Look good for Jesus!

In what must be the most "out there" cosmetics campaign in recent years, someone in Singapore came up with a line of Lookin' Good for Jesus cosmetics. The line included a "Virtuous vanilla" lip balm, which doesn't sound too naughty but then the inuendo took over, and a "Get Tight with Christ" hand and body cream made it to the cosmetic counters. Let's hope it doesn't tingle.

The Catholics got upset and the company withdrew the products. If they had been in Latin America, they could have repackaged the whole line with a picture of heh-SOOS, some good looking guy with the same name as Jesus and they would have saved themselves the fuss.

I wonder what Ace and Laurie Kendrick would have to say about "Looking Good for Jesus".



Share on Facebook

Beware of Swedes wearing skirts

Sturdy skirt a hit with Swedish workmen

This men's skirt in heavyweight cotton has other advantages. It is undoubtedly refreshing - or at least mildly alarming - to feel a cooling breeze running up your legs during a long, sweaty day hammering in plasterboard or installing a new floor.

That breeze's gonna run up your ...legs, alright.

Via Ace, of course.

For more undoubtedly refreshing - or at least mildly alarming - conversation, listen to this morning's podcast with Laurie Kendrick.


Share on Facebook

Veteran's Day, and Sunday roundup

Francis Porretto:

Americans had marched to the defense of Europe in 1917. They marched again in 1942. The necessity was regrettable, but the urgency was obvious. They fell by the thousands, on the beaches of France and Italy, in the fields of Belgium and Germany, and on the waters and islands of the Pacific.

Not all went willingly, but they went. They fought, suffered, and died for the freedom of others. At the conclusion of their efforts, the survivors went home without trophies or booty. A souvenir or two, but no loot. No other nation can say the same.

We call them heroes, and the word is apt. But it doesn't cover the whole of the American martial experience. Many a hero has fought only in defense of that which is dear to him personally. The American soldier, more often than not, has gone to war in defense of that which is dear to others he never knew.

Pres. Bush's radio speech was on Veteran's Day and the anniversary of the Marines. Via Larwyn, Don Surber posts about President Bush's speech:

Democratic response: No VA budget on Veterans Day

Ah, The Irony of Pancakes...

Don't miss Gerard's beautiful tribute.

Too bad Hillary's too busy planting.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Christian Aid, an agency of British and Irish churches says that the rich caused the problem and must therefore pay the price of fixing the global climate change crisis.

I say they start with the rich Chinese.
---------------------------------------------------------------
This week's WSJ "Five Best", on sensational murder trials:



---------------------------------------------------------------
This week's shoes:
Cole Haan Nike Air/G series *Air Deirdre Pump in Black Suede

Fabulous in high heels.

Via The Manolo, Ugly Shoes: A Brief History
---------------------------------------------------------------
It's time for the Carnival of the Insanities!

---------------------------------------------------------------
Via Maria, Zipskinny
---------------------------------------------------------------
Via Gates of Vienna

Darth goes to Buckingham Palace, and other news

Kudos to the music director:
King Abdullah Visits Buckingham Palace; Greeted by Darth Vader Theme
To make it even better, Stephen King was on the talk show:

--------------------------------------------------------------
Via Larwyn, Al Qaeda takeover of the Taliban
--------------------------------------------------------------
I made a brief appearance in Ed Morrissey's podcast, Heading Right to opine on Hispanic voters and drivers' licenses for illegal aliens.

As regular readers of this blog know, I have long believed that there is no such a thing as "a Hispanic vote".

Ed is a most gracious host and the best podcaster around.
--------------------------------------------------------------
I haven't been following the attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey hearings, but one thing is clear:
Why would anyone put themselves through such a stressful nomination process?

Sister Toldjah has been following the story and notices Feinstein & Schumer's change. More from Belgravia Dispatch.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Anchoress asks, Clinton & Bush both thrown a Curveball on Iraq?

As we already know, The Anchoress is brilliant
--------------------------------------------------------------
Via The Manolo, The Thoughtful Dresser notices that

fashion is full of fat men (sorry Alber, I really love you in every other way) giving normal-sized women an inferiority complex.

Jill Kerr Conway, in her excellent memoir The Road From Coorain, also made that point.

Yet another reason to wear what is well made and looks good on you, not what some dude wants you to wear.
--------------------------------------------------------------
166,000 New Jobs Created Last Month, Double Expectations
--------------------------------------------------------------
Special thanks to Doug Ross for his recommendation. Please vote for his blog, and while you're at it, for mine, too; and don't forget Laurie Kendrick in the funniest blog category.




Share on Facebook

The most valuable advice you'll ever get, no matter your size

Gratuitous fashion advice

Hillary's up in Martha's Vineyard nagging about Katrina and wearing a totally unflattering smock that does nothing for her.

Here's what I suggest instead:
Thomas Pink 3/4 sleeve shirt in a bold pink stripe, preferrably custom-fitted.

As for the nagging, there's no cure for that.

How feminist am I?

I was just at Memeorandum and saw that Eugene Volokh is pondering a quiz he took, Are you a feminist?, and got a 95% score.

There are several statements with which I strongly agree:
"Women should be economically and socially independent. They shouldn't rely on men to take care of them." I suspect that men actually like that.
"Women should have the right to choose any path in life - from being a stay at home mom to a Fortune 500 CEO." Just don't expect that you'll be able to do both simultaneously. Know your commitments.
"Women should be encouraged to pursue education as much as men are." Oh yes. Right now it's almost getting to the point that men should be encouraged to pursue education as much as women.
"You would support a woman for president (if you agreed with her politics)." Jean Kirkpatrick, where are you when we need you.

I strongly agree with this statement: "Men and women should be held to the same sexual standards." The statement following it, "If men can sleep around without judgment, women should be able to as well," instead should have been "promiscuity is bad for both genders," in this the age of AIDS, chlamydia and antibiotic resistant venereal diseases (call me old fashioned, I still call them venereal diseases).

I strongly agree with "Women should accept their bodies as they are. Women should not have to conform to wacky beauty ideals," but Eugene raises a good point. He said,

I answered "not sure," because even setting aside health issues (women and men shouldn't accept unhealthy bodies if they can make them healthy) the fact is that men care about women's beauty, as best I can tell likely for biological reasons and not just social ones, and women ignore that at their peril.

Of course, by definition women shouldn't have to conform to wacky beauty ideals. And in a better world inhabited by people who are biologically and genetically different from humans women wouldn't have to conform to any beauty ideals.

In today's world, though, I don't think it's quite accurate to say that "Women should accept their bodies as they are." Some attempts to change one's body are likely counterproductive or on balance harmful. But others (whether dying graying hair, removing hair from certain places, using effective makeup under certain circumstances, mild dieting or exercise for esthetic reasons and not just health reasons, and so on) are probably wise ideas for many women who care about the things that many women understandably care about.

I have certainly posted enough about manicures and exercise class that regular readers of this blog would include me in the latter part. My method of weight control is to simply go to the gym for an extra 1/2 hour and cut down on butter if my skirts or slacks start getting tight (I don't own elastic-waisted skirts or trousers). Whether that means that I'm not "accepting my body as it is", I leave for you to decide. I prefer to think of it as not accepting the new extra pounds accruing on the already-accepted body.

Additionally, how you present yourself to others (whether you are a man or a woman) does matter not only because of aesthetic reasons but because it speaks to others as to what you think of yourself. If you look like you don't think enough of yourself to be well groomed, clean, and neatly dressed, others will notice.

As for fashion, know your style and buy what looks good on you.

As for wacky beauty ideals, I'm totally against tattoos, piercings other than 1 per ear, non-reconstructive breast augmentation surgery, Nancy Pelosi-like facelifts and the such. Neo-Neocon has pondered this subject at greater depth than I.

Then there's the "agree", with a proviso:
"There is no such thing as a "man's job." It is wrong for men to be given preference for any job position, even if women traditionally aren't in that field."
There are many jobs where size is might. For instance, firemen. Firemen have to carry 25+ lbs of equipment, which many women can do with no problem. The problem comes when you have to carry the equipment, and have to carry a person. I'm 5'10", and, while I'm not fat, it takes a strong person with good balance to carry me and their gear safely out of the house. So, if the fireman's a woman who can do it and has meet all the physical requirements for the job, I have no problem with it. If the woman gets a job as some kind of quota/preference project that excepts her from the rigorous requirements, then no.
(Oops, I forgot the NFL linemen.)

"A woman should be able to marry and have kids with anyone she wants - including another woman." A woman should, as long as the other party is in full knowledge and consents. Parenting should not be foisted on some unsuspecting guy simply because the woman wanted a sperm donor and didn't tell him she stopped taking the pill.

While I believe that every child needs a parent of each gender, I have seen children adopted by a gay couple who are very happy to be in a loving and stable home instead of shipped from foster home to foster home.

Dr. Helen took the quiz, and she raises the issue of responsibility:

The idea of equality is not as simple as this quiz would have us believe, for in order to be truly equal, women must understand that they too, have the responsibility to see that equality extends both ways.

Nowhere is that more important than in parenting.

Now comes the "disagrees":
"Women should take an equal role in dating. Women should ask out people they are interested in and take their turn in paying." The fact is that women shouldn't because most men don't like it. But then, I haven't been on a date since Jimmy Carter was president, so what do I know.

"Women should have legal, easy access to all types of birth control - including the morning after pill." I'm OK with the morning-after pill. As long as you don't consider abortion "all types of birth control", then I have no problem.

These answers make me a 75% feminist:

You Are 75% Feminist

You are certainly a feminist - whether you know it or not.You believe in gender equality, at least most of the time. You also believe there are a few exceptions.

Are You a Feminist

Eric, however, sees the issue from a whole different perspective...


Share on Facebook

Hillary's stripes on parade, again

Via Larwyn, 30 letters: In the '60s, a Future Candidate Poured Her Heart Out in Letters

Some things haven't changed - Hillary's still divorced from the middle class:

"God, I feel so divorced from Park Ridge, parents, home, the entire unreality of middle class America," she says. "This all sounds so predictable, but it's true."

At least now she's not showing up in public in those dreadful striped trousers which first made their appearance in April and which the NYT shows again:

I had a similar pair of slacks in the 1970s, that era of "What was I thinking?" fashion:

However, ugly as the striped trousers are, I've never slipped down this slippery slope:

"I'm sitting here at a stolen table in a pair of dirty denim bell-bottoms, a never-ironed work shirt and a beautiful purple felt hat with a purple polka-dotted scarf streaming off it," she writes

Good lord.

The necktie dilemma

Updated
Jeff Jarvis is Cutting the ties that bind

I haven't worn a tie in months, maybe even a year. It may have something to do with my partial unemployment and attempts to act heretical when I have to go to church, but even while still an executive, I all but stopped wearing them. A suit with a shirt became my uniform: my Conde Nast protective coloration, a friend said. I’m ready to throw them out and I’m wondering whether it's possible that at long last, the tie is out.

Jeff has links to other articles discussing the untied situation.

Here in Princeton, wearing a necktie depends on your occupation.

Most of the professors at the University do not wear ties, but it varies by department: the school of engineering, for instance, is near-unanimously without neckties, as are the natural sciences departments. The English department has a more diverse neckwear component, with the Medievalists wearing neckties (a legacy from the hoods?) and others not wearing neckties.

Local lawyers and bankers, however, wear neckties. FBI agents wear neckties unless going undercover.

There are professions that should wear neckties: officials in all the branches of government should out of respect for their office. This may be a revolutionary concept among some, who through their behavior show little or no respect for the office they hold.

On TV, my favorite necktie-wearer is economist Larry Kudlow, whose snazzy pattern-on-pattern neckties and suits look great without looking fussy. Yesterday Larry was wearing a light-color summer suit, pink shirt and coordinating striped necktie that looked crisp and elegant. Here he is in bankers' stripes:


Now look at Kudlow: Custom-made shirts and suits, French cuffs, cufflinks, Windsor collars and silk ties like his spell one thing: M-O-N-E-Y, and they should, considering that's what his program is about. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Kudlow briefly a couple of years ago and up-close his are top-quality clothes. And most importantly, he is completely comfortable in them.

The Husband hasn't worn a necktie since our son's Confirmation last year. Prior to that ocasion, I can't remember the last time he wore a necktie. For many years he deplored having to wear necties to work.

I asked Nick Hilton his opinion on the matter of why so many men hate wearing neckties, and he says that men usually hate neckties if they wear mass-produced shirts. The problem is not the necktie, but the shirt collar. Nick believes that men who wear custom-made shirts are more comfortable since the custom shirts shrink during the first five launderings only, but lower quality shirts continue to shrink for the life of the garment. All the same, The Husband won't wear a tie unless he absolutely has to.

I prefer a man wearing a very nice suit without a necktie to a man wearing an ill-fitting suit with a necktie. Call it the Horatio look:

A manly, well-dressed look, but with nothing superfluous.

I like that in a guy.

It also helps that Horatio is soft-spoken, but I digress.

Does this mean that fashion has degraded?

I think not. I think it has evolved to a more practical phase.

Would the gentlemen care to comment, please?

Updated, Sunday 15 June
Rob Bluey answers the question. Here's Rob (on the right) having a great time while wearing a necktie


Erik:

Since I sweat easily AND since I don't like sitting/standing around in a soaking (or a wet) shirt, I prefer a cool suit without a necktie and without the top shirt button closed...

technorati: David Caruso
Share on Facebook

Pyjama mamas of the world, please get dressed!

I don't blog in pajamas; I blog in regular daytime clothes. Aside from vanity (since I believe I look better fully dressed - you'll have to trust me on this) the reason is that I won't go out of the house in pajamas and it's easier to dress for whatever the day brings from early on in the day.

There's also a psychological aspect: since both The Husband and I are self-employed, dressing in casual-Friday style clothes really does a lot towards my having a professional frame of mind. (That is doubly so if you do video teleconferences, which I do.)

Otherwise you end up looking like The Dude in The Big Lebowski wearing pajama bottoms everywhere you go, and talking to your clients like they were your long-lost buddies.

Unfortunately there's a fashion trend that emulates The Dude's sartorial standards. I wish I had $5 for each man, woman and child I've seen wearing pajama bottoms in town. Listen to me, and listen well, please:

The only people who look good wearing pajamas outside the house are too young to be able to read, and I learned to read at age 3

And another thing: people can tell if you're not wearing underwear and it's not a pretty sight. That's another reason why you look so awful in pajamas.

I believe it all got started in the 1990s when slinky dresses that back in the olden days would have been marketed as slips started turning up on the red-carpeted runways of the world. Then it was silk dressing gowns and trousers. I reacall that the late Princess Diana caused a stir when she showed up wearing that at an event. From silk tops and bottoms being the rage it was only a short leap of drawers to the shapeless flannel currently favored by the hoi-polloi.

This trend has been around for quite a while now, and it must be a "sticking-it-to-the-man" sort of thing because few things look sillier than a student at an Ivy League university going about town in $5 pajamas which should never see the cruel light of day.

Or maybe that's all the money he/she had left for clothes after paying $50,000 a year for tuition, room, board, and expenses.

I doubt that very much.

Mercifully, I have been spared the sight of non-student adult men hanging around town in pajamas, but I have seen one or two at the shore going out in surgical scrubs, top and bottom. The last thing I want to see at the beach is an surgeon approaching. But that, too, is part of the outdoors pajamas trend.

I speculate that now that certain high-profile celebrities are in the clink, the next thing will be orange prison overalls. That should be ugly enough that it might push pajamas out of the outdoors scene.

All the same, pajamas should remain indoors.

Well, a lot of people don't share my opinion. Outdoor pajama-wearing is such an international trend that I found this today at the Beeb: School puts stop to 'pyjama mamas'

Nightwear has become an eyesore for the principal of one east Belfast primary school.

Joe McGuinness of St Matthew's Primary School has written a letter to parents asking them not to wear pyjamas while they drop their children off at school.

Mr McGuinness's letter said the trend was setting pupils a bad example and was also making staff uncomfortable.

He said as many as 50 women were gathering at the school gates in their nightwear every morning.
...
"The 'pyjama mamas', as they're known, are the women who would leave their children to school in their pyjamas and, go about their business, go to the supermarket and go about their daily lives wearing their pyjamas," he said.

"What Joe McGuinness is arguing, it shows a lack of respect and it is showing a very bad example to the children."

I agree with the respect part: taking care on your clothes and grooming shows that, no matter how tough things are, you have retained at least a modicum of self-respect.

While you're at it, sweatpants that have large print on the bottom do not look good, either. JUICY really isn't.






Share on Facebook

Bette and the Joads

The guys are away camping this weekend so I'm indulging in one of my favorite pastimes (aside from listening to viola da gamba and Bryn): watching old movies. I don't rent them on Netfix, I just take pot luck with AMC and TCM.

As it turns out, AMC's playing The Grapes of Wrath,

and TCM has Dark Victory


As you can see from the trailers above, each movie had its own agenda; The Grapes is a socialist vehicle; Dark Victory was Betty's vehicle. They're both excellent films in their class. 1939-1940 was a great time for movies.

The first time I saw The Grapes I was greatly moved, both by its message and by the actors. Now I can't help but think of this


The first time I saw Dark Victory I must have been 10 or 12 years old and was probably watching it with my sister. We cried our guts out, of course.

The trailer has it right: "See Glamorous BETTE DAVIS". Glamorous she is. Bette wears a succession of spectacular outfits, including evening gowns by Orry-Kelly, that would look stylish today. You can sit there and learn all there is to be learned about what was considered The Look in 1939 just from watching this film.

Bette has an incurable brain tumor and is dying through the whole movie. George Brent is her doctor, who, unlike House - who would have laid the truth on her like a thick (and very unstylish) wet polartec blanket - doesn't want her to know that she's dying. After brain surgery that spared her hair - except for a small section that she covers with a clerical-looking beanie dyed and decorated to match each spectacular outfit - George and Bette's friends (among them Ronald Reagan) keep up a clearly contrived brave front.

And then Bette finds out.

Of course, Bette does what any reasonable glamorous socialite would do under the circumstances: she runs out in her mink coat to the barn where Irish stable boy, Michael O'Leary, played by Humphrey Bogart, awaits.

Bogey's his usual smoldering self, and has the best lines in the movie. There they are in the stables, Bette smokin' and Bogey in her presence, saying,

"I guess I was born out of my time, Miss Judith. I should have lived in the days when it counted to be a man, the way I like to ride and the way I like to fight."

Oh yes.

Michael/Bogey goes on:

"What good's riding and fighting these days? What do they get you?"

Beanie-wearing Bette appraises him with a knowing glance, lets out a puff of smoke, and replies,

"You're making love to me, aren't you?"

Hot stuff.

But wait, there's more:

Michael/Bogey: "I'm as good as some of them whose been playin' around with you. They're all afraid of you! I wish I was in their boots!"

Judy/Bette: "What then, Michael?"

Michael/Bogey: "The things I wanted to say to you ever since I first laid eyes on you... belong to me and no one else."

Then he takes her in his arms and kisses her passionately.

M'm.

Good stuff. You can watch that whole scene in the trailer above.

Now excuse me. The Joads are still having a hard time, and I just realized that the blouse and cardigan I'm wearing make me look like Ma Joad. I must go look for something more stylish.

But before I go, here's a nice photo of Bogey



-----------------------------------------------------
For more entertainment pleasure, Dr Sanity has the Carnival


Speaking of stylish, The Anchoress is looking beautiful.


technorati tags: Bette Davis Humphrey Bogart Ronald Reagan

Next stop, Caracas

After veiling herself with an Hermes scarf (which I immediately recognized), Nancy's probably selecting some nice red shirts and berets: she's going to visit Hugo, the self-declared Communist in charge of Venezuela.

American Spectator says that Nancy would not meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe,

"She has third parties who have encouraged her not to take the meeting,"

including MoveOn.org. Apparently their excuse is human rights.

To make matters worse,

Nancy Pelosi is not only having her staff make plans for a trip to Venezuela to meet there with dictator Hugo Chavez, she has also asked staff to apply for a visa to travel to Tehran.

Yes, Tehran, that paragon of human rights.

But then, we all know how fond Hugo is of his little friend:

I'm sure Nancy wants to keep them both happy.

Here's some fashion advice with a bilingual, multi-culti slant, Nancy: When in Tehran, tapate las lolas.

Update A scream in broad daylight

Update, Wednesday 2 May: The Red Hat Society
President Uribe's Popularity Soars After Snub By Gore

"Off with their breasts!"

Continuing on the police action in Iran trying to force all women into BMOs, the BBC reports that the the crackdown includes young men, too:

Young men are being cautioned for wearing short sleeved shirts or for their hairstyles.

The women continue to be relentlessly harrassed.

And now comes the really misogynistic and truly bizarre part,

One shopkeeper selling evening dresses told us the moral police had ordered him to saw off the breasts of his mannequins because they were too revealing.

He said he wasn't the only shop to receive this strange instruction.

The shopkeeper "sawed off the breasts of the mannequins on his window display and covered them with sticky tape", at the insistence of the police, and the BBC has a video.

Makes one wonder what the Sanity Squad would say, doesn't it?

Here are more photos on the fashion crackdown.

Meanwhile, over at Gateway Pundit... Banned In Iran... A Helpful Guide For Prisoners of the Regime

Cross-posted at MNM and DNN
Update: 1001 Nights

Update, Sunday 29 April Welcome, readers from The Corner. I agree 100% with Michael Ledeen

Yes, they really are crazy. And sick. And they're after us. Somebody tell the secretary of state, please.

While you are here, you might want to listen to my podcasts. Please visit often.

Update, Monday 30 April: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers. Please visit often. Michelle correctly points out,

Activists say that while world attention has focused on the West's standoff with Iran over its nuclear program, the abuses of women's rights have intensified, using fear of a U.S. attack as a pretext.

Late afternoon blogging: A superfecta

Via The Anchoress,

Bryn (wearing glasses + camel hair coat + trim beard) singing = Superfecta

The dreadful striped trousers

I hadn't seen this picture of Hillary

until I read Emmett Tyrrell's article, but suddenly I realized I had a similar pair of slacks in the 1970s, that era of "What was I thinking?" fashion:

Now I hate the stripes but I like those sandals.

Back to the 21st Century, Scrappleface posts on Hillary.

And now for a change of pace: Haircuts

Since the past few days have been very intense, it's time to talk about trivial stuff, at least for a moment.

Back when I was a lot younger and prettier I used to get free haircuts at Sassoon's on 5th Avenue if I agreed to have the chief stylist demonstrate (on me) to the new hires how to do a Sassoon cut. It was a rather odd experience since you are intensely scrutinized while people are not looking at you, but it was a great cut, and much better than getting a free haircut by having the new hires practice on you.

Later on I was invited to have my hair cut at a cosmetics trade show at the Javits Center and that was a similar experience, only in a much larger scale. I was asked to wear black clothes (black turtleneck and black slacks), no jewelry and no make-up (they wanted the make-up to not call attention so they did the make-up once I got there), and to smile brightly after the haircut was finished, all of which I did. That was better than the Sassoon deal because I not only got a great cut, but also got paid for it.

After that, I've been lucky to have good hairdressers who have done a very capable job (except for a couple of hair-raising exceptions) at a moderate price. For a long time I've worn shoulder-length hair, but in my school days wore my hair really long.

So there's always the question of how long to wear my hair.

Never fear: Barcepundit found an economist who quantified how short should your barber or hairdresser cut your hair.

Eric at Classical Values has been pondering the issue in his post, hair raising economic schemes, and he not only has figured out a way to minimize hair disutility but also how to get an installanche. Not quite as good as getting paid for a great haircut, but close.

Not that I would succumb to link-pandering schemes, but if it helps, here's a good view of Glenn Reynolds's haircut: he sports what I call your basic "regular-guy cut":

and definitely not a tupee.

Captain Ed started his hair post by saying, "I'm the last person who should talk about hair"; I post, you decide:


I believe all of this got started over how the Edwards campaign picks up the tab for pricey haircuts, and how Edwards pays $400 for haircuts.

For $400, I can park downtown, stop for a cup of coffee at Halo Pub (which is an ice cream parlor, not a pub), get a haircut at La Jolie (ask for Luyba), and have spare change for a David Yurman bracelet from Hamilton Jewelers.

And this is what my hair looks like,

It seems to me, I'm getting a better deal than Edwards.

But then, I don't have campaign funds to play with.

I told you it was Hermes:

Thursday last week I said

The Dem's grab for power at any price includes having Nancy playing pretend at being Secretary of State, making new friends with our enemies, lying about our friends, and veiling herself with an Hermes scarf,

Well, the great Manolo confirmed it today:
The Scarf of the Style, She Covers Much

And, for the proof, if you look at the scarf on her head, you will notice that it is of the the very-French Hermes, the very best sort of scarf to wear if you are hobnobbing with the tyrants, as it is one of the luxury brands they will certainly recognize, and perhaps desire.

Classy guy, The Manolo!

Where's my global warming?

After a much too brief respite from the cold weather we've been having, I'm waiting for the promised Global Warming to start.

As I wait, I've been wearing winter clothes under a winter coat in April, reminding people at dinner that this winter was so cold (how cold was it?) that young kids were contemplating skating on the canal all the way from West Windsor to Kingston (their mother put the kibosh on that idea), the Scouts are swearing never to go winter camping again, and the Weather Channel right now has some ugly pictures of blizzards in the Mid-West.

Which are heading East - it's already snowing in upstate NY. Of course, it only stops snowing in upstate NY for three weeks, and then it starts again.

George Will, who I hope by now has recovered from his orange condition, points to the media hype

In a campaign without peacetime precedent, the media-entertainment-environmental complex is warning about global warming. Never, other than during the two world wars, has there been such a concerted effort by opinion-forming institutions to indoctrinate Americans, 83 percent of whom now call global warming a ``serious problem.'' Indoctrination is supposed to be a predicate for action commensurate with professions of seriousness.

As part of the indoctrination, the media's doing its darnest to raise our awareness of global warming.

Then there are the concerts. (Will Pink Floyd get together again, and will they play uninterrupted by ads? But I digress.)

Tim Blair asks,

Apparently the point of these Gaiapalooza concerts is that they'll raise awareness of global warming. You know, just in case you've never heard of it and require a seven-nation, 120-network Woodstock of warmening to bring you up to speed.

But if raising awareness is so crucial, why does Al Gore place restrictions on media coverage of his awareness-raising speeches?

Blind belief in Medieval Environmentalism will make you do that.

Of course, this was to be expected: Hugo Chavez: new icon of global warming cult. Aleksander Boyd of VCrisis fisks Derek Wall of Britain's Green Party:

Venezuela lives in the real world, not in the make-believe world that some commenters create in order bash Chavez.

Chavez's fiefdom, otherwise known as Venezuela, does not live in the real world. Instead the reputation of the country is in an ever decreasing curve thanks to the antics of its deranged militaristic president. Take for instance the issue with ethanol. Not long ago Chavez was all hyped and cheerful for he had signed 11 agreements with the Cuban dictator to develop the ethanol industry in Venezuela. He did the same with his other 'partner' Lula. Not a day had passed after the Texan offered trade and ethanol deals to the nations he visited, and we saw how the 'green' Chavez backpedaled in all his signed agreements and went as far as stating that he would make Lula reconsider Brazil's position on the issue. The bearded pimp got out of his deathbed to lend a hand, all very... green should we say?

Over in Cuba, Fidel's green... with ethanol envy!

While the Alaskan otters are suffering because an unbudging sheet of sea ice has blocked off the waters where the Alaska Peninsula's sea otters forage, forcing the starving animals inland on a search for food and making them easy prey for wolves and humans, Ahnuld wants to make the environmental movement "hip and sexy""

Speaking at a conference in Washington, he urged campaigners to focus on the positives of cutting carbon emissions rather than making people feel guilty.

The movement must change its image just as he helped transform the "sketchy" reputation of bodybuilding, he said.

Ahnuld said,

Weight-lifting was once considered a pursuit for weirdos

Was once considered?

Obviously, I'm in denial.

But never mind that; I can't wait for the day when I can start wearing my summer uniform,

Look at the bright side: by the time it's warm enough to wear this, the blouse will probably be on sale.

Anyway, here are some otters enjoying happier times:

I bet they're glad they're not in Alaska freezing their little otter butts.

Let's hope it doesn't snow in two weeks when the Scouts go camping or the guys will come back groaning.

Update Camille Paglia is another Global Warming skeptic (via The Dumb Ox)
It's snowing in Ann Arbor

The upcoming Professional Protesters Agency of Central NJ

Used to be, in the olden days you could get a few unemployed to attend your protest by handing out a couple of bucks. In the developing nations you can still do that - and if there's a G8 summit, you can get demonstrators from other countries just by providing transportation and perhaps a meal. Of course that doesn't apply in France, where protesting is the national sport (and from what I've heard, more popular than sex and soccer) and people do it for free as a weekly family outing.

But there's a new development:

During yesterday's podcast Siggy sent this article: Germans put price on protesting.

The ever-enterprising and always well-organized Germans, in a grasp at entrepreneurship, have come up with the concept of professional protesters:

They refuse to rally for neo-Nazis, but as long as the price is right a new type of German mercenary will take to the streets and protest for you.

It's not just any slouch that qualifies, it's - to use Siggy's words - GOOD LOOKING protesters:

Next to a black and white posed picture, Melanie lists her details from her jeans size to her shoe size and tells potential protest organisers that she is willing to be deployed up to 100km around Berlin.

So you can cast your demonstration according to height, age, size, and so on - even by shoe-size. I speculate that the professional protester might even accessorize his/her apparel according to the protest's theme: love beads and mood rings for peace, kaffiyeh for Palestine, and so on. However, the casting is crucial.

Global warmers will probably prefer protesters with tiny-sized feet, say, men wearing shoes size 7 or smaller, women with size 5 shoes, as symbolic of a reduced carbon footprint. It'd probably end up being a demonstration of very short people, but oh-so-paradigmatic of the love of Gaia as its emission of carbon gasses would then be smaller.

But the high-quality protester doesn't come cheap:

Six hours of Melanie bearing your banner or shouting your slogan will set you back 145 euros.

That's about $180 per protester; $30/hr. Now you're talking. A good protester agent should be able to keep 1/3 of that, saving their clients' valuable time by taking care of the paperwork and providing a full range of well-qualified attractive protesters custom-cast for the special event, small feet and all, while not having do actually do any of the protesting herself.

And I won't even ask for your shoe size unless it's absolutely necessary.

Bear and Ugly Betty

Last night I wanted to watch TV, but 24 and House weren't on, so I settled by flipping back and forth between Man vs Wild and Ugly Betty.

Man vs Wild is an acquired taste. On the one hand, Bear Grylls is very attractive. On the other hand, he eats termites. Last evening's Mt Kilauea episode apparently was a re-run but I wanted to see him walking on lava fields.

I had never watched Ugly Betty before, and years ago I only saw a few minutes of Betty la fea (yes, that means Ugly Betty), the original soap on which it's based.

The original Betty la fea character was in much uglier disarray that Ugly Betty, but after a makeover that took months, she got the guy at the end. Betty la fea was the usual ugly-duckling/Cinderella story but it was so successful across Latin America that the Colombians did another ugly duclking/Cinderella soap with a guy, Pedro el escamoso (which I would translate as Geeky Pete, instead of the more literal Creepy Pete). The guy playing Pedro wore a mullet, created a dance that became a fad, and got the girl at the end.

Pedro had four things in his favor: he was in great shape, had a truly beautiful voice, he was a good man, and he was really funny - a lethal combination in any guy. One's willing to overlook a mullet. His fans certainly did.

Since nothing exceeds like excess, Germany, Holland, India, Mexico, Russia, the USA, and Spain came up with their own versions of girls wearing orthodontia and eyeglasses.

Which comes to show you the universality of a cliche.

But back to Betty: I actually liked the program. This Betty is young, and homely (due in great part to her clothes and hairdo), but is a good role model for young girls.
Here's why:
1. Betty loves a guy that doesn't love her back. That's the existential crisis of every teenager. In last night's episode she finally figured out that trying to be his friend that tags along while he goes on a date with someone else is not a good idea.
The good thing about it is, she stopped that, and she was fine.

2. Betty helps other people do the right thing. The show is not preachy, and indeed Betty arrived at that moment after much meandering. But she knew what the right thing was, and she was able to bring around the other character to turn herself to the police.

3. Betty has good friends, and a good family. They're Mexican but they don't sound like "dees"; they say "these". They are fully integrated into American society, another excellent thing.

4. The show pokes fun at fashionista slaves while at the same time showing what really looks good.

How does this relate to Bear? I'm not quite sure yet, but you can order his t-shirts for $39. Just don't go walking on the lava fields.



Update A Bear fan emailed asking for a YouTube:


Technorati tags: Ugly Betty, Bear Grylls, TV