Greetings caption fans, and welcome to another round of Twistie’s Sunday Caption Madness brought to you by my penchant for finding amusing pictures online and finding excuses to bring them to your attention. I’ve tried to find an actual sponsor, but Doritos, Tampax, and Stephen Colbert have all turned me down. Sure, he’ll sponsor the US Speed Skating team, but what about MEEEEEE?????

(gets ahold of self)

Anyway.

Before we get to the game itself, I bring you a special message from raincoaster of Teeny Manolo, reminding you all that they hold a similar (albeit not named for me and therefore not quite as superior as mine) caption contest every single friday. If you love playing the game, please consider going over and joining in the festivities. Also, if you see that it’s a Sunday Caption Madness sunday here, you can bet your bottom (or top, if you prefer) dollar that we’re playing the same game over at Manolo for the Brides. Play at as many blogs as you want…so long as the game is being played.

How does one play? It’s simple. I post a pic I find amusing or just in need of a good caption, you provide said captions via the comments function, next week I declare a winner, and we all go for virtual drinks while I do my best to get Stephen Colbert to pay the bill.

And so without further ado (because there was more than enough ado to go around up there), here is this week’s picture:

Ready…set…snark!

Okay, I have a confession. Until I tried this recipe, ‘soubise’ was a term I had heard a few times on Top Chef, but couldn’t actually define and had never eaten. Friends, I am now a huuuuugge fan! This was tremendously yummy and surprisingly simple to make. It takes time, but very little effort for the result. Oh, and this one is vegetarian, and could be made vegan with the substitution of a little olive oil for the butter in the recipe. While I adored the buttery taste of the soubise as written, I’ll probably try it with olive oil myself soon, so Mr. Twistie can join in the fun despite his high cholesterol and lactose intolerance. But in that case, I might also fiddle with the seasonings to add a little extra oomph.

I got the recipe from a friend, and I have no idea where she got it. All I can say is thank you to my buddy for offering up such a great recipe. Join me after the cut for the details.

(more…)

…comes the cover of the March issue of Vanity Fair, according to which everyone in “New Hollywood” is a thin white woman:

Whether the problem lies with Hollywood, or with Vanity Fair, or both is up for discussion.

Sources:

Jezebel

Shine

Hey gang! We’ll have the next installment of 12 Months of Cocktails coming up later, but Francesca’s post about Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe on the cover of Ebony got me thinking:

Would we ever see a full body shot of a big girl –not a “big girl” like Crystal Renn– on a non race-specific aspirational glossy like W or Vanity Fair without it being fetishized or turned into a bit of tokenism?

Because I think no.

Sure we’ve seen Beth Ditto on the cover of a few alternative mags like Love and NME, and when she’d get a feature in a regular glossy it would always, ALWAYS be about how she’s not afraid to shock the world with her size blah blah blah. She’s an enfant terrible, and her size and willingness to get her kit off at any given chance is part of her gimmick.

And of course There’s this photoshopped into oblivion cover of Queen Latifah from Glamour

Lovely photo BUT: not on this planet nor any other has Queen Latifah had that slender a neck or arms, and she might just be corseted from here to eternity (speaking of: have you ever tried to roll around on a beach in a corset? WAY ill-advised) but methinks Dr Shoppe has done a fair bit of virtual nipping and tucking. Glamour has ALWAYS had the worst, most blatant retouchers on the planet.

But even if she wasn’t retouched to high heaven, it’s still about SIZE.

Lest we forget that the #1 attribute of Queen Latifah is her size and not, say, the fact that she’s won an Oscar, has had a successful music, acting and producing career and is a hell of a good model and role model.

I’ve noticed the magazines aimed at black readers are far more willing to embrace the idea of beauty at every size without making a big honking deal of it.

Granted, the photo editing isn’t great on this mag either, but do you see anything talking about Queen Latifah’s size? No. It’s the same check-out fodder (maybe a little better) as any other women’s interest lifestyle mag.

I would love to see Gabourey Sidibe win an Oscar –and Mo’nique too, whom I love and always have– and I would love to see her looking pretty on the cover of a mainstream glossy magazine without a reference to her size. It would be great. I’d buy a dozen copies and probably not even make fun of what she was wearing. I’m just not sure it’s going to happen.

Today Miss Plumcake wants to know:

What say you? Are mainstream glossies ever going to be as willing as niche publications to put a big girl in all her glory on the cover without mentioning she’s big?

Gabouray Sidibe!

Francesca loves the Gabouray Sidibe. She is beautiful! She is confident! She is sexy!

And here, she is wearing the “Roxie” dress from Monif C.

Francesca asks: short dress or long top?

A la Levni Yilmaz, the sardonic force behind the (not always safe for work) Tales of Mere Existence:

Discuss.