Shout-out to beloved Malaysian Balloon Juice correspondent Amir Khalid!
Via NYMag‘s ladyblog The Cut, “Malaysian Pop Superstar Yuna on Fashion, Race, and Not Showing Her Hair.” I enjoy the lady’s music, yes, but I seriously envy her way with a headwrap. I would happily go full-metal Georgette Heyer “terrifying old lady in a turban” mode… except that on me, the look comes off as “drag Drew Carey impersonator”.
Major Major Major Major
Do we have to talk about music fashion? I’m no good at that.
Anne Laurie
There’s no fashion ‘look’ you’d like to pull off, but shouldn’t even attempt?
Well, you live in San Francisco, so maybe there isn’t…
Major Major Major Major
@Anne Laurie: My fashion expression is limited to cool bags and a single tattoo. Also a bracelet.
Do cats count?
Amir Khalid
Hello.
Major Major Major Major
@Amir Khalid: Hiya.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: Hello.
Anne Laurie
@Amir Khalid: Please tell me you’re not offended!
BillinGlendaleCA
Wow, saw my first HRC commercial during the news; now there’s another one.
(Bernie was already advertising.)
I’m getting ready to dye my hair. I was going to go for a hike, but I put on my socks and they didn’t work with the new tat.
Amir Khalid
@Anne Laurie:
Offended? Why would I be offended?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Interesting little essay in the Sunday NYTimes: Why you will marry the wrong person.
Cheers,
Scott.
Anne Laurie
@Amir Khalid: I never know! I meant to be friendly, but it’s been a looong week for me…
NotMax
Because of the goofy way BJ’s front page loads, this post was highlighting videos of the songs “In Praise of Christmas” and “Blue Christmas.” Non sequitur in extremis.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
There’s a couple of pairs of socks somewhere in the abode – most likely mouldering in the suitcase, for use on the mainland.
Never have need of ’em otherwise.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: maybe they’re under my fridge.
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: I have long socks for hiking, the new tat is on my ankle. As soon as I put the sock on, I knew that walking with it would be a problem.
opiejeanne
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Good essay, thank you for sharing.
Now I don’t know if I’m depressed or relieved, after 47+ years of marriage to my husband.
Major Major Major Major
@BillinGlendaleCA: What’d ya get?
opiejeanne
@BillinGlendaleCA: It would irritate the new tat?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: This, which will eventually be this when it’s done.
@opiejeanne: Well it would cover it(which is a good thing), but would rub against it(painful thing).
ETA: The design is based on a stained glass window at the restaurant at UCLA(I worked in that restaurant when I was a student and it was in the smoking room where I spent a good amount of time).
Major Major Major Major
@BillinGlendaleCA: Cool. What’s the story?
MomSense
I put an air conditioner in my window and now I’m having nightmares. It sounds a bit like the premise of a French short story.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Here’s a pic of the stained glass window.
MomSense
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Cool.
NotMax
@MomSense
Stephen King’s “Carrier.”
MomSense
@NotMax:
Ha!
PurpleGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Do you carry the cats around with you outside your home? Do you drape the cat(s) around your neck and/or shoulders?
PurpleGirl
@BillinGlendaleCA: Nice.
Ultraviolet Thunder
Insomnia sucks.
I don’t know if I should get up and do something useful or lie here and try to get back to sleep.
There’s leftover Chaldean takeout in the fridge. That settles it.
Major Major Major Major
@PurpleGirl: There’s a homeless guy a few blocks away who does.
JAFD
Request for help here:
Senior citizen, one of “the last to put the old aside”, realizes he needs a smartphone, various useful innovations of ye 21st century require one to access…
Most important criterion – good sound quality. Too much rock and roll in younger days, hearing a bit the worse for wear.
Having a good camera would be nice.
Tradeoff there is, I know, between paying extra for The Latest And Greatest, and false cheapness for one obsolete in six months. Is their a sweet spot ? Where ?
Have owned and used some Apple products in my time. Don’t want to own any more.
My antique flipphone’s been connected thru Verizon since cutting cord five years ago, satisfied with their service but not their labor policies. If better deal is out there am willing to switch (Assume few cell phone companies don’t cover New Jersey ;-) ).
Thanks very much for your thoughts on this.
BillinGlendaleCA
@JAFD: With Android try to get the latest, it’ll keep you on the upgrade path longer(this is really a good thing). The Samsung Galaxy S7 is a really nice phone, the edge variant is really slick. When I was looking at phones about 6 months ago, the LG’s were nice too. Verizon has the best service, but they’re pricey and labor relations suck. I’ve go Sprint now, the reception is not nearly as good as Verizon was. I’ve not used Windows Phone as a daily driver, but I’ve got a cheap one that I’ve played around with; they’re not bad at all.
ETA: The coverage maps lie like Trump.
ETA2: One thing I did 3 years ago when I upgraded from my first smartphone was went bigger, Note3. It’s a bit helpful for older eyes.
Origuy
I just saw a trailer for The Free State of Jones, a new movie about a true episode during the Civil War, when an area of northern Mississippi rebelled against the Confederacy. Sounds really good. Smithsonian has an article about the movie and the facts behind it.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@JAFD:
I have bad hearing too. Most smartphones have compromised speaker quality for packaging reasons. If you really want to hear, use earbuds for your calls. I do and it makes a world of difference. Then pick a phone based on other criteria.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@JAFD:
Regarding Apple, I have a number of good reasons to dislike the company. But I am an electronics technician with a 40 year relationship with computers, and the iPhone my employer forced on me is almost certainly the highest quality consumer electronics I have ever used.
Still hate those arrogant jerks but they do make a hell of a product.
daryljfontaine
Music-related:
My mom’s in town visiting for a couple of weeks, and we took in a production of Evita last evening. Plenty of resonance for the 2016 elections:
– An ambitious woman loathed by her political and social rivals
Yes, I would make a great [vice-]president…
– Someone who wants to confiscate the wealth of the oligarchs to improve the lives of the lower classes, but may be a bit caught up in their own grift
When the money keeps rolling in, what’s a [man] to do?
Cream a little off the top for expenses, wouldn’t you?
– And a strongman seeking the highest political office of his nation, using a combination of a cult of personality, mob populism, and violence.
It’s annoying that we have to fight elections for our cause
Be inconvenienced having to get a majority
If other methods of persuasion fail to win us applause
We have other ways of establishing authority
We have ways of making you vote for us — or at least of making you abstain.
Interestingly, they also incorporated “You Must Love Me” into this version, the original song written for the 1996 film adaptation with Madonna. Never seen that in a staging of the show before, but it worked.
D
BillinGlendaleCA
@Ultraviolet Thunder: The kid has an iPhone, I’d take a Sammy GS7 edge any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
ETA: Since we got our phones last year, the wife has a GS6 and I have a Note Edge(came out in 2014).
Ultraviolet Thunder
@BillinGlendaleCA: My wife has a Samsung, a large new one, and loves it. But she upgrades every 9 months or so, so we’ll see. I don’t even keep track of what model she has any more.
Speaking of music, apparently the word ‘reproduction’ isn’t well translated by the software that Shenzhen eBay sellers use:
“Speaker impedance: 4-32 Ω
Power amplifier sex ratio: ≥50 db
Net weight: 25 g”
Major Major Major Major
@Ultraviolet Thunder: Any selection of (in order) words from “power amplifier sex ratio” would be a good band name.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@daryljfontaine: Comparing her to Hillary Clinton gives Evita Peron far too much credit.
NotMax
@Ultraviolet Thunder
Heh. Still using a phone purchased in 1981. Works just spiffy.
daryljfontaine
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Agreed, but it was the thin connection I could make to tie it to all three major contenders. “Santa Evita” has more in common with another candidate whose populist support has become a bit like worship among some circles.
D
burnspbesq
Whatever phone your friend chooses, if it’s going to be used for listening to music, max out the memory. Carrying CD-resolution files instead of MP3 is the single most important thing you can do to improve the music listening experience. And I say that knowing full well that extra memory is the way device manufacturers pad their margins (outrageously in Apple’s case).
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@JAFD: Late to the party, but here are a few things to consider.
Some phones are more hearing aid compatible, etc. than others. (That’s an older phone list, but give some ideas of things to consider.
In addition to earbuds, you can think about a headset instead. (I haven’t used one myself. J uses a different brand with her Panasonic cordless phone but not with her cell phone.).
It might be good to go with a cheaper cell phone first and see how it works out. While it’s easy to resell used cell phones, getting a $700+ GS7E and then finding that there’s something about it that he doesn’t like is a lot more painful than getting a simpler cheaper phone first.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
nutella
Yeah. She looks gorgeous in her scarves. I’ve never been a hat person but now that radiation has made my head something the world wouldn’t want to see, I’ve been trying. Nothing looks as good as Yuna’s. Every head covering I’ve tried looks completely goofy. I know because at least two people have been tacky enough to laugh at them.