MAC Responds . . .

Incredibly enough, MAC Cosmetics has pulled the offensive Sandra Bernhard ad from its web site!

Perhaps more incredibly, MAC actually took the time to respond to my e-mail complaint! Here's what they wrote:


Dear Ms. XXXX,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Mac.

We want you to know that we have heard you. As a loyal consumer you took the time to share with us your dissatisfaction regarding the M.A.C. Plushglass video featuring Sandra Bernhard and we thank you. We have decided to remove the video from the M.A.C. website.

We apologize for any distress this might have caused you and can assure you that Sandra Bernhard's political views are not shared by our Company. We hope that our response allays any question that you may have had regarding our Company's intent and commitment to our customers.

Once again, thank you for this opportunity to respond to your concerns.

We hope you will continue to enjoy and have confidence in our quality products.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Soriente
Global Consumer Communications

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised to receive this response from MAC within a few days time, let alone at all -- so three cheers for them!!

"Intimidated, Frightened, Right-Wing Republican Thin-Lipped Bitch!"

So apparently MAC Cosmetics is allowing Sandra Bernhard to be their new spokesperson to hawk lipsticks. Fine, I don't care.

But I do care that she takes a swipe at Republican women in the ad!

They are referred to as "intimidated, frightened, right-wing Republican thin-lipped bitch" -- HUH?!?

First of all, my lips are NOT thin. And gawd knows they aren't intimidated!!! On the contrary, they are bold, sassy, and know how to work it, if ya catch my drift.

View the ad for yourself:

http://www.maccosmetics.com/whats_new/plushglass_video.tmpl

I took it upon myself to write MAC a little note telling them I was pissed off.

WHY do we need to interject politics into a friggin' lipstick purchase?!?! Gawd, am I gonna have to whip out my red-state/blue-state buyer's guide again?! I thought all that craziness had died down?!

My many Republican friends and I will instead spend lots of money elsewhere! We'll take our not-thin, not-intimidated lips over to another aisle in the cosmetics department.

Too bad, I was liking the ad until she said such ignorant things.

Here Come the Cousins -- Part One

So this post is a little overdue. I should have written it back on Saturday, August 5th, the day after the wine-and-cheese event hosted by my cousin David and his lovely wife, Natalie. But how do you accurately capture with words an evening that has you laughing those kind of stomach-hurting laughs?

A bit of history . . . I went to high school with Natalie, albeit she was two years behind me. David is a year younger than me, and has always been my most favorite boy cousin (really). We used to be "wedding & funeral cousins," but some events over the past few years have forced the families to come together and emerge much closer, for which I will always be eternally grateful.

Anyhoo, we are blessed that David & Natalie thought to include us when they sent out the invite to share in several bottles of fine Napa wine they purchased during a recent trip to our former grape-stomping grounds. Just us, them, and two other couples -- should make for a lovely-evening, right?

Wow, it's amazing what you learn when family has their friends over . . . I knew that David and Natalie were the fun-loving type, but man, did we ever learn about them that night! Apparently, what happens in Vegas does not necessarily stay in Vegas! Amongst the most interesting and useful pieces of info we gathered:

* Natalie loves to play the nickel slots.
* Dave thinks nothing of playing $25 rounds of blackjack.
* Natalie had to be babysat by their friend Kevin while her husband was busy playing cards.
* Do NOT bump into Dave as he's walking into the Ghost Bar, or you may get your ass kicked.
* There's a reason why there are no clocks or windows in a casino (by the way, that bright thing shining outside the door is called the Sun).
* If Dave wants to cash out, he tells the dealer, "C'mon Benny, we ain't building railroads here!"

Geez, Dr. J and I sooooo needed to laugh, after such a thoroughly shitty couple of weeks -- so Dave & Natalie, we raise our glasses to you (um, could you get me a refill on the cabernet, too?!)

A Quiz for Adrian

What do the following have in common?

* Frank

* Lebanese women in a war zone

* Africans with HIV

* Latinos in the U.S. illegally

* White trash teens who smoke

* Welfare queens with 4 kids

* Mormons


Care to make a guess, Adrian???