Slow news days
I don’t mind slow news days like today has been (so far, anyway). In fact, I rather like them.
I like not having to write about Obama’s latest outrage, or the press’s latest whitewash of Obama’s latest outrage, or the newest stupidities/ignorance and/or threats and/or disasters (or disasters-in-making) around the world.
Which of course doesn’t mean they go away. They are present whether they are pressing at a particular moment or not.
I like being able to contemplate—as I did today, although I ultimately rejected the idea—writing a post about the vital subject of Beyonce’s new short-short hairdo (see the photos! Join the discussion!) At any rate, I’ve already doled out my opinion on very short hair for women (you might say I’ve doled it out at length), which is that it takes a very special kind of face to pull off successfully. And Beyonce, although a beautiful woman, doesn’t have the kind of look that lends itself to the gamine persona.
Neither do I, by the way. You’ll just have to take my word for that. I’ve tried the hairstyle—particularly during the years when my arms were so injured that I really couldn’t fuss with my hair—and it’s a no go on me.
Hey, have I just written a post about Beyonce’s hair anyway? Oh well.
So consider this an open thread, for talking about anything you want.
One bit of hot news in my view is the Obama administration’s decision to track diversity in neighborhoods with an eye to remedying any lack of diversity. Are they going to tell us where we can and cannot live?
Neo,
I agree with your take on short hair. It does not work for many women. I think it looks best with fine featured women. With short hair Beyonce looks masculine to my eye.
Here in southern California, it’s another day, (yet) another woman coming out concerning Mayor Filner’s mistreatment (sexual and physical) of women. That’s fourteen women now. It’s like those vitamins, one-a-day.
Oh, in case nobody told you, Mayor Filner is a Democrat. I need not tell you that if it was a Republican so accused, [bla bla bla you know the drill].
Oh ummm, what were our esteemed adversaries saying about the Republican War on Women? Haven’t heard that phrase lately, what with Filner, Spitzer and Weiner. (All end in “er”!)
Mr. Frank:
I agree that she looks masculine with short hair. And for Beyonce to look masculine, it takes some doing.
Audry Hepburn looked good with a haircut like that.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000030/
She’s no Halle Berry. At least extensions will alleviate the very long process of growing it out.
Getting tired of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s publicity machine. Couldn’t escape his MagnaCartaHolyGrail hype, and now they’re pushing the 1st song from it, Picasso Baby (“I wanna Rothko, no I wanna brothel/
No, I want a wife that fuck me like a prostitute/
Let’s make love on a million, in a dirty hotel…).
Is this the best we’ve got?
Lizzy:
I heard someone on a talk show the other day talking about the “coarsening” of our culture. I don’t remember exactly who it was or what they were discussing, but it struck me that that’s a perfect word for what’s been happening slowly over the last few decades.
Personally, I’ve been developing a strong dislike of Beyoncé (Hey, I call her Bouncy, just to be especially disparaging) and her hubby, Jay-Zee-Crayzee – who have performed heroically in coarsening the culture. Of course, Madonna was there first, and any number of others too numerous to name… but I hold rap music responsible for doing the yeoman’s work, coarsening-wise.
Speaking of the media whitewashing what Obama does, they fixed his comments made on Leno about Savannah and a couple of cities being on the gulf coast. If a republican had said that, not only would they not correct it, they would go out of their way to highlight it as evidence of what a dunce whoever might make such a gaffe was.
Those hairstyles look nice on slender women. My wife has such a style. Her red hair is shot with more grey every year which in my eyes makes her look all the more alluring.
When the Super Bowl started drawing more viewers than the World Series I knew things were going to go down hill. Flashback to Harpo playing the cultural anthem: http://tinyurl.com/kwgsls
“…. they fixed his comments made on Leno about Savannah and a couple of cities being on the gulf coast.”
There’s more than one Savannah. In fact there are several spread across the 57 states and at least one of them must be on a gulf somewhere. You know it has to be true because BHO is the smartest human to ever walk on water..
Some quotes excerpts from recent news…
Once it is launched from the submarine, the missile finds the target by itself. After determining their coordinates, the missiles “wait” until the last one is out of the launch tubes and then line up, just like a wolf pack, and begin to “home in on their prey.” – / …like wolves in a real pack, the missiles themselves decide which one of them is the main attacker and which must take the role of the decoy to lure the enemy’s aircraft and air defense systems away. / ship-borne radar systems can detect that they have been launched, but then further resistance is useless. The speed of these missiles and the way they constantly maneuver above the surface of the sea makes it practically impossible to intercept them with air defense systems or aircraft. P-800 Onyx
The vessel has a hull made from high-resilience, low-magnetic steel, and can dive to a depth of more than 1,968.5 feet (conventional boats cannot go deeper than 984.2 feet), which effectively puts it out of reach of all types of modern anti-submarine weapons. Its maximum speed is more than 30 knots (about 34.5 miles per hour). The nuclear submarine is equipped with an escape pod for the whole crew. Project 885 Yasen
Zircon goes to test next year…
“Two new models of stealthy jet fighter. A new(ish) aircraft carrier. Separate ballistic missiles for targeting orbital satellites and ships at sea. A host of cyberespionage tools. Everybody’s already heard about…” but…
The company, which also builds engines for American stealth fighters, pleaded guilty to the unauthorized technology transfer last summer and paid a $75-million fine, the China report notes. But it’s too late to prevent Beijing from producing scores or even hundreds of Z-10s using the illicit hardware.
The new destroyer type 052D includes what the China report describes as “the PLA Navy’s first multipurpose vertical launch system” for rapidly firing large numbers of missiles.
In 2012 the PLA Navy launched “at least” six Type 056 shallow-water corvettes armed with guns and missiles — and might build up to 30 total, according to the report. The corvettes will “augment” China’s fleet of 60 brand-new, missile-armed Type 022 fast attack craft “for operations in littoral waters.”
what about US?
the WaveRider’s scramjet engine ignited high above the Pacific Ocean, thrusting the demonstrator to a speed of nearly 6,245 kilometers per hour (KPH), just over five times the speed of sound.
Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2). The HTV-2 is designed to travel at 20 times the speed of sound, or Mach 20. This would cut the flying time between New York and Los Angeles to under 12 minutes, 22 times faster than today’s commercial airliners.
then again…
More than two dozen U.S. military weapons have been compromised by Chinese cyberspies, according to an unnerving new report by the Department of Defense
“This is billions of dollars of combat advantage for China,” an anonymous military official tells The Post. “They’ve just saved themselves 25 years of research and development.”
Notables:
Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (the $1.4 trillion project)
Navy’s Aegis Ballistic-Missile Defense System
F/A-18 Fighter Jet
V-22 Osprey
” . . .whitewash of Obama’s latest outrage.”
Whitewash? Hey, are you being racist there?
Anything? We get to talk about anything?
Well, you playful naughty little gamine!
I want you
to be the subject
of anything! (Ahem, ahem, let the bell ring.)
For example, who is your favorite man?
What is your favorite ice cream?
How now do your arms stand?
Who is your favorite author? Poet? Playwright? Dancer? Fan?
What, in your opinion, is the most important thing in life?
And will America ever resolve its strife?
Like the Cajuns say: Swamp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jxsnIRpy2E
Like I say: Power
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyhLxY9_o0
Like I say, sway with me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=047jbfCE4p8
sweet child of mine
Wretchard has an ominous post up tonight.
The Counsel of Fear (at the Belmont Club).
We may be in the calm before the storm.
}}} which is that it takes a very special kind of face to pull off successfully.
Actually, Neo, being a guy, I’ve thought about this… and I’d argue that what it takes is a long, slender NECK.
Persis Khambata
Jamie Lee Curtis
Rachel Ward
Audrey Hepburn (I seem to recall she had short hair on occasion — it may be that it was just up so that it appeared as though short)
Audret Tautou
Neo,
This is totally off topic but could you tell me if you get your hair cut by a “curly hair cutter” like a Ouidad or a DevaCurl specialist? The reason I’m asking is that from your photo it looks like we have the same type of hair and I want to grow mine out. I tried one of those specialists once and was less than impressed.
Thanks
Janet:
You might enjoy this post.
To answer your question more specifically: yes, I do, and I use curly-hair products (tons of them, mostly Deva) and a diffuser. In recent years I’ve only had my hair cut by people who specialize in that, and even then it can be a very tense experience (as you no doubt know).
Curly hair is such a changeable thing. Every day it’s different.
I thought immediately of Audrey Hepburn as she appeared in the charming Funny Face. I tend to be of the same mind as Lightnin’ Hopkins: “Don’t want no woman / hair ain’t no longer than mine.” But it is true that it looks good on some. Mostly young, I think.
As for Beyonce, the coarsening, etc.: I no longer listen to the radio or see TV shows where she might appear, so really have not heard her music and don’t want to. But I saw her in some commercial where she was dancing (the commercial mentioned her name, otherwise I wouldn’t have recognized her) and was struck by how masculine and aggressive she seemed. The moves were technically feminine (and of course very crude) but somehow…I don’t know how to describe it…masculine, harsh, unsensual…. It struck me as slightly creepy, to tell you the truth, and definitely not sexy.
fortunately i know nothing about Beyonce except that she has had nose jobs and I dont think she is a natural blonde. I am happy to say that i read that Pepsi sales were down after her commercials for the product.
She and her ilk ARE coarsening America and what the heck were she and Jay Z doing in the Situation Room with obama. Oh, i forgot, it’s obama.
I read the lyrics to the song that Lizzy posted and I am even sicker that these people exist.
Thanks, NEO, “coarsening” is the perfect word for it. I was particularly disgusted by Jay Z’s album and song title. Not only that he’s a bit full of himself, attempting to bask in the glow of others’ greatness, but that for his listeners, this is may be the only exposure they have to the Magna Carta, or artists with works in the Louver & Tate Modern. Treated as objects some rich dude takes pride in being able buy simply because he can (gee, possessing and mistreating expensive items to validate one’s power and success sounds a lot like the hated 1%, no?). He debases these things he claims to revere with his pathetic lyrics.
Society is full of non useful waste.
People can do much better if they burn it all down and rebuild from the ashes.
That or put a 95% tax on those entertainment robber barons.
Money? Yea, we got money for the government. It’s in the hands of people like Heinz, Obama, Jackson, and those other Democrat/Hollywood/parasites.
” At any rate, I’ve already doled out my opinion on very short hair for women (you might say I’ve doled it out at length), which is that it takes a very special kind of face to pull off successfully.”
I saw one woman transformed with short hair (also tight french braids), but then I thougjt her longer hairdo wasn’t good for her.