Ladysmith Chronicle - Lifestyles - Ladysmith Chronicle

By Gary and Katherine Backlund The luck of clover

A four (or more) leaf clover: is it the result of something genetic or environmental?

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Published: May 24, 2010 5:00 PM
Updated: May 24, 2010 8:01 PM

Clover is an unassuming plant. It’s small, common and we really don’t pay much attention to it. For many people, clover is merely a weed that invades their perfect lawns.

Very few people actually plant the stuff, but we did years ago to prevent erosion on some steep skid trails. Some of the foresters didn’t think that it was a good idea as the clover would attract deer, which would also browse on our freshly planted tree seedlings. Fortunately, the deer were happy enough with the clover. 

Today, honey producers are happy to have large patches of clover for their bees.

Red clover is also used to make tea and has quite a range of health benefits including treating arthritis, eczema, infertility, and asthma. Going back in history, springbank clover was farmed by many Vancouver Island First Nations and the rhizomes (roots) were harvested as a food source.

 Clover is a member of the pea family. This plant has the ability to pull nitrogen out of the air and store it in nodules on its roots. As our local soil is often deficient in nitrogen due to our high annual rainfall, this nitrogen fixing is a good thing. Clover planters can buy inoculate to treat the seeds in order to increase clover’s nitrogen fixing abilities.

Have you ever found a four-leaf clover? Do they really bring good luck? We have been fortunate enough to find a patch of clover on Woodley Range with three, four, five and even six leaflets. We are not sure if this is caused by something genetic or environmental, but plan to transplant and propagate this anomaly.

After finding the lucky clover patch, our eyes were opened and we noticed some other patches of clover nearby with serrated edges and heart-shaped leaflets. There seems to be quite a genetic variation within the clover family. We know that there are two main introduced species of clover that grow around Ladysmith, the red and white clover. There’re also a few native species.

 In the wild, it’s estimated that you’ll find 10,000 three leaf clovers for every four-leaf one. The first leaf is said to stand for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

Finding a five-leafed in the wild is a lot rarer than four and the record was set in June of 2008 when a fellow named Shigeo Obara found a clover with 21 leaves in Japan. He previously had the Guinness world record with 18 leaves. He must be one lucky guy.

 On Saint Patrick’s Day we looked up guidelines for finding four-leaf clovers and found this: four-leaf clovers usually grow in patches, are supposed to bring good luck and can be hard to spot with an untrained eye.

To train your eyes to spot four-leaf clovers, you can practice putting a penny on the ground and looking at the objects around it from a distance. Once you find a patch with a four-leafer, count the paces from a familiar landmark in the direction of the clover patch so you will be able to find it again later.

 Perhaps people think four-leaf clovers are lucky because people tend to be so delighted when they find them that the joy improves their life. Maybe it is because people who are able to find the special clover have good eyesight, are active, interested in the outdoors, and have a good eye for detail.

Hunting for four-leaf clover is an enjoyable pastime and it is good to appreciate the beauty in the seemingly simple things that nature has to offer.

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Most Four Leaf Clovers Found in the Fastest Time - World Records Academy

Thursday, May 20, 2010   Most Four Leaf Clovers Found in the Fastest Time-John Christian Stokes sets world record   DICKSON, TN, USA -- John Christian Stokes, 10, found three four leaf clovers within 20 minutes while playing with his brother outside his home in Dickson - setting the new world record for the Most Four Leaf Clovers Found in the Fastest Time.    (enlarge photo)    His Dad, Mr. Charles Stokes, tells the story: "The amazing find started when the young man having a typical after school afternoon playing with his brother outside his home in Dickson, Tennessee when as all boys do he begin to explore first by playing in the dirt and then the grass when he begin to look at the clover."    "John did it, a once in a lifetime find where he actually found a four leaf clover to lift his spirits and brighten his day but, what happened next was simply amazing."     After showing his family his new find he went back to look for more and what do you know he found another to which his mom and dad said they�ve not found but one four leaf clover maybe in their entire life.     Now the question you may ask is what would make this a world record? Well the answer for those of us who are older may just be this �He believed�.      (enlarge photo)     John actually, believed that he could find another four leaf clover and with no thought to the odds, chances or even the limits that we who have lived the odds and have placed limits on ourselves he simply went back outside to find another one and when he did in under 20 minutes�    The Guinness world record for the for the largest collection of four-leaf clovers belongs to Edward Martin Sr. from Cooper Landing, Alaska, USA, with 111,060 four-leaf clovers, as of May 2007, which he has been collecting since 1999.    Subscribe to our RSS News feed to receive updates.       Related world records:    Most plastic bottles collected - Florida students sets world record    Most Hugs Given in 24 Hours - world record set by Jeff Ondash      Thursday, May 20, 2010

[World Record Certificate]

 

 

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What luck; 4-leaf clovers abundant - Topeka Capital Journal

Donna Nish does lots of nice things for folks without asking anything in return, her friends say, so it would stand to reason that some good fortune would come her way.

Lady luck may be smiling on Nish, 55, if her front yard is any indication.

So far this month, Nish said, she has found 21 four-leaf clovers and three five-leaf clovers in her front yard in the 900 block of N.E. Forest, in the city's Oakland neighborhood.

"I've never seen this many four-leaf clovers," Nish said earlier this week. "And the five-leaf clovers are very rare."

According to legend, four-leaf clovers are supposed to bring luck to those who find them. The four-leaf clovers are a variation of the more common three-leaf variety.

Nish said she would gladly take the luck, but would be satisfied if it meant she could afford a much-needed hearing aid or get some work done on her 120-year-old home, or if those living in her neighborhood would come closer together.

In the meantime, she continues to find four-leaf clovers "popping up everywhere" in her yard.

She said she never seriously looked for four-leaf clovers until last year, when she found eight of them in the month of May. She kept the four-leaf clovers encased in plastic sleeves in a photo album.

When she saves the tiny plants in the photo album, Nish marks the date they were found and who found them.

Then things really started exploding this May on the four-leaf clover front. She has found up to a half dozen in a single day. She said she has looked up four-leaf clovers on the Internet and found that people are selling them on the eBay website — for as much as $20 apiece.

Nish said she didn't have any plans to sell her four-leaf clovers. She said she has put some of them with their stems in small glasses of water. She said the clovers "close up at night and open up again in the morning."

Some of her friends have come to her home and have found four-leaf clovers in her yard this May.

One of her friends, Darren Hoskins, who retired this week as a captain from the Kansas Army National Guard, said Nish was well-deserving of some good things to come into her life.

"She's a blessed woman," Hoskins said. "She's survived so many different things."

Hoskins has found some four-leaf clovers this month, something he said he tried to do unsuccessfully as a child.

"I used to look all the time when I was a kid," he said, "and I never, ever found one."

Phil Anderson can be reached at (785) 295-1195 or phil.anderson@cjonline.com.

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So That's Why Patricia Field Loves Clover Necklaces - The Frisky (blog)

So That’s Why Patricia Field Loves Clover Necklaces

Posted by: Bianca Posterli Filed in: style
5:15PM, Thursday May 20th 2010

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As the stylist for “Sex and the City,” Patricia Field has the chance to share her eclectic style with the world through Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha, creating trends and obsessions for women all over the world. A perfect example is the infatuation with nameplate necklaces, which, pre-Carrie, were seen as slightly trashy, but quickly became a fan favorite when SJP wore them. With the upcoming sequel, the fashion stylist has been hard at work, mixing variations of Halston creations in with a few of her own current favorites. Recently, Pat shared her thoughts about which trends “Sex and the City 2” would inspire, one of which is a four-leaf clover necklace that Carrie wears in a few scenes. Pat Field is capitalizing off the trend she’s sure to create and designed a clover necklace for her Payless line. So, if you decide not to purchase the $56 to $72 clover necklace from Pat’s store, you can have a charm like Carrie’s for a more reasonable $12.99 from Payless. [PR Newswire]

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Tags: fashion, sex and the city, necklaces, trends, , sex and the city 2, patricia field

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4-H is about far more than livestock - The Salinas Californian

4-H is about far more than livestock

The 4-H Youth Development Program is an educational leadership organization for kids ages 5 to 19. The program is part of the University of California Cooperative Extension, which is part of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

In Monterey County, there are 17 clubs, totaling more than 800 members. Buena Vista, San Benancio and Santa Lucia serve the Off 68 area with a combined membership of 110 involved members and their parents.

The mission of 4-H is to "engage youth in reaching their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." You have probably seen the 4-H emblem, which is a four-leaf clover. Each leaf represents part of the 4-H pledge: "I pledge my HEAD to clearer thinking, my HEART to greater loyalty, my HANDS to larger service, and my HEALTH to better living for my club, my community, my country, and my world."

4-H activities develop one or more of the four parts. Activities for HEAD involve thinking and planning; for HEART, there is community service; for HANDS, youths learn skills; and for HEALTH, they learn to be strong and healthy.

4-H is a volunteer organization. Parents and other caring adults act as mentors and share their talents in areas including but not limited to arts, youth leadership development, safety, health and food.

"What I like most about 4-H is the opportunity to learn things that are not taught in school," said Kassie McIntyre, 16. "The leadership, community service and mentorship of the older members to the younger members help make us better citizens for our community."

There is a widespread misconception that 4-H is purely about raising livestock, but there is more to it than that.

Members attend monthly club meetings and year-round project meetings for activities such as bowling, arts and crafts, archery, shooting sports, beekeeping, food preservation and entomology. They join committees to serve the community through activities such as working at the Spreckels Fourth of July parade, donating clothing to homeless shelters, giving food baskets to needy families during the holidays and giving May Day baskets to past 4-H members.

"What I really like is 4-H Camp!" said Cody Martinez, 13. "There are different activities to do every day such as hiking, swimming, volleyball, pingpong tournaments, crafts and more!"

You can see 4-H members in action this month at the Salinas Valley Fair in King City from May 12 through May 16. Many 4-H members do raise swine, beef cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits and poultry each year. But there are other items that 4-H members enter in the fair: posters, paintings, crafts, photographs, foods, quilts and scrapbooks are just a few of the many alternatives.

Enrollment/registration for 4-H clubs begins July 1. Check out local 4-H clubs at the Salinas Valley Fair and the Monterey County Fair in September. Contact the Monterey County Ag Office at 831-759-7325 or check out the website at http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/ag/ for local club contact information.

- Submitted by the executive officers of the Buena Vista 4-H Club

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KIRBY: For Riley, it's in the bag - Attleboro Sun Chronicle

KIRBY: For Riley, it's in the bag

BY MIKE KIRBY SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

Sunday, May 16, 2010 1:40 AM EDT

Ryan Riley

There's no doubt who is the area's best golfer: Ryan Riley of Norton Country Club.

Not only did Riley win the Attleboro Area Golf Association Open by a record 13 strokes last August, this past week he and partner Herb Aikens captured their second straight Massachusetts Golf Association Four-Ball crown. Riley is also the 2009 MGA Amateur Public Links champion.

So, what does Riley use to play so well? Here's a look in his bag:

DRIVER: TaylorMade Burner, 9.5 degrees with a graphite shaft.

3-WOOD: TaylorMade, 15 degree, S-Flex shaft.

HYBRIDS (two): 18-degree Cobra Baffler Pro, 22-degree Cleveland Halo Speeder.

IRONS (5 iron to pitching wedge): Cobra Forged CB.

WEDGES (three): 52- and 56-degree Cleveland DSG; 60-degree Titleist Vokey Design.

PUTTER: 34-inch Titleist Scotty Cameron Futura. "On a yearly basis, I usually try between 10 and 20 different putters, but I won both MGA events in 2009 with the Titleist Futura. I also try belly, cross-handed, normal and claw grips."

BALL: Titleist Pro V1x. "I always try to have a thick red line over the side of the ball to help with putting alignment."

BALL MARKER: A large marker with a green four-leaf clover. "My shamrock ball marker represents my Irish background ... It's large enough to see from most anywhere on the green."

Four-Ball followup

A quick look back at this week's MGA Four-Ball tournament, won by Riley and Aikens: Both thank Aiken's longtime friend from his home course of Pinehills Golf Course in Plymouth, Jim Borho. Known simply as "Jimbo," Borho played a key role in helping the two players maintain their composure.

"We have to give credit to Jim," said Aikens, who lives in Plympton. "He kept us calm all day long and really gave us great yardage."

Riley and Aikens have played together since 2006 when both players were partner-less and looking to play more amateur golf.

"I needed a partner and so did Herb because he was starting to play more," said Riley. "We just hit it off from the start and formed a relationship and a friendship."

They finished in fifth and third place in the 2007 and 2008 MGA Four-Ball, respectively, and hope to defend their title in 2011.

Finishing tied for second at six strokes back were the Congdon cousins, Chris and Scott, out of Foxborough Country Club, winners of a recent four-ball event, the Cronin Memorial Golf Tournament in Halifax.

Following a decent but disappointing even par 72 on Monday at Ipswich Country Club, the duo exploded on Tuesday by carding 10 birdies at the Golf Club at Turner Hill en route to a day-low score of 10-under par 62.

"We didn't have a great feeling (going into Tuesday)... at least I didn't," said Chris. "We played this course last week so we knew this place better than Ipswich. Scott played great the first nine and then I had a lot of birdies on the back nine."

"We help each other out a lot out there," said Chris, 39. "We play out of the same club so we play a lot together. We help each other out reading greens and with club selection."

"Every now and again it clicks," said Scott, who is coming off his senior season playing for Bryant University. "It was just nice to do it together."

No ticket to the Open

Local qualifying rounds for the U.S. Open were held at three courses in southern New England this week, but no local golfers were able to advance to the next stage. Coming closest were Plainville's Jim Renner and Seekonk's Jeffrey Dantas, who both carded a three-over par 73 at Metacomet Country Club in East Providence, R.I., to finish tied for sixth. Top three advance.

Tour coming to town

Tickets are now on sale for the Deutsche Bank Championship, the PGA Tour event now in its eighth season at the TPC Boston in Norton. The $7.5 million tournament, the second leg of the Tour's four-round playoffs for the FedEx Cup, will be held Friday-Monday, Sept. 3-6.

The schedule is similar to previous years. A Red Sox legends and celebrity pro-am will be held Tuesday, Aug. 31, the pros practice on Wednesday, Sept. 1, there's another celebrity pro-am on Thursday, Sept. 2 before play begins in the only Friday-Monday tournament on the Tour.

Pro-am and practice round tickets are $25; championship round tickets are $55. Multi-day packages are also available. Tickets may be purchased at www.dbchampionship.com or by calling 1-877-TIX-4DBC. Children ages 15 and under receive free tickets when accompanied by an adult ticket holder.

Test your skills

Applications are now available for Attleboro Area Golf Association tournaments. The first is the AAGA Senior Open, to be held Wednesday, June 9 at Chemawa Golf Course in North Attleboro. Registration is due by June 1, and forms are available at AAGA member courses: Chemawa, Foxborough, Heather Hill, Highland, Hillside, Locust Valley, MGA Links at Mamantapett, Norton, Stone-E-Lea and Wentworth Hills.

MIKE KIRBY writes a weekly golf column for The Sun Chronicle. Material from the MGA website, mgalinks,org, has been used in this report. Have a hole-in-one or other golf news you'd like to share? Contact him at 508-236-0344 or at mkirby@thesunchronicle.com.

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Fortune finally favors Lookin At Lucky - Los Angeles Times

BILL DWYRE

Fortune finally favors Lookin At Lucky

Jockey Martin Garcia rides out Lookin at Lucky after winning the 135th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday. (Jason Szenes / EPA / May 15, 2010)

• Bill Dwyre
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Photos: 135th Preakness Stakes

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  Kentucky Derby also-rans coming back for more in the Preakness

A victory in the Preakness is redemption for the horse -- and marks trainer Bob Baffert's return to a Triple Crown winner's circle.

By Bill Dwyre

May 15, 2010 | 9:05 p.m.

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From Baltimore

The 135th running of the Preakness on Saturday can be summed up in three sentences:

— The winner's name finally matched his result.

— Showtime returned to horse racing, and that had nothing to do with the Lakers and Magic Johnson.

— For the 32nd year in a row, the Triple Crown became a split series, not a special pursuit.

» Don't miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.

When Lookin At Lucky turned for home and held off all comers, under a perfect ride from 25-year-old newcomer Martin Garcia, the horse had finally overcome his run of black cats and short straws. It was almost as if some higher power had been insulted by his naming and was showing Lookin At Lucky that he wasn't going to be.

He had won six of nine starts, but in three previous ones that counted the most, he apparently walked under a ladder the day before. In the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last October, he got a terrible trip and finished second. In the important Kentucky Derby prep in April, the Santa Anita Derby, he and his jockey, Garrett Gomez, did more bumping than running near the rail with another horse while Sidney's Candy ran home first. And in the Kentucky Derby, he drew the No. 1 pole position and was hit by a landslide of horses from the outside on the break, heading down to the rail.

"It looked like a hockey game," said Bob Baffert, Lookin At Lucky's trainer. "He kept getting checked into the boards."

Finally, Saturday, the sun shined both on a Preakness Day crowd of 95,760 and the horse with the four-leaf-clover name. He drew the seventh post, Baffert changed jockeys from Gomez to Garcia, as much for a change in fortune than any indictment of Gomez, and his class showed.

"This was a different kind of win," Baffert said. "This was more of a redemption win."

It also was the return of the showman.

Baffert, the man with the unmistakable white hair and undeniable quick quips, hasn't been on the huge stage with the brightest lights for eight years. That's when he last won a Triple Crown race, the 2002 Kentucky Derby, with War Emblem. He started to feel it earlier this year with a victory by his Misremembered in the Santa Anita Handicap. But as big as that race is, there is nothing like the Triple Crown.

"I like being back here, talking to you guys," he said. "It's been a long time."

Racing needs the personality of a Baffert and the power of a Triple Crown campaign. It got half of that Saturday.

In another life, Baffert would do bit parts on "Seinfeld." Mostly, he loves winning. A close second is having a working microphone nearby. Cameras turn on and Baffert lights up. It's not phony. It's just him. When he wins one of these big ones, writers and broadcasters look heavenward in thanks and the producers in the network TV trucks sob tears of joy.

Baffert, the anti-Bob Knight, dominated the postrace as much as his horse did the race.

He said he made Garcia his student, teaching him race by race.

"I'm going to adopt him, have him move in with me," Baffert said. "He can watch Bode [Baffert's 3-year-old son]. We'll make a movie. Blind Side 2."

He said he had been telling one of the three owners of the horse, his drinking buddy, Mike Pegram, that Lookin At Lucky had been training especially well these two weeks since the Kentucky Derby.

"I told Mike to keep it quiet, real quiet," Baffert said, scanning the room for reaction. Real Quiet, of course, was his Pegram horse that missed a Triple Crown in 1998 by a nose hair.

Baffert joked that Garcia, who was working in a deli five years ago and had no idea what a Kentucky Derby or a Preakness was when he started riding, was clueless about what he had just done.

"I want to see you cry, or something," Baffert said.

The other two owners, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, praised their relationship with Baffert and said they have, with him, purchased many successful horses.

"And some gutter balls," Baffert mumbled.

Baffert's gleeful mood was both predictable and understandable. The recent Hall of Fame electee had gone 0-11 in Triple Crown victory attempts since War Emblem. In Preakness starts, he is five for 11, and his victory Saturday bodes well for whatever horse he brings next year, since the tendency is two-year victory spurts. He won in 1997 with Silver Charm and in '98 with Real Quiet, then again in 2001 with Point Given and in '02 with War Emblem.

The downside of the day for racing fans was that, again, there will be no Triple Crown winner. The only horse with a shot, Super Saver, turned out to be mortal, as many suspected, including the morning-line oddsmaker, who made him a lukewarm 5-2 first choice. He finished eighth, after jockey Calvin Borel asked him to fire on the turn, got him into second and then saw him fade badly on the stretch.

The last Triple Crown champion was Affirmed in 1978. Garcia wasn't even born.

Baffert was only 25 and just beginning to work on his one-liners.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com

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Liz Smith: The Fashion Power of 'Sex and the City' - Women on the Web

05/12/2010 12:00 am

Culture

Liz Smith: The Fashion Power of 'Sex and the City'

Also from Our Liz, washed ashore on the charitable 'Beach' with Liz Hurley … And Candy Spelling 'Promises, Promises' to become the next Broadway mogul.

SATC 2 Images courtesy of Warner Bros/Craig Blankenhorn

"You have the choice of spending 15 years married to a woman. A black woman or a white woman. Fifteen years just seeing, hugging and sleeping real close on hot nights. Fifteen years with a black woman or fifteen years with a white woman!

"The white woman is Kate Smith … and the black woman is Lena Horne.

"So, you are not concerned with black or white anymore, are you?"

This was the great Lenny Bruce scoring American’s prejudices back in the late ’50s.

***

Ran into my friend and colleague Roger Friedman who was at lunch in the Four Seasons Grill with the very rich Candy Spelling.

He told me Candy is a backer of the hit "Promises, Promises" and that she intends to become the next David Merrick in Broadway producing.

Well, I can hardly wait for the soon-to-be theater advertisements because David Merrick was a genius at those as well. As for Candy, any woman who has an entire room in her house dedicated to wrapping presents should make a hell of a legit producer. Welcome to New York City, Candy!

***

Every time we mention "Sex & the City" we get a lot of people carping about how much they hate the famous four, aren’t interested in them and to forget it. (I suppose that’s why the first feature film made only $400 million-plus worldwide. And why the TV series is still omnipresent on your cable screens.)

So now comes the No. 2 movie and I’m asking, fashion-wise, what will you be buying this time around from the influence of these famous four women – Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda? (If nothing else, they had excellent names!)

There were great expectations from the original movie but overt consumerism didn’t really work that well considering the global financial downturn. So audiences may have been a bit cool to the choices of the famous four.

Carrie and the TV series stylist Patricia Field did great work influencing fashion trends at the beginning of the series. Over six seasons, they slayed their fans with a mixture of kitsch, vintage dresses and big designer prices. Ray-Ban aviators sold well because of them, as well as vintage fur coats, prom dresses, corsages and everybody splurged on Manolo Blahniks. The "Carrie" necklace caused hundreds of girls to go to work with their names hung around their necks.

Reporter Emma Sibbles particularly asks us to remember Carrie’s pinstripe Vivienne Westwood suit and cameo brooch, the mottled purple coat, lace slip and pink Louboutins worn on her last date with Mr. Big. The tutu worn by Carrie in the opening credits became famous.

Now, many women are excited on the eve of "S&TC" No. 2, opening May 27. In spite of a current mood of "simplicity" – many are waiting for a dose of escapism and sheer fun. People want to imitate Carrie’s effortless look. (And I’d say at most dressy galas, Sarah Jessica is still the cynosure of all fashion eyes, along with that "outsider" – Chloe Sevigny from "Big Love.")

They say in movie No. 2, expensive designer labels will prevail. Halston Heritage appears a lot in the trailer and Sarah Jessica Parker is a creative consultant for this label and wore it recently to Anna Wintour’s "Costume" ball at the Metropolitan Museum.

Reporter Sibbles quotes the buying director at Averyl Oates in London as saying, "Halston Heritage is selling amazingly right now. Whether this is because of the ‘Carrie Effect’ – who knows? The company is also exclusively stocking Carrie’s feathered Raven Kauffman Ale bag. So get in line for that."

Some people also love Carrie’s four-leaf clover necklace, her printed harem jumpsuit and the lilac and gray skirt she wears when she bumps into old flame Aidan. There’ll be some fun stuff – Miranda in a green sequin dress that is "pure ABBA tribute" … Carrie’s tux-and-bowtie outfit … Samantha’s red ensemble with silver-spiked shoulders … and some ’80s "faux pas" that could have been omitted.

Wait till you catch the foursome striding across the desert sand dunes in headscarves and floaty maxi-dresses. Does "Sex & the City" still have the magic? We have to wait and see because probably after No. 2, these girls ain’t coming back down this row again, not together at any rate.

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Now that the euro is down and shopping in Barcelona is affordable again, La Roca Village would be the first stop!  Smart move for Liz Hurley to open there. 

By MichaelFox on 05/12/2010 12:40 am

I love SATC, have all the DVDs from the show and the first film, and plan on seeing the second film. I think the franchise should stop there, however. A new show with younger actresses (which was mentioned here a while back) will just ruin the memories. Part of a classic is knowing when it is over.

By kermieb on 05/12/2010 12:57 am

I love SATC, also.  Just plain silly fun.  I like a little escapism. 

By SheraSutherland on 05/12/2010 8:04 am

Lena Horne is black? You would never know by looking at her photo. Lenny never did have good eyesight.

By JeffMichaels on 05/12/2010 8:52 am

If I could still wear high high heels I would buy a pair of shoes like one of Carrie’s many pairs.  When SATC was on every Sunday night on HBO, it made my Monday mornings at work delightful. I was in such a good mood from watching the show.  I don’t know many series I can say that about!!

By YvonneFaye on 05/12/2010 9:37 am

Liz,thanks for the Lenny quote…love it! Lena really was a special and beautiful woman.  Younger ladies on this site would be well advised to research her online and maybe invest in renting one of the movies she was featured in. But until you do, here’s a clip pulled from YouTube.

Great point Liz about the success of Sex and the City despite the claims by those on this site that they have no interest in it. It did indeed make millions and continues to. My fashion sense is closest to Samantha’s character, but I must admit I did invest in a 14K gold signature necklace (Belinda) like Carrie’s. A big part of watching the show and the movies is the chance to see some truly spectacular clothes. I’m not a shoe woman, but they always feature some of the most beautiful heels I have ever seen.

By BelindaJoy on 05/12/2010 9:41 am

Poor Kate Smith––Lenny Bruce made many pivotal points, but this one veered off in the wrong direction. One doesn’t have to degrade something to boost something else. 

 Watching Sex and the City is like having a rich dessert that satisfies, but you feel a little guilty indulging. And unless you are still into clothes, furs, and shoes, there is  a bit of a disconnect. But I liked the female  camaraderie, something I had in my youth––that almost visceral connection with other females. And I thought Mr. Big was just that–-a big mister.

By phyllisDoylePepe on 05/12/2010 10:06 am

I’d like to think that Lenny Bruce was also commenting on prejudice against fat people in his riff on Kate Smith and Lena Horne…but even if that’s the case (and I think he was only thinking of the black/white contrast and was perfectly happy mocking Smith’s weight), it comes across as an unfortunate slam against the great Kate.  Yes, she was ultra-conservative in her politics, but that’s no excuse to perpetuate the jokes abourt her weight.

By davidgarnes on 05/12/2010 12:50 pm

Interesting perspective from my fellow bloggers on the Lenny Bruce quote, I didn’t interpret it in that manner at all. I thought he was simply making a case that race doesn’t matter when it comes to choosing the woman you love or spend your life with in the final analysis. A HUGELY controversial observation to make aloud during the 50’s and 60’s.

Kate Smith may have been overweight, but she wasn’t unattractive. It would be different if he referenced an unattractive White woman in contrast to Lena Horne.Then, I would make the assumption he was comparing levels of beauty.

But there you go….we all interpret things differently.

By BelindaJoy on 05/12/2010 4:19 pm

I don’t think he was simply making the case that race doesn’t matter when obviously race mattered a lot. He was, as he did with most hypocrisies and stupidities, ramming the truth to all the folks who had those sticky eggs on their faces. But in this instance he was comparing a woman like Kate Smith, perhaps not unattractive, but not one who congers up sexual fantasies. And that was his point—Lena did and oh, my god, she is black. He could have more successfully pointed out that black women had great appeal to all those slave owners who produced another whole generation in abundance. He could have pointed out that it was the white man that corrupted–-I use this word because that was one of the arguments at the time–– the black genes, not the other way round. 

By phyllisDoylePepe on 05/12/2010 6:28 pm

Aaaaa!  Slew!  Slay - slew - slain!  Sorry… the teeth were on edge for a moment.

That said, I have yet to see any of Sex and the City.  My fashion sense tends more to jeans anyway… and I can barely find any good-looking adult shoes that fit, so… much as I would love to have a closet full, I never will.

By LilaKuh on 05/12/2010 4:22 pm

Thanks Liz, for the "carping" comment and for pointing out yet again, that SATC is escapism and entertainment!  I love the show and the movie and will see SATC 2.  I do not take it seriously and do not want to live as they do.  I enjoy the give and take of the women and the fashion.  If it makes me shallow then I have lots of friends in that puddle with me!

 

By DeirdreCerasa on 05/12/2010 4:49 pm

Sex and the City started when I was too young, but I had friends who watched it. So about a year before the movie came out, I began to watch the show on DVD with my mom. It took us forever, and also it took us beyond the release date of the first film. Watching the show continuously never made me want to go out and buy new clothes, most of the fashions were clearly expensive, and I didn’t think it was worth the money. I mean maybe it’s great for the companies, but aren’t they also making money off of having their clothes in the film? 

I really enjoyed the series, and I thought the film was alright, I’m looking forward to the second installment, but I hope that’s all.

By ailves on 05/12/2010 6:04 pm

I do not like these women and what they represent.  If you want to watch something good, watch "The Good Wife.", powerful women and "Breaking Bad".  Both fabulous.  Stop watching these crazy women and who cares what they are wearing.

By LindyF on 05/13/2010 12:01 pm

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