Is anyone else boggling at all the newspaper stories about the evil paparazzi stalking potential princess-to-be Kate Middleton - but the stories are illustrated by paparazzi photos of the said Miss Middleton?
See: Problem, part of.
2007-01-10
2007-01-08
A typical London weekend
Lest I give the impression that I dislike living in the UK - cease that thought! I am fully aware how lucky I am to have this experience.
For example, take the weekend that just passed. Not a very exciting weekend, judging by the datebook; Christmas and New Year's are over, the dreary days of January begun. And it wasn't action packed by any imagination - we've certainly accomplished far more in 48 hours. But, just a sampling of what we did on Saturday and Sunday:
1) Visited the National Gallery to view the Velazquez exhibition. The exhibition traced Velazquez's career from its beginnings in Seville to his studies in Rome to its apex at the court of Philip IV. While some of his most famous masterpieces, such as Las Meninas, remain at the Prado in Madrid, the Spanish museum did send some fine examples of his work to London such as "Baltasar Carlos on Horseback" and "El Nino de Vallecas." The loaned paintings supplemented the fine Velazquez masterpieces in the National Gallery's collection such as "The Rokeby Venus" and "Philip IV of Spain in Brown and Silver." The gallery was crowded, but the crush wasn't nearly as unpleasant as the throngs at the Holbein exhibition put on by the Tate Britain. And the audio guide was one of the best we've experienced, well worth the three pounds.
2) Went ice skating at the Tower of London. Ice skating. In a moat. At a castle. In the middle of one of the world's most modern cities.
3) Attended a dinner party. The guests originally hailed from the Netherlands, Germany, Korea, the US, and we even had one or two native Brits ;-)
Now, I could have these experiences (well, maybe not ice skating in a moat, but ice skating as an activity) in other cities, but I'm still in awe that this was a typical, if rather lazy, weekend for us. I hope I never lose that awe and take these opportunities for granted.
For example, take the weekend that just passed. Not a very exciting weekend, judging by the datebook; Christmas and New Year's are over, the dreary days of January begun. And it wasn't action packed by any imagination - we've certainly accomplished far more in 48 hours. But, just a sampling of what we did on Saturday and Sunday:
1) Visited the National Gallery to view the Velazquez exhibition. The exhibition traced Velazquez's career from its beginnings in Seville to his studies in Rome to its apex at the court of Philip IV. While some of his most famous masterpieces, such as Las Meninas, remain at the Prado in Madrid, the Spanish museum did send some fine examples of his work to London such as "Baltasar Carlos on Horseback" and "El Nino de Vallecas." The loaned paintings supplemented the fine Velazquez masterpieces in the National Gallery's collection such as "The Rokeby Venus" and "Philip IV of Spain in Brown and Silver." The gallery was crowded, but the crush wasn't nearly as unpleasant as the throngs at the Holbein exhibition put on by the Tate Britain. And the audio guide was one of the best we've experienced, well worth the three pounds.
2) Went ice skating at the Tower of London. Ice skating. In a moat. At a castle. In the middle of one of the world's most modern cities.
3) Attended a dinner party. The guests originally hailed from the Netherlands, Germany, Korea, the US, and we even had one or two native Brits ;-)
Now, I could have these experiences (well, maybe not ice skating in a moat, but ice skating as an activity) in other cities, but I'm still in awe that this was a typical, if rather lazy, weekend for us. I hope I never lose that awe and take these opportunities for granted.
2007-01-04
Fashion Wars
Catwalk Queen, an intermittently witty UK fashion blog, has decided to release their list of the top ten trends spotted on the streets of Blighty.
Their list was inspired by a top ten list put out by TIME magazine. Why a bunch of apparently twenty-something British bloggers felt the need to take a news magazine mostly read by affluent forty-something Americans as the last word in US style is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, TIME was a staple in my home growing up and I still pick it up occasionally - but pulse of the US fashion world?! It is to laugh.
Anyway, the bloggers decided, based on the list in TIME - TIME! - that the US is behind the UK in fashion.
Well, something is a load of bollocks - and it ain't TIME's innocuous, if rather too ubiquitous and mainstream to really be called trends, list.
The Catwalk Queens then decided to create their own list of UK trends.
However, they left off a few.
So here are my picks for the 2006 fashion trends unique to the UK:
1) Exposed muffin tops. You know that band of flesh that flops over your jeans, no matter how well the jeans fit elsewhere? That's a muffin top. British girls LOVE theirs, or so it would seem by how proudly they display them in public. Well-fed by beer, untouched by gym or sun, bare belly flesh is the hallmark of the authentically British female. And it doesn't matter the season: summer or winter, the muffin top comes out to play, jeans belted below it, cardigans stopping above it.
2) Glitter here, glitter there, sequins, sequins everywhere. The Catwalk cats picked sequin dresses as one of their trends, but they left off sequin bags, sequin cardigans, sequin skirts. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the occasional spangle, but head to toe sequins doesn't even work in Las Vegas anymore. Pair that with glitter eyeshadow matched to glitter shoes, and you have a fashion trend that Tinkerbell would find over the top. Maybe the love of all things shiny is a British thing I just don't get, like pantomime. Come to think of it, pantomime and this trend have lots in common...
3) WAGs as fashion role models. WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) was the collective name coined for the expensive armcandy of the England football team. The best known WAG is Victoria "Posh" Beckham, but during the World Cup the papers couldn't get enough of the women's antics. The basic WAG look is orangey tan, fake nail extensions, porn star hair extensions, and designer logos. The overall effect is basic streetwalker.
So if the fact that these trends have yet to show up on the streets of the US (at least last I visited) means that the US is years behind the UK, then long may the US lag...
Their list was inspired by a top ten list put out by TIME magazine. Why a bunch of apparently twenty-something British bloggers felt the need to take a news magazine mostly read by affluent forty-something Americans as the last word in US style is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, TIME was a staple in my home growing up and I still pick it up occasionally - but pulse of the US fashion world?! It is to laugh.
Anyway, the bloggers decided, based on the list in TIME - TIME! - that the US is behind the UK in fashion.
Well, something is a load of bollocks - and it ain't TIME's innocuous, if rather too ubiquitous and mainstream to really be called trends, list.
The Catwalk Queens then decided to create their own list of UK trends.
However, they left off a few.
So here are my picks for the 2006 fashion trends unique to the UK:
1) Exposed muffin tops. You know that band of flesh that flops over your jeans, no matter how well the jeans fit elsewhere? That's a muffin top. British girls LOVE theirs, or so it would seem by how proudly they display them in public. Well-fed by beer, untouched by gym or sun, bare belly flesh is the hallmark of the authentically British female. And it doesn't matter the season: summer or winter, the muffin top comes out to play, jeans belted below it, cardigans stopping above it.
2) Glitter here, glitter there, sequins, sequins everywhere. The Catwalk cats picked sequin dresses as one of their trends, but they left off sequin bags, sequin cardigans, sequin skirts. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of the occasional spangle, but head to toe sequins doesn't even work in Las Vegas anymore. Pair that with glitter eyeshadow matched to glitter shoes, and you have a fashion trend that Tinkerbell would find over the top. Maybe the love of all things shiny is a British thing I just don't get, like pantomime. Come to think of it, pantomime and this trend have lots in common...
3) WAGs as fashion role models. WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) was the collective name coined for the expensive armcandy of the England football team. The best known WAG is Victoria "Posh" Beckham, but during the World Cup the papers couldn't get enough of the women's antics. The basic WAG look is orangey tan, fake nail extensions, porn star hair extensions, and designer logos. The overall effect is basic streetwalker.
So if the fact that these trends have yet to show up on the streets of the US (at least last I visited) means that the US is years behind the UK, then long may the US lag...
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