READING ROOM

betel nut beauty?
Last time I was in Taiwan, driving out from Taipei and into the smaller cities on the island, I couldn't help but notice the preponderance of betel nut stands, most of them staffed by "provocatively" dressed, young women. The LA Times reports on the phenom in today's paper.

The Times also has a profile of Mirai Nagasu, the 14 year old skater from San Gabriel Valley who is set to be the next major U.S. skater. (Begin your Kwan/Yamaguchi comparisons now!)

And in unexpected Southland news, crime in Antelope Valley - which has taken it on the chin during the implosion of the real estate market - is actually down 10%; the lowest rate since 2001. Given the financial hardships in cities like Palmdale and Lancaster, conventional wisdom says the rate should climb but as some have suggested, changes in the crime rate do not always conform to expectation. That said, let's hope this trend continues elsewhere, especially the equally hard-hit Inland Empire.

--O.W.

THE WACKY PAC

This is why I love college football.

(Go Bears! The Rose Bowl is back in our grasp!)[1]




[1] Yeah, I know, probably not going to happen but a True Blue can always dream.

--O.W.

ONWARD TO OCTOBER

Jyeah.

--O.W.

WHAT WAS VOGUE THINKING?

smoking gun?

Harry Allen - the OG Media Assassin - has been on top of this LeBron/Vogue controversy for a minute now and recently posted up what he claims is the original inspiration for that Vogue cover.

There might be some teensy wiggle room that this could be "just a coincidence" but that's a hard argument to tow and what Allen points out is especially damning is the silence coming from the magazine and photographer themselves.

Question: this is a real suspect look for Vogue and Leibovitz but when's the last time the fashion industry really made a good look when it came to race? Or gender? Or class? The idea that Vogue would do something racially inane is about as surprising as, say, gender inequality in mainstream Hollywood film. Which isn't to say that we shouldn't be outraged and pissed off and vocal but what's the realistic end game here? I get the feeling that Vogue and the Leibovitz will just ride the storm out unless this somehow gets elevated to Imusian levels (paging Oprah! Paging LeBron's political consciousness, if it even exists!).

By the way, do listen to that NPR piece by Peter Sagal, bashing Horton Hears a Hoo for being yet another example of Hollywood's rampant and oft-ignored sexism. Daughters of the world, unite!

--O.W.