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July 28, 2005

Real Women Have Clothes

There's been a lot of criticism of the new Dove ads featuring "normal size women." People tend to fall into two categories - those happy to see women who reflect the true size of the majority of women in America and those unhappy that there's one less source for skinny porn.

Here's the thing - porn has its place. I'm not saying everyone everywhere should be covered up. I'd much rather live in a country where the majority think watching sex on screen is okay than live in this country that thinks making love is shameful, but murdering people on screen is okay. And I enjoy me some ogling at beautiful people, be they male or female.

But I really don't need to be bombarded with pictures of women in their virginal white underwear to respect my individual beauty. I enjoyed the first iteration fo the Dove Real Beauty campaign - where all the women in blonde wigs threw them off to reveal hair in all its varied beauty. I don't really need them to undress to understand the same concept in body formation.

Let me be clear - I've got nothing against the female form. I respect a woman's right to do anything she wants with her body. But how is it enlightened to swap one half naked female form to sell product for another? Why can't we keep our clothes on and still be desirable?

Frankly, I hope my boyfriend never encourages me to be a part of an ad campaign that will plaster my half naked body across America. (Katie Couric gushed on the Today Show about how great it was that one woman's husband encouraged her to be a Dove model.) I prefer to leave some things to the imagination...and provide my love with something that is entirely between us alone.

More:
"Do 'Real Women' Sell? Everyone Has an Opinion," by Jack Tycher in the NY Post

"Look closely -- Dove ads boast mixed messages," by Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times

Posted by cj at 09:45 AM | Comments (1)

Marshall Field's Not Dead Yet

Federated has announced the death of many beloved regional department stores, including the venerable Filene's of East Coast fame. In a reprieve to name conscious shoppers everywhere, the nameplate changes wont occur till after December with a completion date of Fall 2006.

In a reprieve for staunch Midwesterners everywhere, Federated hasn't decided what to do with Marshall Field's stores. So they're not dead yet.

More deets: "Federated: 330 May Stores to Become Macy's," by the AP in the NYT (filed this am)

Posted by cj at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2005

Fast Company Editor Jumped Ship

Editor in Chief John Byrne fled Fast Company for the same job at Business Week. To be fair, Byrne spent 18 yrs at BW before takin on the top dog job at FC.

Recently, Byrne sold the editorial merits of FC to its new owner, Joe Mansueto, the founder and CEO of Morningstar.

Mr. Byrne recalled that when Gruner & Jahr decided to sell Fast Company, he was the point of contact between Mr. Mansueto and some of the investment bankers in the deal. "I sold him on the value of Fast Company," he said. He added that every other bidder had planned to shut down the magazine.
I find it fascinating that the best written business magazine is so close to shutting its doors. I feel this must be a combination of poor advertiser response to its cutting edge content and lack of support from the higher-ups. (It never helps when your parent company runs away from the U.S. print industry.)

More info:
"BusinessWeek Hires an Editor Away From Fast Company," by Geraldine Fabrikant in today's NYT

Posted by cj at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2005

Thoughts on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Riff on My Theater Experience
It's just as Ebert says. Interesting to watch and Depp is the worst part. Also interesting - the song lyrics are all the original ones written by Roald Dahl, with music by Elfman (and he sings all of them too). Similar feel as James and the Giant Peach (another Dahl story that Burton directed and Elfman did the music for), except this time the lyrics were a little hard to understand...even harder because the women next to me kept talking!!! WTF?!? I was totally ready for kid noises, but not females who were at least as old as me yapping away. I think this movie is closer to the book - I never read the book (b/c I was in love with the movie so much), but I totally read Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (its sequel) and where this movie ended makes sense for where that one begins. The theater was jam packed at 5:45 and there were two screens starting at the same time. I was also disappointed b/c either the film was crappy, the projector was crappy, the screen was crappy, or a combo of all of the above. There was dirt in one place the whole time and funky stuff in some of the scenes. Alas, I expect a lot for a $24 movie experience ($8 ticket, $8 medium popcorn and medium sprite, $8 parking), but damnit, it should happen. I'm not sure how many more movies I'll be going to b/c I'm just so sick of what I get for the price.

Rules of Engagement: How I'll Spend This Much Money Again for One Movie
I wouldn't mind the price as much if:
(a)I knew what size screen I was getting
(b)the screen and film were top notch - no crap on them
(c)the sound was top notch
(d)the other patrons stayed silent during the entire movie and only whispered during previews
(e)the popcorn was actually hot.

Doesn't look like I should be heading back to the theater anytime soon. But Murderball looks really good, as does the Bergman film. Of course, I should see the first film about those characters first. NETFLIX!

Posted by cj at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2005

At One Point it Sounded Ridiculous, But Maybe...

So it sounded like a far fetched dream for me to want to be a professional blogger. After all, only a few people work full time blogging and 90% of them are men, right? Well, they might all still be men, but when CBS News starts a regular blog, you know the floodgates have opened.

I know a lot of people who graduated with me in 2000 and went onto become "content providers" for internet sites with tons of startup cash and weak business plans. I don't plan to get caught in another internet bubble, but I honestly believe that my voice is worth money. Heck, I'd be willing to just write a slice of life blog so that my more deviant political views wouldn't be associated with a major corporation.

CBS official word: the blog will be up by late summer. (Unclear why it takes so long for them to blog, but I'm sure it has something to do with the suits with JDs.)

Posted by cj at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2005

My First Weekend Alone

My luck ain't that good. Or I dunno, maybe it's fate.

On my first weekend completely alone in my apartment (last weekend a friend was visiting), and I am sick. No big deal - I decided to spend the weekend in bed, enjoying my cable internet and tv and drinking plenty of tea.

Which I was somewhat happily doing until about 9:20pm Saturday night. That's when my electricity went out. Nothing reminds you how alone you are like you're life going dark, your fan turning off, your tv not distracted you with the True Story of how and why Jerry Springer went from normal talk show host to captain of the freaks (it was all about ratings and the threat of cancellation).

Right. So there I was, alone in the dark. I could see that other apts in my building complex were also dark, but I wasn't sure what to do. I figured other ppl were calling the janitor (building super? I'm not sure how to explain the woman who we're supposed to call for all maintenance issues instead of calling the actual landlord). So, I did the obvious thing - I called my sister.

Because, after all, a woman 2,000 miles away in Los Angeles is the perfect person to solve my electrical issues. Actually, mostly I just needed to hear a friendly voice. It gets lonely in the dark. She told me to light candles (most of which I left in Forest Park) and turn on a flashlight. When I pointed out I didn't have a flashlight, she told me to go buy one. Clearly, getting obvious information is the reason to disrupt a woman at a wedding (I didn't actually know she was at a wedding).

So, I went outside and on a lark, checked the trunk of my car. I remembered that I had once bought flashlights (I think when I originally bought the car because my union organizing supervisor had suggested them for long drives). Amazingly, I found one of those three year old flashlights - the biggest one in fact. And it was working. But I didn't want to lose the battery (it wasn't quite as bright as it could've been.) Plus, who wants to sit alone in a darkened apartment?

Some neighbors were in the courtyard and asked me to call the janitor to pressure her to actually do something. Someone from down the street came (after I left messages for both the janitor and the landlord) and explained the problem was happening all along the street. Some folks lost power in only part of their houses (and some ppl in my building had power in a room, but not me...probably b/c my apt is basically one room).

Everyone went back to their apartments and I thought, why do that? So I sat in the courtyard and called my cousin, hoping my reception would work for once in my building. I was able to get caught up a bit on her life, but then the connection started breaking up when I started talkin about my life. (A sign perhaps?) So I thanked her for keeping me company and said goodbye. Went to my apt and got a book and came back to the courtyard (where some of the lights were on). Found out ComEd said the lights would be on by 11pm. And the janitor showed up with her husband because she thought it was a breaker problem, but once she realized it was the whole street she bailed. (I actually didn't realize she didn't live in the building. Good to know.)

I came back to my apt around 10:20pm. I think I was asleep before 11. My obnoxious, drunk ass next door neighbor woke me up at 1am shouting from the courtyard asking why the lights were out. (She then banged her way upstairs and unlocked the other door in my hallway which is how I know she's my dumbass neighbor.) Ug. So the lights still aren't on and now I'm awake. Great. Thanks for nothin.

Went back to sleep. I had left my tv on so I'd know when the electricity came back on. That happened at about 4:10am. Why did I wake up and write this? Mostly b.c I had to go to the bathroom, thanks for asking. Um, and because I'm a dork and like to record memorable moments while they're fresh in my mind. And I sent it as an email before blogging it, since most of my friends can't be bothered to check my blogs (cough, sister, cough).

Oh, and I got online initially to try to figure out what the hell happened. All I could find was a website's blog saying there was a massive power outtage in the Chicagoland area. (Chicagoland being Chicago and its neighboring suburbs.) And that their backup generators kicked it and they were online again. Nothin yet on the Trib's site or any actual news site.

I'm going to try to go back to sleep now. Note to self: buy 4 D batteries (I told you it was a big flashlight). Check trunk for more flashlights (I remember I bought a set and this was the biggest one.)

Looks like I can survive most things on my own...um, as long as I have my cell phone and a Red Ink Press book to distract me. :)

Posted by cj at 05:00 AM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2005

The Long Goodbye

My boyfriend wanted me to blog about our goodbye last Monday, June 27. The events were too personal for this space. He's in South America for a couple of months backpacking around the continent. I'll try to be more vigilant about creating new posts in a timely manner.

"Me Without You" is a good Netflix choice.

"Cinderalla Man" is a good Ron Howard movie.

Posted by cj at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)