Saturday, February 26, 2011

Oooh...aahhh

I am salivating over the March cover of Vanity Fair! Anyone see it? Group photo of young Hollywood doing Old Hollywood, and doing it right. Elegant, swanky, gorgeous! My favorite is Anne Hathaway channeling Ava Gardner, in an absolutely divine gown! Stunning. Normally, anything with a bottle-feeding lion cub gets my vote no matter what, but everyone is looking so fabulous that the lion cub is just icing on the cake.

And on the subject of photo shoots, the results of the most recent Midnight Refrain photo shoot are now posted under Promo Photo Gallery #3 on www.midnightrefrain.com Despite the lack of lion cub, I think they came out very well! Come to think of it, I am wearing a tiger striped man-catcher dress in one of them. OK, not quite the same, but still cool. (Note to self: Must look into lion cub rental.)

Let me know what you think!

Feeling feline,
Laura

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

For my faithful followers

...all 10 of you. I feel excited to offer you a little (very little) sneak peak of the images from our last photo shoot. I'm undecided on which one to post right this second, I'm assuming I'll decide by the time I finish writing this blog. We did a nice variety of looks, from dramatic '30s to bombshell '50s, even one a little avant garde and maybe just out of our normal sphere of offerings but was inspired by a photo of legendary '30s actress. Please let me know what you like! And I don't just mean of these photos, but of all photos, songs, writers, movies, actors and actresses, vintage designers and themes... any sort of suggestion or feedback is welcome. I'd love for this blog to be more interactive. You can also check out Midnight Refrain on Facebook. If you decide to be a fan and "Like" my page on Facebook, you have even more ways to interact with me and other fans. Click on the Laura Shaffer's Midnight Refrain Facebook badge on the top right of the blog page. And now, the public unveiling of the first image from our most recent shoot...which you can already see since I don't know how to put the photo underneath the blog...TA DA!

Many thanks, again, to the brilliant and patient photographer Darryl Martin, and also thanks to photographer Kelly Haugh for her support on this shoot.

Low tech but enthusiastic,
Laura

Friday, February 4, 2011

San Francisco report

Subtitle: (I left my liver in San Francisco)

Last week's trip to San Francisco was fabulous. We stayed at the historic Sir Francis Drake, a landmark grande dame in Union Square. SF is a beautiful city any time of year, a metropolis on the Pacific with a charm all it's own. What many people may not realize is how many films noir were either shot or set there. Dark Passage, The Maltese Falcon, Nora Prentiss, Out of the Past, The Lady From Shanghai, Impact, D.O.A., and so many others. And the city is uniquely supportive of the arts, including classic and noir cinema. The Noir City 9 film festival coincided with our visit, and what a wonderful event it is! It was held at the marvelous Castro Theatre, a 1920's movie palace. Check out Noir City and Castro Theatre online. We also scouted photo shoot and video locations, including a cool '50s radio station, and have arranged for a live performance video to be shot later this year in the gorgeous Starlight Room, at the top of the Drake. We'd love to have you join us for that. Other than that, I consider it my solemn duty to thoroughly eat and drink my way through any city I visit, and reverent gastronomic romps in San Fran included the evocative and historic John's Grill (The Maltese Falcon) and Pompeii's Grotto (Nora Prentiss).

Now back in Las Vegas, my liver and I (it arrived yesterday, after a short recuperation in a Sausolito clinic) are turning our attention back to recording. Stay tuned here on my blog, as well as my facebook page, www.facebook.com/midnightrefrain for more updates!