The Nico profile picture

The Nico

I am the only one worth fighting with-and for

About Me

New News: Up and comings....
Favorite Quotes:

Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

"To become, once again, so powerful as to prove to these beggars that I was NEVER their fool."-M.A.

"To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art"- Charles Bukowski

"If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting- both for us and for her" Room With a View--E.M. Forester

"Los Angeles, give me some of you! Los Angeles come to me the way I came to you, my feet over your streets, you pretty town I loved you so much, you sad flower in the sand, you pretty town." John Fante-"Ask The Dust"

I am a propagandist and a curator of art, talent and whatnot. I make wicked hot posters and can assist you in crafting your public identity in print and in word. I broker in hoopla.
In October I uprooted my entire life and moved back to my hometown of Portland, Or. Mid Life crisis @ 32 or something to it's ilk. -- I am working on getting some of the L.A. projects back up by March, please be patient.

It has been a wild ride- plenty of very high ups and very low downs. It's been a momentous and difficult journey, but in truth I would never trade it because it is my journey...

Let's see...here it all is in a nut shell...

Born May 29th 1975 Portland, Oregon..Lived there till I was 19 then I moved to Seattle went to Cornish College of The Arts til I got kicked out...I love the idea of school but I have always been bad at following through on it...was labeled as difficult early on.

Unfortunately, I took it as a compliment.

I never been good at committing to things-except for when I am obsessed and that has it's own problems... I lived, loved and had a pretty good run of a life in Seattle...scene hopped a little through the rockabilly, punk and so on and eventually settled in to being my own little monkey.

I'll admit, scenes were great in my 20's because I could dress up and be taken at face value...not a lot of deep questions...but at the end of the day there was little commonality,and I just sort of fell out of love. Kind of sounds like my major relationships so far. Great at face value but little commonality... I have a really difficult time playing well with others so I try to keep to myself . I've done a lot of things I'm proud of. I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of. Regardless, I make great art and despite my general vibe of a malcontent I make room for a lot of lovely moments in my life

The Nico Bella Bio:


Nico Bella is a raconteur and provocateur that has left a trail of infamy down the west coast. In 1999 Nico ( known to many as Bella Beretta) founded the burlesque ensemble "The Gun Street Girls". The Gun Street Girls are recognized as true vanguards of the "Modern Burlesque" movement and were the first ensemble in the country to identify themselves as "Punk Burlesque".

In 2003 Nico relocated to Los Angeles and brought with her a D.I.Y. ethic and an uncompromising devotion to "Glitter and Gutter" that is evident in everything she puts her stamp on. Her production company Fleur De Lethal has produced "The Lost Weekend:Black Dahlia",The Ooh La L.A.@ The Orpheum, Burlesque @ The Derby,The Tease @ 3's after a 4 year stint in Los Angeles, Nico Bella has returned to her hometown of Portland to embark on her next phase of integrated performance,promotion and production.

Nico Bella created the book club "Nobody Reads in L.A." A book club dedicated to putting books in the hands of those used to holding cocktails.This has evolved in to "Book Club" in Portland and a whole new slew of art and literature based events to occur in 2008. When she is not producing events she is illustrating, photographing or instigating..and always listening to Tom Waits."

The Bella Beretta Bio


A volatile Molotov cocktail of glitter and gutter, built with just as much Tennessee Williams as Gypsy Rose Lee. Bella Beretta has taken aim and carved out a bullet-riddled niche as neo-burlesque's most notorious bad girl.
In 1999, Miss Beretta embarked on a mission to bring a different vision of glamour to the table. She sought to push the limits and definition of burlesque and what it encompassed as founder and former "Benevolent Dictator" of the first burlesque troupe in Seattle, The Gun Street Girls

After a marvelous 4 year run in Los Angeles - Miss Beretta has returned to her hometown of Portland and assumes her role as it's "Shooting Starlet". As head mistress of You Show Girl burlesque classes and purveyor of the weekly showcase " The Royal Tease" Bella continues to wave the banner of "D.I.Y. T&A" for the opera drunks and library punks. With performances and productions ranging from vintage glitz to modern and edgy, she gives spectators a spectacle that is just as much fairy tale as it is pulp fiction.

I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)Want to know what I am up to minute to minute? this is my new favorite toy...
follow fleurdelethal at http://twitter.com
Sun Sign: Gemini
Sun 7° Gemini 53' Gemini Horoscope
for today »
Moon Sign: Aquarius
Moon 3° Aquarius 44' Aquarius Horoscope
for today »
Rising Sign: Virgo
Ascendant 26° Virgo 52' Virgo Horoscope
for today »
Get your own astro stats
Powered by Tarot.com

My Interests

I have an obsessive "thing" for luggage and dinosaurs.

I like to build and make art...everything else is so inconsequential to me these days. I lack interest in anything that doesn't stand to break my heart or rock my world.. As for things I am "in to" this is a small sampling.... * Downtown Los Angeles * Typewriters * The Alexandria Hotel * 5 * Riding my Beach Cruiser * The Original Pantry * The Ballroom Blitz * Nobody Reads In L.A. * Bukowski * Fante * Chandler * The Bradbury Building * The Biltmore * Elizabeth Short and The Black Dahlia * Film Noir * True Crime * Bunker Hill * China town * Phillip Marlowe * Chop Suey * Dim Sum * Hop Louie * Charlie O's * Central Library * Cafe Pinot * Lost Souls * Pacific Dining Car * Metropolis Books * Angelino Heights * Vintage Typewriters * Suitcases * Union Station * Terminal Annex so much moreJudiasm,Musso and Frank's,Tom Waits and everything that that implies,banter,Firewater,*Charles Bukowski *, The Tease at Threes,The Ooh La L.A,The Bradbury Building,Girl School,crushes,Union Station,Grand Central Market,Frank Lloyd Wright, Cliftons Cafeteria,Black Dahlia,earl grey tea,Nobody Reads in L.A.,,working to exhaustion,roadtrips, hansens grapefruit soda, books,iTunes,Poster Art, crafting sparkly things, tattoos,art ( lowbrow and highbrow),illustration, music ( as a creator and spectator), late nights at the Pantry, Macintosh computers,Dirty Martinis,mixed tapes,playlists,dear friends, buying books for someone, inscriptions, being funny ( "ha-ha" funny, not "odd" funny) the library, teaching, burlesque, theatre, picking fights with easily excitable people,antagonizing and beligerence. Oh and I have 3 favorite things in this world..
*****And don't give me grief about being a "cat lady" I'd rather be a cat lady than some broad who works out her mommy or control issues by having a dog she dresses up and carries everywhere...have that baby or get a boyfriend, stop taking it out on your pet.****

The Inimitable Henry Miller International Professional Rat Bastard

I love him like a fat cat loves crackers

The One and Only Piwacket McGowan Little Miss Whackadoo funny cat

Mink N.Stein-Ramone wonder monkey



I'd like to meet:

Someone whose entire being screams out to me "I dare you."

I would like to have lunch with Clint Eastwood, Tom Waits and Chuck Palahniuk.

Oh and this hot motherfucker I seriously...seriously love him

Most importantly--I'm not into whimsical people who do whimsical things- I like the strange- not the ironic and I am incredibly serious about everything I put my time and give my heart to. Second, I am funny and love to laugh but I can tell in a hot minute if something is actually funny or humorous as a cop out because someone doesn't have the guts to be serious.
Third- if my cats don't like you- I won't hang out with you. Other than that... Be sincere, don't write things to me or about me that you don't mean or don't think you will mean in a year. I don't NEED more friends, but I will opt for them if it is worth it to both of us, by worth it- I mean that we both get the same thing from the friendship. I'm not a nice person. I am however, kind. I only want to spend my time with people who know the difference.

And a little PSA for you

If you are a total jackass, a user-upper,big talker, tail coat rider, backstabber,little bitch or just plain uncool bastard do us all a favor and go hang out and multiply with others like yourself.If you decide to talk trash or mess with me.Be informed that my sister will curb stomp you...

Music:

My iPod is named "Hold me close Oh Tony Danza The II" and I often find myself dancing in public when I have it on. you wanna know what I like? Anything that shakes my ass, breaks my heart, turns me on Although I do have more of a fondness for the breaking of hearts variety of songs. Above all-- Tom Waits Firewater,PULP, Edith Piaf,The Pogues,Heart,Snow Patrol Velvet Underground- but Lou Reed More,Cop Shoot Cop,The Beatles, Calexico, Devotchka, Jim Bianco, Nick Cave, Jim Bianco,George Michael,Murder City Devils, The Damned, The Editors,Muse, Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse,Maroon 5 (shaddup),Mahalia Jackson,Low Fidelity All Stars,Goldfrapp,Sun Kil Moon,Bowie,Iggy Pop, Siouxsie and The Banshees,Gang of Four,NEW ORDER, Foxy Brown,The Smiths,The Stone Roses, Ruth Brown, Etta James,Julie London, Neko Case,Magnetic Fields,Led Zepplin. I live off classical music, preferably anything in a minor key- Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Chopin are of my favorites ( which yes- i know is the classical equivalent of Andrew Lloyd Webber you elitists) but I have a million other pieces i love- You definitely could woo me with a Beethoven Sonata or a Chopin Etude though and Claire De Lune and the St. Martin of the Fields version of Greensleeves ALWAYS make me cry.

Movies:

Philadelphia Story. Hands down favorite. The rest of them are romantic comedies or any film that contains the following Hairdos. Dresses. Shoes or France. Thus why Marie Antoinette will stand as my Picture of the Year. Yep sometimes that's all it takes.Then there is stuff I just love...... Annie Hall,The Imposters, Manhattan, Donnie Darko,Destry Rides Again,The Great Gatsby, Young Frankenstein,Cabaret, Blazing Saddles,Virgin Suicides,Radio Days, The Age of Innocence,House of Mirth,The Golden Bowl,Emma, Much Ado About Nothing,Sense and Sensibility,Love Actually (Alan Rickman...*thud*) Roman Holiday, Place in the Sun,Raintree County, Gone with The Wind,The Hudsucker Proxy,Barton Fink,Singin in the Rain,The Godfather 1.2.&3, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,Lost In Translation,It's Wonderful Life, Fight Club, American Psycho,Funny Face,Breakfast at Tiffanys,Bus Stop, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Bus Stop, Chicago, Airplane, Henry and June ( no not benny and joon jackass) My dirty secret: I'm a notorious re-watcher, I will watch the same movie for days...In fact, I would rather watch the same movie that I love over and over again than risk a new crappy movie. I've never been a fan of the X factor.

Television:

What I watch on TV will do nothing for the false image of me I wish you to retain. But I do admit to loving me some Grey's Anatomy.... Seriously. However, I will not cop to the rest- I will tell you what art I love though--- Mucha/Warhol/Erte/Singer-Sargent/Parrish/Hassam/Toulouse- Lautrec/Ruscha/Monet/Pollock/Basquiat/Klimt/Beardsley/Picass o /Kahlo/Dali/ Magritte/Tony Millionaire/ Elizabeth McGrath/Alie Ward/ Robert Williams/ Niagra/ Coop/ Vargas/Elvgren/ All the old pulp magazine artists and Frank Lloyd Wright .... Look at art more than you look at the television.

Books:

Number one- most important-life altering favorite The Fountainhead and number 2 might have to be The Hotel New Hampshire ...I need a new copy of that.

As for the rest of it Can't I just say favorite authors?? Picking a book is like Sophie's Choice... Charles Bukowski, Henry Miller, Chuck Palahniuk, Edith Wharton, Barry Gifford, JD Salinger,Anais Nin, John Fante,Raymond Chandler, John Irving, William Shakespeare, e.e. cummings, Sam Shepard, Dashnell Hammet...so many

I run L.A's alternative book club Nobody Reads In L.A. which due to relocating to PORTLAND,OREGON has evolved in to ..
I am still maintain hope that I will be able to ressurect the L.A. - alas. I have yet to figure it out.When I get in to something whether it is music, movies, books anything, I devour them, I lose contact with the outside world and I am lost.. I lose myself entirely to books, which is a delicious respite. This world has left something to be desired.Check out my book list here http://www.librarything.com/catalog/nobodyreadsinla join Nobody Reads in L.A. on My Space www.myspace.com/nobodyreadsinla or Book Club www.myspace.com/mischiefmahembooksand visit our website http://www.nobodyreadsinla.comThe Book Club site is coming along...and I will be launching the club in March with the first meeting/screening happening in April... I am using all the same titles and will be doing some fun stuff.

Heroes:

My Mother Evelyn- Gypsy Rose Lee because of who she was a a person AFTER burlesque. Tom Waits Andy Warhol Lester Bangs Lenny Bruce... any one who made an uncompromising point, had purpose and made people think. Bill Hicks George Carlin. Other than that, I'm trying to have less heroes these days. The more you idolize someone the more they are bound to fail you.

My Blog

Empty...

everything changes so quick-I have no words just tears - I am sitting here unable to sleep- so I listen to music.Lindsey said it best--he knew what loving someone and being destroyed by it meant.I am ...
Posted by The Nico on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:50:00 PST

I'd forgive myself....

It was a finish the sentence exercise... I'd forgive myself..... the first thing that splashed across my mind. "If I finished my book" wow. didn't expect that. Funny how the deep driving desires...
Posted by The Nico on Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:21:00 PST

The Showgirl Must Go On...

I'm out in the ether- working like crazy.It has been a brilliant re-invigorator and has made me get out of my head.I won't get in to the bullshit of the last couple of weeks but there has been a lot o...
Posted by The Nico on Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:32:00 PST

Sinerama @ Plan B starts July 1st !

Perpetually bored on Tuesdays?Love movies, music and booze?Have we got something for you!add us on "the space" for all the news you can usehttp://www. myspace. com/sineramaJoin FleurDeLethal and M.E.H...
Posted by The Nico on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:14:00 PST

The Royal Tease THIS Thursday..Now That’s STAR quality

It seems like it has been forever since we shimmied, shook and shimmered at The Crown Room! Portland's leading damsels of dis-dress are gathering this Thursday to kick off our new 3rd Thursday residen...
Posted by The Nico on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:09:00 PST

new stuff

So ...despite my efforts to interject some goddamn zen in to my life and REST.I need to have some hoopla- and if that hoopla can become an income generator - oh yay!I am really trying to stick to my g...
Posted by The Nico on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:43:00 PST

meanie meanie mean mean

*rolls eyes* careful who you say what to if you don't want me to hear it....some people tell me everything.It's no real skin off my a.) nose or b.)back.Life goes on and the show goes on-- with or with...
Posted by The Nico on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:08:00 PST

Is it possible?

That my new evolution- my new alter-ego is even more evil than the old one?The more and more I play around with her and start getting my sea legs - the more I realize what a complete and total bitch s...
Posted by The Nico on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:14:00 PST

clearcutting.

slash and burn. cease and desist. cause and effect. after this weekend I am going underground. I keep shedding my skin and unintentionally intentionally failing so that I cannot go back. I won'...
Posted by The Nico on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:52:00 PST

because i’m sick of talking about feelings

...
Posted by The Nico on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:48:00 PST