Daenerys Targaryen - Wrong For Dragons - Wrong For The Realm

If you've been watching the Game of Thrones series like I have
you will surely agree that it is just asking to be parodied.

There are GOT parodies all over you tube
and a particularly funny but raunchy one done by Saturday Night Live.
But my favorite ones are these political ad spoofs from The Week.
They are hysterical.

When is George R. R, Martin every going to finish the last book so that we can finally learn what happens after winter comes?
Does anyone know?

A Little Sumthin' Sumthin' On The Side For Sanford

Just another week in the news
with lots of celebrity nonsense which was over reported, as usual
and the big important story which was under reported, as to be expected.

I didn't want to let the week go by without commenting on craziness coming out of South Carolina.
While I'm generally nonchalant about people and their issues arising from affairs of the heart, I don't look kindly on the hypocrisy of politicians.
I've posted on Eliot Spitzer and his hooker habit
and the investigation into Dominique Strauss Kahn's affair
and John Edwards and his baby mama
so onto South Carolina's Governor Mark Stanford.

Here's a really bright and accomplished guy (ex wall street banker)
with a really gorgeous and super bright wife (also ex wall street banker)
and four fabulous sons

who risks losing his marriage and his career for this woman

OK so I understand that affairs of the heart are inexplicable and cause otherwise rational adults to behave in irrational ways

but risking his marriage, and future presidential bid, and doing it by using $8,000 in public funds for the affair is another thing entirely.
At the very least Mark Sanford is wealthy, so why didn't he finance his trip with his own money?

And what was up with the televised Mea Culpa, hadn't he embarrassed his family enough?

And why didn't he realize that as a public servant he was always under constant scrutiny?

What is it about the psyche of politicians, on both sides of the aisle, that allows them assume that there is one set of rules, moral and economic, that govern us little people while another set applies to their behavior. From Newt Gingrich to John Edwards, it seems that the more powerful the politician, the more likely it will be that he is getting a little sumthin' sumthin' on the side.

To borrow from a couple of comments from this article

What Sanford did was inexcusable but he didn’t drive off a bridge, flee the scene, and leave a girl to die, ala the Lion of the Senate.
He didn’t have a prostitution ring, a gay one in fact, run out of his house.
He didn’t lie under oath about a protein stain while serving as the POTUS.
He wasn’t a Grand Wizard of the KKK.

but

If his wife can't trust him, how can the people of South Carolina trust him.

Mark Steyn has an interesting take on "The Bubble" the Sanford claimed he was in and needed to escape.

In a republic of limited government, the governor, two-thirds of the state legislature and the heads of every regulatory agency should be able to go "hiking the Appalachian Trail" for a lot longer than five days, and nobody would notice.

Instead, we have the governor of South Carolina resorting to subterfuge worthy of one of those Mitteleuropean operettas where the Ruritanian princess disguises herself as a scullery maid to leave the castle by the back gate for an assignation with a dashing if impoverished hussar garbed as a stable lad. Perhaps some enterprising producer would like to option a Carolinian update of "Prince Bob," the hit of the 1902 theatrical season in Budapest, in which the eponymous hero, a son of Queen Victoria, escapes "the bubble" of Buckingham Palace by getting out on the streets and wooing a Cockney serving wench

He continues

I was asked the other day about the difference between American and British sex scandals. In its heyday, Brit sex was about the action – Lord Lambton's three-in-a-bed biracial sex romp; Harvey Proctor's industrial-scale spanking of rent boys; Max Mosley's Nazi bondage sessions, with a fine eye for historical accuracy and the orders barked out in surprisingly accurate German; Stephen Milligan's accidental auto-erotic asphyxiation while lying on a kitchen table wearing fishnet stockings…. With the exception of the last ill-fated foray, there was an insouciance to these remarkably specialized peccadilloes.

By contrast, American sex scandals seem to be either minor campaign-finance infractions – the cheerless half-hearted affair with an aide – or, like Gov. Sanford's pitiful tale (at least as recounted at his news conference and as confirmed by the e-mails), a glimpse of loneliness and social isolation, as if in the end all they want is the chance to be sitting at the bar telling the gal with the nice smile, "My wife, and my staffers, and my security detail, and the State House press corps, and the guy who writes my Twitter Tweet of the Day, don't understand me."

I don't know about this...somehow it sounds like Steyn is giving Sanford a pass and blaming it all on big government. Regardless of the size of the Sanford's state, staff and securitydetail...the entire situation shows bad judgement.

Our Optimistic Outlook - "He Cannot Not Succeed"

What Recession? The $170 Million Inauguration
Obama's Inauguration Has Been Financed Partially by Bailed-Out Wall Street Executives
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ

ABC NEWS Business Unit Jan. 19, 2009

The country is in the middle of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which isn't stopping rich donors and the government from spending $170 million, or more, on the inauguration of Barack Obama .

"We have a budget of roughly $45 million, maybe a little bit more," said Linda Douglas, spokeswoman for the inaugural committee.

But there are plenty of rich donors willing to pick up the tab.
"They are not the $20 and $50 donors who helped propel Obama through Election Day," said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics. "These are people giving mostly $50,000 apiece. They tend to be corporate executives, celebrities, the elite of the elite."

The biggest group of donors were none other than the recently bailed-out Wall Street executives and employees.
"The finance sector is well represented, despite its recent troubles," Ritsch said. "Those who worked in finance still managed to pull together nearly $7 million for the inauguration."

Besides Wall Street firms, a large chunk of the money came from employees at companies such as Microsoft, Google and DreamWorks Animation, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer and his wife, Connie, both gave $50,000. So did Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda.
DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife, Marilyn, both gave $50,000. Filmmaker and DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate, both also gave $50,000. And DreamWorks employees gave a total of $275,000.

Billionaire investor George Soros and his family contributed $250,000 to the inauguration, and Google co-founder Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt each donated $25,000.
Other big-name donors who gave $50,000 include filmmaker George Lucas, artist Dale Chihuly, Los Angeles Dodgers President Jamie McCourt. Citigroup managing director Raymond J. McGuire; Oracle President Charles E. Phillips Jr.; actresses Halle Berry and Sharon Stone; and Melvin Simon, co-founder of Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the United States.

170 million here...170 million there...I'm just glad that there are so many Americans who are still wealthy enough to cover the majority of the costs of the Inauguration.

And besides

Obama can save us, says America as polls show wave of optimism sweeping the nation

By David Gardner

Barack Obama moves into the White House on Tuesday amid a surge of optimism that he can turn America's battered fortunes around.

Mr Obama has already scored his first big victory in Congress, winning Senate approval on Thursday to spend the second half of the Wall Street bailout fund.

According to a survey published last night, 71 per cent of Americans believe the economy will improve during the first year of the Obama presidency and 65 per cent said they think unemployment will drop.
Asked about cash-strapped Wall Street, 72 per cent said they thought the stock market would recover.
Some 63 per cent were confident that their personal financial situation would improve.
'He cannot not succeed. He has to succeed because the world really depends on him right now,' said Richard Kern, 51, who works in a home remodeling business in Bernalillo, New Mexico.

Optimism is the first step to change....and as they say, change is good.

Savvy Shopping - What to Wear to the Inaugural Ball

Unfortunately I wasn't invited to the Inaugural Ball...

But If I had been, this is what I would wear.

Exquisite Ruby, Sapphire and Diamond Suite from Beladora.com $44,550

There are, as we say, major goods in this piece.

Here are the details

Look like royalty in this stately suite of diamond, ruby and sapphire estate jewelry, consisting of a necklace, bracelet and drop earrings. Each piece features raspberry ruby cabochons and deep sky blue sapphire cabochons, bezel set in high polish yellow gold and linked by double leaves formed from pave diamond encrusted yellow gold. The necklace measures approximately 15 inches long, the bracelet 7 inches in length, and both are joined by hidden clasps. The drop earrings measure about 2 inches with clip backs. This is truly a spectacular suite of estate sapphire jewelry.

Metal: 18K Yellow Gold

Diamond Weight:

Total Diamond Necklace: 10.00 carats F-G/VVS-VS

Bracelet: 3.70 carats F-G/VVS-VS

Earrings: 2.30 carats F-G/VVS-VS

Total Gemstone Weight:

Necklace: Ruby = 24.00 carats, Sapphire = 26.60 carats

Bracelet: Ruby = 7.70 carats, Sapphire = 8.00 carats

Earrings: Ruby = 4.00 carats, Sapphire = 9.20 carats

Design Period: Contemporary

Circa: 1995

So what kind of gown do you wear with such mega jewelry?
Something simple yet elegant...and inexpensive like this strapless satin gown in sapphire.
I particularly like the color scheme to commemorate the beginning of a Blue Administration
Don't you?

Nordstrom Satin Gown in Sapphire on Sale $98.00

Check out this WWD article on designer's choices for Michelle Obama

Noblesse Oblige - You Know

Since I'm not a New Yorker I don't really have an opinion on Caroline Kennedy's bid for a senate seat.
Mrs. Kennedy Schlossburg has led an exemplary life as a doyenne of New York Society and a fundraiser for Democratic candidates.
Her purebred political pedigree puts her up for the position,
not to mention her Harvard Degree...
can I repeat that....HARVARD!
and Columbia Law School.

Caroline Kennedy

As reported in the New York Daily News

Caroline Kennedy tells Daily News: I wouldn't be beholden to anybody

I do believe this is true. And besides, with her personal fortune of some $100 million, she has enough money that she doesn't have to accept sweetheart mortgage deals from companies like Countrywide, or hide stacks of cash in her freezer.

But what's up with her speaking skills?

All in one interview she gave us this.

"I'm really coming into this as somebody who isn't, you know, part of the system, who obviously, you know, stands for the values of, you know, the Democratic Party," Kennedy told the Daily News Saturday during a wide-ranging interview.
"I know how important it is to, you know, to be my own person. And, you know, and that would be obviously true with my relationship with the mayor."

About Andrew Cuomo

"Andrew is, you know, highly qualified for this job," she said. "He's doing a, you know, a great job as attorney general, and we've spoken throughout this process."

"You know, I think, you know, we're sort of, uh, sharing some of this experience. And um, as I've said, he was a friend, a family member, and um so, and uh obviously, he's, you know, he's also had an impressive career in public office."

And about her desire to go into public life

"It's really, you know, it's not about just the Kennedy name," she said. "It's about my own work and what I've done with those values."

I'd be the first to say that my speaking skills aren't any better....after all I didn't grow up in Camelot and go to an Ivy League school.

Election 2008 - A Seismic Shift

In my lifetime America has changed from a country with segregated lunch counters and water fountains to one that has elected an African American President.

Just imagine what this woman has seen in her lifetime.

At 109, Slave's Daughter Revels In Historic Vote

Jones is the living link between the time when black men were owned as property and the time when a black man has been elected president of the United States.

Setting A New Standard
Obama's election now gives the extended Jones family — and millions like it across the country — a new standard for their children.
Jones' daughter, Ruth Jones, is 73.
"And I told my youngest grandson, [who] is 10, 'You can be anything you want to be. You can even be president of the U.S.,'" Ruth Jones says. "He thought that was so funny. He really did. He said, 'I can be the president!' I said, "You sure can, but you really have to apply yourself.'"

And from John McWhorter's article The End of Racism?

It was one thing when legalized segregation and disenfranchisement were outlawed in the mid-60s. This was a massive undertaking, but people devoted their lives--sometimes literally--to making it happen.
It was something else when, in the wake of this, racism became socially taboo in most segments of American society. Sure, there are lapses. But anyone who thinks there has been anything short of a seismic shift in America's racial relations since the 60s should take a look at Mad Men. The very fact that it is news that there remain people who wouldn't vote for a black man shows that we live in a different world than 40 years ago.

America has problems and our new president knows it. However, is America's main problem still "the color line" as W.E.B. DuBois put it 105 years ago? The very fact that the president is now black is a clear sign that it is no longer our main problem, and that we can, even as morally informed and socially concerned citizens, admit it.
There is nothing at all "unreal" about this. It is, after all, what we were supposed to be working toward. We must embrace it.

Now that we've moved beyond "the color line" can we get back to addressing the other serious challenges that this country faces.

Election 2008 - Time For The Big Chill

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Law Professor, Instapundit and all around voice of common sense has a great article in Forbes.com

Whoever Wins, Chill A Bit

Here's what he writes:

We've had eight years of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Before that, we had eight years of Clinton Derangement Syndrome. And though people forget it now, President Reagan inspired a lot of anger and hatred, too. Can I ask that, regardless of who wins, we tone things down a bit?

You don't have to love the "other guy." You don't have to hold back on fighting against policies you don't like. You don't have to pull punches. But once someone is duly and legally elected president, you do owe some respect to the office and the Constitution. And to your fellow Americans.

And he quotes blogger and author John Scalzi:

One of the reasons I have always registered as an independent voter is that I believe my highest allegiance as a voter is not to a political party but to the Constitution of the United States, the foundational document of our law. Our Constitution sets up the system we use to choose a president. If a candidate--any candidate--fulfills the requirements of that system to become our president, then I believe it's my duty to acknowledge that, yes, that candidate is now my president. I can criticize that president, argue with that president, loathe that president and work to replace that president in the manner allowed for by the Constitution … but what I can't do is deny that he or she is my president. That's wrong, factually and morally, and it's dismissive of the Constitution of the United States."

And I agree

Whoever wins....Can we all just get along?

Rocking The Vote In Red White And Blue

Ok, so it's finally November 4th..or at least on the East Coast and you know what this means....It's time to vote!

And in this political season I'm all about showing your colors and going Red, White and Blue with these vintage ruby, diamond and sapphire earrings.

This is a historic time and every one of us can be a part of it so...

Go Out And Vote!

Vintage Sapphire, Ruby and Diamond Earrings by Adler at Beladora.com

Celebrity Style Silliness

Not that you didn't already know this...but in our celebrity obsessed culture I always like to reiterate that celebrity status doesn't in anyway imply good taste or common sense.


About good taste:
OMG What Were They Thinking a photo montage of some truly terrible celebrity style.
Now, we know why they need stylists...

Take this photo of Diane keaton. I love the hat and Kathrine Hepburn-esque black turtleneck, but what's up with the mismatched brown belt. And...ladies of a certain age, please leave the leggings for the teenagers.

Diane Keaton - why cover lovely legs with leggings?

And for the common sense part

Deceiver.com, a delicious blog that points out celebrity hypocrisy

We'll Always Have Paris

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

Paris Hilton responds to having her image used in a McCain campaign video with a campaign video of her own.

"I see you at the debates bitches"

Carla on the Cover

I just can't get enough of Sarko and Carla Bruni aka the French (actually Italian) Jackie O.

Vanity Fair's cover article, Paris Match, which could have been titled

When Sexual Preditors Attack

gives all the details on both Sarko and Carla's preditory ways.

They are hunters who met—predators,” Karl Lagerfeld tells me. “It’s a good thing. He had seduced many women, and she was a kind of seductress. When two like this meet, it can be good.”

While Carla's relationships with rockstars like Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton have been well documented, she's openly admitted to prefer polygamy and polyandry “She’s a kind of alpha female. She was never a courtesan like Pamela Harriman—she was more like a female Don Juan.” and

She also learned to take on men. “Carla is the hunter, not the hunted,” says a man who knew her in her teens. “She is a female womanizer.”

Surprisingly Sarko as the consummate politician hasn't been much more subtle about his sex life. After an affair with the married Cecilia resulted in her becoming his mistress and then his wife, he continued to have affairs throughout his political rise, with a multitude of women including Chirac's daughter Claude.

Despite Cécilia’s being “the great love of his life,” Nay alleges, Sarkozy was always susceptible to other women. “Whenever he had an opportunity to have an affair,” she tells me, “as mayor of Neuilly, in his office, he was a man who screws as much as he can.”

In France, however, Nay assures me, “it is not politically incorrect for politicians to have affairs.” It can be dangerous, however. Several people allege that Cécilia once received, presumably from her husband’s political enemies, a detailed list of all the women he had been with during their marriage.

Eventually, Cecilia left him for her own affair and came back only to help in his campaign for the Presidency. With her help he won the election, she bailed out, the affair with Bruni began and the rest is history.

There is something so tawdry about the affairs of American politicians. After the news last week of John Edwards getting caught sneaking into the Beverly Hilton , American politicians could benefit from some lessons in how to have consequence-free affairs from their counterparts across the pond, particularly the French who do the whole coupe de foudre thing so openly and with such elan.

Tres drole, non?

John Edwards - Extracurricular Activities Abound

The Other Woman - Rielle Hunter

Keep Praying John

Unlike Ms Robinson, I'm not exposed to a lot of sexual shenanigans, in fact I'm surrounded by people who are really happily married. I don't know personally any men who are cheating on their wives....but admittedly I don't get out much.

For the most part I'm non judgemental about the sexual predicaments that people get themselves into. People meet, they become attracted and one thing leads to another. Life goes on.

But when I learn about the sexual peccadillo's of politicians I can't help but feel a twinge of schadenfreude.

So now we get the report that John Edwards was caught sneaking into the Beverly Hilton to see his alleged mistress and mother of his love child, Rielle Hunter. There's nothing quite like finding out that one of the most smarmy and sanctimonious politicians, he of the 28,000 square foot house, is cheating on his wife who is battling cancer.

And, it's one thing to have an affair....but a love child! Seriously, how can an adult man, presidential candidate and cheating spouse not use a condom?

Michelle Obama - BattleAx to Bombshell

I'm staying out of politics this election season but I do want to comment on the transformation of Michelle Obama. Early on we had the Battle Ax look, then the Jackie O phase. Now she's gone straight to Bombshell and she looks gorgeous.

Here's the Wall Street Journal on Michelle's Fashion Campaign.

Serious Subjects

Somehow over the last week while my internet was down I was making a mental list of all of the subjects I wanted to comment on. I decided to leave the comments on Oil Prices, 57 States, Lebanon and the Trade Deficit to the serious cyber pundits and stick to blogging on softer subjects.

But...of course I always have an opinion and it concurs with this WSJ editorial.

Kick Burma out to the UN

The United Nations this week said the refusal of Burma's government to allow workers into the country's devastated agricultural region was unprecedented in the history of humanitarian relief. The human catastrophe produced by Burma's refusal to permit aid in the wake of Cyclone Nargis has stunned the senses of a world that has watched this spectacle for a week.

There are uncounted numbers of persons dead, homeless and orphaned. Bodies still float in water. The World Health Organization has warned there could be outbreaks of cholera and especially malaria. U.N. member-state India warned the junta the deadly cyclone was headed toward Burma on May 1, two days before it hit. Yesterday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said food relief hasn't yet reached the region because "regrettably" the junta won't talk to him.

After so much international assistance was brought so quickly to those who suffered from the Tsunami, it's deplorable to see how the Burmese Junta has hindered humanitarian aid after this terrible tragedy.

But how can we be shocked by any actions by Burma after decades of house arrest of the world's only imprisoned Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Hammer Happenings - Kara Walker Exhibit

Wondering what to do this weekend? Why not check out the Kara Walker exhibit at the Hammer Museum. In an interesting political season Ms. Walker's silhouette works comment on race and gender.

More Carla Mania

What's not to love about this fantastically beautiful French First Lady.

She has that je ne sais quoi, doesn't she?

The inimitable Linda Grant has some thoughts on "The Gaze" that is melting the Brits.

The gaze
Just look at the man-trapping stare that Carla Bruni has triumphantly brought to Britain. Show us how it's done, Carla.
As a basic foundation one needs to be ravishingly beautiful with large, lash-fringed eyes above a slightly parted mouth. If you lack the gorgeousness, you might resemble that deranged fan in the Stephen King novel Misery, who kidnaps a famous writer and amputates his foot.
If you direct all your attention at a man, you need to have a face that commands attention.
The Gaze tells an unlikely story, which men fall for every time. Witness Prince Philip in his gilded coach yesterday, as Carla turned on the 10,000-watt radiance. He sits back, as if hit by a stun gun. The Gaze says, "You, my darling desiccated duke, you, you could make me happy. Everything you say and do absorbs me. Look, I am smiling. And why? Because you are so witty, so handsome, so debonair in your overcoat. So what, you are married? Wives are easily disposed of."
In the Gaze, the face is mainly immobile. It is unnecessary to speak. The face speaks. The recipient of the Gaze interprets its language: my God, she fancies me! Then, alarmingly, the Gaze turns off, or away.
The sun is put out. The Gaze is directed to someone else. Yet how can that be, when it is me she loves?
Try practising the Gaze in front of a mirror, or on your pets. Take a good look at the goldfish. When you try this at home you'll find you're more likely to resemble a carp than Carla.

Linda Grant

Weekly Wrap Up

Politics and Sex - The gift that keeps on giving.

First we have another story about our favorite ex Governor, Eliot Spitzer from Salon.com. Apparently, he's also a client of the New York escort service Wicked Models. The author did a little internet snooping to find the Wicked Models website complete with clever descriptive copy to sell the product.

All of our companions are hand-picked for their beauty, intellegence (ironic sic) and demeanor. We have stunning supermodels, Ivy League Educated beauties and the sorority girl next door. We pride ourselves in qualiy (sic, irony again) and adhere to the strictest standards.

In addition to all this fine writing, the website has a online booking feature which is just a step away from a fully functional shopping cart feature!

One innovation: The Wicked site had an online booking form. Say you're a socks-with-sex randy governor of a large Northeastern state and you're looking for a good time. At Wicked, you could set it up without an awkward phone call: After perusing the models, you enter in your first choice, your second choice, your personal details, and press Send. That's it! Like Amazon, but without the Proust.

Like Amazon indeed.

Then we have the news about Detroit's mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. Let's see we've got your usual charges of corruption and parties with strippers, but what I really like about this story is the more than 14,000 text messages between the married mayor and his married Chief of Staff who he was having an affair with in 2002 and 2003. 14,000 text messages! Haven't these people ever learned that maybe in some circumstances you should delete your old text messages?

OK, other than randy politicians what have got. Oh yeah, the story about the Dallas strip club that allowed a 12 year old girl to dance nude. Aside from the usual early sexual exploitation of girls, the kicker to this story is that the club couldn't be shut down because in Dallas it isn't illegal to allow a minor to work in a strip club.

Do you think that this girl had previously been playing the Miss Bimbo video game?

Carla Bruni Sarkozy On State Visit To England

President Sarkozy and his rock and roll model wife have taken a state visit to England where they will be guests of the royal family at Windsor Castle. I'm glad to see that Madame Sarkozy has left the casual attire in Paris and opted for a lady like wardrobe befitting the First Lady of France. Next to the eccentric Royals, she looks very chic. And I adore the mini beret. She has even worn the flattest shoes so as not to tower over le petit President Sarko. Props to her.

Meanwhile, Christies is auctioning off a nude photo of her. Thank God they aren't auctioning off a nude photo of Camilla who by the way wears a leopard spotted hat so well.

Hillary Clinton - Obviously Not A Slave to Fashion

In the Guardian a snarky article by Hadley Freeman titled Why does Hillary Clinton wear such bad clothes? In the past did reporters ever comment in print about the wardrobes of Golda Meir or Indira Ghandi? Do we get stories in the Guardian about Angela Merkle's wardrobe. The amount of scrutiny over Hillary Clinton's appearance is so over the top. I don't expect a female presidential candidate to look like Anna Wintour or some other fashionista. And, I'm tired of seeing candidates and their wives dressed up like a phony packaged products.

This isn't about politics, it's about misogyny and unrealistic expectations about what a middle age woman is supposed to look like in this society.

Check out Linda Grant's comment on this subject at The Thoughful Dresser.

Politics and Sex - The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Just when we thought we had heard it all on sex and politics this week, Jim and Dina McGreevey just couldn't stand being upstaged by Eliot and Silda Spitzer. After the news of Spitzer and his 80k bimbo budget and resignation trumped McGreevey's resignation after admitting to hiring his boyfriend to a state security position, Jim and Dina decided to up the ante with more shocking news of their sexual dysfunction. Apparently, they were consensually enjoying a threesome with their driver, Teddy Pederson, both before and after their marriage.

Ah Ha Spitzers....beat that!

What can I say other than here's another example of your tax dollars at work!