Citizen Mom

Vintage Olympic Fashion Multiple Choice

via sportsillustrated.cnn.com

The one on the right is pissed because:

a.) She forgot her flag
b.) Her shoes got muddy and there wasn't time to clean them off before the photo
c.) She's really Jack Lemmon in drag

Check out SI.com's gallery of Olympic Fashion Through The Years, including the fly ladies of 1920, above. They're not all medal-worthy looks [Aside to Hungary '80: Look in the mirror and remove one accessory, dear] but damn, those Lithuanians knew how to party back in the 9-2.

Two Unrelated Things That Are Like, Duhh

1.) "Go to the black Macys if you want plus-sized formal gowns," from Consumerist.

The story told by "Amanda" sounds a little bit far-fetched in that I doubt any Macy's employee would run on at the mouth like that.  But, as a woman who has bought clothing on both sides of the plus-size threshold, I can tell you there is a morsel of truth in this. Though it doesn't really follow that if black women are plus-sized they must be poor -- why would black women supposedly need plus-sized suits and party wear if they're broke? Maybe it's about the fact that African-American church ladies tend to dress up more than your average white Lutheran? (It works in opposite ways, too -- my MIL tells a story about trying to buy size 10 ladies shoes in a store in New York with a large Asian population, and no dice.)

Big girls, what say you?

2.) "D.C. Bureau Cuts = Journalism 2.0 Opportunity?" 

Every time I hear about D.C. or state capitol buro cuts by newspapers, I think about how easily the right online operations could step into the vacuum, start kicking arse and continue the reinvention of the news business. Think about how any laid-off or bought-out newspaper folks are going hyper-local or to startup news sites. Of course it'll take money, but some smart venture capitalist/would-be media mogul or co-operative could set up a shop, get some people credentialed and start covering statehouses and Congress themselves. A bunch of smaller Politico-type sites that will one day join up, become a giant media conglomerate and collapse onto itself the way newspaper chains are right now, but hey that's decades from now so . . . Anyway my point is, the days when it only "counts" if it comes from a newspaper are over, poopies. Again, like duh.

MEOW MIX: Cindy's Rocks, Celine's Tips, And My Cruise Will Go On

* So, do we know whether those NAVY and USMC pins Cindy McCain was wearing last night at the RNC were real diamonds or Swarovski? Why did they reconfigure the stage at the XCel Energy Center, anyway? Answers to these questions and more as Citizen Mom and Valania IM our way through the last night of the Republican National Convention.

* Tonight I'm headed off to review the Celine Dion show at the Wachovia Center (it's for work, I swear), and taking one of my sisters (Codename: Carmella) along. All across the Delaware Valley, you can smell the fumes of airbrushed French tips and flatirons burning as the housewives get ready for a big night out. After the show, you and Rosalie Aprile can plan your trip to Rome to see the Holy Father.

* Finally, one imagines there are more than a few Celine Dion fans among the mutinous crowd aboard the cruise ship Carnival Miracle, where passengers haven't been this pissed since they ran out of crab legs at the buffet. From USA Today:

The Carnival Miracle left New York on Friday and was supposed to sail an eight-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary with stops in San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas and Grand Turk Island. But as Tropical Storm Hanna approached the region earlier in the week Carnival announced the ship would go no further than Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas.

Later in the week, as Hanna threatened the Bahamas, the line changed the itinerary yet again, dropping Nassau and announcing the ship would turn back northward to spend Friday in Newport. The ship is scheduled to return to New York on Saturday.

But thanks to the on-board Wifi, passengers aren't just taking this outrage lying down in deck chairs, they're protesting on the Lido Deck and taking to the message boards in protest!

"The Rhode Island announcement really put people over the edge,"  writes one passenger in a post on the message boards of cruisecritic.com. "The attitude of the captain has caused passengers to (go) ballistic."   

The poster, who goes by the handle satirical7, tells cruisecritic.com that a crowd of passengers formed near the purser's desk to chant "refund, refund" in a scene that he describes as "chaos." And passengers have "lined up for hours protesting the only (other) way they know how . . . adjusting their gratuities down to zero!"

(Hat Tip, @cegray)

'Is Cindy McCain Wearing Kermit The Frog?'

First thought, the morning after? I'm struck by how scornful Sarah Palin was of community service as a means of service to country -- especially after the RNC has featured so many earnest community groups paraded through the XCel Center to tell about how their group serves and helps folks, with no government funding. Tacky.

Also, I've sold stuff on eBay. Can I be president?

***

Trust me, folks, the discourse is elevated above cheap fashion jokes in my IM play-by-play of Sarah Palin's speech at the RNC tonight. Or at least it was, until she started started talking shit, going from Hockey Mom to Mockey Mom in seconds flat. After that, it was every moose for himself.

PHAWKER: A Pitbull In Lipstick

PEREZ: Hot tranny etc.etc.

AP Photo

Yeah But That Jumpsuit's On Sale

AZQ: That Santogold video is fresh.
JW: It's a little too "Target commercial" for me.

True enough. Still, I love that whole kind of hiccupy, Missing Persons kinda thing homegirl's got happening. And "L.E.S. Artists" is probably the song of the year.

Santogold, "Lights Out"

RIP, Black Moses: Isaac Hayes Dead At 65

Isaac Hayes, sings "Never Can Say Goodbye" in Atlanta, 1973.

From the Memphis Commercial Appeal:

Legendary soul music performer Isaac Hayes died this afternoon after he was found unconscious in his Shelby County home.

A family member found the entertainer next to a running treadmill at about 1 p.m. Sunday, said Steve Shular, spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.

Hayes was rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:10 p.m.

Hayes' wife, their 2-year-old son and another family member had gone to the grocery store around noon, Shular said. When they returned, they found Hayes unresponsive.

Rescue workers responded to a 911 call, and they performed CPR at Hayes' home at 9280 Riveredge in the eastern part of Shelby County, near Forest Hill and Walnut Grove.

The Sheriff's Office is conducting a routine investigation, said Shular, but “nothing leads us to believe this is foul play.”

Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls

The Death of Style

With the passing of Bo Diddley this morning, you're likely to see those old clips of him doing "Bo Diddley" any number of times this week. You'll also hear that quote about him saying he didn't have influences, that he considered himself a true original. It's a boast, of course, and the male ego is the axis upon which the rock and roll world spins.

Though it sure helps when you invent the world's most recognizable (and arguably, most important) guitar beat.

So enjoy those clips, and consider another man who was not like the others: Yves Saint Laurent. The designer who took Dior's New Look in a new direction and helped invent the Jackie Kennedy style template (copied perfectly by her sister, Lee Radziwill, in the fascinating clip that follows) died Sunday. His glasses live on.

MANSCAPE: A New Shirt For Guido, Doing It For The Boys, and More White Guys Than You Can Jump A Motorcycle Over

Rocket in his pocket: Robbie Knievel breaks his late father's record, jumping his motorcycle 200 feet, over 24 delivery trucks. (AP Photo by David Kohl)

* True story: Many years ago, I spent a crazy weekend in Ventor/Margate with a friend who was dating a minor-league wiseguy type. It was an interesting couple of days to say the least, the highlights of which were dancing at the Geator's place in a large group of women that included Rita Merlino, and a scene which unfolded inside and just outside the old South Beach club in Margate at about 4 a.m., involving me and a cluster of large dudes who were pissed off at something Kitty Caparella had written and several Sambucas later, expected me to answer for it. I told them  va fa Napoli. You know how it is.

Aaaaanyway the other big stop on  Goumad Tour '95 was Ventura's Greenhouse in Ventnor, which was lousy with overtanned Italian-American guys sporting what would now be called the Tony Soprano Look: hairy arms, thick gold bracelet, short-sleeved button-down silk shirt bearing an aesthetically questionable pattern.

Next month, James Gandolfini will sell the shirt off Tony's back to benefit wounded U.S. soldiers. Christies will auction several pieces of Gandolfini's TV wardrobe, including the tan bathrobe from the first episode and the "blood-soaked" shirt from the scene where Uncle Junior shoots Tony.

* Also going above and beyond the call of hooters, er, duty, the Eagles Cheerleaders going to visit the troops in Iraq! What, no beefcake for the female soldiers? One in 7, people! 

* Too male, too white, and too old -- no, no, I'm not talking about Congress, but the Washington Post's Op-Ed page. But really, why look that far?

* One good thing (one of the few good things, from the reviews we're reading) about that "Sex and the City" movie: Chris Noth as Mr. Big = Lots of Det. Logan on cable. Rawwwrrr. (OMG he touched her ass, proving yet again that a story is sometimes all in the telling.) Also, the mayor's box at the Wachovia Center was empty through the Flyers playoffs, but Nutter was to attend a private "Sex" screening at the Ritz Five last night. Mayor Metrosexual?

MEOW MIX: The Out-Of-Towners, No Credit - Don't Ask, And A Kept Gay American Man

* Droll, ironic question: Does this picture of Jennifer Aniston in Philly (we assume for the Middlebrow & Me shoot) count as distasteful paparazzi dreck? No, for many reasons, but nobody's about to waste your time waxing all smug-like on the deep, reasoned and ultimately, understandable only to myself thought process I used to decide.

I will, however, acknowledge being unsurprised at the speed with which Aniston embraced the city's native dress code of pajama bottoms and out-of-style footwear. (Dude. Those things look new. ) All she needs is a Kathy Van Zeeland handbag and no car insurance and bam! she's the lady in your neighborhood who does the jewelry shows. [Jezebel]

* On a related topic, Karen Heller wonders how it can be that stone(d) hottie Owen Wilson, who reportedly dropped cash at Rick's Cabaret in South Philly, has to pay to get a lap dance and see some boobies. I say every man pays for it somehow -- even the Butterscotch Stallion. And all the better if the stripper in question was wearing those handy shoes, the ones with the hollowed-out Lucite platform for holding tips. No, seriously. Our D.C. peeps say those pumps are also the latest in campaign-finance technology. Try the veal!

*  Jim McGreevey, testifying in his divorce trial this week, says he lives off his partner's dime and doesn't have enough income -- only $48,000 a year -- to pay alimony or child support. But he turned down that radio job on New Jersey 101.5 out of concerns for his privacy. (Which is a a.) a crock and b.) a shame, because there's nothing Jim McGreevey does better than talk shit -- it could have been classic!) What's more tacky -- Dina thinking she should continue to be kept in the manner befitting the governor's wife, or Jim acting like the wife and daughter he had before he came out suddenly don't count and he owes them nothing? Jersey's choice! 
 

You Will Worship Her, Pilgrim Shoes And Carol Brady Shag Notwithstanding

Rainy day music.

Dusty Springfield, "Spooky"