August 24, 2008 archive

Fashion and Style Report

subtitle:  The Strange Summer of 2003



I perform strange experiments here in New York City.

In the late 90’s I looked around to see if any women were wearing shoes of a color other than black, white, brown or red.

See, Manhattan has its own sense of style, and it really is wonderful to people watch in various neighborhoods.  In Midtown you can see the working woman look and a little farther uptown you see the rich ladies in their rich clothes.  And in the Village, it was one original outfit after another, usually black.

As a matter of fact, a disproportionate number of women in Manhattan wore black, it was considered the Metropolitan style.  Even in summer.

So when I first performed my experiment, I literally didn’t see one pair of colored shoes worn by Manhattan women other than the ones I listed above.

Of course, it wasn’t a very scientific experiment, but I really did look at hundreds of women.  I got sort of obsessed by it.

Then came 9/11.  And two years later, the summer of 2003.

San Diego Zoo: tortoises and sea lions


African Spurred Tortoise

(aka the Sulcata Tortoise)

Sulcata tortoises inhabit the southern edge of the Sahara.  They are the architects of their habitat:  their burrows provide housing for a plethora of other animals.  Unlike most other tortoises, they do not hibernate.  They are the largest mainland tortoise, weighing between 70 and 100 pounds as adults, and can live up to 80 years.  The species is considered vulnerable.

Both Laurie and Jim have been raising one of this kind of tortoise.

This is Why Republicans REALLY Suck

A fews days ago, buhdydharma had an excellent essay detailing how the Republicans had screwed the country during the Bush years.  But one aspect was left out — the most important one from my point of view.  As I write this, my beloved Minnesota Twins lead baseball’s American League Central Division by 1/2 game over the evil Chicago White Sox.  The Twins exemplify all that is good and pure about baseball.  They play good defense; they bunt to sacrifice runners to the next base; their pitchers don’t walk anybody; they win with young players brought up from their minor league system rather than bidding for free agents; and they do it all with a payroll that is but a fraction of what the Yankees spend.  

But the Republican party is conspiring to ruin the Twins’ drive for the American League pennant.  Because their convention will be held in St. Paul from Sept. 1-4, the Twins are forced to embark on an unheard of 14-day road trip:  four games against the American League’s leading Los Angeles Angels, then three games at Seattle, four games at Oakland, and finally three games at Toronto.  For those of you who may not be baseball fans, this is a BIG deal.  Minnesota has a 46-23 record playing home games, but just a 28-31 record playing road games.  Having to play 14 consecutive road games may well ruin the Twins’ season through no fault of their own.

   

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