By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
October 26, 1999
Comedian Chris Rock is featured in the November issue of Vibe magazine, showcasing not only his talent, but just plain old-fashioned common sense. Asked why his material about black culture is embraced by white fans, Rock said: “The black experience is a universal experience, ’cause the black experience is the poor experience. A trailer park is just a project on wheels. So any poor white person knows what I’m talking about. Nobody started out rich in America. Even people that have dough can relate to the black experience because their grandfather or great-grandfather was poor.”
Though just 34, Rock said he feels like an old man, because he’s been working the same job for the past 16 years. He added: “I can’t wait until I’m old. The old black man is the funniest character God ever created. Nothing funnier. Woo! Old black man just talking his mind. He’s got a rhythm to him. Got a fiber in the voice that just . . . ah! I can’t wait until I get that. Then you can say whatever you want and it doesn’t even have to be funny. People think it’s funny just because you’re old. You don’t have to worry about hurting people’s feelings or anything. Ooh, when I’m 60! I don’t think I’m funny now. But when I’m 60, I’m going to be hysterical.”
Fashion designer Carolina Herrera shows off a dramatic flair at home as well. Her Manhattan residence, featured in the November House & Garden, is an opulent study in red. “It is the 30-foot-long drawing room – an explosion of red on the second floor – that typifies the quintessential Herrera style,” the article goes. ” `It’s raspberry,’ declares Carolina, who kept ordering the Clarence House damask in 25-yard quantities. `One day,’ she says, `they called and said, `Mrs. Herrera, what in the world are you doing?’
“What she was doing was making draperies for the trio of tall windows and covering the walls, the easy chairs, and the deep sofa with the luscious fabric. But when it was all done, she panicked. `It was just too, too red,’ she says.”
Actually, all the red – or raspberry – works.
Tiger Woods is featured on the cover of the premier issue of Greensfever, aimed at young golfers. Sounds like a snore, right? Actually, the articles are well-written and informative, if a tad pithy: “You can’t force a Tiger, but if you provide an environment where a Tiger can evolve, you might find a Tiger.”
The November Traditional Home features an awesome photo spread of a barn-style abode built by a Connecticut designer. “I’ve always wanted to live in a barn, because my happiest childhood memories are of my uncles’ barns in western New York, where I spent summers,” Barbara Garfield says in the article. “I was an orphan child, and so when I was little, my relatives would put me on a train in Chicago, and an aunt would meet me near Buffalo, and I would spend the summer going from family farm to family farm.”
The issue also features a beautiful spread on antique-style desks.
