Matt and Nat

A follow-up to my previous entry on leather: Matt and Nat has always been fashion forward when it comes to their selection of NON-LEATHER purses. Their line is 100% vegan and, if I do say so myself, it is to die for (no pun intended). For more info check out the following link. Their prices run a bit high, so double check with ebay if your wallet is as tight as mine...

http://www.mattandnat.com/change_location

Watchmen

So I finally got around to reading Watchmen and I must admit that once I started it was hard to put down. That said, I was very disappointed with the ending! Dr. Manhattan's inability to figure things out sooner was totally unbelievable, even if he was momentarily unable to see into the future (that was admittedly an incredibly dorky statement). Despite the ending, I enjoyed the story and really liked the illustrations. I cannot wait to go as Rorschach for Halloween!

Ch Ch Ch Changes...

The Washington Post is reporting that Michelle Obama has released a statement saying she does not wear fur after Carla Bruni released a similar statement to PETA. This is a huge step forward, although it is important to note that in her statement Carla Bruni made the erroneous, albeit far too common assumption, that animal skin used to produce leather is always a biproduct of the meat industry. For more information regarding how your leather is actually procured, please see the video following the article. The video is disturbing, but not nearly as disturbing as the fact that millions of people will refrain from educating themselves about the realities of this industry because the truth is too upsetting, yet will continue to buy leather as if what they're buying is some how exempt from the truth they consider too horrific to even acknowledge.

Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni: Down with Fur!

Posted on June 11th, 2009 3:05 PM by Free Britney
Filed under: Carla Bruni, Michelle Obama

One day after French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy told PETA that she no longer wears real fur, Michelle Obama made her own animal-friendly announcement.

"Mrs. Obama does not wear fur," deputy press secretary Semonti Mustaphi said.

Obama and Bruni-Sarkozy - who have met twice in recent months - are both widely known as celebrity fashion icons as well as prominent political wives.

PETA pushed Carla Bruni-Sarkozy - who was photographed wearing what appeared to be real fur - in particular to donate her coats to the homeless.

"I do not wear, buy or own fur or animal skin other than leather or skin of animals raised for feeding purposes," she wrote to PETA, adding, "I am not a vegetarian, and I don't find it illogical to wear skins of animals whose meat is eaten."

Could a Carla Bruni nude PETA campaign be in the works? Here's hoping!

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FUR REAL: Don't expect Michelle or Carla to don mink coats anytime soon.

Unlike Carla, Michelle wasn't targeted by PETA, which says the wife of Barack Obama is "known to be fur-free," according to PETA's media coordinator, Amanda Schinke.

Still, the mother of Malia and Sasha followed suit with the former supermodel, releasing a statement that fur will never be part of the First Lady's famous wardrobe.

"For Michelle Obama, respecting animals is part of the social progress that she and her husband are working so hard to promote," PETA Senior V.P. Dan Mathews said.

"By officially rejecting fur, these two style icons will make people around the world see fur for what it is: old-fashioned and cruel."

The Skin You're In

Shining Trailer

This was brought to my attention several months ago. I sincerely hope Jef and Jason check it out -

Maybe if I lie real still I can make it to the plane...

Baby Minds packed a bag and was all set to go see her friends Monti and Dahlia in Seattle. She was crushed when Mat took the bag but left the Minds -

Perez gives PETA a shout out -

Perez Hilton's site, which boasts an average of between 2 and 4 million unique visitors a day, came out in support of PETA's faux initiative. Way to go Perez (a phrase that Duke psychology students the world over recognize as the highest complement)!

Earlier we mentioned how French luxury goods maker Hermes breeds their own crocodiles on Australian farms for the sole purpose of killing the crocs to make purses.

Not to mention that it can take three to four crocodiles to make one bag, which can sell for almost $50,000!

So we figured it was only a matter of time before PETA spoke out about the craziness of breeding crocodiles for fashion.

And, indeed, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has released a statement. The animal lovers say:

The thought of purposely breeding and killing crocodiles for an outdated, overpriced handbag should make any fashionista's skin crawl. If Hermes really wants to be a leader in the fashion industry, it should stop killing animals for cold-blooded vanity and use cruelty-free mock croc and fake snake instead.

As Pink—who recently provided the voice of a computer-generated crocodile in PETA's "Stolen for Fashion" commercial—says, "Killing animals for their skins is so disgusting that it doesn't make me want to befriend designers who use them."

Faux is in!

Saw this on Perez this morning -

And felt the need to share. Nothing beats a good old time out, except, of course, a walky talky/rotary/were we really supposed to believe that thing fit in his pocket cell phone.

My Losing Season

I've been a Pat Conroy fan since high school when I first read The Prince of Tides. Although I'd never been disappointed by any of Conroy's stories, I'd had more than one person warn me that his attempt at non-fiction in his autobiographical "My Losing Season" failed to fill the big shoes of his fiction. I had thus avoided the text many had warned was so depressingly real it failed to inspire anything other than disappointment; that is, of course, until I found myself without anything to read while the spine of this book mocked me from it's bookshelf. I broke down and read it and while I agree that the story pales in comparison to Conroy's fiction, the writing and style is classic Conroy and I believe any fan of his work would enjoy spending time with his words in the context of this novel. To be critical I would argue that Conroy's narrative is a bit difficult to follow as he weaves the reader in and out of his life's story as though we have an intuitive sense of when things happened to him and where. His love of basketball is both inspiring and exhausting as he discusses the play by play of each and every game his basketball team won and lost in his senior year of college. While the story is at times weighed down by a jargon familiar only to those who share an intimate relationship with the game, the insights and language Conroy uses in interpreting this time in his life makes wading through the details worth it. I also found it a treat to read about how an aspiring writer stumbled upon a love affair with words, while simultaneously trying to appease an abusive father and survive the plebe system of the Citadel. While this story is neither as exciting, nor endearing as the ones he pursues in his fiction, it is real and genuine and as such achieves something his former novels failed to accomplish - a story made grand by its simplicity. He reveals the humble and delicate details of a poet struggling to be anything other than what he was when what he was turned out to be one of the rarest and most precious voices in modern literature. Long story short (too late) if you like Conroy you'll like his Losing Season.

B+

Sometimes grown-ups over think things...

You'll notice that gender is not integral to the construct of marriage; at least not according to Grover:)