In Michael Jackson Painting, He Wore Red Velvet - City Room Blog - NYTimes.comIn Michael Jackson Painting, He Wore Red Velvet
By Jennifer 8. Lee“The Book,” painted in 1990 by Brett-Livingstone Strong.
The owners of a long-hidden painting of Michael Jackson, reputed to be the only portrait he ever posed for, say they are trying to sell it amid the renewed interest after his death. The painting, last sold in 1990 for $2.1 million, was brought out of storage at New Jersey warehouse recently and put on display in a Harlem car showroom.
The 50-by-40-inch painting, called “The Book,” was done in 1990 by an Australian artist, Brett-Livingstone Strong, who was a close friend of Mr. Jackson and shared his taste for slightly fantastical style of life and dress.
The portrait depicts Mr. Jackson dressed in red velvet holding a journal of thoughts and sketches. “We called it, ‘The Book,’” Mr. Strong said. ‘What are you going to put in ‘The Book’ today, Michael?’” The backdrop is Neverland, with an image of Tinkerbell. The painting has touches of Vermeer, as that was one of Mr. Jackson’s favorite painters, Mr. Strong said.
The painting is owned by two toy inventors, Marty Abrams and John Gentilly, who received the painting in 1992 from a Japanese businessman who had bought it to make good on a debt he owed the inventors.
“If someone came with a legitimate offer, I’d probably sell it,” said Mr. Abrams, who lives in Great Neck. He tried selling it when he first took possession of it in 1992, but couldn’t find any good offers.
“I couldn’t get anyone at that time interested in the painting,” said Mr. Abrams. “I put it in storage for 17 years, and it has been there for 17 years.”
They never displayed it in their own homes. “It’s so expensive that the insurance was too expensive,” Mr. Abrams said. “I have prints for $600. I might have a sketch for $1,000. But to put a $2 million painting in the middle of all that would be a little bit overwhelming.”
They were inspired to bring the painting out of storage after Mr. Jackson’s death in June, in part because Mr. Abrams saw a news story about a sketch portrait of Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol that was being put up for auction.
Mr. Strong and Mr. Jackson formed an art business partnership, the Jackson-Strong Alliance, around 1989 and 1990 to display their art work, which included this portrait. The two were brainstorming how to raise money for charity when Mr. Strong mentioned that a Japanese businessman, Hiromichi Saeki, had offered millions of dollars for a portrait of Mr. Jackson.
Mr. Jackson said he would sit for it if the buyer agreed to pay a world record — ultimately $2.1 million, then reported as the highest amount ever paid for a living person. “Sometime later he told me he would have made $5 million for it,” Mr. Strong said. The businessman later went bankrupt and gave the painting to Mr. Abrams.
Mr. Strong still has a number of drawings done by Mr. Jackson as part of the partnership. “These drawings are really interesting. Some of the are really fantastic. They have been in a drawer for 17 years.” He is hoping to hold an exhibit of the art.
A limited, autographed set of lithographs was created based on “The Book.” Around 375 of them were numbered and some have made their way onto eBay and Craigslist.
The owners have received calls from as far away as Dubai after Mr. Jackson’s death from people who knew they owned the painting. “Up to this point we’ve been very skittish,” Mr. Abrams said. They have reached out to Phillips De Pury auction house to get an assessment. “I am not an art expert. I don’t understand the art market,” he said. “We have no idea what it’s worth. Is it worth $1 million? Is it worth $10 million?”
Currently, the painting is being displayed at the Dancy-Power Automotive at Lenox Avenue and West 129th in Harlem, chosen in part because it is owned by a friend of Mr. Abrams and also because it is near the Apollo Theater, where the Jackson 5 won an amateur night competition in 1967.
It hasn’t drawn huge crowds, Mr. Abrams said, in part because “we don’t put a big sign in the window, ‘Michael Jackson Painting Here.’”
August 24, 2009
Hiromichi Saeki. Michael Jackson. Yakuza. -- Stay Tuned
Constitutional Plaque Initiative - all i can say is, my fucking hand hurts
Constitutional Plaque InitiativeConstitutional Plaque Initiative
Leaving the Constitution and its Bill of Rights in the Schools
Introduction
While educating and inspiring American students about the cornerstone of their rights and freedoms is the principal purpose of the Spirit of Freedom Tour it also presents a vehicle by which schools can permanently place bronze plaque replicas of the US Constitution and its Bill of Rights in their institutions. This will be accomplished through our Constitution Plaque Initiative.Constitutional Plaque Initiative
Through the Constitution Plaque Initiative schools may acquire plaques identical to those displayed in the Entrance Hall and Rotunda of the Spirit Pavilion. The Tour’s outreach program provides students, teachers, and administrators with collateral material and local fund raising programs to assist each school with their efforts in obtaining the five-plaque set. The ultimate goal is to place these plaques in every school across America. Currently, Garfield High School in Los Angeles is the only school proudly displaying a set of plaques of the U S Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The educators at Garfield High continue to praise the significance of these plaques and the meaningful impact they have had on their children’s lives through out the years.History of the Plaques
For the first time in history, full size replicas of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights were created in a permanent form by casting bronze plaques that are true to the original documents down to the ink blots made by those who signed the parchment over 230 years ago.The Constitution and the Bill of Rights plaques consist of a complete set of solid bronze etchings. Each set contains five bronze plaques, four of the Constitution representing its four separate pages and one of the Bills of Rights. The plaques of the Constitution measure 25 ¾” wide by 32 ¾” high weighing 42 pounds. The plaque of the Bill Of Rights measures 29 ¾” wide by 35 ¾” high and weighs 52 pounds.
These plaque sets were officially dedicated by Chief Justice Warren Burger and President Ronald Reagan on September 17, 1987 and were created by renowned artist Brett Livingstone Strong, the same artist that sculpted the National Monument to the US Constitution and the US Presidency Monument.
Sponsor Grant Program
The Sponsor Grant Program has been developed to enable schools with smaller student bodies to participate in the Constitutional Plaque Initiative. Grant amounts are contributed to these schools once they reach a specified level of fund raising. A portion of our sponsorship fees from national and local sponsors is contributed to this program to help achieve the goal of eventually placing a full set of p
The 13 Types Of Tweeters. Which One Are You?
The 13 Types Of Tweeters. Which One Are You?
The Beatles had a gift. They could craft music that became timeless. Creative. Brilliant. They were unmatched.
Van Gogh had a gift. He could compose art so abstract. Mysterious. Profound. He was unmatched.
I have a gift. I can write blog posts so repulsive. Off-putting. Asinine.
Try matching this.
I’ve been on Twitter since February and have carefully digested the personalities of tweeters. Processed them. And now.
Now it’s time to rip on them.
If you’re on Twitter, you might be one of the following.
1. The Woman Who Thanks Her Tweeps Every Thirty Seconds.
For some reason, this lady feels a strange affinity for her followers. So instead of tweeting anything valuable, she’ll just thank them for still following her.
Hey good morning tweeps! I’m so lucky to have great tweeps following me!
Thanks for keeping me busy tweople! I’m going to get some shut-eye.
You guys are so twiendly! *giggle* Thanks tweeps!
In her mind, she thinks her followers enjoy this. But in reality, every time she tweets, a tiny piece of them dies.
2. The Chick Who Still Thinks She’s On MySpace.
There is a growing faction of girls on Twitter who try to recreate the MySpace environment. They do this by flirting and fighting, only resting to comment on the new Lady Gaga album. You can find them by their profile images which are quite provocative.
Or twitter search “OMG You Guys”.
It’s like a net.
3. The People Who Live For The Ranking Some Random Website That Was Just Created Two Weeks Ago Gives Them.
Have you heard of ReTweetRankIndexGrade?
These people have.
Each day, they scour the Internet to find some new website that grades them as a tweeter and then battle other nerds to be listed in the Top 10. They do this by furiously shrinking URLs, scheduling tweets in some script, and then pumping out Mashable and TechCrunch links.
If they could, they’d put their Twitter grade on their resume.
See. You read that line above and smiled.
They read that line above and said one day.
One day.
4. The People Who Feel They Can Solve Complex Political Problems In 140 Characters Or Less.
Each day these people will shower your stream with links to political blogs. If you disagree with them, they’ll @reply you with thousands of reasons why you’re wrong until you lay defeated and weak and just want to look at LolCats images and cry all over yourself.
Even though democracy was built on dialogue, debate and process, these individuals have found a way to fit the solution into 140 characters.
And they’re never wrong.
5. The Twitter Account That’s Supposed To Tweet About One Thing But Then Randomly Tells Us Something Creepy About Their Own Personal Life.
A couple months ago, I started following an account that was supposed to be about silver bullion.
I’m not sure why I followed it. I think it’s because I like saying the word ‘bullion’ in my mind.
Try it.
Bullion.
See? Tell me that’s not fun.
Basically, the account just tweeted about silver prices across the world.
Except one day, I saw this array of tweets:
Price of silver on the metal markets seem to be on the rise.
Has silver bottomed out? http://bit.ly/fU8IE
Metal markets down, silver showing signs of a Monday bounce.
I guess that’s what you get when you trust women who are liars. I hate my life.
Reading: Silver nearing less than 2% of the price of gold.
6. The Guys You Know Were Nerds All Their Lives Until Social Media Came Along.
Let’s start with a confession.
I’ve been a nerd all my life. A big one.
Then social media came along. And now?
Still a nerd.
Not these guys. These are the guys that you see with thousands and thousands of followers reading every nerdy link they tweet. They jetset across the world to attend tweetups and podcamps. Twitter chicks offer them their super hot bodies while I sit in my wife-beater with weird soya sauce stains and watch Golden Girls reruns at home.
Thanks a lot.
Although I won’t lie, Rose is starting to look hot.
7. The Woman Who Thinks Her Twitter Friends Are Real.
There’s nothing more fun than watching someone who thinks her Twitter followers are actually her friends. She’ll #FollowFriday people and describe them like this:
She’s the most caring person I’ve ever met. She’s always been there for me.
Then, because I’m hilariously unemployed, I investigate and discover they know each other only through Twitter.
Always been there for you?
Lady. It’s twitter. These are anonymous Internet people.
If you have a major personal problem what are you going to do?
DM her for advice?
What’s she going to do?
Send you a bit.ly link?
Ha!
Bit.ly link.
8. The People Who Think They’re The Forefathers Of Twitter Because They’ve Been Scripting Followers 2 Years Before You Got Here.
There’s this pack of individuals on Twitter that have 90 zillion followers and follow everyone of them back.
You know exactly who I’m talking about.
They get annoying when they advise their following on how they should tweet.
Really dude? You’ve used programs to get all of your followers over the last two years. I have to sit here and actually have a personality.
You know how exhausting having a personality is?
That was actually a question. I don’t really know.
9. The People Who Are So Worried They’ll Lose Followers They Apologize After Every Tweet.
Hey guys, here’s an article from “Tremendous News” it’s a little racy and snarky, but made me laugh a bit! http://bit.ly/ds28J
Guys just be warned that last article has strong language.
Guys I’m sorry if anyone was offended! I think I lost a few people because of that! 
Then they immediately figure out who unfollowed them and annoy them until they refollow them back.
10. The Spambot You Wish Were Real.
This girl followed me 89 times. I consider that intercourse.
11. The Chick Who Still Hasn’t Figured Out Twitter Even Though She Has 1072 Updates.
OMG you guys! What’s a “hashtag”?
Really? Because it’s not gene splicing, sweetheart.
12. The Chick Who, If You Piss Off, 700 Of Her Yenta Followers Will Tweet You Until You Cry.
Trust me. I learned the hard way.
13. The People Who Think The Two Nerds Who Created Twitter Are TwitJesus.
Have you ever been on Twitter when @ev or @biz post an update? There are some people who drop everything to witness their words.
Then they’ll return to tweet their experience.
Yeah hi. They’re two dudes, people. What do they have that I don’t have?
Besides money.
Success.
Looks.
An apartment that isn’t their parents basement.
But besides that?
Exactly.
———-
There you have it. 13 Twitter personalities. You can probably add some of your own.
I’m late for a Golden Girls rerun.
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Want to read about 8 more personalities? Click here.
Thinking of following me on Twitter? Don’t. Here’s 5 reasons why.
If you were featured in this article and are pissed off, you can send your hate via email.
For my Twitter Avatar Roast, click here.
For my Twitter Celebrity Roast, click here.
The 13 Types Of Tweeters. Which One Are You?