Friday, February 26, 2010

Penis Pants? Fashion Designers Go Off The Deep End!

OK, you have heard me rail about the creatively bankrupt world of fashion here. My suspicions that these folks hate the models they work with and are intent on humiliating women. Well the same goes for the designs by female designers for me. Can I hear a big "Puleeze!"

This crap that they are trying to pass off as couture is less than comical, it's pitiful. I really long for Lagerfeld and Coco. They knew how to make people look glamorous. Watch this video and look at the faces of the male models. They look embarrassed.

ISABEL MASTACHE Fall Winter 2010 / 11 Cibeles from NEOMODA on Vimeo.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Killer Whales & Showbiz

In years past I worked around sea life parks and came to respect the creatures that those attractions showcased. I admit enjoying watching performing sea lions and dolphins and even had a chance to interact with a few of these animals.

The whales are a different story. They are social beings in the wild and travel in well defined families and pods. They roam far and wide in the oceans and communicate through methods we are still struggling to understand. I have to believe that a whale is better off in the ocean than a swimming pool.

That said, I a deeply saddened by the death of Sea World trainer Dawn Brancheau. She was killed when the whale she worked with in a show at Sea World dragged her under water and drowned her. Her death is even more tragic since this same scenario has happened before with the same whale.

I have to suspect that the captivity and unnatural living arrangements for the whale somehow led to the aggressive behavior. It is time we reexamined our fascination with capturing sea creatures of this size and trying to turn them into vaudeville acts.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Miss Beverly Hills Justifies Killing Gays

Well seems that the Ugandans have nothing on folks from Beverly Hills. If Miss Beverly Hills is any indicator, LGBT folks need to steer clear of this pricey enclave of bigotry.

Miss Beverly Hills 2010, Lauren Ashley, told the Fox News folks the following:
“The Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman. In Leviticus it says, ‘If man lies with mankind as he would lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them.’ The Bible is pretty black and white,”
Shades of Carrie Prejean!

Wall Street Bonuses Over $20 Billion?

The year after we, that is you and I bailed out the big Wall Street banks comes the news that executives on the street took home a tidy $20 billion in bonuses. TWENTY BILLION!

That makes 2009's booty 17% higher than the swag taken home in 2008. What the f*#k?

In a report given by New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, at many of the big firms, compensation was up 31 percent, while sector-wide the average was a 27 percent increase. The truth is we pay and they take!

DiNapoli is a backer of stricter regulation and said in an interview he wants to,"make sure the securities industry thrives without driving the rest of us out on a fragile economic limb."

Well, as a person who lives out on the edge of that economic limb, I can tell you that none of this sits well with me. I would like to see Wall Street bonuses tied to long term company performance instead of a quarter by quarter view. The robber barons of Wall Street need to be reigned in.

Jealous? Not so much but angry that they are profiteering while we support them, hell yes!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Coyote in Central Park!

I used to be skeptical of the thought that Coyotes were living here near our house in Dallas, TX. Well if one can survive in Central Park in the middle of Manhattan, I guess it's not so far fetched that we have them here in Texas!

London Fashion Week - Very Odd Indeed!

Once again I am appalled at what designers are passing off as fashion. I swear these guys must hate their models with a passion to send them down a runway looking like refugees from a sci-fi convention.



More here if you can stand it.

Monday, February 22, 2010

GOP Lawmaker Thinks Deadly IRS Attack Was Justified!

"Yeah, but he's our terrorist!" That is the gist of the response from Rep. Steve King, Republican from Iowa. King was interviewed at the CPAC fiesta where he told a questioner that the attack on the IRS was justified. Read about it on Think Progress.

Finally, Great German Food in Dallas

Ever since my partner and I returned from a trip to Germany a couple of years ago I have lamented the lack of a great German restaurant in Dallas. I have always been fond of German food, I suspect it comes from my grandmother who was from the Old Country and cooked a lot of Eastern European dishes.

German food in Dallas has been limited to a couple of delis where some pretty good wurst is served, but for schnitzel, spaetzel and sauerbraten I was out of luck.

Well imagine my surprise when I found that the restaurant voted "Best German Restaurant in America" had been hiding in the Metroplex for years! Up in Plano, tucked away in a strip center is the Bavarian Grill. My partner and I fond it while scanning restaurant listings in the Dallas Observer.

I expected a hole in the wall, but this place is cavernous. It feels much like the restaurants we visited on a train ride through the Black Forest. The atmosphere was enhanced by live music in the bar complete with yodeling and beer drinking songs. The restaurant had a bad as well plaing more sedate accordion and tuba fare.

If you are a beer lover, their menu of authentic German brew is impressive. If you are a food lover, dive into just about anything on the menu. They feature a "Winter Menu" with Bavarian specialties of the season like wild boar sausages and venison. I had the G’selchtes im Kraut mit Erbs, pork chops cooked with sauerkraut. They were actually more like ham steaks on a mount of steaming Bavarian style kraut with tasty pureed green peas (think green mashed potatoes) and a side of Kartoffelpfannkuchen (latkes as my grandmother would call them). My partner had the Oberstdorfer Sauerbraten mit Semmelknödel und Rotkraut, roast beef in a ginger sauce with dumplings and red cabbage.

For those unfamiliar with German cooking, go hungry and leave your diet plans at home. Bavarian Grill is open 7 days a week and has live music almost every night.