FEB
2011
13

Teresa Iturrioz

Manolo says, she and Ibon Errazkin have been around for 25 years, but this is by far the best and most mesmerizing thing they have ever done.

FEB
2011
10

Shoe Love: The Pop-Up Book!

Manolo says, the publishers of this new book, Shoe Love: In Pop-Up, were kind enough to send the Manolo the review copy, and all the Manolo can say is, Super Fantastic!

This is the perfect sort of the book to give to the person who loves the shoes and enjoys the whimsy, which is the very apt description of the Manolo and many of his internet friends. It is visually witty, enjoyably well-written, and reasonably priced, under $20, and so it would be the excellent little something-something to send to someone in need of the cheering up.

Shoe Love: In Pop-Up

Shoe Love: In Pop-Up... Super Fantastic!

Of the course, the shoe-based pop-up book would also be something one would enjoy having for oneself. Indeed, this book now occupies the prominent place on the coffee table of the Manolo.

Queen Ida

Manolo says, Queen Ida, because it is the middle of January and the world looks gloomy, therefore we must brighten our day with song..

…and because we hope we can still be this super fantastic when we are in our 80s.

JAN
2011
05

The Shore Thing

And Thus Civilizations Fall

So Friggin Ladylike!

Manolo says, the Snooki, she is not just the cultured lady-thing who drinks her herbal tea with the pinkie finger extended, she is also now the published author person!

Snooki once told a reporter for the NY Times that she’d only read two books in her life, Dear John and Twilight. The orange wonder can add one more book to that list, because her new work of “fiction,” A Shore Thing, is out in stores today. […] The book is about a character named “Gia,” who is basically Snooki, and her cousin, who rent a “Seaside Heights beach house/dump” over the summer and try to get laid.

Ayyyy! It sounds like something by D.H. Lawrence!

Of the course, we must now look at the excerpt of this debut masterwork, The Shore Thing.

A hot guido was staring at her – in a nice way – from across the room.

Gia smiled at him. His back against the wall, he stood just off the dance floor, thumb in a belt loop. His chest muscles strained the fabric of his black tank top. It fit across a tummy that was hard and flat enough to cut salami on. No tattoos, which meant plenty of empty space on his arms to ink PROPERTY OF GIA. He started as if he could see through her dress, right down to the zebra-print bra and thong set underneath.

“I found him,” Gia said to Bella, draining her Slippery Nipple in one long suck…

The Manolo was right! It is exactly like D.H. Lawrence, only with less swarthy gamekeepers, and more swarthy guidos!

But wait, it gets better…

(more…)

JAN
2011
03

Alan Rickman’s Voice Brings All the Girls to the Yard

Manolo says, firstly, how is it possible that the Manolo has never heard of this movie before?

Secondly, this must be counted among the greatest of the Alan-Rickman-based cinematic moments ever.

Thirdly, that voice, it is like the melted butter poured into the brandy snifter filled with warm lobster flesh, while Chuck Mangione plays the Mozart softly in the background.

What the Manolo Is…

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

Reading…

Watching…

Listening to…

Just before the Christmas, the Manolo had the pleasure of accompanying some young friends to the new Disney Rapunzel movie, Tangled. He is happy to report that he found both the outing and the movie to be delightful.

Two things about this movie were exceptionally gratifying to the Manolo. The first is that the screenplay was unburdened by the endlessly annoying and out-of-the-place pop cultural references and adult-oriented jokes so common in most children’s movies today. In the other words, there was none of the tiresome Shrek Dreck, those catty references to assorted pop divas and their many problems.

The second gratifying thing, was that the actors in Tangled were chosen for the expressive quality of their voices, not for their fame and/or stunning good looks. Yes, the Mandy Moore and the Zachary Levi, the leads, are moderately well known, but they are not the big, big stars, and this is the good thing.

The recent trend in the animated movies has been to use the muy famosos to provide the voices for the cartoon characters, thus reducing the sort of work that has customarily gone to the character actors.

This is bad. Not only because the Manolo counts among his Hollywood friends many, many character actors, but also because such actors are usually superior in talent to their more beautiful, and more famous co-workers.

Consider, now, two movies:

(more…)

DEC
2010
27

Winter’s Tale

Snow in Central Park, December 27, 2010

Snow in Central Park, December 27, 2010


Manolo says, perhaps now would be the good time to re-read one of the Manolo’s favorite books, Winter’s Tale by the Mark Helprin…

“Winter then in its early and clear stages, was a purifying engine that ran unhindered over city and country, alerting the stars to sparkle violently and shower their silver light into the arms of bare upreaching trees. It was a mad and beautiful thing that scoured raw the souls of animals and man, driving them before it until they loved to run. And what it did to Northern forests can hardly be described, considering that it iced the branches of the sycamores on Chrystie Street and swept them back and forth until they rang like ranks of bells.”

DEC
2010
25
DEC
2010
22
DEC
2010
13

Things That Make The Manolo Happy

Manolo says, two young hip-hop dancers reviving the nearly lost art of jitterbug.

P.S. Many thanks to the Manolo’s internet friend Valerie.

Manolo’s Super Fantastic Gifts for the Ladies

Manolo says, please allow the Manolo to recommend the few appropriately super fantastic gifts for the womenfolk…

The Kindle

Last week, when the Manolo recommended the super fantastic gifts for the men, he suggested that the Amazon Kindle electronic reading machine, would be the most appropriate gift for gentleman. Subsequently, many of the Manolo’s lady friends said that this thing was something they also truly wanted to find under the tree.

So, if you are the gentleman who wishes to impress the lady of your acquaintance, present her with the Kindle filled with the collected works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Danielle Steele.

Chloe Large Leather Messanger Bag

This large Chloé leather bag not only has the good clean lines for the large bag, making it suitable for the classy lady of style, and yet it is also hip enough to satisfy even the most demanding downtown girl.

Marc Jacobs Continental Chain Clutch

Here is the Marc by Marc Jacobs Foret Chain Continental Clutch, the perfect little something-something to go with your lady friend’s little black dressy-dress.

Michael Michael Kors Cashmere Cardigan

Everyone loves to get the cashmere, it is the fabric of love! Here is the Michael Kors Cashmere Cardigan that is simple, elegant, and somewhat reasonably priced, as such things go.

Memory of Kindness

The perfume from CB I Hate Perfume, the shop of Chris Brosius the most original, uncompromising, and iconoclastic of the scent designers. The Manolo is particularly fond of Memory of Kindness, described as “The shining green scent of tomato vines growing in the fresh earth of a country garden”.

Mahogany 4-Drawer Chocolate Box (60 pieces)

Chocolate! Fancy Chocolate from zChocolat delivered in the four-drawer mahogany box that will become lasting memory of the successfully delicious Christmas gift.

The Manolo Recommends 8 Gift Books for the 2010

Manolo says, it is the well known fact that the Manolo is the ardent reader, someone who takes great pleasure in the well-written words. And so, allow the Manolo to suggest to you the few books that you might consider giving as the gifts to the peoples on your List of Xmas.

1)
The Thoughtful Dresser

In April, when The Thoughtful Dresser by the Manolo’s friend Linda Grant was released in America, the Manolo said the following

Make no mistake, if, like the Manolo, you are the reasonably intelligent person who likes the clothes, and the shoes, and thinking about why people wear what they wear, you will adore this book.

And so, for the clothing-obsessed persons of some intellect on your shopping list, you could do no better than to present them with the copy of this marvelous little book.

2)
How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely

Perhaps the funniest book the Manolo has read in the past year is How I Became a Famous Novelist. It is ridiculous in the most incredibly delightful way, certain to make anyone who reads it giddy with pleasure.

3)
Financial Lives of the Poets

Johnathan Franzen’s Freedom is so 2007. If you want to read about the American life as it is lived in the year 2010, then you must read The Financial Lives of the Poets. Sure to be dated in late 2011, this is the remarkably jolly and well-written account of our current deplorable condition.

4)
Gunns Golden Rules

For the Manolo, as for thinking peoples everywhere, the best thing to come out of the Project Runway will forever be the Tim Gunn. His fashion advice has always been classically stodgy but sound, however, it is as the life and deportment coach where he truly shines. Thus, for the person in need of the little help, the Manolo suggests, Gunn’s Golden Rules.

5)
Seven Fires by Francis Mallmann

For the most atavistic of manly men chefs who harbor the openly poetic side, allow the Manolo to recommend the Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way, from the hand of the magnificent Francis Mallmann.

6)
Cooking For Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food

And for the more cerebrally inclined and less poetic chefs of your acuaintance, you should perhaps consider the Cooking For Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food, as being the sort of gift book that will provide much entertainment.

7)
Fasihoning Fashion

With exactly the right amount of informative historical text and beautiful photos Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700 – 1915 would be the perfect thing to give to the would-be fashion designerish teen.

8)
Manolo Bhalnik Book: New Shoes

Finally, the new book of shoe pictures from the Maestro Manolo Blahnik…what more needs be said?