And I Quote...

“There is something curiously boring about somebody else's happiness.” --Aldous Huxley

And...

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Not So Sexy

There is no evidence that the owner of these feet and tattoo is not a gorgeous, sexy vixen who turns heads wherever she goes. She just may be a fox. Feet are interesting like that. A really ugly person can have pretty feet and a really attractive person can have some dogs. These aren't the worst of feet, but they aren't exactly pretty (definitely not "sexy") and putting descriptions like that on a foot at all is a bold move. But enough about my rant about feet (is a fetish brewing?). This about the tattoo. And the fact that it is ridiculous and ugly. And that most people who get permanent markings about how sexy they are do not live up to expectations. That fact alone indicates this one is probably not a sexpot.

And I Quote...

“I've only been in love with a beer bottle and a mirror.” --Sid Vicious

And I Quote...

“I am a deeply superficial person.” --Andy Warhol

"Vice Pioneers" : Plastic Surgery

Walter Yeo: first know plastic surgery recipient


Sushruta: "Father of Surgery"


Vincenz Czerny: boob man

Altering one's appearance is easy these days. A few bucks and a dream is all that is needed to transform your entire look. The craze with plastic surgery keeps growing by the minute and it doesn't seem like it will be slowing down anytime soon. People want a new face/body and there's nothing they won't do to get it. Let's look at how this craze got its start.

From Wikipedia:
History
Reconstructive surgery techniques were being carried out in India by 800 BC. Sushruta, the father of Indian surgery, made important contributions to the field of plastic and cataract surgery in 6th century BC. The medical works of both Sushruta and Charak originally in Sanskrit were translated into Arabic language during the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 AD. The Arabic translations made their way into Europe via intermediaries. In Italy the Branca family of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) became familiar with the techniques of Sushruta.

British physicians traveled to India to see rhinoplasties being performed by native methods. Reports on Indian rhinoplasty performed by a Kumhar vaidya were published in the Gentleman's Magazine by 1794. Joseph Constantine Carpue spent 20 years in India studying local plastic surgery methods. Carpue was able to perform the first major surgery in the Western world by 1815. Instruments described in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified in the Western world.

The ancient Egyptians and Romans also performed plastic cosmetic surgery. The Romans were able to perform simple techniques, such as repairing damaged ears from around the 1st century BC. For religious reasons, they did not dissect either human beings or animals, thus their knowledge was based in its entirety on the texts of their Greek predecessors. Notwithstanding, Aulus Cornelius Celsus left some surprisingly accurate anatomical descriptions, some of which — for instance, his studies on the genitalia and the skeleton — are of special interest to plastic surgery.

In 1465, Sabuncuoglu's book, description, and classification of hypospadias was more informative and up to date. Localization of urethral meatus was described in detail. Sabuncuoglu also detailed the description and classification of ambiguous genitalia. In mid-15th century Europe, Heinrich von Pfolspeundt described a process "to make a new nose for one who lacks it entirely, and the dogs have devoured it" by removing skin from the back of the arm and suturing it in place. However, because of the dangers associated with surgery in any form, especially that involving the head or face, it was not until the 19th and 20th centuries that such surgery became common.

Up until the techniques of anesthesia became established, surgeries involving healthy tissues involved great pain. Infection from surgery was reduced by the introduction of sterile techniques and disinfectants. The invention and use of antibiotics, beginning with sulfa drugs and penicillin, was another step in making elective surgery possible.

In 1792, Chopart performed operative procedure on a lip using a flap from the neck. In 1814, Joseph Carpue successfully performed operative procedure on a British military officer who had lost his nose to the toxic effects of mercury treatments. In 1818, German surgeon Carl Ferdinand von Graefe published his major work entitled Rhinoplastik. Von Graefe modified the Italian method using a free skin graft from the arm instead of the original delayed pedicle flap.

The first American plastic surgeon was John Peter Mettauer, who, in 1827, performed the first cleft palate operation with instruments that he designed himself. In 1845, Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach wrote a comprehensive text on rhinoplasty, entitled Operative Chirurgie, and introduced the concept of reoperation to improve the cosmetic appearance of the reconstructed nose.

In 1891, American otorhinolaryngologist John Roe presented an example of his work, a young woman on whom he reduced a dorsal nasal hump for cosmetic indications. In 1892, Robert Weir experimented unsuccessfully with xenografts (duck sternum) in the reconstruction of sunken noses. In 1896, James Israel, a urological surgeon from Germany, and in 1889 George Monks of the United States each described the successful use of heterogeneous free-bone grafting to reconstruct saddle nose defects. In 1898, Jacques Joseph, the German orthopaedic-trained surgeon, published his first account of reduction rhinoplasty. In 1928, Jacques Joseph published Nasenplastik und Sonstige Gesichtsplastik.

20th century
In World War I, a New Zealand otolaryngologist working in London, Harold Gillies, developed many of the techniques of modern plastic surgery in caring for soldiers suffering from disfiguring facial injuries. His work was expanded upon during World War II by his cousin and former student Archibald McIndoe, who pioneered treatments for RAF aircrew suffering from severe burns. McIndoe's radical, experimental treatments, led to the formation of the Guinea Pig Club. In 1946, Gillies carried out the first female-to-male sex reassignment surgery.

Plastic surgery, as a specialty, evolved remarkably during the 18th century in the United States. One of the founders of the specialty, Vilray Blair, was the first chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In one of his many areas of clinical expertise, Blair treated World War I soldiers with complex maxillofacial injuries, and his paper on "Reconstructive Surgery of the Face" set the standard for craniofacial reconstruction.

Cosmetic Surgery
Aesthetic plastic surgery involves techniques intended for the "enhancement" of appearance through surgical and medical techniques, and is specifically concerned with maintaining normal appearance, restoring it, or enhancing it beyond the average level toward some aesthetic ideal.

In 2006, nearly 11 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States alone. The number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States has increased over 50 percent since the start of the century. Nearly 12 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2007, with the five most common surgeries being breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery and abdominoplasty. The increased use of cosmetic procedures crosses racial and ethnic lines in the U.S., with increases seen among African-Americans and Hispanic Americans as well as Caucasian Americans. In Europe, the second largest market for cosmetic procedures, cosmetic surgery is a $2.2 billion business. Cosmetic surgery is now very common in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. In Asia, cosmetic surgery has become an accepted practice; currently most widely prevalent and normal in China where it is currently Asia's biggest comestic surgery market. Children undergoing cosmetic eye surgery can be seen in Japan and South Korea."

And I Quote...

“From the moment I was six I felt sexy. And let me tell you it was hell, sheer hell, waiting to do something about it.” --Bette Davis

News Spotlight: Sacrifice of the Twitter Celebrity

In self-absorbed, obnoxious celebrity news: some of your favorite online celebrities will be taking part in a staged online massacre. To bring them back to life, you get to donate money to save children. Yes, that's right. Alicia Keys came up with the brilliant idea to get several famous folks to stop using Twitter and Facebook until a certain amount of money is raised to her Keep a Child Alive charity.

There is no doubt this was done with good intentions, but when you think about it, doesn't it seem like blackmail and a platform for these celebrities to feed into their egos just a bit more? But in the grand scheme of things, the fact it's for charity makes the fiasco okay. If people are going to be obsessed with Kim Kardashian and Lady Gaga, I guess it's not so bad if $10 is the price for being a borederline stalker.

From MTV News: "If you see headlines this Wednesday about Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian giving up on social media, don't be alarmed. Along with Usher, Elijah Wood, Justin Timberlake, Khloe Kardashian and Jennifer Hudson, they're participating in a stunt to promote World AIDS Day in which they will kill off their cyberselves for one day as part of a Digital Life Sacrifice.

The idea was hatched by singer Alicia Keys to raise money for her charity, Keep a Child Alive, and as part of the Buy Life promotion the celebrities will urge fans to donate to the charity in order to buy back their online presence. Fans can text the first name of the celebrity they are mourning to 90999 and $10 will instantly be donated to the cause.

Kardashian is among the participants who have posed for a poster to bring attention to the effort. In it, she lies in a casket while wearing a cocktail dress and clutching her cell phone. Celebrities such as mega-tweeter Ryan Seacrest have agreed to sign off all social networks on Tuesday until they raise $1 million for World AIDS Day. Seacrest has even videotaped a "Last Tweet and Testament" representing his digital death for his Facebook page that will be linked to from his final tweet early Tuesday morning.

In another taped plea, Jennifer Hudson says, "Come on, y'all. Buy my life back. Go on a shopping spree and buy as much of it as you can." Keep a Child Alive helps provide money for medical care and support services for children and families impacted by HIV and AIDS in Africa and India.

Janelle Monáe and Keys' husband, producer Swizz Beatz, have also filmed "Last Tweet and Testament" clips and been photographed in coffins.

"It's so important to shock you to the point of waking up," Keys told The Associated Press. "It's not that people don't care or it's not that people don't want to do something, it's that they never thought of it quite like that. ... This is such a direct and instantly emotional way and a little sarcastic, you know, of a way to get people to pay attention."

Mya Bragging About the Goodies

Sexy dancing machine Mya saying what all the girls say, but at least the dancing and artistry of the video are good. Tap scene at the end--good stuff. Here's a throwback to her 2003 single "My Love is Like...Wo."

"Bad (Not Bad Ass) Tattoo" : Unsexy Woman

By no means is every woman supposed to look like a supermodel and by all means sexuality is in the eye of the beholder. However, the eye of the owner (and the tattoo artist) of this supposed to be sexy vixen tattoo is questionable. The linework makes her appear to have wrinkles and cellulite. The face is just bad. And her pose insinuating that she is fact thinks she is sexy just drives the point home.

"The Hard Sell" : Taboo In Advertising

We went hard yesterday on the anorexia post for "Vice Pioneers" so today for "The Hard Sell" we will explore weight in a light way. This Slim Fast ad pokes fun at one of the most feared experiences for a woman: being too fat on her wedding day. To top it off is the non-sugar coated question, "Need to lost a little weight before your wedding?" Way to play up those insecurities Slim Fast.

And I Quote...

“Did you ever see the customers in health-food stores? They are pale, skinny people who look half dead. In a steak house, you see robust, ruddy people. They're dying, of course, but they look terrific.” --Bill Cosby

"Vice Pioneers" : Anorexia Nervosa

Karen Carpenter: the case that brought anorexia to light


Sir William Gull's resume: Queen Victoria's physician, Jack the Ripper speculation, and namer of "anorexia nervosa"


Miss A: one of Gull's anorexia study patients (shown before and after treatment)

Vice is not always sexy or appealing. This week for "Vice Pioneers," were taking a look into anorexia. With ideals of female (and male to a less extent) beauty permeating our brains from every facet of the media, eating disorders have become a normal practice. We will likely delve into some of the other ones down the road, but for now let's take a look into the act of starving onseself into disappearance.

From Wikipedia: The history of anorexia nervosa begins with early descriptions dating from the 16th century and 17th century and the first recognition and description of anorexia nervosa as a disease in the late 19th century.

In the late 19th century, the public attention drawn to "fasting girls" provoked conflict between religion and science. Such cases as Sarah Jacob (the "Welsh Fasting Girl") and Mollie Fancher (the "Brooklyn Enigma") stimulated controversy as experts weighed the claims of complete abstinence from food. Believers referenced the duality of mind and body, while skeptics insisted on the laws of science and material facts of life. Critics accused the fasting girls of hysteria, superstition, and deceit. The progress of secularization and medicalization passed cultural authority from clergy to physicians, transforming anorexia nervosa from revered to reviled.

Early Descriptions
1556: Mary, Queen of Scots: Mary Stewart, known as Mary, Queen of Scots, was brought up as a child in the court of Henry II of France. Her medical history is documented in some detail thanks to the accounts of various ambassadors who sent reports back to their respective sovereigns. It is known, for example, that she had measles when she was five, rubella when she was seven, dysentery and malaria when she was 14 and smallpox when she was 15.

She also had an unnamed illness as a teenager that some now believe to have been anorexia nervosa. Her condition is described as involving weight loss, uneven appetite, vomiting and diarrhoea, pallor, fainting fits and breathing difficulties. She was, however, physically active throughout the illness; she continued to ride on horseback and dance in the evenings at the same time as these symptoms were observed.

1613: Jane Balan – the “French fasting girl of Confolens”: The case of Jane Balans, the “French Fasting Girl of Confolens,” was described in 1613 by Pedro Mexio. He noted that she “lived without receiving meat or drink for at least three years.” The condition began on 15 February 1599, when Jane Balans was around 10 years old. After suffering a fever and vomiting, she became withdrawn and weakened, refusing all food.

Contemporary superstition blamed the wicked power of an apple given her by an old woman some months prior to the start of the condition; Mexio diagnosed the case as a “drying up of the liver and of all the parts serving to nourishment due to hurtful humours.”

19th Century descriptions
1859: Louis-Victor Marcé’s case descriptions: Louis-Victor Marcé (1828–1864), a Paris-based French physician, published a number of case studies describing psychiatric disorders of women during and following pregnancy. His case descriptions included that of a patient displaying the symptoms of anorexia nervosa in 1859. In 1860, Marcé wrote:
I would venture to say that the first physicians who attended the patients misunderstood the true significance of this obstinate refusal of food and The hypochondriacal delirium, then, cannot be advantageously encountered so long as the subjects remain in the midst of their own family and their habitual circle.… It is therefore, indispensable to change the habitation and surrounding circumstances, and to entrust the patients to the care of strangers.

1868: William Gull (address to the British Medical Association): In 1868, William Gull was a leading British physician based in London. That year, he described his observations of an emaciated condition in young women in an address to the British Medical Association (BMA) in Oxford. He observed that the causes of the condition were unknown, but that the subjects affected were "mostly of the female sex, and chiefly between the ages of sixteen and twenty three" although he also qualified this statement by adding that he had occasionally seen it in males of the same age.

The following extract is from the Lancet (the BMA’s in-house journal) of 1868:
At present our diagnosis is mostly one of inference, from our knowledge of the liability of the several organs to particular lesions; thus we avoid the error of supposing the presence of mesenteric disease in young women emaciated to the last degree through hysteric apepsia, by our knowledge of the latter affection, and by the absence of tubercular disease elsewhere.'’

1873: Sir William Gull’s "Anorexia Nervosa" paper: By 1873, Sir William Gull had been made a Baronet and was one of four Physicians-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria. In that year, he published his seminal work “Anorexia Nervosa (Apepsia Hysterica, Anorexia Hysterica)", in which he describes the four cases of Miss A, Miss B, Miss K and a fourth unnamed case.

Sir William Gull writes that Miss A was referred to him on 17 January 1866. She was aged 17 and was greatly emaciated, having lost 33 pounds. Her weight at this time was 5 stones 12 pounds (82 pounds); her height was 5 ft 5 inches. Gull records that most of her physical condition was normal, with healthy respiration, heart sounds and pulse; no vomiting nor diarrhoa; clean tongue and normal urine. The condition was that of simple starvation, with total refusal of animal food and almost total refusal of everything else.

Gull prescribed various remedies (including preparations of cinchona, biochloride of mercury, syrup of iodide of iron, syrup of phosphate of iron, citrate of quinine) and variations in diet without noticeable success. He noted occasional voracious appetite for very brief periods, but states that these were very rare and exceptional. He also records that she was frequently restless and active and notes that this was a "striking expression of the nervous state, for it seemed hardly possible that a body so wasted could undergo the exercise which seemed agreeable".

In Gull's published medical papers, images of Miss A are shown that depict her appearance before and after treatment. Gull notes her aged appearance at age 17: It will be noticeable that as she recovered she had a much younger look, corresponding indeed to her age, twenty-one; whilst the photographs, taken when she was seventeen, give her the appearance of being nearer thirty.

Miss A remained under Gull's observation from January 1866 to March 1868, by which time she seemed to have made a full recovery, having gained in weight from 82 to 128 pounds.

Miss B was referred to Gull on 8 October 1868, aged 18, as a case of suspected tuberculosis. Gull noted that her emaciated appearance was more extreme than normally occurs in tubercular cases. His physical examination of her chest and abdomen discovered nothing abnormal, but he recorded a "peculiar restlessness" that was difficult to control. The mother advised that "She is never tired". Gull was struck by the similarity of the case to that of Miss A, even to the detail of the pulse and respiration observations.

Miss B was treated by Gull until 1872, by which time a noticeable recovery was underway and eventually complete. Gull admits in his medical papers that the medical treatment probably did not contribute much to the recovery, consisting, as in the former case, of various tonics and a nourishing diet.

Although the cases of Miss A and Miss B resulted in recovery, Gull states that he observed at least one fatality as a result of anorexia nervosa. He states that the post mortem revealed no physical abnormalities other than thrombosis of the femoral veins. Death appeared to have resulted from starvation alone.

In Contemporary Society
Although the medical facts of anorexia nervosa have been documented since the 1870s, personal details of anorexics' lives are more publicized today than ever before. It was the death of Karen Carpenter, (a very famous singer/drummer in the 1970s) on February 4, 1983 that brought eating disorders to attention of the general public. Prior to 1983, almost no one outside of the medical community had heard of anorexia nervosa or bulimia. In 1981, the made-for-tv movie; "The Best Little Girl in the World", with Jennifer Jason Leigh as an anorexic, aired on ABC, but, it had no real impact on the average person. After Karen Carpenter died from the effects of anorexia nervosa, the world wanted to know more about the mysterious medical illness. Since Karen Carpenter's death in 1983, which resulted from complications of the disorder, people recognize that being extremely thin is not healthy and a few casually label overly thin women as anorexics. Since the late 1980s, many special eating disorder clinics have opened, but it may be difficult to change the eating behavior and mindset of an anorexia victim, especially when they are surrounded by numerous other thin women who have similar eating behaviors. Today, many young women are obsessed with dieting as a form of cultural expression and a way to look as thin as models and celebrities. Anorexia nervosa seems to be more prevalent as the ideal female body image becomes thinner.

In the 1980s, slimness embodied the supposed "ideal" of feminine beauty. It is this that caused many women to incessantly diet in order to keep up with the demands of modern fashion. In a 1984 survey carried out by Glamor magazine of thirty-three thousand women between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, 75% believed they were fat, although only 25% were actually overweight. Indications of being thin was important to women of the upper class, and this class specific cultural model was pervasive throughout the media including television, film, magazines, and advertising.

"The Hard Sell" : Taboo In Advertising

This Body Shop ad addresses the taboo of fatness. And Mattel was not so impressed to say the least...

From Beauty Pro Division: "For those who missed it, Barbies manufacturer Mattel sent The Body Shop a cease and desist order after posters featuring Ruby - a self proclaimed Anti-Barbie spokesperson started appearing in American shop windows. This banned advertisement was also forbidden to be hung up in the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway. The complaints included her “nude and nippless figure” being exposed to the public which offended people in the US and China."

Damn, who knew Barbie was such a cut throat?! But those suburban perfect housewife types somehow always turn out to be.

"Lyric Raid" : "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred

So vanity is a marvelous theme and there are few songs that hit conceit on the nail better than Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy." This is comedy at its finest. 1991 ya'll. As in almost two decades ago. Can you believe that?!

"I'm too sexy for my love
Too sexy for my love
Love's going to leave me
I'm too sexy for my shirt
Too sexy for my shirts
So sexy it hurts
And I'm too sexy for Milan
Too sexy for Milan
New York and Japan
And I'm too sexy for your party
Too sexy for your party
No way I'm disco dancing

I'm a model you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk
Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk,
yeah I do my little turn on the catwalk

I'm too sexy for my car
Too sexy for my car
Too sexy by far
And I'm too sexy for my hat
Too sexy for my hat
What do you think about that?

I'm a model you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk
Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk,
yeah I shake my little tush on the catwalk

I'm too sexy for my
Too sexy for my too sexy for my 'Cos

I'm a model you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk
Yeah on the catwalk yea on the catwalk,
yeah I shake my little tush on the catwalk

I'm too sexy for my cat
Too sexy for my cat
Poor pussy poor pussy cat
I'm too sexy for my love
Too sexy for my love
Love's going to leave me
And I'm too sexy for this song"