This originally aired during the LeBron James season premiere episode September 29th, but it was also repeated this past Saturday. In case you haven't seen it...
Now you KNOW Miss TLC stays plugged in to all the hottest events around NYC. However, I don't always post about them, because (a) I can't guarantee what each one will be like beforehand, (b) I can't vouch for the people throwing the party, and/or (c) I don't like the place. But there's a Halloween party tomorrow night that passes ALL of my requirements. My good friend Mr. JD is one of the people behind the new Thursday night soirees at D'Or @ Amalia (below the Dream Hotel). #1 - The place is hot. #2 - JD only aligns himself with the classiest events. #3 - Last week's inaugural event was a huge success and so they've decided to do a costume party this week. Check it out...
(The information on the bottom of the pass is not too clear so I am going to re-print below.)
Doors open at 10pm...Guest list required, table reservations highly suggested.
Please RSVP : DORTHURSDAYS@YAHOO.COM
Brought to you by: Matthew Klein, AC Passarella , JD and Alex Anchetta
D'OR 204 West 55th St.
New York, NY 10022
P: 212.245.1234 F: 212.245.7715
www.amalia-nyc.com
Further Info:
Thursday nights at D'OR below the Dream hotel.
The newest hot spot this fall.
Thursday's in the city in D'OR at Amalia... The newest place for
downtown to embrace uptown in one amazing and exclusive night.
Renowned restaurateur Greg Brier's Pi Entertainment is based on
bringing the finest cuisine and most cutting-edge nightlife to a
global celebrity clientele. Celebrated for opening trendsetting spaces
such as Aspen, Jet Lounge and Jet East in New York, and Rebar and
Groove Jet in South Beach, D'OR @ AMALIA is the latest edition to an
already legendary roster.
# # #
The top 20 albums this week...
1. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN "MAGIC" 77,247units sold
2. KID ROCK "ROCK N ROLL JESUS" 77,004 units sold
3. RASCAL FLATTS "STILL FEELS GOOD" 70,494 units sold
4. JOSH GROBAN "NOEL" 63,796units sold
5. JIMMY EAT WORLD "CHASE THIS LIGHT" 62,267units sold
6. REBA MCENTIRE "REBA DUETS" 58,923 units sold
7. HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 "SOUNDTRACK 57,184units sold
8. SANTANA "ULTIMATE SANTANA" 56,475 units sold
9. KANYE WEST "GRADUATION" 53,646 units sold
10. COLBIE CAILLAT "COCO" 49,644 units sold
11. ANGIE STONE "ART OF LOVE & WAR" 44,611 units sold
12. KEYSHIA COLE "JUST LIKE YOU" 44,121 units sold
13. MATCHBOX TWENTY "EXILE ON MAINSTREAM" 41,119 units sold
14. SOULJA BOY "SOULJATELLEM.COM" 40,415 units sold
15. JILL SCOTT "REAL THING: WORDS & SOUNDS V3" 38,293 units sold
16. J. HOLIDAY "BACK OF MY LAC'" 34,978 units sold
17. HANNAH MONTANA 2 "MEET MILEY C SOUNDTRACK" 34,364 units sold
18. NICKELBACK "ALL THE RIGHT REASONS" 32,846 units sold
19. SARA EVANS "GREATEST HITS" 30,985 units sold
20. ERIC CLAPTON "COMPLETE CLAPTON" 30,814 units sold
There was really no big news with this week's chart. It's still the same old. Some rock, some country, some Disney. And no one is selling big numbers. However, I wanted to give you the sales figures regardless, so there you go. :)
PS - There are only 2 rap, and 4 R&B albums in the whole top 20 though! What is this world coming to?
If you are a fan of the show "Run's House", please note that the new season (Season 4) premieres on MTV this Thursday (10/25) night. You can watch the trailer below.
From E! Online...
Foxy in the Hole
by Natalie Finn
Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:58:06 PM PDT
At least Foxy Brown has been able to engage in her usual pastimes while behind bars.
The Ill Na Na rapper was relegated to 76 days of solitary confinement on Oct. 16 after scuffling with another inmate and exhibiting behavioral issues at Rikers Island, where she's currently serving a year for probation violation.
A spokesman for the New York City Department of Correction said that Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, got into a shoving match with another prisoner on Oct. 3 and had to be forcibly separated from the woman.
Sources told the New York Post, which first reported Brown's change of venue, the inmates were on their way to the dining room in the jail's Rose M. Singer facility when the ladies got into it.
Neither woman was injured, but apparently that was only the beginning for Brown. According to the Post, a day after her mealtime meltdown, Brown refused to take a mandatory drug test and was verbally abusive toward some of the guards.
The various infractions were reviewed by the Department of Correction, which then ordered Brown's temporary transfer from Rikers' general population to punitive segregation, during which she'll spend up to 23 hours a day alone in her cell. She can spend the remaining hour meeting with her attorney and other visitors, exercising or in the jail's library.
Brown's sparring partner was sentenced to 11 days in solitary.
Meanwhile, correction officials haven't yet reviewed Brown's refusal to go to Brooklyn on Oct. 12 for her arraignment on assault charges. (She has said that she missed the first bus because she wanted to change clothes and freshen her makeup, and that she wasn't on the second bus because she wanted to eat lunch before going to court.)
Four days later Brown made the trip and pleaded not guilty to assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly hitting her neighbor with her BlackBerry.
Brown's manager, Chaz Williams, told MTV News that he doesn't think the rapper, who suffers from hearing loss, should be isolated and that the officials at the Singer facility aren't following proper procedure when it comes to her health.
The volatile performer was sentenced to three years' probation last October after pleading guilty to assaulting two Manhattan nail salon workers during a skirmish over the bill.
After a series of violations, which included further assault accusations and leaving the state without the court's permission, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Melissa C. Jackson gave Brown a year in jail to think about her behavior.
"I hope you turn your life around and never again have to stand in a court of law," Jackson told the 28-year-old on Sept. 7.
Since hunkering down behind bars, Brown has used that opening in her schedule to launch a Website, freefoxybrown.com, so that her fans can keep up with her career, and to work on her new album, Brooklyn's Don Diva, which is still slated to drop Nov. 20.
# # #
MISS TLC SAYS: Foxy has an album coming out? Seriously?!!?!
MISS TLC SAYS: Ok, the shirt isn't terrible. The problem was that the girl wearing it was like 12. No joke. She might not look like it in this pic, but believe me, I was there, and she was a PRE-teen. This is hella inappropriate for a young gal. Now I'm sure, if questioned about it, the chick could tell her mama it's just in reference to the Justin song. But we know it's not. Saying "I'm sexy in back" is just an invitation to look at your ass. Stop the madness.
MISS TLC SAYS: Really though. HOW COULD YOU NOT SEE THAT HOLE?!?!?!?!?! I understand them chicks is trained to keep their head up straight and focus on a point in the distance (I remember that from dance school... remember when you were being taught pirouettes and arabesques with that technique? lol), but peripheral vision works in an up and down fashion as well. Even if you are looking straight ahead, you should be able to gauge a LARGE GAPING HOLE in your path.
Is "The Hot Hammer" really a good name for a sandwich?
(This is an actual snapshot from the menu of a cafe in the Hilton in Atlantic City, NJ.)
As part of the new and improved additions to the site, I am now going to post the top 20 albums in Chart Chat (as opposed to just 10). So without further adieu...
The top 20 albums this week...
1. KID ROCK "ROCK N ROLL JESUS" 172,258 units sold
2. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN "MAGIC" 132,796 units sold
3. RASCAL FLATTS "STILL FEELS GOOD" 96,341 units sold
4. LEANN RIMES "FAMILY" 74,214 units sold
5. MATCHBOX TWENTY "EXILE ON MAINSTREAM" 71,605 units sold
6. KANYE WEST "GRADUATION" 71,133 units sold
7. REBA MCENTIRE "REBA DUETS 67,576 units sold
8. SARA EVANS "GREATEST HITS" 66,485 units sold
9. HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 "SOUNDTRACK" 65,840 units sold
10. JOSH GROBAN "NOEL" 63,971 units sold
11. KEYSHIA COLE "JUST LIKE YOU" 52,646 units sold
12. JENNIFER LOPEZ "BRAVE" 52,612 units sold
13. ALTER BRIDGE "BLACKBIRD" 46,863 units sold
14. ERIC CLAPTON "COMPLETE CLAPTON" 45,059 units sold
15. SOULJA BOY "SOULJATELLEM.COM" 42,369 units sold
16. COLBIE CAILLAT "COCO" 41,438 units sold
17. FOO FIGHTERS "ECHOES SILENCE PATIENCE & GRACE" 41,054 units sold
18. JILL SCOTT "REAL THING: WORDS & SOUNDS V3" 39,928 units sold
19. 50 CENT "CURTIS" 38,484 units sold
20. J. HOLIDAY "BACK OF MY LAC'" 37,057 units sold
Kid Rock has scored his first #1 ever on the charts with his latest release (I know, I was surprised by that as well). And what says celebrating that fact better than going on a national press tour to expose your ex-wife as a liar and fraud?
Bruce is always the top 5 when he releases new product so there's no surprise there.
Country just CONTINUES to kick ass (go 'head Vic, gimme an "I told you so") with Rascall Flatts, Leann Rimes, Reba McEntire, and Sara Evans ALL in the top 10.
I'm surprised that 50K people are still buying Jennifer Lopez albums. Now Keyshia Cole's album? THAT'S a nice release. A definite for the females.
Soulja Boy needs to disappear.
I've heard the Colbie Caillat release, and even though I wanted to believe she was just an overrated MySpace artist, she's not. "Coco" has a very female Jack Johnson feel.
And now I'll use the rest of this Chart Chat post to speak on Kanye/50...
I never formally addressed the Kanye/50 sales totals after they officially debuted. Kanye won. Kanye continues to sell really well on the charts. 50 never held any sorta press conference about it, or announced his retirement like he said he would. Kanye has now widened his original 300K lead over 50 to 500K (Kanye has sold 1.5 mil copies of "Graduation", and 50 has sold 1 mil of "Curtis"). I am not shocked at all. HOWEVER, I was more surprised by 50's album than Kanye's. That's not necessarily a good thing though. I was more surprised by 50's album because his last album sucked and I didn't expect anything from him this time around. But the album's much better than his last effort. As for Kanye, he has set the bar really high for himself. His first two releases are classics. This one? I liked it a lot when I first heard it. But then I thought about it some more. And I realized that although the album is definitely good, it's third on the list of greatness for me when you look at his discography. "College Dropout" was a breath of fresh air and was needed in hip-hop at the time it was released. But then "Late Registration" came out and blew me away. Kanye was way more comfortable in his own skin by that point, found his stride, and hooked up with Jon Brion to create RIDICULOUSLY fresh and tight production. When you listen to the two albums back to back, you can hear the growth jumping out of the speakers at you as soon as his sophomore album starts. So back to the current story... Kanye's still in the top 10, and 50's almost out of the top 20. Why is 50 hiding? Why has he been silent about the results? I don't know, and I don't care. Bottom line, any contest/battle that gets people buying albums again is A O K with me. :)
So if you know me, you know I love Playboy. I love the way the brand has been built, I love the legend that Hugh Hefner has become, I love The Girls Next Door, I love the timeless logo, I love the books about the company and people involved, etc.
However, I MUST say I laughed my ass off at a couple things I viewed in this month's Bunny Shop catalog (yes I get the catalog, I told you I loved Playboy). As you may or may not know, Playboy has its own line of Halloween costumes. Now for the most part, I like them. Usually Hef's girlfriends model the line for the website, catalog, and packaging. But there are a few that I haven't seen before. And um... I'm not really sure what kinda Halloween party you'd wear this one to...
MISS TLC SAYS: I don't know about you, but I think they should take that one out of the "Halloween costumes" section and just keep it with the lingerie and bra/panty sets where it belongs.
We here @ The Wonderful World Of Miss TLC......
LOVE how the TV show "The Game" has kicked off their second season. The scenes between Derwin and Mel have been so realistic that I feel like I'm watching friends. When Mel first came to find out that Derwin cheated, her reaction towards Drew, and then towards Derwin was great. Afterwards, Derwin acted just like every other guy I know does when he wakes up and realizes he lost the best thing that happened to him. But the best part of the show is still Tasha Mack. Do your thing Wendy Raquel Robinson!
HATE that Paris Hilton is turning a supposedly compassionate, charitable trip to Rwanda into a reality show. Sadly, we are not joking. You can read all about it here.
LOVE the new South Beach Diet brand snack delight bars in Chocolate Raspberry. They taste just like the famous Joyva candy Jell Rings, but they are only 100 calories each, and are quite filling. Yum.
HATE that "Sex and the City" was taken off the air @ 11:00 EST on channel 11 a month and a half ago. I loved that whenever I walked in on weeknights around 11pm, I could watch Carrie and the girls while I got some work done. Now it's "Family Guy", which ok, reluctantly, I get it. A lot of people love that show. But THEN they didn't even move SATC to 11:30pm because that's now...... "Two & A Half Men". What??? And THEN SATC DIDN'T EVEN GET THE 12:00AM slot... because that's for "Everybody Loves Raymond". Are they serious??? Get your game right CW. As a matter of fact, bring back the damn WB singing frog.
LOVE the cover to Jay-Z's upcoming album, "American Gangster". After a lackluster pic on the front of his last effort (and I do mean effort), "Kingdom Come", it's nice to see Mr. Carter return to a picture with presence. 
HATE that Aldo shoes has decided to start charging $500 and up for many of their fall/winter fashion boots. Aldo is NOT a high-end fashion boutique. I mean, who do they think they are? Bergdorf's? When I want to pay $500 and up for footwear, I treat myself to a pair of Manolos. When I want knock-around boots for work/play, and go to a place like Aldo, I expect to pay no more than $225.
......and we just thought you should know.
Actress & sporadic pop singer Mandy Moore and trainwreck extraordinaire Britney Spears (only in her Allure magazine photo shoot)......
Houston, we have a problem (and I ain't talkin' Whitney).
Celebrity nowadays is way too easy to come by, and the people who have been there for a while, and "seem" to have paid their dues, are losing their damn minds. Then there are those who don't seem to deserve their fame at all... because they have NO talent. Socialites, reality show stars, MySpace junkies, YouTube addicts, etc. are now just as popular as singers, actors, and entrepreneurs. It's a sad, sad world when people still try to get pics of Omarosa on the red carpet at award shows, and not of Lupe Fiasco (go ahead and say "who?").
Years and years ago, celebrities were held to certain morality standards. Studio contracts had a morality clause, which stated that the "star" would have to STAY OUT OF TROUBLE or else risk losing their job, and subsequently their money. Putting out sex tapes, checking in and out of rehab, being photographed with no panties on, and getting videotaped on drugs or out of control drunk with little kiddies at home was a NO-NO. Now I'm not saying these things weren't done back then. Of course they were. The key factor is that they weren't CELEBRATED. As a society, we now laugh off sex tape appearances and brush off DUI convictions. It's no surprise that up-an-comers now INTENTIONALLY "lose" sex tapes and drive around sloshed, expecting that it will only make them more famous.
Glamour, mystery, and privacy are now all a thing of the past. In the 50s, there were suspicians and whispers about certain starlet's sexual proclivities, conquests, and behaviors. But it was not broadcast on the internet and/or splashed across millions of pages of tabloids and blogs. In the 90s and beyond, there is no such thing as "too much information". I can watch a PG movie, and then log on to see the same actresses' naked shots of herself online. I can listen to a pop CD, and then press play on a tape showing the same star pleasing her current flavor of the month orally.
Let's now look at the current crop of celebs "polluting" our media landscape. Each choice is worse than the next. Every time I think "this is what the younger generation has to look up to??????", the alternative comes along to scare me more.
*************
TYPE: the "little girl lost" starlets
CLUB MEMBERS: Britney, Paris, and Lindsay
OFFENSES: Rehab stays, DUI convictions, jail time served, having kids taken away, having dysfuctional parents publicly fight in the public eye, having Valtrex prescriptions publicized, etc. 
MISS TLC SAYS: This is really a scary bunch. Pre-pubescent girls actually look up to this trio of terrors. They all LOVE the paparazzi, but yet blame the constant popping of flashbulbs for their "insane" lives.
*************
TYPE: the "money is everything" materialistic greed-mongers
CLUB MEMBERS: Kimora Lee Simmons and Donald Trump
OFFENSES: Release of the book "Fabulosity", release of brand-name steaks and vodka with their name on 'em, the show "Life In The Fab Lane", the O-B-S-E-S-S-I-O-N with Rosie O'Donnell and calling her a fat, ugly pig (now that sure puts the 'k' in classy), etc.
MISS TLC SAYS: Granted, this group is not promoting illegal behavior, or necessarily hurting anyone except themselves. The problem is that they push their obnoxious and pompous attitudes on anyone and everyone, and they are simply not that interesting.
*************
TYPE: the "refuse to learn their lesson" loose cannons
CLUB MEMBERS: T.I., Saigon, Diddy, Foxy Brown, and Naomi Campbell
OFFENSES: buying machine guns with "no flash, no bang", jumping onstage at live shows to beat up the performers, jumping offstage at live shows to beat up the spectators, assaulting co-workers and colleagues with chairs and champagne bottles, assaulting neighbors and service people with blackberries, spit, cell phones, etc.
MISS TLC SAYS: This is a really screwed up bunch. They are all famous people with the potential to do big things, but their anger keeps getting in their way. Thankfully, Foxy finally was ordered to do some jail time, and now it looks like T.I. is also on his way. How Naomi is still walking the streets is beyond me. Unfortunately, once a celeb is saved time and time again from getting thrown in the slammer, their serious problems become funny and are discounted as no big deal. This is a TERRIBLE message to send to our youth.
*************
TYPE: the "alleged" pedophiles
CLUB MEMBERS: R. Kelly, Michael Jackson
OFFENSES: the "it's not me" R. Kelly sex tape, the never-ending trials and charges against Michael, every chapter of R-ra's "Trapped In The Closet", the Martin Bashir "Living With Michael Jackson" documentary, and this:
MISS TLC SAYS: There is nothing left to say.
*************
Jay-Z released his REAL video for "Blue Magic", the first track released off his "American Gangster" project, last week. I say REAL, because there was a promotional video circulating on the 'net last month that could also be construed as a video for the same song.
This is the new "official" video:
And this was the old "promotional" video:
MISS TLC SAYS: Personally, I think the black & white one was hot. The new one is nice, but I think I favor the promotional one. Although, it's nice to see Jay actually rapping the track as well.
MISS TLC SAYS: The woman's pants said "Take Me Shopping". 'Nuff said.
DISCLAIMER: Please know that all of this is said in jest. Faces and heads have been removed from the pictures in order to protect identities (kinda like the black line across the eyes thing you see in many fashion magazines...I'm just taking it a step further and being extra cautious...I am only critiquing the clothes, not the person). If by chance, you are the person in this pic and you want it removed, please contact me and I will do so immediately. :)
One of the things I attended over the summer that I hadn't had a chance to write about until now was the Justin Timberlake "Futuresex/Loveshow". I actually attended the show that was taped for HBO back in mid-August at MSG in NYC (it aired Labor Day weekend). Therefore, many of you may have watched the exact show I went to on cable that holiday weekend, but I don't believe that watching live shows on TV have the same feel, and so I'm writing out my review anyway. (If someone stands in one place on a straight-edge stage, or does all of their choreography in one spot, then ok, maybe you can just stay home and watch it on TV. However, that was not the case here. Justin had an "in the round" stage [which you'll see in pictures below if you don't know what I'm talking about], and no matter how many cameras you have filming that kind of event, it just doesn't have the same affect when watching from the comfort of your own couch.)
Also, I think a lot of the allure of live concert experiences comes from the crowd. Unless the people around you are annoying (for instance, I had a fight with some tramps at a Janet Jackson concert once because they were ignoring the show and blocking my view just so they could "hook up" with some loser guys who they met at the bar... OH, and two people basically had sex next to me at a Common concert once and were being really awkward and corny about it... OH, and some girls decided to sing every word extremely loud and off-key behind me at a Kelly Clarkson concert I took my sister to once...), then they actually add something to the show for me. Mind you, the few experiences I just mentioned might turn you off, but you have to understand that I've been to hundreds of concerts, and those "bad" experiences were few and far in between. On the other side of the equation, the gay guys screaming and dancing at Madonna concerts, the Brooklyn natives throwing up Roc signs and bobbing their heads at Jay-Z concerts, the lovesick older ladies fanning themselves and crying over D'Angelo's sexy singing during his "Voodoo" tour, all add something positive to the show.
So back to Justin. His show was definitely not over-the-top fantastic or anything like that. But it WAS entertaining. Granted, I think "Future Sex/Love Sounds" is an amazing album. BUT, it's a pretty chill low-key album (and that fact was absolutely proven to me that night). Back-to-back mid-tempo songs don't really translate well during over-the-top multi-million-dollar productions. So did FSLS need to be showcased on a gigantic stage in an arena? Probably not. It would've been much hotter in a lounge setting, or at a smaller club. However, I know that Justin's too big of an artist to stick to small club shows (I know he did that for his "Justified" after-shows, and also for his FSLS preview shows, but not for his main tours). So unless he was going to block out two years of his time, and play two weeks' worth of shows in each major city, then he'd be selling himself short. You see, artists make the bulk of their money off of touring, so if you CAN sell out an arena, then you SHOULD sell out an arena (catch my drift?). If you have 3,000,000 people that want to buy tix to see you live, then you should take their money and let them see you live.
Now I know that Justin knew that the vibe for his album was more "hang out, have a good time with your friends, dance in place a bit, talk, have some drinks" than it was "look at my pyrotechnics, trapeze artists, and sequined suits", so he tried to create that setting on stage. He wore regular three-piece suits, didn't have much going on around him except for the occasional dancers, and did a lot of sitting down singing (at the piano or on a stool with a guitar). His banter was cute, his sexy moves with some stripper-esque chicks were hot, and his addition of a working bar surrounding the sides of the stage was different. However, you couldn't enjoy that bar unless you spent upwards of 3 grand for your ticket AND got there extra early so that you were right in front. And if you were that close, and right up against the bar, then you wouldn't have really seen Justin when he was dancing on other areas of the stage. So ok, good idea, poor execution.
As for the set list, he did the entire FSLS album, which I appreciated. I don't like artists to pick and choose what they want to do from a new album if that's the "album" they are promoting. Perform the damn album, not just a few tracks you feel like singing that night. Everyone's different. So what was chosen as a single may not be MY favorite cuts to begin with. Also, whenever an artist has released new product, they appear on countless talk shows, awards shows, parades, galas, fashion shows, etc., and usually perform the singles. So by the time the tour rolls around, I'm kinda sick of watching you sing the same ole' same ole'. I want to see the B-side cuts, the ones w/o a video, and/or the ones I've NEVER HEARD LIVE. So yes, Justin did right by me there. PLUS, he performed a bunch from "Justified", and the only REALLY great 'NSYNC song, "Gone" (c'mon now, you KNOW were feeling that one... I don't care if you were a guy, a hard chick, a grown woman, or a hip-hop fiend, you knew "Gone" was a hot song).
This was the full setlist (in case you are interested):
* Future Sex Love Sounds
* Like I Love You
* My Love
* Senorita
* Sexy Ladies
* Until The End Of Time
* What Goes Around Comes Around
* Chop Me Up
* Rock Your Body
* Set The Mood Interlude
* Gone
* Take It From Here
* Last Night
* Damn Girl
* Summer Love
* Losing My Way
* Cry Me A River
* Lovestoned
* Sexyback
* All Over Again (Another Song)
Finally, i'll leave with you two other things.
(1) Pictures I took that night with the song title of what he was performing while that shot was taken.
-and-
(2) A MySpace blog my dear friend Ryan wrote about the show after he viewed it on TV. I agree with what he said, and so I told him I would post it here for you all to read (because his profile is private and therefore, you wouldn't have ever had a chance to read it unless you were his friend).
And in that order...
"Senorita":
The results of the latest The Wonderful World Of Miss TLC Poll are in.........
...and clearly, my readers are just like me! LOL. Y'all love to drink, and I love you. (No, I am not promoting alcoholism smartasses, it's all in moderation.)
Seriously though, I am kinda surprised that "Everything & Anything" won by a LANDSLIDE, but it definitely made me laugh. I, for one, always go for the champagne, but I am not averse to dirty martinis, Patron shots, margaritas, some beer, really good wine, Absolut vanilla and cokes, etc., etc... :)
Either way, it was nice to see EVERY choice get at least one vote, but it was an EXTREME blowout by far. Due to this revelation about my fanbase, I am going to start publishing some drink recipes here and there for you all to enjoy.
Thanks to all for voting.
Anyhoo, the next one's about upcoming album releases so...
BE SURE TO VOTE IN THE NEW THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MISS TLC POLL GOING LIVE TODAY!!!!!!
This is an old article (from last year), but it's message is pertinent year after year...
Sexy Halloween styles for girls frighten adults
By James A. Fussell
McClatchy Newspapers
Sunday, October 29, 2006
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Halloween hasn’t changed much for boys: Gory get ups and monster masks still sell. But in the last few years costumes for girls have traded silly and sweet for skimpy and sexy.
It’s gotten so bad, one mother on an Internet bulletin board suggested renaming the holiday Dress Like a Prostitute Day.
"That’s an awful thing to say," the woman wrote. "But that’s what some of these costumes look like to me."
Look in costume shops and you’ll see what she means. They don’t sell scary witches so much as saucy witches. Costumes that once were merely daring now look more at home on Vegas showgirls. Outfits that were once "cool" are now "Hot! Hot! Hot!"
Many blame pop culture. Racy television shows and music videos teem with images of teenage girls. Child beauty pageants feature questionable costumes, while corporations make billions selling sexy products to girls too young to understand their significance.
Experts are concerned. But not everyone’s bothered.
This summer on “America’s Got Talent,” when celebrity judge Brandy told young singers they had dressed too provocatively for their age, the audience shouted her down. Last season Shopping.com noted a 30 percent jump in searches for "sexy Halloween costumes." So are marketers really to blame, or are they just giving people what they want?
"Both are true," said Tomi-Ann Roberts, a psychology professor at Colorado College. "We learn what we want from the culture, then demand more of it."
A 16-year-old female from Shawnee, Kan., is looking for a "hot costume" to wear to a friend’s party. "Adults worry too much," she said. "You can’t just wear a sheet. People dress up more today, and the costumes are way hotter. But it’s still just fun."
Christy Jahnke, assistant manager of Party City in Overland Park, Kan., said her store carries a bevy of sexy Halloween costumes for girls. "That’s the trend we’re going with this year," she said. "Hot! Hot! Hot! costumes."
She knows many by heart.
"Miss Red Riding Hood, that’s sexy," Jahnke said. "And we have Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz), but it’s a sexy Dorothy."
This year the store also will offer costumes made by Playboy.
"They’re geared more for adults, but a lot of younger girls get them," Jahnke said.
Sometimes, Jahnke said, mothers balk at the sexiness of the outfits. But other moms pick them out for their daughters.
Linda Cosgrove, whose 15-year-old daughter, Mandy, is wearing a skimpy "naughty nurse" outfit bought online, isn’t worried.
"Mandy knows who she is," she said. "And so do I. This is just her having some fun. For people to make any more out of it than that ... I mean, is this really such a big problem?"
Ask the American Psychological Association. In 2005 it appointed a task force to study the sexualization of girls. Roberts is one of six members of the task force, which will release its report in February.
Roberts calls the trend "alarming." Even well-meaning efforts such as Take Your Daughter to Work Day don’t stand a chance against the pressure to be sexy.
"Afterward they come home, turn on the TV and every show is ‘America’s Top Model’ and ‘Desperate Housewives,’ and it’s like, 'I want a rock star boyfriend and a smokin’ bod.'"
In research for her upcoming book “So Sexy So Soon,” Diane Levin of Wheelock College in Boston points to deregulation of children’s television shows in the 1980s as a big cause of early sexualization.
"It became possible to use TV shows as ads to market products,” she said. “Within a year, most of the best-selling toys had TV shows. He-Man, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles for boys; Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony for girls.”
The result: Stores began dividing toy sections by gender.
“It started with toys, then it became clothes, bed sheets, breakfast cereals,” Levin said. “Licensing and branding became the way to market to children with no filter. They created a culture that undermines parental authority. In ads directed at children you never see (normal) adults. They’re invisible, obstructionist or stupid. It’s creating what I call a premature adolescent rebellion.”
The next step for marketers: Flood the airwaves with their core message: sex for girls, violence for boys.
Today, she said, society is simply reaping the bitter fruit of decisions it made decades ago.
There is hope, she said.
In 2005 teenage girls in Pittsburgh successfully protested a line of Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts with messages across the chest including: “Who needs brains when you have these?”
Instead of a boycott, they organized a girlcott.
“Is society stooping so low as to make degrading yourself trendy?” one of the girls asked at a news conference.
Abercrombie pulled the shirts.
A separate protest got Hasbro to drop a line of “Pussycat Doll” toys. The dolls were take offs on the highly sexualized musical group by the same name, famous for its line “Don’t ya wish your girlfriend was hot like me?”
But more has to be done, experts say.
Sharon Lamb, a Vermont psychologist and author of “Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters From Marketer’s Schemes,” said the rapid sexualization of Halloween costumes for girls should cause parents to re-examine what’s going on and come up with ways to stop it.
“The real horror on Halloween is that on the one night when girls could let their imaginations run wild, they’re encouraged to be sexy divas or French maids,” she said. “In effect, we’re telling girls to dream small and dream sexy. And that’s wrong.”
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MISS TLC SAYS: For anyone under 21, they are right. Playboy costumes, and ultra-sexy get-ups, should not be marketed to, or worn by, young chicks. It's just inappropriate. They should definitely tone it down. And I DO think that it's the parent's job to pay attention to, and screen the outfits, their daughter is wearing for Halloween. I actually saw PLENTY of 15, 16, 17-year old girls walking around the streets "trick-or-treating" last year with a costume that was wayyyyyyyyy too sexy for their teenage asses. So they were clearly leaning towards the "trick" side of the equation. But for adults? There's NOTHING wrong with it.
Look, I am one of those people who almost always chooses a "sexy" Halloween costume once October 31st rolls around. I'm just not interested in dressing like a monster, or something ugly, or something silly. Does that make me a "prostitute"? HELLLLLLLLLLLLS NO. First of all, I'm not actually a referee, or Little Red Riding Hood, or a racecar driver, or a nurse, or a waitress, or a pimp (well... maybe I am kinda that one... just joking... maybe). But anyway, if I want to dress like one of those people for Halloween (and I just so happen to look hot doing it)? Then I AM IN COSTUME, nothing more, nothing less. That's the point of the holiday. Should you have a right to assume I have loose morals because I am dressed in a "Playboy-brand" costume? NO WAY. It's for that one day people. If I was really a nurse, and I chose to show up to the hospital wearing a "sexy nurse" costume with my bra hanging out, my underwear showing, and knee highs with 12 inch heels the other 364 days of the year, then yes, there's a problem. Otherwise, get over it. It's virtually impossible for me to hide alla this sexy anyway.
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