Posts with Category Mad World

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Happy (craptastic) Labor Day!

What a craptastic day to be a worker. The rest of the world celebrates Labor Day May 1st, but like football and our refusal of the metric system, we like to do things different (If you’re curious why, here’s last year’s Labor Day post).

Unemployment is pushing double digits in the U.S. And here are a few more…

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Another reason I wish I had HBO

I heard about the documentary “Which way is home?” on NPR this morning. It follows kids leaving their homes in Central America and sneaking across borders on their way to the United States. Just another reminder of the desperation that exists in our world and the risks people will take to overcome it.

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The Yes Men

The Yes Men setup fake corporate websites mimicking companies like Exxon and Dow Chemical.   And Then they wait for an invite to speak at an event.  Shennanigans follow.  I can’t wait to see this movie.

Yes, it’s fraud. Yes, it’s ridiculous. But is it funny and sad at the same time? Yes!

Here’s  a great sample of them dooping folks (the BBC no less!):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8DbaMAnKu4[/youtube]

These guys are really good at what they do.  They are much smoother than I was impersonating an underwear buyer in Bangladesh.

Yes, I can’t wait to see this movie….

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How can I have my midlife crisis if TransAm is dead?

I thought I had my mid-life crisis all figured out.

In 2029 when I turn 50, I’ll start lifting weights, listen to nothing but the Goo Goo Dolls, dust off the ol’ letterman jacket, and – this is the most important party — buy a shiny new TransAm to make me feel 16 again.

But now that Pontiac is no more, how’s a fella supposed to get through his midlife crisis? Surely you don’t expect me to buy a Mustang, do you?

On my 16th birthday my parents chipped in half for the TransAm I had been pining for. Not one of those weenie ones with a V6 in it. It had eight screaming cylinders of raw American muscle. I was proud of how much gas and rubber it…

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Bear Gryll gets the Glory, camera crew gets the shaft

Not pictured: All the locals who lug their gear and the camera crew that captures their glory

Members of Expedition Africa. (Not pictured: All the locals who lug their gear and the camera crew who captures their glory)

Few knows this, but a while back someone asked me to audition for a position as the host of a television series that focused on Tattoo cultures around the world.

I was fresh off my trip to Asia tracking down my clothes – pre-book deal.  I set a camera in a field of corn and talked about where I came from and why I would be a great host for their show on tattoos, even though I knew I would be a horrible host for a show on tattoos.

I don’t have any tattoos, nor plan on getting any ever. The only tattoo I would consider getting is one from a man I heard about from some around-the-world sailors. He asks you some questions about yourself, you pay him, and then he gives you the tattoo he wants to give you.  If you ask for a certain tattoo, “I want a pony,” the deal is off.  “No Tattoo for you!”  This option would work for me because if the tattoo looked stupid, I could just blame it on the guy who gave it to me, absolving myself from the decision making process.  “Who would have thought that Care Bears were big on that remote island?” I could offer as my excuse.

Anyhow, I digress…

I would have been a crappy host for a number of reasons.  First, I don’t have any tattoos.  Second, I have a major problem with many of these “go places, do stuff, travel/adventure” shows: the camera crew is completely forgotten.

Bear Gryll…GRRRRR….gets me fired up.  Death waits around every ravine, under every rock, and from every angle.  At least that’s what he says.  As he climbs up the mossy rocks of a waterfall he looks at the camera and says something like, “One wrong step and I fall to my death.”  As he wades his way through snake and alligator infested waters he warns, “At any moment I could be attacked and fighting for my life.”  Bear Gryll is nuts, sure, but what about the poor cameraman?  He’s climbing a mossy waterfall while holding a camera.  He’s trudging through death-infested waters while holding a camera.

I’ve been watching Expedition Africa on the History Channel.  Four “explorers” are following in the steps of Stanley’s expedition to find Livingstone. The four fight over who’s leading the group where while local porters and even two bushmen look on. One explorer is even carrying around a pith helmet! It’s embarrassing.  It’s just a reminder of the ugliness of colonialism.  “We’re white, educated, explorers, the locals are cute and all with their bare feet, but we know better than they do.”  The group comes across some tough conditions – climbing muddy mountains in the rain, crossing deserts in excruciating heat.  But…what about the camera crew who are climbing a muddy mountain in the rain while holding a camera, and crossing the desert in excruciating heat while holding a camera?

I’m not a big fan of half stories and half-truths and that’s what these shows give us.

I would like to see a show about the camera crews who are tossed on ships while holding a camera filming the The Deadliest Catch, the camera woman sitting in the out of control rig barreling down the Ice Road, the dude climbing next to Bear Gryll.

Now that’s a show I could host.  Although I suppose then there would need to be another show about the people filming the camera crew who are filming the camera crew.

Not only are the camera crews left out of the story although they are sweating, trekking, risking their lives just like the stars of the show, but the affects the cameras have on the results of the show aren’t acknowledged.  Go to your nearest airport and start begging for 100-bucks.  Not going to happen.  But go to your nearest airport with a camera crew from the Amazing Race filming you, and your chances are good.

I’ve said it before, reality brings death to romance and I would like to make one addendum.

Reality (TV) brings death to romance and cameramen.

(Below the cut is an old column about my Travel Channel Hero Alby Mangels and the time I spent with his nephew in Australia)

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Chinese reader worried about the future of her village

One of the things I ask myself about my book is, “Did I get China right?”  I was only in China for a month. (Remember there was no book deal at the time and my leap of faith was getting really expensive.)  While I don’t think it’s possible to get a place, especially China, right, I’m overjoyed to get this email validating that I didn’t get it all wrong. And, according to the awesome, fabtabulous, make-my-day letter I just received from a reader in China, I actually might’ve  been pretty close.

Dear Kelsey,

I’m a reader of your book ‘Where am I wearing’. I spent two days finishing your book and I really love it. I’ve learned a lot from your trips and the effort that you made.

I’m a Chinese girl…

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Blog post past: Mrs. Butterworth's boobs

(From November 2007. Although this post has nothing to do with globalization or garments it is one of the most viewed in the history of this blog.)

mrsbutterworth

Where did Mrs. Butterworth’s boobs go?

When I was kid she was much shapelier. Now, she’s as flat as a pancake.

There are only two reasons why they could have disappeared (none of which is that she is old and gravity plays on such things – because Mrs. Butterworth is ageless):

1) Economics – Pinnacle Food Company, which produces Mrs. Butterworth, decided that they could make a greater profit if they flattened her out, thus robbing consumers of two D-cups of her sweet nectar.

2) Prudishness – After decades of children and adult alike fondling…

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