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Beware of Pyramid Schemes in Disguise

I'll tell you a story, but first, the familiar questions: Do you want to be financially secure? Do you want to be your own boss? Do you ...

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween - A Poem


Scary Warning: This Poem is not intended to be grammatically correct.




Nothing says Halloween like the orange color I see on the trees due to fall
or the orange and black caterpillar on my path to school
or the hanging skeleton at the food court
or the smiley face carved on a pumpkin that is supposed to be scary.
Most of all, nothing says Halloween like the never ending supply of candies that are available for me to munch all day long.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Child Beauty Pageants


redvisualq

Whose idea was it to start a competition with kids plastering all shades of makeup on their faces like their grandmas trying to hide their wrinkles? Isn't it disturbing to see these kids who hardly can spell know about beauty poses and the names of designer clothing? It doesn't end there. These kids are graded on the perfection of their acts which should be the handiwork of people that are more matured. What scares me is their look. They have this shiny skin, perfect teeth, fake eyelashes, lipstick plump lips, and dang that makes Barbie look younger. How can you still call them children when they look and act like mature adults? They are not supposed to act as adults because they are obviously little in age and size!
Who do we hold responsible? Is it the creators of the competition or the parents who enter their children into these competitions? I really don't like hearing the parents that say the kids wanted to do it badly. When did little kids start making work decisions? What do the kids really know about the competition? I believe some parents just exploit their kids for cash and fame. Kids should be allowed to grow and should do age appropriate activities. Child pageant parents should think of the physical and physicological risks they put their children through.

(ukoemem - Author; Ola Y - Editor)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Inked

Spentv

gerard79

Tattoo is a form of art that has been around for years. It's uniqueness is based on the fact that this art is drawn "on" the skin. Tattooing shouldn't be similar to what we call 'impulse buying' because it would turn out to be a painful joke on any individual. Yeah, it hurts to remove tattoos. Paying close attention to the kinds of tattoos that people are getting, I couldn't help but get more interested in it. Sometimes they were tiny and sometimes massive. Text tattoos are not new, but people are now getting more creative with the picture tattoos.

One wonders why people get tattoos?
Some say they get it as a reminder, and some say as a gift to themselves. Some say they get it for somebody - this could sometimes turn out to be a big mistake. Think of the cliched gesture of tattooing a boyfriend's or girlfriend's name. It's surprising how that never gets old. I met someone who had the name of her ex on her arm. I asked her if she planned on removing the tattoo someday. She said she was keeping it to remind herself of the d**shbag her ex became. I guess this tattoo fits under the "reminder" section. Are you a fan of tattoos? Do you think the full-sleeved tattoo or full-body tattoo is taking it to far? I used to be disgusted with the full-body tattoos until I watched prison break. Mind you, I think only Michael Scofield can pull that off in my special dictionary.


Yesterday




(ukoemem - Author; Ola Y - Editor)

Monday, October 25, 2010

Doppelganger, Twin, or Resemblance by chance?



Strecht

Have you seen people who are not related in any way but somehow look alike? I saw this guy and he immediately reminded me of Adam Lambert. Cool thing is they have no family ties.


 

Adam Lambert


Saturday, October 23, 2010

Guy Fashion - Monotonous Not!

Aboro O.


It used to seem like girls were better off in the clothing department. Girls had their feminine styles and could take up masculine styles too. Girls' fashion had and still has more varieties than guys' fashion. But these days, it's a sign of relief to see that guys have more styles. No more "one look". The Smart look, Preppy look, Rocker look, Geeky look and Skater boy look have evolved and are now adopted by guys who do not necessarily fit these personalities. There are now more styles and colors for guys. How refreshing!

Aboro O.


artist007

Aboro O.

artist007

Thursday, October 21, 2010

No Ordinary Movie - CO2




Yes, I am referring to CO2 gas. Have you heard of the unfortunate event that occurred in Cameroon in 1986? Where a cloud of CO2  gas from a lake suffocated people and their livestock? Lake Nyos, located a few miles northwest of Yaounde, is surrounded by a volcanic plain. Underneath the lake lies magma that leaks carbon dioxide into the water. In August 1986, Lake Nyos emitted a cloud of carbon dioxide that suffocated both humans and livestock in nearby villages.
 
Based on this true event comes a suspense adventure film called CO2. A mysterious and deadly vapor suffocates a small American coal town, but a determined group of survivors attempts to survive and escape this circumstance.    


Check out the trailer 
http://co2movie.com/trailers.htm


(ukoemem - Author; Ola Y - Editor)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

A date with Las Vegas

 


I’ve heard this saying time without number. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” What of a situation where the cover and content doesn’t help it from being judged? I have never been to Las Vegas, but I have heard and seen so much about it. I know about the Casinos, hotels, population, and the famous Strip. I know it is nicknamed “Sin City” and not for a good reason. I want to visit sometime just to satisfy my curiosity on why people live there. I ask myself why I would choose to live in such a busy tourist city where “Elvis” has a church and is licensed to do abrupt weddings. Speaking of churches, did you know that Las Vegas has one of the highest numbers of churches in a major city in the US? I know! I was also baffled. I would love to hear stories from people who toured Las Vegas and did things other than gambling, actual or window shopping, strip club visit, or impulse weddings.




 













(ukoemem - Author, Ola Y - Editor, and Photos by S. Pedro)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Trendsetting – Meet Kalo

Fashion now knows no boundaries. Gone are the days when we wore white shoes to match our white handbags or black bow-ties for every suit we owned. Today, rules are being set by individuals themselves and we know them as “fashion trendsetters.”
Kalo:
According to Modelinia.com I'm a RULE BREAKER
I do not care about the rules...I express myself through the things I wear...I throw it on, I plan it, I mix black and brown, I 'cross-pattern,' and I decide! But if you are to label my style I like to call it “androgynous posh-punk.” I am greatly influenced by the chic-posh style of Victoria Beckham and the London-punk style of Agyness Deyn. Those are my major style icons.



Photo 1










Victoria Beckham
In Photo 1: I'm wearing oversized Zoot suit pants with a BCBG shirt tucked in, an H&M belt, J.Crew heel-boots, and a beaten up vintage bag. I was showcasing the "long view trend" of fall 2010. It is now bye bye minis and short dresses and hello floor sweeping skirts and trousers. I was also showcasing a 70s rock star vibe as the 70s designs are big right now hence the glasses, the bangles, and the long silhouette and I love brown at the moment. Camels and browns make a perfect palette for this fall and of course camel is the new black! I Love to mix. Masculine, feminine, shiny, matte, pattern/plain, everything! Life is about mixing and taking different influences. You can be chic and simple but always take it to a fun, experimental level. I guess I'm experimental-chic.

Photo 2

Agyness Deyn

In Photo 2: I liked pulling off this summery, androgynous look. It is very Agyness Deyn, 60s, and also Paul Smith influenced. Paul smith does a lot with blazers and blurring the gender boundaries in terms of who is wearing them, and what they are worn with. Check out the spring 2011 collection.


So what am I wearing? Oversized blazer from Sears, red polo (H&M) with red shorts (BCBG). I love contrasts, the bright feminine, and colorful is juxtaposed with the darker navy blue oversized men's blazer. I'd say I wanted minimalist classic pieces of a red polo, a pair of red shorts, and a navy blue blazer but I wanted the minimalism to have an edge. A bad-a** attitude, i.e, showing lots of leg, and wearing the bright color. Overall I like the balance of fragility, glamour, confidence, and fierceness.

I never do color on color but the way fashion is going, color on color is a huge trend this fall and next spring. Some designers who wanted to express that boldness of the 70s and 80s showed us that MORE COLOR is MORE. Red is huge this summer and fall. Go buy yourself a red coat.

To see the explosion of the long flowy silhouettes that are being revived, look at the lovely collections of FENDI:

  

Photo 3

In Photo 3: I am wearing a black Forever 21 sweater, random beige Shorts, Forever 21 tights, and Kenneth Cole boots. YES VERY TOKYO/LONDON street style. I love the fashion from these two cities. They are more experimental there, I would fit in.


Photo 4

In Photo 4: Kalo with a New York designer, Tatyana Tat, at the Menswear Collections in DC.

Kalo: Trendsetting is about being BOLD, ECCENTRIC, PRACTICAL, and RETAINING YOUR PERSONAL STYLE with CONFIDENCE!!


Friday, October 15, 2010

Fashion Models – Living Hangers and Plumpies


I went into a store and heard a lady complain that plumpness used to be a desirable size and shape. I thought of that for a while and dived into this complaint with skinny models on the runway. Would designers be too mean to want their models to die of starvation? Why size zero? Experts have repeatedly said that the average model should not be a size zero because this size is for kids that are still growing. People blame Twiggy, the British model, for this desirability in thin models. Models used to have healthy looks, but some would argue against this notion. However, designers adopted the “heroin chic” look after they saw and liked the clothing on Twiggy. Naturally, slim isn’t slim anymore. Not everyone who wants to be a model is as thin as the industry requires, so they use harmful means to get there.
What about the plus-sized models? Should people be told to gain unnecessary weight just to fit into an outfit?  Compared to being thin, some people would think that being a plus-sized model would be easier. But we should not forget the daily ridicule that overweight people go through. Even the idea of a plus-sized model is still being resisted by most major designers.
Why can’t designers make normal sized clothing or mix sizes so that the thin, slim, average, and plump can wear them? This way, the world would understand that it is okay to have different looks because there would be clothing for all. Like my mother would say, “Clothes cannot look good on you if it is just hanging. Clothes should hug the right places.” Do you think designers pick these extremes, the skinny and the plump because they look weird, so that people can focus on the clothing instead?




(ukoemem - Author, Artist; Ola Y - Editor)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Are We on the Set of The Vampire Diaries?



                                        



One of these Tudor-style homes is a real boarding house in Illinois. The other, which is located in Georgia,  is the building used as The Salvatore Boarding House on The Vampire Diaries TV show. One was built in 1929, the other in 1935. These homes look almost identical, making it hard to believe that they were designed by different architects. Samuel Cooper designed one, while Bernard Maybeck designed the other.




Photo 1: Howard House, Principia College
Photo 2: Glenridge Hall (rwstokes.com)
Photo 3: Somerville, MA

Monday, October 11, 2010

Why would anyone wear this? What is the reasoning behind making sky-high shoes?

      


  “Heels over 4 inches are made for short girls,” says a friend of mine. In the movie called “She’s the Man,” Viola said she wasn't going to wear heels because heels are a male invention designed to make it harder for females to run away. Is this reason plausible? It is difficult to understand why heels over 4 inches are made. They are uncomfortable and induce injuries most of the time. Shoes are supposed to protect the feet not damage them. Yes, they look pretty when displayed in the stores but not on someone struggling to walk in them. If you are a shoe designer and you think 6 inches or more looks good, then take the time to create comfortable ones that ladies can wear without breaking their legs. I do not imagine that 6 inches heels would look good on a broken leg.



(ukoemem - Author, Artist; Ola Y - Editor)                                                                                                                          

Saturday, October 9, 2010

PLEASE CALL IT AFRICAN





It doesn't matter if the styles are Westernized! The prints are African. Please, call it African. It doesn't matter if the prints are worn by Gwen Stefani or Beyonce. It still represents the African style. Western styles have seeped into the African Continent. It is time for Africa to embrace and hug the Western world with its uniqueness and for merges to be recognized. Welcome to the real fashion world where we mix and match.

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