The truth about Parisiennes

MANILA, Philippines - You have to live the true Parisienne way to understand the true nature of the Parisian love of life.’’

The Parisienne woman is renowned for her mastery of l’art de vivre (lifestyle) and for her much-envied joie de vivre (exhilaration). These women inspire countless books and films that enjoy cult status not just among Francophiles; they have also captured the heart of the general public.

As a first-hand observer of this phenomenon (I moved to France in 2006), let me help uncover the finer points of the Parisienne’s way of life.

• Because they live in a city whose beauty has been preserved through the centuries, a city with endless in-your-face cultural offers, the physical environment of Parisiennes has greatly affected their psyche. You will see this in the way they dress, their confident ability in tossing together an interesting mix of shapes, colors and textures, all worn with a calm nonchalance. You also see this in their strong sense of aesthetics because in Paris, art is everywhere — from the Métro stations to the gardens and building façades. It’s almost impossible to ignore their patrimony, their long rich history.

• When the Parisienne dresses well, in her mind, she adds to the overall beauty of her environment. It is her own small contribution to the aesthetics surrounding her. She can execute bold ideas, juxtaposing high-end with affordable — prints on stripes, florals on stripes, combining contrasting elements with a harmonious result but a strong point of view.

• Parisiennes look more natural out-of-bed than their Italian and American counterparts. They are averse to “wedding hair” — their hair is always tousled and slightly messy. They’ve mastered this look. Think of Serge Gainsbourg, Lou Doillon, Ines de la Fressange, Emmanuelle Alt — they never look too made-up, but rather, just casually pulled together.

• They are averse to plastic surgery and Botox and prefer women who age gracefully such as Catherine Deneuve and Charlotte Rampling. You’ll hardly see French women who are expressionless and Botoxed-out. They wear their wrinkles and gray hair very well. The French term is bien dans sa peau, which means the best-looking women are those who look “comfortable in their own skin.”

• It is a myth that Parisiennes are arrogant. It is not in their culture to smile. For them smiling for no reason means sarcasm, naiveté or trying to pick up a man. If you look at French advertising, no one is smiling. If you are in Paris and you see people smiling, they are probably Italian or American.

• French women are a paradox, full of complex contrasts. Many luxury brands were born in France. However, the French detest anything with too many logos. For a French woman logos are vulgar. They prefer to keep the price of their possessions discreet.

• Mealtimes are sacred in France. I could not do a piece on La Parisienne without touching on the massive influence of French gastronomy in their lives. It is the only cuisine currently protected under UNESCO World Heritage. Everyone sits down for a proper two-hour lunch and two-hour dinner and you’ll never catch a Parisienne woman eating while driving, scarfing down a quick lunch at her work desk, or eating only as an afterthought. They take their time. They use real utensils, real silver. Starbucks has been in Paris for over seven years but doesn’t enjoy the success it does in other countries because French people prefer slow food, porcelain coffee cups, and small, family-owned cafés.

• My main observation about Parisiennes is their preference for quality over quantity. They’d rather own only one Chanel jacket for 10 years than have a closetful of disposable fast fashion. This affects the way they shop.

• They choose brands with a long heritage, or with artisan/ handmade elements over more generic, factory-produced garments. This is the reason why I was happy to learn that a sneaker brand from Paris is coming to Manila. They really embody the true nature of being Parisian. I love Bensimon because the philosophy of the founders is exactly what the true Parisian is about.

Not all of us can just pack our bags and permanently relocate to Paris, but we can live in the Parisienne spirit by internalizing this same passion for the art of living, adapting it to our own lifestyle choices and to our own environment. Is Paris your spiritual home? Let’s fantasize together about the many ways we can include small elements of French life into our wardrobe and home, and enjoy the results together!

source: philstar.com

Pavilion to unveil Aquino Suite

MANILA, Philippines - In commemoration of the 30th Ninoy Aquino Day on Aug. 21, Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel & Casino is unveiling its newly renovated suite named after former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. to give honor and recognition to all of his significant contributions in carving the nation and Philippine history.

Situated on the 20th floor, the Aquino Suite magnifies classic elegance with its floor size up to 150 square meters. Its marble foyer welcomes guests with aesthetic artifacts, thoughtful lighting design, and sleek furniture.

“This hotel has stood tall for 45 years and based on the stories of the people who have been here way longer than me, this specific room has been a witness to a lot of momentous events before Ninoy got imprisoned, exiled, died and became our hero as the inspiration for the People Power EDSA Revolution in 1986,” says GM Christopher Park. “We are glad of that fact that he was once our beloved guest.”

The suite’s master bedroom is especially well furnished, making a subtle entitlement for a royal treatment. Every little detail in the room brings nostalgia. The elegantly appointed room is connected to a dressing room and a marble-tiled bathroom housing a Jacuzzi and walk-in shower, blending modernism and elegance of the past.

When its time for business, the study area functions as an ideal office space. It has a separate workstation, a stylish sofa set, and a mini library reliving the days of the former senator, a reputed wide reader. His birthday, Nov. 27, has actually been declared “Araw ng Pagbasa (Day of Reading)” to recognize the influence of books in his life.

In the living room, Ninoy’s inspiration comes true with the yellow modish armchairs which look like a throne and the P500 bill painting that is quite a scene-stealer.


The floor area is expansive and includes a 40-inch LED TV for personal entertainment. From the living room, the suite unfolds into the dining room. The chandelier hanging above the dining table also leaves a statement, making the view within even more astonishing. 

Guests of the Aquino Suite, located in a private corner to provide maximum privacy, will enjoy the dedicated butler service for all their needs and pleasure.

The Aquino Suite at Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel & Casino is an ideal destination for a well-earned getaway. It’s a private sanctuary that lets guests take a peek on the life of a historical icon and pay homage to the heritage of the country.


Visit the Manila Pavilion Hotel at United Nations Avenue corner Maria Orosa St., Manila. Log on to www.waterfronthotels.com.ph or call 526-1212 for inquiries or reservations. Like or follow @WaterfrontMNL for regular updates.

source: philstar.com

No Doubt apologize to Native Americans for Wild West video

LOS ANGELES – The pop band No Doubt was forced to remove a new Wild West-themed music video and issue an apology after getting complaints from the Native American community, saying its intention was “never to offend, hurt or trivialize” their culture or history.

The Southern California band – made up of lead singer Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young – posted an apology on their official website on Saturday following the release of their latest video for the single “Looking Hot.”

“As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history,” the band said.

The video, which debuted on Friday, featured Stefani dressed in tribal garments as a Native Indian princess captured by Young and Dumont dressed as cowboys, while Kanal played a tribe chief who rescues Stefani.

Some users took to social media platforms to criticize the band’s use of tribal imagery, leading No Doubt to remove the video online, adding that “being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are.”

“Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people … We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video,” they said.

“Looking Hot” is the second single from No Doubt’s latest album “Push and Shove,” their first studio release in a decade. The band initially rose to fame in the early 1990s in the new wave ska-punk scene and crossed over into pop with hits such as “Don’t Speak” and “Just A Girl.”

source: interaksyon.com

How Steve Jobs' legacy has changed

(CNN) -- When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer in his California home a year ago today, the world rushed to eulogize him in glowing terms: Genius. Visionary. A modern-day Thomas Edison.

Obituaries and video clips focused on how he led a mobile-computing revolution, upended the music industry with iTunes and, at Pixar, changed the way movies are made. Pundits marveled at his brilliance in creating a mystique about Apple products and knowing which unborn electronic gadgets consumers would most desire.

Fans lit candles outside Apple stores around the world, and more than a million people left thanks or tributes to Jobs on Apple's website.

But in the 12 months since, as high-profile books have probed Jobs' life and career, that reputation has evolved somewhat. Nobody has questioned Jobs' seismic impact on computing and our communication culture. But as writers have documented Jobs' often callous, controlling personality, a fuller portrait of the mercurial Apple CEO has emerged.

"Everyone knows that Steve had his 'rough' side. That's partially because he really did have a rough side and partially because the rough Steve was a better news story than the human Steve," said Ken Segall, author of "Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success."

"Since Apple is the most-watched company on Earth, there are a ton of writers always looking for the new angle," Segall added. "After all the glowing tributes to Steve ran their course, it's not surprising that the more negative articles would start to pop up."

The book

Nineteen days after Jobs' death, Walter Isaacson's much-awaited biography of the Apple leader hit stores and immediately became the top-selling book in the country. In "Steve Jobs," Isaacson crafted a compelling narrative of how Jobs' co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak, got pushed out of the struggling company a decade later and then returned in the late 1990s to begin one of the most triumphant second acts in the annals of American business.

But he also spent many pages chronicling the arrogant, cruel behavior of a complicated figure who could inspire people one minute and demean them the next. According to the book, Jobs would often berate employees whose work he didn't like. He was notoriously difficult to please and viewed people and products in black and white terms. They were either brilliant or "sh-t."

As a young man Jobs abandoned his pregnant girlfriend and was later a cold, distant father to his daughter, Lisa. And in one especially callous episode, Jobs refused to give founding stock options to one of Apple's earliest employees, even after a fellow employee intervened and offered to match whatever Jobs was willing to spare.

"What Isaacson's book did was puncture a hole in the image the rest of the world had of Steve Jobs," said Adam Lashinsky, a senior editor at Fortune and author of "Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired -- and Secretive -- Company Really Works." Thanks to Isaacson, "the population at large has gotten a much fuller picture of who he really was," Lashinsky added. "I don't think that really changes anyone's opinion of his accomplishments. It just may change their opinion of him."

The Isaacson book, and other accounts of Jobs' life and work, have reinforced parallel images of the late executive as an ingenious innovator but a demanding, unpleasant person.

"His stature is greater than ever. No one denies his brilliance and his legacy," said Leander Kahney, editor and publisher of Cult of Mac and author of "Inside Steve's Brain," a book about Jobs.

"However, his personality, his methods, have been thrown into a harsh new light by Isaacson's biography," Kahney told CNN. "Everyone knew he was a taskmaster, but his cruelty -- his relentless, humorless pursuit of corporate perfection -- wasn't so widely acknowledged. It's certainly put some people off. Some see his life as a warning. It's a lesson in how not to devote your life to your work."

This dichotomy was reinforced in July when Wired magazine published a cover story, "Do you really want to be like Steve Jobs?" and a cover image of Jobs wearing both a halo and devil horns. The article argued that Jobs' example has created two camps of people: those who want to emulate his ruthless, idiosyncratic business style, and those who are turned off by his failings as a father and a human.

"Indeed, his life story has emerged as an odd sort of holy scripture for entrepreneurs, a gospel and an anti-gospel at the same time," said the article, by Ben Austen. "To some, Jobs' life has revealed the importance of sticking firmly to one's vision and goals, no matter the psychic toll on employees or business associates. To others, Jobs serves as a cautionary tale, a man who changed the world but at the price of alienating almost everyone around him."

Apple since Steve

Some observers say that Apple's mighty financial performance over the past year, its stock price is almost $300 higher now than it was when Jobs died and Apple is now the world's most valuable company, diminishes Jobs' legacy. If he was so crucial to the company, why are they doing better without him?

Others say Apple's ongoing success cements Jobs' business reputation because the company is being run by a team that he handpicked and is still releasing products, most notably the third-generation iPad and the iPhone 5, that he helped design.

"It's hard to argue that Apple's great financial performance in the last year diminishes Steve's importance at all. It's safe to say that everything we've seen so far has had Steve's mark on it," Segall said. "From this point forward, not as much. The next year or two should be interesting times for Apple watchers, as Steve's direct influence slips further into the past."

Then there's the issue of the much-maligned new Apple maps, which replaced Google Maps as the default mapping system on iOS 6, Apple's new mobile operating system. Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a rare public apology last month for the maps, which have misplaced or mislabeled multiple streets and landmarks.

A few pundits grumbled that Jobs the perfectionist, with his obsessive attention to detail, never would have allowed Apple to release such a flawed product. Others pointed out that Jobs presided over such Apple flops as MobileMe, a subscription service for owners of Apple products, and Ping, a social network centered around music.

Segall doesn't think the maps fiasco will have much impact on Jobs' legacy either way.

"I don't think anyone can conclude that Steve would have made a different decision about releasing Apple Maps," he said in an e-mail to CNN. "But I also don't think Steve would have been as apologetic as Tim Cook was in his open letter. I imagine he would have done something similar to what he did when dealing with the backlash against Apple's ban on Flash. Of course there is a big difference here, in that Flash had a lot of enemies and Google Maps has a lot of fans."

In the long term, however, Apple's fluctuating stock price and flaps over maps probably won't do much to change consumers' opinions of the man who birthed their beloved phones and tablets. And if Steve Jobs is remembered decades from now, it'll likely be as the man who invented the iPod, iPhone and iPad, not as the executive who was sometimes a tyrant. Does anybody really care whether Alexander Graham Bell was cranky?

"Among Apple employees, I'd say his reputation hasn't changed one bit. If anything, it's probably grown because they've realized how central his contributions were," Lashinsky said.

"History tends to forgive people's foibles and recognize their accomplishments. When Jobs died, he was compared to Edison and Henry Ford and to Disney. I don't know what his place will be in history 30, 40, 50 years from now. And one year is certainly not enough time (to judge)."

source: CNN

Tributes pour in for 'man on the moon' Armstrong

WASHINGTON -- Tributes poured in Sunday following the death of Neil Armstrong, the humble US astronaut whose "small step" on the moon captivated the world and came to embody the wonder of space exploration.

Armstrong, who died Saturday at the age of 82 from complications following heart surgery earlier this month, inspired generations to reach for the stars and etched his name next to one of the great milestones of human discovery.

The grainy black-and-white broadcast of Armstrong's moon walk on July 20, 1969 was seen by some 500 million people, his words capturing the promise of the still-young space age and briefly uniting a planet split by the Cold War.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," the earthbound heard Armstrong say, though he later claimed that an "a" before the word "man" had been lost in transmission.

US President Barack Obama, who was just two weeks short of his eighth birthday when the historic mission succeeded, said Armstrong had "delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten."

Armstrong's family praised him as a "reluctant American hero," saying they hoped his legacy would encourage young people "to be willing to explore and push the limits and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves."

The lunar pioneer was decorated by 17 countries and received a slew of US honors, but was never comfortable with his worldwide fame and shied away from the limelight.

In a rare television interview in 2005, Armstrong said he did not deserve the attention he received for being the first man on the moon, just steps ahead of fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.

"I wasn't chosen to be first. I was just chosen to command that flight. Circumstance put me in that particular role," he said.

Armstrong even stopped signing memorabilia after learning his autographs were being sold at exorbitant prices.

John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, recalled Armstrong's legendary humility, telling CNN that the astronaut "didn't feel that he should be out huckstering himself."

Aldrin said he had hoped that he, Armstrong and Michael Collins, the third astronaut on the mission, would have met up in 2019 for celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

"Whenever I look at the moon, it reminds me of the moment over four decades ago when I realized that even though we were farther away from Earth than two humans had ever been, we were not alone," Aldrin said.

On Sunday, more praise poured in from world leaders and fellow astronauts, with French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault saying that Armstrong's "small step" had "realized the dream of generations of inventors, scientists, artists, poets or simply amateurs, of the beauties of space."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he "vividly" remembered the night Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the "Sea of Tranquility," saying Armstrong had "left an eternal footprint on our memories."

Richard Branson, the British tycoon who is launching a space tourism program, hailed Armstrong as "an extraordinary individual."

Born in Wapakoneta, Ohio on August 5, 1930, Armstrong had an early fascination with aircraft and worked at a nearby airport when he was a teenager. He received his pilot's license on his 16th birthday.

A US Navy aviator, he flew 78 missions in the Korean War.

Armstrong joined NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, in 1955.

As a research pilot at NASA's Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, he flew on many pioneering high-speed aircraft, eventually flying over 200 different models, including helicopters, gliders, jets and rockets.

He reached astronaut status in 1962, and was assigned as command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission, during which he performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space.

After retiring from NASA in 1971, Armstrong taught aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati for nearly a decade and served on the boards of several companies, including Lear Jet, United Airlines and Marathon Oil.

In announcing his death, Armstrong's family said they had a simple request to people in memory of Armstrong's life.

"Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink," it said.

source: interaksyon.com