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January 31st, 2012

Death Valley - Jan 2012 - 120

1/31/12 09:30 pm

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<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6797018705_862f1936c3_z.jpg" alt="<a href="http://.livejournal.com/" />photo</a>" width="427" height="640" onload="F.imageChecker.load(this);" onerror="F.imageChecker.error(this);"><a href="http://coyea.livejournal.com/" />Death Valley</a> - Jan 2012 - 120This photo was taken during my weekend trip to Death Valley National Park in California.Check out the other photos in the set as there's a real mix of long exposure shots of the night sky, featuring the milky way and an absolute barrage of stars (Death Valley is by far the best place I've ever shot the night sky from so far), as well as plenty of photos from daylight hours as I explored the scenery of the famous park.Tagsdeath valleytriptournationalparkdarkdarknessnightlongexposurebadwaterbasinzabriskiepointdantesviewsaltsealeveljanuary2012weekendwinterstarmilkywayDeath Valley National Park, Death Valley, weekend trip, photos, photo<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/barryoneilphotography/6797018705/" />Flickr.com</a>

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Anjelica Huston Looks Back

1/31/12 09:30 pm

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Photograph by Cedric Buchet; Styling by Tiina Laakkonen

IN THE PRESENT | Legendary actress Anjelica Huston, photographed in New York City.

At 17, Anjelica Huston started her modeling career and became a muse to designers such as Halston and Zandra Rhodes, photographed by the likes of Richard Avedon, Guy Bourdin and Bob Richardson. At 60 she remains the best- and most interesting-looking person in the room: imposing, bewitching, singular.

Her striking appearance is, of course, only one element of Huston's mystique. She is self-possessed, intense and forthcoming. You can feel a bit of her peculiar personal magnetism in roles as varied as Morticia Addams and the agonized mother and con artist Huston played in "The Grifters," a part she took on at the end of her famous 16-year romance with Jack Nicholson. Even as the desperate mistress Martin Landau was trying to unload in Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors," Huston expressed a potent if unhinged power.

In recent years, she has collaborated with Wes Anderson, bringing a kind of backbone to whimsical movies like "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." Every director she's worked with has seemed like a bit of a breeze compared with one of her first, the legendary John Huston (who was shooting "The African Queen" when he received a telegram that his daughter had been born, on July 8, 1951). But then it was working with him, on "Prizzi's Honor," that won Huston her Academy Award.

“I love to look at young people, but there's something about a little more experience and the way it reflects in a face that pulls me in more.”

Huston has been writing a memoir since her husband of 16 years, the artist Robert Graham, died in 2008. She seems to have a hard-won clarity about her life—her childhood in Ireland on her father's 110-acre Galway estate, her youth in New York City's glamorous '70s fashion scene, her nearly two decades in Los Angeles with Nicholson, and her time with Graham, living in the house he built for them in Venice Beach, his most intimate work of art.

[mag0212soapbox] Eve Arnold/Magnum Photos

THE EARLY DAYS | With her father, John Huston, in 1968, the year before their film "A Walk With Love and Death"

Huston has a farm near the Sequoia National Forest, where she keeps her beloved horses, pigs and sheep, and works on her book. But since last summer she has been in New York City, shooting the new NBC series "Smash," in which she plays a producer whose state of mind Huston can understand: Her character is coping with the end of a marriage and fighting ferociously to advance her art.

I always knew I was talented. I always knew I had more than, initially, if I can be so blunt, I was appreciated for. That I had this thing that I had to get out—something that I had to push along.

I was always very sensitive about how things came to me; I see the sons and daughters of very famous people not really seemingly having that problem. I just worked with Meryl Streep's daughter Gracie Gummer, who plays my daughter on "Smash." She's divine—like her mother. Lovely, sweet, free. Just the opposite of me at that age. I was full of complexes.

I did a movie called "A Walk With Love and Death" with my dad when I was 16. It was very difficult; he was very critical of me. When he did praise me it meant a lot, but it didn't come easily to him. He was tough on himself, too. It was just part of his makeup—it wasn't that he had it in for me or anything.

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At 17, with her mother, Ricki Soma, in "Vogue"

After that, I came to London and I was offered the chance to understudy Marianne Faithfull in Tony Richardson's "Hamlet." I was in rehearsal when Dick Avedon came to town. He was a good friend of my mother's and father's, and he asked them if he could photograph me. We did some test pictures, and the answer sort of came from him through my mother that he didn't really think I'd be a model because my shoulders were too big. I was quite hurt by that, but anyway, onward. Shortly after, my mother was killed in a car crash and I didn't want to stay on in London.

I went with "Hamlet" to New York. "Harper's Bazaar" called and asked if I'd do a layout, and they sent a photographer called Bob Richardson to pick me up and take me out to Jones Beach to do some photographs. We had a kind of magical afternoon. I was a little girl, 17, when we met, and my mother had just died.

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Anjelica in 1971

Bob was much older. He kind of took me over, hook, line and sinker. It wasn't all bad: He was a fascinating person, a very extreme and radical person. When things were good, they were wonderful and beautiful, and when things were bad they were truly horrid. When you find yourself in that kind of pendulum swing, you're kind of recovering half the time from the other half of the time. He was not a well person.

Diana Vreeland was at "Vogue," and she was great. She was always on my side, a great ally. That's how it really started out. I loved doing runway. I did quite a lot of that with great people like Halston and Zandra Rhodes and Perry Ellis. It was very inclusive—especially with Halston. We girls traveled in a pack, and we called ourselves the Halstonettes: Elsa Peretti, Pat Cleveland, Karen Bjornson. There was a good deal of amusement. Right before I quit, which was about 1973 or 1974, the best photographers were here in New York, the clothes were great, I was booked all the time. It was right before everything kind of imploded and cocaine and AIDS took over the entire scene.

[mag0212soapbox] Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

IN GOOD COMPANY | With boyfriend Jack Nicholson at the Academy Awards in 1975, where he was nominated for his role in "Chinatown"

I met Jack Nicholson, and I knew that I wasn't going to work as a model in California the way I'd worked in New York. I wasn't a California girl; I knew I would never sell toothpaste. But I was in love and I wanted to be with my new boyfriend. I didn't want to be away from him…. I didn't trust him that far, I think quite rightly! It was good times; he had a great life. We'd go to Aspen in the winter. I met wonderful artists, great filmmakers—Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, Hal Ashby, Faye Dunaway and Diane Keaton. All these really fabulous people.

Opportunities came up to test for things, mostly things that Jack was involved with and that always felt too much like a handout. I remember going to visit my dad in Mexico when I was 28 years old. I was still sort of teetering around this idea of being an actress; I'd done a part in "The Last Tycoon." I told him that for real, I was really serious about it. He said, "Well, don't you think you're a little old, honey?"

I was shattered—shattered!—at the idea that maybe I'd missed out. I guess that's pretty late, actually. I've been lucky, but for most people, after the age of 30, the curtain kind of comes down. For actresses, certainly. But I think people become more watchable after 30, when they have something on their face and something between their ears. I love to look at young people, but there's something about a little experience and the way it reflects in a face that pulls me in more.

[mag0212soapbox] Eve Arnold/Magnum Photos

BRIGHT EYES | Photographed by Eve Arnold in 1968 at St. Clerans, the estate in Galway, Ireland, where she grew up

I was doing "The Grifters" when Jack and I broke up. It was a big, long relationship, and even though it was an ending that had to happen, it was a very painful ending. At least for me. I felt very devalued at the time. I was, frankly, furious. You can't really take it out in your everyday life; that's one of the reasons acting is such a bonus for me. "The Grifters" had everything to do with everything I was feeling at the time—kind of having to cut off a part of myself to go on. I didn't really know what was going to happen in my life.

A friend of mine called me up and said, "Would you like to come to dinner, and would you mind if I sent Bob Graham to pick you up?" I knew Bob's work from the '84 Olympics, when he'd made two massive pieces for the coliseum, and I loved those pieces. It was one of the first things we talked about. We were on the rooftop after dinner at my friend's gallery, and there were fireworks going off, and I looked across the terrace and I thought, Huh, maybe. Maybe that's what it's going to be.

“I can't really conceive of the fact that Bob's no longer on the planet. It's outlandish—particularly because he was such a present person.”

I was always very reluctant about marriage. Marriage always felt to me like a form of withdrawal or a form of throwing in the towel as a young woman. I got married in my 40th year. Suddenly it was possible and made sense, and I met someone whom I could imagine being serious about for a long time.

[mag0212soapbox2] Philippe Halsman/Magnum Photos

A modeling shot by Philippe Halsman from 1968

It wasn't based on any of the things that had drawn me to boyfriend-girlfriend relationships in the first place. It comes as an immense shock every morning that he's not there. It's one of those things you have to kind of keep talking yourself into: I can't really conceive of the fact that Bob's no longer on the planet. It's outlandish—particularly because he was such a present person, so full of character and humor, so very there.

I just came through a huge event in my life, the sickness and death of my husband. Right now New York's a good place for me. I'm very happy to be in a show with singing and dancing—I love that it's not forensics or cops or any of that culture-of-death stuff. It's not a dowdy role. I get to crack my whip a little bit.

[mag0212soapbox] Photograph by Cedric Buchet; Styling by Tiina Laakkonen

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT | Huston channels Hollywood glamour as she moves into a new stage and a new city.

I like to be associated with strength rather than weakness and misery. But we're made up of all of these components. There's always a moment where you are deeply alone in your own skin, and it's hard to come to terms with it. There's a period after something like the death of a spouse where you can totally understand why widows wore veils.

Because no one should really look upon you for a couple of years, and you really shouldn't look upon anyone else. You're very tender; you feel like something uncooked. And people can be very unpleasant when you're in a state of grief. I think in Bob's case, some of the people who cared about him the most needed someone to blame.

I have to move along. Our house is for sale now. I love L.A., but I don't know if it's going to be my home anymore. I'm at this strange time in my life where maybe it's time to totally uproot again.

—Edited from Ariel Levy's interview with Anjelica Huston

Makeup: Pep Gay @ Streeters; Hair: Akki; Manicure: Alicia Torello at The Wall Group; Fashion Assistant: Britt Marie Kittelsen; Photo Assistants: Alexandre Salle De Chou, James Giles; Digital Tech: Ludovic Nicolas; Makeup Assistant: Sir John Barnett. Cartier earrings; David Webb ring; Manolo Blahnik shoes; Tom Ford tuxedo

On the cover: Makeup: Pep Gay @ Streeters; Hair: Akki; Manicurist: Alicia Torello @ The Wall Group; Jewelry: David Webb; Hat: Patricia Underwood; Blouse: Tom Ford
Online.wsj.com

January 27th, 2012

Defense budget plan would cut spending by half a trillion

1/27/12 05:24 pm

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<img src="http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2012-01/128834440-26171332.jpg" alt="<a href="http://.livejournal.com/" /><a href="http://reainalt.livejournal.com/" />Pentagon</a></a> budget briefing" border="0" width="580" height="406" />Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, right, conduct a briefing at the Pentagon on major budget decisions. (Win McNamee / Getty Images / January 26, 2012)Reporting from Washington—The Pentagon released a budget blueprint Thursday that cuts projected military spending by nearly half a trillion dollars, yet still calls for increasing the base defense budget in all but one of the next five years.The proposal meets both goals because spending on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is dropping sharply, allowing the base budget — the annual cost of paying troops and buying planes, ships and tanks — to increase modestly, even while complying with last year's bipartisan deal in Congress to reduce the deficit.For President Obama, the apparent paradox of being able to cut and raise defense spending at the same time is potentially a political boon in his reelection bid.To Democrats who believe the Pentagon is bloated and should do more to help reduce the national deficit, he can say that his budget would do so. To Republicans who say defense cuts will leave the country vulnerable, he can say he would be spending more every year except in 2013 — and holding the line against further reductions.Others are likely to seize on how the proposed cuts would affect jobs at bases and defense plants across the country."Make no mistake, the savings that we are proposing will impact all 50 states and many districts, congressional districts across America," Defense SecretaryLeon E. Panettasaid at a Pentagon news conference.Panetta acknowledged that so-called spending cuts are only reductions in projected growth, not actual cuts in current spending. Nonetheless, he called the budget plan "tough" and "real" and said "it's something that obviously will cause some pain."The $525 billion sought in fiscal year 2013 is $6 billion less than Congress approved for 2012.But over the next four years, the Pentagon budget would rise each year, reaching $567 billion by 2017. In inflated adjusted dollars, spending is essentially flat, Pentagon projections show.War spending, which is funded separately by Congress, would fall from $115 billion this year to $88 billion in 2013 and presumably even further in subsequent years as U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan, though no estimates were provided.The Pentagon blueprint would cancel several weapons programs, slow purchases of aircraft and submarines, reduce the size of the Army and Marine Corps, shrink the number of Army combat brigades and Air Force squadrons, and move some forces now deployed overseas back to the United States.The plan is meant to shift spending away from the heavy commitment of troops and equipment needed to fight the wars of the last decade, and to instead beef up the Navy and other assets to help counter Iran, China and North Korea.The plan envisions buying more unmanned drones, preserving special operations units built up over the last decade, and maintaining a fleet of 11 aircraft carriers, so the U.S. can project power overseas while cutting back on conventional ground forces.Congress has final say on both the size and the spending priorities of the defense budget.Some critics immediately weighed in.Sen. John McCain(R-Ariz) said the budget imposed unacceptable cuts on the military."I am deeply concerned that the size and scope of these cuts would repeat the mistakes of history and leave our forces too small to respond effectively to events that may unfold over the next few years," McCain said in a statement.Though overall spending on unmanned aircraft would go up, the budget would cancel funding for a version of the Global Hawk high altitude reconnaissance drone, which was purchased as a replacement for the U2 spy plane but has proved to be too expensive, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said.In one of the biggest savings proposals, the Pentagon would buy only 29 F-35 joint strike fighters in 2013, or 13 fewer than previously planned, U.S. officials said. Not due to enter service until 2017 or 2018, the single-engine fighter has been plagued by cost overruns and technical difficulties.Panetta called the aircraft "essential," but he said, "We want to make sure before we go into full production that we are ready."Two of the four Army brigades in Europe would be brought home, and the Army and Marines would shift to a rotational training plan under which more units would deploy overseas to conduct exercises with allies in Europe and Asia.The Army plans to cut at least eight of its 45 combat brigades, which now have 3,500 to 5,000 troops each. But it also plans to increase the size of brigades, allowing them to maintain combat power. The Air Force's 60 tactical squadrons would drop to 54.The Pentagon proposal is only the opening move in a complex budget debate. Further details of the defense plan will be released next month along with the administration's budget for the full 2013 fiscal year.If Congress doesn't pass additional deficit reduction measure in the next year, the Defense Department could face the prospect of automatic reductions of as much as another half a trillion dollars.Panetta said he hoped Congress would act to stop the additional cuts, which he said would "hollow out the force and damage our national defense for a generation."david.cloud@latimes.comThe Pentagon, Pentagon, the Pentagon, Pentagon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Congress, Congress, Pentagon proposal, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, budget blueprint, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, President Obama<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-defense-spending-cuts-20120127,0,4083983.story?track=rss" />Latimes.com</a>