Saturday, October 31, 2009

Swimming with the sharks - Democrats once again sell out on malpractice reform

IF anyone doubted the how much the trial lawyers own the Democratic party, please check out this little present to the ambulance chasers tucked away in the 1900+ page healthcare reform bill

In Section 2531, entitled “Medical Liability Alternatives,” establishes an incentive program for states to adopt and implement alternatives to medical liability litigation. [But]…… a state is not eligible for the incentive payments if that state puts a law on the books that limits attorneys’ fees or imposes caps on damages.

So basically it says states are free to experiment with alternative settlement systems, but keep your hands off the big contingency fees of our donor base or we'll withhold federal money. Ironically, this bill would also incentivize states to encourage more frivolous suits by removing existing caps on non-economic damages.


This is absolutely disgusting!

Rob
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WHAT IS THE IDEAL BREAST SIZE ?

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder . The parameters of beauty also differ from one culture to another and also change with time and fashion. Ancient Indian sculptures and art depict women with full hemispherical breasts. Such breasts are still in vogue in India especially with women who prefer traditional saris other ethnic dresses. West in contrast has seen a lot of change in fashion –as related to breast size.

Breasts should be proportionate to woman’s body frame and built. The concept of 36-24-36 inches , though quite exaggerated, basically refers to breast size being equal to hips, with a significant narrower waist in between.

Breast size is commonly referred to in terms of cup size, B C and D cup sizes being most common. C cup is moderate and pleasant size for woman average built. B cup may look adequate on petite athletic women. A lot of western models are cup size B. D cup size breasts are full and look good on women of larger frame. A lot of Indian women seeking breast augmentation like D cup size, especially married women who have had children.

Younger, unmarried women tend to prefer smaller breasts.Woman’s body built is important because if the arms or tummy is bulky then breasts will have to be bigger to give the right profile. In thinner women relatively smaller size breasts will give the same look.

Ideal breast size is also determined by the lifestyle. Active sporty women like moderate sized breasts. Women who wear heavier clothing like saree want larger breasts . In contrast women who wear western clothes may prefer moderate size breasts. Women in entertainment industry prefer larger breast size.

Lot of women with breasts smaller or larger than average ,are perfectly satisfied with their size. Some women on the other hand are uncomfortable or embarrassed about their breast size. Sometimes their partners are dissatisfied. In such circumstances plastic surgical augmentation or reduction of breast can help women achieve what they desire.
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Friday, October 30, 2009

Courtney and the Cat Lady


I was once again over at PerezHilton.com.....I swear I do get work done around here....but don't tell Dr. Walden! ;) Anyway, it is never a surprise to see Jocelyn Wildenstein in the press in regards to her interesting choices in plastic surgery. For those of you who are not familiar with Ms. Wildenstein, she is a New York celebrity that is famous for attempting to change her facial features to look more "cat like". It is really amazing when you look at pictures how much she does actually look like a cat! Although I must say.....I saw some pictures of her recently and it appeared that she went under the knife to revise some of her earlier surgeries....but I digress. So, apparently rock star, Courtney Love, recently met Ms. Wildenstein and was shocked by the appearance of her face. She was so taken back that she made a statement that she is off of plastic surgery for good. Courtney is no stranger to plastic surgery and is rumored to have undergone rhinoplasty, face lift, breast augmentation/lift, liposuction, and fillers to her face and lips. The rocker was quoted saying, "I could do with another boob lift, but no way," Court explains. "I don't want to end up looking like her. She looked freaky."

I personally don't think that was the most tactful way to express her feeling on the issue, but I think the sentiment raises a great question.....when is it too much, or is it even possible to do to much? Obviously, plastic surgery is a very personal decision and if you are happy with the end result that is the most important. In the same breath I feel like it is EXTREMELY important to find a board certified plastic surgeon that has good eyes and good hands for that matter. Ask if they have before and after photos of their previous patients, so you have an idea of their work. Make sure you decide on a doctor you trust and that listens.....because in the end you have to spend everyday in your body and you want to love it! That is the whole point after all. :) It is also important to listen to what your surgeon suggests.....this is what they do 24/7 and their medical opinion is essential to getting a great outcome. So, let's keep plastic surgery in the context of enhancing what we have, not making us into something different!

Happy Friday!!!
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Thursday, October 29, 2009




Packing for Ottawa now, spending the weekend of Halloween there. I also have lots of projects to do, so I can't write here much. All I can say is that this hat has been living on my head for the past week. Moreover, this is the most simplistic outfit I've worn all week. The jeans are also a bit unflattering and make me look like I put on twenty pounds so I wore a coat over it when I had the chance. Oh, and I got tights with bones on them (!!!) which I have a feeling will also make way onto my legs and not remove themselves for a long period of time.

Shirt, H&M. Jean shorts, thrifted. Tights, random outlet. Shoes, thrifted. Sunglasses, Kensington market. Hat, H&M.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Welcome to the return of the weregild - your life on the healthcare balance sheet


You may not remember it much, but most of those of us who were forced to endure studying the epic poem, Beowulf were introduced to the concept of the weregild. In the 2007 CGI adaptation of Beowulf, apparently the side plot discussing the weregild was cut to make more time for Angelina Jolie's CGI-enhanced, naked, high heel wearing turn as Grendel's mom. Probably a smart decision by the producers in terms of the box office :)





The weregild was literally a "man price" you paid as compensation for killing someone, and there was a price on everyone from the dregs of society all the way for one prescribed for regicide (killing the king). It's a fascinating social compact that was used to try and temper blood feuds with their cycles of repeat violence and revenge. The Roman Catholic church eventually enacted their own version of "tort reform" on the weregild, condemning it and forcing elimination of the practice near the end of the 1st millennium AD.

From Wikipedia's entry,






The standard weregeld for a freeman appears to have been 200 solidi (shillings) in the Migration period, an amount reflected as the basic amount due for the death of a ceorl both in Anglo-Saxon and continental law codes. This fee could however be multiplied according to the social rank of the victim and the circumstances of the crime. For example, the 8th century Lex Alamannorum sets the weregeld for a duke or archbishop at three times the basic value (600 shillings), while the killing of a low ranking cleric was fined with 300, raised to 400 if the cleric was attacked while he was reading mass.

The size of the weregild was largely conditional upon the social rank of the victim. A regular enslaved man (ceorl) was worth 200 shillings in 9th century Mercian law (twyhyndeman), a nobleman was worth 1200 (twelfhyndeman). The law code even mentions the weregeld for a king, at 30000, composed of 15000 for the man, paid to the royal family, and 15000 for the kingship, paid to the people. An archbishop is likewise valued at 15000. The weregild for a Welshman was 110 if he owned at least one hide of land, and 80 if he was landless.





NOTE: For those interested, there's a fascinating catalog of such fines from the Salian Franks (a German dynasty)here, which covers the price of various offences, ranging from stealing your cow to gang raping your wife


Ok Rob, why are you talking about weregilds on Plastic Surgery 101 anyway?

There were several articles about healthcare I read this week that all kind of intersect at the fringe of the debate on healthcare and got me thinking about the equivalent of the modern weregild.

"A Place Where Cancer is the Norm", which describes Houston's MD Anderson cancer center.

"Cancer Society, in Shift, Has Concerns on Screenings" which describes a pullback from the American Cancer Society on just how effective mammograms and prostate cancer screening (via PSA tests) on affecting death from cancer.











"Can 'bundled' payments help slash health costs?" in USA Today

Sunday Night's 60 Minute's piece (click here to view)on more then $60 billion annual loss to Medicare fraud and how the Feds have been inept at policing it.

An article in Oregon's Statesman Journal, "Government Audits Are Hurting Small Business Owners" describing the federal government's Recovery Audit Contractor(RAC) program for Medicare fraud.

The articles on cancer screening and exotic treatments at MD Anderson hospital to me point towards a more strict cost-benefit analysis coming on cancer treatments. The tertiary chemotherapy drugs and adjuvant radiation treatments described are budget busters with very marginal utility in terms of outcomes. The care described in the article, where chemotherapy treatments were literally thrown against the wall to see what sticks, is not a sustainable model. We're going to asking more and more, "How much are 'x' additional months of this cancer patient's life worth?" in order to balance our health care budget. It is unavoidable that we don't end up with some federal utilization committee who's job it will be to tell us what we cannot do in terms of palliative care for cancer or other chronic diseases. Other countries already do this without much controversy, but President Obama won't touch this with a 10 foot pole.

The USA Today article on bundling payments seems unworkable in situations where physicians are not employees of the hospital or system involved. I would not trust a hospital corporation to distribute that money equitably to independent providers once they have it in their coffer. Would I have access to audit a hospital's books to make sure their accounting is accurate? What's the resolution process for disagreements on the balance sheet? Much like insurers, the temptation for them to slow-pedal payments to collect the interest would be impossible for them to resist. Except in certain "closed system" situations (where all MD's are employees)like the Mayo Clinic, the Cleavland Clinic, or the Kaiser network in California, this bundling would be a unacceptable working situation to most physicians.

The 60 Minutes piece on Medicare shows why no one who is familiar with healthcare believes that the federal government can run a single-payer system. They are unable to investigate or follow up on even the most blatant examples of fraud costing hundreds of billions over dollars a decade.


So what do they do instead? They reauthorize the "RAC" program to aim at providers and hospitals for fraud that may be pennies on the dollar compared to the fraud described in the 60 minutes piece. The feds have outsourced the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC)program to incentivized companies to autopsy medicare billing going back over 3 years by hospitals and providers where any inaccurate billing (using our byzantine CPT system) is assumed fraudulent and due back with interest and penalties. Analysts expect that inaccurate coding underbills at least as often as it overbills, but do you know what these auditors have produced. What do you get however when you incentivize these companies to claim 8-12% of any recovery (but don't reward refunds)? You get 96%+ of these RAC audits finding overbilling only.

Rob
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Beauty in Age


Last night I was watching the latest episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm , and if you've been keeping up with the show, you'd know that Larry David(co-creator and producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld) is creating a reunion show with the cast of Seinfeld. Being a huge fan, I couldn't help but notice how Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine Benes) looks so amazing. At the age of 48 and after giving birth to two children, her body still looks fit and her face still looks as beautiful and youthful as ever.Although Dreyfus denies going under the knife, it appears that she may be getting botox injections due to the smoothness of her skin as it appears that she looks younger than when we saw her on Seinfeld. Some rumors say that Julia may have gotten a rhinoplasty and minor facelift, but none are noticeable. Regardless of what she may or may not be doing to keep up her gorgeous appearance, Julia looks fantastic and doesn't rule out the idea of plastic surgery in the future, Julia told one source, " Of course if things start to fall, I may have to do something to pull it all up," says Julia with a laugh. "But seriously, the whole idea scares me. My mom never had it done and she looks fantastic. Hopefully I'll follow in her footsteps. I don't judge anyone who's had plastic surgery, but I don't see it in my future." (Source:find)Julia credits her fabulous body and beautiful appearance to her good genes,steady workout and diet-Keep it up!
(FYI Picture of the April09 Issue of Shape!)
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Monday, October 26, 2009

Does beautiful outside make beautiful inside?


There is no doubt what a good plastic surgeon can do. Plastic surgery can truly be a life changing experience for those who have struggled with certain features that were not quite what they would have liked if they could have picked what they wanted. Thanks to the amazing talents of plastic surgeons today almost anything can be made better and help you feel better about your self. This kind of confidence can go a long way. In the case of Heidi Montag one has to ask if outer beauty really translates into inner beauty? In my humble opinion I would have to say no. You are either a beautiful person inside to begin with and tweaking some of what god gave you will only enhance that beauty. Plastic surgery can do a lot of great things but alas it cannot change the person you really are inside. It can give you confidence that will reflect in the way you smile or carry yourself but it will not make you a kinder more compassionate person. These are innate qualities that one is born with so you either have it or you don't. For now we will just have to accept the limitations of what we can achieve through surgery and hope that along with these beautiful changes each person will try to be a better person with the new gifts they have been given.
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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Plastic Surgery Textbook Goes Online!



With over 10 million people in the United States having had cosmetic procedures in 2008 (an 11.8 billion dollar industry), cosmetic surgery is a booming business in a struggling economy (Statistics source: ASAPS). What better time is there to learn about a fascinating field that often captures the attention of mainstream America and the media alike? Click on the above video to see the news story on the Plastic Surgery Channel.

Introducing Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, edited by Dr. Sherrell J. Aston, Dr. Douglas S. Steinbrech, and Dr. Jennifer Walden, the world’s first single volume comprehensive textbook on contemporary aesthetic plastic surgery. Published and released recently by the esteemed scientific publishing house Elsevier, this textbook brings to the table the masterful expertise needed to achieve breathtaking outcomes for every cosmetic surgery procedure, including the MACS lift, endoscopic mid- and lower face rejuvenation, lid/cheek blending along the tear trough, cohesive gel breast augmentation, lipoabdominoplasty, injectables such as Botox, Radiesse, Restylane, Sculptra, nonsurgical ultrasonic fat reduction, suture suspension threadlifts, and many more.
A “who’s who” of international authorities in plastic surgery explain their signature techniques, giving all the know-how today’s highly trained and skilled plastic surgeon needs to deliver the exceptional results that patients demand. Operative videos on DVD demonstrate these techniques being performed in real time and Expert Consult online access enables one to reference the text, download images, and watch the videos from any computer.
Key Features
• Coverage of hot topics includes MACS lift, endoscopic mid and lower face rejuvenation, lid/cheek blending along the tear trough, the newest rhinoplasty techniques, cohesive gel breast augmentation, fat grafting techniques, details of the latest injectables and fillers, and many other highly sought-after procedures.
• Operative videos - on DVD and online - let you see how leading experts perform more than 50 important techniques, including extended SMAS face lift, traditional inverted-T breast augmentation, and lipoabdominoplasty.
• Nearly 1600 full-color photographs and illustrations demonstrate what to look for and what results you will achieve.
• A consistent, extremely user-friendly organization guides you through history, evaluation, anatomy, technical steps, post-operative care, complications, and pearls and pitfalls for each procedure - giving you all the advice you need to make informed, effective decisions and avoid complications and disappointing results.
• Expert Consult online access allows you to reference the complete contents, perform rapid searches, download the images, and watch the operative videos from any computer.
This important textbook will be referenced for years to come, and updated as new technical information becomes available. Dr. Sherrell Aston, Dr. Doug Steinbrech, and Dr. Jennifer Walden are plastic surgeons in New York, New York specializing in cosmetic plastic surgery. For more information, visit us online at Amazon.com
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Friday, October 23, 2009

Naomi Still "Flaunting" Fresh Face


I was over at Perezhilton.com checking out what the celebs have been up to this week when I came across this blog entry about Naomi Campbell. The supermodel can be seen on the cover of the newest issue of Flaunt magazine. There is no doubting that Naomi is one of those people who is extremely beautifully blessed. As I was looking at the cover photo I couldn't stop thinking....THIS WOMAN IS WELL INTO HER 40'S.....not that 40 is old, but she always looks exactly like she did in the 80's and 90's. Ms. Campbell is no stranger to plastic surgery, with rumors of liposuction, breast augmentation, and possible rhinoplasty. She has also been very vocal about how important her skin care regimen is to keeping her skin looking youthful and healthy. I have read articles in the past where she was quoted to have spent thousands of dollars on jars of face cream. I mean it is like this woman has found the fountain of youth!! I am sure it did not come cheap either......just sayin'!! It appears she also uses injectables to keep her face looking smooth and wrinkle free. Just another example that when you have a talented and trained physician, injectables can be a woman's (or man's for that matter) best beauty tool!!!

It is amazing that in an industry where 30 is considered ancient, that this beauty is still going strong! I LOVE THAT!!! Whatever she has or hasn't had done seems a moot point.....I think she is simply gorgeous at any age. I can't wait to see her on the glossy pages of magazines and runways for years to come!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!
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Thursday, October 22, 2009







Hi guys! I wore this today to shop and go to my Times Based Media class, which focuses on artworks in relation to time - basically video art, installations, internet art, etc. I had to present this in class today for a critique. You can interpret it yourself.



Also, we watched Stan Brakhage videos several weeks prior which led me to a collection of his stuff. He's definitely a new favourite. This is his film Rage Net, which was the video of the bunch that we viewed that left the biggest impression on me. Basically the colours come from filling in scratched emulsion of the film. (The quality of this film is SHIT by the way. Go rent the Criterion Collection DVD with most of his pivotal works on it if you want to see it much clearer)



Off to eat cake and watch Dazed and Confused now. Bye!

Leather jacket, Forever 21. Shirt, H&M. Sequin dress as a skirt, H&M. Floral tights, H&M.
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

CAN PLASTIC SURGERY CHANGE ONE’S IDENTITY

You see it all the time in soaps and cinema. There you see someone who is changed completely, so much so that they live with their friends without being identified. You also hear of international criminals taking another identity reportedly with the help of plastic surgery in some unknown faraway countries. And do you believe this is possible?



Let us examine the facts one by one. Face is the most identifiable part of a person. What can plastic surgery do for the face? Plastic surgery is commonly performed to improve one’s features. Take the case of nose. Plastic surgery can turn a flat nose into a prominent one, a thick nose into a slender and shapely one, a very big nose into smaller one. This is done through concealed scars and no one can make it out. Some people have excessively large or small chin. With plastic surgery bone can be shaped and new bone or an implant can be added to give a pleasing look. People who have flat cheeks can get cheek implants done for better definition of face. Sunken cheeks can be made chubby by injecting fat into them which is sucked out from another part of [persons body with a syringe. If the cheeks are too chubby they can be reduced in size by removing a little fat through a cut inside the mouth. If the lips are too thick they can be reduced in size by cutting out a thin strip and if the lips are too thin they can be made thicker with certain filler injections or by filling them with one’s own tissue by surgery. In older individuals facelift surgery can remove loose skin and make one look 10 years younger. In middle aged people filler and fat injections can smoothen the face and botox injections can remove the wrinkles, making one look younger. The acne or pock marks on the face can be smoothened by dermabrasion surgery. Scars on the face can be removed or improved by plastic surgery. If the ears are shapeless or too big they can be fixed. Double chin can be corrected by sucking out fat. Bald head can grow hair with plastic surgery .



The shape of body can be changed markedly with plastic surgery. Liposuction surgery can remove fat from any part of body and can give an enviable figure. Shape and size of breasts can be changed by plastic surgery. A woman can have a Pamela Anderson look with breast implants . Silicone implants can be placed in buttocks to give them J Lo curves. Implants can be inserted in male chest and calves to give the appearance of bulging muscles. If there is a tattoo or scar anywhere, it can be removed.



People opting for sex change often go for plastic surgery to change from a feminine to musculine look or vice versa. Since they also change their clothing, hair and makeup they can be virtually unidentifiable.



Coming back to the million dollar question, can plastic surgery change one’s identity to the extent that even family and friends do not know? Plastic surgery is commonly done to improve the looks , correct deformities and reverse the signs of aging. After such a surgery person gets compliments that he looks better, or younger and most of the times people do not guess that this is because of plastic surgery. But what if person is already young and he or she has no significant deformity or imbalanced features which require plastic surgery. Theoretically it can still be done by abovementioned procedures but result is usually ugly. For example a beautiful nose can be made crooked .

Even if some of those changes are made person can still be identified by his friends and family due to his body language, voice, expressions , height etc. In other words it is possible in movies but not in real life. Also in real life no plastic surgeon will be willing to do such a job . It is completely unrealistic , unsustainable and sometimes downrightly illegal .It’s a great savior for some of the screen scripts though.
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Taking a Look at European Goodwill


As awfulplasticsurgery said, "Europe has their own Phoebe Price," and her name is Hofit Golan.  Apparently Golan is a socialite in Europe and commonly found on the red carpet.  She appears to have had breast implants placed in a subglandular location (over the muscle) and it seem that they overly sized for her chest wall. Sometimes implants get this look if they get fibrous capsular contracture, which is scar tissue that can form around breast implants as a bodily response. In significant cases, it can become distorting and cause the implants to look too high or too wide apart, as may be the case for Hofit.

Interesting how she wears very low-cut dresses to take the attention there! We only wish it looked more natural, but to each twins their own!
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Monday, October 19, 2009

A friend in need?

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Friday, October 16, 2009

They Whipped it Real Good!!



No, I am not talking about Devo's 80's smash hit.....I am talking about Drew Barrymore's directorial debut movie Whip It!. If you haven't seen it yet go out this weekend and check it out. I went to see the movie last weekend and I just loved it. Sometimes it is just nice to go to the movies and shut off your brain.....a little fluff always does me a world of good! Anyway, besides the obvious comedy the film brings, I was so impressed how great this cast of women looked. I mean the majority of them are in their mid thirties to early forties.....which as we all know in Hollywood it might as well be 150! I completely enjoyed everyone's performance, but one really stood out from the rest. Juliette Lewis was fantastic! She plays a character by the name of "Iron Maven" and she is for lack of a better word the villan of the roller derby league. In the film she is also a little "past her prime" at the ripe old age of 36....again rolling my 33 year old eyes at Hollywood! ;) Besides her performance I noticed how great she looks for her age. She has definitely aged gracefully....aka....adding just enough help here and there to stay fresh faced. It appeared that she does use injectibles such as botox and maybe some dermal fillers as well. She sports some really crazy make up, but it seemed her "pout" was extra plump. In addition to her face her body looked AMAZING!! To be truthful....all the cast was in amazing shape!



All in all this is a heart warming tale about following your dreams however crazy they may be. A good life lesson for us all. Lesson or not I think I just enjoyed watching these 30 something hotties sweat and kick butt on their roller skates. So, if you don't have any plans for this weekend....it is cold and wet here in NYC.....run...or skate....to the nearest theater!

Happy Friday!!
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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Bunny Line Alert

The folks over at The New York Post have put their Botox Police on high alert and an article in yesterday's paper displays their latest celebrity "busts", outed by their 'bunny lines', aka 'Botox lines'. These lines, that are clearly marked in the above picture of Nicole Kidman taken from the article, got their names from how they look (similar to a bunny scrunching its nose) and common cause (Botox injections of surrounding muscles). When Botox is injected around the eyebrows (the Glabella complex in medical speak) and forehead it limits (and in all too many celebrities these days, completely haults) the movement of these muscles causing the neighboring muscles to overcompensate. The result are fine lines and wrinkles that develop around the nose causing those "in the know" to suspect Botox use. Luckily Botox is also the treatment to get rid of these lines. So the take home message here folks is to remember your 'Botox lines' at your next injection session. Is there anything Botox can't fix these days...
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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Miss Plastic Surgery: A Pageant for Surgically Enhanced Beauties



While watching the E! Channel the other day, I came across one news story that announced The winner for the first Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 pageant. According to the Huffington Post, " It was a night for unnatural beauties. Contestants showed off breast implants, nose jobs and face lifts as Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 strove to promote the benefits of plastic surgery in a country where artificial enhancements are viewed mostly with a wary eye." Despite Hungary's own economic crisis, the number of plastic surgeries has escalated in the past few years. Of course, in order to qualify for the pageant contestants needed to prove that they had plastic surgery, botox and injectables simply weren't what the judges were looking for. Unfortunately, one contestant was forced to leave the competition due to a torn ligament in her foot which happened while the judges were doing the breast examination stage of the competition! Alexandra Horvath tripped after this stage in the competition, one friend reported that, " She had not gotten used to the extra weight on top and her new hair extensions got in her eyes - she just lost her balance and tore a ligament in her foot badly.'' (Source:news) The Huffington Post also announced the winners in their story reporting, "Pageant queen Reka Urban, a 22-year-old hostess, won an apartment in Budapest, first runner-up Edina Kulcsar was given a new car and second runner-up Alexandra Horvath took home diamond jewelry worth 2 million forints ($10,800). The winners' plastic surgeons also received awards."

I find it interesting that even the winners' plastic surgeons received awards and it must have been even more rewarding knowing that others truly appreciated their work. This pageant was clearly aimed at trying to boost the acceptance of plastic surgery, however this idea isn't new. Back in 2004, China had its own artificial beauty pageant. BBC news reported that, "The idea for the contest took shape after a contestant was disqualified from a Chinese beauty pageant earlier this year because she had had plastic surgery."
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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Time to Embrace the Once-Piece

When I came across this picture of Kelly Bensimon of 'Real Housewives of New York' my first thought was that she should call Tara Reid to get some advice on how to deal with having bad tummy liposuction results. Who can forget poor Tara having a breast augmentation and liposuction by a surgeon who was not a board certified plastic surgeon only to end up with a deformed figure, and endless public attention surrounding her body nightmare. I remember seeing Tara in a bikini around that time and thinking, "someone get this girls a once-piece!". That is how I'm feeling right now looking at this picture of Kelly in a string bikini. Her stomach has the obvious contour deformity (large dimples) that is indicative of poor liposuction work. What a shame! I know Kelly works out a lot and she by no means has a weight problem. Maybe she didn't even need the liposuction in the first place. She might want to consider having a second procedure to even out some of the dimpling and in the meantime there are some really cute one-piece suits out there these days...
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Thursday, October 8, 2009








These shoes! I've admired the YSL Spring 09 cage boots ever since they hit the runway, and when I saw these subtle border-line replication I almost bought them without trying them on. They're oddly comfortable too for being in the 20 dollar price range, too. Proud with my purchase.

Ever since I subscribed to The Sartorialist's blog, I've felt very simplistic, which completely contrasts what my mind is usually aesthetically focused upon. Any way I caught up on some of the runway shows last night after a day of classes and I have a feeling near future outfits will not be simple. At all. I think Viktor and Rolf, CdG, and of course Mr. McQueen (God's maiden name) contributed to this largely. Here's a video I found on Vimeo of the show. Some would say crappy quality, but personally I find audience member perspectives via video to be just as great as the professional eight-point-of-view videos. Makes you feel like you're witnessing it in the flesh.


I love that the title had reference to Plato's account of Atlantis; it just proves to show that the inspiration of collections can inevitably link back to aspects of conceptual art. The opening sequence made it feel more like an installation in an art gallery than the beginning of a fashion show. It foreshadowed the entire collection, which, in a personal interpretation, is seen as a delusional futuristic account of the mystery and consistent denouncement of the existence of Atlantis. The woman slowly morphing into a disturbing tentacled sea creature implied a semi-eccentric sexual violence was to be integrated into the clothes as well, which can not be denied once the models begin slowly trotting and we get a full view of the clothes. Yes, I said slowly trot. I think everyone who has seen the collection here knows why I'm referring to it as that as opposed to walking. Not only because the shoes were huge and armadillo-like and probably impossible to walk in, but because they were BEYOND EPIC. Srsly, the next time I wear shoes as epic as the ones in this show I'm going to slowly trot just because I'd believe it's the only way to walk in them. Beyond amazing I tell you. Overall, the show was disturbing yet endearing. Honestly, I feel like I'm not doing this show any justice with my praise, because it deserves so much more than that. You just have to see the video and pictures for yourself and try to comprehend the brilliance of all that is McQueen.

Blouse, American Eagle. Men dress pants, thrifted. Shoes, Forever 21. Headband, random fabric.
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Fallout from NJ Democrat meddling at the FDA will hold up medical device approval. Thank you very much New Jersey!


Thanks to the intervention of 4 New Jersey Democrats in the FDA approval process for one of their constituents, all medical devices are on the sloooooow track for approval. An editorial in the New York Times summarizes this nicely here.

In short: A New Jersey orthopedic medical device firm, ReGen turned to four Democrats to lobby on their behalf for approval of an orthopedic knee device — Sen Robert Menendez and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, as well as Congressmen Frank Pallone and Steven Rothman. According to the Washington Post, Regen paid Sen Mendez's former chief of staff nearly $300,000 for lobbying services, and Hutton contributed nearly $40,000 to Menendez and the three other Democrats who wrote a letter to the FDA urging the agency to make a decision on the company’s application.

This kind of "pay for play" is par for the course for New Jersey Democrats, but not as appreciated by federal regulators. The blowback from the intervention of theses pols and former FDA head, Andrew von Eschenbach, has reignited scrutiny of the FDA's practices and procedures.

Caught up in this are hundreds of devices in final stages of approval, including the next generations of silicone (and saline) breast implants. I wrote about this last April in a post called "An Exercise in Clock Watching" talking about the bureaucracy of FDA device approval in re. to breast implants. It's amazing and frustrating to think that improved devices used world-wide (US excepted) for 15+ years are still clinically unavailable here.

Rob
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Monday, October 5, 2009

Less is More


Kudos’ to Ashley Simpson on her acting gig on the new “Melrose Place”. I think change is always good but in this image of Ashley at a recent event it would seem that not only did she loose the baby weight but she threw in some for good measure. We know that Ashley is no stranger to plastic surgery but now maybe she has become a little to friendly with Botox. I don’t know for sure but it really looks like they (Botox) and herself have spent a little too much time bonding. Her face and eyes appear a bit frozen. A "dear in the headlights" look. I don’t think that was what she was after so maybe she and “Botox” should be more of an acquaintance than bff’s. There is no doubt that she is a beautiful girl and the nose job suited her petite face quite well but in the future I think it would be best to remember less is more.

Until we meet again...
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