The five-day horse racing event in Berkshire, England will reach its end tomorrow in a finale that will likely double as a mass display of the most extravagant head toppers known to man. So far, Royal Ascot 2013 has surely satisfied every hat lover's (and milliner's) wildest, craziest dreams. Members of the royal family showed up in endearing outfits reminiscent of Easter eggs while certain commoners made sure to steal the spotlight. The previously unnamed lady at Cannes (now known as Larisa Katz) who wore a gown made out of biscuit trays upped her game, wearing a translucent hat made of what looks like gold tin can lids. Others outdid Katz, including a woman named Tracy Rose, who donned a structure that she needed to stabilize with two hands. Click through the slides to see the most extravagant (fanciest and campiest) hats so far. And a belated hats off to Queen Elizabeth II and her horse for winning the Gold Cup. We're sure it'll look good in Buckingham Palace.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Mt.Gox Bitcoin exchange freezes US dollar withdrawals for two weeks
It's easy to see that the Bitcoin market is under stress when there's rising overall activity and tighter oversight. However, it's now so hectic that the Mt. Gox exchange has trouble fulfilling even basic transactions -- and the institution is freezing US dollar withdrawals for two weeks to keep things in check. Mt. Gox's team will use the downtime to upgrade its trading system and (hopefully) address the heavy workload. Deposits and transfers in American currency should still be good to go. Let's just hope that Mt. Gox manages smoother transitions in the future -- after all, not everyone can afford to leave their money in limbo during a tech refresh.
when.eng("eng.perm.init")Here’s Kimye’s Actual Baby Name (No, It’s Not Kaidence)
North West. That is the baby daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, according to TMZ. The parents haven't confirmed it, but digging up a birth certificate is probably something a TMZ intern masters before they even figure out the coffee machine. A close analysis reveals that this name is definitively not Kaidence Donda West. Look a little closer yet and you'll also notice it's not a name beginning with the letter K. And that it's a direction. And that if her name is ever succeeded by the words early or earn, it may be confusing.
The Bear That’s Slept With Every ‘It’ Girl
Like a selfie taken in front of Indochine’s leafy wallpaper or a geotag at the Maidstone country club in East Hampton, the latest subtle status symbol to sweep the Instaverse is, oddly enough for adults, a dignified teddy bear clad in a bellhop getup. His name is Bo. And he sits expectantly on the red-and-white duvet cover of all rooms at New York’s Bowery Hotel where, in recent months, he has been ‘grammed by "It" folk the world over — Poppy Delevingne, Courtney Love, Karen Elson, Amanda Brooks, and their ilk.
Mostly it's women doing this, effectively alerting various in-the-know friends that they're in town without being so obvious as, say, photographing the Chrysler Building. And given that Bo's home is a bed, this inevitably gives off a flirty, coy, "It's just me and this soft toy here alone in this big downtown hotel room" kind of vibe. "Guess who I'm sleeping with tonight," Amanda de Cadenet captioned her photo back in April.
Bo first took up residence two years ago. And according to Bowery Hotel proprietor Sean MacPherson, it was seventies designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac’s famous teddy bear coat that inspired him. The name Bo is short for "Bowery," obviously, and MacPherson says he chose it because “it’s an equal opportunity name; regardless of your sexual orientation, you can feel comfortable sleeping with Bo. As Iman once said, ‘I’m not a man, I’m not a woman, I’m just Iman.’ Bo is Bo.” For those who want to take Bo home with them, there are hermetically sealed “virgin bears” for sale in each room’s minibar. MacPherson says that while Bos don’t get thrown in the washing machine, they are regularly switched out when they've gotten a little worse for the wear. But, he adds, “I think it’s fine if Bo’s gotten around a bit.” Click ahead to see the ladies (and a few guys) he's been with recently.
Taylor Swift’s Fan Army Defeats Abercrombie Slut-Shamers
Abercrombie & Fitch has pulled a T-shirt that makes fun of Taylor Swift — "# more boyfriends than t.s." — from its shelves this week amid massive fan outcry. Company headquarters had to change its voicemail to deal with the flood of Swift fans, noting that the shirt is no longer available. (Oddly enough, Swift posed for the store's quarterly magazine about a million years ago, crying and holding a guitar.) The store should have recalled the shirt anyway, for making no sense. Hashtags do not support spaces and punctuation, and for a 23-year-old woman, Swift has not had a lot of boyfriends. The tabloid and lyrical narrative is that she's a serial, though not prolific, monogamist with a handful of ex-boyfriends. Having more boyfriends than Taylor Swift is nothing to write home about. Unless she's having more fun than we know (and this Vine of her watching Titanic with her cat is a ruse), but I'm not going to take it from the guys who don't know how hashtags work. And, we should all be careful. It's scary to think what her army could accomplish if mobilized for evil.