First photograph of a human being

I simply love antiques, as you probably know and included in my passion , are old photographs, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, etc. Did you see my post with some of my collection?

Just came across this wonderful blog: http://www.hokumburg.com, would like to respectfully put this on my blog, because antiques and photography are great passions of mine.

From his website:

"This is a Daguerreotype taken by the inventor of the process, Louis Daguerre, in 1838. It is a view of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. To achieve this image (one of his earliest attempts), he exposed a chemically treated metal plate for ten minutes. Others were walking or riding in carriages down that busy street that day, but because they moved, they didn't show up. Only this guy stood still long enough—maybe to have his boots shined—to leave an image.
Other primitive forms of photography had preceded this picture by over a decade. But this anonymous shadowy man is the first human being to ever have his picture taken. There is also the very faint image of the bootblack bent over his work.
Odds are neither of them ever knew they were making history that day."

Click to ENLARGE

FASCINATING!

More amazing shots here (the zoom feature is amazing!):

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2010/09/20/129990964/once-in-a-lifetime-river-tour-starts-here-unfortunately-everybody-s-deadhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2010/09/20/129990964/once-in-a-lifetime-river-tour-starts-here-unfortunately-everybody-s-dead

Some beauties live on my mantel....

Some of my beauties on display:

My collection of tintypes.

My gorgeous great-grandmother and my beautiful daguerreotypes

Look at her! Was told that she is probably from the 1840's or early 1850's. Crazy. Can you imagine her world, her life? I wish I could know...

Really HARD to capture her beauty. Look at her bonnet!

Look at another great shot of my great-grandmother

My beautiful ivory bust of a Florentine woman. She was my first win at an auction.

I really LOVE my things...They took me so many years to collect, but the result is stunning!

Letters to Juliet - hated and loved it!!!

 

I am really torn here... Just saw this movie and... I hated it and I LOVED it at the same time! Can you understand??? Lemme explain...
The premise is great: a chickflick with romance, Vanessa Redgrave and above all, beautiful Tuscany...
Sounds great, right?
Well, the movie itself is a big disappointment in terms of plot and predictability. It was so sugary and  that left me with cavities after watching it.

The only things that really are awesome are: Vanessa (love her) and one of my favorite places in the world: Italy.
Italy made this so special that I would have watched this movie even if it didn't have a plot. Let's say I would have loved if it was just a "Tuscany postcard video".

I did go to Verona many years ago and absolutely loved it.

Even went to the "Casa di Giulietta" and even did take a picture on the balcony = have to get and scan that picture. It was priceless.
One good thing about this movie was the addition of the extras. I just discovered, with dismay, that this house is a complete hoax. Never belonged to Juliet's family. It was a creation from an Italian to bring more tourism to Verona. The house was embellished with original medieval pieces = the balcony was made out of a medieval coffin!
Just illusion, people, just illusion...
But oh well, let's go back to the movie.

Vanessa Redgrave is awesome. I actually did meet her years ago when I was an extra for one of her movies that was shot in New York: "Cradle will Rock". Needless to say I was completely starstruck, in awe of that really tall woman. She just looked at me and smiled very warmly. I will never forget her.

She saves the weak plot and illuminates the screen.

The other actors: namely Amanda Seyfried and Christopher Egan gave wooden performances at best. Sensed no chemistry between them. Blah!

One of the biggest surprises was when they found (SPOILER, no, no really. We knew that that would happen, non?), Vanessas long lost beau:

I was like:"I know this guy!", then i did realize it was Franco Nero, the one from the cheesy good looks, famous for those spaghetti westerns from the 60s. He was pretty weel-known in Brazil, but I don't think that he is a household name outside of Europe.

Here he is, back in the day. I did actually recognized him because of those piercing blue eyes!

I have to say that they both aged very well, considering that Vanessa is 73 and Franco is like 68.

I am a movie buff and really didn't know that they had an affair back in the 60s, had a son together AND after so many years and so many relationships, they are actually MARRIED now! They got married in 2006 - after all those years!
THAT should become a movie, not this sugary Italian pastry of "Letters to Juliet".

At least the final outcome was positive: gorgeous views, and discovering that actual women answer the little notes left on the fake Juliet's house... You can read more about these letters and who answers them here: this article at The New York Times.

Ciao amici!

One of my favorite old New York shots...The Dakota building

1890 - Central Park, The Dakota (Apartment bldg) on Central Park West in background

This is one of my favorite shots of old New York. Of course it is especially interesting since The Dakota became the famous building where John Lennon lived and would eventually be shot

Michael Kors down coat

One of my newest acquisitions - summer is definitively gone and I do have to prepare for the never ending NY winter...

Saw this on Ruelala.com on sale and was very torn between these two:

Ended up getting this - and seriously wasn't dissappointed! It is just awesome!!!

Cute, huh?

And guess what? Got it on SALE!!

Another Norma Kamali masterpiece!

This Walmart (ick!!! right?, but wait...) line never ceases to surprise me...

Not everything sucks at old Wallymart. They have Norma Kamali (dunno why she decided to do a design line in there, but whatevs)... Look how nice this top is... and if I told you the price...

hmmm, unbeliavable!

LOVE it. So versatile = you can use it open (as a cardigan, or closed for a blouse... You can really play with the buttons... and guess what? Got the black one too ;-)

Niceeeee

 

I AM SEEING SPOTS!!!!

Leopard is back! Or did it even go out of style?
I remember that when I was a kid, my mom said that wearing anything with this animal print was considered vulgar and slutty! I grew up with this idea, until I completely embraced it some years ago.
Cannot live without it anymore! Thank God my mom changed her mind too!

I do have a scarf and a really cute cardigan, and an amazing shoe that it is kinda tight on my feet (damn!), but Lulu needed more...

Hmmm, seeing the Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2010 collection and also all the magazines, I discovered that I MUST get a leopard top... Incredible how those people trick you to get new things all the time...

Let's take a look at my fave Italian darlings, shall we?

Dunno if I can pull of Leopard AND polka dots, but... It looks great on her!!!

D&G is lovely, but Lulu needs a cheaper fix (gotta keep playing Mega Millions and Power Ball ;-)


I was in search of a NICE leopard shirt... and ended up scoring both this animal print AND a military one for way less...

Went to Express armed with a coupon and managed to get the cutest leopard top AND a military jacket!!! Who knew? In a store for one trend and got 2!! For the price of one... LOL!

Got this beauty :

And here's little moi with the top... and my dear mama. I've loved the look: tucked blouse in a high-waist skirt... Lovely

Anywhooo, to top the deal and make it even sweeter, got this amazing military jacket for $29.99 (originally $79.99!).

You gotta love these bargains!!!!

Happy 70th Birthday, my dearest John Lennon

I almost fell off the chair when I heard that John Lennon would be 70 today. Cannot believe that he died 30 years ago... I really remember the day. I was a small child who did not fully love The Beatles and John as much as I adore them now.
It was a shock even for a child... Cannot imagine how the rest of the world felt.

They don't make musicians like John anymore. I really miss him and can only IMAGINE how many beautiful songs he would have written in all those sad 30 years. Gone way too young. Hope you are in a better place just looking and appreciating how much people love and miss you.

I will love you forever...

Brazil means - Great Shopping...

Just came back from Brazil... Such great fashion, different looks and pieces you cannot find anywhere else. At least I try to get stuff I cannot find in the States...

One of this places is Espaco Fashion - a super cool label from Rio de Janeiro.

This label has really unique colorful looks and I could not resist this cute vest:

AMAZING vest, right - sooo cool. Check it out:

The photo doesn't do justice to the rich patchwork and the great print in the back...

And that is moi wearing it...

Great birthday gift from my parents...

They know I am a bag maniac!!!

So for my birthday (today, BTW), they gave me a beautiful Longchamp bag.

Loved everything about it: the size (I can put a ton of things inside), the color (amazing metallic), loved the whole thing!
 Thanks Mom and Dad!!!