Elizabeth Taylor-Icon,Legend ...and Jewelery Expert

In case you were living under a rock and havn`t heard,  Elizabeth Taylor passed away on Wednesday. I was really shocked to hear that, as I had NO idea she was even ill. And I consider myself as a pretty aware person.


Anyway, enough publications have given her basic information and various sorts of tributes.


Its interesting to know that she loved to collect jewelery, amongst other things such as husbands, 8 of them I think :)


She owned and collected the biggest sort of bling there is, and could put many rappers to shame!

"My mother says I didn’t open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw was an engagement ring. I was hooked"

 33 carat Krupp Diamond 

This was the first gift from then husband Richard Burton, and it cost  $ 305,000 in 1968. She wore this ring all the time,for the rest of her life. Even during filming. It is one of the most well known of all her jewels.


DUCHESS OF WINDSOR BROOCH

 The Duchess of Windsor brooch is a diamond encrusted brooch that was designed by the then Prince of Wales himself for his future bride, Wallis Simpson. Elizabeth Taylor was a close friend of Mrs Simpson, and she purchased the brooch at an auction after the Duchess’ death,in 1986




Cartier-Burton Diamond

Another gift from husband Richard Burton, a 69-carat pear shaped diamond, which was later name the Taylor-Burton diamond.
Interestingly Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton got married twice, and divorced twice.




The Taj Mahal Diamond

Yet another present from Richard Burton her 40th Birthday in 1972, with Burton joking that he ‘would have liked to buy her the Taj-Mahal, but it would cost too much to transport’. The diamond has ‘Love Is Everlasting’ in Parsi




ANTIQUE DIAMOND TIARA

Her third husband, Mike Todd, bought her an antique diamond tiara which she wore frequently during their marriage.


LA PEREGRINA PEARL

And another gift from Richard Burton on Valentines Day, 1969. The pearl was set as a pendant to a necklace made out of pearls, rubies and diamonds designed by Cartier.






Cartier Ruby and Diamond Necklace

Given to her by husband Mike Todd, who tragically died in a plane crash.

You can get to know how much she really loved her jewelery as she later wrote a book...

Things You Did Not Know About Dame Elizabeth

 She had purple irises and a double set of eyelashes.

Her fourth marriage to Eddie Fisher was directly responsible for the dissolution of his marriage to Debbie Reynolds. But instead of disappearing as a  home-wrecker, Taylor took the role of the sultry destroyer-of-an empire-Cleopatra in 1959.

Auctioned off her diamond-and-emerald engagement ring from Richard Burton to raise money for an AIDS charity.

Was a heavy smoker until being mistakenly diagnosed with lung cancer in October 1975.

First husband Conrad Hilton Jr. (Paris Hilton`s Grand uncle) was physically abusive, which was partly caused by a drug problem.

"Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses."

"If someone's dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I'm certainly not dumb enough to turn it down".

RIP 

Real Bloggers. Real Style

After doing my Trend Report I had asked YOU guys to send me some looks in. It makes the trend and styles more real and relatable and also it`s always fun to see how other people interpret something.


I can see why sometimes you come across someone (man or woman) who might get ticked off by other people who are, according to them too obsessed with their own looks, clothes etc. To them they are superficial things and don`t REALLY matter. Thats fine, I give them the right to their opinion. But what I believe is that one can give an impression of who we are without opening our mouths, simply with the way we are dressed.
And if you look at different people with that point of view, you can see their personality reflecting in their clothes and how they put things together, or don`t!




I was talking about Memoirs Of A Geisha (the book and the movie) with my friends over lunch today. What is really interesting about the movie is ( if you havn`t seen it Please Please do ) that every character `s hairstyle is done in such a way that it is symbolic of the character.  Hatsumomo (Li Gong) has lose and wild hair to show her rebellious side and her disregard for tradition while Sayuri`s hair was always kept simple to indicate her natural beauty. Mameha`s hair was generally in a simple bun or side swept over one shoulder to emphasize her elegance.
Anyway. That was the rammbling part of my post, Onto the good stuff now.






Rukman from Live-Love-Dress Up  creates a very elegant and simple look with wide leg pants. A black one is an absolute classic and will actually never go out of style.

Also, I am loving those peep toe shoes : )

 Aayushi and Malavika from Style Drive do two awesome looks with Print On Print.

  I really like how they`ve kept it very simple and its doesn`t look chaotic.

Pithsala from As I Like It does a Maxi skirt and makes it look effortless and Chic

And I love the cute poses she strikes :D

Masoom from Style-Fiesta does a fun print on print with a fun graphic T-shirt and a checked skirt.

And she also creates a fabulous look inspired by the minimalism trend.

Another way of dressing which will never go out of style.

It was so much fun compiling this post and looking at different pictures. I hope you will check out their blogs as each of them has a fabulous blog and exquisite style. I look forward to posts from these girls all the time : )

And of course who ever wants to send in their pictures, trying on different trends and styles can certainly do so : )

A Very Chic Reading List

 This book written with wit and lots of anecdotes tells you how to be classy and not trashy in nearly all scenarios of life. From cell phone etiquette to instructions on how to travel with style.

 

You may know some or a lot of the tips given in this book but do you know which spoon is for the ice tea and which fork is for the shrimp?
This book is packed with charts and lists and fun little tests.

 What do you do when you inherit a priceless vintage clothing collection from her godmother.Well first you pinch yourself to make sure you are not dreaming then you go on to publish this book with illustrations of each dress and the little story that goes along with it.
Charlotte Smith inherited the Darnell collection. It has 5000 pieces  dating from 1790 to 1995.

Would you rather read a random self help book or take life lessons from the woman who Invented the Little Black Dress and revolutionized fashion?

She was the only fashion icon to be named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century.

Want to dress like Audrey Hepburn? Or curious about Marilyn Monroe`s glossy red lips? This book has all you need to know about Hollywood glamour and more!
With step by step guides to make hairstyles etc

Another amazing read, telling us to look at Audery and Kate as role models,in todays world, rather than the likes of Paris and Lindsay.

It has chapters like  "Keep your chin up, and your skirt down" and "Let Him Come Calling"

'The Hills' allum famous for her signature winged eye liner and braided hairstyle has recently come out with her own book of style. The book is filled with smart tips and fun pictures.

*UPDATE*
People asked me where they can buy these titles from and yes it is difficult to come across in book stores so I suggest you go to www.flipkart.com .
They stock all imported books and they are not at all expensive specially after the discount they give. They also have an option between Hardcover and Paperback on certain books, paperbacks being cheaper of course
I am totally in love with this site. The best part is that they have a CASH ON DELIVERY option!!

Disney options 'Fallen' books for film.

Disney has optioned rights to "Fallen," a young-adult novel by Lauren Kate that features angels.
My friend Marjorie got me an unreleased copy of this book as I enjoy reading supernatural romance books. So far, I've heard great reviews on this newly released novel!

The book, released in early December, is part of a four-tome series, all of which were included in the deal. The contemporary story centers on an alienated girl torn between two charismatic young men, unaware that they are fallen angels who have battled over her for centuries.

"Twilight" comparisons are inevitable, and angels have been identified as the next trend in young-adult fiction with vampire and werewolf tales having inundated the market. "Fallen" and titles like Becca Fitzpatrick's "Hush, Hush," which was moved from a 2010 publication date to this past October, present angels as otherworldly hotties who are immortal and possess bad-boy charm. "Fallen" is the first cherubic title to receive major Hollywood attention.

Alot of people are second guessing how Disney will do " Dark and seductive", when we are used to seeing "Cheery and bright" from them. Will Disney do this book justice? Or will they break the mold so to speak if they make this book come to life the right way. Guess we will wait and see, dates have not been released as to when this movie will come out but I am definatly looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

Here's a quick preview of what the book is about:

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.



Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.


Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.


Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

(info from Hollywoodreporter.com, article by Boris Kit)
 
-Nat

Jack Kerouac, Jay Farrar, Ben Gibbard: Big Sur

Two of the greatest indie rock/alt country singer-songwriters, Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard, recently collaborated to score the soundtrack for the new documentary film, One Fast Move or I'm Gone.  The film is about the legendary beat writer Jack Kerouac, author of On the Road.  The two attempted to put music to the words of Kerouac's Big Sur (Kerouac's novel about agonizing alcoholism at the California coast). Critics are calling the album dark, beautiful, and melodic country-flavored folk rock.

All very cool: book, concept, musicians, movie, even the flannel.

Ben Gibbard is the frontman of Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service, and All-Time Quarterback!  He recently married the beautiful and talented actress/singer Zoey Deschanell (I shake my fist with jealousy).

Jay Farrar began his career with the now-famous Uncle Tupelo from which Jeff Tweedy of Wilco also got his start.  He has since been rocking out in the soulful, country-folk band, Son Volt (Gravey and I recently saw their show in Atlanta; amazing music.)

Please visit this source http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114010246 for more info and some great pics of their Oct 27th show in Washington DC.

One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur is an album by Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) and Jay Farrar (Son Volt). The lyrics are based on the prose of Jack Kerouac's novel Big Sur (1962). One Fast Move or I'm Gone was a result of Gibbard's and Farrar's mutual appreciation for Kerouac's work while recording several songs for a feature-length documentary of the same name.

Here's a video of a live studio recording of Big Sur 
~Markos!

OMF(G)ood read - MOTLEY CRUE'S: THE DIRT

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Whiskey and porn stars, hot reds and car crashes, black leather and high heels, overdoses and death. This is the life of Mötley Crüe, the heaviest drinking, hardest fighting, most oversexed and arrogant band in the world. Their unbelievable exploits are the stuff of rock 'n' roll legend. They nailed the hottest chicks, started the bloodiest fights, partied with the biggest drug dealers, and got to know the inside of every jail cell from California to Japan. They have dedicated an entire career to living life to its extreme, from the greatest fantasies to the darkest tragedies. Tommy married two international sex symbols; Vince killed a man and lost a daughter to cancer;Nikki overdosed, rose from the dead, and then OD'd again the next day; and Wick shot a woman and tried to hang his own brother. But that's just the beginning. Fueled by every drug they could get their hands on and obscene amounts of alcohol, driven by fury and headed straight for hell, Mötley Crüe raged through two decades, leaving behind a trail of debauched women, trashed hotel rooms, crashed cars, psychotic managers, and broken bones that has left the music industry cringing to this day. All these unspeakable acts, not to mention their dire consequences, are laid bare in The Dirt.

Make no mistake about it: these guys are geniuses. They invented glam metal and then left it in the dust; sold more than forty million albums from Shout at the Devil to Dr. Feelgood; toured the world dozen times and have the scars to prove it it; and maintained a rabid following in an era of throwaway pop stars. Mötley Crüe has done nothing less than tattoo the psyche of the entire MTV generation. They are the ultimate rock 'n' roll band. And if you don't believe it, read The Dirt. You don't know what decadence is.

Pick this book up at: AMAZON
~Steph Geezy~

OMFG-ecko image

Photo credit: Piotr Naskrecki.

The enormous mouth of the giant leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus) is fitted with more teeth than that of any other land animal, perhaps to help it capture frogs and other small, slippery animals that constitute its diet (Makira, Madagascar). - source

"And he wonders why he got cut from the Geico auditions."

Piotr Naskrecki -insect, natural history, and nature photographer- has documented in his latest book, "The Smaller Majority" an astounding personal collection of beautifully detailed wildlife images.  The close attention given to these tiny and numerous creatures brings a creative euphoria to the viewer and reader. Oh yeah! ~ Markos!

OMFG(otta Read) - Anderson Cooper's Book: Dispatches From The Edge

Dispatches From the Edge: 

A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival

by Anderson Cooper  

(HarperCollins, 2006)

USA Today said it was "Powerful....Cooper opens a tantalizing window into his soul."

In Anderson Cooper's book, 'Dispatches From the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, & Survival', he writes about his amazing journalistic experiences; focusing mostly on the year 2005.  He enlightens readers on what it was like to cover new stories in Iraq, during the aftermath of the Tsunami, & during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans & Mississippi.  He gives us a look into this personal life by writing about his upper class family (his mother is Gloria Vanderbilt) and his brother (who committed suicide). Anderson also writes about the start of his career. Did you know he started out covering stories overseas with a fake press pass?!  I highly recommend this book to our OMFG readers.  Some of the stories he tells are disturbing, but it's a real eye-opener to what these events and places were like during these disasters.  The book is an easy read and is definitely a page turner; I couldn't put it down! Here are some excerpts from the book to give you a feel for it.  Let me know what you think if you decide to read it OR if you have already read it.

~S

Tsunami:
"It took centuries for the pressure to build. Subtle shifts, grinding force. Long ago, a thousand miles east of Sri Lanka, more than fifteen miles below the surface of the Indian Ocean, two gigantic shelves of rock, tectonic plates, pressed against each other -- the rim of what scientists call the India Plate began to push underneath the Burma Plate. Something had to give. At nearly one minute before 8:00 a.m., the morning after Christmas, 2004, the force of the compression explodes along a section of rock some one hundred miles off the west coast of Sumatra. A fault line more than seven hundred miles long violently rips open and a shelf of rock and sediment thrusts upward fifty feet, unleashing an explosion of energy so powerful it alters the rotation of the earth. It is one of the strongest earthquakes in recorded history".................."It takes eight minutes after the earthquake begins for the sonic signals to reach the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, in Hawaii. The thin needle of a seismograph suddenly springs to life, rapidly scribbling side to side, signaling an alarm. It's already too late. Eight minutes later, at approximately 8:15 a.m., in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, the first of several massive walls of water explodes onto shore. In the next two hours, tsunami waves strike ten other countries. More than two hundred thousand people will die."

Hurricane Katrina: 
"In Sri Lanka, in Niger, you never assume anyone will help. You take it for granted that governments don't work, that people are on thier own. There's a different level of expectation. Here, you grow up believing theres a safety net, that things can never completely fall apart. Katrina showed us all that's not true. For all the money spent on homeland security, all the preparations that have allegedly been made, we are not ready, not even for a disaster we know is coming. We can't take care of our own. The world can break apart in our own backyard, and when it does many of us will simply fall off."

"I'm not shocked anymore by the bodies, the blunders"......"You can't stay stunned forever. The anger doesn't go away, but it settles somewhere behind your heart; it deepens into resolve. … Here in New Orleans, the compartmentalization I've always maintained has fallen apart, been worn down by the weight of emotion, the power of memory. For so long I tried to separate myself from my past. I tried to move on, forget what I'd lost, but the truth is, none of it's ever gone away. The past is all around, and in New Orleans I can't pretend it's not."

Purchase This Book Through Amazon By Clicking Here

New Moon's extended Trailer revealed at VMA's

'Twilight" fans tuning into Sunday's 2009 MTV Video Music Awards thirsting for a glimpse at the film's stars, also got a surprise taste of the next film to come.



"Twilight's" toothsome love triangle – Taylor Lautner (Jacob), Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward) – presented an extended trailer for "New Moon" during Sunday night's show, which now has launched a fan frenzy.


"Whether you're Team Jacob or Team Edward, we want to thank you for your undying support over the past year," Stewart said, sporting a strapless Valentino minidress and Rock & Republic heels.

"For tonight, we're bringing you and only you a first look at a movie we've been working on for months," Pattison said.

And Lautner, dressed smartly in a Calvin Klein suit, wrapped with, "Just for the MTV Video Music Awards, this is the extended trailer of ‘New Moon.'"

The audience learns along with Bella that vampires have laws, and they are enforced by the elite Volturi.

It seems Edward's relationship with Bella has put him in some seriously hot water with the vampire royalty.

Bella also becomes a bit self-destructive, and one of her adrenaline-junkie stunts leaves her undead lover convinced that his human paramour is dead, with near-tragic results.




"New Moon," the second film in the vampire romance saga, hits theaters on Nov. 20.
-NY Dailynews.com








For those of you out there who read the Twilight Series Nov. 20th can't get here soon enough. Presale tickets are already almost SOLD out and the film is still 9 weeks away from being released!! I am personally really impressed with the new director. This film seems to be done alot better and more close to the book than "Twilight", which is definatly what fans are looking for. It will be very interesting to see how the whole thing turns out!

-Nat

Vampires are In: The CW's Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries:



Based on L.J. Smith's popular series the Vampire Diaries, the show premiere's Thursday September 10th @ 8/7c.


The cast looks great, this show is sure to be a hit! I know I can't wait to check it out, here is a preview of it from the CW check it out:



-Nat

Sea Light: Selected ‘6 to ‘9

Sea Light: Selected ‘6 to ‘9

An Abstract Coherency of Poems, Short Stories, and Essays.

Hello everyone! {Ahem ahem} I must say it’s an honor to be able to contribute to OMFG where many of the amazing blogs discuss celebrity excitement and other such renowned entertainments of the mass media. While I’m clearly not famous as such, I am, in fact, very famous in my own head, and in some other heads too, like my dear mother’s. So when Stephanie the Magnificent offered me the opportunity to blog about my recently self published book, “Sea Light: Selected ‘6 to ‘9,” I must admit, I clicked my flamboyantly heterosexual heals and danced for joy. OMFG keeps us gloriously distracted thrill-seeking art-trash junkies connected cerebrally, as well as physically, in our ATL youngster community. So it’s Open, wide open, like an all night dance party on the cosmic edge of free market capitalism (I too am unsure what that really means but I believe it’s something great). It’s genre crossing: local electro to pop icons. It’s not just music and it’s not just fame. It’s also personal, indeed, from thence the expressions derive! So yadda yadda yadda... Oh my fucking God, you get the point and it’s time I got there too.

In the way described above, my book is kind of like this blog site. It’s whatever I wanted it to be and, even much more realistically, it’s whatever you want it to be. Having obtained an English degree from UGA, it’s obvious that I’ve always wanted to be a writer. The tough part is that the anxiety of influence (the writings of the past) are so powerful and strong that so much has already been done before (I mean I’m not Shakespeare for God’s sake). So I’ve discovered that my goal is to make reading more interactive. I hope to someday write a book composed entirely of found text where every sentence can hyperlink to a movie or book or song from where the writing came from (copyright issues!). For now, I’ve written Sea Light, which is, in material form, quite simply, a book.

The book is kind of like a comic book (or a graphic novella to be more pedantic) devoid of any illustrations (although I wouldn’t mind changing that. Any artists out there?). Like a comic book, each page is meant to appeal to your visual sense and so each writing is brief and, I hope, quick to the punch (product of our culture, right?). Each writing is entirely unique and different in form and style. Some pieces are short stories, some are free verse poems, some are entirely found text, some are essays, etc etc. What they all have in common is that they are all mostly works of fictional storytelling and they all attempt to illustrate some point about human nature, which nothing to me can be more fascinating. While all the pieces in the book are entirely disparate, they are also all carefully unified and connected (kind of like OMFG, the internet, humanity, the universe), and thus holistic. Each piece tells a story and all the pieces together tell a greater story. The story is about the outside of up from below and in between throughout.

The central theme of human nature in Sea Light is how paradoxes and opposites compliment, complete, and bring each other into existence thereby forming a third being. There is sea. There is light. Together there is Sea Light. Yes, it sounds cheesy and it is (so what? havarti is one of the tastiest foods ever). It’s also the fundamental nature of our existence, which becomes more and more mysterious the deeper one gets beneath that pasteurized surface. All of writing, and all art for that matter, is a struggle and balance between narcissism and altruism. So my voice is very present throughout the writing and completely hidden at other times. Again, the goal of the book is for the reader’s voice to take over, for the listener to speak, and for someone else to finish my sentence.

On that note, I attempt to send my book out to the masses, for even if one person reads, really reads, Sea Light, even if I never know of it, then my gratitude be released! The link below gives a few sample pages, and the option to download it for 5 or order it for 10. Often, I have copies for sell in person for 12. (I’m not exactly making the yacht club on this one people!) So go ahead, inflate the ego of a middle class urban white guy in America just a little bit more, put on your reading goggles, and take a nice deep meander through a place called Sea Light.

- Mark Anderson 08/20/09

http://www.lulu.com/content/7155552