You are not in a Wal-Mart but the Great Store of dead or mostly dead celebrities... the price change from 1997 for signed celebrity photos contrasted with prices and people in 2016 is interesting. Not a particularly good reflection of "today's values" perhaps, but interesting.
1997
Madonna - $250
Julia Roberts - $195
Harrison Ford - 150
Demi Moore, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michelle Pfeiffer - each $125
2016
James Dean - 18.000 Euros
Bruce Lee - 11,000 Euros
Horatio Nelson - 10,500 Euros
Princess Diana and Einstein - 8,950 Euros each
Neil Armstrong - 8,500 Euros
JFK - 7,950 Euros
Winston Churchill, John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe 6,950 Euros each
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Monday, August 29, 2016
Cackling Like a Hyena - Laugh Along, Too
Credit "Marie", weaselzippers.us
Weiner Poem
There once was a Congressperson named Weiner
Who had a perverted demeanor
He was forced from the Hill for acting like Bill
Now Congress is one wiener leaner
Moral: You tweet your meat, you lose your seat.
Weiner Poem
There once was a Congressperson named Weiner
Who had a perverted demeanor
He was forced from the Hill for acting like Bill
Now Congress is one wiener leaner
Moral: You tweet your meat, you lose your seat.
Time Travel - Back to the January 1997 Issue of George
Richie is happily sorting through his old treasures (trash to me) and from time to time (he's going at it a bit leisurely for my taste) he brings me something of interest like a dog bringing back a toss toy.
Thus this column. George was JFK, Jr.'s ill fated venture in magazine publishing and he billed George as "not just politics as usual." Which it wasn't. When he ran a laudatory cover on Gerry Adams, Irish bastard, my published letter started off "That pious murderer!"
Anyhow, let us trip forward to today. In this January 1997 issue is a feature titled "Future Shocks" which leaps forward to speculation about what will be in the year 2000. As this is an election year and certain candidates are still here, I found it moderately interesting.
Herewith, some comments.
Dick Morris)
Who will be the next non-politician to enter the political arena?
Princess Di (Patricia Ireland, Pres. NOW)
Mel Gibson (Bay Buchanan, CNBC's Equal Time)
Politics will be something a very rich guy buys for his wife - so, Marla Maples (Al Franken)
What will Hillary Rodham Clinton be doing in the year 2000?
Setting up a foundation to benefit children (Dick Morris)
Looking forward to the end of their administration (Patricia Ireland)
Planning her run for the Arkansas Senate (Al Franken)
Losing to Al Gore in the New Hampshire (Michael Kelly, ed. The New Republic)
Working in the laundry at Lewisburg G.Gordon Liddy)
Publishing a hair magazine(Tavis Smiley, author)
She will be president at Yale where she'll serve tea and cookies. (Margaret Colson, columnist)
Clearly this Hillary Is A Crook business goes back quite a ways. Interesting.
Publishing a hair magazine(Tavis Smiley, author)
She will be president at Yale where she'll serve tea and cookies. (Margaret Colson, columnist)
Clearly this Hillary Is A Crook business goes back quite a ways. Interesting.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
North Korea Isn't the Only Crazy Korea...
T & C as we cozily think of them, ran an article on what the 1% of South Korean women are doing on the beauty front. I think there are about three 1%-ers there, but I could be wrong. If there are 10, my apologies SK.
Put on your fluffy bathrobe in case you are suddenly impetuously shoved into an overwhelming desire to take part in some of the less loony antics - you'll be ready. I'd keep my underpants on; foreign country, no knowledge of local customs, but do what you want to do.
Let's start down market with a visit to the 14th floor of a Seoul office building. There we will find a woman named Ryu Bae, nicknamed "the Star Face Maker.) She is a masseuse and charges $1,000/visit. Her recommendation for great success is to come in at least 10 to 20 times. I think we can all do the math here - even me. One of the 1%ers is a 22 year old woman who comes in twice a week for this $1,000 massage and has been for the past six months. More $$$ than sense.
What does she do? The article says that for two and a half hours she attends to such as: loosening tight ankles so that one's butt doesn't sag, lymphatic massage against the depredations of alcohol! and taping balls of something called "germanium" to a spot above the ear to release tension all over the body.
Let us leave her to her germanium balls and move on.
Chaum is a 7-story medical center that covers inner beauty and holistic health. Members pay $55,000/year which entitles them to drop in for visits to the Eight-Constitution Clinic which tracks your pulse to see what kind of disposition you have. That information is studied by acupuncturists and the chef to further determine exactly what your body needs. (Snort. Mine needs a good stiff dirty martini before dinner, but that's just me.)
At the Kwangdong Hospital of Traditional Korean Medicine, the Intensive Care Acupuncture Facial ($1,200 per) is the profit leader. (My phrase, not the article's.) The treatment covers 300 points on your face that will be "treated" with stick-in needles. These pricks (hopefully and not stabs by a disgruntled acupuncturist) are believed to stimulate collagen and elastin; and to increase blood circulation thus plumping out the face.
I think you could get the same plumping affect by sitting on the floor across from a BFF and taking turns slapping each other silly and for a helluva lot less money. There would also be the deeply gratifying psychological revenge factor, cunningly disguised as helping the other. "Took MY boyfriend in 6th grade?" (pow!) "Borrowed my new Manolas* and tore the heel off?" (bam!)
I prefer the French woman's approach. At around 40, they look into a mirror and ask themselves, "Face or ass" and get on with it.
* For the gentlemen reading this - Manolas are extremely expensive shoes; their signature is a Christian Dior red nail color sole and the average price is $1,200 per pair which does include both shoes, red leather soles 'n all.
Put on your fluffy bathrobe in case you are suddenly impetuously shoved into an overwhelming desire to take part in some of the less loony antics - you'll be ready. I'd keep my underpants on; foreign country, no knowledge of local customs, but do what you want to do.
Let's start down market with a visit to the 14th floor of a Seoul office building. There we will find a woman named Ryu Bae, nicknamed "the Star Face Maker.) She is a masseuse and charges $1,000/visit. Her recommendation for great success is to come in at least 10 to 20 times. I think we can all do the math here - even me. One of the 1%ers is a 22 year old woman who comes in twice a week for this $1,000 massage and has been for the past six months. More $$$ than sense.
What does she do? The article says that for two and a half hours she attends to such as: loosening tight ankles so that one's butt doesn't sag, lymphatic massage against the depredations of alcohol! and taping balls of something called "germanium" to a spot above the ear to release tension all over the body.
Let us leave her to her germanium balls and move on.
Chaum is a 7-story medical center that covers inner beauty and holistic health. Members pay $55,000/year which entitles them to drop in for visits to the Eight-Constitution Clinic which tracks your pulse to see what kind of disposition you have. That information is studied by acupuncturists and the chef to further determine exactly what your body needs. (Snort. Mine needs a good stiff dirty martini before dinner, but that's just me.)
At the Kwangdong Hospital of Traditional Korean Medicine, the Intensive Care Acupuncture Facial ($1,200 per) is the profit leader. (My phrase, not the article's.) The treatment covers 300 points on your face that will be "treated" with stick-in needles. These pricks (hopefully and not stabs by a disgruntled acupuncturist) are believed to stimulate collagen and elastin; and to increase blood circulation thus plumping out the face.
I think you could get the same plumping affect by sitting on the floor across from a BFF and taking turns slapping each other silly and for a helluva lot less money. There would also be the deeply gratifying psychological revenge factor, cunningly disguised as helping the other. "Took MY boyfriend in 6th grade?" (pow!) "Borrowed my new Manolas* and tore the heel off?" (bam!)
I prefer the French woman's approach. At around 40, they look into a mirror and ask themselves, "Face or ass" and get on with it.
* For the gentlemen reading this - Manolas are extremely expensive shoes; their signature is a Christian Dior red nail color sole and the average price is $1,200 per pair which does include both shoes, red leather soles 'n all.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
115 Years of Snobbish Pretentiousness
I'm referring to the doughty magazine named Town & Country back in 1901. It was planned and presented to appeal to The Establishment or as they've called in England "landed gentry." Fashion, advantageous marriages, social doings all featured in its pages then and now.
I let my original subscription lapse and forgot all about it. Then I got a subscription pitch and remembered how amusing the magazine actually is. This is how they bill themselves - "The trusted source of privileged information, elegant living and unpretentious fun." I would point out that "privileged information" by the act of publication is no longer privileged...
Regarding "unpretentious fun" the editors hired Pippa Middleton, the now-Duchess of Cambridge's sister to write columns explaining English sports such as cricket. In one column she wrote about being on top of the Matterhorn! Speaking for myself, we're lucky to get atop the Palos Verdes cliffs on the way to San Pedro from time to time.
Anyhow in the interest of sharing helpful information with my fellow low lives who aren't expected to know the finer points of social etiquette, harken! Here are some things we no longer need worry about, tossing fretfully on our faux Dux beds ($30,000 for the real deal) with the 100-count (not 1,000 count) sheets.
"How much do you tip on a $10,000 bottle of wine?" Three experts - two sommeliers - surely THEY have no interest in a tip (snort) and some hostess lady - all said that if you can afford a wine that expensive, you can damn well pay a 20% tip.
An article titled "No Second Acts" tackles the thorny question of if it's all right to leave a play, concert, opera at the intermission break and scoot for Elsewhere. La! how the experts tossed this one around. Everything from "It's your money; if you're not getting value for it, beat feet" to the probable tree hugger who mewled "But think of the poor cast - to come back onstage and see all of those empty seats~" If I were in that cast, I'd like to think I'm with it enough to say, "Damn! that first act needs work!"
As I don't want to saturate your minds with more inane stuff at once, we will take up the feasibility of flying to South Korea (1st class you may be sure) to try new! Guaranteed! Beauty Tips! It would seem that snail serum is "just the tip of the iceberg." Coming up tomorrow. There's only so much pretention I can take at one time. In self defense, I am thinking about a hot dog and a new pair of Target sweats.
I let my original subscription lapse and forgot all about it. Then I got a subscription pitch and remembered how amusing the magazine actually is. This is how they bill themselves - "The trusted source of privileged information, elegant living and unpretentious fun." I would point out that "privileged information" by the act of publication is no longer privileged...
Regarding "unpretentious fun" the editors hired Pippa Middleton, the now-Duchess of Cambridge's sister to write columns explaining English sports such as cricket. In one column she wrote about being on top of the Matterhorn! Speaking for myself, we're lucky to get atop the Palos Verdes cliffs on the way to San Pedro from time to time.
Anyhow in the interest of sharing helpful information with my fellow low lives who aren't expected to know the finer points of social etiquette, harken! Here are some things we no longer need worry about, tossing fretfully on our faux Dux beds ($30,000 for the real deal) with the 100-count (not 1,000 count) sheets.
"How much do you tip on a $10,000 bottle of wine?" Three experts - two sommeliers - surely THEY have no interest in a tip (snort) and some hostess lady - all said that if you can afford a wine that expensive, you can damn well pay a 20% tip.
An article titled "No Second Acts" tackles the thorny question of if it's all right to leave a play, concert, opera at the intermission break and scoot for Elsewhere. La! how the experts tossed this one around. Everything from "It's your money; if you're not getting value for it, beat feet" to the probable tree hugger who mewled "But think of the poor cast - to come back onstage and see all of those empty seats~" If I were in that cast, I'd like to think I'm with it enough to say, "Damn! that first act needs work!"
As I don't want to saturate your minds with more inane stuff at once, we will take up the feasibility of flying to South Korea (1st class you may be sure) to try new! Guaranteed! Beauty Tips! It would seem that snail serum is "just the tip of the iceberg." Coming up tomorrow. There's only so much pretention I can take at one time. In self defense, I am thinking about a hot dog and a new pair of Target sweats.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
The Yelling Season
This is a quadrennial event and has nothing to do with global warming, el ninos or anything else climate-related.
I am referring instead to the every-four-years race for the White House.
The season starts softly enough with the various candidates putting themselves forward with gravitas and discreet pleas for support. As the season moves on, those voices become louder. In some cases they border on the strident. This part reminds me of a symphony movement, now that I think about it.. A soft start, building to a roaring conclusion. This is nice in a concert hall with gifted musicians. Unfortunately the current politicians are all tone deaf yet they persist in performing.
Now only two months and change from the Actual Vote, the pols have let their foot slip off of the pianissimo peddle and dragged in the kettle drums with an intermittent clash! of the cymbals.
The two leading candidates who shall remain nameless because they are interchangeable in style, have now resorted to YELLING! every single word out of their mouths. This is vastly annoying to me as it is a really bad idea to yell at me to do absolutely anything at all that I want no part of - such as housework. Being yelled at does not warm my heart nor enthuse me into any action at all other than fleeing the morning radio news. I simply stalk down the hall to the bathroom and shut the door. That gives me a wall, 3 ft. of hall floor and a closed bathroom door which, while helpful, doesn't entirely mitigate the noise.
Candidates, that black stick in front of you with a cobra head is a "microphone." It is designed to project your voice to the back row of any room so that you don't have to. With this device (available at amazon.com for $25) you can give your tortured vocal cords a well-deserved rest. (To say nothing of listeners ears.)
Think of the future! What if you had laryngitis on January 20th and couldn't be sworn in? It may not be a valid swearing in if you have to nod your head and write out the words. And think of the shame if your spouse has to read your inauguration address? Do you really want that to happen?
Put it in "mute," okay?
On second thought, my opening about how the yelling season has nothing to do with global warming? I changed my mind. All of the hot air coming out of the candidates may well be effecting global warming....God knows there's plenty of it.
I am referring instead to the every-four-years race for the White House.
The season starts softly enough with the various candidates putting themselves forward with gravitas and discreet pleas for support. As the season moves on, those voices become louder. In some cases they border on the strident. This part reminds me of a symphony movement, now that I think about it.. A soft start, building to a roaring conclusion. This is nice in a concert hall with gifted musicians. Unfortunately the current politicians are all tone deaf yet they persist in performing.
Now only two months and change from the Actual Vote, the pols have let their foot slip off of the pianissimo peddle and dragged in the kettle drums with an intermittent clash! of the cymbals.
The two leading candidates who shall remain nameless because they are interchangeable in style, have now resorted to YELLING! every single word out of their mouths. This is vastly annoying to me as it is a really bad idea to yell at me to do absolutely anything at all that I want no part of - such as housework. Being yelled at does not warm my heart nor enthuse me into any action at all other than fleeing the morning radio news. I simply stalk down the hall to the bathroom and shut the door. That gives me a wall, 3 ft. of hall floor and a closed bathroom door which, while helpful, doesn't entirely mitigate the noise.
Candidates, that black stick in front of you with a cobra head is a "microphone." It is designed to project your voice to the back row of any room so that you don't have to. With this device (available at amazon.com for $25) you can give your tortured vocal cords a well-deserved rest. (To say nothing of listeners ears.)
Think of the future! What if you had laryngitis on January 20th and couldn't be sworn in? It may not be a valid swearing in if you have to nod your head and write out the words. And think of the shame if your spouse has to read your inauguration address? Do you really want that to happen?
Put it in "mute," okay?
On second thought, my opening about how the yelling season has nothing to do with global warming? I changed my mind. All of the hot air coming out of the candidates may well be effecting global warming....God knows there's plenty of it.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Research Turns Up the Damnedest Things
Dog Days at the White House - the Outrageous Memoirs of the Presidential Kennel Keeper" by Traphes Bryant and Frances Spatz Leighton MacMillen 343 pages $9.95 Of note, this book was published in 1975.
This book popped out at me at the library. It's an interesting read as Bryant worked at the White House from Truman to Nixon. What made the book a sensation back then was Bryant's allegations that Kennedy enjoyed swimming nude in the White House pool with selected female company when the Missus was out of town.
But in looking up "Traphes Bryant" (because what kind of name is Traphes? Mother's maiden name? Irish ethnic?) I found that he had more or less vanished. Nothing current on him, not even the usual born/died factual things.
What did turn up was this: LBJ brought his secretary Mary Margaret Wiley with him from Texas to Washington, DC. She was one of eight secretaries; five of whom it was alleged that LBJ had boinked.
Meanwhile Jack Valenti (later of Motion Picture lawmaking) was LBJ's most devoted worker/advisor. Described as a "confirmed bachelor" Valenti, 41, and Mary Margaret suddenly married on June 1, 1962. It was believed to have been a shotgun wedding forced on the couple by LBJ himself.
But Courtenay Valenti wasn't born until November 1963. Somewhere in here, Valenti was busted for soliciting a male photographer in a bathroom, but was not charged or the charges didn't stick; unclear.
Valenti was one of LBJ's most trusted assistants and was in the White House on a daily basis. Mary Margaret would bring the tot Courtenay to "see Daddy" but Daddy was LBJ. Or so it is alleged. He was certainly fond of the child who could wind him around her little finger. If she was at the White House and LBJ didn't get to see her, he raised holy hell about it. So said Bryant.
All of which proves absolutely nothing at all, but I did find it interesting. Had you heard about this? LBJ's secret daughter, etc.? If so, how come you didn't tell me? I live for gossip!
This book popped out at me at the library. It's an interesting read as Bryant worked at the White House from Truman to Nixon. What made the book a sensation back then was Bryant's allegations that Kennedy enjoyed swimming nude in the White House pool with selected female company when the Missus was out of town.
But in looking up "Traphes Bryant" (because what kind of name is Traphes? Mother's maiden name? Irish ethnic?) I found that he had more or less vanished. Nothing current on him, not even the usual born/died factual things.
What did turn up was this: LBJ brought his secretary Mary Margaret Wiley with him from Texas to Washington, DC. She was one of eight secretaries; five of whom it was alleged that LBJ had boinked.
Meanwhile Jack Valenti (later of Motion Picture lawmaking) was LBJ's most devoted worker/advisor. Described as a "confirmed bachelor" Valenti, 41, and Mary Margaret suddenly married on June 1, 1962. It was believed to have been a shotgun wedding forced on the couple by LBJ himself.
But Courtenay Valenti wasn't born until November 1963. Somewhere in here, Valenti was busted for soliciting a male photographer in a bathroom, but was not charged or the charges didn't stick; unclear.
Valenti was one of LBJ's most trusted assistants and was in the White House on a daily basis. Mary Margaret would bring the tot Courtenay to "see Daddy" but Daddy was LBJ. Or so it is alleged. He was certainly fond of the child who could wind him around her little finger. If she was at the White House and LBJ didn't get to see her, he raised holy hell about it. So said Bryant.
All of which proves absolutely nothing at all, but I did find it interesting. Had you heard about this? LBJ's secret daughter, etc.? If so, how come you didn't tell me? I live for gossip!
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