Hillary’s victory – and what she wore

February 29, 2016

Hillary Clinton won the South Carolina primary Saturday 3-to-1 over her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, and all I could think about was her black-and-white Chanel-style bouclé jacket accented by a gumball pearl choker.

I thought about it so admiringly that I wore a similar jacket and pearls to church Sunday.

I could claim professional interest as a lifestyle magazine editor. I could deconstruct the message of this classic Chanel look, which is ultra feminine but says “Don’t mess with me.” But neither would come close to the truth. Even though Clinton has achieved what Vanessa Friedman, fashion director and chief fashion critic of The New York Times, has termed a kind of neutrality of dress on the campaign trail, people like me who crave substance and understand her to be a woman of substance still notice what she wears. (You can imagine what The Donald – he of the scale of 1-to-10 for rating women – notices.) ...

Horsing around: American Pharoah becomes a stud

February 25, 2016

Days before Valentine’s Day – Feb. 12 to be exact – American Pharoah had his first date with a mare named Untouched Talent at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky.

"I am thrilled. The mare that is in heat and ovulating is the dam of Bodemeister, a stallion I raced and own," American Pharoah's owner Ahmed Zayat said. "Very excited. Can't wait for little Pharos.”

If all goes well, the first of them will be born 11 months from now. Meanwhile, American Pharoah has taken to his new occupation the way he once took to the track.

“They just told me the first time that they brought him for what they call a test breeding, he was just like he was on the racetrack,” Zayat said. “A champion.”

Indeed, AP seems to be the best kind of performer – competitive enough to be a winner but not so competitive to be difficult off the track. ...

Is one man’s Playboy another’s Picasso?

February 23, 2016

You wouldn’t think that literature had much in common with pornography but indulge me, will you?

Recently, the California porn industry objected to a proposal for stiffer – probably not the best choice of words here – regulations.

“I see what I do as my art,” actress Lily Cade told the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. “And in the past, throughout history, art has been persecuted.”

Such self-deluded statements give me a chuckle. Art is about psychological truth no matter how realistic or unrealistic it is. Whereas the hyper-realistic pornography suggests that if you could be this super-sexed person – or have this super-sexed person – you’d be happy. And how true is that? ...

Burying the dead: Trump, Apple and Aristotelian logic

February 20, 2016

What a week it’s been for illogic in the power game men play.

Donald Trump was miffed – though apparently only temporarily – by Pope Frankie’s smackdown. And Apple was miffed by the government’s demand that it unlock the encrypted iPhone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists. (I love how these terrorists are always so “oppressed.” And yet, they can afford iPhones.)

But first, follow Pope Francis’ thinking:

To be a Christian is to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Jesus preached compassion and inclusion.

Donald “We’re going to build a great, big, beautiful wall” Trump is about exclusion.

Therefore, Donald Trump is not a Christian in the truest sense of the word. ...

Gods among us: Male beauty and ‘Dieux du Stade’

February 17, 2016

What would Abigail Solomon-Godeau make of “Dieux du Stade,” the new book by photographer Fred Goudon, inspired by the “Dieux du Stade” calendars featuring members of the Stade Français Paris rugby club and athletes from other disciplines?

In her 1997 book “Male Trouble: A Crisis in Representation” (Thames and Hudson), the feminist art historian suggests that the nude male has been the primary sex symbol throughout art history, reaching an apotheosis in Neoclassical (turn-of-the-19th-century) Paris in the work of such artists as David, Ingres and especially Girodet, who often portrayed their subjects in the languid pose of women offered up for the male gaze. ...

Hillary Clinton, the SATs and the triumph of narrative

February 16, 2016

At first glance a change in the direction of the SATs to a more reading-heavy format would seem to have little to do with the presidential candidacy of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But those of us who enjoy connecting the dots have seen a pattern emerge – one of narrative.

Control the story, and you control public opinion – it’s a theme of my debut novel “Water Music” and the forthcoming “The Penalty for Holding,” one of the games men – and women – play.

Even our visual, numbers-oriented culture seems to have gotten the message. The new SAT contains more sophisticated reading passages along with math problems that are more text-driven, which critics fear will disadvantage non-English speakers and those for whom verbal skills do not come easily. ...

Achilles in San Francisco: Cam Newton and the art of the gracious loser

February 8, 2016

So as the world knows by now – or at least the world that cares about American football knows by now – the Denver Broncos’ D got inside Cam Newton’s head at the Super Bowl Sunday night, frustrating the Carolina Panthers’ QB, who sulked on the sidelines and then through the postgame press conference he walked out on.

Outrage was swift among the Twitterati, who admittedly have their share of anti-Cam fans for a variety of reasons.

Roger Federer once observed that the athletic loss is doubly painful: You lose and then you have to discuss it immediately with the press. It’s enough to disturb anyone’s equilibrium. Newton can be forgiven his disappointment, of course. No one likes to lose or see his team – a surrogate for the self – lose. But losing with grace, like winning with grace, is a necessary part of the athlete’s arsenal. A sore loser just gives his opponents and detractors ammunition. ...