Friday, February 10, 2006

Must...Read...DaVinci Code

OK, I've got til May 19 to read Davinci Code before it comes out in theatres. Sad part is, all the libraries have a waitlist that will take me long past Spring. Oh sure, I could buy the book, but who does that anymore? Maybe there's some website that has the text of the book in its entirety. Of course that would be a terrible, terrible thing and a violation of copyright law...let me know what URL to look for so I can curse its very existence. Or just slide the book on by if you own it...we're all family here in the Detroit burbs, right?

Michael Kors' Bad Ass Belt



Fashion Week continues in New York City! I just finished checking out the Fall collection of Michael Kors, who emphasized sleekness with fancy details. I'm usually not one for European-cut suits, but his are looking pretty good. And would we expect any less from the sharp-tongued but dead-on judge on Project Runway? Check out the giant Olympic-medal sized belt on the model at left, courtesy the Olympus Fashion Week site. I don't know what I like more, the smooth metal belt or the smirk on the model's face that says "My cock's so big it won't even fit through this o-ring. Shall I unroll it for your viewing pleasure?"

The Black List + Olympic Offshoring

Chalk another one up on the Winter Olympics Black List...courtesy of Team USA, a fifth black athlete has been spotted during the opening ceremony! We're taking over!

I see the Team USA clothes are created by Roots again. While it's a cool design, it sure would be nice if our patriotic garments were created by an American company (even though Roots' home country Canada is an annex attempt away from being American anyway). Designed in Canada and I'm sure they're stitched together in a $3/hour factory in the Orient somewhere.

We Representin' Up in This Piece!

Watching NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics opening ceremonies, and not surprisingly I've only counted 3 black athletes (we're already up to the "R" countries). From Kenya, Ethiopia, and Costa Rica. Oh wait, up next is Serbia Montenegro...does that count? Oh well, that's to be expected. I don't recall growing up and seeing the brothas suiting up for slalom. Maybe we're all in Iceland this winter; according to Olympics sage Bob Costas, Iceland has more nightclubs per capita than any other country north of the equator. But Iceland has a good reason why: they spend over 3/4 the year in nighttime, so pretty much everything's considered a nightclub.

BREAKING NEWS!!! Senegal is fielding the fourth black Olympian of the Winter Olympics!

Monday, February 06, 2006

Harlem is a Pie

Nooooo! Looks like LID's dream of owning an entire brownstone in New York City is fading away. As Brownstoner notes, more and more brownstones (in this case, Harlem's) are being sliced up into multiple condo units. Not that I can afford New York City living anyway.

I did look at some brownstone-style townhomes in the nearby suburb of Westland, MI, but they had way less square feet of space than advertised, and only a one car garage. In Detroit. Where the average household owns more cars than anywhere else in the country. Plus there was a nasty view of some rather unattractive apartments from the back. However, they were nice on the inside and outside, even offering the "stoop" front steps/porch common to NYC townhomes. A few representative units of this complex are here and here, as listed on realtor.com.

More on Super Bowl Ads

For those of you who want to see if your favorite Super Bowl ads compare to the rest of the country's, here's a few jumps (in addition to my comments a few posts down). Advertising analyst Bob Garfield (aka George Lucas) gives his take, agreeing with me on the coolness of Burger King and the puke-inducing nature of the Bud spot. Registration is free.

Evidently I completely disagree with the USA Today poll respondents...most of my favorite spots weren't in the top ten, and most of their top ten I thought were merely ok or flat-out terrible. Where are you at?

Turquoise and Black Attack

No, not football colors, but the colors that DKNY is promoting heavily during their runway show as part of New York's Fashion Week. Little pieces of turquoise here, there and everywhere...even on the men! Looking at the pictures felt like watching (or reading) "Sin City", with it's black and white imagery punctuated by one vivid, single piece of color per scene.

I'm man enough to admit that my loft in college was lavendar and turquoise, and it really did add some color to an otherwise dull room. That's probably what DKNY was thinking when the Fall collection was put together. What do the LID readers think about the collection?

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Holy Steeler Batman!

That header is a tribute to Adam West, who makes a voiceover appearance in the Taco Bell commercial I just saw during the Super Bowl. So now the Winter Blast is over here in Detroit, and I can stop working like a dog (and you best believe I'm taking tomorrow off). A resounding success, maybe even a little too much so...we waited 40 minutes to get on the People Mover, as at-capacity trains kept rolling past the station. Yes, I realize that all 12 stops are within like six blocks of each other, but my lady's feet were hurting so I was forced to wait at the Cobo station instead of just walking to our parking spot. But anyway, several times I had to rub my eyes and remember where I was...Detroit or Pittsburgh. Steeler fans were out full-force, way more so than Seahawks fans and seemingly even metro Detroiters.

Speaking of, what's with our bastard suburbanites here? So many of them were like "I haven't been to Detroit in 15 years!" 15 years? And you live 10 miles away? That's f'd up! It may not be Chicago, L.A. or NYC, but Detroit still has touring shows, huge festivals, hip restaurants and a few cool neighborhoods, and nice museums. But hey, if these suburbanites are happy knowing nothing but strip malls surrounded by large expanses of parking lot, then whatever. They're probably the same people I laugh at every week, when they're on the news because their house got broken into...they always give the same dumb-ass quote: "I never thought anything like this could ever happen here." "Here" as in "the only minority in our lily-white suburb lives on the other side of town, so we're safe and I won't bother locking my door at night even though that means anyone could waltz into our home, but that's impossible because we don't live in Detroit proper." Alright, I'm getting all worked up...I'd better reach for some brown & bubbly...

I'm Puking Budweiser, but I'm Not Drunk

Well well...it's the annual feel-good Budweiser Super Bowl ad. This one features a colt (not to be confused with a Colt, i.e. Dungy or Manning) pretending to pull the Bud carriage, and lo, beyond his wildest dreams he's actually strong enough to pull it! Then we pan wide to see two mature horses pushing the carriage silently so that the colt can enjoy his dream. Inspirational music included. Yeah, cute and all, but a little too mushy for a football game. I'd rather see Dr. Phil confront the colt and say "boy, you got to look yo'self in the mir-ror. You think you can just throw an open-face peanut butter sandwich at the wall and make it stick?"...and other non-sensical Philisms. Luckily the next commercial is all manly, with two giant monsters gettin' their badunkadunk on and birthing a Hummer.

That's One Bright Alligator

BRIGHT! BOLD! That's the word from the Lacoste runway show at Fashion Week in New York City. Lacoste sees us wearing lots of bright lime green and bold burgundy shoes this fall, and polo-style shirts all around. It's not bad, but layering too much at once (a la the runway show) would make any wannabe fashionista look a little too Disney World employee. What's your take?

First Half Ads...Dismissable

I must say, the first half of the Super Bowl showcased some disappointing ads (and some disappointing offense from the teams). Worst so far would have to be FedEx, whose caveman ad was a lame attempt at humor while not providing an obvious enough link to the brand (yeah, it was about reliable shipping, but it was just a teeny part of the spot). So far I like the Pepsi/Diddy ad best--the catchy "brown and bubbly" song has been going through my head ever since the commercial aired, keeping Pepsi top-of-mind. Tops for humor would be Ameriquest, in an ad showing doctors killing a fly using the electric "clear!" paddles right when the patient's wife walks in. Mentions for cuteness go to the Ford Hybrid spot with Kermit the Frog and the Bud "streaker" ad.

I get into all types of music, but the Rolling Stones' halftime show is making me yawn...but dear God don't let Mick Jagger have a wardrobe malfunction...