Cuts on the Bias

This is a test

WWD reports today that Conde Nast, the company that has laid off a bazillion people this week, has launched a new iphone app for GQ.

Conde Nast says the app will not only make money, but is also vetted by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the first of its kind to get the agency’s approval. That means sales of the app will count toward the magazine’s rate base. The memo goes on to read,

"The GQ application, which replicates the entire December issue, will be available on iTunes for $2.99, and will include touchscreen control, video, music and zoom features that make the screen easily readable. Users can buy music featured within the magazine through iTunes, and the application will include links to Web pages and phone numbers for brands listed in the fashion credits and interstitial advertisements that aren’t in the magazine."

Now that magazines are starting to catch up with technology, are readers going to adapt? I have always felt that print will never be dead-have you ever travelled on a plane or train? You can't read your ipod or Kindle when you're stuck on the runway for 2 hours due to minor technical problems. And you certainly can't read in a subway (yet), I also just like to look a big pictures right in front of my face, especially if they're fashion images.

Can both print and digital provide unique value that don't compete? Does print become more mass appeal and digital more niche?

Chill.

I wanted to enjoy my Sunday morning but the NY Times made that impossible. Normally, I can cruise its columns and articles with ease, agreeing with most it has to say and ignoring what irritates. Not so today when two of my favorite columnists decided to whine in unison. Maureen Dowd has her skirts in a knot over Obama's tendency to compromise and Frank Rich seems ready to lead a pitchfork brigade in pursuit of the  monstrous Goldman Sachs who he thinks has the Obama administration by the short hairs. Thomas Friedman, traditionally a safe harbor of rational insights, states the obvious about Obama's choices in Afghanistan so no respite there.

Leave it to Bono to salvage my Sunday. His piece, Rebranding America is poorly titled and weakly written but his point of view is refreshingly global, upbeat and on point. With candor apparently only rock stars can afford, he points out why Obama deserves the Nobel prize despite his short time in office noting that "In the same week that Mr. Obama won the Nobel, the United States was ranked as the most admired country in the world, leapfrogging from seventh to the top of the Nation Brands Index survey — the biggest jump any country has ever made." 

Mo, Frank, consider the difficulty of that transformation. Is there any other person alive today who could have pulled that off within 6 months of taking office? The correct answer is No. So can you please cut the man some slack? At least give him a full year in office before you declare him weak and ineffectual.

Another Kanye Moment

President Obama on receiving Nobel Peace Prize:  "surprised and deeply humbled."

Most pundits, columnists and people who have not received said prize but decided it was appropriate to imitate Kanye West: "Obama you nice, but [insert favorite name] shoulda got this prize."

Are you kidding me? Give this man any prize out there. He's working way harder than the rest of us.

No Style

I'm no rule freak. I'm never quite sure where the knife goes on a formal table setting and I don't recall the proper order to introduce people (older first? female first?). I wear white past Labor Day. I don't always look great when I go to the grocery store. But, I do know you don't call the President a liar during his speech to Congress no matter how much "passion" you feel, you don't swear at line judges no matter how "right" you are, and you don't interrupt an award winner's acceptance speech no matter how good the opponent's performance was.

Here's what I think: When people in the spotlight can't follow simple rules of decency in their public interactions with others, we should stop rewarding them. It's no use yelling at Kanye for his rude behavior at the MTV awards, just don't buy his music or attend his concerts until he gets the message. Ditto Serena Williams and Joe Wilson. Like it or not, celebrities are role models and others will follow their lead unless its obvious they are walking into oblivion.

It's Moschino (moe skeen oh) oh la la

Please note how hot Mrs. Biden looks as well...

Obama Rocks the House

 

Well alright then. If Kelley says we're going to mix it up, we'll mix it up. Let's start with President Obama's speech on health care reform. If you didn't think that was an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping performance of subtly and surefooted power you are a moose-shooting, death panel promoting fool. I hit the replay button a dozen times and not only to see Senator Grassley and Congressman Boehner squirm. 

I am relieved. This man is not just a consummate politician (although that he surely is). He is also the "real deal": a person of honesty and integrity who does not fear compromise. After the speech, I promptly donated a pocketfull of cash to his coffers. That's Democracy. 

I can't leave this subject without also acknowledging the ever-influential Michelle Obama who wore a friggin' pink suit with a bow and looked fabulous. Nancy, Hillary, please for god's sake retire those fire engine red suits. It makes you seem one-dimensional while also making you look like a brick house and not the hot kind.

Real Americans

Brilliant. Truly brilliant. An organization called ColorofChange.org listened to Glenn Beck's hate-filled rants on Fox TV and instead of debating their legitimacy, they used democratic market forces to let him know how the country really feels about him. How'd they do this? By suggesting to Beck's advertisers that they might not want to associate their products with someone shouting over the air waves that the President of the United States is a racist who hates white people.

According to Eric Boelhert at MediaMatters, that simple tactic has caused dozens of high-profile advertisers including Bank of America, Procter & Gamble and WalMart to drop their sponsorship of Glenn Beck's show. Now if he wants to cry, exhort and bemoan the loss of "real Americans" he'll have to find companies who can survive on their earnings from the far right fringe. I can only assume the makers of assult weapons, survival gear and polyester leisure suits might find this audience attractive.

Fantasy football has "jumped the shark"...

 

Nothing, I say nothing is more exciting than a Fantasy Football draft!

I've never done Fantasy football before, I always thought you really needed to beef up on stats and study the players year round. NOT TRUE. I mean, I'm sure people do but it's fine if you're totally clueless-like all 10 of us ladies on Sunday night.

We saddled up to our computers, poured some wine and chatted like 12 year olds on IM (provided by ESPN).  You get your order for picking and when it's your turn a stampede of horns blow in your honor. AWESOME. You only get 90 seconds to pick a player, and it's a bit tough to keep up with who was taken or predict who is going to be taken, but that's ok cause you have wine and in between turns you can talk about which player has a nice smile (pictures provided as well).

Today I decorated my helmet, black and tan with turqouise trim. Come September 10th, the serious trash talking begins, and that for sure, is a womans sport.

I, for one, welcome the burkini

Seriously France? A French Muslim woman by the name of Carole was kicked out of a swimming pool in France, citing that her burkini was unhygenic. A naked hoola hooper, however, is totally fine.

I think more women should be wearing burkinis. Put some clothes on. I don't care how great your body is, when you bend down for things I see far too much.

I don't want to get too religious or political here but it was Caroles choice to convert to Islam and she shouldn't have to ignore her religion when it's conveinient to others. Carole was trying to figure out a way to swim with her children and respect her Islamic teachings-outrageous! Just like naked hoola hooper (who is at a beach in Nice, France by the way), she should be able to choose what or what not to wear. And furthermore, how is it unhygenic in a pool if you have more clothing covering your parts? Food for though, have a nice weekend.

Saving Sarah

I've been worried about Sarah lately. After all, Ms. Palin quit her job unexpectedly with no backup plans as far as anyone knows. It's evident she's the bread-winner in the family, so I'm thinking who's going to feed all those the kids?

To help her out, I typed her job qualifications into Monster. I said she's been a governor, newscaster, hunter, mom, basketball player and candidate for Vice President - not a bad start unless you value consistency. I sat back and let the magical algorithms do their stuff. Within seconds, I had a list of new job offerings for her to consider:

Top of the list was "Vice Presdident, Sales" for MRI in Providence, Rhode Island. I think this is a reasonably good match as her smoozing chops are state of the art. And she's already got the wardrobe. I'm thinking this is a red suit kind of job.

Further down on the list is "VP, Level Equity Derivative Quatitative Analyst." This may be a mismatch; although it sounds like a job where no one really knows what you do, so she could be perfect. There's a position for "IT Security" but since she hasn't been able to protect her own email, I can't see this working out for her. Her run for Veep apparently qualified her for most of the listings as nearly all start with "Vice President." Her hunting and ball handling skills are less in demand.

Oh, here we go -- "Oil and Gas Broker" for some company called KForce in Godforsaken, Texas. Go for it, Sarah! Make your mark.

California Dreaming

Think you're good at saving money? Perhaps you are if you were able to read Kelley's post and not buy the dress. If so, you can advance to the next level and balance California's budget.

The Los Angeles Times created a tool that lets you choose from an assortment of cost savings and additional taxes. You can review all the different areas and make your choices, finding $24 billion in your spare time. I managed to balance the budget, but not without taxing myself (and nearly everyone in the state) significantly more than the very high levels we already pay. Legalizing pot is starting to sound like a very workable idea.

Speak Up

Sorry for the slight absence. With moving, planning a wedding and launching the second line of Smocks, this has been a crowded month for Kelley and I. In fact, it's still very busy, but recent events made me want to write this morning.

There's an ominous rise in violence directed at specific groups. The murder of a doctor who performs abortions and the slaying of a guard at the Holocaust Museum are two most recent examples. Gun ownership has risen sharply since Obama was elected and the news media, specifically Fox News, has showcased pundits who urge their viewers to fear our government for any number of reasons. While this blog usually comments on positive elements of style and substance, negative elements are equally possible. When commentators and their believers push a style of fear and hatred, the substance that follows is ugly.

My first reaction to the recent ugliness was resignation. I felt helpless to stop the nastiness and brutality. Then I realized I don't have to stop it--all I have to do is try to stop it. And that I can do. I bet we all know at least one person who listens to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. We all know at least one person who believes Obama is a Muslim and 9/11 an inside job. We usually ignore them, reasoning that they won't listen to us or change their views. But I think it's irresponsible not to try. Take the time to figure out why they believe these fantasies and what types of argument they might at least hear. Then speak up. Repeatedly. They may not change their minds, but at least you won't be one who stands by and says nothing.

Mixed Media

What a confounding day. First I'm elated that Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. I'm indifferent about her ethnicity; she could be Martian and I'd be fine, as long as she was female. In this century, no one of good conscience can really believe that it's ok to have the highest court in the US composed of eight men and one woman.

My joy over Sotomayor was quickly dashed, however, by my own beloved state of California's ruling on Prop 8. If you recall, Prop 8 was the result of a odd combination of homophobic Latinos, African Americans and Mormens who rallied together to outlaw gay marriage in the very part of the country that arguably invented it. Today the state supreme court upheld this proposition, prompting all my gay friends and family members to change their Facebook status to "huh?"

What can I say? One step forward in high heels, two mincing steps back into the closet.

Insuring Simplicity

Speaking of good looking men, I got an email from Barack today. Usually, I get emails from his associates. I'm not sure what their game plan is but they seem to have a routine that rotates email senders. I get lots of emails from David Plouffe and Mitch Stewart, but its rare to hear from the President himself so you know it must be a high priority when he sends something. (It's really rare to hear from Michele so I have to get my fixes at Ms. O).

The email was on health care which has become a high priority to me lately (not because I'm sick but because I had to purchase my own health insurance for the first time in my life and it scared the bejesus out of me). I'm a very healthy person and am reasonably competent when it comes to making major purchases. I can fill out a mortgage application or a car loan without breaking a sweat, but filling out the 40+ pages of the health insurance form nearly brought me to my knees. Now that I have insurance, I live in a perpetual state of fear that I'll lose it. This is not paranoia: the insurance company actually threatened to drop our family because I failed to mention in the 40+ page application that my teenaged daughter once asked her doctor about acne (they claimed this was a case of me failing to disclose a pre-existing condition).

I don't know why health insurance has to be so complicated. If the Obama administration does nothing more than simplify it, I'll be happy. If they actually fix it, I'll be very happy. So help them out: here's the link. Maybe you'll get an email from the president too.

Fox Hole

So happy Kelley's back--my posts absolutely require the buffering provided by her fashion and culture smarts. I'm struggling with how I'm going to pull off cropped pants or sheer dresses, but I'll worry about that when the weather improves. For now, my main problem is Fox News.

How the hell does this channel continue to exist? Are there really that many people in the world happy to believe complete bullshit rather than inconvenient facts? Don't the broadcasters and journalists who work for Fox feel a tiny bit of shame?  I guess not.

One of my favorite media watchdogs is Media Matters. They are my beacon of sanity in our current sea of crap. For example, Media Matters pointed out that "Fox News cropped comments from Duke University men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski to suggest that Krzyzewski was criticizing President Obama" when in fact the coach said he loved Obama. Even more significantly, the site explains that Sean Hannity's assertion that every Democrat voted for the AIG bonuses is a complete falsehood.  We're not talking misplaced emphasis or missing question mark--this is an outright lie that he had no qualms about spreading all over the air waves. 

As long as we're all worked up about unethical fatcats and dishonest execs, why not widen the circle to include journalists and pundits who knowingly distort facts in order to mislead people who trust them. Are they really that different from the Madeoffs and the Stanfords of the world?

Bonus Round

As you probably noticed, A.I.G of bail-out fame recently announced it will pay $165 million in bonuses to its employees. The uproar over the injustice of this is loud and widespread. Apparently, the bonsues are protected by contracts so there's little the government or A.I.G. management can do to reverse the mistake.

I have a simple suggestion: publish the names of all who receive the bonuses. Use the internet as a town square and let everyone know who these people are, where they live and what they've done to earn these rewards. Perhaps they really deserve the money. If so, it would be good to know who at A.I.G. was alert and ethical. My guess is most don't. In that case, perhaps the threat of public shame would motivate a few to do something commendable--like donating their bonus to Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, who really does deserve a million dollar windfall.

All the Presidents' Women

This is rich. A portrait gallery of all the women who have had affairs with US Presidents. Apparently, your odds are best if you're a long-haired brunette. Or if you knew JFK.

The portraits are courtesy of British painter Annie Kevan's solo show which I found reviewed on Cool Hunting, a fav site when i need a distration. Maybe, if we're lucky, 200 years from now we'll have a similar portfolio of male consorts.

Signs of Spring, or Maybe Sprung

I've spent most of my life avoiding any resemblance to Mrs. Roper, so I don't see a caftan or jeweled necklace coming to my closet anytime soon. That is, unless I completely lose my sanity and sense of humor, which I'm at risk of doing thanks to the folks who are commenting--endlessly--on the economy, the stock market, the bail-out, the stimulus, the recession, the recovery and the banking system.

In a normal year, I wouldn't have to read or watch more than a dozen articles on the above topics. I wouldn''t have to worry if a trillion dollars (which I'm told is a stack of one dollar bills about 68 miles high) is too much or too little. I wouldn't need to care whether AIG is solvent and who benefits from their bail-out. I certainly wouldn't spend a nano-second reading anything with the phrase "Rush Limbaugh's thoughts on the economy" in it. But here I am on a perfectly good Saturday morning already tied in knots because too many experts have proclaimed that the economy is going to tank, the stock market is going to soar, Obama's too ambitious, Obama's too timid, conservatives are steadfast leaders, conservatives are bloviated idiots, leading economists are right, leading economists are wrong and no one apparently seems to care that Spring's right around the corner.

Alright, I admit, this is my own fault for starting my day with the news. I'm going to go try on swim suits. That should cheer me up.

Over-achievers Unite

Here's the kind of story that makes my head spin backwards... Leslie Gelb writes in The Daily Beast that Obama's ambitious, aggressive agenda of big fixes is a sign that he's "manic." In addition to pointing out the inherent dangers of taking on too much too fast, he comments "the flood of big ideas also suggests something about Obama that is worrisome: that he is so self-confident that he believes he can make decisions on the most complicated of issues after only hours of discussion."

My problem with his perspective is two-fold: 1) I don't think there's anything wrong with tackling multiple big problems at once. A good, experienced and driven team with the right technology can effectively multitask rings about normal bureaucracy and that's the kind of action we need right now. It's called over-achieving and people of Obama's generation are quite skilled at it.  2) I see no reason to believe that the Obama team just recently started thinking about these issues or that they have been insular in their discussions. That would be the Bush administration. My bet is Obama and his team have been debating these issues since Fall with the best minds in the world.

So, for god's sake, let the man run his show. Maybe he makes a gaffe or two; maybe he only bats 500. We'll still be better off than we are now. And maybe, just maybe, he's as good as the leaders who founded this country while tilling their farms without the aid of cell phones, jet planes or Twitter.

Soon the snow will be brown

When I first moved to NY I used to think it was so "neat" to have snow all around me, felt so exotic. Growing up in California, you chose to go to the snow or not, it didn't simply show up and dump on you. When you rely on public transportation to get around town, snow storms, rain storms or even just a lot of wind ruins your day.

I check the weather hourly here in NY,  if I have to go on an appointment with a client I need to look presentable but not ruin my outfit in the process. It's a small blessing that the general public accepted rain boots as cute, they're not as comfortable with a huge puffer coat and ski boots in the office.

For the most part I need to know if I need an umbrella or just a hood, rain boots or just durable flats, the days I think I need snow boots and I don't are really embarrassing. I long for the days of just putting on a long dress, wrapping your hair in a bun and throwing on sandals, so simple so easy.

Tracy Reese + Mrs. Obama

Michelle Obama will be on the cover of People this week and for the cover she wore Tracy Reese, a NY designer, best known for her little party frocks. Michelle's arms look so cut-Chris they rival Jill Bidens! Here's a look I was privy to from her Fall line, this season wasn't my favorite however.

Also did you catch the "unstate of the union" last night? How charming was Barack?
The shout out to Michelle right off the bat...

Bravo!

I don't know what happened, but simultaneously all of Hollywood got a stylist. There were a few exceptions-ahem Phillip Seymore Hoffman, a beenie really? Otherwise I was delighted all night to see women with figure flattering, dramatic, bold choices. My favorite? SO tough this year but I think it's Taraji Henson, those long uneven fluffy layers on the dress, the necklace and the haircut were all so fresh and girly, she Killed it. Loved SJP's dress but her boobs were all over the place. My one criticism would be that the fairest girls wore white, Anne Hataway, Nicole Kidman and Evan Rachel Wood-why? They were practically transparent. The lady with the bravest choice, young Freida Pinto, that dress was borderline cruise singer but she made that color pop-good for her.

Fashionably informed

I really understand the value of design when it's used to make convoluted and unintelligible information clearly relevant. The most recent example is the $800+ billion stimulus plan. All most people can say about it is that it's gigantic and that they are either in favor of it (because they like Obama) or they are not in favor of it (because they preferred McCain or they just don't trust government to do anything). I shared that emotionally-driven pro-Obama response until I saw this beautifully drawn chart created by Laura Stanton on behalf of the Washington Post.

We're only showing part of it here, so visit the Post to see its full glory.  Granted it's not a lovely gown or smartly tailored coat, but it is the latest in fashionable data, and it will make you feel alot more informed about where your money (and your kids money) is going. For those of you who asked, this information makes me more in favor of the stimulus package than not--now I just know what the hell I'm supporting.

Grammys Anyone?

 Every time I attempted to watch my stomach would start to turn with anxiety (just like looking at M.I.A 9 months preggers in this taffeta explosion)-these shows are so painfully awkward, am I right?

I caught some red carpet which was snoozeville and the one lady I really wanted to see, Rhianna apparently got into a little fight with her boyfriend Chris Brown the night before. Yikes.

There's only one dress I liked...can you guess?

Why

This is unnecessary. And I'm pretty sure it isn't gonna boost record sales. He (Morrissey) may have a lot of gay fans but he doesn't look that great naked nor does the rest of the bunch. Poor guy in the back all chubby and pale, I can just imagine the photographer saying "just a little further to your right, couple steps back, yep keep goin..."

 *I grabbed this photo from Perez-thats why there's writing over his...record.