sunday drive: town and country center

Oh My God, it still exists! Today's Sunday Drive is really a walk, okay a stroll, and it's a leisurely stroll at that- through the iconic 1947 Town and Country Center, a mixed use retail-restaurant-office outdoor space in the late International Style. The intersection of curvilinear and rectangular, devoid of superflous ornamentation, and almost as pure as Mies.

Possibly the loveliest intact unrestored space left in palm Springs, and of course it's threatened with demolition by out of town developers who want to tear it down to make a street in order to benefit their proposed re-use of the boring, forgettable, unfashionable Desert Fashion Center. Totally unnecessary, there's a thoroughfare a half block away. But that's how out of town developers think. They don't give a damn about anything but money in their pockets. For now, there is detente - the City Council wisely won't issue any demolition permits until the proposed project is "well along in construction" and they haven't done a thing toward it, and so the Center lives. It's screaming for adaptive re-use. The Palm Springs Modern Committee, the Friends of the Town and Country and the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation are screaming for it to get the adaptive re-use it so deserves.

Take a look- isn't it breathtaking? Who could tear down such a magical space?


































See more photos here

Visit the friends of town and country center here

the palm springs modern committee here

and the palm springs preservation foundation here

sunday drive: trailerite

The country found its wanderlust in the postwar decade. True there had been trailers in the thirties, mostly small boxy creations, but the dream was fulfilled in the fifties. The birth of the interstate highway system and the advent of the high compression engine created smooth ribbons to travel upon and powerful cars to traverse them.

That the trailers evolved as well was all but a foregone conclusion. The Airstream and the Spartan were the most deluxe. The Spartan, produced by the Spartan Aircraft company (owned by J. Paul Getty) was a masterpiece of aluminum and birchwood and ranged in size from 28 all the way up to 50 feet in 1956. Wally Byam introduced his Airstream trailer in 1936 but his products caught fire in the postwar decades of the fifties and sixties (not literally of course, that was the Ford Pinto.)

Modernism Week here in Palm Springs has been a smash success and I've had an awesome time. Yesterday was an awesome vintage trailer show here at the ACE Hotel and we were treated to Airstreams, a Spartan, a Silver Streak and a few lesser brands.

So just for a moment be like Nicky and Tacy in search of the Bungalowette trailer, and come along with me to the trailer show.

Maybe you'll end up being a trailerite too...





























More Trailer Show Here

sweet sticky dog

A repost of the first ever World O'Jeff essay- three years ago today. Where does the time go?

Valentine's day was this week and the impending trauma of it forced me to come up with a plan. I decided to tackle it head on. Calling Will (who is alternately Sacco to my Vanzetti or Cybill to my Mary Ann), we assembled a group of friends to meet in West Hollywood in pursuit of a Stunning Martini. The only requirement was to wear black, head to toe. I used a vintage tuxedo jacket and bow tie to create a dashing flair, Will did a tone on tone number with a black silk tie, bad boy Tony chose a biker jacket and black denim to set a completely different mood within the same color statement. It's all about our personal flair.

Our mourning party progressed to the Abbey where we found ourselves at a table in the wind tunnel (many of you will know where I mean- its like a covered outdoor bowling alley with wall sconces) next to a totally fun lesbian couple- they were chatting with us about a fashion show they were planning to help launch a line for a designer they were unfamiliar with. David-who-knows-everything was already familiar with the event and was lobbying to score a spot on the VIP list (I was on the VIP list once at a Cemetery, but that is a story for another day). Anyway, somewhere in the second round she shared that the designer was named Honey Labrador.

Honey Labrador? I burst out- I knew her in the 90's in Chicago. My friend crazy ass Ron (the one who thought he was Joan Crawford) used to hire her for Spiegel photo shoots. We would drink heavily and think of alternate names for her with the same cadence- Lobster Thermador, Sunny Ecuador, even Crosley Shelvador. I guess the drinks made it seem clever. Anyway, the fun couple were amused and actually relieved that someone had heard of Honey. So relieved that they bought us a round. Very cool girls.

Of course, I had to call Crazy Ass Ron in Chicago and tell him the news. I left a message on his cell phone from the Honey Labrador Fan Club. He called back a few minutes later snickering. "Honey Labrador- that was 1993! How the hell did you remember that?" "You know me", I replied. "How could I ever forget a girl named sweet sticky dog?"

each day is...

Tomorrow marks another Valentine's Day and I have dusted off the special holiday ensemble in head to toe black. This year I've added the optional mantilla, and the result is very dashing. Although the concept of romance is as remote and inconceivable to me as the likelihood of meaningful health care reform is, I nonetheless feel very loved and very blessed to have such a wonderful network of friends.

For all of you, a wonderful Valentine's Day treat- here's the violet eyed beauty in an inrcedibly chic rendition of a holiday classic.

From Pal Joey, please welcome the Mouse with the Built, Miss Kim Novak:



Each day is Valentine's Day

in the groove

When I got laid off last summer (with one hour's notice, thank you very much) I immediately began thinking of Palm Springs. I've been coming out here to unwind and stargaze for the last eighteen years, and always told myself that if I could make a living out here, I'd move in a heartbeat. So when it all went down last summer, I decided to give it a try.

I wasn't entirely sure whether the weekend retreat would play on a week long schedule. But there was literally nothing to lose. Some friends tried to discourage me, my stylist warning me that "everyone who moves to Palm Springs becomes an alcoholic". So contrarian that I am, I moved out here, and quit drinking. And shock of the world, I'm becoming a gym rat. At age forty-whatever. I know, I'm shocked as well.

But after a couple of months of spinning my wheels, the whole gig is working for me. Gayberry is a small town, with all of the small town charm that exists nowhere in Los Angeles. I know the names of all the people in the Coffeehouse, and they know my name and my favorite latte. I chat with the regulars and catch up. For example, I learned from several sources there that someone named Josh is the town tramp. I guess I should look him up.

I have cardio buddies at the gym and am now doing cardio six days a week, instead of forcing myself to get maybe three sessions per week. That, plus the lack of alcohol and the pounds are falling off. My trainer is probably as excited as I am. And in all honesty, the people at the gym are quite nice and friendly. I've learned to relax and spend time there. It's become a pleasant destination instead of a resented task.

And the freelancing has picked up. February is on a pace equal to the average month last year, and with a couple of breaks could even pull ahead. Even better, the six day bell to bell workday is long gone. I'm loving my desert home. So I guess the midlife crisis is finding its own level. It's funny, I always thought I should live here and when I try it, I find out I'm right. I hope you all are so fortunate as to love the place where you hang your hat.

8F FF

Handsome nose on the runway

No, it's not Morse code, or even "Bobby Brady" in piglatin. It's my airgeek's way of noting that the first 747-8F (RA501 N747EX msn 35808), having completed its gauntlet testing and now its high speed runway testing, will take to the air for the first time tomorrow, February 8, with a scheduled flight at 10am Pacific Time. This is a good time to remind y'all that Boeing seems to fly on gay time, so I;m betting the big bird acutally leaves the runway about 10:30. Yes, I'll be home, thanks for asking, and watching the Boeing Live Feed.


Look at that handsome profile- double stretched fuselage, gracious new wings and those sexy GenX engine nacelles give the 747-8i a distinctive new look



Forty years later, the 747 still has it. Have a pleasant first flight, 8F.