Back in skinny jeans

10 reasons to love lipstick

Backstage_Lakme Fashion Week, originally uploaded by Soumik.

• Anticipation of that first kiss
• Evidence

• Glamour
• Signature

• Rebellion
• Vibrance

• Amusement
• Pizzazz

• Shiny smile
• Seduction

Children of Hope

I found this picture set on Flickr called "The Children of Hope" by photographer Parc Cruz. The photos in this set (116 photos) are absolutely amazing. Breathe taking. I was especially touched because the pictures are of children living in poverty in the Philippines, the country of my heritage. I was born here in the U.S. but I have been to the Philippines twice, once as a child and once as an adult, and I have seen both the wealth and hardship.

About the "Children of Hope" photos and the Hope Worldwide Foundation:

"The photos were taken last July 30, 2006 at Baseco Compound in Manila. This is a settlement near the pier (Manila Bay). The place covers around 300 hectares. Many families here make a living from their surroundings, by clearing the bay area of plastic and other waste.

HOPE worldwide Philippines, Inc. has established a model child welfare and protection system for Filipino Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances (CEDC) by providing essential medicines, supplies, professional services and most importantly caring full-time staff and volunteers who work directly with poor children."

What struck me about these photos was that despite the extreme level of poverty these children are living in you can still see joy and hope in their faces. Their smiles extend in their eyes.

These children serve as a reminder that no matter your circumstance you can have hope. You can dream for a better life. It also reminds us to be grateful for the life we have. Living in the U.S. we have access to an enormous amount of abundance. When you start seeing yourself complain about your life, remember there are many others who wish they could have what you have. These children also remind us to give back and share what we have been blessed with. Take a moment to feel gratitude and to help someone else.

Thank you to Parc Cruz for sharing these beautiful photos with the world.

 

"A Fat Rant" so well done

This is a fat rant by the lovely Joy Nash who is confident, beautiful, full of life, and fat. She is not ashamed of that fact nor does she let what others think about fat people get in her way of being happy and living a life of happiness. We can all learn something from this woman's comfort and fortitude in herself.

Joy goes on about our society's shame around fat, the silly things we do to keep ourselves in denial and in pain, and how the fashion industry basically ignores everyone over a size 12. She also has deep opinions about those skinny clothes we keep in the closet...ehem...skinny jeans.

This is a fantastic video. Well done Joy!

Is Pear Vodka more tempting than shoes, flowers, or donuts?

My favorite happy hour drink is a Mandarin or Blood Orange Cosmo. Absolut Vodka has a new Pears flavor available, and I must say that it sounds pretty tempting. I even like pears more than oranges. I have always liked the advertising style for Absolut. It's very modish and snazzy.

For the Pears campaign, they let bloggers create their own little "temptation" clip. I must say it is fun to watch a high heeled shoe, a bouquet of flowers, a chocolate donut, and a cup of coffee explode. Reminds me of things you'd like to do with gifts from the jerk who broke your heart. Now, there's an occasion to drink the night away.

Lindsay Lohan is naughty GQ cover girl

This is GQ magazine's cover for the April 2007 issue with a Louis Vuitton clad Lindsay Lohan who supposedly did this photo shoot while in rehab. I find it hard to believe that a good treatment center would allow a patient to leave for the day to shoot sexually intoxicating pictures. But, considering it's a Hollywood wild child, if it were true, I wouldn't be floored.

I just want to know how Lindsay's parents are okay with their troubled 20 year old daughter looking like a hoochie on the cover of a men's magazine while she's supposed to be healing. I also thought GQ had better taste. Fine. Put Lindsay on the cover, but could you have at least tried to make her look more respectable.

There are more pictures of this Lindsay GQ photo shoot at Just Jared.

The "Captivity" campaign was a boo-boo

In Los Angeles and NY, billboards and taxi signs promoting the new horror movie Captivity starring Elisha Cuthbert were pulled down after loads of people complained about the atrocious nature of the posters. Just look at this thing. I thought Dolce & Gabbana were nutzoid with their "sexual fantasy" farce. This infliction is much worse. Along with the grizzly images are the words "Abduction. Confinement. Torture. Termination."

Lionsgate who made the movie claims they didn't know about this campaign, and After Dark the company distributing the film said that the wrong art was sent to the billboard and poster people. So all these movie folks want us to believe that they spent tons of monies on billboards and signs for this movie and that NO ONE from Lionsgate or After Dark was paying attention and noticed the "art" mistake. People please!

The day the billboards went up, some marketing lackey told the exes "Hey, the campaign is live now" and all those Execs were sitting around some mahogany table with their feet up and hands clasped behind the head saying, "Yup, this one is going to be a talker." If the art was wrong, those billboards would never have gone up or they would have been taken down that very same day. You, movie people, were trying to be overly provocative and got clawed by parents and angry consumers. Be real. You're thinking it's better to look incompetent rather than being tacky jerks. I don't buy it.

Oh, and if your flick really included a story about female empowerment, you would have your lead character looking like she is empowered on all those promo pieces. What's empowering about an image of  Elisha buried in dirt by a lunatic?

[via E Online] More pics of Captivity billboards at Tranny in Trouble.

Designer Tara Subkoff literally has bones on her runway

Over at FabSugar, the ladies have a lovely recap of designer Tara Subkoff's Imitation of Christ show at the LA Fashion Week Fall 2007. However, when they start talking about bones, they aren't talking about the models for once. Nope. There are actual bones on the runway. No joke.

Looking at the pictures of the show, I'm not sure if the real bones are there as some kind of mockery statement about the fuss over the too-skinny model issue, or if it's some kind of symbolism related to Jesus or from where women come from. Remember, we ladies were made from one of Adam's ribs. Or maybe, it is all of the above.

Go check out the Imitation of Christ pictures at FabSugar and you decide. The clothes themselves are a bit dark for my taste, but there are some interesting outfits.