Professor Locs

Mad Men: Season Five

Hey guys I just caught up on the premiere of Mad Men, season five.  I just love this show. It is an anomaly because it does not have a huge following but seems to be a darling with the critics and has consistently swept many of the awards shows since its' origin.

Mad Men is AMC's runaway hit and it is all about the way cool mod world of advertising during the 60's.  The show is art directed to death.  If you are a retro fan then you will die for the offices and homes in the sleek 60's decor.  You will revel in the martini lunches, the slim suits and skinny ties the men wear not to mention the fierce retro-Diva look of the women of Mad Men. 

Pay special attention to the red haired, buxom, bomb shell, Joan.  The girl is fierce. 

Sit back smoke and have a martini (stirred not shaken...lol) and enjoy the retro-rapture that is Mad Men!  

52 Year Old Prostitute Still Working

We have all heard of the "world's oldest profession," but we typically do not associate it with older people. This is not the case for one Bronx woman.  

Barbara Terry is a 52-year-old prostitute. No, that is not a typo; she is actually 52 years old and has been working the same New York streets for more than 30 years. Hey, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

According to an article published by The New York Times on Dec. 30, Terry (who, the Times reported, once resided in North Carolina) has been arrested hundreds of times for working the same area, Hunts Point. 

Some of you may recognize Hunts Point; the neighborhood was featured years ago in the HBO documentary, “Hookers at the Point.” Ms. Terry appeared in the documentary under her street name “Cleo.”  

Terry was not always a working girl. The Times reported that she attended two years of college to train as a medical lab technician and only entered the adult profession when, at 21, her husband left her and she had two small children to support.  

She seems to be a very lucky woman to have survived in that environment all these years. This is not some Hollywood romanticized version of “Pretty Woman.” There are real consequences for working the streets, but she seems to have a “unique” if not maybe skewed attitude. 

“I love the excitement of coming out here and seeing all these beautiful people I know,” she told The New York Times. “Even my dates are a comfort. This place has made me strong. It keeps you young.” And to think I’ve bee wasting my time eating more fiber, exercising and cutting back on red meat. Go figure!

She has been, the article states, somewhat of a mentor to other women getting into the profession. Sharing important survival tips like: check the vibe, look for weapons, if they look strange stay away and get your money upfront. (I was actually given similar advice when I was younger and used to tutor kids at an inner-city school.)

I am not quite sure what is more tragic — the fact that we have a woman at her age still working the streets or, more strangely, a clientele that support her business.  

My place is to not judge. I have not walked in her shoes, nor do I know her circumstances. I only observe and critique media and popular culture.  

So in that spirit (not that any of you would need this knowledge I offer) I present Professor Locs' Top 5 Signs You Could Be Dealing With a Very, Very Seasoned Working Girl:

5. Instead of holding a 40-ounce, she is gripping a can of vanilla Boost.  

4. When her rates include an option of with or without dentures.

3. Instead of working the streets in fishnets and stilettos, she is sporting rolled up knee-high pantyhose and orthopedic Crocs. 

2. You retire to the back seat for some loving, but the constant chatter of the operators coming from her Medial Alert Bracelet distracts you. 

1. Negotiations go sour, and she calls for her pimp. You are at first frightened, but then become strangely amused when you spy in your rearview mirror what looks to be an elderly deacon in a purple hat on a tricked-out Hoveround bearing down on your vehicle. 

Please share your observations … or working-girl tips … 

 

The Glam Fairy

There is another Jersey show on the scene.  The Glam Fairy is a spin off from Jerseylicious.  The buxom blonde Alexa from Jerseylicious has opened up her own shop with her own crazy staff.  Each show seems to highlight some new makeover madness.

The real juice in this Jersey salon comes from the ongoing battle between two queens. Glamo a new stylist and Alexa's long term friend and assisstant Jon, absolutely hate each other and these two evil queens go at it like alley cats. 

Tune in and watch the faux fur fly....lol.

You can watch The Glam Fairy on the My Style channel on Sundays 8/7C.  

Hot Guy of the Week: Anlami-Shaw

Hey guys just in time for Fall weather.  Here is a guy that reminds us of the care free days of summer, which you don't mind reminiscing about when you are built like this guy. 

Unfortunately most of us need to get back in the gym and not hide our growing back sides under Fall clothing...lol.

Anlami Show was born in Kingston, Jamaica but lives in New York. 

If you needed another reason to visit the Big Apple I think you just found one...lol.   You can click here to get to his Facebook page.

Did you hear about the Florida drag queen bandits?

I swear, sometimes I run across stories that are just too good to be true. I want to thank my girl, Ramona Holloway, for this one. I saw it on her Facebook page.

Move over, Crips and Bloods; there is a new gang in town -- the Tiaras. No, seriously. Florida has been plagued by a gang of drag queens who have been stealing from stores for more than a year.

Local officers report that a group of men wearing wigs and dressed as women, (Hello, that would be drag queens) were arrested for stealing hundreds of dollars of bras, boas and other accessories. (Hey, we are living in a repressed economy, and looking fierce does not come cheaply.)

Three of the men, or “ladies,” were caught in the act Sunday afternoon at an Orlando textiles shop. The manager, Amanda Marshall, was quoted as saying, “It was a whole gang of drag queens.” (I think the technical term for multiple drag queens is a “gaggle.” Lol)

Marshall went on to state: "They were real upset when the police made them take their wigs off."

Well, of course they were upset. What self-respecting drag queen wants to have his mug shot taken bald headed and wigless?

Marshall said the group would order large swaths of expensive fabric and then stuff it "in their man purses and (leave) without paying."

I think the official term is man bag…lol.

"Oh, gosh, they could wipe out a whole section of boas in seconds," Marshall told a Florida paper.

The report states that the drag thieves stole multiple items, including packs of feathers, red lace gloves, false eyelashes, padded bras, butt pads, fishnet tights and several boas and fake glasses.

The visuals of this story is sensory overload. This is a serious movie in the makings. It would be like “To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar” meets “Set it Off.”

Trailer Announcer: Destiny Michaels, Ima Mann and Chardonnay Blunts are just three small-town ladies with big dreams. They long for the glitz and glamour of the stage and to one day perform in the big city, but their tired Walmart drag and Family Dollar salaries are not enough to make them stars. Follow their journey as a repressed economy, expensive bras and an escalating cost of rubber parts and accessories force them into a life of crime.

Ima Mann: I don’t think I can go through with this. What if we get caught?

Destiny Michaels: You want fame? Well, fame cost, and this is how we are going to pay for it. (Insert French tip open-hand slap to the mouth) Now get in there and snatch some bras!

Police: We have you ladies surrounded. Come out with your hands up and wigs off!

Ima Mann: Girls, what are we going to do now?

Chardonnay Blunts: I tell you what I am not going to do. I am not leaving as a nobody!

(Chardonnay rushes to the dressing room and a few moments later emerges in full glam drag.)

Cue music and police spotlight on Chardonnay Blunts

Chardonnay Blunts, singing: “And I am telling you, I’m not going.”

Announcer: Don’t miss the moving saga of three simple ladies and their heartwarming story filled with crime, passion, dreams and stolen boas. Coming soon to a theater near you!

I challenge you to come up with your own drag queen star name…lol.

Hot Guys of the Week

Feeling free on Friday!  Sometimes we just

have to let our hair down...smile.

Toddlers, tiaras and tatas

I watch everything from TCM’s black-and-white films to the reality-induced craziness of “Jersey Shore.” I swear I have seen it all, but every now and then there is something that simply seems too bizarre by even today’s standards. I am talking about the tiny, freakish spectacle that is TLC’s popular reality show, “Toddler’s & Tiaras.”

If you have not seen it, the show is about the engaging and strange world of pageant moms and their children. What makes the show so disturbing is how the toddlers are treated and dressed up like mini-grown women.

Well, one mother has taken the big hair, mini ball gowns and flippers (fake teeth) to a whole new level. She made her 4-year-old daughter, Maddy Jackson, wear fake breast and butt pads. (Holy To Wong Foo, Batman. Are they serious?)

Granted, Maddy was doing a tribute to Dolly Parton, but was the Mom going too far to allow this?

Maddy’s mom, Lindsey, defended her decision: “When she wears the fake boobs and fake butt, it’s an added bonus,” she said.

I know this works at Drag shows, but for a little girl’s pageant?

Maddy’s mom continued: “It’s really funny when she comes out on stage; they think it’s hysterical. They realize not only is she Dolly but she has the added enhancements just like Dolly has.”

If they thought that was hysterical then maybe next year she will sport a pair of stilettos, fishnet panty hose and pasties and really crush the competition.

Toddlers & Tiaras is known for its trademark stage mom’s screeching, “Sparkle” to their sometimes-traumatized daughters. This reminds me of a scene from Gypsy where the ultimate stage mom, Rosalind Russell, screams out to her daughter played by Natalie Wood, “Sing out, Louise.”

Unfortunately in Gypsy, the mother is grooming her daughter for a career as a high-class stripper. Is Toddlers & Tiaras an example of art imitating life too closely?

I must put this into perspective. I was a freelance editor in Atlanta for FOX during the JonBenet Ramsey media spectacle. I remember, like many people, watching the eerie images of this woman-child prancing around like a life-sized doll, with big hair, short sparkly dresses and that haunting plastered pageant smile.

Side note: I find those life-size dolls to be very creepy, so sitting in an edit booth day after day and reviewing JonBenet footage was quite unnerving. Toddlers& Tiaras has a similar effect on me, almost like some bad, spicy, vending machine burrito-induced nightmare.

The pageant circuit is not just a mainstream phenomenon. I have spotted the occasional black stage mom and her daughter looking like a mini-Supreme…lol.

Many viewers have been outraged by the fake enhancements worn by Maddy. The bigger question is what type of mom dresses her daughter up in dramatic make-up, fake hair, false teeth, grown up gowns and now fake boobs and butt pads?

You guys watch the video (below) and tell me your opinion. Is this just innocent competition or moms trying to recapture their youth and glory days? Or should we be more concerned with forcing young girls to grow up too fast?

If unchecked, we could be in store for a future season of “Diminutive Damsels and Diamonds: The Stripper Pole Chronicles.” 

Could 'gay' style influence hip-hop fashion?

You guys have seen them usually being sported by giggling teen girls and very fashion forward gay twink boys.  I am talking about the love child of skinny jeans and leggings, jeggings (insert film scream). 

Well apparently this trend has crept into the hyper-masculine world of hip hop. 

Lil Wayne was recently seen on the MTV Music Awards wearing  a leopard pair of jeggings, offset by a bright blue pair of Polo Ralph Lauren draws and red and yellow kicks.

Nothing screams misogynistic, womanizing, hard core, homophobic, hip hop artist than a pair of leopard print jeggings. 

The hip hop community is notorious for it's homophobia so it seems very ironic that artist who take great pride in defending their hyper-masculine images, while simultaneously calling rival artist fags, would begin to embrace more feminine trends. Go figure.

However, this is not a new concept,  as we have seen other artist like Prince fully embrace more androgenous looks.  Kaney West is another artist who seems very fashion forward when it comes to rocking more feminine inspired outfits. 

Hey on the upside this could be a brand new opportunity of building relations between gay and homophobic hip hop artist. 

Rapper: "Does this gold chain, pink jeggings and my incessant use of  the N Word and misogynistic images of women  make my butt look big, No Homo?"

Hot Guy of the Week: Sid James

Sid James is currently with City Model Managment in San Fransisco & Halvorson Model Management in San Jose, CA.

Sid was born and London but was raised on the west coast in California.   He says he is an easy going guy who loves to work and work hard.  He is definitely easy on the eyes….smile. 

Sarena William's Mini Miracle at ESPY's

Sarena Williams was showing her stuff off the court as well as she does on the court.  Sarena showed up and showed out in a pink low cut mini dress that left little to the imagination at this years ESPY awards.  The sister is built like a clydedales so I am not mad at her. 

The worlds No. 172 player walked the red carpet in a dazzling, low-cut pink minidress that accentuated her curvy physique. The gold Christian Louboutin heels added at least four inches to Serena's 5-foot-9 frame.

Sarena won an award for her talents as a tennis player but the desinger should have won an award for construction to keep all that "figure" contained...lol. 

I saw the picture from the back and I was like I have heard of the expression "that is too much booty in the pants" but it looks like Sarena is trying to smuggle the Olsen twins into the ceremony....lol!