I was just reading the current issue of Art in America, my new favorite magazine. One of the articles in it is about a book called “Secret Museums” which is a study of the history of pornography in the art world. In the article, they explain the root of the word obscene. It turns out it is a word with it’s roots in a saying created by the ancient Greeks. Ob Skena was said to describe acts so taboo and awful, that when they occurred in a play they had to take place off stage. In fact, in English the saying literally translates as offstage. Such acts included murder and sex. If you say ob skena out loud, it is easy to hear where the modern day word obscene came from….
…and I guess Jesus is pissed off about it. I think? Maybe?
So, on the plane ride home from Las Vegas yesterday, Paul and I were talking about an article that appeared in the Inflight Magazine about something stupid (I don’t even remember what) and I declared “Jeez Louise, this is retarded!”.
I know, I know…. I am such a midwestern lady….
Anyway, it got me wondering. Why do people say this?
Why did I say it?
On the plane, I speculated to Paul that at some point there must have been a lady somewhere named “Louise” who was constantly doing stupid things that pissed people off around her.
Maybe she was a klutz and was breaking things. Or perhaps she lacked social skills and was constantly making offensive statements. I imagined that this “Louise” must have had some sort of superficial or monetary power over people. Her family and friends would always wish they could just slap her or simply stop spending time with her, but they had no choice. If they wanted that inheritance (or something), they would just have to stick it out…. So, in order to deal with their frustation over the situation, they would simply mutter “Jeez Louise…” under their breath everytime she annoyed them…
“How exciting!” I thought. “I can’t wait to get home and do some research. This ‘Louise’ person must be absolutely fascinating!”
And then…… I was totally bummed.
I found out that the root of the saying dates back to the early 20’s. The word “Jeez” is just a slang form of “Jesus” that people used in order to not get in trouble for using the lord’s name in vain. And the name Louise was just picked because it rhymed… BORING!
All of us here at Gaycondo are officially obsessed with this new British fad that just crossed the Atlantic called Sleeve facing. Watch the video to learn more:
As some of you may know, I am a total fag. As a result, I’m into some pretty classically faggy things. One of the most prominent of these activities has got to be collecting vintage brooches (side note: I bet you thought that was spelled with an “a” after the “o”. WRONG!), which is a hobby I picked up a couple of years ago.
I’m in no way an expert on the topic, I just buy stuff I like when I see it. My favorite category of brooches is for sure cameos. So the other day I was out fantasy shopping at a couple of fancy-town vintage shops,and a piece similiar to the one on the left caught my eye.
“How interesting!” I thought. “A photo cameo framed in silk! I must learn more!”
So, I approached the sales girl and asked about it.
“Oh, that is a great piece of mourning jewelry.” She said. “The child’s hair is still in such great condition. Very rare!”
Mourning jewelry? CHILD’S HAIR??? It turns out that Victorian people had a serious boner for being sad. This trend was started when Queen Victoria’s husband passed away and she went into full on serious mourning for 40 YEARS! She even dressed her servants in head to toe black.
So apparently they didn’t have E! or Bravo back then ( losers ), because the only fashion icon regular Victorian ladies had to mimic was a stodgy senior citizen Queen. Thus, a creepy trend is born. The whole country went goth for her and adopted mourning as a permenant form of fashion expression.
Lucky for the ladies of the time, they were not expected to ACTUALLY mimic Queen Victoria and mourn their husbands for the rest of their days .
No, they were only expected to wear head to toe black and a veil covering their faces for one year, followed by 1-2 more without the veil.
Geez. I’m all for listening to The Cure, but this is getting out of hand!
In addition to donning full black garb, those in mourning were allowed to ornament themselves with morbid remembrances of the deceased. These pieces of jewelry were made almost exclusively of black stones, gold, photo’s of the deceased, and braided human hair from their bodies! I guess you were lucky if the person you were mourning had blonde hair, because then you could jazz up the whole black-on-black thing!
ANYWAY…..
I didn’t want you to leave Gaycondo totally bummed out, so here is this to watch:
“Many people work out to achieve the “six-pack” ab look. But sometimes even a good exercise program fails to provide that “perfectly toned” tummy. Now, some doctors are helping patients get the six-pack look through cosmetic surgery. The procedure is called ab etching.
Ab etching is done using liposuction. A long, hollow tube with a cutting edge (a cannula) and attached vacuum is placed through tiny incisions made in the abdomen. The surgeon moves the cannula under the skin, suctioning out enough fat to create “grooves” in target areas. Other areas of fat are left in place. (In some cases, a little extra fat may be moved into the untouched areas to emphasize the appearance of the fat pads.) When the procedure is completed, the abdominal area will have the six-pack look.
After the procedure, patients wear a support garment to control swelling. Pain medication may also be needed. Some patients may see changes as soon as the next day. However, it can take up to three months to obtain ultimate results. Patients are permitted to exercise again in about ten days to two weeks. For those who maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly, the results will be long-lasting. Complications of ab etching are uncommon and can include infection, bleeding and scarring.” - LINK
I recently learned about a new term used to describe a type of modern advirtising. “Greenwashing” refers to:
“ when a company or organization spends more time and money claiming to be “green” through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact. It’s whitewashing, but with a green brush” -Enviromedia
With all the enviromental empathy/panic that has been dredged up in the hearts of mainstream America recently, every suburban SUV owner has decided to “go green”. Think reusable shopping bags at Whole Foods. Because of this mostly symbolic shift in the lifestyle of the middle class, using “green” catch words (Hybrid! Clean! Energy Security! Renewable!) has become a real cashcow.
I remember a few years ago when media literacy was such a buzz topic! “Oh, adbusters this! Oh Naomi Klein that!” It seems we have all but forgotten to be critical of what we are told in marketing.
Thank god for a new website called The Greenwashing Index . They have created a project where advertising that is using green ideas to sell a product is judged by the public. After viewing different ads, they are ranked on a 1(true)-5(lie) scale, and voters can leave comments.
