"Fashion Show"

A little something from Lauren Greenfield, whose documentary looks at an ad and money driven culture and its effects on adults, kids and especially women and girls, have been noted by myself at ePluribus Media before:

Greenfield's video "Fashion Show" mixes filmed footage with still photography from over 50 runway shows in New York, Milan and Paris. Cut to the pulsating beat of Fol Chen's latest musical single, "The Longer You Wait", the multimedia piece is an experiential journey through the life of the definitive fashion show.

Lauren Greenfield's "Fashion Show" from Lauren Greenfield on Vimeo.


At first view of that little trailer, and having seen a couple of her pieces before, I might think this one would seem to be the closest to a frivolous piece beyond being arsty photog's view of the behind the scene's of what it takes to build the artsy world of Fashion Shows. Reading a little further at the vimeo link:

In her photographs for New York Magazine’s Special Issue, “Look”, Lauren Greenfield documents a face of fashion where grit and glamour coexist fabulously. The body of empathetic photographs teases open the seams of an oft-airbrushed world to reveal detailed stitching, elaborate machinations, and delicate incisions. Her signature investigative style captures the gorgeous collections alongside the pathos and process, creating a critically sympathetic portrait of powerful posturing, vulnerable moments, and striking beauty.

At the New York, Milan and Paris Spring 2010 Collections, Greenfield pairs photographs of models emerging in runway perfection, with various stages of the assembly line: plying, prodding, bleaching, cutting, crying, bleeding. A full visual deconstruction of the industry includes headless hair extensions and stoic grimaces, toxic products and imperfect choreography, and exacting beauty and immaculate performances. Photographs show the industry’s sacrifices: stumbling models, injured reporters, anxious dressers; but also the reward: frenzied flashes, preeminent designers, and applauding critics. By including the methodical process and the stunning show, the essay’s gestalt is in the intoxicating power held by fashion, and the very human participants that perform on its stage.

Well? "HMM?" When you put it that way...

Is Our Children Learned Yet?

Clearly our town is hellbent on turning out thousands of uneducated kids in the future as New Milford has frozen the school budget for the second year straight. This is from an email that is circulating around and was forwarded to myself by more than one person:

Dear Friends,


Below is a letter I sent to NBC 30 today.


According to emails circulating from the New Milford Town Wide PTO; "The School Board [for the town of New Milford] requested for 2010-2011 school year a budget of 58.73 million. The Town Council only approved 56.945 million -a 0% increase- cutting nearly 1.8 million. This is the second 0% budget increase in a row! The Town Council's cut will have a deep negative impact on the quality of education of our children not only this year, but in future years as well."


As we are all aware, we are in the middle of an economic recession, which has affected not only the economy, but has also changed the job market. Those fields that once insured you a job with security no longer exist. Children need a different set of skills/knowledge to compete in college and in the real world. Skills and knowledge that children will not completely be able to absorb and reapply if they are crowded in classrooms with teachers, administrators, and support staff that are overworked, underappreciated, concerned with meeting standards, and worried about keeping their jobs.


With this budget cut, New Milford stands to lose excellent, highly qualified, talented teachers to not only other districts but other states. Passing this budget will result in the demise of the academics within this town, further increasing the gap of achievement. This lack of increase in the budget will result in larger classes, more stress on Special Ed and ELL students and teachers, as well as a lack of support staff within the buildings.

It is extremely important for the public to know about the possible cuts (38 teachers) to the New Milford Education system. There are two meetings to discuss these issues: March 30, 7:30 at Sarah Noble Intermediate School and April 1, 7:00 at Sarah Noble Intermediate School in New Milford.

The fact that the state of Connecticut has already served up one idiot extremist who we had the great misfortune of watching go on to higher office in this nation is disgraceful enough. Do we really want to be producing thousands more semi-epsilon-moron-minuses' to lead this nation into the future?

My daughter actually mentioned this to me when she got home today and said that "hundreds of students" planned to show up to the meeting tomorrow night. I suspect there may not be enough room for them all to get in there if their taxpaying parents form both sides of the political dance are there, as well. We shall see...

Typically I don't cover local town politics that much. For this meeting? I plan on being there myself. I know that my Blog covers mostly national politics so for most of my readers this post is meaningless but for those of you that are from this town that read this place?

Please do yourself a favor and show up.

There is a Facebook group to help show support for keeping our schools functional and for stopping the right wing from destroying our future while using the present disaster they created and we are going through right now as a reason for it.

And for those of you don't get it... This is all about taking advantage of their free market failures and using it as an excuse to starve Public Education. Then once they have made a Public Education bad enough they will propose privatizing it with vouchers and other free market stupidity. And don't think your kids will benefit from the good private schools unless you are obscenely rich.

You are witnessing - first hand, up-close and personal-like - disaster capitalism at its worst.

Offshore Drilling? WTF OBAMA???

And before any negotiations on a bill for the milk starts some dumbasses have already given away the entire cow. Good luck with that.



We have already seen what your administration's extraordinary leadership skill got us in enhancement of health insurance for profit reform.

A little reading lesson to enhance your political skills since your administration seems to be just a little wet behind the ears when it comes to dealing with the GOP.

Recruiting Young Republicans and Off to the Sex Club...

There was quite a bit of talk yesterday concerning the RNC's interesting expense account... Obviously spending the money people donate to the Republican National Committee on a night out at an expensive Hollywood bondage and lesbian themed sex club was not exactly what the donors would hope for, never mind the $17,000 on private jets and the other booze as well...

But relax folks! It is just the good old fashioned way that Republican leadership wants to help raise your kids:

One California blog, Red County, reports that Brown isn't the staffer. Instead, they say, Brown paid the bill (and submitted it to the RNC as an expense) after a staffer's credit card was declined, according to anonymous sources.


The blog also reports that the excursion took place after a recruiting event for the RNC Young Eagles at the Beverly Hills hotel.

This makes it all OK, right?

From BarbinMD:

A group of RNC "Young Eagles" were escorted to a bondage-themed nightclub by an RNC official to blow off a little steam after a rough night of partying in Beverly Hills, the RNC accidentally picked up the tab but they're getting their money back. It could happen to anyone.

Young Eagles, by the way, are the next generation of big money donors to the Republican party ... and it should be noted that the GOP defines "young" as anyone under 45, a sad little attempt to lay claim to the youth vote ... whose mission statement is to:

Define the future leaders of tomorrow by creating a vibrant base of young, conservative oriented members that can and will take an active role in shaping the party's message, as well as that of the country, well into the future.

Well, mission accomplished, Young Eagles.
 

And what lessons can we all take away from this? First, that it's a good day when you can write a headline that says, "RNC to investigate spending at bondage-themed nightclub featuring lesbian sex acts," and second, that the RNC's explanation that the brain trust in their financial department accidentally paid out $2000 for a night out for the "boys" at a strip club isn't going to inspire their donors. That they had to put out a statement assuring those donors that Michael Steele doesn't go to bondage-themed strip clubs was just a bonus.

Not sure that Rob Simmons' Wife and Chris Healy's Wife Qualifies as a Coalition?

The bigger news is that Connecticut Republican's have mastered the science of cloning AstroTurf garbage...

"SIMMONS CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES WOMEN FOR SIMMONS COALITION"

IOW: This ain't news at all. Same old same old.

When reality tells you that only 28% of Republican women support your candidacy, never mind what the vast majority of Nutmeg women think of your candidacy, considering 68% of Connecticut women would vote for Blumenthal and 18% would vote for Simmons in a direct match-up...  

Just make garbage up, throw it out there into the media ditch and hope no one looks at what's in there. Why not? Works for the Tea Party arm of the GOP...

I am starting the "Nutmeggers for Connecticut Man1 being better than any dumbass Republican coalition." Join up  with a "fuckin' eh!" (or a "Fuckin', eh?") in comments.

Next thing you know they'll be calling it a movement...



"And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in singin' a bar in "Fuckin' eh!" and walking out. And friends they may think it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Connecticut Man1 Anti-Dumbass-Republican-Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the guitar."