MetaFilter posts tagged with Vanity

"More fundamentally, the Camorra is simply a part of life."

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 08:39:49 -0800

The Camorra Never Sleeps: "The Camorra is not an organization like the Mafia that can be separated from society, disciplined in court, or even quite defined. It is an amorphous grouping in Naples and its hinterlands of more than 100 autonomous clans and perhaps 10,000 immediate associates, along with a much larger population of dependents, clients, and friends. It is an understanding, a way of justice, a means of creating wealth and spreading it around. It has been a part of life in Naples for centuries—far longer than the fragile construct called Italy has even existed. At its strongest it has grown in recent years into a complete parallel world and, in many people’s minds, an alternative to the Italian government, whatever that term may mean." Journeyman News: The Curse of the Camorra (YT, March 2009). Short blog post via Mental Floss, with the trailer for Gomorrah, an Italian-language film set in Naples. Gomorrah was based on the book of the same name by Robert Saviano Last month, 16 judges were arrested near Naples, Italy, with over $1.3 billion in assets seized.

so bad it's good, for sure

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:43:23 -0800

Folks, tunes like Scotch Tape (by Lana Johnidas with the Swinging Strings) and Portland Rose Song (by Bert Lowry with Orchestra and Chorus) could only have come from a "vanity" record label like Film City, who provided us and future generations with a plethora of endearingly awful little masterpieces.

Send Your Name For Great Victory Against The Red Planet

pashdown — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:09:41 -0800

Scheduled for November 25th, the Mars Science Laboratory - Curiosity Rover will launch on an 8.5 month journey to Mars. Upon arrival, it will plummet through the atmosphere in a flying-saucer-like aeroshell and execute a most unusual landing via skycrane. Curiosity carries a dizzying array of cameras and sensors, but more importantly a high powered laser to teach Mars who is boss, and oh, maybe your name if you let it.

Whoever Said Newspapers Can Never Return To Their Glory Days Never Joined A Korean Cult

JHarris — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:36:47 -0800

Whoever Said Newspapers Can Never Return To Their Glory Days Never Joined A Korean Cult [via mefi projects]
An epic story of flower-selling, mass weddings, insane sex rituals, swashbuckling Cold Warriors, white supremacists and neo-segregationists, Barney Frank & Vince Foster, closeted gay Republicans and where the money goes when you order from a sushi restaurant…

Don't stand so close to me

annathea — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:10:57 -0800

Zenyatta, a six-year-old mare, won her seventeenth consecutive race (out of seventeen starts) to take the record from Cigar, Citation and Mr. Frisky. Owned by Jerry Moss, trained by John Shirreffs and raced to every victory by Mike Smith, Zenyatta ran against her stablemate Zardana (who beat last year's Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra) and St. Trinian's, winning by half a neck with her signature move - running from dead last to finish first. She stands at sixteen and a half hands and was carrying 129lbs. of weight in today's Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park, but it didn't seem to faze her.

Chuck Lorre Productions vanity cards.

torquemaniac — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:14:09 -0800

Ever wonder what those 2 second screen flashes after a Chuck Lorre Productions TV show are? Well, here you go. Chuck uses the 2 second time allotment to screen his views on - well - everything. Previously - here and here.

Elizabeth Wurtzel loses her looks

Joe Beese — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:04:26 -0800

Elizabeth Wurtzel writes: Because I need to make a point, I’m just going to be immodestly candid: I was a remarkably adorable child, the kind with such rosily expressive cheeks that grown-ups couldn’t resist pinching them. So when I became a teenager and then an adult, I was what you would call a hot number or something like that—at any rate, they put me half-dressed on the covers of my books to sell them, so draw what you will from that. Now that I’m in my forties, people say, I think kindly, She still looks good. This is to be followed by a phase of …for her age, which is hot on the trail of handsome, and then—then who knows? I think it deteriorates from there, enough so that the vain among us start to look forward to death, or at least stop resisting its horrific pull. (via)

"Chicks with Shticks?" Really?*

miss lynnster — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:47:28 -0800

Who says women aren't funny? *(Any one of these women could've probably come up with a waaaay better headline than that. Just sayin'.)

Smash the Plate

Otis — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 10:09:27 -0800

A portrait an artist makes usig himself or herself as its subject...

nuclear_soup — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:53:40 -0800

Self-portrait: A portrait an artist makes using himself or herself as its subject, typically drawn or painted from a reflection in a mirror. There are many famous painted self portraits, but now that everyone has a digital camera, more and more photographic self portaits are popping up e v e r y w h e r e. Whether you think of it as vanity, narcissism, self-invovlment, or just art, it is hard to deny that there are a lot of interesting and well-composed shots out there. Sure, there are plenty of arm-length camera angles, but there is also work being done with black and white images, hands and feet, and, of course, eyes. Even photoshop is used sometimes. People are still speculating on what exactly all these pictures mean, but I think it is clear that from totally innocent to intensely personal to NSFW, self portraits are here to stay.

Cancer be damned, kids wanna tan

haasim — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 08:31:12 -0800

Cancer be damned, kids wanna tan “I know I might get cancer, but sometimes you want to look good no matter what. I’d rather look good that worry about what could happen to me–looks are more important to me sometimes than my health.” (Maclean’s Magazine) Perhaps cancer is ‘natural selection’ at work trying to weed out all of societies undesirables from the gene pool. I for one think we could do without people this stupid.

In Color!

geekyguy — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 08:33:23 -0800

Taglines from seasons 1-4 of Futurama on Flickr. Also worth checking out, Chuck Lorre's Vanity Cards. They used to appear on Dharma and Greg and are now on Two and a Half Men. via

Who's So Vain?

twsf — Tue, 05 Aug 2003 12:08:35 -0800

Who's So Vain? Carly Simon will be revealing the inspiration for her pop classic, "You're So Vain." Suspects include Warren Beatty and Mick Jagger. My guess (you heard it here first, kids): Gene Simmons of Kiss. Who do YOU think she was singing about?

Your Vernix Covered baby has such smooth skin!!

phylum sinter — Wed, 07 May 2003 04:47:52 -0800

Babies teach chemists the secret of soft skin. The Globe and mail reports the secret to the amazing soft skin of babies is the goo that surrounded them in utero. "One of the secrets to babies' smooth, soft skin is the greasy-looking white substance that covers them in the womb, scientists have discovered." Now we just need to find a way to bottle it... My elbows are chafed!

Butt For You

kirkaracha — Tue, 28 May 2002 08:34:13 -0800

Butt For You "You can do a lot for your pecs, biceps and abs - but when it comes to your glutes you can only go so far. Great for sports!"

Beauty and the Labor Market

Voyageman — Tue, 26 Mar 2002 14:12:25 -0800

Beauty and the Labor Market "Plastic surgery has become one of those things--like reading the tabloids and watching The Home Shopping Network--that Americans like doing and love ridiculing others for doing. Depending on whose numbers you believe, more than seven million of us went under the knife last year"...I had no idea... "In cold, hard economic terms, being attractive helps you get ahead." ...Now I get it, now I understand.

lagado — Sun, 01 Jul 2001 22:07:43 -0800

"Several months ago I wrote a letter to WisDOT requesting your agency consider recalling the vanity license plate IH8GOP that I noticed on a vehicle in the Columbus area. My reason for requesting the recall of this plate is that the message is obscene to those of us who are members of the Republican Party (GOP) and who subscribe to the conservative principles of the party. I never received a response to my letter..."

Political correctness, Hate Speech, Free Speech and the problem of vanity plates at Wisconsin's Department of Transportation.