Umm…

I must say that, after having perused Versace’s Fall/Winter 2011 Collection runway fashion show images, that I’m… Wow… Well, I’m…

I guess “Stunned” would be a good word.

Mind you, I don’t mean “Stunned” in good way.

“Why?”, you might ask… (Please Ask.)

Because every single runway model – in both Versace’s men’s & women’s collections – is… oh… Uber-Caucasian.

In fact… (personally) I found the men extremely Aryan-looking and not all that physically-attractive – for my own tastes, anyway. As I looked at them, I kept seeing Prince Charles, for some reason…

And, in the spirit of “full-disclosure”, to be honest: looking at high-end European facist… (oops!)… I meant fashion… show models is something that I never do, usually.

Like you, I have infinitely more important things to do taking up so called “time” in my life – like watching grass grow – but I had to grit my teeth and do a little slumming while doing research for one of my upcoming eBay listings.

So, I have yet to compare Versace’s dismal, pasty-faced parade to the diversity (or lack thereof) found at other fashion power-houses…

But, now that Versace’s glaring lack of color – not to mention evolution – has gotten my ire up…

What can I say?

It’s a dirty job… but, somebody’s gotta do it. And, as is often the case in such situations, I pick… Me.

So, in the coming days, I’ll be going undercover… I’ll become a “Pretender”.

The “Pretend”: I’ll become a style-conscious Fashionista… getting a line on all the glamour-gossip… rubbing virtual shoulders with the chi-chi and the (eww!) trendy…

(Sigh…)

And then, after I’ve taken a very long, very hot shower (or three) and scrubbed all of the over-the-top superficiality off of me… I’ll let you know what I’ve uncovered.

Peace,
L.

*The House of Versace has been run by sister Donatella since Gianni was murdered in the 1990′s.

P.S. ~ Check out the photos for yourselves and let me know what You think:

Versace’s Fall/Winter 2011 Women’s Collection.

Versace’s Fall/Winter 2011 Men’s Collection.

This one’s my next favorite and is located at the High Street exit…

There are four in total from a project titled Words by Roads which was commissioned through the City of Oakland’s Public Art Program in 1991.

Directed by Iranian born conceptual artist Seyed Alavi, the artworks were created in collaboration with sixteen students from Skyline, Fremont, and Oakland High Schools.

Alavi, who’s known for the use of language in his works, conducted creative workshops with the students “to communicate ideas about the power of language… and the social and cultural nature of public art.”

He saw himself acting merely as a facilitator and credits the ideas and sketches for the murals exclusively to the students. “These students felt racism was the most important issue to comment on and decided on four phrases… to be printed on highly visible locations in their neighborhoods.” (City of Oakland Public Art Program)

You’ll have to check back to see the others…  I’ll have more info on the artist too.

Enjoy it, kids, and look out for a belated Fresh Look Friday tomorrow afternoon!

Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Crean says there is no evidence that Indian students are being singled out in racially motivated attacks.

Anger is growing in India over the stabbing death of 21-year-old university graduate Nitin Garg, who was killed on his way to his part-time job at a Melbourne fast food restaurant on Saturday night.

And this morning New South Wales Police confirmed that a partially burned body found by a road last week in the south of the state belonged to another Indian national.

Victoria Police are also investigating the assault of an Indian man at a fast food outlet in Melbourne on the same night that Mr Garg died.

The 29-year-old man was working outside the restaurant at Hampton Park when a carload of men pulled up and bashed him.

Anger over the spate of attacks is continuing in the Indian media but Mr Crean says there is still no evidence that Indians are being specifically targeted.

“I think it’s important to note that the police themselves have said that there is no evidence that this was racially motivated,” he said.

“The question of simply Indians being targeted … hasn’t been borne out by the facts.

“It’s true that a number have been involved, but if one looks at the overall crime – and there’s certainly large numbers of Indian students that are here – according to the authorities, it is not out of the ordinary in terms of that proportionality.

“It’s also true that including over this Christmas period there have been a spate of stabbings in and around Melbourne.”

Federation of Indian Students of Australia spokesman Gautam Gupta says the Federal Government is in denial and students are fearful.

“There is extreme shock and fear and anger and a lot of frustration at the inaction of various levels of government,” he said.

“It’s amazing. People are being attacked here and the government just wants to blame the victims.”

The Opposition’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop says if the police can establish a racial motive for the attacks, a public information campaign should be developed to help protect Indian students.

“To educate the people about some of the dangers that can occur, for example walking home late at night alone, these sorts of things. Australia is a relatively safe place, but there are still steps that can be taken to enhance personal safety,” she said.

Mr Crean defended the Government’s role in notifying Indian authorities about the death of Mr Garg over the weekend.

His family in India say Australian authorities were very slow to notify them of his death.

But Mr Crean says Indian officials were contacted on Sunday morning, and they in turn then contacted the family.

“My sympathies go to the family, apologies not only for the shocking circumstances but if there’s been any added grief for the delay they [the apologies] too are made,” he said.

“But we genuinely have tried to follow appropriate protocols and we are trying to repatriate the body as quickly as possible.”

In the mid-1980s, she spent five years playing the lead character Draupadi in Peter Brook’s Mahabharata in venues around the world. Returning to India, she entered a fertile period of choreography and creativity, starting with the dance Shakti: The Power of Women. She has founded a TV production company that produces activist programming in Gujarati, and runs Mapin, a publisher of books on art and design.

This spring, she made a run for the Lok Sabha, campaigning on a platform of social responsibility, and focusing on the problems of average people in India regardless of caste or language. She came third in her district, Gandhinagar, in Gujarat, but she has continued her campaign to promote social justice there and in the rest of India.

Take a look at her recent presentation at TEDindia here.

Coinciding with and responding to the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial at QAG and QGOMA, in Brisbane, Queensland, the other APT features a range of artworks from Australian-based artists of various cultural backgrounds and artforms:

Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Australian South Sea Islander, Fijian, Maori, Tongan, Samoan, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino and more.

launching online from December 1, 2009: http://www.cybertribe.culture2.org/theotherapt/

This was all over the internet yesterday, and yes, obviously, all of these people are 100% racist (especially the baby–everybody knows that only racists love lollipops).

The funniest part of the video, though, is that the black guy at the end is super sad. Like he just found out, and is so disappointed in himself!

But you know, this video reminds me of something. Different people trying to say the same line with different deliveries, each one competing with the rest for the best actorly rendition. It all feels so familiar… hmm… what it could it be…

Oh yes, that’s it.

(via Videogum and Wonkette)

This image touting religious and ideological harmony was made famous a few years ago when Bono decided to wear a headband with the original three images including the crescent for Islam, the star of David for Judaism and the cross for Christianity. 

Naturally, I assume the person driving this car thinks that religious belief has caused havoc in the world and would prefer a more peaceful “co-existance” among all adherants to whatever belief system one seems to find appealing, as long as he or she is quiet about it.

The next bumper sticker on this said bumper was the classic:

With this I was assured of this person’s hope for world unity and peace and prospertity without the particuarlism and biases that have plauged humanity from the beginning.

Finally, the clincher. . . the bumper sticker that assured me this person had no biases, no hate in his or her heart, no leanings, convictions, or otherwise exclusive bone in his or her body:

The ways on how people show disrespect towards others because of their color or the fact of seeing one person do something is a biased assumption to appoint theirselves.

In my Opinion, I think that it is pointless and stupid. Everyone should erase racism. Eracism. Eracisim. Eracism. Pass it on…

yes i do believe that there are stereotypes and prejudices that all of us have based on race and its portrayal in the media. However i believe that as with my generation, race is far less of a factor than socio-economic class, (this is coming from a black man)… yeah i said it, race is not the primary factor anymore in job selection and other aspects of life. now the criminal justice system is an area that i am not going to even touch… however came across this article about an experiment on the perception of race and human brains

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