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Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Remembering Monica
What blue dress? -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia
by blogSpotter
I was a naïve 40 year old Democrat in 1997, when the first whispers of “Monicagate” hit the political airwaves. There was a lot of rumor and innuendo, but no proof that President Bill Clinton, serving his 2nd term, was having an affair with anyone at all. I was a Clinton supporter, and couldn’t imagine that the rumors had any credibility. Clinton was already confronting the Paula Jones accusations; in a Jones deposition he denied any rumors about the 22 year old intern, Monica Lewinski. That Clinton was willing to settle out of court with Paula for $850,000 should’ve clued me in. That’s a nice chunk of change even for a sitting president and ex-lawyer. To friends and anyone who would listen I’d say, “These accusations are ridiculous! There are cameras and people all around!”. I figured that Paula was just a gold-digger. And diehard Clinton-haters were behind all the rest of it.
I was surprised and concerned when the Drudge report broke the story on January 17, 1998. Everyone in my Supply Chain class huddled around the TV in the lounge that afternoon, as the story played out on CNN. This was only Day One, and already the snarky jokes had begun. It seems that Monica Lewinsky, a college intern from an affluent California family, had “inappropriate relations” with Clinton from 1995 thru 1996. Lewinsky’s superiors, well aware of the situation, decided to place her at the Pentagon – well away from the President. There, the love-struck girl became friends with the (still) serpentine, evil Linda Tripp – a motherly, middle-aged confidante with book royalties and political intrigue coiled up in her heart. Lewinsky confessed all to Tripp, who dutifully recorded the conversations and handed them over to Ken Starr, the Independent Counsel investigating Paula Jones. Starr gave Lewinsky “transactional immunity” if she would spill the beans on Clinton. Very reluctantly, Monica did just that – otherwise she could’ve been prosecuted for perjury. She even turned over the infamous “blue dress” (kept at Tripp’s suggestion) to help seal the deal.
The blue dress became the watershed evidence – no longer was there any he-said-she-said. Clinton had to come clean (so to speak) and at the very least admit an “improper relationship”. The rabid Republicans in both houses of Congress were champing at the bit for any reason to take the rascally, popular president down. Imagine their delight when it looked like there was just cause. The House voted to issue Articles of Impeachment, and a 21-day trial ensued in the Senate. Clinton was acquitted of all charges and remained in office. His Arkansas law license was suspended from his earlier false testimony to Starr, but that was his only punitive consequence.
AFTERMATH OF A SCANDAL
Monicagate very nearly became the orbital center of our pop culture for the two years that it played out. Moralists decried the fall of American values. Comedians mined it heavily for a mother lode of jokes which produces gems to this day. Middle aged matrons wagged fingers at Monica – “That filthy tramp!” – without pausing to think that the 50-something Leader of the Free World might have had some control over his own situation. Tripp was easily vilified as the ultimate betrayer and portrayed by John Goodman on SNL. Republicans used Monicagate for “Holier Than Thou” posturing until Larry Flynt came calling, bringing down GOP Congressman Robert Livingston, aspiring Speaker of the House, as the sacrifice that comes of hypocrisy. The scandal produced catch-phrases that resonate to this day:
“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”
“This vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since he announced for Predident…”
“It depends on what the definition of the word is is”.
Clinton later attributed his indiscretions to stress and pressure. “I cracked, I just cracked”. He since has rebounded admirably as political operative and husband to Hillary who herself has soared as NY Senator and then Secretary of State under Obama. As for Monica, she had a short-lived stint as a C-List celeb after Monicagate, publishing a bio, and attempting a purse line. She has since finished a Masters degree in Psychology from the London School of Economics and otherwise keeps a low profile, away from the glare of publicity. If she never does a noteworthy thing, her contribution to our historical and cultural lore will be inestimable.
© 2010 blogSpotter
Labels: Humor, Politics, Society
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Channeling Perez
Giving us the scoop and some doodles -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia
by blogSpotter
Why do I envy Perez Hilton? Because the nonchalant, 30 year-old publicity hound is one of the world’s most successful bloggers. His real name is Mario Lavandeira and he was born to Cuban American parents in ’78. He’s worn many hats already in his short career. He’s been a GLAAD publicity agent, actor, receptionist and managing editor of Instinct magazine. He finally struck pay dirt with his on-line gossip rag, http://perezhilton.com.
The web site leverages off of Hilton’s LA celebrity connections -- many photos are originals from events that Perez personally attends. Hilton claims the site has received 8.5 million hits in one day, a staggering number. (That would probably bring my site down). His 'stage name' Perez Hilton is an obvious play on Paris Hilton -- a devoted BFF who receives a lot of promotional build-up on Perez’s site.
Others are not so fond of Perez -- his site has been drawn into much controversy. He’s been accused various things -- falsely reporting Castro’s death, playing copyrighted music of Britney Spears, and defaming an LA DJ by reporting a drug arrest. One of his biggest ongoing controversies is the outing of GLBT celebrities who aren’t ready for the spotlight. He so far has maintained that the outing is perfectly OK although civil litigation begs to differ.
The latest Perez brouhaha has been the Miss California controversy where he, as a judge, asked the perky bimbette her opinion on gay marriage. She replied that marriage should be between one man and one woman. There was a media storm that followed when Miss California lost the competition (as a result of how she answered the gay marriage question?). Perez poured gasoline on the fire by referring to Miss California as a 'dumb bitch' on his blog. The controversy whip-sawed a different direction when it turned out that Miss California had posed for some topless photos earlier in her career. ('It was windy').
The bombastic 'angel of mercy' Donald Trump gave Miss California a break for her tawdriness, probably hoping to quell the prior controversy with a little after-the-fact forgiveness, letting her keep the title.
Stir, stir, stir. What have we with Perez? We have an extreme, successful far-out-of-the-closet gossip maven who knows how to work it from a business standpoint. Closeted gays and Christian conservative models would probably do well to stay out of his way. And 5-hits-a-day blogSpotter would do well to capture any part of Perez’s momentum or business know-how.
© 2009 blogSpotter
Friday, May 01, 2009
Craigslist Has Everything
What do you need? ... -- Picture courtesy of craigslist
by blogSpotter
Craig's list is the "uber" web-based bulletin board service that has dominated the news recently -- because of an alleged craigslist murderer no less. Founded by Craig Newmark of San Francisco in 1995, craigslist is actually unsophisticated in both its appearance and intentions. With a simple text interface, craigslist just lays out all the marketing and social network opportunities for a given metro area -- the style resembles a greensheet or alternative newspaper layout. The service has been drawn into controversy recently because Philip Markoff, a dashing 23 year old medical student, was revealed to be leading a double life as the "craigslist killer".
It seems that this Philip was into gambling and girls (roughing up, robbing and killing said girls for gambling money). Now msnbc added to our knowledge base today, by saying that Philip was also into boys and cross-dressers (Dr. Phil might describe this as being pansexual). This All-American psycho was staunchly defended by his fiancée-in-denial -- "There is no way Philip could have done this," she said in desperate refutation, maybe hoping to preserve her Pottery Barn registration web site.
But investigators had the goods on Philip -- they associated his cell phone calls, his emails, his security camera images and even some "souvenirs" in his apartment with the assaults. Philip's misogynistic actions are not dissimilar to a young man here in Dallas who thought it was OK to run down a prostitute with his car. The only thing lower than a prostitute is a young man who thinks he has the right to judge and dispose of "lesser" people. The driver here in Dallas received the death penalty for his efforts; Philip might get off easier being affluent and white.
The public has been shocked by the craigslist events, illogically blaming craigslist for what happened. There are only a jillion lonely heart clubs, Usenet forums and social networking sites where similar things could've happened. We Americans like freedom of access and freedom of movement -- part of the overhead that comes with that is the risk of "stranger danger". I'm not at all defending Philip or anything that happened -- it's just incumbent upon the parties to take safeguards. Maybe meet in public or tell others who you're meeting.
The Internet has been blamed for many things now -- ponzi schemes, murders, identity theft and statutory rape to name but a few. All of these things were doable (and done) with snail mail, telephone and direct contact. The Internet just sped up the process. The Internet, like most technology is a white magic that enhances life and a simultaneous black magic that brings with it the ability to confound and destroy. Such is also the dual nature of cars, planes, mainframe computers and nuclear power. Does that mean we should banish these technical advances? No it does not. It means we should banish (or arrest as the case may be) our baser selves. And we should rise to the promise of technology -- which when applied towards its best uses, is almost like magic in the great convenience it gives us.
© 2009 blogSpotter
Labels: Society
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Avoiding the Worst-Dressed List
Or is that a faux pas? -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia
by blogSpotter
I am very far from being a fashion plate. I couldn't ever be an editor at GQ magazine or even the men's wear section in Exercise for Men. But in the great whirl of daily life, I have seen the fashion follies of nerds and even heard the cruel remarks that are made about the fashion-disadvantaged. This is a very practical list of guidelines for someone who isn't clothing or looks-centered but nevertheless wants to "present" acceptably. You've heard of Robert's Rules of Order -- these are Robert's Rules of Avoiding Fashion Exile:
1. Cleanliness is next to Godliness - There is no bigger turnoff than halitosis, body odor, greasy hair or dandruff. I've heard some males in particular imply that cologne is unmanly. I myself would rather smell like Paco Rabanne or even Old Spice than smell like an armpit. Even if you are of the group that abhors cologne (due to allergy or fear of appearing effeminate) you should know that people in general and women in particular like a nice fragrance. Even if you don't have the light, woodsy scent of Calvin Klein cologne, at least smell vaguely clean. The waft of freshly laundered clothes or Irish Spring is far better than funky shirt and smelly under arms.
2. Be within the decade. Only the idle rich or shallow can spend lots of time and money primping in mirrors and trying on clothes. It's true that the clothes don't make the man. BUT --- if you start to resemble a street urchin you might be "unmade" by people who avoid being seen with a big nerd. You don't have to be up-to-the-minute trendy; just make sure your clothes are in a moving 10-year window of current fashion. Suspenders were fun in 1986 -- now they're not. Stone-wash oversize jackets were hot once upon a time; now it looks like a thrift store purchase.
3. Stick with classics, and let the store clerk help. Display mannequins sometimes give a giant hint about what colors and styles go together. You can hardly go wrong with traditional (yes "square") items. Stay AWAY from the teen department and be age appropriate. Expensive, high fashion garments when inappropriately donned, will elicit laughter and hurtful, mocking words. :-) Good, traditional brand identities can help steer you the right way: Izod, Arrow, Levis, Timberland, J. Crew etc. Don't buy extensively (much less exclusively) from discount stores and thrift stores. A reputation is at stake!
4. Buy clothes that fit and replace them when they don't fit any longer. DON'T wear high water pants. DON"T wear threadbare clothes that need replacing. DON'T wear the same item so frequently that people wonder if you have anything else. I had a college physics professor, a nice woman, who only ever wore two dresses. One was blue, one was green and they were otherwise identical. We would place bets on which dress she'd wear on a given day. Who knows, maybe she had a walk-in closet with 50 look-alike dresses.
5. Don’t be too much of an iconoclast. People have different "inner selves" that they may want to express with fashion quirks. The problem is that sometimes an external expression can be garbled, much like a verbal expression. Thus, your studded black belt makes you look like a jaded S&M freak, not a tough guy. A shaved head can call to mind skin heads and Neo-Nazis; sometimes a buzz (or burr) cut gives you the same low maintenance without frightening the ACLU. Other looks that happen by happenstance are: waif, pirate, Amish villager and halfway house denizen. Unless you really are an S&M freak, waif, pirate, Amish villager or halfway house denizen, dial back on the individuality some.
In general, the ideas here are fairly obvious. I think that people who are bright and creative (OK, myself included) sometimes get so lost in the stratosphere of thought, they never alight to the bionosphere of ordinary living and interacting. So you're not Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren -- nobody gives a hoot about that anyway. You're clean, refreshed and nicely, albeit casually groomed? That's all that matters, and that's a look that works.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
'65 Love Affair
The year it all changed -- Picture courtesy of ABC
by blogSpotter
I've always been fascinated by change -- not change for the sake of change, but real, progressive change. We see it everywhere and yet much of the time the changes are unsubstantial or stylistic in nature. I'd like to discuss a year, 1965, when very nearly everything changed. To be sure, 1965 was a year of stylistic changes -- '65 automobiles phased from a chrome-laden rocket style over to smooth, geometric lines. Young women and men became suddenly "mod", sporting bangs and Beatle boots. The major networks began showing all broadcasts in living color for fall of '65 and we were graced with the first airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Along with all of this, Gemini 2 was launched as part of the ambitious NASA space program.
All of these were visual cues to accompany the sea changes that were unfolding all around. President Johnson described his "Great Society" in the '65 State of the Union address. He signed the Social Security Act of 1965, establishing Medicaid and Medicare and simultaneously declared a War on Poverty. August of that year, he signed the Voting Rights Act into law. Some of the most influential legislation of modern times came to us in these few short months. 1965 was a momentous year in the struggle for civil rights. Martin Luther King and 35,000 civil rights activists marched from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. Malcolm X was assassinated on the first day of National Brotherhood Week, and the Watts Riots broke out in Los Angeles.
The Viet Nam War was starting to dominate the news. In May, Berkeley staged a teach-in of 30,000 in which draft cards were observed being burned. In reaction, Johnson signed a law making draft-card burning punishable by 5 years in prison. The Pentagon informed Johnson that a major sweep of Viet Cong operations would call for an increase of troops from 120,000 to 400,000. Johnson followed this advice and the escalated war later became his political undoing.
The music of 1965 pop culture was a direct reaction to the turbulent times. Bob Dylan shocked fellow folk artists by using an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival. That August, he released Highway 61 Revisited which featured his magnum opus "Like a Rolling Stone". Meanwhile the Beatles were appearing at Shea Stadium and Jefferson Airplane debuted at the Matrix in San Francisco. Not all music was about war protest, to be sure, but the message of change was compelling nonetheless.
The events I just described here would make for a busy decade nowadays --- everything that could possibly change did so, and in grand scale. Someone coming out of a one year coma on 1/1/1966 might have trouble recognizing or reconciling a few things in the room. In 2008, we can only get excited by a new gizmo (iPhone) or maybe a writers' strike. While I'm by no means an Obama groupie, it might just be that Obama's ascendancy is some kind of reviving jolt to the political senses -- maybe an America striving to rediscover its activist past. We surely don't savor the idea of public assassinations or war escalation, but we probably relish the idea of being "relevant" once more -- the crackling energy of ideals in action. 1965 was such a period, and and we can hope that 2008 or 2009 reenergizes us once more.
© 2008 blogSpotter
Labels: Retrospective, Society
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Acid Wash
Turning on and Tuning in -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia
by blogSpotter
LSD will turn 70 next year. What is LSD? It's lysergic acid diethylamide. It was invented at Sandoz Laboratories in 1938 by a research chemist named Albert Hoffman (who just turned 100 last year). Hoffman was working with a rye fungus called ergot, looking for nothing more than a headache remedy. It wasn't until five years later, 1943, that Hoffman began to suspect the mind altering qualities of LSD by accidental ingestion. He then took a deliberate dosage of 250 micrograms to verify his suspicion. That was an enormous dose by current standards -- 25 micrograms is the "norm". LSD is very potent. Hoffman then took a famous bicycle ride in which he hallucinated that trees were melting. The next day, he awoke with a sense of expanded awareness and credited LSD with his newfound wisdom.
LSD quickly garnered attention for its mind-bending effects. Sandoz gave it freely to doctors studying schizophrenia (among others) and gave it the commercial name Delysid. As it grew in popularity, some doctors actually prescribed it for depression and anxiety. In 1961, Harvard psychology professor Timothy Leary received an LSD study grant. In one of his studies, he found that 83% of LSD users had profound, beautiful insights from their drug use. LSD became the "super muse" of the art and music community. Aldous Huxley, Allen Ginsberg and Anais Nin were among its users. People claimed to feel visionary and born again under its influence. The Beatles, the Doors and the Grateful Dead were among the multitude of musicians that turned on and tuned in. Oddly, some of the most beautiful music of the 20th century ("A Day in the Life", "Tuesday Afternoon") was probably LSD-influenced.
Alas, nothing good is forever. There had to be some kind of bummer to bring everyone back down and there was. LSD caused "bad trips" where people would experience pain or ghastly imagery. It was thought to cause permanent psychosis in some users and traumatic flashbacks in others. For these reasons, it was banned in the USA in October 1966. LSD took some other bad raps at about the same time. Both the Army and the CIA had been using LSD for mind control experiments (eg, Project MKULTRA). The subjects of the experiment were soldiers and citizens unaware that they were being used as guinea pigs. Such experiments were outlawed under the Ford Administration and laws of informed consent were later enacted.
And so, what is the status of LSD today? It is alive and well in the underground recreational drug market. It's frequently dispensed on blotter paper in tiny dosages of 20 to 30 micrograms. In 2006, the British Journal of Psychiatry actually suggested that LSD might be reevaluated for its medical use. Maybe after the passage of 40 years and the reduced hysteria, the drug could be tested in a more controlled fashion. I can't imagine what illness I might have, where the antidote gives me melting trees and time dilation. But what the hey -- I've had some killer head aches. What harm is a Salvador Dali world, if I can feel good again? But maybe we should refrain.
Speaking of refrains, I'm thinking of, "I read the news today Oh boy ...” LSD gave us some bad trips and some really good music. What to make of something that has such powers? The genie needs to stay in the bottle for now. When Sandoz comes out with a version that only makes us visionary or only sends us on a good trip -- then maybe we can let the genie back out of the bottle.
© 2007 blogSpotter
Sunday, June 03, 2007
The Summer of Love, 40 Years Later
All you need is love -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia
by blogSpotter
I was just a ten year old Air Force brat when 1967's Summer of Love took place. At that young age I was unable to appreciate, much less partake in the amazing cultural phenomenon. 1969's Woodstock is frequently cited as the seminal Earth-shaking event in American Rock history but nay -- Woodstock is the offspring of that certain summer, that summer of California Dreamin' that took place two years earlier. The Summer of Love actually started as nothing more than a marketing gimmick for the June '67 Monterrey Music Festival. To help promote the event in May '67, The Mamas and Papas' John Phillips penned a little song with a big impact: San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair). Scott McKenzie's eloquent recording of the song became a #1 hit and it served as a quasi-invitation for hippies worldwide to converge in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco for the summer.
The Monterrey Music Festival dovetailed with several other amazing things. An event called the Human Be-In at Golden Gate Park got the ball rolling in January of '67. Then the Beatles came forth with the drug-influenced, George Martin-produced tour-de-force known as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. There was already a certain hippie momentum and the Beatles' magnum opus (arguably the best album in Rock history) added fuel to the fire. Basically, the whole world converged on San Francisco that summer -- people from New Zealand, Europe and everywhere else. There were hippies to be sure, but also tourists, gawkers, soldiers and middle aged people. Some of the drug-addled attendees actually thought that utopia was to occur then and there. It's easy to see why. They had free food, free love and even a free clinic (which still operates to this day). There was even a Free Store which gave basic supplies to anyone in need.
As all good things must, the Summer of Love came to an end. Overcrowding, crime and drug problems began to take a toll. Those ultimate wet blankets, practical people and realists, all had to go back to school and back to their jobs. It turned out that you couldn't give everything away free, forever without something like that pesky Social Contract becoming necessary. Nevertheless, and you knew a nevertheless was coming, the Summer of Love was beautiful in both its utopian intentions and its musical expression. Nothing since has held a candle to the "turning on" that happened that summer in Haight-Ashbury. In 1987, the 20th anniversary of Sergeant Pepper and the Summer of Love, the album was released in CD format. Wags the world over argued over the question, "Is love all you really need?" Sociologists and pragmatists everywhere claimed that you need money, work, social security a sound roof and central heating. They finally approached the expert himself, George Harrison, to seek his opinion. George answered without any hesitation at all: "Yes, all you need is Love". Thank you Mr. Harrison; this blog author is in whole-hearted agreement with that lyric. The Summer of Love was a perfect antidote to a world rocked by racial strife and the Viet Nam War. Some 40 years later, we are rocked by the war in Iraq -- maybe it's time to revisit Haight-Ashbury and its themes. I'll close with my favorite bumper sticker from the era:
"Make love, not war".
© 2007 blogSpotter
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Of Beer, Bongs and Boys
Assorted Dutch beers, courtesy Wikipedia
by blogSpotter
Barbara Ehrenreich is an author who contributes essays to TIME magazine. Her writing has a feminist bent, and sometimes comes across as shrill, but her essay in last week's TIME was pretty good. In it, she described a new collegiate reality where only 45% of students under 25 are male; males are also less likely to graduate. Much of this jibes with statistics I mentioned in my Macho Imperative blog earlier this year. Rather than slave over Physics or Classical Mechanics, today's young males are more likely to select easy majors that allow for keg parties and poker games. Academicians have fretted that we may end up with a matriarchy where over-achieving girls rule the roost. "Not so fast," says Ehrenreich. "It may be that college boys are onto something".
Ehrenreich describes a new business world that has also recently evolved -- evolved in such a way as to separate bean-counting nerds from high octane, risk-taking players. The new business world celebrates such things as personality, likeability and positive attitude. It elevates traits such as a Myers-Briggs "extroverted" profile far above any engineering proficiency. The personality cult is especially kind to jocular jock types who excel at hitting golf balls.
Time was, when hard work and earnest effort toward objectively judged goals was praiseworthy. If any division existed, it was between blue collar and white collar workers. One must imagine that w/ grade inflation, proliferation of college degrees and globalization, that college degrees don’t have the patina they once did. A Bachelors Degree of 2006 is maybe on par w/ a high school diploma of 1966. Then, celebrity-jock hip-hop culture has made anyone troubling over books and graphs some kind of ultimate chump. “Fish or cut bait” goes the phrase, and apparently guys all want to fish.
My personal impression is that there aren’t enough “personality” jobs to give every member of the cult a high paying position. Maybe we are heading toward a “Slacker Nation” where under-employed men shop their ideas for web sites, businesses and screenplays at Starbucks while the wife toils over actuarial science in a cubicle maze. In a pride of lions, the females hunt while the males luxuriate, look beautiful and shake their manes. Maybe we are headed toward lion world. It’s not a world I’m overly familiar with – perhaps I should go back to college. This time, I’ll hedge my bets by majoring in Heineken and hoops.
© 2006 blogSpotter.
Labels: Society
