Pop Culture – Page 17

Betsey Johnson just wants to have fun

10 With Tom
10 questions in 10 minutes

I had the honor of interviewing fashion icon Betsey Johnson. Betsey made a stop at Macys at Boca Town Center in Boca Raton, Florida, to promote the premiere of TLC’s Say Yes to the Prom hosted by Betsey and Monte Durham premiering on April 1. It’s a 90 minutes special, which is a TLC tradition where the network partners with Macy’s to help make prom dreams come true.

TOM: I just saw a tv show recently about you and your daughter, I can’t remember what it was, I think it was CBS Sunday morning. I’m a man who knows nothing about fashion, and I know you, what’s it like being an American icon?

BETSEY: Great, I guess! I don’t really consider myself that, but I can tell you that to become appreciated for what you do you need to work hard and create a following. The word icon just comes over time, the happiness comes from your fans. I love my fans, they keep me going!

TOM: They said your fashion shows are like a three ring circus but there has to be some part you don’t like. What’s your least favorite part of your own fashion shows?

BETSEY: I have no least favorite part. I used to be afraid of critics in the audience but now I feel they love and support me. The whole process of a fashion show is pure fun to me!

TOM: I know you do a lot of the hand-drawn art yourself at the shows and there are DJ’s. Do you choose the music yourself?

BETSEY: Not backstage, I’m too busy running around getting everything ready to make the playlist. Up front, I work with a very skilled musical talent to create the music for the runway. Backstage it is just fun and free to start the party!

TOM: Your signature move is a cartwheel. When was the last time you did a cartwheel?

BETSEY: Not that long ago, but these days I lean more towards the splits which are easy peasy. Cartwheels make me a little afraid because I never know what I’m cartwheeling on and what will happen on that surface.I do love doing them so I will every now and then.

TOM: What was Andy Warhol like?

BETSEY: Quiet. A man of few words. Sweet, gentle and private.

TOM: What’s the secret to your success?

BETSEY: Lots of hard work, but most of all luck! And being nice to everyone you meet.

TOM: Favorite decade? Why?

BETSEY: By far the 60s! And for so many reasons, The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, the moon, pantyhose and all the geniuses that were around during that time.

TOM: At what point did you realize you were famous?

BETSEY: Today, actually! At the airport I’ve never had so many fans come up to meet me. I’ve never taken so many selfies! I’m always surprised when I remember I’m a little bit famous.

TOM: What song would be the theme of your life. I think I can guess.

BETSEY: “I did it my way.”

TOM: In my mind, it was “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!”

TOM: Please tell me about Say Yes to the Prom, is that similar to the tv show Say Yes to the Dress?

BETSEY: Similar, but so much better since it is so wonderfully charitable! It has been such an honor to work with all the kiddos picking out outfits (especially the ones that are super pink, puffy and sparkly) for their big day. It makes me happy making so many kids happy.

TOM: Thank you Betsey, good luck with the show!

The Lyceum Theatre

lyceum I love this picture. It was taken in 1917. You can see the Lyceum Theatre sort of at the center, see it, next to the Loews sign? I was at a play at that exact theater last summer, 99 years later! We saw Jesse Tyler Ferguson in “Fully Committed,” a one man play.

I had a couple of premonitions that night. Stupid, but they played out as I described.

Before the play started, I told my cousin, who was seated next to me that the guy seated next to me would have his phone ring during the play. And it did. The only phone to ring! Jesse looked at the guy from the stage and made a joke of it, even though he was annoyed, but right on cue, the guy’s phone rang.

I also said something about spitting would happen. I wasn’t sure what, but I saw in my head that Jesse would spit on the stage or the audience. By accident. And he did. He talked so much during the play that at one point he just spat. Right onto the front row! He laughed about it and played it off, but it happened.

Now if I could only get a premonition about tonight’s lottery numbers!

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This is the Lyceum Theatre stage last summer.

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The logo game

When I was in my teens and maybe early 20s, I used to design logos. I think I charged $89.00 for a logo. I worked at a community newspaper and they would run the ad for me in the classified section. It was a small black box, about an inch square and it said “Logos” very large and then my phone number. This is before email or I would have put the email address in the ad.

I would prepare a few designs and the person would buy one and I would make it into a black and white contact sheet and that was there logo. No EPS files or PDF files or vector files, just a black and white piece to work from.

In the village where I live, there was a shoe store that had my logo on their window, for so many years. It was called “Coconuts” and the “T” was a palm tree. And every time I passed I was proud to say, “I did that.” That was years ago, ironically, I just ate at that location, it’s a restaurant now.

pepsi

The whole subject comes up because I read that Pepsi changed their logo from the one on the left to the one on the right. And guess what? They paid $1 million to Arnell Associates to create the new logo for them.

I would say I’m in the wrong business, maybe I should go back to it. It’s like you create logos and if you’re fortunate, you get one huge account, do the job and retire.

It’s not Christmas until you see this

Trumpkins

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Have you seen the Trumpkins popping up this year? They are jack-o-lanterns made out to be Donald Trump.

The Huffington Post has a great how-to here. But it seems easy, it’s all in the hair. Just put something on top of the pumpkin and call it Trump!

Two favs at NY Comic Con

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I saw two favorites at New York Comic Con yesterday – Nichelle Nichols from Star Trek and Stephan Pastis, Pearls Before Swine cartoonist. Stephan was signing books at the GoComics booth and Ms. Nichols downstairs at the autograph section.

I admire Stephan a lot. I interviewed him for my 10 With Tom column once. You can see that here.

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If it’s October, it’s Comic Con in NY

It’s ComicCon time again in New York. The Jacob Javits Center was full of pop culture and comics fans. I look forward to it every year. The event runs Thursday through Sunday, always at Columbus Day Weekend.

The event is sold out, but around the convention center you’ll see people selling scalped tickets. I’m not sure if they are legit, so I wouldn’t recommend buying the tickets because the seller could disappear into the city so easily.

One great thing this year is that the #7 subway line now goes as far as the convention center, so it’s easy to get around.

Collecting old Pep cereal pins

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I’ve been buying old 1945-46 Kellogg’s PEP cereal comic pinback buttons. I’ve seen them around the internet for very high prices, but I got a good deal on thse. I purchased them one or two at a time. They are quite small as you can see – 13/16″, lithograph print on front with Kellogg’s PEP cereal stamp on the back.

Pep was a brand of whole-wheat breakfast cereal produced by the Kellogg Company, and introduced in 1923.

I got the Pop Jenks from the Harold Teen comic strip and Andy Gump from one guy, he sent me the Pop Jenks instead of the Andy Gump, which I ordered, and when I let him know, he told me to just keep ‘ol Pop, too, rather than send it back. Popeye and Olive came as a set and Superman and Smokey Stover came separately. I am purchasing more as we speak.

moonmullins I got this Moon Mullins button, too. Just paid for it ($3.99), it’s in the mail on its way!

Someone is selling the whole set, I think 86 pins, for $799.00. That comes to over $9 a pin but I’m getting them for half that purchasing them one at a time, which sort of makes it more fun and more of a sport, you know, tracking them down one by one.

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pep — A PeP cereal ad from the mid-1940s. Pep was the sponsor for “The Adventures of Superman” show on the radio.

Spocking Fives

There is a former prime minister named Sir Wilfrid Laurier on Canada’s five dollar bill and since Leonard Nimoy’s death, the bills have been marked up – to look like Spock from Star Trek! The resemblance is uncanny with just a few pen strokes. It’s been happening quite often. It’s perfect during this 50th anniversary of Star Trek, too.

According to Bank of Canada it’s not illegal to do this “…However, there are important reasons why it should not be done. Writing on a bank note may interfere with the security features and reduces its lifespan. Markings on a note may also prevent it from being accepted in a transaction. Furthermore, the Bank of Canada feels that writing and markings on bank notes are inappropriate as they are a symbol of our country and a source of national pride.”

I am surprised they are circulating, if I received one, I think I would save it and not spend it. But as you can see above, there’s a US $5 bill circulating with Lincoln made into Spock, guess that’s how Lincoln would look if he was Spock for Halloween.

She sculpts Lucy

I’m sure you’ve seen the news lately about the Scary Lucy statue in Celoron, NY. You’ll remember that a sculptor made a sculpture to honor Lucille Ball, which was placed Lucille Ball Memorial Park, in her hometown, only the sculpture was scary and ugly. Lucy fans were upset, there was even a Facebook page created to push the cause of replacing the statue with new one with Lucy’s actual likeness.

Finally, “New Lucy” was unveiled earlier this month on Lucy’s 105th birthday.
New Jersey sculptor Carolyn Palmer was chosen by the town to make a “better” version of Lucy and the rest is history. I kept seeing Carolyn in the news regarding the statue and it was all about the statue and Lucy and I thought, “Let’s learn more about Carolyn,” so I asked here my 10 With Tom questions. Here they are: (that’s Carolyn with Lucy below)

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TOM: Did you watch I Love Lucy or any of the Lucy shows before you decided to create the statue?

CAROLYN: Yes, I grew up watching, “I love Lucy.” After winning the competition, I immediately subscribed to “CBS – All Access” for reruns and watched countless episodes. She was fun to sculpt because I never laughed so much while creating a piece of art. I actually had to turn off the sound at one point so I could just focus on the visuals. When I found poses or expressions of Lucy’s spirit that I liked, I’d screen capture the images, enlarging them onto big computer screens. I also hired 5’7″ models that were Lucy’s actual height and enlarged “head to toe” reference photos for my studio walls.

TOM: Do you know Lucy Ricardo’s address in Manhattan without looking?
CAROLYN: No, I don’t and that’s a great trivia question. I can’t recall a time when their address was mentioned on the show.

TOM: Gotcha!- it’s 623 E. 68 St., NYC.

TOM: Where was Ricky from?
CAROLYN: Ricky was from Cuba. Speaking of Ricky, fans have contacted me wondering if I was going to make a sculpture of him too. They feel Ricky was a part of Lucy’s success and should be honored as well.

TOM: I agree, a Ricky statue would be great next to Lucy!

TOM: Name 3 things in nature you find most beautiful.
CAROLYN: It’s so difficult to choose just three because nature is filled with abounding beauty. For one, I love gazing at starlit skies and watching the phases of the moon as it waxes and wanes. Another joy is witnessing how the play of light changes with the seasons and influences all the warm and cool colors dancing around the landscapes. And my third choice is watching animals in their natural habitat. Right now we have a surplus of deer around our property. They are so gentle and graceful in how they interact. I wish all humans were that way.

TOM: Starry Night, Mona Lisa or Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso?
CAROLYN: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is a powerful painting by Picasso; one of my favorites at the Moma.

TOM: What do you usually order at Starbucks?
CAROLYN: My daily addiction: Venti Mocha Frappuccino Light with only one shot of frap roast (instead of 4)

TOM: Which tv show would you like to crawl into and spend the day ?
CAROLYN: Downton Abbey – I love the era but only for a day. I’ve grown to enjoy the vast information available today by computer and social media.

TOM: What scares you the most, and why?
CAROLYN: The current crisis with the human condition. History reports that evil always existed and probably always will but our weapons are no longer just bows and arrows or rifles. Today we have advanced machine guns, chemical warfare and other methods of mass destruction. There are now ways to destroy the entire planet ….and all of this frightens me.

TOM: Where would you like to live?
CAROLYN: I love living near NYC but would like to be bi-coastal and have a home in California too.

TOM: What talent would you most like to have?
CAROLYN: I’d like the talent to be a playwright because not a week goes by that I don’t think of writing a play. It’s like background noise in everything I do. I’m always thinking, Wow, that person would be the perfect character or this scenario would convey a powerful message, or the lighting over there would highlight a dramatic backdrop. These kind of thoughts haunt me. So, if my hands ever give out from sculpting, I just may take a try at it!

Thanks, Carolyn!

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