Two Greek statues have been pulled from a current exhibition in Qatar because they might scandalize Qatari women. (A bare-breasted Nike remains on exhibition, though..what's sauce for the goose...). One wonders if the real reason isn't that the Qatari men are a bit worried about their 'womenfolk' realizing that they're missing out in life, hooked up with those miserable and ugly bastards.
Some intriguing reporting by the Guardian:
"In another hopeful sign, the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, recently bought six isles in the Ionian sea with a view to building palaces on them for his three wives and 24 children."
How the f*** is that "hopeful"?
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A friend's mother who used to teach art history here used to mock the students by saying: "Okay, we're doing the Renaissance today, so time to put a cloth in front of your eyes so as to preserve the modesty of your gaze!"
But I do want to say something serious here. The other day little r wanted to play a game on the computer (Dora or Jungle Book). All very well, but the advertising on the sidebars has lots of lusty women in bras. I kid thee not.
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Bob has an interesting post on the shortness of Ted talks. I was asked to speak, believe it or not, for a Pakistan Ted Talk but refused. In 18 minutes you're supposed to condense your ideas. Okay, you might say, we live an age when everything has to be abbreviated, dumbed down..get with it. But-and this is the connection to the points made above-it's really all essentially about showmanship and catching people's attention with some glib comments or jokes.
The idea of restraint today simply implies prudishness, a kind of throwback to the Victorian era or universal repression. "Just do it!," says the Nike advert.
Iris M:
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