RETRO KIMMER'S BLOG

10.11.2013

ROBERT MITCHUM: HOLLYWOOD'S SEXIEST MAN OF ALL TIME

Throughout Robert Mitchum's childhood, he was known as a prankster, often involved in fistfights and mischief. When he was 12, his mother sent Mitchum to live with his grandparents in Felton, Delaware, where he was promptly expelled from his middle school for scuffling with a principal.

A year later, in 1930, he moved in with his older sister, in New York's Hell's Kitchen. After being expelled from Haaran High School, he left his sister and traveled throughout the country on railroad cars, taking a number of jobs including ditch-digging for the Civilian Conservation Corps and professional boxing.

He experienced numerous adventures during his years as one of the Depression era's "wild boys of the road." At age 14 in Savannah, Georgia, he was arrested for vagrancy and put on a local chain gang. By Mitchum's own account, he escaped and returned to his family in Delaware. It was during this time, while recovering from injuries that nearly lost him a leg, that he met the woman he would marry, a teenaged Dorothy Spence. He soon went back on the road, eventually riding the rails to California.

One of the lesser-known aspects of Mitchum's career was his forays into music, both as singer and composer. Mitchum's voice was often used instead of that of a professional singer when his characters sang in his films. Notable productions featuring Mitchum's own singing voice included Rachel and the Stranger, River of No Return and The Night of the Hunter.

After hearing traditional calypso music and meeting artists such as Mighty Sparrow and Lord Invader while filming Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in the Caribbean island of Tobago, he recorded Calypso — is like so ... in March 1957. On the album, released through Capitol Records, he emulated the calypso sound and style, even adopting the style's unique pronunciations and slang.

A year later he recorded a song he had written for the film Thunder Road, titled "The Ballad of Thunder Road". The country-style song became a modest hit for Mitchum, reaching No. 69 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart. The song was included as a bonus track on a successful reissue of Calypso... and helped market the film to a wider audience. Read More

10.10.2013

THE RUINERS AND MORE COOL IDEAS FOR HALLOWEEN!

KIMMER GETS HER HALLOWEEN NAILS DONE!

Photo: Stephanie Belmore

Last night I visited my pal and fantastic Nail Technician Lesslee Belmore to get my nails done for Halloween! Most of you know that I used to do nails too but Lesslee was my teacher so her work is the BEST! Her nails stay on forever... And FAST she is the fastest Nail Tech I have ever seen! I hate sitting in a chair for a really long time so I have a super sonic hairstylist Rhonda Schooler and super super sonic Lesslee Belmore too.

Lesslee added white tips to my really short natural nails then added white and pink acrylic powder over the tips. After that step, Lesslee buffs them smooth so they are ready to polish.

While I was there we put her daughter Stephanie to work as my photographer for this story. We also had to use Stephanie's stash of very cool day-glo orange, black and sparkling glitter polishes.

Yes! Here we are with our finished candy corn looking nails! How cool is that?? AND they glow in the dark!!! LOVE THEM!

To book an appointment with Lesslee so you too can have fabulous nails visit her salon website Luminosity Saline

THANKS SO MUCH LES and STEPH!

LAB CHIMPS RELEASED TO SANCTUARY AFTER 30 YEARS IN CAPTIVITY

Like prisoners emerging from a lifetime behind bars, a group of chimpanzees step blinking into the sunlight. This is the first time they have felt grass under their feet and breathed fresh air for 30 years. A few of the chimps were born in captivity but most were kidnapped from African jungles as babies and flown to Europe, where they were locked in metal laboratory cages to be used in a long series of experiments.

Their ordeal finally ended in September 2011 when 38 of the surviving chimps were released into a sanctuary in Austria called Gut Aiderbichl, allowing them to feel the nurturing contact of their fellow chimps after years of being separated by bars and bullet-proof glass.

THE AIR... THE LIGHT... THE FREEDOM