Lifestyle

First there was silence. And then it began: an all girl’s troupe commenced pounding drums with an unrelenting ferocity, infusing their fury with unexpected light touches of musical humor. In such dramatic fashion the Shaolin Temple of Los Angeles launched its annual celebration of the Chinese New Year on Sunday, January 22, 2023. Every year the Buddhist Shaolin Temple inaugurates this holiday with a gloriously festive event filled with merriment and featuring drummers, lion dancers,…

The Sue Wong machine of creativity is going strong! The first of her designer homes, Villa Feliz, has just been sold and the second, Palazzo Marrakech, has just had a celebratory completion party befitting its opulence and majesty. Indeed, Sue Wong has done it again and created a home fit for a king, Palazzo Marrakech. This magnificent edifice was christened on Friday, February 24, 2023 with a party and all the usual fanfare that goes…

A number of issues of national interest have come up recently.  With vehement arguments pro and con, and emotions running high, a large segment of the populationhas no clear understanding of what is really involved.  It’s time they are put in proper perspective.  So, in no particular order, let’s tackle some of these topics. Increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court There is nothing in the constitution specifying the complement of the court.  Originally it was six justices.  The number fluctuated from five…

“They are not furniture, they are not sculpture – call them ‘Lalannes’.” – Claude Lalanne “The supreme art is the art of living.” – François-Xavier Lalanne.’ Christie’s unveiled in Dubai for the first time ever 11 exceptional sculptures and other works by the French artist couple Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, from the collection of the artists’ daughter, Madame Marie Lalanne, on 8 November 2022 at the Design Days Dubai (8-12 November). The art connoisseurs and…

Many considered the Hollywood couple to be “lavender lovers,” a name given to a male-female pair who marry for convenience and to conceal the true nature of their stigmatized sexual orientation. Whether it was a marriage of convenience or a romantic affair, Rudolph Valentino and Natacha Rambova became one of Hollywood’s power couples of the 1920s. He was Hollywood’s first sex symbol. She was a spiritualist costume designer who dabbled in acting but would later…

Peggy Guggenheim was an eccentric art collector (and Virgo), born August 26, 1898 to Florette Seligman, of the banking Seligmans, and Benjamin Guggenheim, of the mining Guggenheims. Art patronage seemed to run deep in the family, as did their pockets. Her uncle was Solomon R. Guggenheim (yes, that Solomon R. Guggenheim.) Amassing one of the most extensive collections in the world, she did not consider herself a mere collector, and in her own words, “I…