Who Is Who?
“Uncle Izzy” on the left. Started because of my own family connection, continued research into my project about the Yiddish Theater.
Not Shooting – Sheltering In Place
I had wanted to be shooting over the next few weeks. Sheltering in place for now.
I Miss Being Out – Sheltering In Place
I miss being out and meeting new friends. Sheltering in place. A photo of a photo on the wall, Lute’s Casino Restaurant, Yuma AZ.
Tomcat with Hasselblad X
The Palm Springs Air Museum F-14 Tomcat. A favorite because of the motion picture “Top Gun”. Photographed with the Hasselblad X1DII 50c camera and XCD 21mm lens. Processed in Hasselblad Phocus software. Phocus with Hasselblad files always produces just amazing results.
“Uncle Izzy”
That is what he was called in my family although I did not know him of course. Isidore Casher (1887-1948) was among the significant founders of the Yiddish Theater. He went on to star in a number of Yiddish motion pictures. The is not him on the poster photograph, that is co-star David Opatoshu. “The Light Ahead” 1939.
One of my discoveries for my new project about the Yiddish Theater. The Yiddish Theater along 2nd Avenue in New York City in the early 20th Century gave birth to much of the modern theater, motion pictures, music and entertainment cherished still today.
Good Looking!
As I continue research into my Yiddish Theater project, I expected to just see the steady parade of individuals all looking like Tevye from “Fiddler On The Roof”. Not so! Stella Adler was one good looking woman. The daughter of Jacob and Sarah Adler, who along with other family members were the foundation of the Yiddish Theater District in New York City. An acting dynasty that started in the late 19th Century and continued through the 1950’s
Stella Adler taught acting to Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Elaine Stritch, Lena Horne, Harvey Keitel, Melanie Griffith, Peter Bogdonovich and so many more. Among her most famous students, Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen. Interesting to think without Stella Adler there would not have been the motion picture “Apocalypse Now”.
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting still exists. And this quote from her is perhaps very appropriate today.
Big Movie Big Screen
WOW! I just saw the original 1933 “King Kong” in a theater on a big screen. Over the years I am sure I have seen it maybe 100 times but always on a television. But this was like seeing it for the first time. Big movies should be seen on a big screen in a theater. There is no comparison.
Adult Superstore
Honestly we were not looking for this when we pulled off the freeway. An amazingly remote place for it. We were actually looking for a still standing Muffler Man. And we did find it. We found a few on that trip. Do you know the Muffler Man? Check it out here… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffler_Men On one of my photo excursions.
Hangar Of Art
The interior of this hangar is a work of art. Reminds me of the complex mathematically inspired lithographs by Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher (June 17 1898 – March 27 1972).
This is at the Barstow-Daggett Airport originally built in 1933. During World War II it became home for A-20 Havoc bombers and P-38 Lightnings. Eventually taken over by the Fourth Air Force tasked as air defense for the Western United States. Now maintained by the County of San Bernardino.
From a recent photo excursion and photographed on a Fujifilm X-H1 camera with the Fujifilm XF16-55mm f2.8 lens.
It Started in Romania
Continuing my research into my new project about the Yiddish Theater; I have come into possession of this stamp honoring Abraham Goldfaden. From Wikipedia…
Abraham Goldfaden (born Avrum Goldnfoden; 24 July 1840 – 9 January 1908) was a Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays. Goldfaden is considered the father of modern Jewish theatre.
In 1876 he founded in Romania what is generally credited as the world’s first professional Yiddish-language theater troupe. He was also responsible for the first Hebrew-language play performed in the United States. The Avram Goldfaden Festival of Iaşi, Romania, is named and held in his honour.
Jacob Sternberg called him “the Prince Charming who woke up the lethargic Romanian Jewish culture.” Israil Bercovici wrote of his works: “we find points in common with what we now call ‘total theater’. In many of his plays he alternates prose and verse, pantomime and dance, moments of acrobatics and some of jonglerie, and even of spiritualism…”
Actually born in what is now the Ukraine and coming to the Yiddish Theater in New York City, Goldfaden is only a few degrees of separation from my own distant family in the Yiddish Theater in New York City in the early 1900’s.
The Collapse Of Bodybuilding.com
As many of you know, I was closely associated with Bodybuilding.com for a number of years as their primary photographer shooting shows, features and advertising for them. As well as closely involved in marketing, social media and more. So closely involved that I was often and regularly asked if I owned it. Working with them was joy and the family ownership was great, Ryan and Jeremy DeLuca, and their dad Russ who to this day I count as one of my great friends over the years. I was there when we covered the Olympia for there first time, and they almost threw us out, to when it became the driving force in the entire bodybuilding and fitness industry worldwide.
Now many have been asking me what do I think happened. Bodybuilding.com has been collapsing over the last couple of years and now seems at the door of total collapse. I find it very sad but even more sadly we totally predicted it some time ago. Many of you will remember as we talked about it back then, seeing into the future.
If I were to sum up in one sentence; Bodybuilding.com abandoned all of the things that got them to the top.
Bodybuilding.com once had an incredible reputation and word of mouth identity that translated into hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of sales. The stars of fitness and bodybuilding sung their praises, the athletes all wanted to be a part, the consumers went there for motivation, information, stories, peer to peer relationships and everyone bought everything from them. Prices were the lowest, shipping was fast, customer service beyond reproach.
The online content of Bodybuilding.com was the key. Endless feature stories, articles, workouts, photographs, videos, competition coverage, product reviews. Contributed by stars of the industry, the fan favorites; all of it great, new, exciting and top quality. And everybody was paid for it, and paid well and paid fast. The top athletes loved doing things for Bodybuilding.com. When other companies treated them like just a commodity, Bodybuilding.com paid them well for everything they did, paid all of their expenses and paid fast. Even other companies loved doing business with them, everybody got paid within days. So when it came to recommending where to spend your money, everybody said, Bodybuilding.com. When other companies, vendors were asked for the lowest prices possible, they said yes! Because they got paid now. And the savings were passed on to the customer. And yet Bodybuilding.com was still making a ton of money.
Bodybuilding.com had a presence at almost every bodybuilding and fitness show of any size around the country and many around the world. Something like 300 per year. And they gave out everything from free merchandise to free t-shirts designed specifically for that show. The athletes in those show booths were also paid well. So guess what; they had nothing but good to say too and did their absolute best. And they were again paid fast along with all of their expenses from hotel rooms to food. By the way, at big shows like the Arnold and Olympia, we would give away thousands and thousands of t-shirts.
Every magazine that was somehow related to fitness and bodybuilding around the world had monthly Bodybuilding.com advertising and sometimes features. Even better for some time it was all photographed and sometimes also written by me. Hundreds of magazines, also major sports magazines and even mainstream magazines and major newspapers. Actually Bodybuilding.com made me one of the most viewed bodybuilding and fitness photographers on the planet.
Within a decade of it’s start in a garage, Bodybuilding.com was seen everywhere, all the time by everyone. You would even see homeless people on Venice Beach, Muscle Beach, wearing brand new Bodybuilding.com t-shirts. As my buddy Russ said, they need the shirts and it is still good advertising.
Then it happened, not all at once, but identifiable. Liberty Media bought Bodybuilding.com. Liberty Media is a behemoth owning at the time everything from the Atlanta Braves to the Home Shopping Channel, QVC, the History Channel and more. Back then revenue was $8 billion per year as I recall. Everything remained the same for about a year. But then Liberty started moving in their people as the original Bodybuilding.com management were replaced. And people who did not have their roots in bodybuilding and fitness. Maybe they had a gym membership but that’s it. They were pencil pushers and retailers.
I started hearing from athletes and vendors. Slow payment became the standard, 30 days, 60 days or more. “Could I call someone and see where their check was” was something I would often get asked. “They only want free from me now” “They want me to work the show and not even pay for expenses” “They want to pay me with a coupon on purchases”. Yes that is more of what I heard.
Bodybuilding.com stopped going to shows; “everyone there knows who we are anyway”. Ads, features and stories became mediocre and far from original. Online content which used to be new almost daily went well less than frequent.
My own ending with them came when getting ready for a new year of scheduling for shows and ads and features, I was told my rate was going to be cut to something like 20% of what it had been. I said no and that was it. Actually I went back to them once with a feature and photos and video with a major rock star into fitness. They actually offered me $50… yes $50. The person who had to tell me was an old friend from the company and he expressed how embarrassed he was to carry the message. Anyway it went to a magazine for my usual fees. By the way, after they covered their first major bodybuilding event without me, another insider friend informed me that they found it took a dozen people flown in from the company in Boise to replace everything I did by myself. So much for cost savings.
So there is the collapse of Bodybuilding.com, I can almost remember the day it started. And yes you can chart it from then financially and statistically. Now owned by Expedia. How much do you think they know about bodybuilding and fitness.
People who did not know bodybuilding and fitness were put in charge of relating to people in bodybuilding and fitness. And along the way they left behind all of the things that made Bodybuilding.com work. Will it recover? I doubt it.
Thanks!
Ghetto Tango
Something I discovered in my research for a project on the Yiddish Theater; something I did not know existed, “Ghetto Tango”. From a description from the collection “Ghetto Tango: Wartime Yiddish Theater”…
“The Jews torn from their homes and crammed into the ghettoes of Lithuania and Poland included young and old, laborers and college students, teachers, doctors, lawyers — and musicians. In the Warsaw ghetto, in Lodz, Vilna and the rest of the unofficial cabarets sprang up. Orchestras and choruses pieced themselves together as well. Musicians, both professional and amateur, began writing and performing as well as adapting popular music of the time. Much of their music reflected or satirized their bleak circumstances and bolstered the spirits of the audiences. Incredibly, not only were these ghetto night clubs visited by Nazi authorities and German soldiers, but they were photographed by Nazi propaganda units.”
Leica Freedom Train
At the beginnings of Nazi Germany, Ernst Leitz II, son of the founder and then director of the company manufacturing Leica cameras conceived a plan to evacuate Jews from the Nazis. Saving perhaps thousands, it became known as the Leica Freedom Train.
My selection of cameras is not just based on megapixels or price. It reflects the place in history of the camera company and the personal support of my business for which I am ever so grateful. Thank You!
Yiddish Theater And Arnold
A wonderful PBS short documentary; when Broadway was featuring the “Wizard of Oz” or the “Ziegflield Follies”, the Yiddish Theaters along 2nd Avenue were bringing in two million people per year. My own family has it’s roots in the Yiddish Theater with then famous Yiddish actors Izidore and Jennie Casher co-founders with Maurice Schwartz of the Yiddish Art Theatre started in 1918.
The great creators of American iconic music and so many Christmas songs, George and Ira Gershwin, and Irving Berlin lived in this theater district. Many of the Hollywood stars and luminaries got their start in Yiddish Theater, even including Edward G. Robinson.
Indeed drawing a direct line, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first movie “Hercules In New York” traces back to the early Yiddish Theater.
Not Far
Downtown Palm Springs today. Something to look through, the alien babies are still there, and every sidewalk needs a yellow cow with polka dots.
A-7 Corsair II Arrives
It might not look like much now, but by the end of the year, those restoration magicians at the Palm Springs Air Museum will have it looking like it is ready to fly off a carrier. A Vietnam War era Vought A-7A Corsair II. The A-7 flew from 1965 through the Gulf War. It arrived this morning.
For my photographer friends; Sometimes I still use my Fujifilm x30. Very convenient to have around. These are Velvia film simulation jpg’s.
Which Way?
Is this the exit or the entrance? And if it is one, coming the other way is it still the other? Doorway art installation on Bombay Beach at the Salton Sea. I understand that it was originally complete with an actual door. Fujifilm X-T3 camera.
Pucci Virus Protection
At the Palm Springs Art Museum today. Braniff International Airlines stewardess uniforms designed by Pucci. Maybe the “helmet’ today would be good virus protection for flying commercial.
Once Upon A Time At The Salton Sea
The Salton Sea was once one of the biggest attractions in the country. A billboard at the road in to Bombay Beach.
Bombay Beach Aircraft
Many have seen this. However it is new since my last trip to Bombay Beach. I had to see it. Bombay Beach at the Salton Sea is truly becoming dedicated to the arts. Fujifilm X-T3 camera. I would like to fly over and photograph it from the air next.
Giant Bird Bombay Beach
Just watch, don’t be impatient. At Bombay Beach Salton Sea. Fujifilm X-T3 camera.
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