Friday, January 22, 2010

A breath of fresh fashion air.

Honestly, fashion has sort of bored me lately. Okay, let me rephrase that. Not fashion, but what certain fashion houses have done to fashion. I have seen very few things on the runway that shock me or make me go, "wow, I want that." This has translated to their campaigns as well. Sure, they've had nice, if conventional, photography. But there's nothing that has jumped out and grabbed me for some time.

Until now.


Wow wow wow, McQueen you've done it again. I've always had a soft spot for McQueen. His sense of daring and the macabre (after all, he did use sheep heads as hats for one of his first runway shows) have always fascinated me. And now this. Love it!

(Picture is a screen capture taken by me from the Alexander McQueen website. Mr. McQueen, please don't sue me. I love your stuff. I just can't afford it! So I result to drooly fandom.)

And elsewhere...

Hey guys, I want to let you in on a little side project of mine. I'm sure I've mentioned it before on the site, but just in case I haven't, here it is:



Click on the image and you'll be able to check out the goodies I make. Some frosting for your neck, hair, ears, and fingers...

Friday, January 15, 2010

A portrait of ignorance: Puerto Rican DJs.

As I was driving to work this morning amidst the now ever-present rain, something extremely stupid came up on the radio. I was tired of a particular station so I started scanning through the ones available. I fell upon one of the most popular programs in Puerto Rican radio; one I don't listen to usually because the DJs are downright moronic at times with their attitude and commentary. They have that Jay Leno attitude of "I'm better than you!". Normally, I just ignore them and wait for the Boricuazo section, but today, I was rapt with attention. Not because they were saying anything particularly interesting, but because I was downright furious.

It's all over the news that Haiti is suffering the aftermath of a horrible earthquake. People are being sent to help and, honestly, most of us feel bad and have this country in our thoughts. However, the DJs at this station apparently have something "better" to do and decided to share it in the form of a poll.

They asked their audience if they felt that the earthquake was "a punishment from God to Haiti". Excuse me? What did they just say? "Call now or text to 1-xxx-xxx-xxx to cast in your vote! Yes or no, the Haiti earthquake was a punishment from God". Oh, no they didn't.

Did they really just say that? On the air? To an audience of hundreds of thousands?

Look, I'm not religious. Let's not even pretend. I veer from agnostic to atheist to somewhat believer and it depends on the time of the year and the position of the moon. I respect religion and its followers, but I do not follow it. I also generally believe that religion is turned into a device for immense stupidity and error, specially in this case. What did Haiti do to deserve such a catastrophe? If we're on the topic of punishment, then the world wouldn't have any nations because they would've all been wiped out. Spain wouldn't exist due to all the damage it perpetuated across the world thanks to colonization and evangelization. China and Japan wouldn't exist either thanks to the wars and genocide they've committed. And, can we forget Germany? If an entire country must pay for a few individuals' crimes, then bam. Holocaust, anyone?

I consider this station's DJs and their statement to be offensive to all. Atheists and religious people can be offended because a) it's insinuating that every natural event is caused by God and b) God would punish a hapless population for simple capriciousness. It also offends common sense.

So, DJs from El Circo de la Mega. Shame on you for perpetuating ignorance. You should know better. But clearly, you don't.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Zara: The Rage Continues.

If you've known me for at least a little while, you know that I have problems with this store. Stemming from the absolutely craptacular service issued by the attendants at many locations (I'd like to say that the sales representatives in Spain were actually quite nice) to the very poor quality of many garments, I always tell myself that X time will be the last time I go into a Zara store.

Well, I usually end up breaking that promise because I see something pretty from faraway that lures me in, only to have the beauty's dream broken by poor seaming or horrible fabric. Last night, I went to Plaza because I was told that a certain store I needed was located in this mall. It was not. Since it was raining cats and dogs (and snakes and goats and cars and etcetera), I decided to stay for a while to see if the rain let up a bit. It didn't, but I ended up going into Zara. Because, like I said, I saw something pretty from afar.

Once again, the cycle came full circle. I tried it on and it was coarse and poorly sown. Disappointed, I scanned other racks and actually came out with two things. For less than thirty dollars! But that victory isn't what this post is about. No. It is about Zara's ultimate injustice.

Size discrimination.

While browsing their denim, I saw a pair of the most perfect skinny black pants. I knew I was tempting fate, but I got them in my regular size, a size 8, all the while knowing that this brand's sizing ran super small (and very amok: of the articles I have, some are size small and others large). Take that and a couple of extra pounds and the pants were too small for my waist. I asked for the next two sizes up only to be told the following:

"We don't have them in 10 and this line doesn't run up to 12."

Come again?

"The denim line only goes up size 10."

Excuse me? Did you just tell me that if I am more than a certain size, I am not entitled to your denim? Zara, shame on you. Shame on you for your generally bad service, usually poorly sown and low-quality fabric clothes, and, most of all, shame on you for discriminating against the ladies. Fabulosity comes in all sizes and you should recognize that. If only I had the power to cause some sort of change upon this...I guess I'll just have to content myself with venting my rage on the internet.

Zara, shame on you!

Haiti.

Being that I don't have a television set or internet at home, I found out at work about the earthquake long after it happened. Please, take this moment to be thankful about what you have.

And if you can, please help!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

An essential part of a Puerto Rican Christmas.

Pig. For some, a glorious animal. For others, something forbidden. For the people in this picture, nothing short of nirvana. In Puerto Rico, pig is an essential part of life. This doesn't apply to me though: I only eat pork in dumplings and think it's a cute pet.

So to illustrate a bit of Puerto Rican joy to you all, I show you this picture. Identities of the parties involved have been obscured. Warning: It may be a graphic for some!

Friday, January 01, 2010

In which I illustrate how to start the New Year properly.

I woke up today with a raging neck muscle spasm (on my right side) and so I had to proceed with treatment: pain relieving cream. My mother rubbed it in and gave me a massage so I thought that my problems were resolved for now, with the exception of not being able to turn my neck. Apparently, at some point I rubbed my cream-covered neck. And you know where this is going.

Some time later, just after a New Year's Pancake Breakfast peppered with discussion on how bad crime is, I rubbed my left eye. And that's when the fun begins. My eye started burning with the fire of a thousand suns and I could not make it to the bathroom soon enough. To top it off, I was hobbling because my flip-flop kept slipping and I had no depth-perception so I had to pause in my hap-hazard run-hobble to the bathroom. I finally made it and then proceeded to undo any effect the cream had done by bending over and dunking my head in the sink.

If that wasn't enough, I think my nightgown got stuck to my underwear when I got up from the chair. Oh, the indignity.

So Happy New Year everybody! May 2010 bring nothing but good things (even when they are bad, something good will come of it!) to you all. Make sure to stay tuned to Shiny! for upcoming adventures, merchandise, fashion, and photography. I hope you didn't bring in the new year in as much style as I just did this morning. Cheers!