Losing their touch? Or just giving in to celeb crushes?

I present the E! Fashion Police picks for best dressed. I think we all know who took home Worst Dressed (but you know she had her own golden globes as consolation...)

According to Joan and crew, George Clooney took home men's best dressed, and Penelope Cruz took home women's best dressed

Ok, I like Penelope Cruz, and we all know that there are some who would go gay for her, but I personally would have given the prestigious best dressed to Anna Paquin. Or even Jennifer Garner...but that might be a personal bias. I wonder if the Fashion Police this year were taken in by Penelope's inexplicably lustrous hair in spite of the January rain. Hmmm...could it be that even celebrities can be sucked in by this Latin god-dess? And back to George. I love George. Who doesn't? He's helping out Haiti with that telethon, but best dressed? I thought he looked like he normally does in the Oceans movies. My vote went to Robert Downey, Jr. I enjoyed his lack of tie. It looked right on him. I also enjoyed his formal scruff-- NOT to be confused with Jon Hamm's formal beard. I'm just more of a scruff girl, I guess. Ok, ladies and Will. I've had my say. Discuss!
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Product Placement: World's End by T.C. Boyle

As an advocate for film and TV being, paradoxically, very capable proponents for literacy, I hereby submit to you...Product Placement!!

Have you ever read a book after seeing the movie tie-in? Have you ever read a book because the heroine in the movie read it? Because it was on a character's nightstand in your favorite TV show? If so, this is the post for you.

Today's Case File: How I Met Your Mother's 100th episode, "Girls vs. Suits"



Book-loving Character: Ted Mosby, architect

Book: T. C. Boyle's 1987 novel, "World's End"

Episode Details: Ted sees this book in the room of the girl he wants to date and cites it as an example of things he and the girl have in common. After he praises the book, the girl reveals that it was a gift from her roommate (the mother!) and that she hasn't read it yet.

Book Details: dark satire, tells the story of several generations of families in the Hudson River Valley, was the winner of the 1988 PEN/Faulkner Award for American Fiction

Why you should read this book if you like HIMYM: according to wikipedia "The reference to this book may, in fact be a humorous allusion to the fact that both the book and the series are satirical re-tellings of history." Reason #2: you secretly wish your were Ted Mosby's one true love.

Where to Buy This Book: Mysteriously enough, I can't find any retailers with this exact, hardback copy of the book. The original 1987 hardback cover looked like this:


The only current copy available is the Penguin paperback which has the following cover and retails for $16.00



Could they be looking to rerelease it? Or is this just another way to string us along, HIMYM??

Other Recommends: If you like T. C. Boyle you can check out his most recent paperback, The Women, which looks at the various women in the life of another beloved architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. Hardcover is $27.95, paperback is $16.00



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New Year: Revival of a Good Thing.

It's a new year on the Salon, and this year I want to bring back a formerly regular Salon post, but with an added twist. I'm talking about Word of the Week! It's always been one of my favorite regular posts, and this year it will be extra easy, because I bought myself a day by day 2010 calendar of "Forgotten English" by Jeffrey Kacirk, so this way I can just post the extra interesting ones.

Today's admission:

Ackenpucky:
Any food mixture of unknown ingredients. West Virginia
- Harold Wentworth's American Dialect Dictionary

Can I get an "Ewwwwww"?! But such a good word. And one I think that could be used often. More often than one would wish.

Ode to An Hot Dog:

Oh my sweet Hot Dog,
It's sad but it's true,
Whilst eschewing meats,
My desires burned only for you.

How is it fair?
Surely I'm not at all lucky,
that my one favorite meat food
is most certainly ackenpucky.

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Rodarte for Target Disappoints

I would like to state some objections I have to both Rodarte's design, the marketing strategy for this line, and whoever styled these pieces for the website.

First of all, it is important to remember that this line is only shown in the junior's section of the store and on the website. Therefore, its primary marketing range, one can assume is probably 12-25 year olds (generously on both ends).

So getting into the nitty gritty:Who the heck said- yes, this shirt, over this bathing suit bottom, with this skirt. . .Huh? It looks like a mariachi costume combined with a mesh muscle shirt. And if you knew what skirt that was you would be further confused (spoiler alert: its mostly tulle and crepe). Dear photoshoot stylist, you need a new dayjob.

Then there is this and this:

Believe it or not, this lacy edged piece is actually a swimsuit. Now, maybe I'm just an old fogey (at 23) but That is Underwear! Also, what is this dress? I get the underwear as outerwear thing but is this really appropriate to market to young girls? Why would you want your daughter to go out wearing something that looks like some sex offender's x-ray vision? And on an impractical note- what teenager is going to take the time to hand wash or dryclean a dress covered in tulle? Really Rodarte? Really Target?

Then I'd like to end on this lovely note (and this is just my opinion, so if you like this skirt, go for it, but maybe dont wear it around me, or any cat ever).

In fact, maybe this model was attacked by a studio feline and half the tulle on her skirt got ripped off. But no, I saw it in the store and the picture doesn't even describe how much confusion I felt. Not to mention, the styling. Isn't the skirt a statement enough without the tites?

You be the judge. Did Rodarte's line for Target crash and burn? Maybe not completely. There were a few dresses that were not only apporpriate for Juniors (as they were being marketed to) but also actually pretty. And please don't think, Rodarte, that I am ignorant of your cutting edge rep, and your reference to the underwear as outerwear principle. I get it. And if a 25 year old or 30 year old wants to wear thier underwear to the pool, more power to them. But we should not encourage twelve year olds to act and dress like they are 25 or 30 don't you agree?

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Reading List for 2010

I know you all have been on the edge of your seats wanting to know what the book club will be reading in 2010. Well, the wait is over! After the cut.


January: Graphic Novel Month
Usually for January we have a "Now for something completely different", so this certainly still fits into that theme. It's just more specific! Par example, Amy will be reading:



February: Newbery Winners Month
Casey will be reading:



March: Philosophy month
Will be reading:



April: Books Made Into a Movie Month
Amy, Will, and Casey will all be reading:



Additionally Amy and Casey will be reading some of these, heck yes Disney movies we're talking to you:



May: American History Month
Will will be reading this:



June: Judge a Book by its Cover Month
Undecided what any of us will be reading. Basically, we'll just go to Border, library, etc, and read a book based solely on which cover we like the most.



July: Two Sides of the Same Coin Month: Relationships
Also undecided what we will be reading. But basically, we will all choose a separate book the addresses a different aspect of the general topics of relationship. For example, you could choose a man's perspective, and someone else a woman's perspective, or a positive viewpoint vs a negative viewpoint. Then the idea is that after we read this books there will be a discussion or debate type scenario on this topic. Hopefully will be interesting.



August: Legitimized Fanfic Month
Will will be reading:



And Amy will be reading something along the lines of:



September: Banned Books Month
Which is appropriate because Banned Books week turns out to be September 25 - October 2 2010. Undecided as to what we will be reading. But there is a plethora of books to choose to from. Take your pick.



October: Unfinished Novels Month
Casey will be reading:



November: Fiction Based on Fact Month
Casey may be reading: (based on the life of Laura Bush)



OR: (based on the underworkings of the mafia as connected to the J.F.K assassination)



December: Christmas Gift to Yourself Month
Good old December. Just buy a book you want, any book at all, and treat yourself to the luxury of reading it in the busy month of December.



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Awesome Internet Finds!

Hello Saloners,

I was tooling around on the internet and found the coolest sites. They both have to do with historical wallpapers and these designs are so beautiful and have such history. I saved a few of them to my favorites thing folder.

The first site is a company that reproduces historical wallpapers for sale. Here's the website.

http://www.adelphipaperhangings.com/about.html
The other site is a more general historical site that also has a huge collection of historical wallpapers. But they dont reproduce them so its difficult most of the time to really see the details well.

http://www.historicnewengland.org/about/WhatsNew.asp

Enjoy searching through these collections. They really are wonderful.

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