The Misadventures of Christian Louboutin: Luxury's Stolen Sole

 Christian Louboutin, A.K.A. Ben Bernankgay.

Last year, Christian Louboutin, lady-shoemaker to everyone willing to pay 600 dollars and up for a pair of high heels, decided to sue upscale fashion label Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) for producing shoes that allegedly infringed upon his "trademark" on the color red.  In his complaint, Louboutin states that he "is the first fashion designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women's shoes." (Emphases mine).  The ratio of words qualifying his accomplishment to those actually stating it indicate that what he has created isn't all that original, but nonetheless his shoes are most easily identified by their signature red outsoles, also known as the Red Sole Mark, as seen below:

Carly Rae Jepsen, Illuminata

Carly Rae Jepsen showing off her Illuminati tatt.

Canadian songstress Carly Rae Jepsen, whose single I did NOT purchase less than 36 hours after first hearing it, is a high-ranking member of the Illuminati.  Her hit single "Call Me Maybe," while seemingly about innocent flirtation, actually chronicles her induction into the Illuminati by way of selling her soul to Lucifer.

Let's take a look at the lyrics stanza by stanza:

The Death of: Taste - Rebarbarization and The Rise of Moscato

 Destruction from The Course of the Empire by Thomas Cole, 1836.

Welcome to my second installment of "The Death of" Series!  Today I intend to prove that taste is dead.  I was prompted to do so after reading the following passage from Albert Jay Nock's 1942 Memoirs of a Superfluous Man :

"Whether by some means or another, I was somehow prepared to see, as when I was still quite young I did see, that in our society the purview of legal, religious and ethical sanctions were monstrously over-extended.  They had usurped control over an area of conduct much larger than right reason would assign them.  On the other hand, I saw that the area of conduct properly answerable to the sanctions of taste and manners was correspondingly attenuated."

I very much agreed with this, and was struck by the thought that, if in his time he felt taste was undernourished, then surely by our present time it must have succumb to starvation.  I will, in the usual fashion, further this idea by presenting actual cultural episodes, and providing brief analyses to show that such episodes are incongruous with a world in which taste could exist.

Warm Weather Wines

Al Roker is a vision of estival joy.

 

Here in New York, we've been gifted an exceptionally beautiful Spring.  America's most sartorially literate weatherman is predicting sunny temperatures in the high 60s and 70s for this weekend and the weather shows no signs of changing.  Hopes are high for a long and pleasant season, fair-weather revolutionaries notwithstanding.  When temperatures are this mild for this long, my thoughts invariably turn towards leisurely afternoons spent in the company of good people and good wine.  Below is a list of ten of my favorite wines, in no particular order, to serve with a slight chill and enjoy outdoors.  My apologies in advance for all the bullshit wine jargon I'm about to subject you to.

Name:     Croteaux "Jolie"
Style:       Rosé
Varietal:  Cabernet Franc
Region:   North Fork of Long Island, New York, USA
Vintage:  2011
Price:      $25

This is currently my favorite rosé on the market; it has a complexity of fruit that is quite rare for a rosé, but where a tannic jolt on the finish might be expected from such fruit, there is instead crisp minerality.  Really unique and interesting.  I have not seen this in stores, but a trip out to Croteaux's tasting barn and beautiful garden on the North Fork is most certainly worthwhile.  My understanding from the owner is that there are already less than 100 cases available, so jump on it while you still can.
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The Return of the Castrato: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better

Andy-Sandberg-looking Italian actor portraying the title castrato of 1994 film, Farinelli.

This past season at the Met, I brought my very patient girlfriend to enjoy a Baroque opera pasticcio featuring the music of Handel, Vivaldi and others titled The Enchanted Island.  The most exciting part about this - for me, at least - was the return to the Metropolitan Opera stage of countertenors, or, gentlemen who sing like ladies.

 South Carolinian countertenor David Daniels as Prospero in The Enchanted Island.