Six Impossible Things

Month

September 2008

Rick Owens RTW Spring 2009 - WWD.com → wwd.com

The only two models that got out of Rick Owens’ show looking actually gorgeous?  Mariacarla Boscono and Karlie Kloss (hometown girl!).  Overall, not a terrible showing from Mr. Owens.  I actually quite like a few pieces.  Nothing can beat his beetle coats from a couple of seasons back, but the austerity of the collection is nice.  And I get the habits, but why is it always the weird hoof shoes?

Sep 30, 2008
Balenciaga RTW Spring 2009 - WWD.com → wwd.com

You know those times when you really, really want to love a fashion show, but you, well, can’t.  Meet Balenciaga’s S/S 09 RTW show.  I love some of the pieces and the bodysuits worn under everything and the creepy, cold look of it all, but I just don’t love it.  And that makes me very leery of what’s going to happen with my love Lee.  Can McQueen save the entire S/S season for me?  Am I putting too much pressure on my darling boy?

Sep 30, 2008

That soup was supposed to be LIGHT in sodium?  I’d hate to have the soup that wasn’t as I’m on my fourth glass of water at the moment.

Sep 30, 2008
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Sep 30, 2008
“Ultimately, there was no shaking off the impression that this collection lacked the creative fire of John Galliano at his best.” —

Christian Dior Spring 2009 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

Couldn’t agree more.  There was a moment when I thought “Claude Montana” as Sarah Mower did, but it completely lacked the glory of the Supers at the time.  All the girls were flat and had Linda/Christy/Karen/et al been in those clothes, I might have found them more interesting.  Might.

Sep 30, 2008
Schedule for Paris: Spring Ready-to-Wear 2009 - WWD.com → wwd.com

What really irks me about the Paris show schedule is that McQueen shows the day AFTER my birthday.

Please note: I am fully aware of the White Whine quality of this post.

Sep 30, 2008
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Well, I Guess This Is Still Happening

Wachovia selected a team of agencies led by Ogilvy & Mather to handle its creative and media accounts, valued at $145 million. Maxus, Neo@Ogilvy and Soho Square are the other winning agencies.

(Not that it really matters to me.)

Sep 29, 2008
Restaurants & Institutions Does the Hard Research So You Don't Have To

Younger consumers (26 or under) were more likely to have ordered pie in the past year compared to all other age groups studied.


Source: R&I, 2007 Tastes of America

Sep 29, 2008
Here's a lovely story to share with your friends and relatives who are on the fence.

ameliamagritte:

Yay! A Professor from my Alma Mater.

cvxn:

suitep:

Although this is a secondhand report, the person who sent this reveals her identity.

MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN

It was just before John McCain’s last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child).
It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week, since Turtle Island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately.
He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was “if he likes this so much, why hasn’t he memorized any of this yet?” I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his “readings” which then became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people’s buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day.
Unfortunately this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chine women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn’t meet up to this standard. He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight.
McCain’s appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David the American economist had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her.

Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day, and his response was shocking: “Oh, that was Cindy’s idea - I didn’t have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can’t imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona . No, it wasn’t my idea at all.”

I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time. I was shocked when he said, “If I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson”. Given McCain’s personal experience with the horrors of war, I had expected a more balanced point of view. I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during WWII — but no, he was not to be dissuaded. He went on to say that if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn’t seem to have mellowed out his perspective, but rather had made him more aggressive and vengeful towards the world.

My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island. Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn’t be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight. Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment. I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He became very angry and abusive towards me, and said, “Don’t you know who I am.” I looked him in the face and said, “Yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met” and headed back to my cabin. I am happy to say that later that day when I arrived at lunch I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain’s bullying.

Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination, but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story. I can’t imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be. If his attitudes toward women and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.

Mary-Kay Gamel

Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts

Cowell College

University of California, Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California 95064

831-4*9-2**1 (office); 831-4*9-8**3 (home)

mkgamel@ucsc.edu

(I redacted the phone numbers, but I bet she’s braced for the haters.)

Sep 29, 200831 notes
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The Real Reason Why Wieden Quit Starbucks - Advertising Age  → adage.com
Sep 29, 2008
Sep 26, 2008
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