Women Images: November 2009

December 2009 Numero Korea Cover & Editorial: Snejana Onopka, ph: Mariano Vivanco

Mariano Vivanco photographed Snejana Onopka for the December 2009 Numero Korea cover and editorial.

December 2009 Numero Korea cover and editorial
Model: Snejana OnopkaPhotographer: Mariano Vivanco

WPW Artist Featured on American Art Collector Cover

We'd like to extend our congratulations to "Women Painting Women" artist Ali Cavanaugh, who's painting was featured on this month's issue of American Art Collector Magazine!

her time is running out, and we all know when

December 2009 Russian Vogue: Alexa Yudina, Photo: Terry Tsiolis

Terry Tsiolis photographed Alexa Yudina for the December 2009 Russian Vogue on May 19, 2009 with stylist Simon Robins.

December 2009 Russian Vogue editorial
Model: Alexa Yudina
Photographer: Terry Tsiolis
Stylist: Simon Robins
Hair: Esther Langham
Makeup: Petros Petrohilos

Planet Awesome Kid on Style.com

From style.com:
Suri. Shiloh. Violet. Apple. Don’t be embarrassed—I love ‘em, too. I may not be ready for a kid of my own, but today’s baby craze—crazy as it is—has me totally enthralled. We see pictures of these kids all the time on blogs and in magazines; I get press releases about the designers they’re wearing; heck, even in the recession, the billion-dollar baby industry is reported to be thriving. So it was only a matter of time before the little bambinos got their own Sartorialist-esque site, Planet Awesome Kid, devoted to the chicest of the chic.

Wait a sec. Do kids really need their own Sartorialist? Well, maybe not. But when the site’s founders, casting director Julia Samersova Adler and Women Model Management booker Christiana Tran, saw the hip threads the prepubescent set rocks these days, they decided to pay their tribute. “The idea for the site came to me one afternoon while chilling in the park with my baby daughter. I noticed all the fierce, cool, awesome kids all around,” Samersova Adler explains. She and Tran take most of the pictures themselves, but they do accept submissions as well. Their only rule: “We do not discriminate. Every child is a star—if they’re in the right outfit!” (To wit, many photos are accompanied by fashion credits.) And before the frivolity brigade charges in, let’s note that PAK helps to raise awareness for a very good cause: Global Action for Children. Its U.S. chairwoman? Shiloh’s mom.
—Derek Blasberg

girl you're so young and pretty

"We Gotta Get out of This Place", occasionally written "We've Gotta Get out of This Place", is a rock song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and recorded as a 1965 hit single by The Animals. It has become an iconic song of its type and was immensely popular among United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War.

In The Animals' rendition, the lyrics were slightly reordered and reworded from the demo, and opened with what seemed to be a reference to their industrial, working class Northern England origins:

In this dirty old heart of the city
Where the sun refused to shine
People tell me, there ain't no use in tryin'

Next comes a verse about the singer's father at the end of his life with little to show for it, followed by one of The Animals' call-and-response buildups, finally leading through delayed tension to the well-known chorus:

We gotta get out of this place!
If it's the last thing we ever do ...
We gotta get out of this place,
'cause girl, there's a better life ... for me and you

At the time, the title and simple emotional appeal of "We Gotta Get out of This Place" lent itself to some obvious self-identifications. More notably, the song was very popular with United States Armed Forces members stationed in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was frequently requested of, and played by, American Forces Vietnam Network disc jockeys. During 2006 two University of Wisconsin–Madison employees, one a Vietnam veteran, began an in-depth survey of hundreds of Vietnam veterans, and found that "We Gotta Get out of This Place" had resonated the strongest among all the music popular then: "We had absolute unanimity is this song being the touchstone. This was the Vietnam anthem. Every bad band that ever played in an armed forces club had to play this song." In America it was used as the title credits song in some episodes of the Vietnam-war-set television series China Beach.

"We Gotta Get Out Of This Place"

In this dirty old part of the city
Where the sun refused to shine
People tell me there ain't no use in tryin'

Now my girl you're so young and pretty
And one thing I know is true
You'll be dead before your time is due, I know

Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin'
Watched his hair been turnin' grey
He's been workin' and slavin' his life away
Oh yes I know it

He's been workin' so hard, yeah
I've been workin' too, baby, yeah
Every night and day, yeah

We gotta get out of this place
If it's the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Cause girl, there's a better life for me and you

Now my girl you're so young and pretty
And one thing I know is true, yeah
You'll be dead before your time is due, I know it

Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin'
Watched his hair been turnin' grey, yeah
He's been workin' and slavin' his life away
I know he's been workin' so hard

I've been workin' too, baby, yeah
Every day baby, yeah
Wow, yeah...

We gotta get out of this place
If it's the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there's a better life for me and you
Somewhere baby, somehow I know it

We gotta get out of this place
If it's the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there's a better life for me and you

Believe me baby, I know it baby
You know it too

Shin-Young An

Clipping a Big Toenail, 22"x 28", Oil on Newspaper

Shin-Young An

Daniela Astone

Paure, oil on canvas, 29½" x 22"

Daniela Astone

December 2009 American Vogue: Ana Mihajlovic, Photo: Daniel Jackson

Daniel Jackson photographed Ana Mihajlovic for an American Vogue December 2009 editorial on October 6, 2009 with stylist Kathryn Neale Shaffer.

American Vogue December 2009 editorial
Model: Ana Mihajlovic
Photographer: Daniel Jackson
Stylist: Kathryn Neale Shaffer
Hair: Kevin Ryan
Makeup: Lisa Houghton

November 2009 Italian Vogue: Alexa Yudina, Photo: Emma Summerton

Emma Summerton photographed Alexa Yudina for a Italian Vogue November 2009 editorial on April 26-27, 2009 with stylist Patti Wilson.

Italian Vogue November 2009 editorial
Model: Alexa Yudina
Photographer: Emma Summerton
Stylist: Patti Wilson
Hair: Diego da Silva
Makeup: Mathias van Hooff

The more the Merryer........

Bob Merry is a happy camper, as well he should be. His latest tome, A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent, is movin' on up, currently ranking as high as #191 on the best-seller lists; as high as #22 in history books; and #1 in 19th century history. Not bad for a kid who grew up in a little fishing village in Washington state and not bad for a president that most people don't remember. Therein lies the genius.

Merry takes readers on a four hundred and seventy-seven page journey into the life of the 11th President of The United States, long considered “our most underrated president.” As a third grader briefly living in Charlottesville, Virginia, the author absorbed the rich history that surrounded him and acquired a taste for this period, perhaps ultimately the impetus for the book.

"I portray James Polk, the mastermind and driving force behind this expansionist wave, as a smaller-than-life figure with larger-than-life ambitions. He achieved all his goals, but the efforts of this relentless politician sapped his strength and health, and within four months of his leaving office he died in his sleep at age 53."

If the number of book parties being held in his honor is any indication of his success, Merry is a winner. The latest party was at the home of Audrey Cramer where former CQ colleagues David Rapp, Keith White, Loesje Troglia joined columnist and commentator Mark Shields, MSNBC contributor and on and off again presidential contender Pat Buchanan and what seemed like at least another hundred and fifty.

  Merry, who is the author of three other books, has been a journalist and publishing executive for over thirty-five years, including a decade as a Wall Street Journal correspondent and a dozen years as president and editor in chief of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.

"I had two wonderful career segments," said Merry, "covering Washington for one of the country's leading newspapers; and leading a fine news organization with the hallowed mission of lubricating the wheels of American democracy with ongoing flows of highly valuable civic information."

After thought: Run, don't walk to get your copy: http://tinyurl.com/ylgo67y

After thought 2 (jus' sayin'): There are 98 pages in the notes and index, hope the researcher was well compensated.

After thought 3: Photo is not a "self pimp", my camera battery was dead. Credit Loesje for this one.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall.............

“I stuttered all through high school,” revealed Vice President Joseph Biden, the keynote speaker for Washington’s Lab School’s Twenty-fifth Anniversary at the National Building Museum. “People think you’re not very smart,” he continued, praising Lab School, the first of its kind in the nation as a model for success in helping students overcome learning disabilities. “It sapped my confidence.”

He said he didn’t mean to compare his stuttering with the handicaps some of the students faced, but in struggling against it (he stood in front of a mirror and recited poetry to get control) he gained an understanding of the efforts they made.

“Don’t let it define you,” he urged. “My parents told me that being different is no barrier to success. It is not a reason for shame.”

Founded by the late educator Sally Smith, students from kindergarten though twelfth grade are prepared for success and future schooling through an innovative, tailor-made curriculum that includes art and creative projects.

This year’s honorees were Bill Milliken, the founder of Communities in Schools; motivational speaker Jonathan Mooney, author of “Learning Between the Lines,”; and actress Lara Flynn Boyle, who was unable to attend.

Comedian Ali Wentworth shared the master of ceremonies stint with her husband, George Stephanopoulos, who is currently rumored to replace ABC’s Diane Sawyer when she moves up to the anchor slot after Charlie Gibson takes a bow.

Laughter ensued when George mentioned he could always get good quotes from Joe Biden, (probably because the loquacious vice-president has so many of them). Biden shot back that he hoped to keep that tendency in check: “I’m trying like hell, but it’s difficult. I’ve never had a boss before.”

Honorary chairs were Sally Quinn and Ben Bradlee. Co-chairs were Nancy and Alan Bubes and Angus and Sissy Wentworth Yates.

Will the real Housewives please stand up!

“Am I going to be on the hot seat?” was the first question Simon van Kempen of Real Housewives of New York asked Carol Joynt when he agreed to be interviewed on her Q and A Café series at the Georgetown Ritz Carlton. “It will be a warm seat,” she admitted.

The dapper Aussie, famed for his sartorial styles, is the general manager of Murray Hill’s Hotel Chandler in New York both in life and on the show. He got there after climbing the ladder in his native Brisbane from night bellman, through kitchen duties and accountant’s tasks, ranging from London, Paris and New York, as well as acting as hotel consultant in six countries. His wife, Alex McCord, is a real NY housewife on the show.

With the Real Wives franchise presently covering NYC, New Jersey, California’s Orange County and Atlanta, producers are honing in on the much anticipated Washington series. They are being cagey with the casting, having kept us up in the air since May, when a sample slice-of-DC-life was filmed at super lobbyist Juleanna Glover’s home.

Georgetown modeling agency president Lynda Erkiletian seems already pegged for one spot. Present at the luncheon and considered shoo-ins for the show were Mary Amons (mother of five and founder of the District Sample Sale) and style arbiter Paul Wharton, of Evolution Look.

Simon spoke of the book he and Alex have written. Urban Parenting: Tales from a Real House in New York City is based on experiences with their two sons, Francois and Johan, who appear on the show with them. He was insistent on the importance of giving children time and attention. “I was only five years old when my father died, he said, “and I want to be the father to them that I didn’t have.”

Questioned after the show, he admitted: “I had fun.” Nevertheless, he artfully dodged some of Carole’s more probing questions regarding the show’s feuds, like the Ramona-Mario hassles with Simon and his wife Alex.

Also there were Sophie LaMontaigne and Katherine Kallinis who are having a phenomenal success with their trendy Georgetown Cupcake shop, (selling 1,000 per day at $2.75 a piece). They will be Carol’s Q and A’s Café’s guests on December 9th, explaining how a pair of 20-somethings with an idea made it all happen.

Item submitted by HOP contributor Donna Shor

I Am Martin Eisenstadt at the home of Joe Lockhart

http://animoto.com/play/MJuCg685q4eW3D2fTO4yUw

Me and Orson Welles: The kids stay in the picture. D.C. Premiere with Zac Efron and Claire Danes

http://animoto.com/play/V2VzFxlstlCwz1FbevtdUA?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=one_click_share

Veterans Day

In the USA, today is Veterans Day. My father is a veteran of the Vietnam War and my brother is a veteran of the Iraq War. They served our country and deserve respect all year long. Because of their sacrifice and hard work I have the freedom to pursue my dreams. Their service inspires me to be a better man every day.

Veterans Day History, from wikipedia:
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting the President issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday; "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."

In 1953, an Emporia, Kansas shoe store owner named Al King had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who served in World War I. King had been actively involved with the American War Dads during World War II. He began a campaign to turn Armistice Day into "All" Veterans Day. The Emporia Chamber of Commerce took up the cause after determining that 90% of Emporia merchants as well as the Board of Education supported closing their doors on November 11, 1953, to honor veterans. With the help of then-U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954.

Congress amended this act on November 8, 1954, replacing "Armistice" with Veterans, and it has been known as Veterans Day since.

Although originally scheduled for celebration on November 11 of every year, starting in 1971 in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. In 1978 it was moved back to its original celebration on November 11 (with the exceptions described above). Since this change, there has been a trend against being closed on the holiday. It began with businesses (excluding banks) and in recent years some schools and local governments have also chosen to remain open.

Pamela's Punch! Third Anniversary Party.

Prosecco flowed at Dupont Circle’s chic and eco-conscious Hudson’s Restaurant and Lounge on M Street when 50 of DC’s hippest helped Pamela Sorensen celebrate the third anniversary of Pamela's Punch.

Her social networking blog chronicles local events and markets, signaling what to follow, wear, eat and where to do it. Pamelaspunch.com “satisfies your thirst for the latest juice on the coolest places,” says Pamela.

Guests included a cross section of well-wishers from the media, social and financial worlds, including WJLA’s Rebecca Cooper, PR hotshot Victoria Michael, publisher John Arundel, The Hill's Christina Wilkie, AOL co-founder Jim Kimsey, Sofitel’s Pierre-Louis Renou and his wife Stephanie and The Washington Times' Stephanie Green of Green & Glover Undercover column.

Hudson’s managing partner, Alan Popovsky , orchestrated the seated dinner, which saw executive chef Ryan Arnold sending out truffled endive salad, Natural Angus New York strip steak and Arnold’s version of a fluffy cod brandade, which he Americanized by butter-browning into Gallic-accented,
crisp New England codfish balls.

The wines paired for each course included a flowery Alma Rosa Chardonnay, and a mellow, California-styled and intriguingly titled Menage a Trois, Folie a Deux Napa Cabernet.

Item by HOP contributor Donna Shor

Photo: Rebecca Cooper, Jim Kimsey, Pamela Sorensen

Photo credit: Janet Donovan

Moore than they bargained for in Washington Life Magazine

http://www.washingtonlife.com/category/pollywood/hollywood-on-the-potomac/

Anne V for Achilles International

Anne & Alexander Dmitriev at the NYC marathon on November 1:

Anne Vyalitsyna ran the NYC marathon on November 1 on behalf on "Achilles International" which is a worldwide organization that encourages people with disabilities like paralysis, visual impairment, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, amputations, and traumatic brain injuries to participate in running with the general public.

Anne guided Alexander Dmitriev from Russia for the entire length of the marathon. He participated in a wheelchair.

Achilles International's story:
In 1976, Dick Traum, an above the knee amputee, found himself approaching middle age and out of shape. After joining a local YMCA, Dick began running – small distances at first and then, eventually several miles. Within a year, Dick became the first amputee to run the New York City Marathon. The experience was life changing, bringing a powerful sense of achievement and self-esteem. In 1983, seeking to provide that same opportunity to other people with disabilities, Dick created the Achilles Track Club, now called Achilles International.

Today, this non-profit organization has chapters and members in over 70 countries. Every day, in parks, gyms, and tracks all over the world, Achilles provides athletes with disabilities with a community of support. Able-bodied volunteers and disabled runners come together to train in an environment of support and community. Within this community, runners gain measurable physical strength and build confidence through their sense of accomplishment, which often transfers to other parts of their life.

Over the years, Achilles has also developed specialized programs for children and war veterans. Achilles Kids provides training, racing opportunities, and an in-school program for children with disabilities, while our Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans program brings running programs and marathon opportunities to disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

While their programs focus on athletics, the truth is, sports are simply the tool for accomplishing their main objective: to bring hope, inspiration and the joys of achievement to people with disabilities. Nothing illustrates this more than their signature event, the Hope and Possibility Five-Miler. In this race, able-bodied and disabled athletes participate side-by-side and, with several disabled award categories, it puts a first place win within the grasp of all runners.

Anne has a well deserved reputation for being the nicest model in this business. Her kindness has touched me in a personal way. My uncle James, my fathers brother, died of multiple sclerosis before I was born. I was named after him. My uncle Tommy, my mothers brother, died of ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gherig's Disease last year. Also, both my father and brother are war veterans. I admire Anne for generously donating her time and energy to Achilles International, a charity that helps people with MS, ALS as well as war veterans gain strength, hope and dignity.

Anne is a real beauty - on the inside and on the outside.

Sølve Sundsbø photographed Anne Vyalitsyna for the Sonia Rykiel for H&M Holiday 2009 campaign on Sep 2, 2009 in London.

Sonia Rykiel for H&M Holiday 2009 campaign
Model: Anne Vyalitsyna
Photographer: Sølve Sundsbø
Location: Big Sky Studio, Studio #2, 29-31 Brewery Road, London N7 9QH

Knock Out: Robin Givens vs. Mike Tyson

Heavyweight Champion of the World Mike Tyson has been called a lot of things, starting with his real name: Michael Gerard Tyson. From there he moved on Kid Dynamite, then to Iron Mike to The Baddest Man on the Planet and finally to wife abuser - the latter a title no one wants to win.

Knock Out Abuse Against Women benefits victims of domestic violence founded in 1994 by Cheryl Masri and Jill Sorensen.

It’s been estimated that it takes 8 or 9 attempts to leave an abusive relationship. The events' headliner, Robin Givens, agreed. “That’s about right,” she said. Would she ever be in an abusive relationship again? “Absolutely not.”

Some recent studies reveal that nearly 50 percent of women are impacted by domestic violence in their adult lives. “Abuse has several tag lines, but it’s always the same story,” she said.

Don’t be part of the story. Run, don't walk to: http://www.knockoutabuse.org/

"Ich bin ein Berliner," again

NBC stalwart Tom Brokaw marched into the Newseum this week to a sold-out forum with PBS legend Robert MacNeil commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. “It was as though the people of Venus had come to Mars,” Brokaw said, remembering the joyous demolition that pulverized the Cold War era and spawned a flowering of democracy across eastern Europe.

The first time Brokaw saw the structure, he was "struck by its sinister quality." Being confined by The Wall (on the East, at least) was “worse than being at Alcatraz,” he said.

MacNeil said Germans were shocked when The Wall was built right through their towns. “People before had worked on either side, they had relatives on the other side."

"There were two men," he said, "who lived on either side of The Wall, one was a tailor and the other a bureaucrat, and they had never met. But every morning, for many years, as they went off to work, they waved at each other. And when The Wall came down, they held each other in a warm embrace.”

Who says Germans are stiff?

When Newseum VP and moderator-in-chief Susan Bennett finally called the discussion to an end the audience sighed with regret, hoping for a few more minutes of the journalists' memories. Brokaw offered: “Today, eastern Germany is still an open wound. It is not doing well economically, and not surviving. Many people there believe that communism would be better. And West Germany thinks the Eastern half is a drain on the German economy.”

Achtung.

Posted by HOP contributor Beth Koralia
Photo credit: Jeff Malet

Italian Vogue November 2009 video - Rianne ten Haken, Photo: Steven Meisel

Steven Meisel photographed Rianne ten Haken for the Italian Vogue November 2009 cover + editorial on July 16-17, 2009 with stylist Marie Amelie Sauve.

Italian Vogue November 2009 cover + editorial
Model: Rianne ten Haken
Photographer: Steven Meisel
Stylist: Marie Amelie Sauve
Hair: Guido Palau
Makeup: Pat McGrath
Hair Color: Laurie Foley of L’Atelier de Laurie

Losing the News?

Twisting handkerchiefs over the future of news didn’t stop a great party for Alex Jones’ new book, “Losing the News,” at Mary and Don Graham’s last week.

Media heavyweights Jim Lehrer, Mark Shields and Judy Woodruff of the NewsHour, Andy Glass of Politico, Bloomberg’s Al Hunt, BBC’s Rome Hartman and GWU’s Frank Sesno jammed the spacious Cleveland Park home to celebrate their former colleague, who covered the media for the New York Times and won a Pulitzer before going to Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

“Losing the News” rightly worries about the erosion of what Jones calls the “iron core” of journalism – the “values and reporting” that serve the public. Jones was literally surrounded by people who built that iron core as he spoke to the gathering of 150.

Jones sounded pessimistic, but Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker characterized his views as a “coffee cup half full” in Sunday's paper.

Jones says the prognosis is mixed. “My optimism comes from believing that we’re going to be able to solve” the problem of splintering audiences and declining circulation. “It’s too important not to solve. But it could go the other way."

Jones vehemently disagrees with the view that the print newspaper industry has contributed to its own demise by not moving faster to adopt new technologies and distribution methods.

Media giant Gannett, on the other hand, has moved aggressively to attract online audiences by luring them through non-traditional information sites like highschoolsports.net and MomsLikeMe.com. Gannett’s online advertising revenue soared 80 percent in its latest reporting, while print advertising – still the bread and butter for the behemoth – declined almost 25%.

That doesn’t cut the mustard for Jones. “If these organizations save themselves by getting out of the news business, I don’t care what happens to them. I fear that they’re gong to become like local television, programming calculated to attract an audience.”

But the author isn’t all doom and gloom, and he’s written a book with broad appeal. “The title of the book is losing the news, not lost the news,” he says. “It’s the public mission we have to save.”

Item by HOP contributor Beth Solomon.