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A Very Random Listing of Boomerang Friends, Side Projects, and Other Things We Really Like...
She's the toast of Tokyo, the sweetheart of the silent movie set, and the darling of the old-time dance halls; hot swing, French ballads, early jazz, obscure novelty tunes, arcane Vitaphone numbers…no one does it better. Boomerang loves Janet Klein, and we're honored to call her our friend. Give this ukulele lady a looksee, she doesn't disappoint!
After a decade in Vermont, Boomerang's co-founder and Southern California transplant Matt Maranian can't seem to completely sever his ties to Los Angeles, try as he might. He recently teamed back up with is pal Tony Lovett to create the completely revised and munificently expanded edition of their #1 Bestseller, L.A. Bizarro—and even got the cover story of the L.A. Times Calendar. If you need more now, check the L.A. Bizarro website.
Is there anyone left on earth who doesn't know about bOING bOING? Our old L.A. pals Mark Frauenfelder and his lovely wife Carla Sinclair started bOING bOING in zine form way back in the early '90s, but these days bOING bOING is one of the most popular blogs in America.
For urban how-to hounds who relish the hand-made, Craftzine.com is for you! It also so happens that Boomerang's Matt Maranian, was a regular contributor when Craft was a glossy. This is more than a shameless plug, the site is smokin' good, really!
And speaking of, ever see Matt's book, PAD? Its celebration of visionary style, outsider interiors, and outré DIY designs put this tome on the Los Angles Times bestseller list when it debuted. Many critics called it a "work of art," others called it "an abomination." You decide.
...and of course there was PAD's follow-up, PAD Parties.
Count our friend Brini Maxwell among the fans of the PAD books—and she's even consigned some of her fabulous vintage frocks at Boomerang. If you missed the years Brini appeared on NY Public Access Television or the two seasons that The Brini Maxwell Show ran on the Style Network, it’s not too late! Check out Brini's book, Brini Maxwell's Guide to Gracious Living, her super bitchin' website, podcasts, and her outstanding new line of accessories for Felix Populi!
She's been called "The Queen of the Casio" and "Mary Poppins on Acid," but nary a soul among the London club circuit doesn't know her name: she's Lorraine Bowen, and for our money, she's London's true crown jewel. We got to hang with Lorraine on our last trip to England, where we were fortunate enough to catch her hilarious live show, "Lorraine Bowen's Vital Organs." The next day she took us on a whirlwind tour of Brighton, invited us up to her beautiful townhouse for tea, and helped us with a bottle of wine over a fish & chips lunch on the pier. Lorraine gets a lot of airplay in Boomerang, and, in fact, our sensational vintage dressing room curtains were courtesy of Lorraine. If you ever have the chance to catch her live, nab your tickets post haste, she's a howling good time! Her "best of" CD, "Oh! What a Star!" is full of surprises, and a must for any audiophile with an international ear!
Want to feel like a total loser? Just take a look at what our (aforementioned) pal and bOING bOING co-creator Mark Frauenfelder is up to. Author, illustrator, magazine editor, webmeister, fine artist, musician,
dad, and novice chicken farmer; Mark's got more irons in the fire than anyone we've ever known, and his talent, drive, and all-round even keel never cease to inspire us. View his paintings, read his articles, and catch up on who knows what else on his blog.
Paper magazine has always got their thumb on the pulse of what's happening in art, music, fashion, film, and print. Boomerang's co-founder, Loretta Palazzo, never misses an issue! Share the love.
…and she also never misses an issue of BUST. 
If it's got strings, chances are our prolific pal Peter Siegel can play the poop out of it. A provocative, often hilarious award-winning song writer, this multi-talent will make a folk music fan out of you in spite your preconceived notions about the genre. His is "radical roots music" for the new millennium, coming from a NY background of lefty Jewish politics, environmental activism, and influences like Phil Ochs, Pete Seeger, the old time square dance scene,
Warner Brothers cartoons, Jimi Hendrix, and 70's and 80's pop. Plus he's handsome and really nice. There are also the many side bands and music projects that keep him strumming across the country (and rarely available to have dinner with us). If you can’t catch him playing a contra dance, music festival, house concert, or local music venue, then buy one of his cds—it's impossible to pick a bad one!
Artist, Boomerang BFF, and super-sassy Armenian girl Vicki Semarjian started her underwear line GirliePants serendipitously; it all began with her series of hand-rendered drawings on underwear that debuted in a Cleveland art gallery a few years back. A demand for wearable work soon followed, and the brand was born. See the full line on the GirliePants website!
Globe Trotter, actress, singer, poet, artist, and general all-round bon vivant, Kate Drew-Wilkinson is the sort of gal you only cross paths with once in your life—but only if you're lucky. With a bio that's hit some intriguing high notes (pals with Jimi Hendrix, a childhood spent in post-war Berlin, and a costarring role in the original 1969 production of the radical stage show, Oh! Calcutta!), in recent years Kate's made a name for herself in the field of
hand-made, lamp-worked glass beads. Each of her pendants are a little world unto themselves; delicate, complex, layered with rich color, and no two alike. Internationally known and exhibited, Kate teaches her craft in Europe and in the U.S., has produced a series of instructional books and dvds, and draws visitors with live demos in her Arizona glass gallery. Although she's all the way out in Bisbee, we've managed to show Kate a good time here in Southern
Vermont (with a particularly memorable afternoon of canoeing and cocktails up the West River!), and we can't get enough of her infectious joie de vivre. If you're ever passing though Bisbee, you've got to pay her a visit—and be sure to tell her we sent you.
Tucked away on a quiet side street in the San Fernando Valley (just a stone’s throw from the house that was used in the exterior shots of "The Brady Bunch"), is the Fotolyte workshop of Boomerang’s dearest pal Carol Rosenthal. Each of her custom 4” x 4” steel light boxes is fitted with a removable (and interchangeable)
antique glass slide. She’s got a mammoth selection dating from the late 1800s to the early 1940s, covering a stupefying selection of themes and images. If you can’t get to one of the L.A. retailers that carry the line, check out her web gallery and drop her a note (and tell her we said “Pree-ty laaaaa-dy!”). Carol’s Fotolytes are one of the best and most unique gifts ever; we've got one of the Sphinx at Giza that’s absolutely spellbinding.
When Matt was back in L.A. and religiously trolling the Pasadena City College Flea Market in the
mid-'80s, it seemed that there was another guy who was always one step ahead of him, nabbing the coolest shit just minutes before Matt made it to a particular booth and carting away the Class-A haul in the early morning hours, long before most people bothered to show up. This dude was an easy-to-spot character in L.A. at the time, tooling around greater Hollywood in his seafoam Dual Ghia convertible with Dalmatian interior (later used in the Janet Jackson video "Nasty Girl"!). As Matt would later discover, the hep-cat with the keen eye was artist Dale Sizer, and it wasn't until more than a decade later that their paths crossed again, when Matt immortalized the style hound with a splashy four-page layout in his book PAD.
These days you won't find Dale shopping the flea like he used to, but maybe that's because he's spending more time in front of the canvas; view his web galleries, animation work, and see what else this PAD hero is up to.