On a lighter note – the political conventions. I will refrain from thoughts on the speeches made, views espoused and promises undertaken and leave that genre of commentary to those eminently more qualified than myself (though I’m quite pissed at that whole “can she be the Vice President AND a mother” statement. A comment that should infuriate any women who has ever called herself a feminist – but that’s a topic for another post). But what NO ONE is talking about – what NO ONE has brought up – what NO ONE has thought to mention…perhaps the most important factor in this election…..right up there with world peace and starving children: McCain’s sons (Jimmy & Jack) are HOT!! I noticed them during last night’s news coverage. Watch out Prince William & Harry – these boys might just have you beat! And yes, they’re a tad young for moi, however….SO cute! Then again, I seem to be on a “men in uniform” kick as of late. So for your information and edification : Jack is 22 and is attending his fourth (1st Class) year at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He hopes to become a naval aviator. He was born and raised in Arizona and attended Phoenix Country Day Elementary and Brophy College Preparatory High School. He enjoys amateur car racing and has built his own race car. He competes in Drift racing and recently took his Mom with him in the passenger seat during a race. Jim is 20 and a Private First Class in the Marine Corps. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona and attended Christ Lutheran Elementary School and Brophy College Preparatory High School. His lifelong dream was to become a Marine. He is an avid reader and often shares books with his father. Frankly, these are the IMPORTANT issues, kids - and we should ALL strive to be more informed! Frankly, 
It's been awhile since I've done one of these - but it was so good, I just couldn't resist! Enjoy! 
A New Flame: Revenge of the Carrot Tops Last Updated: 12:01am BST 06/08/2008 After centuries in the cold, redheads are suddenly a hot commodity, says Hannah Betts  Notice anything curious about the cover of September's Vogue? Beautiful girl, check; Prada frock, tick; enthusiastic lipstick scrawl singing "Glorious!" So far, so Condé Nast. And then comes the realization: Mother of God, the beautiful girl in question has red hair and is thus - according to the savage logic of the playground - a "ginger nut" or a "Duracell". She's a "carrot top".
Flaming heck: Karen Elson is only the seventh redhead to grace the cover of Vogue Seeing red at redheads has been cited as Britain's last socially acceptable form of bigotry - and not without foundation. Even the ravishing Karen Elson, the beauty who graces the magazine's frontage, was known as "Le Freak" on entering the industry, and "fake model" at school where her peers were incredulous that she could earn money from her appearance. Statistics from Vogue House confirm that this is only the seventh occasion a woman with russet hair has graced its cover since 1970. Despite the need for Italian Vogue's consciousness-raising all-black issue this July, there have still been more British Vogue covers featuring black women than Titian-haired ones. Yet red-headed people make up between four and 13 per cent of the population - depending upon where one looks in the United Kingdom - while the black population hovers at just under two per cent. Alexandra Shulman's editor's letter smacks somewhat of justification. She notes that Elson's "pale beauty and flaming hair make her a vivid figurehead for this distinctive season"; surely the fashion equivalent of getting to play a tree in an autumnal school play. Evolutionary psychology suggests that gingers are shunned because they are a minority - pack mentality dictating that those who are different should be ostracised. Despite red hair being a staple of children's fiction - Anne of Green Gables, Pippi Longstocking, Little Orphan Annie - historically it has been perceived as diabolical. Judas Iscariot, Mary Magdalene and Salome have all been depicted as carrot tops, while the pairing of red hair and green eyes was thought to denote a witch, werewolf, or vampire. advertisementIt's unsurprising, then, that for every proud flame-thrower - a Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, or Gillian Anderson - there is a Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Kidman or Geri Halliwell itching to douse their locks with peroxide. The Celtic Tudors may have fostered a century-long trend for strawberry blonde tresses. However, our own Prince Harry was picked on for his colouring at school, and has been over-looked in the swoon stakes - despite being considerably better looking than the heir to which he is spare. That said, he has obviously fared better than the Chapmans, the Newcastle family who found fame in 2007 for being forced to relocate three times in three years because of their colouring - provoking the local council to suggest they take to the (L'Oréal) bottle. Despite a proud legacy that numbers Boudicca, Oliver Cromwell, and Winston Churchill as fellow members, comedian Catherine Tate's sketch in which ginger outcasts are forced to seek solace in a refuge would appear to be not far from the mark. The red-headed reputation for being hot-tempered and hypersensitive to pain may be because they get such a raw deal. By comparison, blondes - Vogue's preferred colour for its cover girls - are thought to be attractive because they resemble children. Hair darkens as we hit puberty, thus fairness is associated with innocence, the tow-haired vulnerability of youth. And, where there is vulnerability, so there will be those that seek to exploit it, viz Alfred Hitchock's remark: "Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints." If this is the kind of fun that blondes get to have more of, then there are many of us who will be entirely happy chugging along under a cloud of murky, sludgy brown. For where redheads get to be the victimised minority, and blondes life's attention seekers, so brunettes boast locks that qualify them as normal human beings. Last week, it was reported that a survey of 3,000 women by colourists Schwarzkopf & Henkel found that, on average, brunettes earn £4,250 more per annum than golden girls. It also found that those with chestnut tresses are 10 per cent more sexually successful than blondes. And they have featured on more Vogue covers than one might expect: the blonde-brunette cover-girl ratio being a mere 60:40 over the last 40 years. And so to the burning issue: will Elson's immortalisation prompt a rash of imitators? For the truly voguish mane, will red indeed be on fire this season? Certainly, Bottega Veneta, Chloé, Celine, Sisley, Tiffany and Miu Miu's new autumn campaigns all feature flaming heroines. But those tempted may wish to consider further Schwarzkopf & Henkel research. While red is the hue that the majority of colour chameleons initially opt to embrace, the brand also discovered that it is the shade they ditch the fastest, after an average of merely two years. Still, that's a few seasons longer than most fashion trends. Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without license. For the full copyright statement see Copyright
The BBC – is the ONLY television news service I seem to be able to stomach these days. It is the only channel that isn’t giving updates of hurricane Dolly every twelve seconds (its raining, its windy – we get it already!) I mean seriously, what is there to be gained from the blurred images projected through rain soaked and wind pummeled lenses? I seriously hope they find the poor little two year old that’s missing, but really – do I NEED a visual tour of her room? I HAVE to listen to another update with her lunatic grandmother screaming at reporters? And if I have to see ONE MORE IMAGE of Barak O’Bama in a Yamaka touring the West Bank, I’m going to SCREAM. (Don’t get me wrong, every hoarse, strained, mundane speech given by his Republican counterpart is less than inspiring.). But you’d think this were Nixon going into Communist China or Regan stepping foot into Russia for the first time since Tsarist Russia the way this diplomatic cabaret has been celebrated and covered. It's reminicent of Eva Peron's equally celebrated: Rainbow Tour. (Sing it with me now!) And at the risk of sounding US-centric and thus opening the door to being verbally throttled – why do we care who the Europeans (Germany and France in particular) want to be our next president?? Because the last time I checked the United States has both kicked and saved their asses, respectively - twice, within the past century. Since when has the election for the American Presidency taken on the pallor of global opinion? I understand – strategically - the need to visually inject the steroid of foreign policy and/or diplomatic experience into the aspiring candidate’s resume. However, I can’t ignore the fact that the entire spectacle is making me ill. Thank GOD for the BBC. Frankly,
On a more positive note: It is the most fucking GEORGOUS morning I can remember in a LONG time. The breeze cooled by the night rain, the only traces of humidity left by the storms seem to be the puddles on the ground, the sky serving as a muse for Crayola blue. Sigh. Just beautiful.
Continuing on the theme of relationship “experts” and their enthusiastic willingness to share prescriptions for perpetual relationship bliss. I love how all of these startling revelations about successful relationship are now beginning to surface like mathematical truths or freshly unearthed archeological discoveries. Not that I can claim even a single credential that would qualify me as an “expert” in any field whatsoever, with the possible exception of shoe shopping or Angry Girl music circa 1996. Never having successfully navigated a relationship longer than the gestational period of a Costa Rican Howler Monkey, my relationship track record wouldn’t qualify me to work the supply room in a Hallmark store, let alone espouse “expert” relationship advice. However, “expert” or not, the following article parrots many of the credos I faithfully espouse to my wonderful, if occasionally romantically delusional friends. It should be noted that as a rule, I faithfully read Ms. Dowd’s editorial works in the New York Times. While I always find her writing style to be brilliantly composed, I seldom find myself nodding along in agreement as I hold political opinions laying on the opposing spectrum. However, this poses little problems as the artistry of Ms. Dowd’s works do not lay within her overall arguments but rather in the craftsmanship of the prose and her mastery over the English language. This week, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in startlingly staunch agreement with the red headed editorial maven. However, the fact that some, if not most of these pearls of wisdom will remain unheeded by starry-eyed, romantic hopefuls the world over, is indeed still troubling.
July 6, 2008 Op-Ed Columnist By MAUREEN DOWD This weekend, we celebrate our great American pastime: messy celebrity divorces. There’s the Christie Brinkley/Peter Cook fireworks on Long Island and the Madonna/Guy Ritchie/A-Rod Roman candle in New York. So how do you avoid a relationship where you end up saying, “The man who I was living with, I just didn’t know who he was” — as Brinkley did in court when talking about her husband’s $3,000-a-month Internet porn and swinger site habit? (Not to mention the 18-year-old mistress/assistant.) Father Pat Connor, a 79-year-old Catholic priest born in Australia and based in Bordentown, N.J., has spent his celibate life — including nine years as a missionary in India — mulling connubial bliss. His decades of marriage counseling led him to distill some “mostly common sense” advice about how to dodge mates who would maul your happiness. “Hollywood says you can be deeply in love with someone and then your marriage will work,” the twinkly eyed, white-haired priest says. “But you can be deeply in love with someone to whom you cannot be successfully married.” For 40 years, he has been giving a lecture — “Whom Not to Marry” — to high school seniors, mostly girls because they’re more interested. “It’s important to do it before they fall seriously in love, because then it will be too late,” he explains. “Infatuation trumps judgment.” I asked him to summarize his talk: “Never marry a man who has no friends,” he starts. “This usually means that he will be incapable of the intimacy that marriage demands. I am always amazed at the number of men I have counseled who have no friends. Since, as the Hebrew Scriptures say, ‘Iron shapes iron and friend shapes friend,’ what are his friends like? What do your friends and family members think of him? Sometimes, your friends can’t render an impartial judgment because they are envious that you are beating them in the race to the altar. Envy beclouds judgment. “Does he use money responsibly? Is he stingy? Most marriages that founder do so because of money — she’s thrifty, he’s on his 10th credit card. “Steer clear of someone whose life you can run, who never makes demands counter to yours. It’s good to have a doormat in the home, but not if it’s your husband. “Is he overly attached to his mother and her mythical apron strings? When he wants to make a decision, say, about where you should go on your honeymoon, he doesn’t consult you, he consults his mother. (I’ve known cases where the mother accompanies the couple on their honeymoon!) “Does he have a sense of humor? That covers a multitude of sins. My mother was once asked how she managed to live harmoniously with three men — my father, brother and me. Her answer, delivered with awesome arrogance, was: ‘You simply operate on the assumption that no man matures after the age of 11.’ My father fell about laughing. “A therapist friend insists that ‘more marriages are killed by silence than by violence.’ The strong, silent type can be charming but ultimately destructive. That world-class misogynist, Paul of Tarsus, got it right when he said, ‘In all your dealings with one another, speak the truth to one another in love that you may grow up.’ “Don’t marry a problem character thinking you will change him. He’s a heavy drinker, or some other kind of addict, but if he marries a good woman, he’ll settle down. People are the same after marriage as before, only more so. “Take a good, unsentimental look at his family — you’ll learn a lot about him and his attitude towards women. Kay made a monstrous mistake marrying Michael Corleone! Is there a history of divorce in the family? An atmosphere of racism, sexism or prejudice in his home? Are his goals and deepest beliefs worthy and similar to yours? I remember counseling a pious Catholic woman that it might not be prudent to marry a pious Muslim, whose attitude about women was very different. Love trumped prudence; the annulment process was instigated by her six months later. “Imagine a religious fundamentalist married to an agnostic. One would have to pray that the fundamentalist doesn’t open the Bible and hit the page in which Abraham is willing to obey God and slit his son’s throat. “Finally: Does he possess those character traits that add up to a good human being — the willingness to forgive, praise, be courteous? Or is he inclined to be a fibber, to fits of rage, to be a control freak, to be envious of you, to be secretive? “After I regale a group with this talk, the despairing cry goes up: ‘But you’ve eliminated everyone!’ Life is unfair.”
Thus proving that money can't buy taste! 
Blondes May Have More Fun, but Brunettes Could Have the Last Laugh - they have a much better chance of bagging a billionaire Experts checked the hair colours of the worlds 100 richest men and found that 62 percent were brunettes. Only 22 percent of the worlds biggest billionaires was married to a blonde and 16 percent a raven-haired woman ... none were married to a redhead. Sam Kayum, director of Lycos who commissioned the research said: 'It begs the question whether Carla Bruni would now be the first lady of France if she was a blonde. "Perhaps Sarkozy felt that, as a brunette, Bruni would be taken more seriously by the voting public." *********** It's official, if you're a brunette like Carla Bruni, you're more likely to marry a successful man than your blonde counterparts. Experts at LOVE@LYCOS the dating channel of Lycos.co.uk analysed the WAG's hair colour of the world's top 100 billionaires to determine if there is a predominant hair colour wealthy men seen to go for. The majority by a long way were brunettes, with 62% of billionaires marrying women with brown hair. The results went on to show that fair haired ladies come in a poor second with only 22% of the world's top billionaires marrying blondes. Women with black hair lag behind in third place, enticing on 16% of the world's wealthiest, whilst carrot-tops come in last. BRUNETTES MARRIED TO THE WORLD'S MOST SUCCESSFUL MEN CARLA BRUNI WIFE OF FRENCH PRESIDENT DARIA ZHUKOVA GIRLFRIEND OF ABRAMOVICH SARAH LARSON GIRLFRIEND OF GEORGE CLOONEY CATHERINE ZETA MARRIED TO MICHAEL DOUGLAS ANGELINA JOLIE GIRLFRIEND OF BRAD PITT So with wealthy men showing such a considerable preference for brunettes, it will be interesting to chart the number of women requesting a change of colour at their local hairdresser! (by Sara Hassan)
Happy St. Patrick's Day!! While I'm still piecing together the events of Saturday afternoon, please feast your eyes on all these GEORGOUS redheads! Slainte, 
:)
Hundreds of Redheads to Gather In Rockefeller Plaza For St. Patrick's Day 2008 | |
Hundreds of Redheads will gather in Rockefeller plaza in New York City this St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, 2008, to show their Irish and red haired pride in front of New York City's St. Patrick's Day revelers as well as seven million Today Show Viewers.  New York, NY (PRWEB) March 5, 2008 -- On March 17th, St. Patrick's Day 2008, the largest gathering of Redheads ever to be held in the United States will descend on Rockefeller Plaza in New York City for a showing of Redhead and Irish pride of a size and intensity never before seen.
All Redheads and Redhead aficionados are welcome to join the crowd in the plaza just outside the studios of the Today Show where they will cheer and chant and wave and shout and for the cameras and seven million home viewers. The event begins at 7:30 am EST with prize giveaways from Redhead social network Redhedd.com. The cameras will roll some time soon thereafter. Redhead pride is surging in the United States thanks to the efforts of Redheads concerned with the fate of the gene responsible for red hair, Melanocortin-1, rumored to face extinction within the next hundred years. "I take the possibility of extinction rather personally." says Redhedd.com founder Steve Warrington, "So, true or not, it's just too important to leave to chance." Based on the prospected turnout, it seems that many of his Redheaded comrades share that sentiment. With 10% of the population of Ireland proudly sporting red hair, St. Patrick's Day is an ideal opportunity to stand up and shout for the Redhead cause. Whether you're there in the plaza showing your true color, or viewing from home, St. Patrick's Day 2008 promises to be an event long-remembered among Redheads. If you'd like to attend, or would like to know more about the event, visit the Redhedd.com events page: http://www.redhedd.com/event/view/id_8/ See you there. |
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