reFRESHlite - Male News from around the world

A Year In Fashion

Loyal readers of reFRESH magazine may have noticed in issue 54, currently on sale, that the magazine has increased its section on fashion for 2009. With more editorial on current trends and a section devoted to upcoming fashion-related events, what better time than now to announce the release of Pascal Morché’s A Year In Fashion. This gorgeous 24 x 17 cm hardback is jam-packed with 740 pages formatted as a year’s worth of two-page spreads. Each day features a stunning fashion photograph accompanied by a detailed caption, a short text and a memorable quotation as well as room to note birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates.

This treasury of photographic gems encompasses every aspect of the history of fashion, covering everything from turn of the Century corsets to the most recent fashion-forward trends. Do the names Coco Chanel, Christian Dior and Briggite Bardot mean anything to you? Immortal designers, their unforgettable creations, the models, legendary film stars and personalities who breathed life into the industry and the accessories that stood the test of time, all make appearances in this vast-ranging perspective.

Pascal Morché is a renowned culture, art and fashion journalist and his compilation is sure to be a classic among fashionistas and lovers of photography alike. Published by Prestel, A Year In Fashion is available now at all major retailers.

Eltonography: a Life in Pictures

Opening with the official launch night on 23rd September 2008, the Proud Gallery in Camden presents Eltonography: A Life in Pictures.  This amazing collection of images of Sir Elton John comes from legendary photographer Terry O’Neill’s private archive, and many of the pictures have remained unpublished until now.  Specifically selected from a back catalogue of thousands, O’Neill’s photographs document the life of a pop superstar in a way never seen before. 

With more that 250 million albums sold, 100 million singles, an Oscar and five Grammies, Sir Elton John has had one of the most successful and sustained careers in music history, as well as forging a reputation as one of the biggest pop music icons of all time.  Eltonography allows an unprecedented window onto the private life of a public icon.  Launched to coincide with the release of a book by the same name, the exhibition will surprise, delight and reveal.  Running from the 24th September to November 2nd, Eltonography will provide an exclusive first look at the much anticipated publication, containing more than 200 unique images. 

Terry O’Neill has been hailed as one of the greatest photographers of fame.  In the Sixties he captured the cultural emancipation of music, fashion and movies before moving to Hollywood where he quickly established himself as the friend and first choice photographer of film stars, directors, producers and magazine editors.  He revolutionised portraiture and pioneered reportage celebrity photography as well as creating Bond film posters, Versace fashion campaigns and pioneering backstage photojournalism. 

Lonely Planet want your photos...

For the first time, Lonely Planet is offering travellers the opportunity to have their holiday snaps featured on the cover of four new editions of Encounter guides.  Lonely Planet has teamed up with Pikeo.com, a photo sharing site, to run a competition which gives readers the chance to submit travel photos for the latest guides to London, Paris, Barcelona and Istanbul, published next year.  The competition launched this week and will run until 8th September 2008 on Lonelyplanet.pikeo.com with judging taking place from the 10th September. 

The four lucky winners will be chosen by a panel of judges consisting of experts in travel photography including representatives from the Association of British Photographers and Lonely Planet Images.  The search for travellers' photos will span the globe with the competition open to those in the UK, France, Spain, USA and Canada. 

The winners of each cover will receive a free trip to India, Russia, Morocco or Kenya courtesy of Intrepid Travel while twelve runners-up will also receive prizes, as will a small selection of Highly Commended entries. 

"Travellers have been sharing their holiday photos with us since Lonely Planet began but we've never really been able to show our appreciation until now," says Lonely Planet’s Travel Editor Tom Hall.  "This is the competition of a lifetime for anyone who has dreamed of being a professional travel photographer.  The campaign gives them the opportunity to team up with Lonely Planet and get them showcased on the front of our guidebooks."

The winning images, including highly commended shots will be launched and showcased at a gallery exhibition in London as the guides go on sale next year. These special edition titles will also be highlighted in book stores through a stickering campaign and various other press activities.  Lonely Planet have a few tips for a winning image - it should be taken from a street perspective, using a reportage or documentary style to make the viewer feel they are actually there.  It should have a central focal point with bold composition and rich colours.  Find unusual ways to show iconic sights and always include people within your shots.

A new best friend for Big Apple shopaholics...

New York, one of the world's greatest shopping cities, can be bewildering without assistance.  By introducing its New York Shopping Guide - The Smart Way to Shop, Insight Guides has come to the rescue of anyone who travels with an empty suitcase, ready to shop 'til they drop.  This compact guide, published on 23rd July 2008, is written by long-time New York resident, shopping expert and author, Amy Richards. 

The smart, practical shopping guide provides the lowdown on New York's world-renowned shopping areas, from Fifth Avenue to Brooklyn, packed full of information on the best places to buy everything from cutting-edge fashion to specialist foods - from quirky souvenirs to stylish interiors.  Up-to-date and detailed listings of shops by category and location and full-colour maps for easy navigation enable shopaholics to get on with the task at hand – shopping!  For normal people, sightseeing suggestions are also included, plus pointers on the best places to eat and drink.  Scattered throughout the guide are helpful tips on everything from catching a cab to the best places for celebrity-spotting.  Get the low-down on local markets, hidden festivals, shop listings, district guides and getting around. 

The New York Shopping Guide is published by Insight Guides on 23rd July 2008, priced £6.99.

Moustaches and muscles - the Ultimate 'Fucker'!

In 1965, Tom of Finland began flirting with the idea of an ongoing character for his panel stories, the ultimate Tom's Man.  He tried out a blond named Vicky—a common male name in Finland—followed by a Tarzan-inspired Jack.  In 1968 Tom settled on Kake, a dark-haired, moustached leatherman who often wore a tight white t-shirt bearing the motto 'Fucker'.   Kake lived up to this moniker as a post-Stonewall, hyper-masculine Johnny Appleseed travelling the world on his motorcycle to spread the seeds of liberated, mutually satisfying, ecstatically explicit gay sex.  Tom lived out many of his most personal fantasies through Kake, and Kake’s international fans made him the template for what came to be known as the gay clone look of the 1970s.  Between 1968 and 1986, Tom published 26 episodes of Kake adventures, most as 20-page booklets.  For the first time all 26 stories have been collected in one volume. Return with Kake to the days when men were men, sex was carefree, and everyone wore a big thick mustache. 

Touko Laaksonen, the boy who would become Tom of Finland (1920-1991), began drawing cartoons at age five.  His favorite subjects were the rough manly men of his native Finland, as Touko knew from an early age that men interested him more than women.  His talents were further honed by art study in Helsinki.  He found success in the Finnish advertising industry but secretly continued creating his increasingly erotic drawings of hyper-masculine men.  In 1957 he submitted some drawings to the American magazine Physique Pictorial and the "Tom of Finland" legend was born.  By the late '60s Tom's "dirty drawings" became the standard for gay art, and Tom`s Men a template for a new gay masculinity.  Tom`s art continues to play an important role in promoting self-confidence, positive self-image and openness in the gay community.

Author Dian Hanson is TASCHEN's sexy book editor.  As a 25-year veteran of men’s magazine publishing, she edited titles including Puritan, Oui, Outlaw Biker, Juggs, and Leg Show.  Her many books for TASCHEN include Vanessa del Rio: 50 Years of Slightly Slutty Behavior and R. Crumb’s Sex Obsessions.  Check out the Tom of Finland Foundation. 

New release: The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer

The Last Concubine is an epic romantic drama set at a pivotal point in Japanese history – during the Japanese civil war – when medieval Japan was about to disappear for ever.  .2008 sees the 140th anniversary of the regime change in Japan and perhaps that explains the resurgence of interest in all things Japanese.

The story begins in the Women’s Palace of Edo Castle, home to a staggering three thousand women and one man, the young Shogun.  The women spend their days beautifying themselves, performing plays, practising the halberd and playing the incense game.  This beautiful fragile world with its rigid hierarchical structures is beautifully portrayed by Lesley Downer and contrasts with the harsh world of peasants and farmers which exists outside the rarefied atmosphere of the Shogun’s harem.

The heroine of this story is Sachi, growing up in a mountain village, set apart by her pale skin and fine features and then taken off when only eleven, to the Women’s Palace.  When the civil war forces her to flee, she is rescued by a band of samurai and falls in love with Shinzaemon, a gruff warrior.  This is a love story but far more, incorporating as it does the amazing transition of Japan from a feudal to a modern society.

Lesley Downer is an authority on Japanese cultural history, particularly that of the Geisha and has also presented programmes on Japanese cookery for BBC 2.

Published by Bantam Press on 21st February, priced £12.99. Reviewed by reFRESH Book Editor, Janet Tester

Fatal Lies by Frank Tallis

Frank Tallis is a writer and Harley Street clinical psychologist.  He has published several works of non-fiction and in 1999 received a Writers’ Award from the Arts Council of Great Britain and in 2000 the New London Writers’ Award (London Arts Board).

Set in Vienna in 1903, Fatal Lies, volume three of the Liebermann papers, is about sex, power and deception set amongst the coffee-house culture of the city.  At St Florian’s military school, a sinister home of bullying, sadism and dangerous games, the body of a young cadet is found, lacerated with razor wounds.  Once again Inspector Rheinhardt calls on his friend Doctor Max Liebermann, a keen disciple of Freud, to help him with his investigation.

Using the newly emerging psychoanalytical tools of the time, Liebermann begins to delve ever deeper into the sordid world of adultery, cruelty and abuse of power.  At the same time Liebermann finds himself romantically involved with the passionate Hungarian Trezska Novak, a concert violinist with a highly developed power of intuition.  Of course, all is not as it seems and Liebermann is drawn into the perilous world of espionage and must make choices the outcome of which will threaten the entire stability of the Habsburg Empire.

Meticulously accurate historical details enhance this well written ‘who dunnit?’.
Published by Century, priced £12.99

Reviewed by reFRESH Book Editor, Janet Tester

Condoleezza Rice: Naked Ambition by Marcus Mabry

Although this book was published last year, it seems appropriate to flag it up with all the attention on the US Presidential Election race. This lady could be easily be considered a future candidate. Reviewed by reFRESH Book Editor Janet Tester

Condoleezza Rice gave interviews for this first personal biography and also consented to unqualified access to her close-knit family and friends.  Many of her most powerful former colleagues were interviewed including previous US Secretaries of State George Schultz and James Baker.  Marcus Mabry has researched this biography meticulously and in great detail but for me, the lady remains an enigma.
The full story is told of her childhood in violent Birmingham, Alabama, where the Ku Klux Klan carried out brutal lynchings and where her father was the local pastor.

The author, who shares her background, draws a picture of a single-minded character who rises out of her difficult surroundings to become one of the most powerful women in the world.

It’s a fiercely critical insight into a closely guarded private life that is aptly described by the sub-title of ‘Naked Ambition’.  Award winning journalist Marcus Mabry obviously doesn’t always like what he sees in this complex life story and the reader is left in no doubt that Miss Rice mostly goes her own way regardless.

Published by Gibson Square, £20

World First: Online audio bookshop for the gay community

Qclassics.com is the world's first online downloadable talking bookshop for the lesbian and gay community. Founded by voice-actor Richard Pierce, it will sell high quality downloadable talking books aimed at the gay market, recorded by some of the UK's most accomplished voiceover artists.

No stranger to voice-acting, Richard has featured in over 500 radio dramas and played parts as diverse as Tintin, The Mekon, Dennis the Menace and Budgie the Helicopter. He got the idea after listening to audio books whilst recovering from an eye injury in hospital. "A talking book can be a hugely welcome escape into another world, even when one feels too ill to life one's head off the pillow. In modern life, there are many other occasions when a talking book suits, when driving or commuting or working with one's hands, for example."

When the website launches, it will sell an initial 'season' of seven novels and poetry collections, with further seasons to follow. Visitors will also be able to download one audio book for free. The first season's books will include: Henry James, The Turn of the Screw; Lord Rochester, A Debt to Pleasure: Poems, Songs & Satires; Ronald Firbank, Valmouth; Walt Whitman, Native American: Poems; Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, Dare Not Speak: Poems; Anonymous, Teleny and Rupert Brooke, The Great Lover: Poems.

QClassics.com is a member of Codeworks Connect, a trade association for digital businesses in the North East of England.

Visit QClassics at - www.qclassics.com

Anything Goes by John Barrowman

I think writing an autobiography is an artform that not everybody is privy to. Some adopt the somewhat cumbersome approach that follows every painstaking detail of their life in a strict chronological order. This can work, but often its more akin to wading through a vat of treacle. Not so John Barrowman - his autobiography that has just been released by Michael O'Mara books takes a different tack, moving backwards and forwards through his career to date and is filled with personal observations and witty asides. Each chapter is named after a song from a musical he's performed in and are focused on significant stories and experiences from his life.

For those of you who didn't know, Barrowman is the equivalent of an A-List Hollywood star on stage - having starred in countless musicals in the West End and around the world. His leading role list reads like a who's who of plum theatre parts and his career began on stage, long before his current high-profile role as the adventurous time traveller Captain Jack in BBC's Torchwood and Doctor Who.

Anything Goes is him in his own words - from his roots growing up in Scotland, his family emigration to the USA, his acting roles and life experiences, his partner, Scott Gill and his beloved nephews and nieces. We see a man who wears his heart on his sleeve in every sense of the word.

This is a man who was born to entertain and whose strong and supportive family have nutured and developed this talent. We meet a John who is as wicked as he is saintly and whose confidence, good looks and ability have seen him be wooed by the great and the good. If fate had dictated differently, he could have ended up a boy toy for Valentino (it's in the book, so you'll just have to buy it!) but instead his many theatrical roles led him down the road to his current television incarnation on Torchwood playing loveable rogue Captain Jack.

Anything Goes has reset the bar for celebrity autobiographies as it offers a refreshingly engaging and honest account of Barrowman's life so far. Judging by what he has packed in so far, a second volume can't be that far off.

Anything Goes by John Barrowman is published by Michael O'Mara Books and priced £18.99

Life's A Beach: Marcus Patrick strips off for Feb Cosmo Centrefold

Ahead of his return to primetime television in Echo Beach/Moving Wallpaper (on ITV1 from Jan 10th), Marcus Patrick does what he does so well and shows off that hot bod as the Cosmopolitan Centrefold in the February issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine, which hits the newsstands this week.

Young Marcus's body has never been far from the public gaze - his seven year stint in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks and late night spin-off, Hollyoaks:In the City saw him strip off on many a occasion. Like fine wine though, its clear he improves greatly with age and more than amply shows that he's still as hot as ever behind his strategically placed surfboard.

We liked Hollyoaks:In the City and think it was very unfair it was axed after the first series! What was not to like - snuff movies, hot guys, sexy girls, Marcus stripping off, Phil Olivier as a gay character and the fabulous Claire King! Need we go on...

Marcus posed for Cosmopolitan Centrefolds to raise awareness for the Everyman Campaign, the UK's leading male cancer campaign - for more information visit www.icr.ac.uk/everyman/

The February Issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine is on sale this Thursday and features an interview with J-Lo.

New issue of reFRESH Magazine out next week

The fully festive Nov/Dec edition of reFRESH Magazine hits the newstands next week.

This issue has a whole host of new writers and photographers participating. Eli MacIntyre, from Hawaii, has penned a 4 page resident's guide to Hawaii, complete with some sexy and fun photography. A great incentive to visit Hawaii and see the real islands.

Greg Alexander, Ethan James, Pantelis, Herve and Glasstik are just a few of the photographers who participated in the 12 Day Project. A photographic interpretation of the famous christmas carol. It was a challenging project, but one which ended up looking fantastic, as you'll see in the magazine. So a big thank you to everybody who participated.

Elsewhere in the magazine we have interviews with US actors, Cheyenne Jackson (currently in Xanadu on Broadway) and Dave Moretti (from HereTV's The Lair), comic artist Tom Bouden and photographer Allan Warren.

Our cover image is from a new book just released by Jonathan Cape, Men for Men. The picture was taken by top photographer Joe Oppedisano.  Another one of our new writers, Mathieu Laffite, interviewed the author of the book, Pierre Borhan.

Also included are 101 Gift ideas for Christmas, a special section dedicated to France, food & drink, interior design, property and motoring.

You can order this issue by visiting www.refreshmag.co.uk and selecting the subscription button on this page.

Wearing History: T-Shirts from the Gay Rights movement

What a clever concept for a book, combining the history of the struggle for gay rights and equality with how the gay community made statements through t-shirts. Slogan t-shirts have remained a popular staple for mainstream fashion designers over the years but although they look good, they do not truly represent the very personal struggle faced by many to secure greater acceptance.

Steve Gdula's walk through history is easy to read, informative and stimulating as he explains the significance behind the slogans that have appeared on t-shirts from the gay rights movements whilst also putting each in its socio-political and historical setting, running from 1950 to the year 2000 and beyond.

Published by Alyson Books priced £10.99. For more information visit www.alyson.com

Bunker Spreckels: Surfing legend and International Playboy

  If alive today, Bunker Spreckels would have undoubtedly been a regular fixture in the showbiz/party pages of magazines and newspapers.

Born Adolph B.Spreckels III, he was heir to the Spreckels sugar fortune as well as being Clark Gable's stepson. As a teenager he became a famous surfer, but after receiving his inheritance life became a constant round of drugs, sex and wild road trips. He was in the midst of working a project that would have documented his own rise to prominence when he died suddenly.

This book is the work of photographer Art Brewer, who was a close friend of Bunker and writer/photojournalist C.R.Stecyk III and traces the rise and fall of a priveliged and talented individual. Packed with some previously unseen images of Spreckels both on and off the waves, it also contains an extensive interview with the man himself, taped just before his death.

This book is a fitting tribute to a very unique individual who, like other talents who have died young, is accorded a timeless place in the pantheon of legends.

Published by Taschen, priced £24.99 in hardback

Book Review: Gus & Waldo's Book of Fame

There's something a bit fishy going on...

Penguins are re-assuring creatures. Consider their depiction on television and in film. In Happy Feet you've got penguins who dance and sing; in Madagascar the penguins stole the show ('just smile and wave boys') and who doesn't love Pingu. Now meet Gus & Waldo, a couple of penguins on a shameless quest for instant fame. This engaging duo are the creation of Massimo Fenati, a comic artist from Genoa and this book would make a great stocking filler.

In this latest installment, Gus and Waldo appear on reality television, form a boy-band, sell kiss-and-tell stories to the tabloids and streak at the football World Cup final as they realise that perhaps fame isn't all its cracked up to be.

Published by Orion on 24th October, priced £6.99 in hardback