Rex Magazine

Boys Come… Boy’s Co.

“John Lennon & Yoko Ono Bed-In for Peace”

Ask any girl. Those rules were bent Friday night when I happened upon old flame David Goldman still going strong at his Boy’s Co exclusive opening of “All We Are Saying” – a fashionable evening featuring the original photographs of “John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Bed-In for Peace” by the late photojournalist Gerry Deiter.

These extraordinary photographs, providing the backdrop for the theme of the evening, were on display through the sagacity of the Elliott Louis Gallery’s owner Ted Lederer – who single-handedly dragged them out of Deiter’s vault for a first-time showing on May 26, 2004 – thirty-five years after John Lennon and Yoko Ono went to bed in a suite in Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel, and invited the entire world to join them in seeking an alternative to violence and war in solving global political and social problems.

May 26, 1969. That month the battle of Dong Ap Bia, a.k.a. Hamburger Hill was exploding in the Vietnam War. Race riots occurred in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. French Foreign Legion paratroopers landed in Kolwezi, Zaire, to rescue Europeans caught in the middle of a civil war. U.S. National Guard helicopters sprayed skin-stinging powder on anti-war protesters in California. It was two years after the Summer of Love.

John and Yoko were in room 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Early in the Bed-In, a reporter asked John what he was trying to do. John said, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” Putting sounds to the thought, he rented an 8-track tape machine from a local music store and, on May 31 while in bed, recorded the first solo by a single Beatle,” Give Peace a Chance”, – the recording was attended by dozens of journalists and various celebrities, including Timothy Leary, Petula Clark, Dick Gregory and Canada’s Tommy Smothers.

Gerry Deiter was there for the entire eight days. He was assigned to photograph the Bed-In for Peace by Life Magazine but Life never ran the feature. Ironically, it fell victim to a bigger story – the death of Ho Chi Minh, leader of North Vietnam.

Deiter kept the negatives and transparencies locked away for more than 30 years. He had been living aboard a classic wooden motor yacht cruising the wilderness of the British Columbia coast photographing and writing when Ted Lederer, with the help of family and friends, prevailed on him to bring this archive to life and offer the work to the public at the Elliott Louis Gallery in 2004. This amazing work offers up 25 images in colour and black and white that celebrate John and Yoko’s example of peace and love.

What brought the Boy’s Co show together were Goldman and Lederer meeting up on the field where their sons play soccer. It was a confluence that allowed for a new generation to have a special glimpse of an older one.

Disenchanted fan, Mark David Chapman, murdered Lennon on December 8, 1980. The world is still at war. This retrospective clearly speaks to Lennon’s prescience.

Good on Deiter, Goldman and Lederer for keeping his mission in our faces.

Few people will argue the fact that old fashioned couches and love seats look really out of place in front of a sleek home theatre system. With flat panel screens mounted to walls and high end technology everywhere you turn, you cannot maintain a room’s cool appearance with outdated furniture. Luckily, furniture manufactures get this concept, and have developed comfortable and chic furniture to make your home theatre room the envy of all of your guests.

Home theatre room seating can range from innovative bean bag style chairs and loungers to ultra modern looking game pod chairs to luxury armchair style connected seats. Most of these feature sleek designs and are made of ultra cool leathers and suede to make them comfortable and highly attractive additions to your high tech room.

The cost of home theatre room seating can vary, but the higher end products are well worth the investment. Many of these theatre seats take the comfort of your favorite old armchair and combine that with cup holders and storage areas between the seats. Most of these cool home theatre room seats have the ability to recline and raise the footrest as well. You do not have to lose the ability to snuggle up with your partner while watching a movie, as the majority also have arm rests that lift up and hide into the back of the chair.

Choosing the right home theatre room seating depends largely on your preferences, décor and budget. One thing is certain, your new furniture will make your house the place to be with friends and family. No other furniture you can buy for your entertainment room will look as cool and be as enjoyable as the options available on the market today.

Why wait for the party to begin before implementing your entertainment ideas? We have some ideas you can start straight away and they’re free!

Unique Party Invitations

Your entertainment ideas really can begin with your party invitations – at least these unique party invitations.

Using Web 2.0 technology you can now create a truly interactive party invitation online that will entertain people for hours (instead of those boring handwritten invitations that get thrown away soon after received!)

Web 2.0 allows you to quickly and easily add photos, video, music, and pretty much anything else you like to your party invitations. You should also focus on making this page as interactive as possible if you want it as one of your entertainment ideas – this means adding polls, a comment wall and other ways to encourage interaction between your guests.

Once you have a great web page set up with all the details for your party then send out emails with the link so that people know where to come and let the party begin.

Make Special Events Last

What about after the party? Or those that can’t come? Do your entertainment ideas necessarily need to be limited to the actual party? We don’t think so.

For those people who are not able to make it, add a live video feed to your party invitations web page so that they can join in the entertainment even if they are not there.

Once the party is over go back and update your web page with photos and videos of your entertainment ideas and how they actually turned out on the night.