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A Model Ballerina

jeckylphoto — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:05:21 +0000

I was finally able to catch up on some things from this summer, I have several projects that I’ve just been dying to get to. One of my favorite sessions of the summer was with Crystal, she’s got SO much energy, we spent time in the studio and then went to Grapevine Lake.

We had such a great time, the shots in the water were some of my favorites, it even has a funny story to go with it. You think you have everything packed and in the car and even double check things so that once you get there, there was nothing left out. Well there was this one bag that had all the towels and my swimming suit in it that got left behind…..the girls thought I looked hilarious with my long shorts rolled up as high as they would go, if there were only a picture to go with this post…(I think they were deleted in post on accident).

The one shot of Crystal dashing out of the water was when I mentioned that I had fish nibbling on my legs, I don’t know how people can stand those “Fishy Pedicures”. The shots of the hair ripping out of the water have to be my favorite action shots of the year. All in all we had a really good time.

The Courage to Say No

rogerhollander — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:24:16 +0000

Published on Friday, December 18, 2009 by The Nationby Naomi Klein

CopenhagenOn the ninth day of the Copenhagen climate summit, Africa was sacrificed. The position of the G-77 negotiating bloc, including African states, had been clear: a 2 degree Celsius increase in average global temperatures translates into a 3-3.5 degree increase in Africa.

That means, according to the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, “an additional 55 million people could be at risk from hunger” and “water stress could affect between 350 and 600 million more people.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu puts the stakes like this: “We are facing impending disaster on a monstrous scale…. A global goal of about 2 degrees C is to condemn Africa to incineration and no modern development.”

And yet that is precisely what Ethiopia’s prime minister, Meles Zenawi, proposed to do when he stopped off in Paris on his way to Copenhagen: standing with President Nicolas Sarkozy, and claiming to speak on behalf of all of Africa (he is the head of the African climate-negotiating group), he unveiled a plan that includes the dreaded 2 degree increase and offers developing countries just $10 billion a year to help pay for everything climate related, from sea walls to malaria treatment to fighting deforestation.

It’s hard to believe this is the same man who only three months ago was saying this: “We will use our numbers to delegitimize any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position…. If need be, we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent…. What we are not prepared to live with is global warming above the minimum avoidable level.”

And this: “We will participate in the upcoming negotiations not as supplicants pleading for our case but as negotiators defending our views and interests.”

We don’t yet know what Zenawi got in exchange for so radically changing his tune or how, exactly, you go from a position calling for $400 billion a year in financing (the Africa group’s position) to a mere $10 billion. Similarly, we do not know what happened when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo just weeks before the summit and all of a sudden the toughest Filipino negotiators were kicked off their delegation and the country, which had been demanding deep cuts from the rich world, suddenly fell in line.

We do know, from witnessing a series of these jarring about-faces, that the G-8 powers are willing to do just about anything to get a deal in Copenhagen. The urgency clearly does not flow from a burning desire to avert cataclysmic climate change, since the negotiators know full well that the paltry emissions cuts they are proposing are a guarantee that temperatures will rise a “Dantesque” 3.9 degrees, as Bill McKibben puts it.

Matthew Stilwell of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development–one of the most influential advisers in these talks–says the negotiations are not really about averting climate change but are a pitched battle over a profoundly valuable resource: the right to the sky. There is a limited amount of carbon that can be emitted into the atmosphere. If the rich countries fail to radically cut their emissions, then they are actively gobbling up the already insufficient share available to the South. What is at stake, Stilwell argues, is nothing less than “the importance of sharing the sky.”

Europe, he says, fully understands how much money will be made from carbon trading, since it has been using the mechanism for years. Developing countries, on the other hand, have never dealt with carbon restrictions, so many governments don’t really grasp what they are losing. Contrasting the value of the carbon market–$1.2 trillion a year, according to leading British economist Nicholas Stern–with the paltry $10 billion on the table for developing countries, Stilwell says that rich countries are trying to exchange “beads and blankets for Manhattan.” He adds: “This is a colonial moment. That’s why no stone has been left unturned in getting heads of state here to sign off on this kind of deal…. Then there’s no going back. You’ve carved up the last remaining unowned resource and allocated it to the wealthy.”

For months now NGOs have gotten behind a message that the goal of Copenhagen is to “seal the deal.” Everywhere we look in the Bella Center, clocks are going “tck tck tck.” But any old deal isn’t good enough, especially because the only deal on offer won’t solve the climate crisis and might make things much worse, taking current inequalities between North and South and locking them in indefinitely. Augustine Njamnshi of Pan African Climate Justice Alliance puts the 2 degree proposal in harsh terms: “You cannot say you are proposing a ’solution’ to climate change if your solution will see millions of Africans die and if the poor not the polluters keep paying for climate change.”

Stilwell says that the wrong kind of deal would “lock in the wrong approach all the way to 2020″–well past the deadline for peak emissions. But he insists that it’s not too late to avert this worst-case scenario. “I’d rather wait six months or a year and get it right because the science is growing, the political will is growing, the understanding of civil society and affected communities is growing, and they’ll be ready to hold their leaders to account to the right kind of a deal.”

At the start of these negotiations the mere notion of delay was environmental heresy. But now many are seeing the value of slowing down and getting it right. Most significant, after describing what 2 degrees would mean for Africa, Archbishop Tutu pronounced that it is “better to have no deal than to have a bad deal.” That may well be the best we can hope for in Copenhagen. It would be a political disaster for some heads of state–but it could be one last chance to avert the real disaster for everyone else.

*This column was first published in The Nation (www.thenation.com).

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of the international and New York Times bestseller The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. See more at www.naomiklein.org.

Deck the Halls with PLURAL COLLECTIVE NOUN of NOUN

The Editor — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:44:20 +0000

It’s a hippo wearing a tutu. I can’t wait to also celebrate Christmas with my traditional decorative noun wearing a adjective noun.

Thanks to Dorie N.

Miss Prima

Clare — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:41:59 +0000

I don’t feel like doing Things Fashionistas Like Thursday

I would rather dress up like a ballerina.

♥

By Andy Barker. Photographer: Nicky Emmerson. Stylist: Nicky Yates

The Kohanga Christmas Party (with a couple-a-tutus)

domesticscene — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:05:38 +0000

Today was the second to last day of Kohanga for 2009, and also the Christmas Party. The tamariki have been gearing up for this for a while, and Sabina Arikirangi has been arriving home these past days and weeks magically singing her Maori Christmas carols and raving about “Hana Koko” (Father Christmas / Santa). Our invitation said the kids were to arrive at 10am, “Dressed Up”, so I popped the girls into their tutus and wings while Lido Ngakau got to wear his new Hawaiian shirt, given as one item of a huge sack of “boys clothes” given to us by kohanga in order to dress Lido “more like a boy”…. (ouch!). So we did.

To see the tutu tutorials click here, or search tutu in my sidebar for my many tutu efforts…

Zippity Zoo day

domesticscene — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:26:59 +0000

The farmyard came to our Kohanga Reo Christmas Party today; sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs. The pony and the donkey reportedly wouldn’t play ball and hop in their truck to come, but our tamariki had a super time anyway with the animals that did come to our Zippity Zoo day…

The TuTu

dodikonigsmark — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:00:43 +0000

Ok, so the tutu is not the ONLY reason I want to have a girl, but seriously, it might be about 90% of the reason. Here is where I’m probably supposed to say that we just want a healthy baby, and while that is very, very true, all this gender guessing is laborious! I seriously almost bought our child a tutu… but then, what if it is a boy? Andy would never forgive me for sneaking that tulle pink around his waist! I don’t know WHY I think it’s a girl, but let me tell you, naming a genderless baby is terribly challenging, and stopping yourself from buying gender-specific clothing requires more restraint than I’d ever imagined. I would have surely spent $5000 already if I knew the sex of our baby. Not knowing was probably the best decision we’ve made. But can you imagine our little princess in this:

Don't EAT the baby!

Tutu warns of 'hell' in Africa

tellmenews — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:33:30 +0000

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has praised young people for fighting for climate justice. Annie, 15, from Maidenhill School in Gloucestershire reports from the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: kindergarten school. The blog is also related to: literacy.

Tutu Mayhem- Danger Danger!!

mickandmack — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:39:42 +0000

First of all we’d like to wish everybody a very very happy holidays!

On another note….

It has now been determined that making tutus can not only hurt you…it can make you loopy. See picture below for evidence….

We embarked this week on an interesting journey…ahem that would be appearing (in tutu form) on the cover of our hometown newspaper!!!! This was a PRETTY exciting happening around the mick&mack office. The resulting tutu mayhem of orders on our website has put Michaela over the edge She is now in hiding (see below).

Also we’re going to start doing a number of interesting things here on our blog…including linking you to fun holiday stuff! See below for adorable downloadable wrapping papers found on the amazing blog http://www.creaturecomfortsblog.com/home/tag/printable. Creature Comforts is my new favorite must-have with the morning coffee. Check them out!

CCMC's opening party!

cypruscommunitymediacentre — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:01:16 +0000

What a night! On the 9 December 2009, the Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC) had its opening event at its new premises in Nicosia’s buffer zone. The centre was officially opened by three members of the eminent ‘Elders’ group, Lakhdar Brahimi, Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu.

Hundreds of people came along to celebrate with us, and hear directly from the Elders themselves, who were in Cyprus to support individuals and organisations seeking to build greater trust and dialogue between the communities of the island. The Elders expressed their support for the new centre, and their desire to see a positive outcome to current political negotiations.

Speaking at the event, Desmond Tutu said that Cyprus was full of untold and beautiful stories and that he hoped “the community media centre could be a vehicle for these stories to surface.” The guests, which included media professionals, artists, creatives, and members of the diplomatic community, also had the opportunity to see the work of the CCMC through multimedia installations, video projections, photographs and stories collected from across Cyprus.

Were you there? Did you have a good time? Let us know!

Desmond Tutu, Lakhdar Brahimi, Nadia Karayianni, Ilke Dagli and Jimmy Carter, 9 Dec 09.

Honorary guest Desmond Tutu, at the CCMC opening event, 9 Dec 09.

Are you as skinny as a 5-year old?

selfishseamstress — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:21:14 +0000

Tonight, I made this little tutu. There’s nothing spectacular about it from the sewing perspective- just a quick little crafting project out of some snowflake-flocked sheer something or other that I’ve had in my stash for years, a little wire-edged taffeta ribbon, narrow elastic, and a quick half hour. In and of itself, it’s nothing that warrants a blog mention. In fact, I planned to hide it from you so you wouldn’t know that your most Selfish of Seamstresses had of her own volition decided not only to sew for someone else, but for a child (like a regular person but smaller and with an underdeveloped sense of indebtedness.) I had a moment of weakness. What do you want from me. She’s cute and she’s sweet and she loves ballet and she’s going to see the Nutcracker this weekend. And as a lifelong student of ballet (on and off these days), I couldn’t resist the urge to make a Waltz of the Snowflakes romantic tutu for her. What. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT.

The reason I bring it up is that as I was starting this project, I needed to figure out how big to make the waist for a 5- to 6-year old girl. So, I went to McCall’s website and looked up the size chart for children. And this is what I found:

So, we’re looking at about 22″. Now, wait a sec, wait a sec, wait a sec. That number looks familiar. Hey! I know where I know that number from– that’s the waist measurement for the Misses’ size 4, the size I usually make… WHAT??? Here’s a chunk of the Misses’ size chart:

The smallest Misses’ size has the same waist measurement as that of a child described as “walking and not wearing diapers.” For context, there are still all the Girls’ sizes 7 to 16 in between the Children’s sizes and the Misses’ sizes. Now I know that kindergarteners may have little round pudgy bellies, but… they are not grown-up people size! This is scary! Do the pattern companies really expect that adults will have the same waist measurement as kids who are singing Itsy-Bitsy Spider??

Now, I cut size 4 when I make Big 4 patterns. But that’s based on the bust measurement, NOT the waist measurement. I have often puzzled over that number, because while I am certainly on the smaller end of the people spectrum, if we go purely by the measurement chart, my waist would probably fall somewhere in the 10 range. (Who ever heard of grading from a 4 bust to a 10 waist and back to a 4 hip??) And funnily enough, I pretty much never grade the waist up, because the size 4 patterns generally fit just fine in the waist when I make them up and all the wearing ease is factored in. Once I made a skirt and decided I’d err on the safe side by starting with a size 6 (still considerably smaller than my actual waist measurement according to the chart), and I ended up swimming in it.

This makes me wonder if the prescribed waist measurements for Misses’ sizes are just vanity numbers and in actuality the pattern companies KNOW that no one really has that waist measurement and don’t even draft the patterns for those body measurements. Maybe they always tell you to go by the bust measurements because it’s the hardest area to alter AND because they know the waist measurements as given are inaccurate? I can understand why companies do vanity sizing in terms of the size numbers, but wouldn’t they want to be super accurate about the actual body measurements? I know I don’t have a very defined waist, but the waist measurements surely must still be off if they expect a small woman to have the waist circumference of a child just a year or two past toddlerhood, no? Or is my waist just that unusually enormous in proportion to the rest of my body?

I’m sure there are some women out there who do indeed have teeny tiny 22″ waists. (And NO, for the record, we DON’T want to hear about it so don’t go posting comments like, “Well, I have a 22″ waist and I have no idea why because I eat anything I want all the time and everyone’s always like OMG how do you stay so skinny when you eat so much!” I have the power of DELETE which I will use in conjunction with EYE-ROLL.) My point is not that such people don’t exist. My point is rather that it is just bizarre that pattern companies use the same standard waist measurement for my grown-up pattern size as for children’s size 6. Oh, and for context, the size 10 Misses waist measurement (25″) is the same as the Girls’ size 10- roughly equal to that of a regular sized 10-year old girl. Eh?

The upside of this is that if all these charts are actually realistic, that little girl will probably be able to wear that snowflake tutu from Auntie Elaine well into her 30s. And she’d better because she owes me now.

Perfection in a Tutu {Melissa Stottmann Photography serving the Delaware Valley Area}

melisssanne — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:52:36 +0000

This session took place at the same location as the large family session – another baby joined the group just 6 weeks ago, and it was time for some more pictures of her adorableness (I realize I made the word up). We decided to make it easy and just piggy back on the large family session- little miss could not have cooperated any better!

the elephant's foot on the mouse's tail.

ACHOR — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:09:24 +0000

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
Desmond Tutu

Happiness is a tutu...

wendymallins — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:47:12 +0000

this is just a little something crossing my mind…

My girly is now 6 years old, now 6 for some girly’s is when they are playing with Bratz dolls, indulging in High School Musical, obsessing over Hannah Montana, coveting their mini-me friends (or at least Suri Cruise’s high heel shoes) they want IPods and DS’s and even a mini bra as worn by one in girly’s class!

But for me and my 6 year old girly there is still all the time in the world for that to happen, currently she is more than content, playing within the land of Sylvania, whirling & twirling in front of a mirror… disappearing with a packed lunch & a few well chosen essentials into fairy world (or the garden at least..) which leads me nicely to happiness… which Father Christmas will deliver this year in the form of a beautiful green (not Barbie pink) tutu, beautifully made, by Harriet a The Children’s Jewellery Company whom I only happened to know about through the marvellous world that is Twitter

Here is a photo of the lovely happiness inducing tutu (obviously not being worn… it has to go to Father Christmas for delivery on… errrm Christmas day)

I am 100% sure that this tutu & the accompanying fairy wings will be spending a huge amount of time (probably to the point of being worn out) adorning my daughter! They shall no doubt be integral to visits to fairyland, impromptu dance performances and more than likely a party of two.

The Children’s Jewellery Company also sell gorgeous jewellery and hair accessories! Check out Harriet’s website here -

www.thechildrensjewellerycompany.co.uk

Previously Unknown Entities

cartoongoddess — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:07:16 +0000

Relatos: Martina I

almassy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:39:23 +0000

Martina soñaba con ser mayor. Mayormente buena, mayormente guapa, mayormente inteligente, mayormente generosa, mayormente educada, mayormente alta.

Soñaba en blanco y negro.

Sin embargo ayer soñé con ella y la vi en color.

Hippo Ballerina Twirling

colonelkorne — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:20:08 +0000

My Weekend

LuzieLand — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:49:34 +0000

How sad, the weekend is over again buuuut, it was worth it!

5 things i learnt this weekend:

1. A head-sized hole in a a big sheet of material is the perfect base for any costumes

2. Apparently, angels now wear tutus.

3. Heated pools are sooo much better!

4. White shorts and swimming do not go together ^_

5. I love bikes!

And one thing I still need to learn:

How to see through Ray-Bans!

Hippo Ballerina Leaping

colonelkorne — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:51:31 +0000

Hippo Ballerina

colonelkorne — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:40:20 +0000

The start of a series with a dancing hippo

NSFW November: Pia Reyes, Miss November 1988

E. — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:55:04 +0000

The lovely and talented Pia Reyes, Miss November 1988, was the first Filipino model to appear in Playboy.

“I am an ethnic jumble,” says Pia Reyes. … “My parents had their Filipino friends — my Mom was always cooking this smelly fish — but I grew up like a white suburban kid. I played lacrosse, basketball and tennis. (“Thrilla from Manila,” Playboy, November 1988)

They called her article, “Thrilla From Manila,” but actually she grew up in Havertown, Pennsylvania. In case you don’t get the title (which makes you absolutely no son of mine), it is a reference to the third and final fight between heavyweight boxers Cassius “Muhammad Ali” Clay and Joe Frazier for the title of Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World, which took place in the Philippines on October 2, 1975.

The fight finally brought to a conclusion a bitter rivalry that had been going since 1971, that for my money is one of the best stories in the history of sports (where is its movie, Hollywood???). This one’s got it all, guys: draft-dodging, personal jealousies, the backdrop of major historical events, the freaking President getting involved, even. And through it all, two very different but very contentious personalities, Frazier and Ali, duking it out verbally and physically, in the press and in pre-fights. In the Thrilla in Manila, they went fourteen grueling, brutal rounds, both fighting to the point of almost total physical exhaustion before boxing official Eddie Futch declared Ali the victor (he said at the time it was to spare Frazier’s life, although really either could have gone).

Frazier protested stopping the fight, shouting “I want him boss,” and trying to get Futch to change his mind.

Futch simply replied, “It’s all over. No one will forget what you did here today”, and signaled to the referee to end the bout. Ali was therefore declared the victor.

He would later claim that this was the closest to dying he had ever been, and also stated, “Joe Frazier, I’ll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I’m gonna tell ya, that’s one helluva man, and God bless him.”

In a brief post-fight interview with one of the commentators, Ali announced, “He is the greatest fighter of all times, next to me.” (the wiki)

Do you even understand how major all of that is? Boxing is not as violent as you think, and it’s not always just big fat guys hugging (I always say, “Get a room or start punching”), not when you have two men in the ring as skilled as Frazier and the Greatest. Though you seldom see it at the heavyweight level, you see it more often with middle and welter (not bantam as much cause they’re so quick it’s like the cockfight from which their category’s name comes), it’s a graceful and carefully plotted series of moves, like a bloody ballet, it’s like … like art. It’s a dance. And you have these two combatants who are so equally matched that they are like hell-soul-mates, made to fight each other. That’s just, it’s just — like… god… oh, man, I honestly get misty just thinking about that event. That is some great motherfucking sports right there. I wish I had been born to see it firsthand, but I’ve watched clips of it on ESPN classic. (Boy, I miss having that) Le sigh.

As an epilogue, this story gets even better, in my opinion, because dig this: In June of 2001, guess who met for a grudge match on the Thrilla in Manila fight? Their freaking daughters. The fight was re-enacted, sort of, in New York by Laila “She Bee Stingin’” Ali and Jackie “Sister Smoke” Frazier-Lyde in what the press called Ali/Frazier IV. Laila, sixteen years younger than Jackie and with a little more training under her belt, took it in eight. But I love that both of them went for it! What a great story.

Finally, dig the Jessica Rabbit cover! God bless ya, Roger Rabbit and all of 1988. And to Pia Reyes, about whom this entry is not even at all remotely concerned, sorry. It’s not your fault that I think boxing is more interesting than whatever your little turn-ons and ambitions were. I feel kind of badly now. How about this? I will try to make it up to you another day, I swar to gar. You will get more attention from me later. Unless I forget.

Fairy Cute® outfit

fairycuteusa — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:01:34 +0000

Here’s the first Fairy Cute t-shirt prototype. WAY cute, huh! Very popular at a recent show we did in Phoenix. We’ll be getting these properly printed up in the future…stay tuned!

Cheryl Cole's sexy mini Mouse outfit

totalcherylcole — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:47:48 +0000

Cheryl Cole looked just peachy last night in a hit mini-dress made for her by Brit designer Giles Deacon. She teamed the £1,500 tutu with a Minnie Mouse-style hair bow, but there was certainly nothing mousey about the X Factor judge…

Source

♥

charlottemaryphoto — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:57:21 +0000

I’m just in love with this one, taken a couple weeks ago in Downtown Charleston, and had to share it =]