Beauty Hurts

8 May 2011 - Beauty pageants for young men have become increasingly popular in Venezuela, where winning international competitions has long been the ambition of many women in the country. As in traditional female versions of these contests, the participants are expected to present themselves, sing, dance and appear in a variety of outfits, including swim wear. "It's no good having someone with a beautiful face if they can't answer a question," says Hernesto Boscan, a former Mr Venezuela and organiser of the event. With a population of some 28 million people (almost the same as Malaysia!), Venezuelan contestants have an extraordinary record in international beauty contests, winning Miss Universe six times, a feat only exceeded by the United States. Such success is helped at least in part by the lengths some Venezuelan women are willing to go to in order to achieve physical perfection. Many will have plastic surgery in order to compete in beauty pageants, most commonly nose jobs and breast implants, as well as visiting an orthodontist to improve their teeth. The young men competing this week also expect to go under the knife in order to get ahead.
"If it's something I have to do in order to win, then I'll do it," says Freddy Pimentel, 26. Plastic surgery of any kind is common in Venezuela, and admitting that you have gone had a procedure is not taboo. Some estimates put the number of breast augmentation surgeries in Venezuela at between 30,000 and 40,000 a year.

Maori Tattoos

26 June 2010 - In recent years the culture of New Zealand's indigenous Maori people has seen a revival. In particular the Maori tattoos are very popular. In fact, the word 'tattoo' comes from the Tahitian word 'tattau' and captain James Cook used the word 'tattow' when he witnessed tattooing for the first time in 1769. The visibility of these tattoos on some of the big arms of members of the Kiwi All Black rugby team has helped to promote the culture further. In the earlier days, facial tattoos on Maori men recognized their high births and success on the battlefield. Women often had small tattoos carved on their chins. Once a tattoo is applied, it tells a story about the identity of the person wearing it: their genealogy, their ancestors, their life. UK singer Robbie Williams and boxing heavy-weight Mike Tyson were among the first Westerners to show Maori tattoos - allegedly much to the annoyance of many Maori themselves.

Going to Spa

5 June 2010 -  The practice of traveling to hot or cold springs in hopes of curing an ailment, fatigue or disease dates back to pre-historic times. However, the concept of going to the Spa is named after the Belgium town Spa in the Ardennes, whose name goes back to Roman times. The name of the town has now become eponymous with any place having a natural water source that is believed to have special health-giving qualities. Idyllic Spa is promoted as a haven of peace and quite, but once per year it becomes the location of the Belgium Formula One Grand Prix, which is probably the most noisy event on the planet. How did that happen? And what Marketing theory is behind it?.

Not for Santa

26 May 2010 - The local Government of the Japanese town of Isesaki has banned its male employees from growing beards. "We have decided  to ban our workers from growing a beard as we have received complaints saying they are unpleasant.", said a Government official. This civil facial hair ban is believed to be the first of its kind in Japan. It seems that a lot of women have recently applied for government jobs in Isesaki. And Santa is also reported to skip the place.

Sarkozy Effect

24 May 2010 - There is a rumor going around that French President Nicolas Sarkozy went for some nip/tuck work before his marriage to former supermodel Carla Bruni. The simple aim was to look better and to narrow the age gap of 13 years.While there no evidence to confirm the rumor, it did spark an increase an increase in middle-aged French men going for plastic surgery. And in the USA swimming legend Mark Spitz advertised Botox, while actor Michael Douglas admitted to a facelift. So should we be pleased with this drinking from the Fountain of Youth? I think I am more a traditionalist and feel it is a challenge to age gracefully. Nobody is perfect. But the image of the rough and tough guy who does not shower or shave for a week is no longer in vogue.

Beer Belly

22 May 2010 - A US study among more than 700 adults has shown that being overweight is associated to smaller brain volume, a factor linked with dementia. So people who carry a lot of fat around their waste are at risk of going gaga. The study was in particular strong for those with high levels of visceral fat - fatty tissues that sits around the organs. The study leader concluded : " Although these findings are preliminary, they could improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship of obesity with dementia, with potentially important implications for prevention strategies." Maybe I should consider the South Beach diet after all (see next article).

South Beach

22 May 2010 -  I went to the restaurant, where the waiter gave me the menu. So far nothing unusual, but than it happened. The waiter said: "I will give you our South Beach menu". I did not know what a South Beach menu is, but I thought of Hawaii, coconuts and pina colada's. He gave me a menu with vegetables and Kcal.mentioned for every dish. South Beach is a diet! I wondered if I should be offended, as the waiter obviously felt I was too fat and should eat carrots. The waiter said that it worked for him, and I wondered if he was flirting with me. Later, I googled "South Beach", where I learned that I need to change my lifestyle. Hmmm. I don't want to eat diet food in a restaurant, so I ordered French Fries.

Ten billion

4 May 2010 - The year 2009 will be remembered for the financial tsunami, which started in the United States. Thousands of people got laid off or could no longer afford their mortgage payment. Yet, figures were recently published that USD 10 billion is the approximate amount Americans spent in 2009 on plastic surgery  procedures. The top five procedures were breast augmentation, nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, liposuction and "tummy tuck". So Americans may be poor, at least they look beautiful (they think).

Smile!!!

4 May 2010 - I went to the dentist today. Alarmingly, it was yesterday announced that the Hong Kong Dentistry Council failed to set up an accreditation process for the cities' only training school for dentists. On top of that a Dental Association survey found that 40% of graduates between 2004 and 2008 were not confident about practicing independently and only a quarter of employers of new graduates found their skills up to scratch. All of that is luckily not relevant for me, because my dentist looks 100 years old and is from New Zealand. He plays jazz and was the specially assigned dentist for "rugby sevens" dental victims for many, many years. He does a great job and I can smile again! hahaha!