Naughty Boy (who you might remember all that Zayn drama last month) just released a new single featuring Beyoncé and some dude named Arrow Benjamin. The song begins as a ballad, with Bey singing to a piano track. The beat picks up around the 1:20 mark and becomes more of a dance song with Beyoncé emotionally belting out the chorus “Ain’t running from myself no more.” Then this Arrow character comes in for the second verse and that’s when the Beyhive (and most everybody else) loses interest and turns it off. Listen to it below and decide for yourself

Our resident Beyoncé analyst, Nigel Zeff isn’t quite sold on the track. “It’s weird to hear her voice on music that isn’t her own.” I agree. I think I was expecting more of a foot stomper from Naughty Boy. Maybe (maybey) it will grow on me. I do like the video with everybody sinking into the ocean depths. It’s oddly both relaxing and terrifying.

The post OMG! New Beyoncé! New Beyonce! Well, Kind of… appeared first on World of Wonder.

It’s HALLOWEEN B*TCHES…and the RuPaul’s Drag Race squad are headed to NYC for two nights of frightening fun, produced by superstar promoter Brandon Voss! Hallo-queen weekend starts off on Friday, October 30th with fan favorites Shangela and Willam Belli hosting Night of the Living Drag. The event is set in post-apocalyptic NYC where only the queens have survived. Drag zombies roam a former Broadway theatre, treating survivors to haunting performances by Alyssa Edwards, Gia Gunn, Jujubee, Katya, Latrice Royale, Jinkx Monsoon, Laganja Estranja, Raja, Shangela, Willam, and reigning queen Violet Chachki. Then on Halloween night proper, Bianca Del Rio hosts Hollywood Horror Show- a massive dance and costume party at Madame Tussaud’s, with a full-on Rolodex of Hate-style show by Bianca herself! Get your tix and more info HERE.

“In our eight years of throwing Halloween parties, we have never done anything to this scale,” says Voss. “Halloween is my favorite time of the year, so I love to go all out! There will be massive decor installations, outlandish performers and of course, a whole gaggle of frightfully fabulous celebrity guests.”

 

 

The post #HalloweenQueens: RPDR Bianca Del Rio, Shangela, Willam & more Host Halloween In NYC appeared first on World of Wonder.

Jinkx Monsoon
Aisha Tyler
Alison Lohman
Ami Onuki
Anna Deavere Smith
Frankie Avalon
Fred Willard
Holly Robinson Peete
Jada Pinkett Smith
James Marsden
Jason Sudeikis
Jeana Keough
Joanne Catherall
Keeley Hazell
Lance Armstrong
Lori & George Schappell
Patrick Schwarzenegger
Ricky Bell
Robert Blake
Sara Haines
Satan’s Angel
Tara Fitzgerald
Xzibit

The post September 18: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch! appeared first on World of Wonder.

Photograph by Beaton

September 18, 1905– Greta Garbo was born Greta Lovisa Gustafson in Stockholm. She was lured to Hollywood by Louis B. Mayer who was impressed with her work in the Swedish film- Gosta Berlings Saga (1924), which was directed by her mentor, the flamboyantly gay, Mauritz Stiller, who came up with the name Greta Garbo.

Garbo knew how to make an exit. After just 20 years in films & a life as one of the world’s biggest stars of all time, she walked away from acting & public life when she was only 36 years old.

She lived in NYC in virtual seclusion for the next 50 years, refusing all interviews & photographs, emerging from her apartment only when protected from public view by big hats & sunglasses. I spent many hours walking in Manhattan, from The Cloisters to The Battery, with time spent in her block on East 52^nd Street, but I never had the thrill of a Garbo sighting, even after spotting several smart looking older women wearing large hats & sunglasses, following them & being disappointed when I finally was able to grab a quick glance.

Garbo made 14 silent films, with a face that was perfect for the expressions of the style of acting for those early B&W films. She never made a color film. She made the transition to talkies, a move that ruined many screen careers, with no problem at all. Garbo’s beautiful husky, accented voice was a compliment to her unworldly beauty & she gave more complex performances in her talking films.

Garbo’s first talking film was Anna Christie (1930). MGM’s market campaign used the catch-phrase “Garbo Talks!” At the 16 minute mark, she famously utters her first spoken line on film:

 “Gimme a whiskey, ginger ale on the side & don’t be stingy, baby.”

She played a world weary, washed-up ballerina in Grand Hotel (1932) at 26 years old. She gave what I think is her very best performance, charming, funny, electric & full of self-parody, in Ninotchka released in what is probably the greatest single year in film history, 1939. The MGM publicity department marketed the film with: “Garbo Laughs!” 

Garbo was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress 3 times, but never won. She received an honorary Oscar in 1954 for her “luminous & unforgettable screen performances.” She, of course, did not show up to accept the statue.

Garbo required very specific conditions for working on the set. She prohibited any visitors, including the studio brass, & she demanded that black flats surround her between takes to prevent extras & crew from looking at her. When asked about these eccentricities, Garbo said:

“If I am by myself, my face will do things I cannot do with it otherwise.”

During her career, Garbo avoided parties & premiers, preferring to spend her time alone or with a select group of close friends. She never signed autographs or answered fan mail & only rarely gave an interview (she only granted 12 in her lifetime).

Her aversion to a public life was undeniably genuine. Garbo claimed:

“As early as I can remember, I have wanted to be alone. I detest crowds, don’t like many people.”

Her standoffish behavior exasperated MGM’s head of production Irving Thalberg, but he eventually capitalized on it & the studio played up her the image of the reluctant & reclusive woman of mystery.

Garbo had a love affair with her frequent co-star John Gilbert, an actor who matched her beauty, but she left him alone at the altar on their wedding day. Garbo had affairs with women also, including well-known liaisons with actors Louise Brooks, writer Mercedes de Acosta (their affair was on again-off again for 3 decades), & with the star who was her equal, Marlene Dietrich. She was very close friends with 2 noted gay men, designer/photographer Cecil Beaton & director George Cukor.

After Garbo’s passing, Swedish actor, Mimi Pollak, her close friend form her school days, released the letters Garbo had written her. In one, Garbo wrote:

“We cannot help our nature, as God has created it. But I have always thought you & I belonged together”.

In retirement, Garbo claimed that she spent her time “drifting”, her word, used frequently. She lived with a lifelong melancholy. On her 60th birthday, she told her friends:

“In a few days, it will be the anniversary of the sorrow that never leaves me, that will never leave me for the rest of my life.”

Tellingly, in Love (1927) her character’s title card reads: “I like to be alone”. In The Single Standard (1929) she says: “I am walking alone because I want to be alone” & her character sails on a boat named the All Alone. In Susan Lenox (1931) she says: “This time I rise & fall… alone”. In Inspiration (1931) she tells her lover: “I just want to be alone for a little while“. For Mata Hari (1931) Garbo’s dialogue includes: “I never look ahead. By next spring I shall probably be quite alone.” The theme becomes a joke in Ninotchka (1939) where screenwriters Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder have the officials from Soviet Russia ask her: “Do you want to be alone, comrade?” She answers bluntly: “No!”

Garbo’s final credits rolled in 1990, leaving after a series of illnesses, but taken by that damn cancer. She was cremated & her ashes are interred in Stockholm. Smart about money, Garbo died rich, with an estate worth more than 50 million, most of it in important art. She left no heir.

Garbo pointed out that her character in Grand Hotel never uttered the famous: “I want to be alone”, but rather: “I want to be let alone”, a big difference & seemingly true of her life.

“The story of my life is about back entrances, side doors, secret elevators & other ways of getting in & out of places so that people won’t bother me”

The post #BornThisDay: Greta Garbo appeared first on World of Wonder.

I’m getting the book…

Well, I should have listened to Susanne. She told me to come early to the opening of her Fashion Underground exhibit at FIT, but my date, Jason Leli, was held up in traffic and we arrived late with the usual organized crush outside. The Museum at FIT is glassed it, so, who do I see through the front window but Dianne Brill (the OTHER legendary Queen of the Night) talking to who…? RUPAUL!. I had to grab THAT picture, kids! So, I squeezed my way in and who else is standing right there? None other than Mr. World of Wonder, Randy Barbato (sans the other Mr. Wonder, Fenton Bailey, who was in town too, but under the weather) OMG! Then the night was off! EVERYBODY came out to see this AMAZING exhibit. You know, I started right in the middle of this thing… maybe you need a little backstory…?

RuPaul and Dianne Brill, both looking BRILL!

Zaldy & Dianne

Susanne & Zaldy on the way to the show…

The woman of the evening with national treasure, photographer Bill Cummingham

Our gal Susanne Bartsch moved from Switzerland to London in her teens and got hooked on British fashion. In ’81, she set out to conquer New York City and opened a SoHo boutique that was one of the first to carry Vivienne Westwood. She staged fashion shows, focusing attention on the legendary Leigh Bowery, Body Map, and the incredible milliner Stephen Jones very early on. She created over-the-top-of-the-top events and raised more than $2.5 million for AIDS research, over the years and in all started with The Love Ball in ’89. So, she is a fashion force, to say the least, and now her life and collection -with more than 80 examples by The Blonds, Alexander McQueen, Pam Hogg, Thierry Mugler, Rachel Auburn, Body Map, John Galliano, Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, Zaldy and many more, are on display at the Museum of FIT, which opens today.

OK, back to the party. So, who WASN’T there? I was taking a photo of one look outside the main exhibit and noticed a man stepped into my frame so I took my eye away, thinking “Oh, I’ll wait until he moves” and then I looked up and saw, “Oh, that’s Calvin Klein.” (See my out-of-focus pic below…)

Milliner Stephen Jones & Amanda Lepore

Calvin & Co

The Padilha brothers, who just had THE party of NYFW, for the launch of their latest book GLOSS: The Work of Chris von Wagenheim, were there along with the book’s designer, Marc Balet. Photographer Josef Astor was there with filmmaker Charlie Atlas. (Btw, I have a great vintage print by Josef of Susanne wearing the penis bustier by Mr. Pearl. Note the ejaculating “pearls” at the décolletage…) Scott Ewalt was featuring Mr. Pearl to great effect last night, too. The show’s curator, Valerie Steele, said that Mr. Pearl’s were some of her favorite pieces;

“He is the number one luxury corsetier, and Susanne was one of the first people who discovered him. She introduced Mr. Pearl to Thierry Mugler… and then Mr. Pearl went to Paris and started doing corsets for all the couture houses. So that’s a good example of how she helped link the fashion underground people — he was a very freaky person, but he was so talented — with high fashion. Now they’re going to do a whole show with Mr. Pearl in London in two years.”

Mathu Anderson and former partner Zaldy contributed a LOT to this show and Susanne’s wardrobe, but it’s not like they weren’t pragmatic. When Steele interviewed Zaldy, he said;

“I just knew that what she needed was something that she could move in, something she could dance in, something that she could wear for hours and hours, all night.”

The last section, all in lacquered red to evoke her Chelsea Hotel apartment, features pieces that Bartsch has worn recently from designers like The Blonds and Chromat, who both just showed great new collections at fashion week. I bumped into Richard Pandiscio and his photographer partner Todd Eberle in this area, standing in shock at the magnitude of the show, like everyone else…

“Where DOES she keep all this!?”

God knows? Yet another photographer (geez, I know a LOT of photographers) Wouter Derutter, who has shot Susannne in many of the looks, was there shooting them again for a new book project. The double height space is just crammed full of more designer fabulousness than maybe anywhere on earth, except for the Anna Wintour Costume Institute.

I chased Susanne around for a bit trying to get a good outfit shot but I got caught up in too many conversations. I did get a decent shot of Susanne and the legendary Bill Cunningham who was just shooting away, as he’s been doing for 5+ decades. Check The Times this weekend for HIS pics.

Diane Brill said to me as we were walking into the show (I’m paraphrasing),

“Ru just said to me now, ‘I worshipped you back in the day, but we never really talked.’ and I thought, ‘Is that really true?'”

I that I think it really WAS true. I knew Dianne, we all did, but not well. We all knew each other but then we didn’t, and now that it’s all Herstory, we are all lumped together by virtue of the fact that we’re all still here. Susanne is maybe the ultimate example of the glue that holds these misfits and major talents together. In the end, it’s not about going out or dressing up or who you know, it’s about being AT the party, even if you just stand back and watch. Susanne is on her fourth decade of wanting everyone to have a good time –and her third generation too, btw– it wasn’t all the fab dinosaur crowd, there were kids turning it out in MAJOR ways last night. As she says;

“Style is about expressing yourself. You can be whatever you want to be.”

Amen, sister. Of course, there was an incredible after party, but I went to dinner at Omar’s with a fun group and didn’t have the stamina to run the gauntlet again at the Grammercy Theater. I KNOW it was amazing, but seriously, NO ONE can keep up with Susanne Bartsch.

Fashion Underground: The World of Susanne Bartsch is on view through December 5, 2015 at MFIT (227 W 27th Street). If you find yourself in NYC between now and then, just GO. You can also get the book here.

The post #NYFW: Susanne Bartsch’s “Fashion Underground” Opening at FIT Brought Out New York’s MOST Dressed appeared first on World of Wonder.

Exclusive: Acclaimed French artist and producer The Avener is releasing his full-length debut album, The Wanderings Of The Avener (on Casablanca/Republic Records) via digital retailers today and The Wow Report has this exclusive track, We Go Home that you can listen to below. I love it. I know that you know his hit, Fade Out Lines… it was a worldwide smash and introduced The Avener’s sound. It hit #1 on iTunes in 23 countries and Top 10 in 67 countries and has racked up almost 18 million YouTube/VEVO views. The Wanderings Of The Avener has 15 tracks, including Fade Out Lines and Hate Street Dialogue. To celebrate the album’s release, he’ll embark mini-tour…

9/19 – Austin, TX @ WEC

9/21 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

9/23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Output

9/24 – Montreal, QC @ The Fairmont

Oh, Brooklyn next week! In the meantime, listen and watch!

The post #WOWExclusive: The World Premier of The Avener’s “We Go Home” appeared first on World of Wonder.

As always, NYC’s The Blonds turned out the catwalk show of the season! This year they went with an all gold theme, inspired by ancient Egypt, where gold was believed to be divine and indestructible…which also happens to be the mantra for any hardcore fashionistas and fans of the celebrated design house…including Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna, and seen celebs Kat Graham, Kelly Osbourne, Kristin Cavallari, Chris Brown’s ex Karrueche Tran, rapper Sharaya J and the truly divine Bette Midler. Check out some of my fave looks below.

SS16 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FASHION

SS16 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FASHION

SS16 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FASHION

SS16 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FASHION

SS16 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FASHION

SS16 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FASHION

SS16 NEW YORK FASHION WEEK FASHION

The post #NYFW: The Blonds Slay The Runway…Servin Glitter, Gold & Body-Ody-Ody!!! appeared first on World of Wonder.

Adam West
Alison Sweeney
Carter Oosterhouse
Cheri Oteri
Danielle Panabaker
Freda Payne
James Lipton
Jarvis Cocker
Jeremy Irons
Jimmy Fallon
Joan Lunden
Katrina Bowden
Kevin Zegers
Kim Richards
Lita Ford
Lydia Hearst-Shaw
Mario Batali
Noemie Lenoir
Rex Smith
Rosemary Harris
Sally Potter
Sanaa Lathan
Soledad O’Brien
Stephanie J Block
Tegan & Sara Quin
Trisha Yearwood
Twiggy
Victoria Silvstedt

The post September 19: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch! appeared first on World of Wonder.

September 19, 1934– Brian Epstein. Hey, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.

John Lennon:

“I was on holiday with Brian Epstein in Spain, where the rumors went around that he & I were having a love affair. Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated. But it was a pretty intense relationship. It was my first experience with a homosexual that I was conscious was homosexual. He had admitted it to me. We had this holiday together because Cynthia was pregnant, & I went to Spain & there were lots of funny stories. We used to sit in a cafe in Torremolinos looking at all the boys & I’d say, ‘Do you like that one, do you like this one?’ I was rather enjoying the experience, thinking like a writer all the time: I am experiencing this, you know. Eppy just kept on & on at me, until one night, I finally just pulled me trousers down & said to him: ‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, Brian, here, just stick it up me fucking arse then.’”

“He said to me, ‘Actually, John, I don’t do that kind of thing. That’s not what I like to do.’ “Well,” I said, ‘what is it you like to do?’ & he said, ‘I’d really just like to touch you, John.’ & so I let him toss me off, & that was it… Yeah, so fucking what! He’s having a fucking hard time anyway. So what harm did it do, for fuck’s sake? No harm at all. The poor fucking bastard, he can’t help the way he is.”

This Spanish holiday was dramatized in the excellent film The Hours & Times (1991), with David Angus as Epstein & Ian Hart as Lennon.

Epstein certainly led an interesting life. Born during the Depression, at 16 years old he started working in his parent’s Liverpool department store & realized he was born to be a salesman. His father promoted him to manager of the record department as the family business expanded.

In December 1961, Epstein started at his most important job: Manager Of The Beatles. After having seen the band play at a Liverpool club in their leather jackets, smoking cigarettes & swearing on stage, he immediately decided the lads needed to change their image.

Reimagining The Beatles’ look & stage personalities, Epstein purchased mod mohair suits for the boys, insisted on their signature haircuts & started to find them new gigs. He fired the drummer, Pete Best, so that he could be replaced by Richie Starkey. He pitched The Beatles to the various record labels, determined to get them signed to a recording contract. After being rejected by Decca, among other labels, he managed to get them signed with EMI & with George Martin as their producer.

Initially, The Beatles weren’t completely confident or trustful of Epstein (they called him- “Eppie”), but with his hard work & devotion he earned their respect & admiration.

It was no secret that Epstein was gay. In school he recalled being “ragged, nagged & bullied”. He dropped out when he turned 16 years old. He was drafted into the British Army, but after 10 months he was discharged for being “mentally unfit”, after being harassed & bullied again. Around this time, Epstein began enjoying the special company of other guys. In 1956 he was arrested for propositioning men in a subway lavatory, the victim of an undercover sting.  Epstein pleaded guilty, & was fined & released.

The Beatles always knew that Epstein was gay. Although he was professional & distinguished as a business man, his double life wasn’t always as private as he wanted it to be. There were relentless rumors that Epstein was in love with Lennon. Epstein was very attracted Lennon’s talent, his wit & his good-looks. He was not able to look Lennon in the eye when speaking with him for fear he would reveal his secret. But actually, Lennon was completely aware of Epstein’s feelings & was sometimes teased by his mates about Epstein’s subtle attentions. The gossip began.

Epstein also managed Gerry & The Pacemakers & the late, great Cilla Black. He appeared on TV shows & hosted a regular spot on one of my favorite shows of the 1960s era Hullabaloo.

As Beatlemania reached a fever, Epstein became less involved in the routine daily operations. The Beatles Empire continued growing, but Epstein felt less secure about his future with the band. His contract was due to expire & he feared it would not be renewed (he would remain their manager until his death). He began a downward spiral, becoming depressed & driven by drug addiction. He was drinking, gambling, taking LSD, & popping pills. Epstein’s life became more than he could handle.

When The Beatles went to India to meet the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in August 1967, it was the first time they had gone anywhere without Epstein being in charge. He had seemed interested in what Maharishi had to offer, but it was a bank holiday weekend & he decided to spend it with friends. For The Beatles, the trip was like being kids allowed to play without supervision. Lennon:

 “It was like going somewhere without your trousers on!”

In India, Paul, John, George & Ringo received word that Epstein had died, disillusioned & alone, from a drug overdose. He was just 32 years old. All 4 Beatles were completely, utterly devastated. He had been their friend, their enabler, their hero. He was seen as irreplaceable. Shortly after Epstein’s passing, The Beatles underlying tensions & resentments began to surface. Lennon said it was the beginning of the end. Lennon:

“He was in love with me. It’s interesting & will make a nice Hollywood Babylon story someday about Brian Epstein’s sex life, but it’s irrelevant, absolutely irrelevant.”

Double Life/Double Fantasy, the secret was not buried with Brian Epstein.

Benedict Cumberbatch is set to portray Epstein in a new biopic, directed by his Sherlock director, Paul McGuigan, & produced by Tom Hanks.

If things had been different & he had been able to be here today, probably having just barely survived the murder of Lennon in 1980, a wealthy & happily openly gay Sir Brian Epstein might be celebrating his 81st birthday with a nice quiet dinner & cake at his home in San Francisco along with his longtime husband (a Lennon lookalike), Sean & Yoko, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr & their children & grandchildren.

A few of my favorite resources:

The Love You Make: An Insider’s Story Of The Beatles (1983) by Peter Brown

The Brian Epstein Story (2000) by Debbie Geller

Many Years From Now (1997) by Barry Miles

The post #BornThisDay: Manager, Brian Epstein appeared first on World of Wonder.

Frito-Lay partnered with the It Gets Better Project and this rainbow bag of Doritos online only. It’s not just the bag that’s colorful, the chips themselves are multi-colored. They’ll set you back $10… BUT Frito-Lay is donating 100% of the proceeds.

Ram Krishnan, chief marketing officer says:

“Time and again, our consumers have shown us, there really is nothing bolder than being true to yourself and living life to the fullest. With Doritos Rainbows chips, we’re bringing an entirely new product experience to our consumers to show our commitment toward equal rights for the LGBT community and celebrate humanity without exception.”

Brett Peters, communications director of, It Gets Better Project, adds;

“We’re honored to partner with the Doritos brand to celebrate the momentous progress that has been made toward equal rights for the LGBT community in this country. By utilizing the incredible reach that Doritos has throughout the world, we can give hope to the LGBT young people who need it the most. There is so much more work to be done, and together, we will inspire the LGBT community and its allies to continue the fight and embrace who they are by living a #BoldandBetter life.”

And Doritos is sponsoring Dallas Pride this year tomorrow on September 20 for the first time.

NOTE: At this writing, due to the popularity of the project, they are out of Doritos! From the website;

Due to the incredible amount of support we have received, we have run out of bags.

You can still show your support by sharing your own words of inspiration using the hashtag #BOLDANDBETTER.

Check back soon for one-of-a-kind bags featuring well-known celebrities. In the meantime, give us your email, and we’ll keep you updated.

Next time, make more guys!

The post #LGBT: Rainbow Doritos Are Not as Queer as They Look… (& You Can’t Have Any) appeared first on World of Wonder.

Yes, New York Fashion Week is over now but this new discovery (on my part) would have been so cool for the front row gang to take selfies with. (For all I know, they got them in gift bags somewhere…) The Polaroid Snap is a digital camera that can instantly print out a pic, without ink. How so, you ask? The trick is in the Zero Ink printing technology developed by a company called ZINK. Instead of using ink, the camera uses special printing paper which contains cyan, yellow and magenta dye crystals under a protective coating. The ZINK-enabled printer inside the camera activates the crystals to create a color photo! The pics are tiny. Just 2 x 3″. How expensive is this fancy paper? You can get a 30 pack of 2 x 3″ ZINK paper for $19.99 at Amazon. It takes a 10-megapixel photo and has memory cards with a 32GB of capacity. It’ll be available in four colors — black, white, red and blue — in time for the holidays for $99.

(via Mashable)

The post #NYFW: The New Polaroid SNAP Gives Instant Prints Without Ink appeared first on World of Wonder.

Vogue captured a bit of the flavor of Givenchy‘s first runway show in NYC. Designer Riccardo Tisci discusses what New York means to him and how this debut in the shadow of the new World Trade Center staged on 9/11 was not only a big moment, but a dream come true.

Vogue‘s Sarah Mower summed it the mood and meaning;

“That calm exposition of skill and taste, which surely grows out of nineties memories, will stay in the minds of everyone who was on Pier 26 tonight. The tragedy of 9/11 can never be overwritten by any fashion show —and nor should it be— but at the same time, anyone who condemns fashion for concerning itself with current feelings is wrong, too.”

Watch.

(Photos, Monica Feudi; via Vogue)

The post #NYFW: Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci on 9/11 & His “Dream Come True” appeared first on World of Wonder.

The SECOND annual RuPaul’s DragCon will be here before you know it! Want to know how you can be the first to know when tickets go on sale, which of your favorite #Queens and #WOWlebrities will be there, and which vendors will be attending? Sign up for the RuPaul’s DragCon mailing list and NEVER miss a beat! Head over to the RuPaul’s DragCon website for more info and also check out all the fun we had last year! OH! And you can watch many of the panels from the first annual RuPaul’s DragCon on WOWPresents!

The post RuPaul’s DragCon 2016: Sign Up So You’ll Be the First To Know ALL the T! appeared first on World of Wonder.

If you’ve been watching Island Hunters on HGTV, then YOU KNOW the jaw-droppingly sumptuous private islands that are out there on the market. Every week on our Island Report, we’re bringing you a hot new property you DIDN’T see on the show. Here are the gorgeous little ocean hideaways you’ll probably never in a million years own, but, OH!, to pretend for a moment or two. Check out EXILE ISLAND in Fiji! This place looks seriously remote… if Cast Away is your thing (or even if it isn’t) be sure to check this gorgeous island out in the photos below. 

ABOUT EXILE ISLAND

Exile Island is just a short boat ride from the nearest town of Labasa which is the largest town in the north-eastern part of the second largest Fiji island of Vanua Levu from where there are daily flights to the International Airport of Nadi. One of the 333 Fiji islands, it is officially named Sausau Island but is better known as Exile Island due to its filming location in the 14th season of CBS’s hit reality series of “Survivor” filmed in Fiji.

A beautiful island with incredible topography, Exile Island has large level beachfront areas to build your villa with high peaks that afford fantastic views. You can build your own private lookout on top of the highest point of Exile peak where you can watch the breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. There is a lot to explore on this remote but quickly accessible private island including the many low tide areas which create patches of soft white powdery sand in the nearby vicinity interspersed with vegetation.

The pristine waters surrounding this 15 acre island are ideal for swimming, fishing, boating, diving, snorkeling, or jet ski excursions. There are many uninhabited islands nearby to enjoy as well as cascading waterfalls on Vanua Levu which create natural pools of crystal clear water in which to swim.

-Via Private Islands Online 

The post Drool Over World of Wonder’s Weekly Island Report appeared first on World of Wonder.

I spent many a night being totally enamored of and entertained by the girls that performed weekly at NYC bar/lounge Barracuda. More specifically, the Star Search amateur night years, hosted by the super glamazon Mona Foot. For anybody who experienced her brand of “humor”, you can co-sign that she was bold, brash…and goddess help you if your drag was not on point…let’s just say that she had a way of making you rethink your burgeoning showgirl profession.

Twenty years, and still an incubator for new drag babies, Barracuda is a staple on the NYC gay scene…and they’re throwing a big bash to celebrate! Scheduled to appear so far (and perform), actress Candis Cayne (I Am Cait/Dirty Sexy Money/Nip Tuck), actress and YouTube star Sherry Vine, and the hilarious writer, performer and drag icon Jackie Beat. Barracuda 20th Anniversary party is Sunday, October 18 at 7pm in NYC, more info HERE.

The post Candis Cayne, Sherry Vine & Jackie Beat Perform at Barracuda 20 Year Anniversary in NYC appeared first on World of Wonder.

Michelle Visage
Alannah Currie
Anne Meara
Asia Argento
Debbie Morgan
Deborah Roberts
Gary Cole
Gunnar & Matthew Nelson
Jon Bernthal
Kristen Johnston
Maggie Cheung
Moon Bloodgood
Phillip Phillips
Sophia Loren

The post September 20: It’s YOUR Birthday, Bitch! appeared first on World of Wonder.

September 20, 1934– Sophia Loren is Italy’s Cinema Icon, an eternal Diva, & I wish to nominate her to the status of Gay Icon. Loren’s exciting life has taken her from being a street urchin to becoming one of the planet’s most glamorous film stars. She had the pleasure of enjoying the special company of Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, & Richard Burton, along with her Italian soul mate Marcello Mastroianni.

Loren’s story plays just like an Italian film, with her extraordinary rise to stardom as a poor teenager discovered by a rich & famous film producer who later marries her & helps make her Italy’s greatest export after pasta.

She was born in Roma as Sofia Scicolone, later changed the spelling of her first name to “ph” & adopting the stage name Loren. She was the daughter of a failed performer whose lover, Sophia’s father, refused to marry her.

She grew up poor in Pozzuoli, near Naples. Her mother eventually took her back to Rome, where Loren earned a small income for both of them by modeling for pulp magazines & winning prizes in beauty pagents. At one contest in the early 1950s, she was spotted by producer Carlo Ponti, who found her the first screen roles & devoted the rest of his own life to her career. Loren & Ponti were married for 5 decades, until his passing in 2007 at 94 years old.

Loren had no formal acting training. Pushed by her mother, her fabulous career began as a fluke when she met director Vittorio De Sica & told him she had never been offered a job after going on hundreds of auditions. Loren:

“I said to him, every time I am auditioning, people never hire me because I’m shy. They think my mouth is too wide, nose too long, there’s something wrong with my face. He told me he didn’t want me to audition, this conversation was just fine. I didn’t know what to say to this wonderful man. I nearly fainted on the spot.”

She made The Gold Of Naples (1954) with De Sica & it became her big break as an actor. The same year she did a comedy Eccato Che Sia Una Canaglia (Too Bad She’s Bad), the first of many films which Loren made with her perfectly matched star, Mastroianni. She immediately found steady work & made many films, including Boy On A Dolphin (1957) with Alan Ladd, Legend Of The Lost (1957) with John Wayne, & The Pride & The Passion (1957) with Grant & Sinatra.

“I have never been beautiful. I’ve never been a beautiful doll. In fact when I started, people didn’t want to hire me because I wasn’t photogenic.”

Loren’s stardom became truly international when she was given a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1958. For the studio she made the screen version of Eugene O’Neill’s drama Desire Under The Elms (1958) with gay actor Anthony Perkins, the sweet comedy Houseboat (1958) opposite Grant, & appeared as a blond in gay director George Cukor‘s unlikely western Heller In Pink Tights (1960).

“I didn’t change my face at all. They just got better at photographing it.”

Loren has starred in 100 films, so far, in several languages, projects of every genre: comedies, historical dramas, even musicals, including the thriller Arabesque (1966), Robert Altman’s romp Prêt-a-Porter (1994) & the delicious Matrimonio All’Italiana (1964) for De Sica.

Loren worked with the best of leading men: Sinatra, Grant, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Clark Gable, Paul Newman, & with Marlon Brando in Charlie Chaplin‘s final film, A Countess From Hong Kong (1967).

Most significantly, Loren starred in De Sica’s Two Women (1960) a stark, gritty story of a mother who is trying to protect her daughter in war ravaged WW 2 Italy. The pair are gang-raped inside a church as they travel back to their home city following the end of the bombing. Originally cast as the daughter, Loren fought against type to be cast as the mother. Loren won Cannes Film Festival‘s Best Performance award & an Oscar for Best Actress, the first for a non-English language performance & the first for an Italian. She skipped the ceremony because she was too nervous & discovered she had won via telephone by Cary Grant.

Loren has won a Grammy Award, 5 Golden Globes (so to speak), a BAFTA Award & a special honorary Academy Award for her contribution to World Cinema in 1991. In 1995, she received the Academy’s Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Her most recent role was as the only character in La Voce Umana (2014), from a 1930 play by gay writer Jean Cocteau  & directed by her handsome son Edoardo Ponti, a noted stage director. Her other yummy son Carlo Ponti Jr. is a famous orchestra conductor.

“I’m starting to count the hours, count the seconds; everything is important when you reach my age. Every so often you have to explode back into life.”

In 1992, Loren famously spent 17 days in an Italian jail as part of a plea bargain over a failure to file an income-tax return. At the time, she blamed it all on her accountant.

Loren is still ravishingly beautiful. She resides in Geneva & Roma.

“Beauty is not important. You have to be interesting, someone who is different to other people. Otherwise you just turn up & look beautiful, & there’s nothing more to you.”

Last year she published a well written, juicy memoir For Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: My Life.

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Well, technically, the wooden “wave” you’re looking at is called a “double conoid formation”. This four-bedroom mid-century modern house in New Jersey is set on 10 acres in the Delaware River Valley about 2 hours from New York City. Architect Jules Gregory‘s design was named one of the 10 Best Houses in America by Architectural Record the year after it was erected and the original cost was just $30,000. It was built as a home and studio for the architect himself, and has 1,200-square-foot workspace across the yard, which has this gorgeous undulating ceiling of fir beams, along with a sunken living room and glass walls and all those woods. It could use some reno work (those bathrooms are a bit out of character) but it’s original asking price of $1,125,000 in 2012, is now reduced to just $695,000. A bargain!

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Not that it matters when you have loads of money, but Ariel Ashe and Reinaldo Leandro of the New York City architecture and design firm Ashe + Leandro, nor their client, had ever built a house…

“There’s something very exciting about trusting people early in their career. Whatever Ariel and Reinaldo may have lacked in experience, they certainly made up for in the energy and the love they poured into the project.”

The architects came up with a trio of structures connected by glass-walled corridors and a fully finished basement on Martha’s Vineyard for this Manhattan art collector. Now, what ap­­pears to be three individual buildings, is technically one big one. Building codes on the Vineyard prohibit guest houses, so it is “broken up” into three spaces.

A collector of works by some of today’s best contemporary artists, like Thomas Houseago, Rashid Johnson, Nate Lowman, and Sterling Ruby, the unnamed client asked for lot of white walls and even “slot” in the living room floor for moving artworks that are too big to go from the basement via the stairs.

“We did have to lose some of the windows we wanted. He has a great collection and wanted to give it real presence. Because he’s friendly with several of these artists and has them up to stay, we felt like we were designing as much for them and their work.”

Years ago I visited a friend on the Vineyard and I deemed it one of my favorite places on earth. To me it combines upstate beautiful New York forests with the pristine East Coast beaches of the Hamptons. The house itself is a combination of a Caribbean retreat, my upstate barn and the ideal at-home gallery. It’s all sort of too TOO perfect, but if you were offering, I’d take it.

(Photos, Björn Wallander; via AD)

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TV’s biggest night really ended up just being HBO’s biggest night, which dominated the Emmys, with its Game of Thrones, Veep and Olive Kitteridge winning best drama, comedy and limited series, respectively. (Game Of Thrones had 120 nominations and took home a record 12 awards last night at the 67th Annual Emmy Awards and it was also the series writer, George R.R. Martin’s 67th birthday.)

Host Andy Samberg‘s musical opening professed that he’d locked himself in a bunker and watched “every damn show” that is nominated and in a surprising moment he gave out his HBO user name and password as HBO had said recently that sharing your password wasn’t a bad thing. His info & in case you missed it…

Username: Khaleesifan3@EmmyHost.com
Password: password1

Some of Samberg’s best jokes were really one-liners. (Scroll all the way down for the full monologue);

“Orange Is the New Black is now technically a drama, while Louie is now technically jazz.”

Donald Trump of course is running for president to the delight of uncles everywhere. I’ve gotta say, sure Donald Trump seems racist… What else?”

“Is it just me, or does Bernie Sanders always look like his flight is delayed?”

And the best double whammy of the night…

“Paula Deen is on this season of Dancing With the Stars. But I gotta say, if I wanted to see an intolerant lady dance, I would’ve gone to one of Kim Davis’ four weddings.

It’s so ironic that she came out of jail to Eye of the Tiger, when you consider how many dudes have boned each other to that song.”

There were serious moments as well. Jeffrey Tambor won best actor in a comedy series for his role of a trans woman in Transparent;

“I had a teacher who used to say, ‘When you act, you have to act as if your life depends on it,’ And now I’ve been given the opportunity to act, because people’s lives depend on it.”

And while accepting her first Emmy for directing a comedy series, Transparent director Jill Soloway thanked her “Moppa” (her transgender mother, Mom & Poppa,combined) and encouraged viewers to vote to pass a trans equality bill.

“She could tomorrow try to find an apartment, and in 32 states, it would be legal for the landlord to look her in the eye to say, ‘We don’t rent to trans people’. We don’t have a trans tipping point yet. We have a trans civil-rights problem.”

Many acceptance speeches were earnest and heart-felt, like Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘s, who won her fourth Emmy for playing Selina Meyer on HBO’s Veep, and got in a really good zinger as well;

“I think it would be appropriate at this moment to quote our political satire Veep:

‘What a great honor it must be for you to honor me tonight,’

“Oh wait, oh no, no, no, I’m so sorry. Donald Trump said that. It’s getting trickier and trickier to satirize this stuff.”

Near the end of the show, Tracy Morgan got a standing ovation before he presented best drama to GOT. The cast alum is set to host SNL next month, over a year after devastating June 2014 accident that seriously injured him and claimed the life of his friend James McNair.

Offstage, Morgan appeared to be in good spirits while posing for a photo with Hamm.

“Man it feels good to be back!!! Love you all!”

How to Get Away With Murder‘s Viola Davis won for best actress in a drama, and after paraphrasing the words of Harriet Tubman, said;

“Let me tell you something: The only that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”

It was the most racially diverse night ever for the Emmys, but the struggle IS real, as Samberg joked in his opening monologue;

“The big story this year is diversity. This is the most diverse group of Emmy nominees in history. Congratulations, Hollywood. You did it. Racism is over. Don’t fact check that.”

For me, the biggest injustice of the night was RuPaul’s Drag Race and Ru himself not even being nominated… I’m prejudiced, I know, but I really DO think it’s THE best reality competition series on TV.

Here’s what else won;

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
“Game of Thrones”
“Better Call Saul”
“Downton Abbey”
“Homeland”
“House of Cards”
“Mad Men”
“Orange is the New Black”

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
“Veep”
“Louie”
“Modern Family”
“Parks and Recreation”
“Silicon Valley”
“Transparent”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

LIMITED SERIES
“Olive Kitteridge”
“American Crime”
“American Horror Story: Freak Show”
“The Honorable Woman”
“Wolf Hall”

VARIETY TALK SERIES
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”
“The Colbert Report”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live”
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
“Late Show With David Letterman”
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”

VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
“Inside Amy Schumer”
“Drunk History”
“Key & Peele”
“Portlandia”
“Saturday Night Live”

LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA
Viola Davis, “How to Get Away with Murder”
Taraji P. Henson, “Empire”
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black”
Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”

LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Kyle Chandler, “Bloodline”
Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”
Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”

LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Lisa Kudrow, “The Comeback”
Lily Tomlin, “Grace And Frankie”
Amy Schumer, “Inside Amy Schumer”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Amy Poehler, “Parks And Recreation”

LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”
Anthony Anderson, “black-ish”
Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes”
Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”
Will Forte, “The Last Man On Earth”
Louis C.K., “Louie”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
Uzo Aduba, “Orange Is The New Black”
Joanne Froggatt, “Downton Abbey”
Lena Headey, “Game Of Thrones”
Emilia Clarke, “Game Of Thrones”
Christine Baranski, “The Good Wife”
Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
Peter Dinklage, “Game Of Thrones”
Jonathan Banks, “Better Call Saul”
Ben Mendelsohn, “Bloodline”
Jim Carter, “Downton Abbey”
Alan Cumming, “The Good Wife”
Michael Kelly, “House Of Cards”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
Allison Janney, “Mom”
Mayim Bialik, “The Big Bang Theory”
Niecy Nash, “Getting On”
Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
Kate McKinnon “Saturday Night Live”
Gaby Hoffmann, “Transparent”
Jane Krakowski, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Anna Chlumsky, “Veep”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
Tony Hale, “Veep”
Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
Adam Driver, “Girls”
Keegan-Michael Key, “Key & Peele”
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

Francis McDormand & Richard Jenkins in “Olive Kitterage”

LEAD ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Frances McDormand, “Olive Kitteridge”
Felicity Huffman, “American Crime”
Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story”
Queen Latifah, “Bessie”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Honorable Woman”
Emma Thompson, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street”

LEAD ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Richard Jenkins, “Olive Kitteridge”
Timothy Hutton, “American Crime”
Ricky Gervais, “Derek Special”
Adrien Brody, “Houdini”
David Oyelowo, “Nightingale”
Mark Rylance, “Wolf Hall”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Regina King, “American Crime”
Sarah Paulson, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Angela Bassett, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Kathy Bates, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Mo’Nique, “Bessie”
Zoe Kazan, “Olive Kitteridge”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Bill Murray, “Olive Kitteridge”
Richard Cabral, “American Crime”
Denis O’Hare, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Finn Wittrock, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Michael Kenneth Williams, “Bessie”
Damian Lewis, “Wolf Hall”

GUEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Margo Martindale, “The Americans”
Diana Rigg, “Game of Thrones”
Rachel Brosnahan, “House Of Cards”
Cicely Tyson, “How To Get Away With Murder”
Allison Janney, “Masters Of Sex”
Khandi Alexander, “Scandal”

GUEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Reg E. Cathey, “House of Cards”
Alan Alda, “The Blacklist”
Michael J. Fox, “The Good Wife”
F. Murray Abraham, “Homeland”
Beau Bridges, “Masters Of Sex”
Pablo Schreiber, “Orange Is The New Black”

GUEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Bradley Whitford, “Transparent”
Mel Brooks, “The Comedians”
Paul Giamatti, “Inside Amy Schumer”
Bill Hader, “Saturday Night Live”
Louis C.K., “Saturday Night Live”
Jon Hamm, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

GUEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Joan Cusack, “Shameless”
Christine Baranski, “The Big Bang Theory”
Gaby Hoffmann, “Girls”
Pamela Adlon, “Louie”
Elizabeth Banks, “Modern Family”
Tina Fey, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

REALITY-COMPETITION SERIES
“The Voice”
“The Amazing Race”
“Dancing With The Stars”
“Project Runway”
“So You Think You Can Dance”
“Top Chef”

WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”
“The Colbert Report”
“Inside Amy Schumer”
“Key & Peele”
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”

TELEVISION MOVIE
“Bessie”
“Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Curtain, Poirot’s Last Case”
“Grace of Monaco”
“Hello Ladies: The Movie”
“Killing Jesus”
“Nightingale”

HOST, REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
Jane Lynch, “Hollywood Game Night”
Tom Bergeron, “Dancing with the Stars”
Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, “Project Runway”
Cat Deeley, “So You Think You Can Dance”
Anthony Bourdain, “The Taste”

STRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM
“Shark Tank”
“Antiques Roadshow”
“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”
“MythBusters”
“Property Brothers”
“Undercover Boss”

UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM
“Deadliest Catch”
“Alaska: The Last Frontier”
“Intervention”
“Million Dollar Listing New York”
“Naked And Afraid”
“Wahlburgers”

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