Viva Formica: A Retro Design Element Wows New Buyers

No, I'm not referring to the Argentinian soccer team who's best known for, shall I say, its rabid fans, although I certainly could be.  Today I'm referring to high pressure laminates which can be used on countertops, dining tables and even floors.  It's enduring, too.  Typically, Formica can be used for 15, or even 20 years.

But for much of the building boom in the 1990s, people were choosing high-end design elements including expensive granite, marble or other stone elements in their kitchens.  While stone certainly endures, it starts to look the same after a while, especially when every house in the neighborhood has it.  Combine that with stainless steel appliances, and the effect ends up looking pretty, shall I say, cookie-cutter?

That's why, when in 2012, Los Angeles designer Scott Lander chose white Formica for a kitchen he created in an award-winning project, people were mesmerized.

But Scott Lander told American Public Media's Marketplace "Most people were asking, 'What is this surface?' Most people didn't even know it was Formica."

Have a listen to the story below, or by visiting http://bit.ly/Tc4mEi:



How times have changed, indeed.  Will we be seeing more Formica in the coming years?  The company would certainly like that to be the case.

Retro, 1950s ad for Formica products

The Formica Group, which was established in 1913, still remains global design leader in surfacing products, but it's design heyday was really back in the 1950s through the 1970s, but as I already noted, people had kind of moved on and forgotten about it by the 2000s.  It was seen as retro but not necessarily in a good way, being the surface you'd find on a tabletop at a roadside diner someplace.

Formica, however, has also cleaned up its act, and that's meant to be a compliment.

Formica has switched to non-toxic resins, and it uses recycled paper in its designs.  Plus, its products are becoming more popular with a new generation of budget remodelers, for obvious reasons.  The product has a wide array of design choices which are durable and cost-effective.  These days, Formica also sells flooring, too.

However, Formica is but one option and it need not be limited to retro, 1950s-styled designs.  (Retro, however, might be considered.)  At the International Builder's Show, the company introduced a "new" collection featuring retro designs and colors in celebration of its 100th birthday.  The collection was designed by the renowned design firm Pentagram.

So when you think about upgrading your kitchen or bathroom, you might just consider Formica.  Design buyers in Los Angeles were recently impressed, and you might be, too!

Steven Soderbergh's Newest Movie Depicts The Late Pianist Liberace

Director Steven Soderbergh — who broke big onto the filmmaking scene in 1989 at age 26, with the smash "Sex, Lies, and Videotape", is the news this week, for a film that the big Hollywood studios were unwilling to touch, because, in the words of The Atlantic, it was simply "too gay" (see http://bit.ly/18fWKUr).  That film is "Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace".

Really, after TV shows like "Will & Grace" and "Glee", and stars like Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris out and about, and movies like "Brokeback Mountain" already broke the last taboos about homosexuality a decade ago, but Hollywood still wouldn't touch this?

Indeed, the last few remaining cultural taboos, including pornography (see my post at http://goo.gl/9FG5K for details) have already been covered in movies, so I'm not convinced that's the main reason.  The final cost of the movie was $23 million.

But Mr. Soderbergh first started shopping the idea for the film around back in 2006, when George W. Bush was still President and still helping to fuel the culture wars.  Mr. Soderbergh convinced actor Michael Douglas to play the lead role (who, as it turns out, met Liberace several times as they both had homes in Palm Springs, California), with Matt Damon playing his much younger boyfriend.  Actress Debbie Reynolds, who also knew Liberace personally since they both played together in Las Vegas at the same time) was cast as Liberace's mother.  Rob Lowe is also in the movie.  The cast is impressive!

Liberace: King (or is it Queen?) of Kitsch

Born in Wisconsin of Polish and Italian ancestry, the late pianist (Wladziu [Walter] Valentino) Liberace was one of the last from an era where homosexuality was expected to be kept in the closet, even in Hollywood.  Gays certainly existed back in those days, but in order to work in the entertainment business, gays could not openly discuss their private relationships for fear of never working again.  Gossip columnists called them "confirmed bachelors" or gave them a similar euphemism back in those days.  The flamboyant pianist followed the Hollywood rules of the day, and even managed to land his own television show for a time called "The Liberace Show" back in the 1950s and 1960s.

But in those days, as the film (and book) "The Celluloid Closet" documented, the movie industry's own production code as well as various groups such as the Legion of Decency, all but forced anyone working in the entertainment business to remain in the closet if they were homosexual.  Actors and actresses such as Nancy Jane Kulp who played Jane Hathaway on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and Mary Grace Canfield (who played Ralph Monroe) on "Green Acres" fit the gay stereotype, but were never acknowledged as such.

Liberace was a product of that environment, although his sexuality was hardly a well-kept secret.  The man was known for his flamboyant costumes, garish jewelry, feathered capes, and of course, the candelabra which sat on his piano, so its not like he did a great job of keeping it secret.  Indeed, Mr. Soderbergh said:

"You could make an argument that Liberace really invented the idea of 'bling,'" he says. "I mean, nobody was dressing themselves like this. When you look at the people that have followed him — whether it's Elvis or Elton John or Cher or Madonna or Lady Gaga — you know, all these people are sort of building on something that he began."

Of course, social unrest started to change that paradigm by the late 1960s when protests over police harassment of people who patronized gay establishments (mostly bars) erupted into the streets of Philadelphia and New York.  That sowed the seeds for societal change, but it didn't happen overnight, and as my post on the porn industry (see http://goo.gl/9FG5K) noted, religious conservatives backed President Nixon to crack down on the liberal hippies and their free-thinking ways.

As a point of reference, even back in 1980, comedienne Joan Rivers (catch my post on her at http://goo.gl/0oP59) would openly make fun of Liberace's closeted persona in her stand-up act (it's on her album "What Becomes a Semi-Legend Most"), saying how she borrowed her outfit from Liberace and adding "Liberace is gay, he would have been here tonight, but he had a yeast infection ..."  However, with Ms. Rivers' acknowledgement, there was at least was a discussion of the issue, and when the AIDS crisis hit a few years later, the nation was really forced to finally start acknowledging the fact that gays even existed.

Life Behind the Candelabra and In the Closet

"Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace" was derived Scott Thorson's own written memoir about his tumultuous six-year relationship with Liberace.  Thorson was 40 years younger than Liberace and still in his teens when they met back in 1977.  In 1983, Mr. Thorson sued Liberace for palimony.  Mr. Thorson was on Liberace's payroll, he dressed Scott Thorson up like himself, and paid for Thorson to get plastic surgery.  The palimony case was eventually settled out-of-court for just under $100,000.

The movie version of "Behind the Candelabra" is already getting some serious nods from film critics at the Cannes Film Festival.  The subject, is of course, the late pianist Liberace who died from complications of AIDS at age 67 back in 1987.  The movie, as I already mentioned, is "Behind the Candelabra" which stars Michael Douglas as the late pianist and Matt Damon as his boy-toy Scott Thorson.

Premiering On Cable

Now this movie will finally premier in the U.S. on May 26, 2013, and where else will that be happening? On cable, more specifically on HBO.

The filmmaker acknowledged that the subject matter wasn't an easy sell to Hollywood.  In an interview for NPR's "Fresh Air" program that one of Soderbergh's producers, Jerry Weintraub, was working with HBO at the time and mentioned the project to executives there.  It was exactly the kind of film the company wanted to be making — and the deal "was done immediately."  Soderbergh says this is his last movie (if you believe him).  Have a listen to that program below, or by visiting http://n.pr/11VN42t:

While the relationship between Liberace and Thorson may be the engine of the film, the same-sex nature of that relationship is not the point, regardless of the two actors locking lips—and horns—in fact-based gay romance.  Mr. Soderbergh told NPR:

"It's a very intimate movie.  It's a very emotionally intimate movie, and there are scenes between them that are almost uncomfortable in their intimacy. [But they] would be if it was a man and a woman involved. ... I always felt that if we did our jobs correctly, that halfway through the movie you'd forget that it was Michael and Matt and just feel as though you're watching a relationship."

In the end, this new movie is getting attention for Soderbergh's unique filmmaking style, and the actors' portrayals of their characters' roles.  The Atlantic described Mr. Soderbergh's filmmaking style as follows:

"Soderbergh, with his typically seamless camerawork, punchy editing, and pleasure in recreating kitschy 1970s and '80s clothes and décor without ever veering into kitsch himself, frames the material as a sort of same-sex Sunset Boulevard: Douglas plays the vampiric Norma Desmond role to Damon's more vulnerable version of William Holden's Joe Gillis."

NPR's Fresh Air program provided a quick overview of "Behind the Candelabra" which you can listen to below, or by visiting: http://n.pr/1222vX9

You can catch the official trailer for "Behind the Candelabra" below, or by visiting: http://youtu.be/IeqViWgc7QE



HBO also has a YouTube clip called "The Making of Behind The Candelabra" which can be viewed below, or by visiting: https://youtu.be/B5uBEieAS90 

The BBC had a nice segment on the movie including interviews with both Mr. Douglas and Mr. Damon, and closed by noting that what was done in this case (e.g. going to HBO rather than a traditional movie outlet) might just represent the future of filmmaking.  Catch that informative clip at http://bbc.in/14uSezC.

Author P.S., May 30, 2013:  Wisconsin Public Radio had a story entitled "Liberace: An American Boy" at http://wpr.org/listen/303306 which talked about the life of Liberace, who was a Milwaukee-born pianist that had some interesting perspective on him and how his secret gay life and relationship with personal assistant Scott Thorson had not exactly endeared the late pianist to the gay community, yet he was very much a product of the era in which he grew up.

Beyond that, NPR had two relevant stories about Liberace from an earlier time.  One was on the closure of Liberace museum in Las Vegas in 2010 (see http://n.pr/auG5W2).  Before its closing, the museum suffered from declining visitors and struggled with a mortgage payment for the museum.  The decline in visitors was due (in part) to its location way off the Las Vegas strip, although in early 2013, there was news that a scaled-back version of museum about half the size of the original tentatively being called the Liberace Experience (Las Vegas Weekly notes, see http://bit.ly/VjBlUj, although the name is likely to change to something more suited to acronym treatment, as plans for the new museum venue take shape) will re-open in downtown Las Vegas in January 2014.  The NPR story on the museum's 2010 closure noted that Liberace was really best known for playing songs written by other artists rather than for any original work, which may have resulted in his fading from the public consciousness after his death.  Thanks to the HBO movie, there is renewed interest in (and hope) that people might wish to visit a new museum about the late pianist.

The other story was about a cookbook released in 2007 entitled "Liberace: Retro Recipes from America's Kitschiest Kitchen" (listen/see the story at http://n.pr/1aj0Av5) which featured recipes from the late pianist.  The recipes in the book were from Liberace's personal files the authors noted in a telephone interview, although the recipe titles and the added "bling" of glitzy presentation in styled photographs were contemporary spins.  Some of his recipes were considered fairly routine back in the day, such as Braised Ox Tail, which is something hardly anyone would prepare today, yet that wasn't considered unusual back in the 1950s, which was why the authors dubbed the book "retro kitsch".  The authors drew heavily on the Liberace Foundation for the Creative and Performing Arts, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012 (although it was a reorganization rather than a liquidation).  The foundation operated the former museum, and archived pieces from the museum were used in the production of the 2013 movie "Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace" (costume designer Ellen Mirojnick admitted that many of Liberace's costumes had to be recreated not only to fit actor Michael Douglas, but also because they were simply too heavy to wear in filming.  For example, she noted that Liberace's "King Neptune" costume reportedly weighed over 200 lbs., and just imagine that the late pianist actually wore those costumes in performances!).

The Brave Future of Television

This week, my local public radio station which hosts a program called "Studio 360" had a show segment entitled "Is Network TV Dead Yet?" discussing how the television industry recently held its upfronts, where the networks unveiled their fall lineups.  The problem seemed to be that the outlook for the traditional broadcast networks suggests an industry still struggling to find its place in a brave new media world where cable networks and even internet startups like Netflix and Hulu (which, at the moment, is still partially owned by the major broadcast networks) have won most of the viewers and advertisers.  Even Google's YouTube is now commanding viewers.  It wrote that all "The buzzy shows you love to talk about are on cable, while CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox are all wrapping up one of their worst seasons on record."

Indeed, based on the 2014 upfronts, broadcast networks now seem to be taking their cues from cable, such as by trying shows with shorter runs than the typical 22-episode model.  However, network television is struggling in a world of nimble upstarts only too willing to pick up network TV's discards (see my posts at http://goo.gl/JSzlD and http://goo.gl/tE0ur for a few examples).

Indeed, this week, Marketplace Radio featured a segment that suggested how one state, my home state of Connecticut, has claimed a space in this brave new world, being the production home to the soap opera reboots as well as NBC Sports' new home.  That clip may be listened to below, or by visiting http://bit.ly/1871qf2:

To be sure, as Warren Littlefield, who was the former Chief of NBC during its heyday of "Must See TV" back in the late 1980s to the early 1990s (see my post featuring an interview with Mr. Littlefield at http://goo.gl/Vzbcn) told NPR that "Network is still looking for a larger tent, still looking to find something like a 'Modern Family' that appeals to adults and kids, audiences of all ages. That's still, at nearly 20 million people a week, that's a pretty broad-based hit that really far exceeds what's being watched on cable."

As my post about the recent soap opera reboots on Netflix (see my post at http://goo.gl/TQ1qP) prove, the economics differ in this new environment, making it feasible to make money on shows with only about one-sixth the viewers, or 500,000, in order to break even on them.  You may listen to the "Studio 360" segment I referenced previously below, or by visiting its website at http://www.wnyc.org/story/293250-is-network-tv-dead-yet/:



I should also add that Warren Littlefield acknowledged that the era of big network's control over what we watch seems to be over, noting that today, its possible for people to make a television program themselves and post it online.  He told Audie Cornish:

"Well, 200 channel choices in most homes certainly gives you the world of choice. And so slicing it, dicing it and offering someone their favorite thing - by the way, if it's not good enough, make it yourself and post it."

Some are doing just that.

For example, I cited one such example, notably Jane Espensen's gay-themed sitcom "Husbands" about two gay men who wake up married in Las Vegas which is distributed via YouTube (see my post on that at http://goo.gl/3Ic0S) which funded its second season via Kickstarter.  Incidentally, NBC just cancelled a similarly-themed program called "The New Normal" which was co-created by Ryan Murphy of "Glee" (and "Nip/Tuck") fame, which got some attention for its premise of two gay men deciding to have a baby through a surrogate, a long with the termination of a higher-profile series about Broadway called "Smash" which was a personal favorite of NBC entertainment boss Bob Greenblatt - whose interest extended even to production design decisions, according to insiders (see news of the cancellations for both at http://lat.ms/10hZ2zM).  Others would like to try rebooting old shows on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim (see http://goo.gl/aZkMS), but haven't managed to succeed ... yet, but time will tell.

Given the cost of producing content has plunged thanks to internet distribution and low-cost cameras and the like, the possibilities for new content today seem to be wide open in today's TV market.  Finding an audience may prove to be more challenging, but its not inconceivable that the networks could be mining YouTube for new content before too long!  Don't laugh.  KCRW's (in Los Angeles) "The Business" radio program on the entertainment industry noted that a comedian named Marc Maron reignited his comedy career with a popular podcast which landed him a television show (see http://bit.ly/11wPvZ7 for that podcast), so that is indeed coming.

Pop Culture Reunion: MTV's Original VJs Now Promoting New Book

This week (on Wednesday, May 8, 2013), at a Barnes & Noble store in Tribeca (New York City), four of the original five MTV VJs will be in town for a book signing to coincide with their new book "VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave" (specifically, Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter ... unfortunately, the last of the original five, J.J. Jackson, passed away the evening of March 17, 2004 in Los Angeles of an apparent heart attack, he was age 62).  For details on the New York book signing, visit http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/78149 .  I saw news of the book signing in one of the free newspapers that circulate whose primary focus is pop culture news.

I mentioned this as a forthcoming book in my June 20, 2012 post entitled "Music Still on MTV" (the short link is http://goo.gl/XgIL6).

The press release announcement at the time the original VJs signed their book deal read:

"This publication will mark the first time Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn give their uncensored accounts from the front lines of the cultural revolution that was MTV. Among the highlights will be the VJs' never-before-told stories about getting, doing, and ultimately leaving the most coveted job of the decade; the truth behind Roger Daltrey's demands to visit MTV; days and nights spent partying with Van Halen; the 'Paint the Mutha Pink' contest with John Cougar Mellencamp that went toxic; joining the mile high club while flying to see the band Asia play at the Budokan in Japan; and all true tales of hair styles gone horribly wrong as a new kind of broadcast medium was being created hour by hour and day by day — all perfectly set against the era when you would still call into your answering machine from a pay phone."

Needless to say, for a brief window of time, we're likely to be seeing more of these original VJs to promote their new book.

NPR's Pop Culture Blog put the new book in perspective, writing (see http://n.pr/12e0wdj):

"Unfortunately, much of the book either feels bafflingly irrelevant (who cares what Nina Blackwood voted for or whether Martha Quinn got good grades, really?) or like a much too late attempt to wring scandal from the idea of hanging out with rock stars. They seem to be the last to know that 'I did cocaine with David Lee Roth' is no longer a particularly juicy thing to say, and neither is 'Steven Tyler hit on me once.' We assume these things. We got it. But when they get to talking about MTV itself, their stories seem awfully small."

However, as my June 20, 2012 post noted, the fact that MTV even calls itself "M" TV is laughable these days, since there's almost no music anywhere to be found on the network, which has become best known for producing trashy reality shows about Jersey Shore vacationers, speed dating and Teen Moms.  The simple truth is that while MTV likes to view itself as having its finger on the pulse of today's American youth, the reality suggests otherwise.  MTV is but one of hundreds of channels to pick from nowadays, so it might not even be a cultural touchpoint it was with kids of earlier generations.  I noted how Nathaniel Brown, senior vice president of communications for MTV was quoted as saying:

"MTV as a brand doesn't age with our viewers.  We are really focused on our current viewers, and our feeling was that our anniversary wasn't something that would be meaningful to them, many of whom weren't even alive in 1981."

That was in reference to the fact that dissed its own 30th anniversary last year.  Honestly, I don't understand why MTV even bothers with the MTV Video Music Awards show anymore, but its a tradition that the network has maintained, which supposedly helps it stay relevant with today's youth.  (In September 2013, YouTube announced it would host its own Video Music Awards, see http://youtu.be/9ckE_S5Y5QM).

After the VJ's started making the rounds to promote the new book, they appeared on Howard Stern's satellite radio show, and Nina Blackwood revealed she thinks MTV has strayed a bit too far from it's musical roots for her tastes.  She told Howard Stern:

"Never in my wildest imagination did I think that MTV would become this. I'm not a fan of reality shows, no matter what channel. I wish that MTV had continued in a musical vein, not playing videos all day long, but at least have music at its core like Behind the Music or airing concerts. Keep some music credibility."

To catch that brief clip on YouTube, visit http://youtu.be/yUyYo1uq2gk.  Time magazine had a nice story about 32 MTV factoids (one for every year of MTV's existence) — taken from the book and Time's conversations with the original VJs (see http://ti.me/10GriIb for the article).  Among the interesting factoids was that MTV VJs weren't paid very well.  Alan Hunter's goal was to make $550 a week, as much as a Broadway chorus boy.  He started off making slightly less than that: $27,000 in his first year as a VJ.  Martha Quinn learned that Mark Goodman made a lot more than she did back in the day (then again, he was also an experienced DJ on the radio, and Martha wasn't).

Nowadays, though, there actually ARE viable alternatives that resemble what MTV used to look like before its flush down the toilet to where it is today.  Specifically, in Feburary 2013, a new "network" delivered via the internet emerged: Fuse TV [http://www.fuse.tv/] and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/fuse.  Indeed, Fuse has even recruited a number of MTV veterans (see http://nyti.ms/110TNXY and http://nyti.ms/1797WlY for more details) to work for it.

Fuse, which is owned by Cablevision's Madison Square Garden unit, has been building up its news division and introduced its "Fuse News" show in February, with a roster of hosts that includes Alexa Chung (formerly of the MTV series "It's On With Alexa Chung") and correspondents like Jack Osbourne (of MTV's reality series "The Osbournes").  Indeed, Fuse News resembles what MTV looked like once upon a time.

Nina Blackwood and Mark Goodman (respectively "the hunk" and "the video vixen," according to each other) -- talked to public radio about the new oral history book entitled "VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave" which can be listened to below or by visiting http://www.wnyc.org/story/299400-mtvs-first-vjs-tell-all/.


In any event, in reviewing "VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave" by the original four MTV VJs, NPR eloquently closed (see http://n.pr/12e0wdj) by saying:

"It's hard to remember now, but at one time, MTV really was watched just like commercial radio was listened to: you would turn it on and see what came around, and if you particularly liked a video, you'd wait a while and hope you heard it. That's what half the slumber parties of my adolescence were about: waiting for Michael Jackson or Duran Duran.

We don't wait very much anymore. It's not just that this model of MTV largely went away, or that getting most of your music listening through the radio faded. It's that the entire idea of ephemeral availability — that you would have to sit and wait for something to be played for you, and that at other times you had to do without it — is simply not how people expect to digest much of anything anymore. The VJs who believed they were at the beginning of the age of the music video were actually at the end of the age in which innovation in music would involve giving people new ways to wait for you to play the music they wanted to hear."

For anyone longing for a dedicated music network like MTV used to be, I would suggest visiting Fuse TV [http://www.fuse.tv/] and/or on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/fuse.  You might just like how music television has evolved in today's era of on-demand content delivery, anytime, anywhere.

For their part, the original MTV VJs (Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter) apparently host a satellite radio program on Sirius/XM channel 80s on 8.  Initially, I thought their book might be interesting reading.  But now that its available and the reviews are starting to roll in, it seems the Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum's book "I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution" might just be the better read (I already read that one).  I'm not saying you shouldn't read this, but let me remind you that you can always borrow the new "VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave" for no cost at your local public library.  However, you might just have an opportunity to actually meet the VJs (and let's face it, we all thought they had the coolest jobs ever, didn't we?!) at a book signing near you.  Visit their website at http://www.80svjs.com/ for locations and other information.


Author P.S., October 21, 2013:  MTV and VH1 might have launched music television, but there's a reason they don't play music videos and concerts anymore -- not enough people watch them. These days, they're available on-demand via YouTube and other online channels.  Now, however, rapper and media mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs thinks he can change that with a little help from the internet.  He's launching a new network today called Revolt TV that he says will play rap, hip-hop, and maybe even some country "if it's funky enough, baby."  As of October 2013, the new network had gained carriage on Comcast and Time Warner Cable.  Catch the Marketplace Morning Report story for more details at http://bit.ly/16qqwUh.