Christopher Breward & James Brook

Christopher Breward is a widely published historian of fashion, interested in its relationship to social and sexual identity, place and concepts of modernity. Born in Bristol in 1965, he took degrees at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the Royal College of Art. He has worked as a lecturer in the History of Art and Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, the Royal College of Art and London College of Fashion and is currently Acting Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He holds Honorary Visiting Professorships at the University of the Arts London, Kingston University and the University of Lincoln. Breward sits on the editorial / advisory boards of the journals Fashion Theory, Journal of Design History, Journal of Visual Culture in Britain and The Happy Hypocrite.

Selected Bibliography: The Culture of Fashion (Manchester University Press, 1995), The Hidden Consumer: Masculinities, fashion and city life (Manchester University Press, 1999), Fashion (Oxford University Press, 2003), Fashioning London: Clothing and the Modern Metropolis (Berg, 2004)

James Brook is an artist and graphic designer, based in Edinburgh, specialising in book design and typography. He has an MA in Graphic Design from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London and a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London. He maintains his own studio practice and has worked extensively in contemporary arts publishing. He also makes electronic music. As a graphic designer with a background in fine art, he is interested in the crossovers between fine art and graphic design practices. He has a particular knowledge of specialist artist's publishing and he is experienced in facilitating artist's ideas within the format of the book. His MA major project largely concentrated on book typography, using extensive research into cook books and the form of the recipe as a starting point to explore the function and functionality of typography and its relationship to a specific audience. His works often combine text with image, examining the slippages of meaning that occur between language and visual communication. A constant preoccupation is the mechanics of seeing and recognition: how images are ‘read’, meanings understood and how the conventions of painting – mark-making and perspective – allow a flat surface to be experienced in three dimensions. Essentially, all of his practice is collage: melding together seemingly disparate fragments from the history of painting; from graphic design and architecture; and from popular culture. This intuitive combining of diverse elements show how creative play can feed the imagination, giving the mind a space in which to soar. As a non-musician, he makes electronic music with these technologies. His ‘songs’ inform – and are informed by – his visual work: the coloured building blocks of musical notation in music-making software programs are echoed in the abstract constructions of his paintings and in the collage method by which they are created.


James Brook was joined in a civil partnership ceremony with Christopher Breward on 18 August 2006. Both wore lounge suits and open-necked shirts, but each chose a different designer to emphasise their individuality, James in Timothy Everest and Christopher in Jasper Conran. They donated the dresses at the Victorian & Albert Museum which exhibited them two times already: for "Unveiled: 200 years of wedding glamour from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. (Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington 17/12/2011-22/04/2012)" and for "The White Wedding Dress: 200 Years of Wedding Fashions (Bendigo Art Gallery 01/08/2011-06/11/2011)".

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Andrea Dermanis & Mika

Rumored to be one of the boys in the band since his 2007 debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, singer Mika finally stepped out of the closet in August, right after the release of his third album, The Origin of Love. "If you ask me am I gay, I say yeah. Are these songs about my relationship with a man? I say yeah. And it’s only through my music that I’ve found the strength to come to terms with my sexuality beyond the context of just my lyrics. This is my real life," he told Instinct magazine.

Mika (born Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr.; 18 August 1983; stylized as MIKA) is a British singer-songwriter.

After recording his first extended play, Dodgy Holiday, Mika released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion, on Island Records in 2007. Life in Cartoon Motion sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a Brit Award—winning Best British Breakthrough act, and receive a Grammy Award nomination. In 2006, Mika started up his company, Dodgy Holiday Tours Limited. Two years later Mika released his second extended play, Songs for Sorrow, of which limited edition copies are now sold out worldwide. In 2009 Mika released his second studio album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much. Finishing his worldwide tour, Mika recorded his third album, The Origin of Love, stating it would be "more simplistic pop, less layered than the last one". The album was released internationally on 16 September 2012 and in the UK on 8 October 2012.

Mika was born in Beirut, the third of five children born to a Lebanese mother and an American father. When he was a year old his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris. The first piano piece he learned to play was "Les Champs-Élysées", by Joe Dassin. At age seven, he wrote his first song, which he describes as an "awful" piano instrumental called "Angry". The family moved to London when he was nine years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying. He also had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences Mika was home-schooled by his mother at the age of 12, for six to eight months. He then attended St Philip's School in Kensington, where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St. Philip's Choir). Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records. He has also slightly altered his given name, Mica, changing the "c" to a "k" because he was frustrated by how often people would mispronounce it.



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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mika_(singer)

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Murray Moss, Franklin Getchell & Nicola Marzovilla

Murray Moss is an American design entrepreneur and founder of the design art company Moss. He has been called "America's most closely watched purveyor of industrial design" (Washington Post), while his store has been called "the best design store in the world."(International Herald Tribune, July 2007) In an interview he released in 2013, Moss said: "I’ve learned to live better with Parkinson’s and have begun a more advanced treatment, and in December I celebrated with my partner, Franklin Getchell, our 40th anniversary."

Moss began his career as a professional actor in the United States and Great Britain after his studies at Columbia University and at New York University, School of Arts. In 1978, in collaboration with Dutch designer Ronaldus Shamask, Moss launched the fashion label Shamask, which became known for its architectonic, structural designs long before such thinking in clothing came into vogue. The company rapidly expanded to include broad manufacturing of women’s and men’s fashions, international distribution and licensing. In 1990, the company’s trademarks and trade names were sold.

With the opening of the Moss shop in 1994, in SoHo, New York City, Moss was able to infuse basic principles of his previous careers into all aspects of the store—to dramatic effect. Both a sense of theatre and a sensibility reminiscent of experimental fashion characterize the shop, which presents a highly edited selection of both current as well as historical products culled from designers and manufacturers around the world. Like an editor or a curator, Moss changes the presentation of products almost daily, keeping the store fresh and current with new ideas.

In 2000, Moss and business/life partner Franklin Edward Getchell expanded the store considerably by annexing two floors of the adjacent gallery. In January, 2005, the store expanded yet again into a new corner building next to the existing two Moss shops, opening Moss Gallery, a “theatre-like” space in which regularly scheduled special exhibitions are presented. In May 2006, with partner restaurateur Nicola Marzovilla, the business expanded again, by opening an Italian restaurant and wine shop.


Murray Moss is an American design entrepreneur and founder of the design art company Moss. He has been called "America's most closely watched purveyor of industrial design", while his store has been called "the best design store in the world."(International Herald Tribune) In an interview he released in 2013, Moss said: "I’ve learned to live better with Parkinson’s and have begun a more advanced treatment, and in December I celebrated with my partner, Franklin Getchell, our 40th anniversary."



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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Moss

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More Designers at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

More Real Life Romances at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Pierre et Gilles

Pierre et Gilles, Pierre Commoy and Gilles Blanchard, are French artists and romantic partners. They produce highly stylized photographs, building their own sets and costumes as well as retouching the photographs. Their work often features images from popular culture, gay culture including pornography (especially James Bidgood), and religion. They met in Paris in 1976, at a Kenzo's store inauguration.

Pierre Commoy, the photographer, was born in 1950 in La Roche-sur-Yon. Gilles Blanchard, the painter, was born in 1953 in Le Havre. In the early 1970s, Gilles took a degree at the École des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre, while Pierre studied photography in Geneva.

In 1974, Gilles moved to Paris to paint and make illustrations for magazines and advertisements. Pierre started working as a photographer for the magazines Rock & Folk, Dépèche Mode and Interview.

In autumn 1976, Pierre and Gilles met at the inauguration of a Kenzo boutique in Paris, and started living together in an apartment in Rue des Blancs-Manteaux that they also use as a studio. Next year they started working together; Gilles would do the painting and Pierre took the photos. Their public breakthrough came with their images for the magazine Façade, with portraits of Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop.

In 1979 they moved to the Bastille quarter, made their first works for Thierry Mugler, designed record sleeves for artist friends, and shot fashion ads and portraits for magazines. They also made their first trip to India, a country which has inspired much of their work. In 1983 Pierre et Gilles had their first personal show at Galerie Texbraun in Paris. In 1984 they worked extensivlely for musical artists like Mikado (for whom they directed their first video), Sandii, Etienne Daho, Sheila and Krootchey. In 1987 they again travellled to India, and started working on religious and mythological themes. In 1989 they became friends with Marc Almond, with whom they would work with for many years. In 1993 Pierre et Gilles were awarded the Grand Prix de Photographie by the City of Paris; and produced art work for Absolut Vodka. Their first retrospective exhibition was in 1996, at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris.


Pierre et Gilles are French artists and romantic partners. They produce highly stylized photographs, building their own sets and costumes as well as retouching the photographs. They met in Paris in 1976, at a Kenzo's store inauguration. Pierre Commoy, the photographer, was born in 1950 in La Roche-sur-Yon. Gilles Blanchard, the painter, was born in 1953 in Le Havre. In the early 1970s, Gilles took a degree at the École des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre, while Pierre studied photography in Geneva.


Les Amoureux (Johan And Léo), 1998

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_et_Gilles

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More Artists at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

More Real Life Romances at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

GayRomLit Ebook Giveaway: Edmond Manning - King Mai

I asked to all the authors joining the GayRomLit convention in Atlanta in October (http://gayromlit.com/grl-authors) a personal favor, a special Ebook Giveaway: everyday I will post 1 book from each author, and among those who will leave a comment, I will draw a winner. Very easy and very fast ;-) I will send a PM to the winner, so remember to not leave anonymous comments!

And the ebook giveaway goes to: Susan

Today author is Edmond Manning: EDMOND MANNING has always been fascinated by fiction: how ordinary words could be sculpted into heartfelt emotions, how heartfelt emotions could leave an imprint inside you stronger than the real world. Mr. Manning never felt worthy to seek publication until recently, when he accidentally stumbled into his own writer’s voice that fit perfectly, like his favorite skull-print, fuzzy jammies. He finally realized that he didn’t have to write like Charles Dickens or Armistead Maupin, two author heroes, and that perhaps his own fiction was juuuuuuust right, because it was his true voice, so he looked around the scrappy word kingdom that he created for himself and shouted, “I’M HOME!” He is now a writer. In addition to fiction, Edmond enjoys writing nonfiction on his blog, http://www.edmondmanning.com. When not writing, he can be found either picking raspberries in the back yard or eating panang curry in an overstuffed chair upstairs, reading comic books. Feel free to contact him at remembertheking@comcast.net. Or visit him in Minnesota
Website: http://www.edmondmanning.com
Most recent title : King Perry
Publishers: Dreamspinner Press, Pickwick Ink Publishers

King Mai (The Lost and Founds) (Volume 2) by Mr. Edmond Joseph Manning
Series: The Lost and Founds
Paperback: 322 pages
Publisher: Pickwick Ink Press; version 1 edition (July 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0989097927
ISBN-13: 978-0989097925
Amazon: King Mai (The Lost and Founds)
Amazon Kindle: King Mai (The Lost and Founds)

Adopted from Thailand and never one to fit in with the local bubbas, life has been rough around the edges for Mai Kearns, even before he came out of the closet. Now, almost ten years past the torture of high school, Mai still can't catch a break: he and his parents stand to lose their beloved farm. How will a “King Weekend” help change Mai’s fate? What has narrator Vin Vanbly been up to for the four weeks he’s been sneaking around Mai’s hometown? At the urging of a ransom note from ‘The Lost Kings,’ Mai embarks on an impossible treasure hunt chasing mystic poetry, Fibonacci Hopscotch, ancient prophecy, the letter ‘x,’ and a confounding, penguin-marching army. The stakes are high: if Mai fails, the Lost Kings will permanently claim him as their own. Finding the treasure may unlock the secret to saving his family farm. But can this angry farmer risk opening his broken heart before the weekend is over? Mai Kearns has 40 hours to get very, very curious in this second installment of The Lost and Founds.

Statistics (I love them...)

Do you know I have also a website? other than my Livejournal (http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/) and my Dreamwidth (http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/), I have also a website (http://www.elisarolle.com/). It's a paid account on a server, and when I opened it, years ago, I activated the statistics, but I basically forgot about them until recently.

The reason why I decided to look at them is that I noticed an "interest" on my various websites/accounts, people asking to post advertisements, my Livejournal ranking (at today) 44 on, listen listen, more than 26 million journals; a notice from Goodreads that I was on the 1% best reviewers, but that 1% counted like thousands of people, until I actually went and saw that on the (world) Top Reviewers list I'm n° 15; and of course I'm still on the Top1000 Reviewers list on Amazon.

So I decided to collect all my statistics, Livejournal gives you the stats if you have a paid account, you can activate Google Analytics on Dreamwidth and I have the native statistics on the server hosting my website. I decided to post the result cause, well, I found out that in June I reached quite an awesome, and unexpected, target, something that I still am looking and looking with awe, more than 300.000 visit per month! meaning more than 10.000 visit per day! O_O really, I'm still in shock!