The first Gilly Hicks:Sydney just opened. Only time will tell if a sex soaked image will lead to success in this tepid economy. Since this article was written the first Gilly Hicks:Sydney retail outlet has opened, but I liked this article for it’s snarky attitude to Gilly Hicks:Sydney inaugural FLASH campaign. The same comments apply, IMHO to rest of Gilly Hicks:Sydney branding.
Gilly Hicks: Sydney – flashers
by Abram Sauer | March 24, 2008 | www.brandchannel.com
Gilly Hicks: Sydney (GHS) is Abercrombie & Fitch’s (A&F) latest endeavor to market underwear and unmentionables to the youth market. Yes, that same demographic targeted by the parent company’s other offshoots—Abercrombie, Hollister, and RUEHL.
From Gilly Hicks’ use—or abuse—of both flesh and Flash, it’s no surprise that the company’s website is generating attention and controversy.
The Gilly Hicks: Sydney Internet marketing strategy is perfectly representative of what one would come to expect from the brand masters at A&F. The company’s decidedly non-Australian CEO, Mike Jeffries, recently described GHS as “the cheeky cousin of Abercrombie & Fitch.” However, there are two noteworthy observations to be made about Gilly Hicks: Sydney’s brand strategy. The first has to do with the brand’s website’s “sex sells” approach.
Wild animals are wild animals. It has been proven again and again that large, powerful, smart, male, wild animals are dangerous and should be respected. When these wild animals follow human commands, jump thru hoops, ride bicycles or wear polo shirts it’s easy to lose that respect.
This article discusses the life and possible motivation of “Tilly” who recently killed his highly skilled and caring trainer, Dawn Brancheau, in Seaworld Orlando.
The attack by Tilly follows recent trends with chimpanzee attacks. Large, strong, males are dangerous and have the potential to attack and kill humans.
Tilikum
Tilikum at work
Tilikum
Killer Whale Trainer Death Tied to Mating, Isolation
Boredom and raging hormones may have contributed to the tragic attack by a SeaWorld killer whale.
Discoverynews.com | By Jennifer Viegas | Thu Feb 25, 2010 02:24 AM ET
THE GIST:
* The male killer whale that killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, was often used for breeding and, at other times, housed in isolation.
* Another male killer whale, named Ky, also attacked his trainer under similar circumstances.
* Experts believe Tilikum’s captivity, frequent breeding and the fact that he was captured in the wild could all have contributed to the fatality.
Tilikum, the male killer whale that fatally injured trainer Dawn Brancheau in front of a stunned audience at SeaWorld in Orlando on Wednesday, was a breeding “stud” often housed in isolation.
Experts believe he did not kill for food, but may have been acting out due to stress and raging hormones.
While some reports have been portraying Tilikum as a particularly aggressive orca, a nearly identical incident involving another killer whale male named Ky occurred in July 2004 at the San Antonio SeaWorld.
Trainer Steve Aibel, like Brancheau, was pulled underwater by the whale, which also attempted to bite, but Aibel walked away uninjured. He later blamed Ky’s “adolescent hormones” for the episode.
Marine biologist Nancy Blake told Discovery News that Tilikum could have acted out for similar reasons.
“He was used a lot [by SeaWorld] for mating, and could have even been enacting a mating behavior during the incident,” explained Blake, a leading expert on killer whales who runs California’s Monterey Bay Whale Watch.
According to GREMM, a Quebec-based marine mammal research and education group, intense competition may take place between male whales before mating. Males and females may also challenge each other, with females sometimes changing their diving behavior during the process.
Captured near Iceland in November 1983, Tilikum “was housed in small tanks from the beginning,” said Blake. SeaWorld Orlando acquired the whale in January 1992, and put him in a breeding program shortly thereafter.
Over the years, Tilikum has sired at least 17 calves, 10 of which are still alive, making him the most successful orca father in captivity. He is also the only captive killer whale grandfather.
His captivity, frequent breeding and the fact that Tilikum was caught in the wild could all have contributed to Wednesday’s fatality, Blake believes.
Dawn Brancheau was very good at her job and enjoyed it very much.
Dawn Brancheau 40, was killed after the 30-year-old, 12,300-pound bull orca named Tilikum, jumped out of a tank, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her underwater. Ms. Brancheau was one of the most experienced trainers on staff and one of the few allowed to work with the powerful and dangerous animal. According to her sister, Ms. Brancheau was fulfilled and happy in her job.
People who have seen the 70’s movie, ORCA would not be surprised by these actions. The shocking thing is that this is the THIRD death caused by Tilikum. In 1991 Tilly along with 3 other whales killed a trainer who accidentally slipped and fell into the tank. In 1999 Tilly killed a man who sneaked into the park after hours.
Tillikum performing in a file photo.
Investigation Into SeaWorld Trainer’s Death Begins
Tilikum Blamed For Two Previous Deaths
WESH.com | February 25, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. — Investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be at SeaWorld on Thursday working to determine what led to the death of a trainer who was pulled into the water by a killer whale.
Officials with SeaWorld and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office will also participate in the investigation.
A park official confirmed Wednesday that the whale involved in the trainer’s death at the Orlando park actually pulled the victim into a tank.
Police: Man rides on car hood in his underwear
www.heraldstandard.com/February 19, 2010
UNIONTOWN, Pa. — Police expect to file charges against a 57-year-old man who was wearing only underwear in frigid temperatures when he hopped on the hood of his girlfriend’s moving car during an argument. Police have yet to identify the man or his 28-year-old girlfriend, saying they’ll release the names once they sort out what charges to file.
Police were called about 3:20 a.m. Thursday by someone reporting a man riding on the hood of a car, screaming at the woman driving it.
The woman had a bruise under her left eye and police said they found drug paraphernalia in the car.
Uniontown is about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh. The region has been hit by heavy snows and overnight temperatures were in the teens on Thursday.
The pressure of Valentine’s Day is just too much for some people.
Man beaten with high-heel on Waffle House Valentine’s date gone wrong
savannahnow.com | February 18, 2010 | By Michael Atkins
Pooler police say violence erupted during one couple’s Valentine’s Day outing, as the suitor’s former lover burst into the restaurant and beat the man with her high-heel.
Early Sunday morning, officers were called to the Waffle House at 1012 E. U.S. 80, finding a “blood-covered floor and tables in a state of disarray,” according an incident report filed by Pooler police.
A 33-year-old man had suffered cuts and scrapes on his face, marks left by the “spiked heel from a shoe,” police reported.
The victim told officers that he and his girlfriend were at a booth when a pair of sisters – one of whom is the mother of his children – came in and sparked an argument.
He tried to ignore them, police reported, even as they began hitting him. A Waffle House manager told police the women also hurled sugar and salt containers through a window.
At some point, the assailants went to the parking lot and damaged the man’s car, police reported.
They then returned inside, and the man struck at least one of the women, according to the report.
That’s when the women took off in a car; a Savannah-Chatham police officer spotted the getaway vehicle and followed it to a Savannah hospital, Pooler police reported.
One of the women was treated for a cut above her right eye before both were taken to the Pooler police department.
The suspects – identified as Kenya White, 29, of Meldrim; and Marrisha White, 32, of Hinesville – were each charged with battery and criminal damage to private property, according to the incident report. They were taken to the Chatham County jail.
Paramedics treated the victim at the scene, police reported.
Family dog keeps lost Ariz. tot safe on cold night
The Arizona Republic | by Weston Phippen and Brittany Williams | Feb. 20, 2010
Victoria was lost, lying amid the brush and rocks.
The 3-year-old’s feet were swollen, her body covered in dirt and scratches. The temperature had dipped into the mid-30s, and she was wearing little more than a T-shirt. She had been out all night.
With her in the cold was her best friend, one she had known her whole life. He was a Queensland heeler named Blue.
As the sun rose over the pair Friday morning, a Department of Public Safety helicopter hovered overhead. Searchers saw Victoria. The girl was lying on the ground. The dog was right next to her.
For nearly 15 hours, relatives and authorities had been looking for Victoria Bensch, a little girl who wandered away from her Cordes Lakes home north of the Valley. A massive ground search ran throughout the night.
In the morning, after the rescue, Victoria was taken by helicopter to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She was treated for mild frostbite on her feet and was expected to stay overnight only so that doctors could make sure she was in good shape.
The nation has lost a brave woman in the death of Susan Hill. Many pro-life activists surely revel in her passing. No matter what one’s stance on the abortion issue, her unflinching desire to provide rural women the ability to exercise their constitutional right to abortion is noteworthy. Condolences to her family and friends.
“Ms. Hill focused on establishing clinics in rural areas where women had no access to abortion services, and she opened more clinics than anyone else in the United States, sometimes drawing 1,000 protesters at a time.”
Susan Hill | Abortion-clinic owner, 61 Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/07/2010
Susan Hill, 61, a national women’s rights advocate and the owner of several abortion clinics around the country, died of breast cancer Jan. 30. She lived in Raleigh, N.C.
Ms. Hill focused on establishing clinics in rural areas where women had no access to abortion services, and she opened more clinics than anyone else in the United States, sometimes drawing 1,000 protesters at a time. She sued protesters 34 times for blocking entrances and preventing women from going into the facilities.
“She’s probably the toughest person I ever knew,” said her older brother, Dan Hill. “She’s the only person I knew who wore a bulletproof vest to work or was supposed to wear one to work. People really wanted to kill her, and she never flinched.”
The most interesting thing about this prank is that it happened twice, which seems as though it’s a grudge and not random. Alas, no photo available.
Aurora woman’s car slathered in barbecue sauce, pickles
Clifford Ward, Special to the Tribune | www.chicagotribune.com | July 7 2009
Revenge, according to the proverb, is a dish that is best served cold.
But apparently, it also can be served like a pulled pork sandwich.
That’s the speculation of an Aurora woman who found her car slathered
with barbecue sauce and pickles on consecutive nights.
On July 1, the 23-year-old victim, who was not identified by police,
discovered her 2001 Chevrolet Impala had been hit by a condiment
assault.
The woman cleaned her car and moved it to a different part of the
driveway, so it was nearer to the house and blocked from the street by
a family member’s car.
Around 3 a.m., she heard her dog barking. And the next morning, she
found a second helping of sauce and pickles covering her car.
The victim told police that she suspects the source of the tangy
harassment is a woman she had confronted because the woman was
interested in the victim’s boyfriend.
According to the report from the Kane County sheriff’s police, the
sauce and pickles didn’t hurt the car’s finish. The woman hosed them
off as police stood by.
A circus zebra getting a little exercise broke loose from his handlers and toured down town Atlanta pursued by police cars, police on bicycles and police on foot. The excited animal was safely caught on an Interstate.
I look forward to more amateur photos coming forward of the zebra on the street downtown.
“All of a sudden, a freaking zebra comes running down the street like a car. Five or six police cars were in hot pursuit. And a bunch of officers on foot.”
Circus zebra leads police on wild chase
By Kristi E. Swartz and Ty Tagami | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | February 18, 2010
A zebra from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus escaped his handler and led police on a chase through downtown Atlanta on Thursday afternoon.
The black-and-white striped animal was spotted all over town — in the parking lot near the Richard B. Russell Federal Building, near Centennial Olympic Park, CNN and on the Downtown Connector. He was finally captured on the interstate near the Grady curve. According to witnesses, he was galloping between lanes of traffic on the Downtown Connector before his capture.
The 12-year-old zebra, named Lima, was exercising to prepare for Thursday night’s circus performance at Philips Arena when “something spooked him,” Ringling Brothers spokeswoman Crystal Drake told the Associated Press. The zebra broke away from his trainers and bumped up against a fence before wiggling through an opening and running off, she told the AP.
“We’re not sure what it was that startled him, but we’re looking into that,” Drake told the AP.
I first heard the word “vajazzle” in early 2010 when someone posted a link to Jennifer Love Hewitt chatting about her privates. Apparently the Completely Bare Salon in NYC has been providing this service since 2000. As their site states:
Now it’s time to go completely bare with a flair. Accessorize your own jewels…with crystals.
In case you still don’t understand what’s involved I’ll be blunt. First a woman’s privates have all their hair removed. Sparkly crystal “stickers” are then adhered to the bare skin. Ta da!
Director Kevin Smith accompanied this mobile photo with 'Look how fat I am on your plane! Quick! Throw me off!' (Credit: Twitter/@thatkevinsmith)
Recently New Jersey raised film director and smart ass Kevin Smith wanted to fly to Oakland to speak at a MAC conference. He booked 2 seats on a Southwest Airlines flight. However, once he checked in he wanted an earlier flight than the one he booked and agreed to “standby” for the desired flight. A standby seat did indeed become available, but it was one single seat.
Once he was seated the trouble began. Smith said he could put the armrests down and buckle his belt once seated on the stand by flight. Then stuff happened. Eventually the pilot told him he could not fit in the seat and could not fly on that flight, and Smith had to get off the plane.
Smith then began to TWEET about the event as did Southwest. Their media interplay will probably continue, with Smith generating many pointed TWEETS about the incident. Since Smith has a new film coming out soon, he will probably milk the free publicity for all it’s worth.
Many articles about this incident focus on the “obese passenger problem.” Smith did initially purchase 2 seats. I understand the desire to have some elbow room, on Southwest I literally can’t move my arms without bumping the person next to me. An extra seat will also put some distance between oneself and the parade of humanity that flies Southwest.As Smith said
“I can fit into a Soutwest Airlines seat,” Smith stated in the podcast, defending his size. “This is the important part of the story. If I have to, I can fly one seat on Southwest. I just opt not to, because it’s more comfortable, and I have enough money to do it.”
but then he also tweeted
“Contrary to their claim that I regularly purchase two seats, I wasn’t a regular 2-seat buyer until just this week. They SEIZED on that. In their ‘apology’ blog, they implied (or flat-out wrote) that I regularly purchase 2 seats. Writing that buttresses their lie: 2 Fat 2 Fly.
“But, by their own guidelines, I was not, in fact, 2 Fat 2 Fly: the arm rests went down & I could buckle my seat belt w/o an extender. So…? Hey @SouthwestAir: you bring that same row of seats to the DailyShow, and I’ll sit in ‘em for all to see on TV.
“If I don’t fit, I’ll donate $10k to charity of your choice. But when I do (& buckle the belt as well)? 1) You admit you lied. 2) Change your policy, or at least re-train your staff to be a lot more human and a lot less corporate.”
in another TWEET
After his flight from Oakland landed in Los Angeles he wrote “Don’t worry: wall of the plane was opened and I was airlifted out.”
in another TWEET
“So, @SouthwestAir, go f*** yourself, I broke no regulation, offered no “safety risk” (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?).”
in another TWEET
“Fuck making it right for me just ’cause I have a platform. I sat next to a big girl who was chastised for not buying an extra ticket because “all passengers deserve their space.” Fucking flight wasn’t even full! Fuck your size-ist policy. Rude..”
Smith is no shrinking violet. In this vid clip from 2007 Smith easily handles a heckler. Alas the sound quality is poor but it shows Smith thinking quickly, sharply and smiling while he hands a critic their ass. Ironically I found this clip when I searched for “Kevin Smith teets” when I mean to search for his tweets.
Kevin Smith peeved after airline says he’s too big for one seat
By Randy McMullen | Contra Costa Times | 02/16/2010
Director and actor Kevin Smith and Southwest Airlines engaged in a war of words Sunday and Monday — on Twitter and on blog posts — after Smith was refused a seat on a Southwest Oakland-to-Burbank flight because he’s too hefty.
“You have messed with the wrong sedentary, processed-foods eater,” snapped the filmmaker in a Twitter post Sunday.
Smith, best known as the director of “Clerks” and for portraying the Silent Bob comedic character, says he tried to board a Sunday flight but was turned away even though, he claims, he could fit in the seat and buckle himself in.
Smith, who has openly talked and joked about his weight problem, acknowledges he normally buys two seats while flying, and did so on an Oakland-Burbank flight on Sunday. But his plans went awry when he tried to snag an earlier flight. He was put on standby and was informed that a single seat had become available. But when he came aboard, the flight’s pilots ruled that he did not fit in the single seat.
British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has died, an apparent suicide at age 40. Perhaps he was overwhelmed by his life. His mother had just died, in fact he died the day before her funeral, his Australian lover whose name he had tattooed on his arm returned to Australia and he was enduring the pressure of mounting his next collection.
Lee, as his friends called him, had a working class background and 2 weeks before his death was allegedly musing about the emptiness of fashion and the vacuousness of the rich and famous and pondering leaving fashion with a photographer. His life had changed drastically before, the cab driver’s son got a CBE from the Queen before he was 40.
He has been mourned publicly by the best dressed, loudly and dramatically so. In the words of his former “husband,” George Forsyth “The truth is, the fashion world is the loneliest place on the face of the planet. It’s a shallow world full of party people and party ‘friends.’ Lee knew that,’ ” he tells the London Daily Mail. According to Forsyth he and Lee partied and lived large with the “fabulous crowd” including Kate Moss, before becoming bored and disillusioned with it. Forsyth chides the recent press coverage of McQueen as not reflecting the life of the brave, tough, bold, talented man he knew and instead focusing on celebrity reaction, often celebrities he didn’t even know.
While a fashion student he was discovered by fashion editor Issie Blow who became a close friend and early supporter. As Mr. McQueen’s career sky rocketed he did not find a place in his empire for Ms. Blow whose career became sluggish as they grew farther apart. She too killed herself in 2007.
‘Bad boy’ of fashion broke rules
www.edmontonjournal.com | February 14, 2010
Alexander McQueen, who was found dead on Thursday at age 40 after apparently hanging himself, was celebrated as the “bad boy of British fashion” — an aggressively talented tailor who refused to compromise and was all the more lauded as a result.
His genius with clothes catapulted him out of a grim East London estate into a world of glamour and wealth. But while the “poor-boy-made-good” story was good copy, McQueen never truly shrugged off his outsider status. Instead he thrived on controversy, baiting the grandes dames of the fashion world who queued up to interview him, on one occasion leaving a powerful fashion journalist who had crossed the Atlantic for an audience “white with shock.”
McQueen was always at his best when in confrontational mode: setting new trends — such as his infamously low-slung “bumster” trousers — or daring to use textiles printed with the image of a man being executed in the electric chair. Nor was the advent of new technology a threat to him.
When the model Kate Moss featured in a drugs scandal in 2005 and was disowned by many in the industry, McQueen swam against the prevailing tide in typically swift and innovative style. Rather than snub Moss, he projected a three-dimensional hologram of her at his next Paris show.
But an eye for the grand gesture was not purely gimmickry. While McQueen was happy to spray-paint a model on the runway — as though she were a car moving along the assembly line — the roots of his talent were as far from automation as the trade could get.
Honed at Savile Row, his feel for the chalk and scissors was bolstered by an acquisitive nature that drove him to master not only the classic shape of the gentleman’s suit, but also the designs of years gone by, or “16th-century pattern cutting and stuff like that,” as he put it.
