed in his white deep v t0 the abs wrap shirt? Would Lego do the abs and pecs in paint, and how much chest hair too much for the under 10 set?

If a Lego microfigure could be on the horizon, could an 11" action figure be far behind? The long hair to style, muscled and cut, but will it come with add on fuzzy for the authentic chest? With action grip? And a big saber? Will that become the hottest action figure in WeHo? Well the you know it would have to be looking more like this and maybe with that leather vest as an accessory.

Of course Jake will get to have all the different toys that they will make, and sounds like he has someone(s) at home who are big toy fans, or will be in the next few years. But will they make a special edition figure or two who look like someone else special?




And who wouldn't when he was just listed on TV's sexiest man list. Hello Mr. Nichols - you make 29 look damn good, and that's way before April.

Congratulations Austin!



Pictures: Flicker, IHJ, Austin Nichol Media

Out Spotlight LXII

Today's Out Spotlight are the artists Gilbert & George.

Gilbert Proesch was born in San Marino, Italy, in a village located in the Dolomite Mountains, in 1943. His father was a shoemaker and he trained as a woodcarver in his father's workshop. Gilbert later went on to study at the Wolkenstein School of Art, the Hallein School of Art in Austria, and the Akademie der Kunst in Munich.

George Passmore also comes from a working class family. Born in Plymouth, Devon in 1942, he was raised in Tiverton. He left school to work in a shop when he was fifteen years old and eventually studied at the Darlington Adult Education Center in Devon and the Darlington Hall College of Art.

George first met Gilbert Proesch on 25th September 1967 while studying sculpture at St Martins School of Art, London. The two claim they came together because George was the only person who could understand Gilbert's rather poorly spoken English. In a 2002 interview with the Daily Telegraph they said of their meeting: 'it was love at first sight'. It is widely assumed that Gilbert & George are lovers, although they always dismiss questions about their sex lives.

They were initially known as performance artists. While still students they made The Singing Sculpture (1970), for which they covered themselves in gold metallic paint, stood on a table, and mimed to a recording of Flanagan and Allen's song Underneath the Arches, sometimes for hours at a time.

A number of works from the early 1970s consisted of the two of them getting drunk, usually on gin. Smashed (1973) was a set of photographs documenting a drunken evening, while Gordon's Makes Us Drunk is a film of the pair drinking Gordon's gin and listening to Elgar and Grieg, occasionally saying Gordon's makes us very drunk' or a slight variant thereof. This work, in common with many others by Gilbert and George, is executed in a completely deadpan way.

The matching business suits which they wore for these performances became a sort of uniform for them, and they rarely appear in public unless wearing them. It is also virtually unheard of for one of the pair to be seen without the other. They refuse to disassociate their performances from their everyday lives, insisting that everything they do is art. The pair regard themselves as 'living sculptures'.The pair are perhaps best known for their large scale photo-montages, such as Cosmological Pictures (1993), frequently tinted in extremely bright colours, backlit, and overlaid with black grids so as to resemble stained glass windows. Gilbert & George themselves often feature in these works, along with flowers and youths, their friends, and echoes of Christian symbolism. The early works in this style were in black and white, with red and yellow touches in later series. Later these works moved to use a range of bold colours. Their 2005 work, Sonofagod, returned to a more sombre and darker palette.

Some series of their pictures have attracted media attention through including potentially shocking imagery, including nudity, depictions of sexual acts, and bodily fluids. In the 1980s, the artists began to create an increasing number of works with gay themes.

The anatomically explicit work entitled Hunger (1982) is illustrative of lust's urgency. This work presents two faces--one red with yellow highlights, the other, yellow with red highlights, painted in the same reversed patterning--engaged in fellatio. The red and yellow colors seem to speak of reciprocal, hot-blooded desire soon to be followed by the electric impulse of sexual climax.


Good (1983) makes a statement about the ambiguity of gay desire. This photographic work is overlaid against a gray-toned brick wall. A Latin cross, the central symbol of the Christian faith, is formed of over-lapping red roses, a Catholic symbol for the Virgin Mary. The rose is also a visual representation of the anus, locus of male-male sexual desire. Rose Hole (1980) uses the same sexual coding. In 1986 Gilbert and George attracted criticism from left-wing commentators for a series of works seemingly glamorizing 'rough types' of London's East End such as skinheads, while a picture of an Asian man bore the derogatory title 'Paki'.

They have been residents of Fournier Street, Spitalfields, East London for many years.

They won the Turner Prize in 1986, and represented the UK at the 2005 Venice Biennale.


Gilbert & George

Six Little Words

The Washington Post asked reader to describe their love story in six words. An amazing and beautiful, and sometimes bittersweet.

So here's the challenge for OMG this Valentine's Day. Can you tell Jake & Austin's or even Toothy's & Goose's in just six?




Here's a little more inspiration.





And if you are so moved, tell your own love story in six.

C.S. Lewis said there are four kinds of love : storge (affection), philia (friendship), eros (carnal love), agape (unconditional love for others) - so on a day about love, celebrate all the ways we love and all the people we love and love us. And not just today but everyday.

And to Wicked and her Mrs. who's home is filled with love, thanks for the six word challenge.

Happy Valentine's Day!

For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.
Geoffrey Chaucer