"Niglets" ?

I first heard the term in the movie "Tales From The Hood" (1995)
A Klan member got his comeuppance when the little Negro dolls formed a revolt a killed his ass.

When I asked the boys referred to as "Niglets" whether the term was offensive - all said, "No.".
Maybe they don't know enough to be offended.
But then again, maybe it's just a different generation.
When I asked what image came to mind when I referred to them as such, "Those little Niglets my grandma collects" was the answer.
(Not to be confused with the "Sambos" Big Don collects.)

Shoeshine Boy

People often lament that they're aren't any jobs available.
The same people complain that they cannot live off of $7.25 an hour (minimum wage).
Odd - many of these same people are living off of zero dollars an hour.
I just caught a story on the CBS Sunday show which featured a middle aged woman who runs a shoe shine company.
The lady only hires women and she even shines shoes herself.
When no one else is hiring - hire yourself.

The Coffee Party Movement Inspires Me

If you are anything like me then the recent lapse in any kind of reasonable or civil debate in our politics has you feeling frustrated and uncertain of what to do.

I fall back upon my classic standards of political partisanship and playing to the left-base, but in truth I am not satisfied by this in the least.

We don't need word-wars over labeling and branding, we need solutions for America that work.

We don't need more spin and more talking points, we need honest debate and informed decision making.

What Coffee Party USA offers is civility and a place for democracy to take place in a honest fashion.

I encourage any person who has formed an opinion of me that is one of "ultra-left" to understand I was most moved by U.S. Army veteran Alan P. Alborn's words that anything I have seen in a very long time. I understand far more about what motives are behind conservatives and libertarians than I let on and ultimately my views are no different from Alborn's views in regards to the matter of the free market or the size of government.

This is one element that was always part of what makes me "independent," and I am tired of being brought nearly to tears dealing with these Tea Party activists who seek to do nothing more than rewrite history and stop all rational debate while neglecting the more important issues of health care and insurance reform.

The Coffee Party Movement is the answer we have been looking for to send the message to Washington that we sent them there to get something done, not just play procedural games while Americans suffer.

We'll see if they even want me around, they have a statement about "no pundits and partisans and strategists" ... that's me three for three. But punditry can be declared, partisanship can be avoided and they will want my strategies if they ever give me a chance to share them ... so maybe I am reading too much into that statement.

I encourage you to join the Coffee Party, too!

We are a group of concerned Americans who want government "that responds to the needs of the majority of its citizens as expressed by our votes and by our voices; NOT corporate interests as expressed by misleading advertisements and campaign contributions."

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Official Websites:

http://www.coffeepartyUSA.org

http://facebook.com/coffeeparty

http://www.youtube.com/user/coffeepartyusa

(other "dupe" web-groups have already begun to spawn in response to the Coffee Party, only these websites are Coffee Party Movement)

No Left Turn

"Yeah, but they listen to you.", is a common remark made by the mothers of the boys I mentor.
It's not so much that they listen - but that I have rules.
I often hear complaints that these boys don't follow rules.
But the real issue is that these boys don't follow unknown expectations.

If a kid is never told what he may or may not do - the kid will use his own poor judgement.
If a kid is never told how something should be done - the kid will use his own low standards.
If it isn't forbidden, it must be allowed.
Simple; It's the same as someone deciding whether to turn left.

(I asked. These boys said they were not offended by the term "Niglets". They say I only use the term when they've done something wrong.)

G.I. Jane

From army green to camo, brass buttons to dog tags, military looks are hot, darlings!
Runway inspirations: L.A.M.B. and Balmain, via nymag.com.
Cool Coats:
Balmain zipped military jacket; this and next two at brownsfashion.com.
Marc Jacobs Lurex military jacket.
Ann Demeulemeester military jacket.
3.1 Phillip Lim Merino wool-blend military cardigan; this and next four at net-a-porter.com.
Stella McCartney strong-shouldered cotton peacoat.
Burberry flared-hem suede jacket.
Balmain cotton-canvas studded military blazer.
Camo pants:
Balmain stretch-cotton camouflage pants.
Juicy Couture camo slim cargo pants, at shopbop.com.
Balmain sequined asymmetric mini dress, at net-a-porter.com.
Richard Nicoll military brooch, at brownsfashion.com.
Fendi sterling silver military necklace, at net-a-porter.com.
Giuseppe Zanotti camouflage t-strap sandals, at shopbop.com.
Giuseppe Zanotti camouflage ballet flats, at brownsfashion.com.
Go Army!
xoxox,
CC

I Feel Your Pain

Other than Everybody Hates Chris, few television shows present a positive role model for Black male fathers (or even Black male surrogate fathers).
But I'm not Julius - I have more of a Bernie Mac situation to deal with.
Initially, I thought I'd be able to blog about theoretical issues, about esoteric concepts, about art and science.
I'm still waiting to open the package that contains a $65 Gurdjieff book that I long to read.
I still have blank canvases on which to paint.
I still have a few women whom I'd like to "date".
But things change and we must adapt.
My interests shifted from trying to solve the problems of (once) complete strangers to trying to solve the problems of my cousins, their families and their friends.

Recently, I had an occasion to receive gifts and accolades from my friends, family and those whom I help.
One of my gifts was a box set of the old Little Rascal films.
(Yeah... I also received a few more pairs of Shox.)
I like the Rascals, I can identify with the Rascals.
Styme is my man.
The Rascals weren't bad kids - they were just being kids.
And at one time, I was a kid.
This realization helps me cope with some bad-ass little Niglets and their almost useless family members.

As a kid, anything could could be turned into some sort of game or activity.
During the rainy days of an El Nino season - our surrounding hillside neighborhood streets would flood with the runoff from the local hills.
This gave us a chance to try to ride our Boogie Boards down the asphalt streets.
Sure, it sounded fun at the time - but the water wasn't as deep as we'd anticipated and we ended up bruised and broken.
But still - we'd walk back up the hill for another fun ride.

El Nino was also good for generating large waves.
During our weekly beach trips we would always decide to play Chicken with the crashing waves which pounded against the jetty that separates Corona Del Mar from The Wedge.
Even after we almost lost a kid to the rocks below - this was a fun activity for youthful boys.

During the hot summer nights, we kids would buy a large block of ice and ride it down the driving range of our local golf course.
This was know as "Ice Blocking".
A towel placed on the ice block would act as a seat of this warm weather sled.
Yeah... it was a fun ride - but we never managed to learn a proper dismount.

Even though my cul-de-sac had two pools and we had our own in our backyard - we kids would often swim in the local irrigation canals that wound through the surrounding orange groves.
The water was clean and cool - but after an hour long drift, we'd have to walk the five or so miles back home.

The hillsides proved the perfect setting for kids playing Cowboys and Indians with B-B guns.
With refreshments stolen from their parents liquor cabinets many boys were impervious to pain.
I didn't drink so that game ended up hurting more than I'd liked.
We decided to dig a small cavern in one of the hillsides.
After a summer of digging, we had our own "Bat Cave".
As the city workers noted the danger of collapse - the cave was quickly imploded.

While reciting these youthful games to my young cousins, "You were baaad!" seemed a strange statement to come from their mouths..
I was just being a kid.
These childhood dalliances help me to catch my cousins when they try to get over on me.
My childhood mistakes are those I wish for my young cousins to avoid.

But sometimes these bad-ass little boys get on my nerves.
When I warned a couple of cousins that, "You'd better run" if they got caught by me doing something bad - one occasion lead most of them to take off running down the block when I caught them drinking liquor from my bar.
I had to laugh at the sight, but a couple of kids failed to take head to the warning.
"Be here when I get back", I said as I searched for a belt.
When I returned, only my most favored little niece remained.
When I asked why she didn't run, "You said 'Be here when I get back'. And besides, I didn't do anything wrong.".
I had to laugh at her, but she was right.
She had just been watching her older cousins getting drunk.
She was just doing what I had said to do.

It's odd, this blog has gone from my attempt to figure out theoretical problems to that of trying to figure out my personal problems.
This blog has turned into those Bernie Mac "Talking to America" asides.
Where I'd love to be able to "talk" to erudite adults about esoteric concepts (I need the mental exercise) - I now have to ask questions on the best ways to teach an unlearned generation the best ways to prepare for their futures.
I guess I still have the reruns in syndication - but Bernie, I feel your pain.

Keep It Short

As blog roles get longer and longer,
as posts become more in depth,
as the comment threads get more sidetracked -
why post anything that would take busy people away from from their busy lives for more than is required to convey a simple message?

Craig McDean Faves

Another Magazine, Fall 2008.
French Vogue, December 2007.
French Vogue, March 2003.
Italian Vogue, September 2008.
Italian Vogue, September 2009.
Vogue, 2008.
W, December 2007 (this and next)


W, June 2009.

Hope you have a fabulously fashionable Saturday, darlings!
xoxox,
CC

P.S. If you have a moment, check out this amazing article about Alexander McQueen in which CC is quoted!

Hamlet quotes

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare

"O, That this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew."

"Frailty, thy name is woman!"

"Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."

"Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads.
And recks not his own rede."

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be:
For loan oft loses both itself and friend."

"This above all — to thine ownself be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

"More matter with less art."

"Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love."

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me; no, nor woman neither, though, by your smiling, you seem to say so."

"Use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping?"

"O! what a rogue and peasant slave am I!"

"The play's the thing,
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king."

"We are oft to blame in this, —
'Tis too much prov'd, — that with devotion's visage,
And pious action, we do sugar o'er
The devil himself."

"To be, or not to be, — that is the question: —
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? — To die, to sleep, —
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; —
To sleep, perchance to dream: — ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death, —
The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, — puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know naught of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action."

"Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind."

"I say, we will have no more marriages: those that are married already, — all but one, — shall live; the rest shall keep as they are."

"Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me. You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass; and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me."

"Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood,
And do such bitter business, as the day
Would quake to look on."

"Let me be cruel, not unnatural;
I will speak daggers to her, but use none. "

"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;
Words without thoughts never to heaven go."

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions."

"Alas! poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get yet to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that."

"Lay her i' the earth:
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring! "

"There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
The rest is silence.
Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

Corset Coquette

Fashion Flashback: Elle, February 2007.
Blouson Noir leather bustier. This and next, W, March 2010.
Marc Jacobs bustier.

Christian Dior Couture; runway photos via style.com except where noted
Bebe/Kardashian, via nymag.com
Betsey Johnson
Giles
Jean Paul Gaultier Couture
Jen Kao
Jeremy Scott
Just Cavalli pre-fall
L.A.M.B.
Monique Lhuillier
Richard Nicoll
The Row
Tibi
Tracy Reese
Versace pre-fall
William Rast
Zac Posen

Nuj Novakhett checker bustier, at shopacrimony.com.
Preen mesh print bustier dress, at farfetch.com.
Re Collection corset dress; this and next three at shopbop.com.
Rebecca Taylor corset dress.

Milly strapless corset dress.
Elizabeth and James corset camisole.
Marc Jacobs cropped silk-twill bustier; this and next seven at net-a-porter.com.
Alexander McQueen lace embellished bustier.
La Perla tulle corset.
Ender Legard Corsetry Ava stretch-silk corset.
Derek Lam twill peplum bustier.
Tibi sequined silk bustier.
Camilla and Marc Cinder corset dress.
Just Cavalli stretch-satin corset dress.
Dreamgirl Reversible Corset, at lingeriediva.com.
Wickedelic Corset and String, at wickedeliclingerie.co.uk.
Do you dream in corsets, darlings?
xoxox,
CC