Creating Awesomeness by Gary Smolker

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS

Gary Smolker, cultural anthropologist

BACKGROUND

 

I’ve met many interesting people in my life and reflected on what makes them awesome.

What they all have in common is they are vibrant and magnificent human beings.

 

AWESOMENESS

Once upon a Christmas time in 1982, while the Sultan of Bruni was having his to-be-built home in Beverly Hills, California designed by Robert Earl, AIA, Jason Fane, a friend of mine who has inspired awe in me for over 40 years, came from the East Coast to visit me and to see my office in Beverly Hills.

I called Robert Earl, AIA, the architect who was designing the Sultan’s home, to request Bob to come to his office to show and tell us his preliminary design plans for the Sultan’s home.

Bob opened his office for Jason and me, which was closed for the Christmas season, and walked us through his architectural design work in progress.

JASON FANE

Jason is a man who has created awesomeness his entire life.

For example:

1. When I was at Jason’s wedding reception one of Jason’s grammar school chums reported to the other assembled guests – when everyone was taking turns discussing Jason – that when Jason was in grammar school, Jason created and wrote up a schedule to improve the Manhattan Subway System which was published in the “Daily News.”
2. The first time I met Jason (which was in an elevator in the apartment building which we lived in) Jason gave me the keys to his car. At the time we were both graduate students in our twenties attending Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York.
3. Unlike me, at the time, Jason was doing research to determine which city in the world would be the best city for Jason to conduct business.
4. At the time Jason had determined that Jason would be in the dynamic property management business and was figuring out which city in the world would offer the most opportunity to someone like Jason who wanted to be in that business.
5. Jason has always been keen on using his intelligence to improve the functionality, usefulness and utility of real estate.
   

Jason has achieved that goal time after time during all the time I’ve known Jason, which has been more than forty years.

Below is a picture of a 46 story residential building development project Jason is now seeking permission to build in Providence, Rhode Island.

The photo below is from a recent article I read in “Architecture Here and There.”

A Planning Commission hearing is scheduled to take place on April 26, 2018.

If Jason’s development is approved it will be the largest building in Providence, Rhode Island.

Jason’s original plan was to build three towers, at a cost of one billion dollars on a piece of property owned by the government.

A governmental commission recently approved the sale of that property to the Fane Organization (Jason’s company) on which it is now proposed that a forty-six story tower will be built instead, if approved by City officials.

As presently conceived the 46 story tower will be quarter of a billion dollar real estate development.

Jason needs to obtain more governmental approvals before Jason will be allowed to put a shovel in the ground.

The next hearing in the development approval Jason’s project will go through will be before the City Planning.

That hearing is scheduled to be held on April 26, 2018.

In the same article I read in “Architecture Here and There”, mention is made of Jason building two residential towers on that property.

Below is a photo of those two residential towers taken from the same article in “Architecture Here and There.”

Jason’s proposed 46 story Tower in Providence, Rhode Island is of public significance; it was discussed on NBC 10 News, on March 29, 2018.

Below is a snap shot I took at the beginning of that news report.

I know from personal experience that Jason is immensely conscientious, extremely thoughtful, and tenacious.

Jason lives and breathes his work and is a virtuous and public spirited person.

 

Paul “FIG” Fegen

Below is a current photo of my good friend Paul FIG Fegen.

Paul is hard core creative.

When I first met Paul – more than 40 years ago – Paul had already conceived and developed the FEGEN SUITE;  Paul had turned the FEGEN SUITE concept into the largest individual rental space development and leasing business in the United States.

Paul was the largest sub-lessor of individual office spaces in the world with over 7.5 million square feet of office space.

Paul revolutionized the office development and office rental industry when he had 150 full-floor offices and 600 full time employees.

Paul  had a gigantic law practice at the time and was a fun person to know. He liked to entertain people who came to his office by doing magic tricks for them in his office, also he would stand on his hands when you went up and down the elevator with him and when you were in his office he would entertain you by doing acrobatic tricks.

At the same time, Paul was locally famous dating girls and throwing parties.  The Los Angeles Times did a front page article on him titled “The FIG Life – One Party After Another.”

Paul – through his own effort and creativity –  had become one of the greatest showmen in the world.

When I met him, the size of Paul’s corner office in the Penthouse suite – at 9454 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, California, if I remember correctly, was  60 by 40 feet.

Over the years since first meeting I became very fond of Paul for many reasons.

FIRST, When I was a young lawyer,

1. Paul was one of my first clients.
2. Paul hired me to make court appearances for him and to try some of his cases for him.

I remember trying a car accident case for Paul more than 40 years ago.

1. The car accident occurred in Beverly Hills.
2. Two women backed out of their driveways on opposite sides of the street and crashed into each other, rear ended each other.

The magicality and magicalness of Paul have never changed over the years I have known Paul.

Everything about Paul has always been magical:

1. Everything  Paul did/does was/is magical.
2. The way Paul did/does everything was/is magical.

That is still the case.

When Paul found out that I was writing a brief to be submitted to the Court of Appeal of the State of California last month, Paul immediately jumped in –

1. Paul read my brief.
2. Then coached me on how edit and improve my appellate brief.
3. I made the changes Paul suggested.
4.  As a result of listening to Paul my brief now has a magical quality.

Today, Paul is having fun applying his many talents to being the best independent free-lance card trick professional magician in the world.

Christina Molcillo

 

Christina Molcillo is a costume designer, set designer, party thrower, and has her own clothing line.

The name of Christina’s clothing company is Black Lotus Clothing.

Above are photographs of two of Christina’s latest creations.

The model in Christina’s hand made Mata Hari Costume is Malia Bisson.

Look at the handmade black hat the lady in the second photograph is wearing.

The black dress and hat she is wearing were designed and made by Christina.

I encountered Christina’s work product at a Gallery Opening,

Present in the gallery were sets with live models which, in combination, represented paintings that had been painted by the artist whose paintings were being showcased by the gallery.

Christina created

1. The sets in which the models posed.
2. The clothing worn by models, and
3. Christina chose the models in each of the sets. – These models are very poised. Each of these models spoke to visitors who came up to speak to them.

Below are photographs I took while I was at the opening.

All the clothes and clothing in these photographs and all the sets in these photographs were created by Christina.

     

Leah Graham Smolker

Leah Graham Smolker is the epitome of the salesperson’s “ABC” motto in action: “Always Be Closing.”

I have three daughters.

Leah is my youngest daughter.

I find it impossible to resist when Leah advises me that Leah has planned a trip for us to take together.

Recently, Leah told me we should go to Sao Paulo, Brazil this summer, because

1. There is a lake in Sao Paulo full of Black Swans.
2. There are sand dunes in Sao Paulo that fill with rainwater when it rains.
3. People slide down those sand dunes into lagoons filled with fresh rainwater.
4. People go swimming in those lagoons.

Below are three photos Leah recently sent me:

1. Photo of Black Swans in the Black Swan Lake in Sao Paulo, and
2. Photo of a person sliding down a sand dune into a lagoon filled with fresh rain water.
3. Photo of the splash created when that person landed in the lagoon.

 

Leah and I are planning to see sights designated by Leah this summer in Peru and Brazil.

Leah is making all the plans: making hotel reservations, making guided tour reservations, reserving seats on airplanes, etc. etc.

Last summer Leah and I ate our way through Sicily.

All I had/have to do on these trips was/is (a) show up, and (b) pay expenses.

Check out my report on the trip I took with my daughter Leah last summer, which is titled “14 Day Adventure in Sicily.”

My report on that trip – which describes what we did: Leah and I saw great art and ate great classic Sicilian food with wild abandon in Sicily – can be found at https://garysmolker.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/adventure-by-gary-smolker/

Full Heart, All In

I strongly believe we all have a destiny and that if we do what is compatible with our destiny we achieve greatness.

All-In

I especially admire people who are “all in.”

People who are “all in” have super-hyper-awareness.

By necessity, Sumo wrestlers are “all in.”

They have to be.

Sumo Wrestling consists of two combatants trying to throw each other out of a ring and/or trying to to throw each other to their Sumo wrestling mat.

Normally a Sumo wresting match takes less than three minutes from start to finish.

Below are photos I took at a recent International Sumo Wrestling Championship Contest held in Long Beach California.

 

People Who Are All In

I like being around people who are “all in.”

The below photos are of a power lifter about to power lift weights attached to a bar.

I took the photos below at Mendy’s Gym in Van Nuys, California.

 

I work out four or five nights a week at Mendy’s Gym.

While at Mendy’s Gym, I watch world class champion power-lifters and arm wrestlers working out.

Below is a photo of Scott Mendelson, also known as Mendy.

Mendy is famous for having bench-pressed 1,000 pounds.

 

I agree with the statement on Mendy’s t-shirt: You can’t fake strength.

Below is another action shot I took while attending the International Sumo Wrestling Championship recently held in Long Beach, California.

You can’t fake the strength manifest in the above photo.

Natural Awesomeness

   

I took the above photos while looking for house plants at my local Gelson’s market on Sunday morning (April 8, 2018).

Almost everyday, I look at the plants for sale in the Floral Department of Gelson’s, before having my morning coffee at the Starbucks next door in Sherman Oaks, California.

Below is a photo of a flower I saw at my local Ralph’s Grocery Market on my way home from work, on Sunday, April 8, 2018.

I stop at my local Ralph’s Grocery Market almost every night on my way home from work and/or on my way home from working out at Mendy’s Gym.

In the world I live in, I see beauty everywhere.

Designer Elegance

In my experience something as commonplace as a purse. a handbag, or a shoe can be awesome.

Without a doubt, top high fashion designers create awesome purses, bags and shoes.

Below is a photo of a shoe I took on Saturday, April 7, 2018, while I was in Nordstrom’s Topanga (in Canoga Park, California), shopping for a gift to give a four year old girl.

I looked at the shoes for sale on the first floor in the shoe department while I was on my way to the Kids Wear department on the Third Floor.

While on my shopping excursion, I also looked at designer purses and bags which were on display on the first floor of Nordstrom’s, while I was on my way the to the Kids Wear department on the third floor.

Below is a photo of one of the purses I saw.

I saw that purse in the Valentino. boutique, on the first floor of Nordstrom’s, while I was on my way to the Kids Wear department on the third floor.

I

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Everywhere I go, I see awesome magical marketing.

Below is a photograph of a sign on a food truck, I saw on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at lunch time, shortly after I walked out of my office, in Encino, California.

I had to pass the above photo on the side of that food truck, in order to get to the restaurant I was walking to.

That photo made me gasp, made me stop to look at everything else I could see in front of me posted on the side of that food truck.

Hypothesis

The goal of marketing is to get attention that leads to a sale.

Something that makes you gasp will get your attention.

If what you see, hear, or smell, makes you gasp, and is relevant to you, it will open a door that will potentially lead to a sale.

The photo above is of a photo of a 1.5 pound sandwich consisting of a Polish Sausage (original Kielbasa), smoked and grilled, served with grilled onion, sauerkraut, mustard and spicy sauce.

Perhaps you are not that hungry.

Can I interest you in a hot dog, perhaps a Chili Dog?

Below is a photo of another picture on the side of that food truck.

Question

What if lunch was this colorful and delicious every day?

The Three H’s: Honesty, Humility and Humor

The three people described above, who I personally know very well,  are honest, humble and have a great sense of humor.

Each one of them has fun, and concentrates and thinks ahead long term all the time.

Each one of them is very gutsy, is “all in” whenever they do something, and is not afraid to take calculated risks.

They are trustworthy people you can have fun with, and laugh with, and are always interesting to be with.

Takeaway

Life is only as good as you make it.

 

Copyright © 2018 by Gary Smolker

Follow me on Instagram @garyspassion

Live Life Fully with Eyes Wide Open – by Gary Smolker

I’ve been living in a rut.

I got out of that rut on the weekend of January 13, 2017.

My Creative Weekend

During the weekend of January 13 through January 15, 2017, I discovered many treasures, including a double-Decker-merry-go-round-carousel in the Westfield Topanga Mall in front of the Target store.

My goal/project for Saturday (January 14, 2017) was to hang a plate on a wall in my kitchen.

However, I didn’t have any nails.

I decided to go get some nails at Home Depot.

In the process of going to get some nails at Home Depot, along the way, I ended up at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park …. where I discovered the double-Decker-merry-go-round-carousel pictured above.

Art

My housekeeper had given me a plate the day before, on Friday (January 13, 2017) early in the morning before I went to my office in Encino.

Below is a picture of the plate she gave me sitting on a granite counter-top in my kitchen.

On Saturday (January 14, 2017), I decided I would hang that plate on a wall in my kitchen.

However, I didn’t/don’t know how to hammer a nail in a wall and (at the time) I didn’t have any nails.

Luckily I know a woman (Christy Rusk) who knows how to hang a plate on a wall and how to hammer nails into a wall.

My Nine Hour Hanging A Picture on A Wall Project

It took me nine hours from the time I left my home to buy nails to when I got home, hammered nails in a kitchen wall and hung the plate.

To get my project done, I picked up Christy (a young lady who knows how to hammer nails in walls) to help me with the task at hand.

I picked up Christy at Christy’s home near the Grove in West Hollywood, at 11:15 a.m.

After picking Christy up, Christy and I meandered over to the Home Depot store in Woodland Hills, located at 7345 Variel Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA. 91367.

The Lost City of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a lost city.

I say that because Los Angles is spread over so much territory that hardly anyone living in Los Angeles has seen (or been to) every part of it.

On our way to Home Depot, Christy and I stopped at the Westfield Topanga Mall to look for a store that would replace a dead battery in Christy’s watch or would sell Christy a new battery to replace the dead battery in Christy’s watch.

None of the jewelry stores or watch repair stores we visited in the mall would do so for a reasonable price.

That is how we ended up in the Target store at the Westfield Topanga Mall, where I discovered a most amazing book.

The Most Amazing Book

See photograph below.

I didn’t know that book existed.

I found it by “chance” in a Target Store while looking for a new watch battery with Christy.

Fashion As Fine Art

Before Christy and I got to the Target Store, Christy and I meandered through the Nordstrom in the Westfield Topanga Shopping Mall.

While meandering, we walked into the “Chanel Store” and the “Gucci Store” located in the Nordstrom Department Store.

What an eye opening experience that was.

Chanel

Below is a picture I took of a “Clutch” I saw in the Chanel Store.

That clutch is a recycled used cigar box.

It sells for $14,000.00.

Gucci

I also saw amazing purses and clutches at the Gucci store.

See photograph below of a $2,800.00 clutch.

Look at the attention to detail.

Isn’t the attention to detail amazing?

I think so.

Next, I looked at and took a photograph in the Gucci store of a $3,800 Gucci Purse.

See photograph below.

I think the attention to detail in that Gucci purse and the design of that Gucci purse are amazing.

But wait, next I saw and took a picture of, another astounding and even more expensiive Gucci purse.

See picture below.

Don’t you agree that Gucci purse has priceless style, intricate stitching and fabulous design?

 

        

The sales price of that Gucci purse is $5,800.00.

Lush Cosmetics

While we were in the shopping mall, Christy wanted to purchase some soap.

She loves Lush Cosmetics Soap.

We meandered over to the Lush Cosmetics Store.

It was an amazingly creative fun experience to be in that store.

Below are three photos of  signs I saw above three of the different types of soap.

TAKE AWAY:  Signage counts.

Lush Cosmetics knows how to merchandise their products.

See photos below.

In my imagination, prompted by being in that store, I could see myself bathing by candlelight in my bath with a girl friend …. to add a sense of calm, magic and seduction to taking a bath.

I have enchanting candle holders on the side of my oversized bathtub.

The Ultimate Decadent Bathing Experience

I have a wine glass holder on the side of my bath tub.

I was missing the right kind of bubble bath.

Now, thanks to my trip on Saturday (January 14, 2017) to Lush Cosmetics store in the Westfield Topanga Shopping Mall,  I have everything I need for the ultimate decadent bathing experience except a woman to take a bath with me.

How sublime.

I am taking one tiny step at a time.

Heat Is the New Black

According to an article I recently read,

• “Hyperthermic conditioning (calculated heat exposure) can help you increase growth hormone (GH) levels and substantially improve endurance.”
• Hot baths can significantly increase GH over baseline, and have been shown to cause a massive release in prolactin, which plays a role in wound healing.
• If nothing else, they seem to dramatically decrease DOMS (delayed on-set muscle soreness).

Supporting Good Causes

While at Lush Cosmetics I purchased:

• A Twilight Bath Bomb, price $$6.95
• A Yoga Bomb Bath Bomb, price $7.95
• A Tisty Tosty Bath Bomb, price $6.75
• A Frozen Bath Bomb, price $8.95
• A Avobath Bath Bomb, price $6.75 and
• A container of Charity Pot hand and body lotion, price $7.95.

The purchase of these products supports good causes and good groups like ….  the “International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council” which provides education and resources on wildlife rehabilitation to promote conservation and welfare worldwide.

According to their literature, Lush Cosmetics funds grassroots groups working on environmental, human rights and animal protection issues.

By the Way

There are beautiful things to be seen all around us.

On Saturday (January 21, 2017) I went to Glendale with Christy Rusk to eat Dim Sum at Din Tai Fung.

While waiting to be seated we walked outside and saw a little girl who had one hand holding her mother’s hand and her other hand holding a string connected to an elephant balloon.

I also saw many young women wearing sweat shirts broadcasting the printed message: “The Future is Female.”

Copyright © 2017 by Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved

By the way,

• I am a fashion blogger for Dude’s Guide to Women’s Shoes.
• Check out my posts on Dude’s Guide to Women’s Shoes at http://www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com
• I am also on Instagram.
• Check out my posts on Instagram @garyspassion

 

 

 

 

A Comment on Visionary Tom Ford’s Newest Movie “Nocturnal Animals” by Gary Smolker

CONSTANT CONTACT

I constantly come in contact with young and old men and women (married and unmarried) who are lonely.

That is why I am writing this blog post on the issues raised in Nocturnal Animals.

My Soul

Tom Ford’s newest movie Nocturnal Animals touched my soul the first time I saw it (which was at its North American Premier in Toronto at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival 0n 12, September, 2016).

I haven’t been able to get Nocturnal Animals out of my mind.

“Nocturnal Animals” Is An Interesting Conversation Piece

Nocturnal Animals was the topic of conversation I had with two hip people at a high hip quotient networking brunch I attended in Brentwood, California on Saturday October 22, 2016.

Neither of the two hip people I spoke to at that brunch (which was a hip people only affair) had seen Nocturnal Animals yet, but both told me they plan to see Nocturnal Animals soon.

One of those two people (a writer) asked me: “Why do half the people who see ‘Nocturnal Animals’ hate it and the other half love it?”

The other person (a music composer) told me: “I can’t wait to see ‘Nocturnal Animals.’  It won at the Venice Film Festival.”

The Cause of Heart Break and How To Get Over A Broken Heart

Nocturnal Animals is about two painful real-life topics:

• the cause of heart break and
• how to get over a broken heart.

That is why half the people who see it hate it and the other half love it.

Today, the pain arising out of “heart-break”, out of having a “broken-heart”, and being suffered by the large number of heart-broken people in America while they are trying to get over a broken heart is in everyone in America’s face all the time.

Saturday  NIGHT (October 22, 2016): I Was Presented with One Side of the Pain of Heartbreak – The Woman’s Side

Saturday night, I had a quiet dinner with a gorgeous sophisticated spiritual world-wise delightful woman (GORGEOUS AND DELIGHTFUL) who can’t accept the fact that many American men are marriage phobic.  She discussed with me how frustrated she is by

• the marriage phobic state of mind of dashing physically and mentally attractive men she dates;
• their deep seated widespread fear of marriage has emotionally and romantically paralyzed these men;
•  these men want to see her only once or at most twice a week and to be free the rest of the time; and
• she feels all women her age have been trapped by
• the social hierarchical reality that men are supposed to be dominant which currently exists in America;
• this leads to men being overly competitive,
• MALE OVER COMPETITIVENESS has created a society in which men are commitment phobic,
• men are more committed to making money and to their money than to having a committed relationship;
• this limits women’s options,
• their (a woman’s) limited other options “force” women in America to be manipulative,
• because they are manipulative in their relationships with men, they can not get close to men and men cannot get close to them.
• IT HAS BEEN HER EXPERIENCE THAT ROMANCE IS DEAD IN AMERICA.

Many men pour their money into a nonreciprocal (sexually oriented) relationship with all the women in their lives.

DELIGHTFUL GORGEOUS acknowledges she is a “fool” to still “want” to be with the emotionally paralyzed commitment phobic unromantic men who “stole/steal her heart.”

Painfully, DELIGHTFUL GORGEOUS can’t get over them even though she realizes because of the high value she places on ROMANCE (romantic involvement) she has to move on until she finds a romantic partner.

Sunday NIGHT (October 23, 2016): I Was Presented with The Man’s Side of Heartbreak

• Sunday night (October 23, 2016)  I went to an “Emancipation Party” thrown by a man who just paid his wife a “pretty sum” to get her out of his life.
• He was miserable for many years of the past years he was married to her.
• To his relief she moved out of his house about two days ago.
• At his party, he reported to me: “The morning after she moved out was the first morning he woke up with a smile.”
• Male dissatisfaction with marriage is a widely and strongly held sentiment among the many wealthy men I am in contact with.  For example: The other day, another very wealthy friend of mine asked me: “Do you know why divorce is so expensive?  I replied, “Why?” He answered: “Because it is worth it.”

These unhappy men, feel that their wives are using them.

I tell my male friends and my female friends:

• In order for marital and other personal relationships and business relationships to work all parties have to pull their own weight.
• Each partner has to be genuine, sincere, honest and authentic or their relationship is going to fall apart, it isn’t going to work.

TOM FORD

TOM FORD, the Director writer of the screen play and one of the producers of Nocturnal Animals lives in London.

TOM FORD was previously the design director for Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, and YSL Beaute before launching his own fashion brand, the Tom Ford brand. in 2005.

TOM FORD never puts a foot wrong.

TOM FORD has a never ending power of invention, an infallible sense of provocation, that distinguishes modern fashion and modern movie making at its best.

In fact I will go as far as to say, with Nocturnal Nights TOM FORD has launched a new type of genre of film: THE HIP FILM.

TOM FORD’S great passion for detail and clear vision of his aesthetic goals are on display in Nocturnal Animals.

 TOM FORD orchestrates the characters’ in Nocturnal Animals experience of their worlds in such a way that every scene in Nocturnal Animals comes down to one single thing: a wonderful, sensual sensory experience.

Every moment one spends watching Nocturnal Nights is charged with erotic frisson.  Every person in the audience is perpetually on the edge of their seat wanting to know and never knowing what is going to happen next.

In short: TOM FORD is the Flaubert of movie making just as he was a visionary in the world of fashion, the Flaubert of fashion.

Admiration

I admire TOM FORD’S persistence and exactitude.

TOM FORD made sure that everything in every scene in Nocturnal Animals is “just so.”

The perfectionism shown in the final product – which is the experience of watching Nocturnal Animals – resonated with my own very personal demand for perfectionism in all elements of my existence.

I admire and love creativity.

I am attracted to people who are sui generus/generis.

TOM FORD, like myself, is a creature of his own invention.

I am all and am totally in favor of glamour and perfection.

So is TOM FORD.

• TOM FORD has a nimble mind.
• TOM FORD takes his work seriously.
• TOM FORD obviously sips from life’s full cup.

Without a doubt TOM FORD would be great company.

That is one of the many reasons I enjoyed Nocturnal Animals so much.

Nocturnal Animals Is A Refreshing Antidote to Tackiness

Like TOM FORD himself, and the clothes TOM FORD has designed, there is nothing tacky about Nocturnal Animals.

Brash Vision

Looking good requires work.

Nocturnal Animals is the latest manifestation of TOM FORD’S brash vision, seer’s confidence, attention to detail, and hard work.

Nocturnal Nights Is The Latest Well Conceived Successful Product of A Provocateur Visionary

As one perfectionist workaholic provocateur visionary to another, I salute you TOM FORD for a job well done.

Flashy Brassy Attitude

I share TOM FORD’S flashy brassy attitude.

Check out the flashy brassy attitude exhibited in my latest creative business venture Dude’s Guide to Women’s Shoes at http://www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com.

Dude’s Guide to Women’s Shoes is a high hip quotient flamboyant hippie fest which appeals to style-aware goddesses.

DEADLINE

I have put myself under the pressure of a self-imposed deadline to finish writing this movie review in my living room before I go to my office this morning.

VICTIMS OF THEIR OWN INSECURITY

Many people are victims of their own insecurities.

That is why many people love and many other people hate Nocturnal Animals.

• Nocturnal Animals does not have a plot.
• Furthermore, Nocturnal Animals does not have a beginning, or a middle, or an end.
• More importantly, Nocturnal Animals is an impeccably well constructed out of order sequence of a series of scenes in the life of a woman who was her own worse enemy – a woman who became the victim of her own insecurities.

 A MOVIE FOR THE BROKEN HEARTED

The ideal audience for Nocturnal Animals are people whose hearts have been broken by their spouse and/or by their lover(s).

People who have not had their heart broken may or may not be able to [fully] appreciate Nocturnal Animals.

• Mature men who have had their heart broken, men who couldn’t get over their broken heart for a long time or for ever, and men who understand this movie, will love it.
• Mature women who have had their heart broken, who couldn’t get over their broken heart, and women who understand this movie, will also love it.

RULES TO LIVE BY & LESSONS TAUGHT

Nocturnal Animals screams out the following rules to live by and teaches the following lessons:

1. Don’t pair up with someone who is extremely insecure.  Such a relationship will never work.
2. People become happy when they let go of the perception of what they are supposed to be.  Be who you want to be.
3. You can’t make a better past.  Abandon all hope of bettering your past.
4. When you enjoy the absurdity in the world it is less painful.  People act absurdly.
5. Your soul must be the center of your universe.  If everybody in a family is not pulling their own weight the family unit is going to fail.
6. You can’t cheat reality.  You are responsible for your own life.  Fake is fake.
7. You can’t walk away all the time.  When you love somebody and they love you, work out your problems, don’t throw away your love for each other.

HAVE THE STRENGTH TO BELIEVE IN THE PERSON YOU LOVE OR ELSE LIVE A BARREN UNROMANTIC LIFE

The fatal flame-out causing flaw of the main character (Susan played by Amy Adams) in Nocturnal Animals is that she (Susan) did not believe in her first husband.

Her first husband had the strength to see in himself and the strength to believe in himself.

But, she (the main character Susan played by Amy Adams) did not have the strength to believe in her first husband or to ability to see the strength of her first husband.

Her first husband was passionately and romantically totally committed to her.

Her first husband wanted to share her life with her and for her to share his life with him.

Her first husband loved her totally.

Susan was not the right person for her first husband to marry because Susan was so shallow she was incapable of having an enduring relationship with him, good man though he is.

• Susan had no empathy.
• Susan had no emotional connection to her first husband.
• Susan was incapable – way to shallow to be able to share intimacy.
• When push came to shove she was not romantically involved with him enough to wait for his career to blossom.
• Susan did not love her husband enough to go through the ups and downs of life with him.
• Susan discovered she wanted a different life style that her struggling your writer husband could provide or that she could provide for herself as an artist.
• When the hormonal rush of good sex was over, Susan thought she saw that he was not right for her.
• Of course she was wrong.  She was not trustworthy, she was not reliable, she valued having money and “luxury creature comforts” over having a committed relationship.

Her beauty, her love of beauty and her love of financial success was a trap.

A WEAK WRONG HEADED UNROMANTIC WOMAN

SUMMARY: Nocturnal Animals consists of a sequence of scenes in the life of an extremely unhappy woman (Susan) who didn’t believe in a man who was her true and first love.

She became the victim of her own insecurities; her wrongheadedness and emotional weakness made her panic – made her runaway with a dashing successful handsome doctor who turned out to be a philanderer, who frequently went on business trips during which he had sex with “glamorous”  women.

In the end, Susan was very much alone and miserable.

The Beginning

Susan and her first husband knew each other and unbeknownst to each other had crushes on each other when they were in high school.

They met up again when they were graduate students.

• He wanted to be a writer.
• She wanted to be an artist.

After they reconnected in graduate school they discovered they were “in love” with each other and got “married” over the protest and against the advice of her mother.

Her mother told her, “He is poor.  You are rich.  You will never have the things or the life style you are accustomed to if you marry him.”

FAKE DOESN’T HAVE THE SAME FEEL AS REAL – FAKE FEELS FAKE BECAUSE FAKE IS FAKE

Nocturnal Animals shows how a child is going to turn out will depend in great part in what their parents instill in them as a child.

Nocturnal Animals teaches the lesson that parents do a great disservice to their children if and when they tell their children, “It is an easy to fall in love with someone who is rich as it is to fall in love with someone who is poor.”

Mature sophisticated worldly people know is not easy to “fall in love” with anyone.

Parents should tell their children,

• “It is completely unsatisfying to be in love with a person who you can’t get close to, to be married to a person who you can’t connect with, and it is pure hell to live with a person who doesn’t care enough about you.
• “People in the United States live in a highly manipulative society.
• “That is one of the reasons there are so many unhappy marriages.
• “When you find someone in your life that you connect to don’t let them get away.
• “Be real about yourself, about who you are and what you have to offer.
• “Marry someone who is genuine, authentic, sincere, honest and values a relationship that is committed to enduring and getting better.”

THE STRONG ONE STICKS TO WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN

Nocturnal Animals consists of a series of scenes in the life of the very distraught Susan (perfectly played by Amy Adams) and has a wonderful ending.

Go see Nocturnal Animals.

VISUALLY

Visually Nocturnal Nights starts with a presentation of totally nude very over-weight women dancing.

The women are completely nude.

We (the audience) see their entire nude bodies as they dance, pubic hair and everything else.

Next the audience sees the main character, (Susan) a beautiful successful art-gallery owner married to her second husband, a dashing handsome young doctor (perfectly played by Armie Hammer), in her Beverly Hills art-gallery.

Our eyes (the audience’s eyes) are directed to a giant sculpture of a overweight nude woman on the floor in Susan’s are-gallery.

The movie begins with a picture of obese women dancing without any clothes on.

Q: Why is that?

A: The opening scene is a hip metaphor graphically delivering TOM FORD’S message, “The rest of the world is laughing at overweight, unhealthy Americans.”

Gary S. Smolker, publisher, movie reviewer, social commentator
Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog
www.garysmolker.wordpress.com

Gary Smolker, fashion blogger
Dude's Guide to Women's Shoes
www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com

 

Above is a photograph of Gary S. Smolker taken on October 19, 2016 in his office in Encino, California, USA.

COPYRIGHT © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved

 

CREATING DESIRE – by Gary S. Smolker

The 2016 Toronto International Film Festival

I just returned from watching 18 films about fascinating people (in 5 days) at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, in Toronto, Canada.

The City of Toronto is known world wide, in the movie making business, as the city that has the most film literate audience.

Most Motivating Movie I Saw at the Festival

The most motivating movie I saw at the festival was “Paris Can Wait.”

“Paris Can Wait” teaches us that even the most seductive Frenchman can not seduce a well grounded morally straight all American girl.

I say “Paris Can Wait” is the most motivating movie I saw at the festival because after seeing “Paris Can Wait” the woman I was with wanted a glass of wine and assured me that all women in the audience wanted a glass of wine also.

She told me that was the main topic of conversation in the woman’s washroom after the movie concluded.

My Scientific Experiment

At the festival I was able to test my theory that I can tell all I need to know about a woman instantaneously, in less than a minute by looking at the shoes she is wearing.

Below is my report on the experiment I carried out at the festival.

Sophistication Unplugged

Experimental Result and Conclusion

I could tell by looking at the shoes and clothes women attending the festival were wearing and the hand bag they were holding/carrying [while going to see films and standing in line to see films and in the theatres showing the films] how hip, knowledgeable, self-confident, full of self-esteem, energetic, brave, courageous, sophisticated, and full of energy they are/were and whether they welcome new adventure.

Benefit to Mankind of Discovery

COMPELLING SALES PROPOSITION – WHY YOU SHOULD CONTINUE READING

(You Need to Understand Women in Order to Know How to Please Them)

If you know how to do it,  you can tell what kind of woman a woman is in less than one minute [instantaneously] by looking at the shoes she is wearing.

For detailed information on this topic, check out my blog posts on Dudes Guide to Women’s Shoes at http://www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com.

Theory Proven

(Summary: The Shoes A Woman Wears Is Much More Revealing than the Palm of Her Hand.)

The scholarly “in-the-field-enterprise” described below and scientific experimental data set forth in visual form below conclusively proves that the shoes a woman is wearing is much more revealing than the palms of her hands.

If a woman wears “sexy shoes”, and if the man she is with looks at her shoes, the vision of her in her shoes will close around the man looking at her shoes, that image will reach inside him, controlling his every thought as he is looking at her shoes.

The image he sees of her at that moment, in her sexy shoes, will be impossible for him to forget.

It is not complicated:

• Women know how to parameterize.
• Women know that after seeing her in her sexy shoes, a weak man might get drunk and say something poetic and romantic to her, then wake up with her besides him the next morning, with a terrible hangover, kneading his forehead and consumed with guilt because of the sweet possessive looks she is giving him.
• Women have no trouble putting any man in a box, and tying it with a ribbon and giving herself to him as a wedding gift … by wearing sexy shoes, then getting the man she is with drunk.

A BIT OF ADVICE TO MEN:  You don’t have to be a big thinker, it is a transcendent universal, the ultimate reality, beware of women wearing “sexy shoes.”

My Analysis of the Following Scientific Experimental Data

A WOMAN’S SHOES REFLECT WHETHER SHE IS HIGH ENERGY

Below is a series of pictures of the shoes worn by a woman I met Friday night (September 16, 2016)  in the waiting area for Air Canada flight AC793 to Los Angeles at the Pearson International Airport, Toronto – on way back home after I had been in Toronto for seven days.

I met her while I was waiting to board an Air Canada plane to take me back to Los Angeles from Toronto.

Can’t you tell what kind of person that woman is just by looking at the shoes she is wearing, pictured above?

I can/I could.

Coincidentally, the name of the “young woman” whose shoes are shown above is Nirvana.

I could tell instantaneously by looking at Nirvana’s gold Gucci shoes that Nirvana has money spending power; she is fashion conscious; she is a cutting edge person.

Nirvana can buy or has someone in her life who will buy her shoes that cost $500 or more; Nirvana knows what is going on in the world of fashion; Nirvana makes up her own mind; Nirvana is comfortable in her own skin, and is (a) smart, (b) fun, and (c) energetic in every sense of those three words.

In summary, by looking at the gold shoes Nirvana was wearing, I knew in less than one minute [instantaneously] that Nirvana is SMART, FUN and ENERGETIC.

After I introduced myself to Nirvana and asked for permission to take pictures of her shoes and of her to post on my blog, and after Nirvana told me it was/is okay to do so, Nirvana told me Nirvana’s hobbies are napping (two 10 minute naps a day) and dancing.

While we were waiting to catch our plane back to Los Angeles, Nirvana and I talked about how Gucci recently made a “comeback” in the world of fashion.

By the way the shoes Nirvana is wearing are Gucci shoes.

SHOES REFLECT WHETHER A WOMAN IS AN ASPIRING ACTRESS OR MODEL

Below is a series of photographs I took of a woman I saw sitting at a table at the Canteen where I was having my breakfast on morning Sunday (September 11, 2016).

Upon looking at that woman’s poise and “pose”, I immediately knew she is a woman who has great flare and great acting ability.

I immediately knew that I wanted to take a picture of her wearing her over the knee boots shown in the photographs below.

Look at the boots she is/was wearing.

Immediately after seeing her, I walked up to her to ask if I could take photographs of the books she was/is wearing.

She told me I could take a picture of her and the shoes she is/was wearing to post on my blog.

She then gave me a business card.

She did not pose for the photo shoots (the photos below) I took of her boots.

What you see in the photograph below is what I saw when I first looked at her.

She told me her name is Helena-Alexis and that she is an Actress/Model.

Her business card states:

• She (Helena-Alexis) is a two time winner of the Best Actress award of FACES MAGAZINE,
• She has twice been nominated Best Actress by BLACK CANADIAN ARTISTS, and
• She has twice been nominated Best Model by FACES MAGAZINE.

A WOMAN’S SHOES REFLECT WHETHER SHE LIKES LIVING A LIFE OF HIGH ADVENTURE ON STEROIDS

The minute I saw Robin (aka as Bronwen Hughes) come at stage at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto at 10:15 p.m. on September 15, 2016, to introduce the “World Premier” screening of her film “The Journey Is The Destination”, I knew I was about to see an exciting movie because I could tell by looking at her that she is an exciting woman.

I instantaneously recognized that Robin is an exciting woman by merely looking at Robin’s shoes as well as the rest of her ensemble.

Below are photographs I took of Robin at the Isabel Bader Theater immediately after the showing of her film “The Journey Is the Destination.”

The photographs below show what Robin looked like when Robin came on the stage at the Isabel Bader Theatre to introduce her movie.

The screenplay for “the Journey is the Destination” was written jointly by Robin with Jan Sardi.

By the way, Jan Sardi also wrote the screenplay for Shine and also wrote the screenplay for The Notebook.

Look at Robin’s outfit, in the photo below which I took of Robin while she was on the stage at the Isabel Bader Theatre.

Look at Robin’s shoes.

Look again at Robin’s shoes.

Before the screening of her film began, Robin said to the audience: “How can you be good at something you are not passionate about?

Robin said:

• It takes guts and vision to make a visionary film
• When you have a vision [of a film you want to make] you need visionaries to get on board with you to move your project/train down the track.
• You are about to see a visionary film made by a team of visionaries.
• This film is about a photojournalist [Dan Eldon] who lived the steroid version of the life I want(ed) to live.

Below is a close up photograph I took of Robin’s face.

I see determination, strength, and and will to succeed (a) radiating out from Robin’s face, (b) radiating out from Robin’s over one shoulder black blouse, (c) radiating out from Robin’s sandals/shoes, (d) radiating out from Robin’s contagious smile and (e) radiating out from Robin’s silver shorts.

Below is a picture I took of Robin sitting down at the edge of the stage while answering questions directed to her by people in the audience.

 

I could instantaneously tell, by looking at Robin, that Robin is a woman who robustly lives life.

I could instantaneously tell by looking at Robin’s shoes, silver shorts, black over the shoulder blouse, and by looking at the earnest/contagious gleam in her eyes and smile that Robin is a fiercely creative artist.

I knew nothing about Robin and had never seen Robin before I took the above photos of Robin.

Mathematical Certainty

Although I have given my analysis of the type of woman a women is by merely looking at her shoes, and although what I say in the material above sounds scientific, BEWARE I do not claim mathematical certainty.

I may have misjudged one or more of the women whose shoes I have analyzed.

Perhaps I have completely mistaken who and what kind of women those women are by merely looking at the shoes they were wearing at the time I first saw them, which was the first time I met each one of them.

Perhaps I have over-stated the power sexy shoes, and the power a woman wearing sexy shoes, can/does have over a man.

Certainly becoming “drunk”/inebriated with a man while wearing “sexy shoes” is far more than an ingenious set of tools women use for facilitating uninhibited communication.

The story told in “Paris Can Wait” demonstrates that the combination of good food and good wine are a veritable nuclear weapon.

The Most Motivating Movie I Saw at the 2016 TIFF

Watching “Paris Can Wait” made everyone hungry and crazy with desire to have a glass of wine.

“Paris Can Wait” was/is written and directed by a 78 year old beginner – Eleanor Coppola, the wife of Francis Coppola for over five decades.

It is an intoxicating tour from Cannes to Paris – heavenly vistas, art and architecture and visions of cuisine regionales to die for.

Add a seductive bon vivant to the mix who tells the woman he is with (while taking two days to drive her to Paris from Cannes – normally a two hour car drive) that all women before her had been mere souffle and she is Creme Brulee.

When I described this movie – the food and wine and scenery – to two sophisticated women I know, one replied:

“I wish we were in Toronto, with Femme Fatale on Gary’s right and me on the left and wine in-between movies.”

The other woman (Femme Fatale) replied:

“Gary the the best exotic.

“Yes we may plan that for next year.”

After watching “Paris can wait, I took the woman I was with to my favorite restaurant in Toronto, Terroni at 57 Adelaide St. E., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where she and I had a glass of wine before dinner, she had Amatrice as her entree and I had Spaghetti Canna Mare, after dinner drinks and wonderful deserts.

Below is a photograph I took of the woman who saw “Paris Can Wait” with me and of a glass containing the wonderful wine served to her before her dinner entree arrived.

Below is a picture of Amatrice – the wonderful entree served to her which she enjoyed immensely.

Below is a photograph I took of the entree served to me (Spaghetti Canna Mare) – which I enjoyed immensely.

We shared tow wonderful desserts – a Torta Calda and a Budino di Caramello, and both drank a different wonderful after dinner wine.

Below is a photograph I took of the deserts we shared.

She is looking at her smart phone to figure out how we are going to get to the next movie we were going to see right after dinner.

By the way, we saw 18 movies in 5 days together.

In between movies, we often had something to drink and a snack.

Below is a picture of one of those snacks we enjoyed on September 14 in between leaving one movie theatre and rushing off to another movie theater.

The picture below is a photograph I took of the strawberry shortcake we enjoyed together – shared with each other – while each of us were sipping our own coffee cup containing a generous shot of Baileys in a cup of coffee.

The ingredients of Strawberry Shortcake Dish shown above are rosewood honeycomb, lemon poppy seed cake, and burnt honeycomb ice cream.

We enjoyed that snack at the LUMA Restaurant located at 350 King St. W. Floor 2, Toronto, Ontario.

Takeaway

Sophisticated people know foreplay does not begin in the bedroom.

Gary S. Smolker, publisher, movie reviewer, social commentator
Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog 
www.garysmolker.wordpress.com

Gary S. Smolker, fashion blogger
Dudes Guide to Women's Shoes
www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com

 

 

Copyright © 2016 Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved