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fred-frederator-studios · 5 years

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Arlen Schumer: The Frederator Interview

Arlen Schumer is the designer and illustrator of our Frederator Fredbot, the robot that’s inspired so many variations.

You read that right.

We all hear so much from fans about our “red robot” that I thought the time was right for Arlen to design something for us again, 20 some-odd years after his first.

So here it is! The 2019 Frederator New Year’s poster. (You can see some of the poster’s development work here.)

Arlen’s not only a fantastic artist/designer, but he’s a prolific pop culture historian with some great books and essays to his name, and a thriving lecture series on some of the famous (and even more unsung heroes) of comic book art.

How did Arlen Schumer come to Frederator? And how did Arlen come to art, specifically, comic book art? As you can read below, he and I have known each other and worked together for several years, even pre-Frederator.

All this and more, in the first Frederator interview of 2019.

Hi Arlen. When did you start drawing?

I grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, a great place in the early-mid ‘60s, with equal parts bucolic American suburbia and small-town Rockwellian, pop culture ambiance—everything from an uber-Jewish deli like Petak’s to Plaza Toy & Stationery, which had a classic 20th Century soda fountain: it was there, after school, that I read all the comic books of my youth while drinking chocolate egg creams (with a pretzel log, natch). And because Fair Lawn, like all of New Jersey, was in the shadow of New York City, I grew up on all that pop culture through television, not just the 3 networks but the 3 local stations that showed everything from the old Universal monster movies to The Little Rascals to The Three Stooges to the George Reeves Superman TV series.

One of those local TV shows, a children’s show called Diver Dan, which was filmed in black & white to look like it took place underwater—the actor, in a deep-sea diver’s suit (with a helmet that never revealed his face, so he was like a superhero), walked slowly like he was underwater, surrounded by pop fish hanging by wires—triggered my interest in drawing, as I watched my brother draw him first, and copied him. I’ve been drawing ever since!

What was the first comic you fell in love with?

Giant Superman Annual #7 (Summer ’63): Not only is its cover the hands-down greatest of all the great multiple-panel Superman Annual covers that Superman Artist of the Baby Boom Generation (and my first favorite artist) Curt Swan drew in the ‘60s—not only does it feature perhaps the greatest single Superman figure ever rendered by Swan (in pencil; head of DC coloring Jack Adler did the hand-painted grey wash tones over it) or any Superman artist, before or since—but it is the first comic book cover I can recall ever seeing, when I was five years old, in summer camp that year. What an image to come into the wonderful world of comics by!

What was your first professional job as an artist?

My summer job between freshman and sophomore years at art school (Rhode Island School of Design), creating black & white line illustrations for a t-shirt silkscreening company in Fair Lawn.

I know that you count Neal Adams as a primary mentor? Were there any others?

Neal Adams was one of two Gods of Comic Book Art in the late-‘60s: the other was Jim Steranko, who was described as the Jimi Hendrix of comics, because Steranko’s career was as meteoric in its rise, and as short-lived. Though Steranko didn’t die in ’70 like Hendrix, that’s when he left Marvel Comics after less than 4 years of explosive and experimental works—and, like Hendrix, his impact on both the art form and its audience was in converse proportion to the relatively small amount of work he turned out. In particular, Steranko’s design sense and typographic talents were a tremendous influence on my choosing to major in Graphic Design at RISD.

It was sometime in my junior year there that I must’ve written Steranko a fanboy letter, gushing about those very things—and much to my shock and surprise, he wrote me back, inviting me to come see him in his home/studio in Reading, PA! So I took a bus from Providence, RI to Reading, and spent the day with Steranko—except I barely remember a thing about it! Why? Because I think I was having a Dr. Strange-like ectoplasmic out-of-body experience the whole time I was with him—I, a fan, spending quality time with one of the Twin Gods of Comics!!!

He wanted me to leave RISD and begin working with him as his apprentice! I couldn’t believe what he was offering me; I remember the bus ride back to Providence in a daze, feeling the utter cliché come to life of my future like the road in front of me: I could either stay on the main highway of getting my college degree, or take that exit ramp and join the circus! What do you think I did?

I stayed in school and got my diploma a year later. Had it been freshman year, maybe I would have left; but not when I was a year away from matriculating—not to mention honoring my mom’s sacrifice of putting me through school financially. But I’ve remained in touch with Steranko ever since, and feel both fortunate and unique, that I am the only fanboy who grew up to not only work for one of the Twin Gods of Comics (I ended up working for Neal Adams 3 years after I graduated from RISD), but almost worked for the other, too!

And then, Fred, there was—YOU! You were one of the first great professionals I met/interviewed with after I graduated from RISD and moved to New York City, when you were still at Warner-Amex having just created the MTV always-changing logo [actually it was Manhattan Design; I was the company creative director]. You impressed me as someone who was “real,” who didn’t hide behind a phony “professional” mask. We stayed in touch after that, and you gave me my first real breakout illustration job when I went solo as a freelancer a few years later, designing and illustrating an animated 30-second spot for a radio station, working with Colossal Pictures in LA (who later became Pixar)—and a NY metro-area billboard to go along with it!

Since then, we’ve done a bunch of great things together, up to and including this Frederator poster! And I’ve watched you wade through your own career waters as a multi-dimensional leading man, wearing so many different hats over the years—the decades—which has inspired me to cultivate my own Renaissance Man attributes. I’ve always described you to others as a mensch, the ultimate New York pro who’s got a great big beautiful heart an d soul to match his creative mind. If I could ever be described that way one day, I would consider that to be the highest compliment I could ever receive!

How about the mentors that you never met?

My father died when I was only four months old; my mother raised my older brother (by a year and a half) and I herself. Neither of my grandfathers was alive, and, though I had a handful of uncles, I would only see them a few times a year at family gatherings. So I had to find surrogate father figures elsewhere—and I found them in the American Pop Culture I grew up with in the’60s, in roughly this chronological order: Sean Connery’s James Bond, my first idealized masculine role model (the first movie I ever recall seeing, when I was around four-five years old, was Dr. No, the first Connery Bond, at a drive-in theater); Twilight Zone’s Rod Serling, a pop prophet of moral righteousness in the vast television wasteland, looking cool as all get-out in those incredibly tight TZ introductions—all of my artworks based on the series can be seen as my ways of honoring Serling’s legacy as a son would honor his father’s; and the superheroes in comic books, first and foremost Superman and Batman (the Yin-Yang of the genre), pseudo-paternally teaching me right from wrong, good from evil, and standing up and fighting for one’s beliefs. These are the things I suppose sons learn from the fathers, as well as their religious and academic authority figures. But “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Comic Books”!

You've published a few pop culture histories, and given countless lectures on various great, neglected figures. What got you started as an historian?

I don’t know how any artist in any genre or medium, if they truly love their work, cannot also be equally-interested in the history of that art form. When Keith Richards plays any of his classic Rolling Stones licks, he knows which black bluesman he nicked it from; filmmakers like Spielberg and Scorsese know the history of film like they know their own films. And the history of comics is as rich in artistic triumphs (and personal tragedies) as the histories of the other major 20th Century art/entertainments: film, television, popular music and rock and roll.

When I was a senior at RISD, for my degree project, I toyed with designing an exhibit of comic book art, and when I went looking for a theme, the only subject that seemed both worthwhile of my passion for the material and deep enough for the demands of the assignment was one based on the comics I grew up with in the 1960s, and the artists who drew them, the twin founts from which I drew the inspiration to become an artist. Though I never did that exhibit (I ended up doing a giant autobiographical photo-comic instead), I kept the ideas and images that I gathered, in the hopes that one day I’d use them in some other form. Many of those 1979 layouts are the same ones I’ve used in my book published in 2003, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art; its introduction, in which I place the images and ideas encountered throughout the book in a socio-political, historical framework, is composed of essentially the identical concepts from my aborted exhibit idea.

The idea to do a book instead on this period of comic book history goes back even further, to 1970, when Jim Steranko, on the heels of his amazing barnstorming stint at Marvel Comics, wrote, designed and published the first of his twin-volume History of Comics, which remain the best books of their kind, and were—and continue to be—a source of inspiration. Except they were about The Golden Age of Comics (circa 1938-1950), the period Steranko grew up with and was affected by, not The Silver Age of Comics (circa 1956-1972) that I, and the entire Baby Boom Generation, was turned on to.

Steranko himself might have been inspired by the first great book about comic book history, Jules Feiffer’s 1965 The Great Comic Book Heroes, even though it’s more of a handful of wonderfully written, witty essays on specific Golden Age superheroes Feiffer followed avidly as a boy, accompanied by reprints of the origins or earliest adventures of those heroes. Feiffer may not have realized what it was like to be an 8-year old comic book fan in 1966 and hear that there was actually a book in the Fair Lawn public library about comics!

How did you come to design the Fredbot?

When you asked me to come up with my take on the classic Japanese-influenced sci-fi trope of the giant-monster-attacks-the-tiny-people back in 1997 for your first Frederator brand image—but make it a robot, and make it look like you [I don’t remember this last part], to boot—I immediately thought of the animated robot Gigantor, one of the first Japanese anime to reach American shores in the wake of the Batman TV series in 1966. Once I started drawing my version of Big G, it was a no-brainer to add the distinctive Seibert horned-rim eyeglasses, topped by the equally-distinctive Seibert eyebrows, and voila! Fredbot!

OK, I know you love Bruce Springsteen. How come?

I believe there are Four Pillars of Rock & Roll, in roughly chronological order: Elvis, Dylan, the Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix, representing the greatest voice, lyrics, band, and guitar; hence, The Four Pillars.

Like Elvis, Bruce is a singular, dynamic presence with a commanding vocal power; his lyrics and songs have stood the test of time and made him the only one of the many “new Dylans” to actually live up to the label, living a true, real rock & roll life while writing it down, The Great American Novel but on records, great American songs chronicling not only his life and career, but that of the postwar generation that has come of age with him, timeless anthems like “Born To Run,” “Thunder Road” and “Born in the USA,” just to mention three of his greatest hits; with The E Street Band, Bruce captured the sheer joy, enthusiasm and positive energy of the early Beatles; and, like Hendrix and any of the other guitar gods—Clapton, Page, Van Halen, The Edge—Bruce has played searing, soulful, melodic leads with the best of them.

But Bruce isn’t one of those rock & roll pillars—he’s the rock & roll roof built over them, the complete rock & roller, putting it all together as no one has before. Bruce Springsteen is, quite simply, the promise of rock & roll...delivered.

His uncompromising and unparalleled creativity, body of work, attitude, and performance and work ethic have been an inspiration to me since I first heard the song “Born to Run” over a tinny AM car radio when I was 17 years old in the summer of ’75. Especially when I lecture, I employ what I call the “Springsteen Performing Style,” which is to give your 110% all to your audience, whether it’s 10 people or 10,000 people.

Bruce is also a bonafide moral leader for our age, doing what a true leader should be doing: living his life by example, and using it to inspire and exhort others to do the same.

He is the true President of the United States.

Thanks for the interview Arlen. And of course, thanks for the Fredbot! Happy New Year!

#Arlen Schumer #Fredbot #frederator #poster #2019 #The Frederator Interview #posters #illustration #interview #artist #graphic design

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thotyssey · 5 years

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On Point With: Doris Dear

A darling of the city’s cabaret stages, Doris Dear is the creation of Staten Island-born actor Ray DeForest and is based on his fascinating mom Taffy. While rarely mixing it up with New York’s nightlife drag stars, Doris has a huge and diverse following all her own. She returns to the Triad Theater this week with a brand new Christmas show... join Thotyssey as we get down with Ms. Dear!

Thotyssey: Hello Ray / Doris, thanks for talking to us tonight! How is the holiday month treating you so far?

Doris Dear: It’s been a crazy, busy, joyous month so far, and there is still lot’s to come! Oh ...hi by the way!

Hello! Here's an important question... what do you think about the sudden demonizing of "Baby It's Cold Outside?"

Well, my usual take on life as a whole is that if a group is being offended by something then we should respect that. The language we use is constantly changing. Keeping up with things is never easy.

That said, this one I think may take things out of context. If you look at almost any song written 74 years ago, you could look at it as being offensive. Viewing life in the past through a modern lens is difficult. Yet, an overwhelming majority requested not to pull it. So what do we do now? It’s a tightrope to walk, and never an a easy one.

I do think that context is a lost sense these days! So okay, let's put you in some context! Like your character Doris, you're a Staten Island native, right?

Yes, born and raised on the Island of Staten!

How was that for you? I think of SI as being so culturally unique and distant from the other boroughs. Even the accent is so different!

LOL. Yes it is. Staten Islanders are a breed altogether, different than the rest of the boroughs. I do think each borough has it’s own particular identity.

I just turned 60! Growing up on the Island in the late 50’s, 60’s and 70’s was really wonderful -- when the Island was still underdeveloped, and there were small neighborhoods and lots of open land to explore. I spent my childhood wandering the woods, catching salamanders and watching turtles and native birds, playing hide-and-seek and “superheros” with the neighborhood kids. Luckily, I had a mother and father that really liked the city. My mom was a fashion model in the late 40’s and early 50’s before she met my dad. She loved taking me and my sister into the city and showing us that world.

Now... that accent! LOL it is thick! We have the strange ‘a” sound that is very particular to the Islanders. When I was in college, my acting teacher drilled me hard to develop a more “Mid-West reporter” sound! The classic SI accent is heard when we say “The Staten Island Advance.” Instead of adVANCE, like most people, we say ADvance!

Yes that's it precisely! So, it was at college when you started theater, or earlier?

Well, I did a high school musical at St Josephs Hill Academy when I was a senior. They needed a tall guy to be opposite a girl that was a lead in their show ... so I was the right height! And in college, I got cast in a show freshman year because I was a swimmer and they needed a good, tall, muscular body to wear pink hot pants as a guard in Jesus Christ Superstar. So it seems my body got me cast in the beginning! After that show, I decided to give it a try and started studying theater.

Tell us about the creation of Doris, and where she first appeared.

Well, really she came about 5 years ago when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She was such a light in my life, and many other peoples’ lives. I had always told stories about my parents Taffy and Duke (yes, real names). They were the life of the party. So, to deal with the loss, I decided to do what I know best, and that was to take her story to the stage. I wrote a theatrical cabaret show, and when I tried rehearsing it as Ray, I realized it didn’t really feel right. So I decided to create Doris Dear, who would be Taffy’s daughter, who she is teaching everything she knows to be America’s Perfect Housewife. By doing it as a drag character, it opened up the story telling in a way I could never do as Ray.

I had not done a ton of drag, but really for me it is just another character I do as a professional actor. I thought I would do one show at The Triad Theater and sell maybe 20 tickets. Well, it sold out... and the theater asked me back, and we sold out 4 shows over 2 months. After talking with my director and musical director, and with the backing of Sydney Myer at Don’t Tell Mama, we developed the show for 6 months. Then we took it on the road and now it has become a staple in the cabaret world... The Doris Dear Specials!

So, Doris is talking about your / her mother, but Doris herself is also actually based on your mother.

Completely! And all the stories I tell are true. They are all based on my mom. I use magazines and other pop culture items to illustrate those stories and songs, like magazines, recipe books and actual items my mom made... like handbags!

Did your mom have that swooping hair, and those glasses, too?

HA! Yes. She totally had the hair and glasses later in life; she always took them off for pictures. The look is all Taffy!

Do you find that audiences of all ages respond to Doris in the same way... or that she might be too "old-fashioned" for younger audiences to understand?

Well, it’s been interesting watching my audience grow and change. At first, it wasn’t exactly a younger audience. It was mostly straight married couples over 40. The husbands really loved Doris; I represent their mothers! Then slowly, the younger people started discovering this slice of life that Doris lives in. I talk a lot about old NYC. The restaurants, the theaters, the shows etc. They love hearing and seeing that. They also love hearing about the “old rules” that women lived by. Now it is truly a mix of all ages. I have some dedicated 15 year-olds that make their parents bring them to every show! I don’t curse or talk “blue.” I try to have an overall positive energy and message.

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Would you ever perform in the bars? I can't really picture Doris as Gaga and, like, Shequida as Beyonce doing "Telephone.” Actually wait, that would be amazing!

LOL... can you imagine!? Look, I grew up as a gay man in the NYC bar culture. I came out when I was 16! That would be 1974! I loved bar culture: a place to feel safe, meet people, and more. I grew up when drag queens, leather guys and preppy men all gathered together. I used to produce large club events as well. Being a part of gay culture has always been important to me.

Now I feel waaaay too old to do bar performing. Honestly... I’m in bed before those shows are even starting! I try to get out now and then to see all the queens out there, and there are some wonderful queens performing every week. I don’t know how they do it! I am also a terrible lip sync artist. I’m awful. And I haven’t done a slip in years! LOL

I bet it's like riding a bike! So, do you actually consider yourself a drag queen, or like you said earlier -- you are an actor, and Doris is just one character you do who happens to be in drag?

When I first started doing shows, I never said “drag queen" -- only because when people hear it was a “drag show,” they had a certain expectation of what it would be. Those people would come and not enjoy it. I called it a “theatrical cabaret” hosted by a Housewife. I gave up on that, though. I sat with the amazing Charles Busch, and we discussed this very thing. I came to the realization that saying I am a drag queen is actually an honor. We are an elite bunch of men that are proud. I have always said it takes a real man to do drag!

Well said, queen! So Doris' best-known shows are usually the ones for Mothers Day and Christmas, and the latter is coming up this week: The Doris Dear Christmas Special at the Triad Theater, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7pm! Tell us what we can expect this time around!

Well, it’s a whole new show this year. I absolutely love the Christmas shows. It is a time of year that people really want to feel happy, and we give them that in the show. The premise is that people are coming into my rumpus room and sharing a cocktail and story and song with Doris Dear. I have the most amazing singers who come in and visit. I actually had a cast and band rehearsal today, and I was knocked over by the sound. Simply amazing. Everyone in the show are award-winning singers and musicians. I am really honored that they choose to be a part of the show. You will hear stories of growing up with Taffy and Duke and how we celebrated Christmas. Nothing fills my heart more than honoring them each time I walk on stage!

That sounds absolutely perfect! Anything else we should mention?

I am honestly just so happy at this point in my life I still get to do what I love. I work a lot with other actors through my union SAG/AFTRA. I Serve on the LGBT National Committee and the Sexual Harassment Presidents Working Group to create safe spaces for our members. I try to encourage people to live an authentic life! Finally, what's the number one thing on your list for Santa this year... and what tops Doris' list?

Well, Ray hopes that Santa brings him yet another successful year of shows. And Doris has a bottle of Dewars on her list for all those Whiskey Sours she loves!

Thank you Ray / Doris... have a great show and Happy Holidays!

Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Doris Dear’s upcoming appearances, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, plus her website.

On Point Archives

#onpointwith #dorisdear

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humanoid-lovers · 7 years

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Another Gem From Carl Barks and Fantagraphics This is the sixth published book in the Complete Carl Barks Collection and the eighth volume (the volumes are not being published in order). This one spans August of 1949 to March 1950 and includes some classic stories including `Luck of the North', `Land of the Totem Poles' and of course `Trail of the Unicorn'. Almost every Carl Barks volume contains at least one Christmas story and here we get one of the best in `Letter to Santa' where Santa Claus himself puts in an appearance and if that doesn't satisfy your Christmas fix we also get `New Toys'. Carl Barks writes three kinds of stories; 24 to 32 page adventure tales, 8 to 10 page stories that are more relaxed and tend to take place in Duckburg and the 1 page gag. It doesn't matter whether Barks is writing a globe spanning adventure or a 1 page gag he nails it all. Go to Amazon

Old Friends Revisited Grew up on these comics. Carl Barks was a fantastic story teller and illustrator. Tho a kid the first time, the 50's, the stories were educational as well as interesting and escapist. These books have done a great job in restoring the original art and color and include interesting background information on the artists / writer and the story behind the story. Great to revisit old friends and find the stories still interesting 60 years later. Look forward to more releases. Go to Amazon

It is everything I wanted to see. I remember ... It is everything I wanted to see. I remember Carl Barks works fondly. As a child 70 years ago it brings back some very precious memories. I will be purchasing more of his works from you. Thanks for the memories! Go to Amazon

Wonderful! Carl Banks was a genius. I loved his Donald and Uncle Scrooge comics as a kid, and they have held up amazingly well. The commentaries at the end are a little florid, but easy to ignore if you don't want to see them. Go to Amazon

Priceless Always delightful. Grandpa and granddaughter, sitting side-by-side, heads together, reading -- entranced -- Donald Duck adventures ... PRICELESS Go to Amazon

I agree with Jeff Kinney: "I've never encountered better storytelling in any form"! Ha, ha, ha! It's hilarious! I agree with Jeff Kinney! (see the cover). Go to Amazon

Five Stars big dd fan Go to Amazon

Five Stars very good product Go to Amazon

More wonderful work from Carl Barks Five Stars What Is So Special About Carl Barks and His Disney Duck Comics? Everything. Five Stars Five Stars High Quality Reproducion of Barks' Stories Barks. Nuff said. Get it.

#Jeff Kinney: 9781606997413: Amazon.com: Books

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wineanddinosaur · 5 years

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London’s Hotel Bar Scene Has Never Been Cooler

If hotel bars are the sexiest bars, then London, an age-old mecca for grand hotels and historic watering holes, might just have the sexiest bar scene on the planet.

It was at a London hotel bar — DUKES Bar in the tony Mayfair district — that Ian Fleming created his “shaken, not stirred,” Martini-sipping secret agent. The American Bar at the Savoy not only gave mixology foreparents Ada “Coley” Coleman and Harry Craddock their start, it also served astronaut Neil Armstrong his very first drink after returning from the moon (imagine that thirst).

According to British-born Simon Ford, founder of Fords Gin and a longtime fixture of London’s cocktail culture, the city’s love affair with these in-house hideaways is rooted in its status as a cross-cultural hub.

“London is one of the most diverse cities in the world. It also happens to be one of the most connected — Heathrow has flights serving more international destinations than any other airport in the world,” Ford says. “All of this makes London a melting pot for what is happening in food and drink and the hotels have always been at that forefront.”

The Savoy Hotel, founded by Cesar Ritz and Auguste Escoffier in 1889, was influential. “That opening set the stage for hotels around the world, not just as a destination for accommodation but also for fine food and drink and for high society to mingle,” Ford says.

The Punch Room at Ian Schrager’s London EDITION hotel. Credit: Nikolas Koenig

While iconic institutions can all-too-often rest on their highly decorated laurels, sinking into overstuffed oblivion, such is not the case at the Savoy. It, like all of London nightlife, is continually reinventing itself. The Covent Garden institution went so far as to undergo a three-year, £220 million renovation in 2010, painstakingly restoring its groundbreaking American Bar and even installing a snazzy new cabaret bar called The Beaufort.

“I first started surveying the scene in the late ’90s when bars at The Savoy, The Lanesborough, The Dukes, The Berkeley, The Sanderson, and so on were already among the world’s most celebrated,” Ford says. “A world-class cocktail bar has been a required element… And every time a hot new hotel bar opens, existing spots upgrade their offerings to ensure that the newcomers do not outshine.

“The momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing down.”

In 2007, the Langham Hotel celebrated its 142nd birthday by debuting Artesian bar. Outfitted with stately Victorian chandeliers and a crisp, royal-blue-and-white color scheme, it had one of the most forward-thinking cocktail programs the U.K. had ever seen. Drinks International named it the World’s Best Bar from 2011 to 2015, and it received a bounty of nods from Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards, including World’s Best Hotel Bar, Best International Cocktail Bar, and multiple International Bartender of the Year awards.

Less than a year later, the 1897 Connaught Hotel gave its treasured eponymous bar a sleek Art Deco-inspired facelift. It soon began accumulating its own arsenal of awards, thanks, at least in part, to its completely irresistible Martini trolley.

Fitz’s at the Kimpton Fitzroy London. Credit: Tom Mannion

In the decade that followed, properties citywide followed suit, creating its now-flourishing hotel bar landscape. New openings and renovations continue to inspire this constantly evolving city by combining contemporary design, boundary-pushing drinks, and decadent hospitality and attention to detail.

These five standouts prove there’s never been a better time to sip and stay in Londontown.

Scarfes Bar at the Rosewood Hotel

This plush, handsome Holborn staple has paid homage to political cartoonist Gerald Scarfe since its inception in 2014. The illustrator’s quirky caricatures hang on the walls and dot the pages of the novel-like menu, bringing a dash of levity to the library-esque atmosphere (read: massive fireplace, built-in dark wood bookshelves, slick marble, tufted leather armchairs). Look for celebrity-inspired cocktails like the Zingy Stardust, made with Absolut Elyx, lemongrass, and kaffir lime; and Booyakasha, a fiery Sasha Baron Cohen tribute featuring Patron Silver, Martini Rubino, habanero, verjus, pink grapefruit, and gusano.

“Scarfes is far from your typical 5-star hotel bar, with nothing stuffy about it,” bar manager Martin Siska says. “Between 60 and 70 percent of our guests visit from outside the hotel property.” Siska has also noticed several travelers book a stay at the hotel because of its bar.

If you ask Ford, that kind of following is a one-way ticket to greatness. “A good hotel bar has the challenge of not only staying ahead of drinking and bar trends around the whole world but it also needs to cater to an international audience,” he says. “If a bar is the reason that people are choosing to stay at the hotel then you have yourself a great hotel bar, and if that bar manages to mingle an international crowd with locals, then even better.”

The Green Room at The Curtain

Shoreditch’s boutique Curtain Hotel threw a big ol’ splash of color onto London’s hotel bar scene when it opened its Green Room in June 2018. Polished concrete floors and giant steel-trimmed windows play off the area’s industrial past, while blue velvet bar stools, glossy emerald tiling, hanging ferns, and a meandering snake of a plush green banquette speak to its youthful, street-savvy present. The drinks list is also tailor-made for the neighborhood’s brunch-craving crowd, with playful numbers like Holiest Harlot (Braemble gin, Martini Riserva Bitter, lemon sorbet, rosé) and Sunday Service (Tapatio Blanco tequila, eucalyptus, pear, lemon, floral bitters) leading the pack.

The Green Room at Shoreditch’s boutique Curtain Hotel. Credit: Justine Trickett

The Punch Room at The EDITION

Nestled deep inside Ian Schrager’s chic London EDITION hotel lurks this intimate haunt, opened in 2013 with floor-to-ceiling wainscotting, soft blue banquettes, and tobacco-hued club chairs. Beautiful as it is, what really makes this place pop is its central theme: punch, the communal English drink first invented by British East India Company sailors.

“I like the versatility of punch, but it’s the drink’s history that really fascinates me,” EDITION’s director of beverages, Davide Segat, says. “It was the first mixed drink that would touch all parts of society, from any social class or position. For hundreds of years, it would reflect society in a bowl — it’s beautiful.”

Punches here are expertly concocted using traditional and offbeat ingredients. Seasonal menus range from tart refreshers (the Enotria features Banks 7 rum, lavender and thyme cordial, Vermentino, and lemon juice) to hearty stalwarts like an English Milk Punch made with Havana Club 3 Year, Somerset Cider brandy, fermented red rice liqueur, milk, and a whole host of belly-warming juices and spices.

Fitz’s at The Kimpton Fitzroy London

In operation since April 2018, Ford deems this newly minted Russell Square addition as “a perfect juxtaposition between classic hotel bar and a modern-day disco vibe.” And trust us, from the velvet clamshell sofas, to the illuminated Art Deco-style back bar, to the massive disco ball hanging amid a thick halo of real ostrich feathers, it lives up to the description. Fitz’s opened in April 2018 and is helmed by Sean Fennelly of Milk & Honey fame, and Carey Hanlon from the trendsetting Callooh Callay. The list includes jazzed-up twists like the silky, bittersweet Vesca Negroni, served atop a bright pink hunk of strawberry- and rosehip-flavored ice. It’s art in a glass, with a sidecar of smirk. Elsewhere on the menu, complicated originals like the pleasantly nutty Golden Echo (St. George Pear Brandy, Noix de la Saint Jean, Smith & Cross rum, lime, toasted sesame, pimento bitters, ginger beer) exhibit skillfully composed balance.

Celebrated London proprietor Ryan Chetiyawardan’s Dandelyan at the Mondrian. Credit: Dandelyan

Dandelyan at the Mondrian (For Now)

Celebrated barkeep Ryan Chetiyawardan’s Dandelyan at the Mondrian quickly rose to the top of the ranks after opening in 2014. And though he recently announced its imminent closure via Instagram, Mr. Lyan, as he’s known, and his swanky, multi-award-winning Southbank digs remain, at least for now, a titan within the scene. The cocktail program is famous for incorporating foraged ingredients, bizarre housemade tinctures and syrups, and other one-of-a-kind finds. All are presented in a menu that resembles a coffee table book of mad scientist creations.

When and if it goes, it will undoubtedly be hard for any bar to fill the Dandelyan’s shoes. But London imbibers should rest assured that the city’s inevitable next class of hotel bars will be primed and poised to try.

The post London’s Hotel Bar Scene Has Never Been Cooler appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/best-hotel-bars-london-travel-guide/

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scobot · 6 years

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“Inspiration fuel” for 2018. Christmas book haul: “The Noble Approach” I just recently discovered this book and realize that #MauriceNoble has had a major influenced on my “subconscious aesthetic” my whole life. I’ve always loved these shapes and forms (along with Dr. Seuss) of landscapes and other worlds. Hello old friend! “Art of Atari” Love the artwork on these classic Atari games. Many I still have. Fantastic to find out more about the artists behind these great illustrations. As a kid I was always disappointed the games didn’t look like the covers! Lol. Nice to have in one book. “The world of Edena” Moebius. What can I say? Moebius is awesome. I especially enjoy his vehicle designs. I do like getting digital versions of his books as well because I can zoom in and look at all the details, but nice to hold in my hand and turn the pages too! “The Art of Richard Powers” Abstract surrealist SciFi - oh hell yes! Absolutely love his work!!! Every page contains another mind blowing painting. So cool. Excited to see what comes from this. “Great Space Battles” How did I miss these books from the “Terran Trade Authority” as a kid?!? There are a number of these - collections of great SciFi illustrations (mostly 60’s & 70’s) with stories written to embellish the images. I would have LOVED these. Well, never to old to discover stuff you missed. “The Art of John Harris” Massive spaceships in massive space environments all with a dreamy impressionistic take. He started in the 1970s, but I actually really dig his work from the 2000s+, much more loose and expressive (more bold and blunt) - awesome stuff. Each year my Christmas book wish list contains titles that resonate with my current work. Most of the time it has the effect of “checking in” to see where I am at. This year contained titles that begin to answer questions about “Why that?” and “Where did that come from?” - connecting with my “source” seems to be of interest this coming year. Very excited to see where this takes my art in 2018.

#mauricenoble

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humanoid-lovers · 6 years

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Great childhood nostalgia and wonderful adventure stories When I was a kid I had an old original copy of the "seven cities" comic book (that had been my father's), and it was my favorite story. Go to Amazon

Lemmings and Harpies This is one of the series of old Bark's stories. I especially enjoyed the lemming story with the cheese loving little hemming. It has been about 20 years since I read that story before. It shows that Barks never visited Norway and he thought that everyone dresses in their national costumes :) Go to Amazon

Adults can enjoy this, too, not just kids. As always, the stories from Carl Barks are quite enjoyable. They were written in a heyday of these Disney classic comics, possessing a sharper humor than we usually see in today's stories for youngsters. I haven't been a youngster for quite awhile but these are still a fun read. Go to Amazon

De ja vu Grew up on these comics. Carl Barks was a fantastic story teller and illustrator. Tho a kid the first time, the 50's, the stories were educational as well as interesting and escapist. These books have done a great job in restoring the original art and color and include interesting background information on the artists / writer and the story behind the story. Great to revisit old friends and find the stories still interesting 60 years later. Looking forward to more releases of Carl Barks' work. Go to Amazon

Carl Barks redux I grew up with the comic books that included the duck stories of Carl Barks. It is wonderful to relive them again in this series of books. Not just the stories themselves but reproductions of cover art. At the end of the book you’ll find short histories of each story and one-pager including any art that had been changed by Barks himself to tighten the story or at the request of his publisher. My one complaint is that the book is listed as being for a maximum age of 12 and at over 70 years of age I’m enjoying them with an older eye that notices deeper meanings and subtle humor to the stories than I did as a youngster. Go to Amazon

Nostalgic Fun This book was a gift and it was THOROUGHLY enjoyed by the recipient, a lover of Donald Duck and friends since childhood. The Carl Barks volumes are a wonderful trip down Memory Lane for anyone who grew up with Walt Disney's characters -- Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge and Huey, Louey and Duey. Will we ever outgrow cartoons? I think not!! Go to Amazon

Super! Contains ALL of the $crooge Classics from 1955 ... Super ! Contains ALL of the $crooge Classics from 1955 and 1956 from U.S. #7 through U.S. #12, including second stories from the original comics-all Carl Barks. "The Golden Fleecing" and "The Fabulous Philosophers Stone" are two of my all time favorites. I am looking forward to the publication of the next Uncle $crooge volume, which will contain the stories from U.S. # 13 through #18.....Great reading for young and old alike ! Go to Amazon

The Seven Cities of Gold and More Adventures of Scrooge McDuck The Seven Cities of Gold collects some of the Uncle Scrooge adventure stories Carl Barks did which inspired Disney's DuckTales, but is far better than the animated counterparts. Go to Amazon

A must for lovers of Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck Great work from the master Five Stars The King of Storytelling Five Stars Classic Five Stars One of the Best barks Books Ever! Unequaled Comics I am a great fan of Carl Barks' work

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humanoid-lovers · 6 years

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