To mark the Fourth of July and #MusicMonday, I’m reaching back into recent history: namely, Lady Gaga’s rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl 50:
She starts out softly, but once she surmounts “and the rocket’s red glare,” you know that she’s killed it.
I’m taking a different tack on Canada Day this year. On Facebook, I attributed the massacre at the Pulse night club to the killer’s professions of Islamic ideology. A prominent Canadian beauty blogger subsequently ripped into me:
It’s time to examine why your country [emphasis mine] gives guns to people who are mentally unstable. Especially when the FBI knew about them, and had been following them. Who cares about whether or not it was an American who decided to use ISIS to focus his hatred? Your gov’t knew all about him, yet he could still get guns. Stop talking about Islamic hatred and start talking about why your country discriminates against the gay community, which gives people like this shooter a reason for his own hate. IT DOESN”T MATTER that he was with ISIS. The US has had 7 mass shootings this week. Get your head out of the sand.
or did she really mean to say, get my head out of my ass? 😀
It’s time to examine the ideology of your country [emphasis mine] that went to war in Muslim countries, destroyed entire countries, armed rebels and basically created ISIS. Jesus. Read a book.
I felt that her references to your country reeked of contempt for the good old United States and that she regarded me as yet another contemptible illiterate American ignoramus.
Jesus. Read a book.
I don’t know if she had any particular books in mind, but here are some books that I’ve read:
The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood (in fact, I’ve seen Margaret Atwood read from her works in person)
Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen
Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie
The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy
The whole series of Anne of Green Gables books (six books) by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I can tell you why Anne of Windy Poplars and Anne of Ingleside are the worst books of the series. I’ve also read Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside, but these are not considered as part of the Anne canon, as they deal with Anne’s children.
The three books of L.M. Montgomery’s Emily series
Notice a pattern here? All these books are written by Canadian authors.
Happy Canada Day. 🍁
It’s Canada Day again, and time to revisit this article Canada Day. Happy 148th Canada!
In order of appearance: Eric Burdon, Steve Winwood, Long John Baldry (you’ll understand why he was called “Long John” when you watch the video), Julie Driscoll, and Rod Stewart, before a bird’s nest landed on his head. Check out Rod’s moves! Lots of great R&B shouting and energy all around.
One Reginald Dwight took half of his stage name after Long John Baldry; the other half he took from saxophonist Elton Dean. He, of course, became Elton John.
Julie Driscoll is probably best known for singing Ab Fab’s theme song This Wheel’s on Fire.
God knows that my hometown of St. Louis could benefit from good news, particularly after Ferguson and STL’s unsavory reputation for murder (read this horrific story).
Now the good news:
The Saint Louis Fashion Incubator (SLFI) is accepting applications for its inaugural class through July 14, 2016. It is backed by the Saint Louis Fashion Fund and Washington University in St. Louis’s Olin Business School. The two-year program will provide financial support, educational opportunities, and free workspace to its 6 chosen designers.
Industry leaders will select a group of six designers to participate in the two-year Midwestern accelerator program.
My first introduction to It Cosmetics was its Bye Bye Pores HD Silk Micro-Powder, which I described as The Most God-awful product that I’ve tried. Marcia at beautyinfozone.com loves Bye Bye Pores, which she applies with a fan brush to diffuse the powder.
I really got turned onto It Cosmetics when I tried its YSBB™ Your Skin But Better™ CC Cream with SPF 50+. Its LE holiday Naturally Pretty eye shadow palette was terrific too. I bought it through a private sale on It Cosmetics’ web site and it was helpfully discounted to $25.20 to qualify for free shipping (the threshold is $25).
My latest love is IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Makeup 3-in-1 Melting Balm: cleanser, makeup remover, and serum in one. I like wiping it off with a warm damp Makeup Eraser plush cloth.
It Cosmetics has secured a coveted spot on Sephora’s shelves, according to a report published by WWD. The US Indie brand has been sold through QVC and Ulta to date, and is currently sold in Sephora’s Australian stores, but will be stocked by the US branch of the LVMH-owned perfumery from September.
Passover begins tomorrow evening, Friday, April 22, 2016. Here is an intriguing article on how climate change might have triggered the chain of events known as the Ten Plagues:
The Biblical plagues that devastated Ancient Egypt in the Old Testament were the result of global warming and a volcanic eruption, scientists have claimed.
According to the WWD articles Celebs’ New Beauty Push: Color Cosmetics, “Celebrity fragrances are shriveling as a category, plummeting to less than 2 percent of the prestige fragrance market in 2014 from 4 percent in 2011, according to figures from NPD Group.”
Soon after I posted the article about Cara Delevigne, I learned that Victoria Beckham will launch an LE #makeup line with Estée Lauder. It will launch in September 2016. Victoria Beckham previousl…
Everything old is new again. Polaroid, in its heyday, was famous for its instant print cameras. Now, who needs instant prints when your friends can view the pictures on your smartphone? (I should mention that Polaroids became a code word for nude pics!) The downsides of Polaroid prints were that the prints quickly faded and there was a lack of camera settings.
The I-1 camera updates the classic Polaroid camera, as it connects to an app via Bluetooth to adjust the the aperture, shutter speed and flash. The I-1 will be available on May 10, for the price of $299. The Impossible Project created the I-1. It took over Polaroid’s last factory and had to re-create Polaroid film from scratch.
Cold Cream 'n' Roses 
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