Tag: Amusing

What’s My Logo?: Mario Batali Dishes On His Signature Shorts And Orange Crocs: “I Am A Fashion Disaster”

Chef Mario Batali started a culinary empire in 1998 with his Greenwich Village restaurant Babbo. He is the chef/owner of six celebrated restaurants in New York City, author of numerous cookbooks, and host of the upcoming PBS gastro-tour Spain…On The Road Again, co-hosted with Gwyneth Paltrow. Most recently Batali launched Carnevino in Las Vegas, but no matter where he hangs his hat, he always wears his signature orange shoes and shorts (even in the dead of winter). Batali, who was recently refused entry to a fellow chef’s hip downtown birthday party due to his casual duds, dished on his quirky style:

You are almost as famous for your orange shoes and perennial shorts as for your acclaimed cuisine and restaurants. How did your look start?
10 years ago my wife gave me the shoes and the kids wear orange all of the time because it’s such a happy color. The first pair of orange shoes she gave me were Calzuro Italian operating room clogs. Now, I wear Crocs; and the company have created a pair called The Bistro, which are specifically designed for people in the food service industry, and which come in signature Mario Batali orange!
I like shorts because, by nature, I am always warm, and I like to be comfy.

Do you think personal style is a professional asset?
Definitely. It is important to create a recognizable brand.

What are the benefits of making a statement with your wardrobe?
Instant recognition – which is sometimes good and sometimes bad; sometimes it’s nice to fly under the radar.

Was it your intention to create such a strong visual brand identity?
No, it was accidental; but I have been dressing this way for the last 15 years.

Can you recall your biggest professional fashion disaster?
I am a fashion disaster.

Has anyone ever made a negative comment to you about your signature look?
Yes, thousands of angry and anonymous bloggers!

What statement does your style make about you and your work?
The statement it makes is that I am comfortable in my own skin and do not need to dress up much.

Besides creating a visual brand identity with your clothes, what are some of your other signature style traits?
I ride a Vespa. I profess that life is a constant source of joy, and I smile a lot.

Whose look do you admire?
I think Jack White is very cool and I love Michel Stipe.

Who are your style icons, in the kitchen and out?
In the kitchen: Marco Pierre White, Jeremiah Tower, Gabrielle Hamilton. Out of the kitchen: Jack Nicholson, Jim Harrison and Gwyneth Paltrow.

What advice do you have for professionals just starting to create their own logos?
Choose something and stick with it until it bothers you.

In his younger days, Tom Jones’s chest hair seemed to have a peculiar gravitational attraction for women’s panties and hotel keys. I wonder if that is also covered under this policy. I wonder what the premiums for chest hair insurance are. Is it comprehensive insurance? Does it include acts of God, fire and theft? What happens if he pulls a “Britney Spears” and shaves it off in front of the paparazzi? There are so many questions left unanswered in this story.

Tom Jones has chest hair insured

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It’s Not Unusual … it’s really unusual.

Ageless heartthrob Sir Tom Jones has reportedly insured his chest hair for almost $7 million.

Though the 67-year-old crooner’s management told a British tabloid that Jones has been “working far too hard in the recording studio” for such frivolity, media reports have confirmed the policy was taken out with the world-renowned Lloyd’s of London.

The prestigious insurance house has a history of catering to strange celebrity requests.

Lloyd’s of London has insured the legs of Fred Astaire, Angie Dickinson, and supermodel Heidi Klum, the hands of pianist Liberace and the fingers of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. The most famous rear end in the world – the one belonging to Jennifer Lopez – is also said to be insured by the London-based insurance house.

On its Web site, Lloyd’s of London boasted that the storied firm issued coverage of a celebrity’s chest hair in 2006.

“Admittedly, this is one of the most obscure requests I’ve had – but I still came up with a wording that addressed the need,” underwriter John Thomas said at the time.

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The Russians have been selling the Iranians all the weaponry and nuclear technology that they need for the last several years even though the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly proclaimed the forthcoming nuclear destruction of Israel. It has been obvious to anyone not wearing blinders that Iran has a nuclear weapons program and has been developing a missile delivery system. And the Russians are now “suspicious?” “Hello, McFly?”

Russia suspicious over Iran test

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Russia thinks the launch of an Iranian rocket into space raises suspicion over the true aim of its nuclear programme, a foreign ministry official has said.
“Long-range missiles are one of the components of a [nuclear] weapons system,” Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told Interfax.

Therefore Monday’s test launch of Iran’s Explorer-1 space rocket was “of course, a cause for concern”, he said.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful energy production.

Correspondents say the statement by Mr Losyukov appeared to indicate that Moscow increasingly shares Western concerns about Tehran’s nuclear course.

“It increases suspicion of Iran regarding its possible desire to create a nuclear weapon,” he was quoted as saying.

Iran said the rocket which was test-fired would be used to launch research satellites.

The US State Department said the launch was “troubling”, as it was an example of the same technology behind long-range ballistic missiles.

In the past, Russia has been more sceptical than some Western powers about Iran’s missile capability, saying it would take a long time to build long-range missiles.

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Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be pot heads. They could end up like Willie Nelson!

Willie Nelson joins the list of wacked out celebrities who question the official 9/11 story including Ed Asner, Rosie O’Donnell, Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, James Brolin, David Lynch, former Dallas Cowboys lineman Mark Stepnoski, actor Mark Ruffalo and numerous other idiots.

Willie Nelson: Twin Towers Were Imploded On 9/11

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Willie Nelson appeared Monday, February 4, 2008, on the nationally-syndicated Alex Jones Show in a ground breaking interview where the country music legend said the twin towers were imploded on 9/11. “I saw those towers fall and I’ve seen an implosion in Las Vegas – there’s too much similarities between the two, and I saw a building fall that didn’t get hit by nothing,” added Nelson, referring to WTC Building 7, which collapsed in the late afternoon of September 11.

Nelson said he was not surprised by the recent revelations concerning the impartiality of the 9/11 Commission – namely Phillip Zelikow, who has close ties to the Bush Administration.

“How naive are we – what do they think we’ll go for?” asked Nelson, pointing out that his doubts began on the very day of 9/11 during an appearance on the Alex Jones Show.

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Popular Mechanics has an excellent report “Debunking the 9/11 Myths” that Willie should read.

Osama (Sam) Lutfi that is! You’ve seen one Osama, you’ve seen them all!

Britney’s Mom says her daughter met Osama in October 2007 and that “Mr. Lutfi has essentially moved into Britney’s home and has purported to take control of her life, home and finances.” “Mr. Lutfi drugged Britney; he has cut Britney’s home phone lines and removed her cell phone chargers.

The Smoking Gun is reporting:

Britney Spears’s Bizarre World

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As if anyone needs another glimpse into the lunacy that is Britney Spears’s life (and that of her assorted footmen and paparazzi cohorts), the singer’s mother has filed a court declaration purporting to describe how her troubled daughter came under the sway of a manipulative manager who drugged the pop star and drove her further from reality. In a Los Angeles Superior Court filing, Lynne Spears describes a series of increasingly bizarre episodes at her daughter’s Los Angeles home, where the performer was regularly in the company of businessman Osama (Sam) Lutfi. The declaration, a copy of which you’ll find below, was filed by the elder Spears in support of a temporary restraining order application against Lutfi. That request was granted last week by an L.A. court commissioner who ordered Lutfi to stay away from Spears, who is now confined to a psychiatric ward at the UCLA Medical Center. In a court form accompanying her declaration, Lynne Spears, 52, alleges that Lutfi “drugged Britney. He has cut Britney’s home phone line and removed her cell phone chargers. He yells at her. He claims to control everything–Britney’s business manager, her attorneys and the security guards at the gate.” The court declaration–itself brimming with the kind of Spears-brand crazy that has filled tabloids for months–portrays the 26-year-old performer as manic, agitated, and delusional. But you knew that already.

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