Gemini: Double Your Displeasure, Double Your Pun

WAM to BAM: 20+ Years of Reinventing Vintage Retailing

Broadway Antique Market (BAM) is famous for many things: The quality of their dealers. Their spectacular merchandise. An attention to display and detail. However, beyond the kudos of National media, BAM is famous for it’s $ales. Hosting only two major events per year (their Holiday Sale and gastronomic spread unparalleled), BAM is unlike any other vintage retailer. Every event is special and their latest “Vintage Department Store Sale” is no exception. Starting Friday, May 18th and running for only 10 days, BAM spreads it vintage wings and offers significant discounts to its preferred customers.

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Space Shuttle Enterprises Takes Final Fly Over NYC & Into Collectibility

This is exclusive WDMS footage of the Shuttle Enterprise making it's final in-flight appearance before settling into the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in NYC.  Now, like an old retiring Beanie Baby, there will be no more space shuttles.  

As a friend of mine once said:  "It's the end of an era (corn up my ass!)

I apologize for the vulgarity, but the comment rings painfully true.  Now what?

When I arrived at Pier 45 (the old Christopher Street Pier), there were only three of us standing in the cold.  No one spoke, but we each knew why the other was there.  After an hour or so, perhaps as many as 100 people trickled over; some with kids, many with dogs, but all with cameras.  Though the wind whipped up mean along the Hudson, we all knew something amazing was about to happen.

Now, suddenly total strangers became comrads, armed with iPhones, binoculars.  A collective experience was approaching and the nervous energy made people chatty.  

After an hour or more of being buzzed by police and other unmarked helicopters the crowd began to morph into one child-like panic of amazement.   We were all to simultaneously receive one giant present, but only because we'd been patient little boys and girls.  The expectation was a giddiness I have seldom seen.

As the clouds broke, the collective breath of the crowd let out a discernible gasp.  Coming in low, very low, some 1,500 feet above the water, was the now-famous specially outfitted 747 and its piggyback present.  We were soon to be squealing all the way home.

I climbed atop a concrete mooring and a lady who'd been sitting beside me suddenly stood up. "You want a better look?" I said.

"Oh, I shouldn't," she said.  "But this is our last chance, isn't it?"

I put out my hand and pulled her up.  In the distance, a muffled roar split through the clouds and then the massive object came into view.

"It's the end of the future," she said as it passed above our heads.  "No SSTS, no Concordes and now no more shuttles."

"It's sad" I said, balancing myself and camera alike.  "Now what've we got?"

She grabbed my arm for balance.  "Exactly!  It's an empty future when you've nothing to look forward to..."

In one final glimpse, history and a dead technology made its final turn across the stone face of the Statue of Liberty, then banked off into the clouds.

The end of an era indeed.


By Danny Alias
Copyright 2012 WDMS

Not Taking Any More Bull? Taurus Takes Life By The Horns

Designers, Decorators, Dealers: The Best Kept Mega Fabric Trade Secret

On a recent excursion to find some spectacular upholstery fabric I spotted two prominent antique dealers, an up and coming interior designer and one of the Midwest’s top prop television stylists. And these hard working folks were just four amongst the 75+ customers shopping like it was the last day on Fashion Earth. Why the fabric panic? What’s going on here? And where the hell am I?

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Tracie Bennett's "End of the Rainbow" Triumphs Garland Back On Broadway

"When all the world is a hopeless jumble... and the raindrops tumble all around... Heaven opens a magic lane. When all the clouds darken up the skyway... there's a rainbow highway to be found leading from your windowpane. To a place behind the sun-- Just a step beyond the rain." Unused in "The Wizard of Oz," these are the original Yip Harburg lyrics to the introduction of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

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Paul America: The Long Lost Warhol Superstar...

In 1981, I met Paul America in Chicago. I didn't know who he was at first. He said his name was Paul and he was passing through town to visit a friend; that he lived on a commune in Indiana. Thirty years later, my memory may lag on the details, but not on the intensity of the meeting. Paul America was someone you just didn't forget. Strikingly handsome, he had a certain grace that was, to be honest, intoxicating. I assumed he was a model or an actor, but clearly he was not the dumb blond type. He had a country boy style infused with a big city wit that was disarming, yet totally charming. You'd swear he could melt the ice cubes in your glass with just a long, thoughtful stare. He knew he was attractive, but was dismissive, almost embarrassed about the matter. I recall complimenting him once and he just said: "Thank you!" I knew then not to do that again. I recall chatting with him for hours about many things, but he held back most anything of a personal nature. Finally, toward the end of a rather long evening, he said to me: "Have you ever heard of Paul America?" "Oh, yes," I said, not making the connection. "He's one of those Warhol people, right?" "Well," he said softly... "That used to be me."

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Vaudeville Isn't Dead, Though Pepper 'n Sam Are... Sort Of

These days, after the passing of such luminaries as Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, we can now appreciate death as a smart career move. Unintended, perhaps, but nothing sells more music than an early demise and proper estate planning. Just ask Elvis. He left the building... and the world... some 35 years ago, yet his fame and wealth continue to grow. In fact, 95% of Elvis is now owned by a single investment group. And it's not Lisa Marie, her mother or any of the Presley family. That heavenly sound you hear is that of a cash register laughing. Which brings us to the clever coupling of Pepper Mills (Salty Brine) and Play-It-Again Sam (Justin Levine.) Yes, Pepper 'n Sam are dead... or at least their alter egos are... and it appears there are plenty of egos to go 'round in that Big Vaudeville House in the sky. "Semi-famous" before flaming out in long-ago theatre fire, Pepper 'n Sam are tragically stuck in today's vaudeville circuit along with their back-up band, The Dead Poets Society. If you gotta have a gimmick, it might as well be a ghostly one. As Pepper might intone: Who you gonna call? Bra Busters?"

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Bumping Heads With Aries, The Ram in 2012

Vatican Sculptures Marry Just To Piss Off Rick Santorum

Allegedly the first gay marriages sanctioned by the Roman Church, these four classic sculptures from the Vatican’s finest collection of male artfulness have decided to take the plunge. Of course, not all four— Heavens! No, two committed couples of statuesque virtues and into all things manly. Damn, these guys invented butch!

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Cubs Fans Live Forever "Beyond The Vines" @ Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery

Would you believe that your ashes could be put into the replicated wall of Chicago's beloved Wrigley Field? Well you can, um, mostly. Founded in 1877 Bohemian National Cemetery (Foster & Pulaski) is a very famous and often overlooked Czech cemetery; it is an ethnic Who's Who of the 19th century. Enter Dennis Mascari and his 2009 sports-interned innovation... the "Cubs Fans Forever... Beyond the Vines" Columbarium. A few short years later the cemetery now has 20 or so die hard (sorry) fans entombed in this large walled structure. 'No Beer Served After The 7th Incarnation!"

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Suffer The Suffragettes & Why Rush Limbaugh's Mother Should Slap Him Silly

Every once in a while I am reminded why I truly love antiques. Nostalgia may be a comforting word for some, but when ephemera and artifacts from a long-forgotten time reappear, we are reminded of more than just lost memory. We are reminded of history and those that made history happen. Recently an old Shakespearean phrase has been floating around cable news: “The Past is Prologue.” Though it can be interpreted to mean many things, it’s connection to nostalgia and history cannot be overstated. More aptly, think of it this way: The past is the "set up" for what’s about to happen-- We can’t get to “now” or tomorrow without it. It’s inevitable. Sometimes it’s wonderful, other times disastrous. Either way, what comes before us, historically speaking, sets the stage for things to come. Flashback the future, I like to think. The Suffragette movement of the 19th century was the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) of its time. Day One of equal rights for Women. I remember my Mom going down to Springfield, Illinois with a busload of ERA Women intent on getting then Governor Ryan’s attention, even if they had to chain themselves to the mansion gate. My Mom was that amazing!

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Pisceans Turn Up @ Red Lobster Special: Endless Fish Sticks In 2012

Songs For Valentine's Day: Our Love Was At It's Zenith, As Eternal As AM Radio...

THE 10 GREATEST LOVE SONGS EVER... For thousands of years humans have attempted to express their feelings of love through song. Learning quickly that humming alone wasn't quite enough to attract a sexual pairing, words of poetry or what we now refer to as "lyrics" were added.

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Is "The Secret of Magic Island" A Lost Classic... Or A Lame Duck?

A WATER SLIDE LIFE: Aquarius in 2012

SALLY'S PASSIONS, VANITIES & OTHER ENDEARING VICES - Collections, Re-collections & Regurgitations!

Having always had an addictive personality, and loving things in multiples, it's a wonder the invitro fertilization didn't stick or most likely I'd be dressing quints in his n' hers vintage Izods & Danskin. But as far as my collecting addictions, there are many and it's an insatiability that feeds these obsessions. Pretty little things, that's what I love, that's what I need. I always want MORE. They give me pleasure when I gaze upon them, I never feel they are excessive or unnecessary. They indeed, become a part of my patchwork Hyde Park crib of many colors.

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Tom Cruises Katie Holmes Into NY's West Village Townhouse @ $15 Million

Is it a Mission Impossible to pay over $15 million for a massive townhouse in New York’s West Village? Not if you're Tom Cruise and the same home had been listed in 2008 for $22.75 million. Such a deal/steal. This six floor, elevator-serviced, 8,000+ sq. ft. brownstone mansion is on tony 12th Street, not far from Brooke Shields’ newest digs (see previous WDMS "I'd Live There" blog). Of course Tom & Katie’s people deny all such rumors, but from the gossip pages of The Village Voice to the venerable StreetEasy.com, there’s too much hush-hush to make us blush-blush.

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Can Romney's Bain Capital Save Iconic Hostess Twinkies (& America) by Squeezing Out The Last of the Cream Filling?

Junk food giant Hostess Brands announced recently it is headed for bankruptcy… or at least reorganization in a very large corporate mixing bowl. How is it possible that the maker of some of America’s most iconic snacks cannot make a profit selling to the world’s fattest people? Sure “Twinkies Light” weren't exactly a hit, but you didn’t see the New Coke people running for cover when the carbonation hit the fan. No, they rolled up their sleeves, blamed their advertising agency and rebranded Coca-Cola Classic like an unexcused burp. “What New Coke? That never happened. Just like the Bush years.” To quote one official: “We weren’t there that day!”

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"When Danny Met Sally" Lights Up Times Square Billboard

Let's be honest. You're first thought is: Photoshop! Clearly this is another crazy publicity ploy by the people who brought you talking dogs, Martha Stewart's real estate woes and nudist antique dealers. Oh, that Danny & Sally: Short of setting one another on fire, what won't these two do for attention? (Wait, they did that already. Damn!) No, dear readers, this is the real deal. As part of our shout out to friends, fans and stalkers of all ages, our 2012 New Year's blast went over the wire services to hundreds of media outlets across the country. Apparently the Gods must be crazy for Vintage because our Kitty Cat Antique Dealers made it onto the Great White Way hawking, coincidentally, a White Sale! Now for those of you who STILL don't believe this explanation (family members included), this offers the perfect moment to discuss reality-- or at least reality as we once knew it. Today we live in a Photoshop Universe. Perceptions can be tweaked with the click of a mouse. Destinies can be altered, as well as breasts, thighs or a bucket of chicken from KFC. Models on the runway can be made so skinny that only transparency remains the final deduction. Six pack abs? Please. Eight, Ten, Twelve! This is America. It's not what you get, it's what you see!

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