I have been wanting to do a fashion review of one of the big entertainment shows for some time. The main problem is that photos are always copyrighted so using them is out. So, what I will attempt is to link to the photo, and snark away.

The irony in this story is almost unbearable.

The Associated Press on Friday suspended the use of photos provided by the Defense Department after the Army distributed a digitally altered photo of the U.S. military’s first female four-star general.

The image of Army Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody is the second Army-provided photo the AP has eliminated from its service in the last two months.

The AP said that adjusting photos and other imagery, even for aesthetic reasons, damages the credibility of the information distributed by the military to news organizations and the public.

“For us, there’s a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image,” said Santiago Lyon, the AP’s director of photography.

Las Vegas Sun

You don’t crop photos? You don’t alter brightness, contrast or color balance? You don’t publish photos provided to you without any investigation.

Oh, that last one, you do.

The Toy Hall of Fame is housed at the Strong National Museum of Play here in Rochester, New York. Every year the Hall recognizes a select few toys as worthy of the Hall of Fame.

This year toy selections [PDF] have been inducted, the skateboard, the baby doll and…

wait for it…

the stick. Yes, the ordinary, extraordinary stick finally gets its due.

And last but not least, one very unconventional “plaything”—the Stick!—has now taken its honored place in the hall. Found in all sizes in nature, sticks inspire spontaneous, unstructured play and can be used in unendingly imaginative ways—to draw in the sand on a beach, or to use as a magic wand, slingshot, light saber, fishing rod, or walking stick; not to mention playing stickball, toasting marshmallows, or playing “fetch” with your dog. Sticks are the original construction toys: children make toy buildings out of sticks and design toy boats with leaves for sails. Many an adult has picked up a driftwood souvenir from the beach, and artists and crafters use sticks in wreaths, chairs, and sculptures. The stick now keeps proud company with another untraditional “toy”—the Cardboard Box—inducted into the hall in 2005. After all, the best toy is often a plaything that’s free, easy to get, and a source of endless creativity.

That darn stick, the “poke your eye out” stick. It served as a rifle, a bat, a way to touch yucky things like dog poop and girls. Dogs love it. Moms hate it.

What a great day in America! The stick makes the Hall of Fame.

My brother sends a link to this story:

Tearful multi-millionaire Paris fluttered her eyes and told the News of the World: “Every other guy I’ve been out with has used me for money or sex – but in most cases they just want fame. It made it hard to trust people.”

Fox