What the Manolo Is…
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
The Manolo admits to being completely in love with the Cassandra Mortmain and her family.
Archive for the 'What the Manolo Is...' Category
What the Manolo Is…
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
Few things can take the Manolo back to his adolescence as quickly as the Beatles.
What the Manolo Is…
Tuesday, May 29th, 2007Manolo says, it is the Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
First the Manolo announces that with the arrival of the summer, he has commenced working on his summer reading list. And it is off to the good start with the very enjoyable Ivy Briefs, written by the Manolo’s internet friend the Martha Kimes, who blogs at The Random Muse. The Ivy Briefs is quite funny, and certain to be enjoyed by anyone who has endured either the law school or the lawyer. In the other words, it could be enjoyed by anyone.
Secondly, the Manolo has been dipping into the Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle, with the predictably hilarious results; to wit, for each stunning and arresting visual image, the viewer is forced to endure 27 minutes of solipsistic, Matthew-Barney-based tedium.
Thus the best way to watch even the smallest amount of the Cremaster Cycle is with the thumb firmly placed on the fast-forward button, zipping ahead to those few moments that are actually worth the watching.
“Yes, Manolo, but is it art?”
In the word: “Meh”.
What the Manolo Is…
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
This has been the very busy few days for the Manolo, but he has still had the time to read one more of the Martin Amis novels he had missed. Few other writers are as amusing and appalling as the Martin Amis, who never fails to make the Manolo laugh even at the most awful things.
What the Manolo Is…
Tuesday, May 15th, 2007Manolo says, it is the Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
Martin Amis and Verka Serduchka make the surprisingly tasty combination.
What the Manolo Is…
Tuesday, May 8th, 2007Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
The Manolo also calls your attention to this marvelous sounding piece of the Chick Lit, Scot On The Rocks, written by the Manolo’s internet friend, the Brenda Janowitz.
What the Manolo Is…
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
The Manolo has been reading the magnficient Tim Gunn’s new book, Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style, which he has found to be the delightfully odd little book.
The Manolo uses the word “odd” in describing this work because it is not the typically dreary fashion advice book, in which the fashion “does” and the “do nots” are recounted in excrutiating incorrect detail, accompanied by the photos of models of unattainable beauty wearing impossibly stylish clothes, or worse, by the photos of the uncomfortable-looking “ordinary” peoples in ill-fitting clothes.
The work is also odd, in that it does not play to the lowest common denominator, and in the fact the Tim Gunn’s erudition is allowed to shine.
Query: When was the last time you read the fashion advice book in which the Søren Kierkegaard was cited as the authority? Or in which the words “syllogism” and “semiotics” were used correctly?
Answer: None, at least since the publication of the Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Remarks on Colour.
Of the course, the Manolo does have the few criticisms. Chief among them is the scant amount of space devoted to the shoes, the most important part of any outfit.
The usually masterful Tim give less then the single full page of his book over to the shoe-based advice! This is even less space than that devoted to the discussion about the pashminas!
Worse, here is the entirety of the Tim Gunn’s recommended shoe collection, from page 158.
Regardless of taste and budget, every closet should have the following:
1. Two pairs of boots–one dressy, one casual.
2. Flats that can go to the office, but with jeans as well.
3. One pair of daring, dress-anything-up evening shoe.
What is this?
This is not the real list of necessary shoes.
This is not even the minimum number of shoes the super fantastic girl should consider packing for the weekend in the country.
Despite this serious deficiency the Manolo can still recommend that you read this book, as it is smart, witty, and filled with usable advice on matters other than the shoes.
What the Manolo Is…
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
The Manolo has been in the Mozart sort of mood.
What the Manolo Is…
Tuesday, April 17th, 2007Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
Throughout the moive Amazing Grace the Manolo kept thinking two things. The first, “no one makes the movies like this anymore.”
This was such the earnest and heartfelt movie, one that was mostly respectful of history and its subject. It was also the very intelligent movie, one which presupposed some passing knowledge of history. Because of these things the Amazing Grace seemed like the movie made forty years ago, and the Manolo means this as praise.
The second thing the Manolo was thinking, much to his shame, was “How would Mel Gibson have made this movie?”
The problem with the Amazing Grace is that it steadfastly refuses to sensationalize its subject matter. The result of this refusal is that what should be the matter of the highest moral imperative, the abolition of slavery, is reduced to the story about the parliamentary maneuvering.
This is why the Manolo kept making reference to the Mel Gibson in his mind.
Say what you will about the Crazy Mel, but you cannot deny that he has the ability to move audiences, to make them feel intensely. In the Amazing Grace we see the characters in anguish at the thought of slavery, but we feel little of what causes their torment, and none of the real torment suffered by the slaves. The movie is somewhat bloodless, and suffers because of this.
This material in the hands of the Mel Gibson would have been sensationalized beyond measure, but you would have known, with your all of your being, why William Wilburforce felt so intensely about abolition, for you, too, would have felt intensely.
So the Manolo liked the Amazing Grace very much, but wishes that it had packed more of the emotional punch.
