The naked truth
It was a busy week for those who wanted to be seen, and those who didn't.
Sherpa Lakpa Tharke spent three cold minutes in the buff on top of Mount Everst, a first for Lakpa, and the mountain, in an attempt to achieve some over exposure for his under exposure.
Lakpa's moutain top striptease didn't put a smile on everyone's face. In fact, a number of sherpas have criticized him for defiling the mountain, which they consider holy.
Lakpa should take a lesson from the legion of wealthy daredevil climbers who trek up every year in the latest mountain wear, leaving trails of dollar bills, spent oxygen containers and other assorted trash - 50 tons in all - and treat the mountain with a little respect.
Lakpa raced past Mark Inglis, a double amputee who also set a less salacious Everst record this week, and an expiring Lincoln Hall, the famous Australian climber left for dead earlier in the week, in his mad dash to disrobe on the summit, yelling back to a very blue Lincoln, "you can have my clothes when I get to the top."
While sherpa Lakpa was achieving a first in the category of "most unlikely frostbitten area", across the world in an equally cold and barren spot on the globe, Lordi, those loveable monsters from Finland, were unwittingly unmasked, much to the horror of hundreds of thousands of fans, and the lead singer, who asked the media not to print his real - not so frightening - picture.
Lordi diehards signed an online petition protesting the unmasking. A tad ironic for a country more commonly known for the exploits of Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux, a freely sharable operating system founded on principals of openness.
Before shocking their fans with the revelation that they weren't really monsters, Lordi stunned the music world this year by winning the Eurovision contest, a competition known for its high standards, and exceptional selection criteria. Who can forget Sandie Shaw's winning 1966 entry, "Puppet On A String"?
Love is just like a merry-go-round
With all the fun in the air
One day I'm feeling down on the ground
Then I'm up in the air
Are you leading me on?
Tomorrow will you be gone?
Does 'air' really rhyme with 'air'? And yes Sandie, sadly tomorrow they will be gone.
The unmasking of Lordi may pick up momentum since the Finish are bullish about protecting fundamental rights to privacy. While I am all for protecting everyones right to privacy, couldn't Lordi fans have picked a more photogenic figurehead for this issue?
Back in America, Taylor Hicks, Birmingham, Alabama's favorite son, exposed himself to 40 million American viewers this week, and viewers liked what they saw. Taylor was voted American Idol by more Americans than voted in any US presidental election.
Before serenading America from a Hollywood sound stage, Taylor's list of prior prestigious venues includes "a couple of nights" at the Playboy Mansion, where he crooned before a scantily clad crowd of well wishers.
While Taylor Hicks was soul patroling his way to stardom, Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay were exposed for what they really are - a couple of guys living the American dream, and ruining everyone elses in the process.
A jury saw through the cheese cloth defense of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay and found that the emporor really didn't have any clothes.
I see a trend here. Martha Stewart, born to Polish immigrants, got her start doing house chores and later selling stocks (oops) before becomming the diva of the divan. John Rigas, founder of Aldephi Communications, the prodigal son of Greek imigrants, started in business by running a movie theatre in 1951. Bernie Ebbers, founder of WorldCom, born into the family of a Canadian traveling salesman stated his career running motel chains. Ken Lay, founder of Enron, born to a Baptist preacher and tractor salesman in Missouri. What do they all have in common? These are the little guys who went bad in big way (minus Martha Stewart who was just an easy target). They are the American dream, the children of immigrants who started their own companies, pulled themselves up by the boot straps, and managed to get into a whole lot of trouble along the way.
It's the American dream gone bad.
But it's also easy pickings for the Department of Justice. What about the entrenched corporate scoundrles, the Exxon Mobiles, the Haliburtons? For now, they remain safely tucked away in their gold enlayed corporate cocoons.
And thats the naked truth.
Sherpa Lakpa Tharke spent three cold minutes in the buff on top of Mount Everst, a first for Lakpa, and the mountain, in an attempt to achieve some over exposure for his under exposure.
Lakpa's moutain top striptease didn't put a smile on everyone's face. In fact, a number of sherpas have criticized him for defiling the mountain, which they consider holy.
Lakpa should take a lesson from the legion of wealthy daredevil climbers who trek up every year in the latest mountain wear, leaving trails of dollar bills, spent oxygen containers and other assorted trash - 50 tons in all - and treat the mountain with a little respect.
Lakpa raced past Mark Inglis, a double amputee who also set a less salacious Everst record this week, and an expiring Lincoln Hall, the famous Australian climber left for dead earlier in the week, in his mad dash to disrobe on the summit, yelling back to a very blue Lincoln, "you can have my clothes when I get to the top."
While sherpa Lakpa was achieving a first in the category of "most unlikely frostbitten area", across the world in an equally cold and barren spot on the globe, Lordi, those loveable monsters from Finland, were unwittingly unmasked, much to the horror of hundreds of thousands of fans, and the lead singer, who asked the media not to print his real - not so frightening - picture.
Lordi diehards signed an online petition protesting the unmasking. A tad ironic for a country more commonly known for the exploits of Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux, a freely sharable operating system founded on principals of openness.
Before shocking their fans with the revelation that they weren't really monsters, Lordi stunned the music world this year by winning the Eurovision contest, a competition known for its high standards, and exceptional selection criteria. Who can forget Sandie Shaw's winning 1966 entry, "Puppet On A String"?
Love is just like a merry-go-round
With all the fun in the air
One day I'm feeling down on the ground
Then I'm up in the air
Are you leading me on?
Tomorrow will you be gone?
Does 'air' really rhyme with 'air'? And yes Sandie, sadly tomorrow they will be gone.
The unmasking of Lordi may pick up momentum since the Finish are bullish about protecting fundamental rights to privacy. While I am all for protecting everyones right to privacy, couldn't Lordi fans have picked a more photogenic figurehead for this issue?
Back in America, Taylor Hicks, Birmingham, Alabama's favorite son, exposed himself to 40 million American viewers this week, and viewers liked what they saw. Taylor was voted American Idol by more Americans than voted in any US presidental election.
Before serenading America from a Hollywood sound stage, Taylor's list of prior prestigious venues includes "a couple of nights" at the Playboy Mansion, where he crooned before a scantily clad crowd of well wishers.
While Taylor Hicks was soul patroling his way to stardom, Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay were exposed for what they really are - a couple of guys living the American dream, and ruining everyone elses in the process.
A jury saw through the cheese cloth defense of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay and found that the emporor really didn't have any clothes.
I see a trend here. Martha Stewart, born to Polish immigrants, got her start doing house chores and later selling stocks (oops) before becomming the diva of the divan. John Rigas, founder of Aldephi Communications, the prodigal son of Greek imigrants, started in business by running a movie theatre in 1951. Bernie Ebbers, founder of WorldCom, born into the family of a Canadian traveling salesman stated his career running motel chains. Ken Lay, founder of Enron, born to a Baptist preacher and tractor salesman in Missouri. What do they all have in common? These are the little guys who went bad in big way (minus Martha Stewart who was just an easy target). They are the American dream, the children of immigrants who started their own companies, pulled themselves up by the boot straps, and managed to get into a whole lot of trouble along the way.
It's the American dream gone bad.
But it's also easy pickings for the Department of Justice. What about the entrenched corporate scoundrles, the Exxon Mobiles, the Haliburtons? For now, they remain safely tucked away in their gold enlayed corporate cocoons.
And thats the naked truth.
posted by Thaddeus P. at 9:30 AM
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