'Hot' anti-smoking campaign: Effective?

Nov. 4, 2008: Telling Image

I found this New York Times photo especially telling: As the tallies are read Tuesday night, McCain-Palin supporters mill around in shock - save for one woman who is a dead ringer for Sarah Palin.

Only Traci Bingham ...

... Would take a garbage run and turn it into an airy, seductive photoshoot to show off her modified knockers. Wait. Only Traci Bingham could take a garbage run and turn it ...

Who's Checking for Bai Ling?

She was once a jedi.
No joke, Bai Ling was once a jedi, playing the part in the Star Wars saga, "Attack of the Clones," but after a much-pubicized Playboy photoshoot, John Lucas decided to edit her out of the film.
Bai Ling has a lot on her shoulders: She is the premiere Chinese actress of our time. That she is not so-well-thought-of is a testament to her own erratic behavior as well as the power of Hollywood gossip.
Is anybody - producers, agents, fans - checking for Bai Ling?
Since the Star Wars incident then her life has been sort of like a roller coaster. In February she was arrested or shoplifting batteries at LAX. Bai Ling is a maverick. She is widely considered the worst dresser in Hollywood. And that's what we like about her. She has her own style, largely misunderstood, wholly unforgettable.
Bai was born in Chengdu, People's Republic of China; "Bai", her family name, literally means "white". Ling, means clever.Lately she's been doing TV, acting in "Lost" and "Entourage." But we want to see her back on the big screen.

Haute Outfit

Will Becky/Amy/Ashley Do a Bradley?

Today, millions of European Americans will be asked to do what all other nonwhite voters of the United States have done since they had the right to: Vote outside their race. The selling of the concept has been so pretentious over the past 6 months that pontiffs and experts have basically given up on race not being a factor; instead they say that the Bradley Effect, will the overriding stimulus to either put Barack Obama in the White House or coincidentally send the first woman vice president to Washington. The Bradley theory - which analysts put at around 10 percent for this race - says that white voters tend to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate, and yet, on election day, vote for his white opponent.The question, can red-blooded, blue-eyed, blonde-haired Americans send a person of color to the White House, has been dreamed up since the very beginning of the office. It has been immediately dismissed as pure fairy tale just as long. But can they do it? Can they lick the lollipop so unlike any other candy they've had before? Or will they, at the last fateful second, retreat back into sameness, the familiar taste of what they know?

The Sophistication of the Wife Beater

The wife beater has come a long way: Originally introduced to the masses by Ralph Cramden's sidekick, Ed Norton, on "The Honeymooners," the look is now considered fashionable. To be sure, wife beaters is simply a slang term for the sleeveless T-shirt, or tank top. Tank tops, especially colored ones, have long been a staple around tropical climates and beach communities, but never have they transcended to outer wear like they have now.
Wife beaters have long been worn by working class men in the Western world, but never with the confidence and style that we see today. Although the biggest change has been with women, who are wearing it now without hesitation, or bras.
The fact is, celebrities, as usual, are pioneering the style into America's dressing rooms and stores. Wife beaters used to be simple, drab or improper. Now they are considered dress-down casual.

Music Star Goes Bananas On Halloween

Alone in the ATL: What Now?

I know, I know, you're technically alone but by no means lonely. Either way, there are a surprising many things to do in Hotlanta all by yourself, fun stuff:
The ATL is devoid of space needles and waterfronts but being in the South there are some things that are decidely Southern that you might enjoy. There's a corn maze just south of Atlanta in Henry County's McDonough. Would it be cliche' to call it a-mazing? It really is.
If that's not quite your speed, perhaps some fishy could change your mind. The Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta is the largest in the world. The beluga whale here is what the T-Rex was to Jurassic Park. Awesome. Plus there's always some father trying to get his toddler to go up to the tank and stare intently at fish that are the size of small cars. The stark terror in these little kids' eyes is wort the price of admission alone.
Want to get out into the neighborhood? The CabbageTown "Stomp and Chomp" is this weekend. There are not as many crackheads there at night as it used to be, say, 10 years ago. Gentrification has made the area a real keeper, save for the infrequent tranny that can be seen keeping the sidewalks clean of debris and refuse. Aren't you glad they display a sense of community?
Feeling all pharoah-ish?
The King Tut Exhibit has opened at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center.
Want to dance? Catch a performance by a current music phenom?
You could always catch Usher at the Tabernacle.
Of course this is the Land of MLK, you can tour his old stomping grounds, home and tomb at the King Center on Auburn Avenue.
Want a nice drink in a jazzy atmosphere? Head on over to the 5 Seasons North in Alpharetta. The martinis are excellent and the service is friendly.
The list goes on and on, but of course you'd probably rather chill at home and surf the Internet.

On Nov. 4, the Red Pill or the Blue Pill?

Voters are scheduled to go to the polls all day on Nov. 4 to elect the 44th president of the United States. Barack Obama, the first person of color to be nominated, and war veteran John McCain.
Obama has run on a broad platform of "change".
McCain has an increased fascination with plumbers.
Come Nov. 4, which will it be: the blue pill, or the red one? The terms, red state and blue state have come to mean the states that vote either Republican or Democrat. The term was first used by the late journalist Tim Russert, according to the Washington Post. A blue state leans toward the Democratic ticket; a red state leans toward the Republican ticket.
In the movie, "The Matrix" lead character Neo was offered a choice of the blue or red pill by patriarch, Morpheus. The red pill would answer the question "what is the Matrix?" (by removing him from it and subjecting him to the reality unbeheld) and the blue pill would be for life to carry on as before. As Neo reaches for the red pill Morpheus warns Neo "Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more."
Do any of these candidates, deal in truth?
The pill analogy is quite appropriate, when you consider neither candidate can really do anything about social ills, inflation, crime, etc. They don't deal in preventative measures, only treatment of those ills i.e. medicine aka pills.