Thursday, February 27, 2014

Down Here on a Visit


Oh, those pitiful mannish women - with their neat tailleurs, dress-for-success bow blouses, and ostentatious corsages!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Shameless Saturday Camp Explosion: Promises, Promises



Time liberates the work of art from moral relevance, delivering it over to the Camp sensibility.
- Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp"

Now you know what an Abba song created and delivered without one scintilla of charisma might have sounded like.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Ladies, Among Others, Who Lunch


A moment with dear Mrs. Helen Hokinson and her trademark ladies, for no good reason other than it's been a mildly trying Tuesday.

Monday, February 17, 2014

When Queens Collide


Oh, Dame Helen - ought one really point at the sovereign?  Well, the lady herself seems unperturbed, as, for that matter, she mostly has for most of the past seven decades or so.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Shameless Saturday Camp Explosion: Mr. Music



What Camp taste responds to is "instant character"...
- Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp"

Oh, Just about anybody can mark the birthday of the great Mr. Harold Arlen with Judy singing "The Man that Got Away" or Barbra blowing "A Sleepin' Bee" out of the water...

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's (Gun)day!


Let's usher in this Valentine's Day with a typical moment of introspective minimalism out of Bollywood...

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Ou sont les neiges?


Where indeed?  Here, goddammit.  Poor, ill-fated Jon Erik Hexum is dressed for les neiges (captured by Mr. Hurrell in the full glory of his short-lived splendor), but frankly...

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Twentieth Century Blue


You know, when you think about it, I very rarely ask much of you, Gentle Readers, so I hope you won't mind if today I do.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

On the Sunny Beach of Peppermint Bay


She was, as all the obituaries today have reminded us, famous in a way that in these days of debased notoriety beggars imagination.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Back Porch Mama


I suppose it wouldn't be entirely a surprise were I to admit that I have something of a passing familiarity with back porch fiddlin' myself...

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Shameless Saturday Camp Explosion: She Went Wrong



Camp taste identifies with what it is enjoying.
- Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp"

Miss Dorothy Lamour may well wonder where exactly she went wrong; I would argue that it was when she agreed to appear in Pajama Party in the first place.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Birthday Girl: Time to Say Goodbye


Saint Zsa Zsa of Gabor is 97 today.  I cannot be alone both in wishing her well and in hoping that someday soon she'll be free.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Do Not Adjust Your Sex


I think it's safe to say that among the attributes with which modern cruise ship companies are hoping that passengers will associate their corporate presence, "unsettling" ranks fairly low.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Shameless Saturday Camp Explosion: Oh, Go Ahead. Cry.



Camp taste turns its back on the good-bad axis of ordinary aesthetic judgment.
- Susan Sontag, "Notes on Camp"

Sometimes, all you can do is helplessly wonder: what were they thinking?