I love me some Grace Jones.

I do.

She's strange, and androgenous, and she can pull off some getups that no one else possibly could. She's a living, walking and talking Benetton ad.

That's why I laughed when I read that she had a Diva meltdown when someone stepped on her trailing fur coat at a Bond event recently.

Ohhh, Grace...take on PETA.
I'd pay cash money to see her go off on someone who dared to throw red paint on her Chinchilla.

Some Jones goodness;

Grace with Pavarotti



La Vie En Rose



...and Demolition Man

I found this video over at Mental_floss...



...and it made me think of a couple of things.

I'm not a Halloween person, or even a big holiday person in general, but it made me think of how for some people like Jen Singer Halloween can be a pain in the ass.

Expensive, and not just in the candy way...because, well...people can be turds.

And it also reminded me of a time when I worked in a school in a very hoity toity neighbourhood. I remember those parents complaining about people from neighbourhoods that weren't so well to do, taking their kids into their neighbourhood to trick or treat.

Believe me when I tell you that these people didn't have a cash flow problem, and didn't even have to stand at the door for that matter. They had Filipino nannies to slave that for them.

They would complain to me, and I would inwardly roll my eyes, because I think it had less to do with how expensive it was, than it had to do with not wanting "those" people coming through their neighbourhood. So, when one of the veteran teachers told one of "those" parents, "Oh, big deal...so you have to give some poor kids candy for one night out of the year, boo hoo", I had to stifle a guffaw.

Recently, I sent a scathing letter about a few experiences we had with a bank representative.

However, I didn't mail the letter until we had moved all of our business out of that bank.

When the person dealing with the complaint asked why I had waited so long to complain, I told her that I wasn't about to write the things I did, while that person had access to our money, accounts and credit rating.

The person told me that my fear of this happening was unfounded.

Really?

Tell this guy.

If this could happen with a call centre employee, imagine what someone with more power could do if they were malicious enough.

Tennessee Williams Blues



I've been immersed in old Tennessee Williams movies lately.
GOD, I love him....his scandalous, complex self....I loved his female characters. So few filmmakers ever gave their women as much depth as Tennessee did.

The Geiko's Journey



The rest here.

Shrimp & Kim Chi Fried Rice



at Papamo.

Obama's loss is my fault...



Make it someone else's fault at the end of the video.

glumbert - Obama Vs. McCain - The Dance Off!

Today's LOL...

Migr@tions, an international multimedia competition on the theme of immigration launched by the CBC.

The documentary by Boban Chaldovich of Serbia called "Outside of Europe" is particularly interesting to me.

It's about the exclusionary nature of EU immigration policies, and the responsibilities that are placed on periphery countries to handle the flow of migrants, using Ukraine as a case study.

The site is easy to navigate by just going over the yellow dots on the map of the world with your mouse for more information about particular documentaries.

(Thanks Anna)

" The city's newest firearms amnesty was launched yesterday, in the shape of a four-week, guns-for-cameras program sponsored by the Henry's photo store chain.

Anyone who turns in a gun - legal or illegal - will receive a digital camera and photography lessons."

Am I the only one who finds this endeavour hilarious?

I'm sure that Toronto "gangstas" are frustrated artists just dying for an opportunity to express themselves through photography.

WTF, Broccoli...



Look closely at the broccoli florets...very closely...and then I will tell you about my artist friend who, when doing a mural will paint Stalin, Hitler and Lenin into the crowd.....you know who you are, you little minx!

(Closer photos found at Bread & Honey)

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

I've never been a victim of domestic violence.
I had one boyfriend who slapped me, and was immediately dead to me.

But, domestic violence isn't always physical...and contrary to popular belief, neither is it exclusively a woman's issue, although many people believe it to be.

This month, twice...it was brought round to the front of my face.
A few weeks ago, I was on my way to the parking lot when I heard arguing in another language. A man shouting, and a woman begging. I didn't know which house it was coming from, but I heard it. Then, just as I got to the gate, I heard a thud..a punch..fist to skin thud..that made me stop and turn. The begging stopped. I didn't know what to do.

Call 911?
I didn't even know which house it was coming from.
What happened? Who is she?
I don't know.

...and then, a few days ago, an older woman I employ casually came to my office asking for work. When I looked up it took a moment to register that the whole left side of her face was bruised, and the inside white of her left eye was bloody.
She had been putting up with "it" for 40 years, and enough was enough.
Now she's alone. Now she really needs work.

I work with shelter families, and not all women who are in shelters are physically abused.
Some just need to get out of their situation, and they don't have the means...but, most are.

What happens to women who are continuously abused is that they can, and often do, lose the ability to make decisions. They lose the confidence to do even the simplest things because they've been controlled for so long.
So, when people say..."oh, she should just leave"...it's a simplistic thing to say.
Leaving, especially if you have children, is monumentally difficult....but, there's help out there for women who need it.

Which brings me to something else...and I know that perhaps I shouldn't put them in the same post, but it's domestic abuse as well.
Women physically attack, abuse and provoke as well.
...they do.
Not only that...women have been known to, and do manipulate.
You know why?
Because women can be just as nasty as any man can, and sometimes waaaaay more creatively than just slapping you around.

A false accusation can ruin a person's life.
You don't have to do the crime to have your life ruined...all you need to be is accused.

"The Globe editorialists' indignation suggests a certain naiveté about the prevalence of this practice. They would profit from spending a few days in family court, where, in the interest of tipping custody battles in their own interest, women's false allegations of domestic violence and sexual abuse of children against their former partners are so rife - and virtually never punished - that it is apparently the best-kept secret crime in the western world. Oh, perhaps these men are not beaten up with baseball bats, but they do lose their homes, their children, often their jobs and friends, spend time in jail, are rarely given the benefit of the doubt - and many of them kill themselves from despair."

I know that some people will perceive part of this post as "blaming the victim", because it's a popular defense that is supposed to immediately shut you up about questioning anything declared by a woman or child who claims abuse, as though neither have been known to ever allow an untruth pass through their lips.

People lie, and some will lie maliciously.

...and that's an atrocious thing to do when so many people struggle with the real thing.

My mother had a lot of these "...and his orchestra" type albums, and the photos always fascinated me.

Click on the image for more from Retrolounge

Divorce Cakes...('cause there's money to be made in everything...)



Click on image to see more

Father has son jailed for being lazy

A man has taken his son to court in Nigeria for being idle – with the result that his son was jailed for six months.

Damn.
70% of teenagers in this country would be in jail if that applied here.

The Third Sex



Perhaps England's population is not big enough to accept a 3rd sex.

With South Asia's population they've had to.

...and I was attacked by unicorns in the magic forest....

DMX a.k.a Earl Simmons may have fathered another child outside of his marriage.

The last time, he said:

"She raped me," the rapper told S2S editor Jamie Foster Brown. "I mean, you know, that might sound like some bullsh*t. No man has ever been... you know what I mean, like never? Is that the only thing in the world that's not possible?"

Mrs. Simmons recalled an earlier encounter with the woman. "Before the stuff hit the fan, she came up to us while we were in court and said 'I work for kids that are sickly,' said Tashera. "So he said 'Give her my number.' That's how it goes all the time. At first, I said OK. But, then I thought she looked deranged and obsessed with him."

While his wife "blocks out" the experience to cope, X gained a more valuable lesson: "Turn on the light before I go to sleep," he said.

I wonder what happened this time?

Alien abduction?

10 People Who Survived the Impossible

Vesna Vulovic:

The Stewardess Who Survived a bombing at 33,000 feet

On January 26, 1972, a Yugoslav Airlines DC-9 departed from Copenhagen for Belgrade (via Zagreb) with 28 passengers and crew. At an altitude of approximately 33,000 feet, a bomb in the cargo section planted by the Ustashe Croatian separatist group exploded. The plane disintegrated and fell into the mountains below.

In what must be one of the greatest survival stories of all time, stewardess Vesna Vulovic survived the 33,000 foot descent in the tail section of the plane.

....I just want to get through the week....

(click on text for more)

I've always loved Second City.
Their current show Barack To The Future sounds good.

The Canadian leg of Second City has spawned so many great comedians who leave Canada because...well, we're haters.

...yeah, I said it.

Second City gave these people their start:

Dan Ackroyd, John Candy, Robin Duke, Jayne Eastwood (Ok, she stayed in Canada to play those really Canadian roles, eh?), Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin (ok...whatever, we adopted her....she's a citizen(I think), Rick Moranis, Mike Myers (Before that Guru movie..he used to be funny), Catherine O'Hara, Ivan Reitman, Martin Short, David Steinberg, Dave Thomas.

Second City is my opportunity to see a possible future American star.

Kidding.
Sort of.