Friday 5 October 2012
pageantry or deconstructing dumbo
catagories: ⚖️, ๐บ๐ธ, ๐, ๐ฑ, environment, foreign policy, labour
goldfinger
The latest installment of the quintessentially British institution, the James Bond films, is set for release on the fiftieth anniversary of the debut of Sean Connery as Agent 007 in the adaptation of Ian Fleming’s espionage novel Dr. No.
Thursday 4 October 2012
twenty mule team borax
Speaking of stained teeth, no where do I feel more self-conscious of my smile than when I see the contrast between something control-white, like when shaving or I suppose wearing a Santa Claus beard. All things considered, I like to think that my smile is fairly decent, and I don’t think teeth are meant to be gleaming whiter-than-white billboards, given modern and Western habits—but maybe that’s just sour-grapes.
catagories: food and drink, health and medicine, lifestyle
Wednesday 3 October 2012
ohaguro or iron smile
Until the breakup of the Shogun-system in the 1860s, it was a fashionable practice for aristocratic married women, mostly—and some men, to stain their teeth to a gunpowder grey to black. Not only were dark things, like ebony and finely-worked lacquer, considered more aesthetically balanced, the dyeing process also acted like a dental sealant to help stop tooth decay, and even the latest modern techniques (also coming from Japan) that promise to eliminate cavities. The practice was called ohaguro in Japan, meaning something like iron-drink, and involved daily applications of iron-filings dissolved in a solution of vinegar and tea. There were comparable methods of achieving the same effect throughout Asia in the past, including using the dye of aubergine skin in China. In vintage Japanese prints and in traditional theatre performances, one sometimes sees a very darkly rendered mouth, but that apparently was not just goth lip-stick but also a way to evoke an ancient practice once outlawed and unfashionable, sort of like Western cosmetic discoveries of belladonna or permanent make-up, but now being revisited.