Dec 28 2021 - Santas Existence

 

To be or not to be - that is the question.  Did Shakespeare have to deal with the existence of Santa? Seeing as the story "stretches all the way back to the 3rd century", one might think he too had the dilemma of deciding how to represent Santa to his children.  But I doubt it. I also doubt my parents had a philosophical discussion on Santa's to be or not to be.  Things were simpler then - less sophisticated education, more engagement with pleasure and fun wherever it could be had, particularly the consumerism that got hold of the 20th century. And of course, simpler parenting methods - physical rewards and punishments to train behaviours.  The migration of Santa into naughty vs nice was unlikely to be thought about then.   Think of naughty and nice as a conversation starter for Santa in Malls or at events...who would have considered where this might go?   Think of this:  if the Wright Brothers had foreseen that the airplane would have caused more casualties in war rather than the elimination of war itself, they would not have invented the airplane.  So here we are today- I found this 21st Century example of the Santa to be or not to be question.  This is a Toronto Star article on the philosophical meaning of Santa Claus HERE. "My son had a play date to the zoo in December and his friend’s mother called and said there will be reindeer at the zoo. “Reindeer will prompt a discussion of Santa and since your son doesn’t believe in Santa and my son does I don’t want my son to be skeptical, so I don’t think your son should come along.” I thought, “That is weird,” because she seemed to be sacrificing a relationship with someone who is real, my son Ari, with someone who isn’t real, Santa. Then I began to think: how do I know Santa isn’t real? Just because I haven’t seen him? I haven’t seen that Israeli model Bar Refaeli but I know she exists. And that is the start of a deep dive into an examination of Santa from a philosophical viewpoint.   No worries - he pulls up quickly with this conclusion:  "We need to have things in our lives, certain things. Maybe Santa is one of those ways to teach children about gifts. You tell the kids there is a magical evening when Santa comes down the chimney and it allows them to participate in gift-giving."   Our existential questions in pictoral form today.

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Who was right about fashion and wrong about women?

Karl Lagerfeld, known world-wide for fashion design has died.  I had a fine wool suit with silk ribbon trim around the lapels designed by Chanel. That was before Lagerfeld took over the design in 1983. The suit was elegant, feminine and on sale at a deep discount. Otherwise, it would have been worn by someone else.   With social media, there is a swirl of coverage of his life in words and pictures.  Vogue has a stylish obituary with 40 of its own pictures through the decades of his career - famous celebrities and models photographed by famous photographers.  HERE.   Search on his name and look at the hundreds of consistent and constant image pictures - the high white collars, black jackets, black jeans and always the white pony tale and glasses.  The fingerless gloves are a curiosity that he always wore.  Included in the pictures is a Karl Lagerfeld Barbie Doll (for the adult collector) that is dressed in his iconic outfit. Look up Karl Lagerfeld quotes. Harper's Bazaar chose 9 quotes - and the first three are hilarious: 1. “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.” 2. "Trendy is the last stage before tacky." 3. “I remember a designer who said that intelligent women don’t wear her dresses. Obviously, she went bankrupt.” These are often repeated: "I am very much down to Earth. Just not this earth." "When I was four I asked my mother for a valet for my birthday." "A diet is the only game where you win while you're losing." But Lagerfeld's pouting mouth and dark glasses revealed the nasty side of his persona.  It isn't a surprise that one can retrieve a long list of cutting, controversial and cruel quotes.  He was called misogynistic and fat phobic many times by many famous celebrities responding to his "epic one-liners."  One obituary headline says it:  "Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld was right about fashion and wrong about women". We're looking at abstracts of the urban environment today.