Eye candy

Again, I have no idea what this gentleman's politics are, but I have to share this delicious eye-candy:



Unusually for Dr. Abdullah, he is not doing his English Dandy look but instead his casual attire recalls images of Superman. Pretty great subliminal message as far as the propaganda imagery goes. I am referring to the white t-shirt and what looks like the hint of a cape. However, I have seen his opponent, who won the election, wearing what I assume is a traditional cape worn in his country, and in that case, it's a clever blending of traditional fashion, authority, monumentality, and contemporaneous images of heroes. But let's face it, he's just gorgeous.

Who knew Julio Iglesias' lyrics could be so dead-on?

Puerto Rican Celebration of Aliens Day

I have often commented about some of my countrymen's fixation and belief in extrerrestials in the "Real news-Boricual Alien Stories" topic of this blog. This is an update, in Lajas, town where the Mayor is building the Omnipuerto or UFO Airport they are celebrating a holiday devoted to Aliens. I am sure the plans for a landing site, the highway section denominated as the "UFO Route" and now this commemoration will lead them to choose this small town on the Island. I can't wait. Below is an article from our daily newspaper El Nuevo Dia.

06:00 A.M.

Celebración del Día del Extraterrestre

Reinaldo Ríos Narra la experiencia que lo convenció de la existencia de estos seres y conmemora sus visitas este sábado en Lajas

EL NUEVO DIA (San Juan)

Por ELNUEVODIA.COM / 78700@elnuevodia.com

Luego de caer al suelo mientras jugaba baloncesto, Reinaldo Ríos vio una “dona de luz sobre un monte”. Se había lastimado la espalda y pensó que quedaría inválido pues con gran dolor tuvo que arrastrar la pierna hasta llegar a su hogar.

“Yo me fui a mi casa y dije: 'Dios mío si estos seres existen, que por favor vengan y me curen'. Al par de minutos vi unas luces que traspasaron las paredes de mi cuarto. Eran como unas esferas de luz que se hicieron como unos niñitos y sentí que penetraron mi cuerpo. Al otro día no tenía la condición que estaba padeciendo”, narró en conversación telefónica el maestro de matemáticas y vecino de Lajas.

Esta experiencia marcó a Reinaldo Ríos a los 14 años de edad y desde entonces está convencido que uno de sus propósitos en la vida es preparar a los humanos para la venida de los seres extraterrestres.

Con esta convicción, celebrará en Lajas el “Día del Extraterrestre”, mañana sábado 5 de diciembre a partir de las 6:00 p.m. El lugar de encuentro será una finca localizada en el kilómetro 7, hectómetro 8 de la denominada Ruta Extraterrestre 303 de este municipio. Allí se ofrecerán gratuitamente charlas y exhibirán fotografías y vídeos para todos los curiosos e interesados en el tema.

La actividad también es conocida como la “Vigilia Mundial OVNI” pues en Perú, Colombia, México, Estados Unidos y otros países conmemorarán las visitas extraterrestres con actividades similares, que se transmitirán en vivo a través de internet.

Ríos confesó que sus ideas no han sido bien recibidas en la Isla. “La imagen en Puerto Rico no la tengo muy buena. No he tenido la aceptación que he gozado en otros lugares del planeta. Aquí nuestras ideas se cogen a mofa, burla, no he recibido ese apoyo”, precisó Ríos.

El investigador del fenómeno OVNI dijo que algunas de sus iniciativas como la creación de la “Ruta Extraterrestre” en Lajas, el OVNI Puerto y el nombrar al municipio como la “Ciudad OVNI” han sido aplicadas en otros lugares del mundo y han tenido un éxito turístico y económico.

“No es cuestión de creer en el tema de los OVNI. Es cuestión de ser inteligente y sacarle el beneficio económico. Se puede hacer un observatorio astronómico, un museo de astronomía. Y la gente llega al municipio. Así funciona en Nevada con la 'Ruta 375' y en Chile con la 'Ruta Ufológica'”, manifestó Ríos.

http://www.elnuevodia.com/celebraciondeldiadelextraterrestre-644641.html

The King

Kehinde Wiley Michael Jackson

The fabulous artist Kehinde Wiley, known for his portraits of African and African-descent men that cite canonical art historical images, has truly outdone himself now: here is his posthumous portrait of Michael Jackson. The blog post below gives interesting information, as does the Art Basel edition of The Art Newspaper, link also below. From watching the Martin Bashir documentary, I learned that Jackson was quite interested in art history, particularly Renaissance, Baroque, and 19th Century Realist art, so it did not surprise me to read that both artists had discussed pictorial precedents for this masterpiece of 21st century royal portraiture. I often wonder why royalty doesn't avail themselves of great painters, for example the Spanish Royal family has few portraits on canvas.

The only good ones are by Hernan Cortes (yes, his real name) and there was a to-die-for campy society painter called Ricardo Macarron who depicted the family in a manner that I can only describe as painted as if your grandma's Coty powder puff had been dipped in oil and laid on in a thick impasto. Of course, we have photography and my favorite purveyor of official royal imagery: HOLA! which has its own section on this blog. (this will be a subject of an article if and when I get tenure and can "go wild" with my art history). Queen Elizabeth did have Lucien Freud paint her, so we can give them props for that brave act.

Ricardo Macarron King Juan Carlos I of Spain

Lucien Freud Queen Elizabeth II

Blog Post on painting:

http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/art_basel_design_miami/spotted_at_art_basel_miami_michael_jackson_on_horseback_144826.asp

Art Newspaper link:
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/The-work-the-King-of-Pop-commissioned-but-never-saw/19815

Political Camp as Protest

A friend of mine shared a photo (photographer unknown) that for me demonstrates wit, glamour, and perseverance in the face of ignorance and hate, and brings back many memories of demonstrations I took part in organized by ACT-UP, WHAM!, WAC, and other groups that utilized subversive humor and camp to great effect. The moral ugliness of hate is here transposed breezily into the hideousness of poor fashion choices, bigots are as ugly on the outside as they are on the inside. If pathology and perversion are projected onto the bodies of queer people by homophobes, this is turned on its head by turning back the attention onto the horrid sartorial details of the hateful zealot. Taking the stereotypical image of the queer as fashion obsessed (guilty as charged!) and turning it into a sign of resistance, just one example among many of the power of camp as a political tactic.

One more heroine to add to my list!

(Photo: DAILY NEWS)

Inspiring article from the DAILY NEWS (New York):

Margaret Bergmann Lambert, 95, gets Olympic record back after '36 Nazi team replaced her with man

BY SAMUEL GOLDSMITH DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, November 24th 2009, 6:52 AM

Germany has restored the 1936 high jump record to a 95-year-old Queens woman who was kicked off the Nazi Olympic team because she was Jewish.

Margaret Bergmann Lambert was banned from the BerlinOlympics despite matching the high-jump record of 5 feet 3 inches to qualify and having spent two years on the team, starting in 1934.

"I was a person nonexisting because I was a Jew," Lambert told the Daily News on Monday night from her home inJamaica.

"I equaled the German record at age 22," she said.

"I never thought this was so amazing. I was just a very good athlete. It came to me very easily. I didn't even train much."

The German track and field association has recognized Lambert, born Gretel Bergmann, several times over the years but never went as far as restoring her record.

While the honor "can in no way make up" for the past, it serves as an "act of justice and a symbolic gesture," the committee said Monday.

Lambert said the honor "doesn't bother me one way or another. If it would never of happened I wouldn't have killed myself either," she said.

She still remembers the anger she felt when the Olympic team told her she couldn't compete in the 1936 games.

"I had so much fury," she said. "I went home and planned to come to the United States."

Adding to the insult was the athlete who the Nazis selected to replace her: a jumper named Dora Ratjen - who was later revealed to be a man whose real name was Horst Ratjen.

Ratjen was kicked off the team in 1938 when a doctor took a look at his genitals.

Lambert fled Nazi Germany in 1937 and landed in New York. She moved in with her brother, who was already living on the upper West Side.

"All the Jewish immigrants were scattered on Broadway and 80th and 90th," she said. "We all lived together there and helped each other out."

She worked as a house cleaner and met her husband,Bruno Lambert, 99, who still lives with her in Queens. They had two sons and have been married 71 years.

Lambert became an American champion in women's high jump in 1937 and 1938 and women's shot put in 1937. She decided to give it up when war broke out in 1939.

As a young woman she swore to never go back to Germany, but she changed her mind as life went on.

"I finally realized that the younger Germans - you couldn't blame them, since their fathers and grandfathers committed the crimes," she said. "It's not a nice thing to hate all the time."

Now she's a Yankees fan, but she won't watch the Olympics now because it's too upsetting.

"To tell the truth, I used to sit there and curse my head off when the Olympics were going on," she said. "Now I don't do that anymore. I've mellowed quite a bit."

Asked if she would pose for a photograph on Monday night at 7 p.m., Lambert replied: "Listen, I'm 95 years old. I have to go to bed."

sgoldsmith@nydailynews.com

With Edgar Sandoval

Read more http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2009/11/24/2009-11-24_qns_woman_95_gets_olympic_record_back_after_36_nazi_team_replaced_her_with_man_h.html#ixzz0YCYm4CLJ

Even when you win, you lose....

Who knew that in an article about a new auction site where bidders pay to bid I would find a truth about love that saves me having to read years of Cosmo articles and stacks of self-help books such as He's Just Not That Into You, but there it is! Clearly, I need to read more about game theory and economics.

The author, Richard H. Thaler explains the motivations driving players to stay in the game even when they know they have either gone way past losing or that a win is not really a gain:

The dollar auction game was invented by a pioneer of game theory, Martin Shubik of Yale, and it illustrates the concept of “escalation of commitment.” Once people are trapped into playing, they have a hard time stopping. (Consider Vietnam.) The higher the bidding goes, and the more each bidder has invested, the harder it is to say “uncle.” The best advice you can give anyone invited to play this particular game is to decline.

Some games and battles are like that: even when you win, you lose. When you see at the start that such a dynamic is likely, you’re better off just walking away.

These situations crop up regularly in spheres as diverse as politics, romance and business.

Here's a link to the article from The New York Times, "Paying a High Price for the Thrill of the Hunt," by Richard H. Thaler (11/15/09)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/business/economy/15view.html?scp=8&sq=game%20theory&st=cse