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#29857 05/22/01 05:35 PM
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[rant]bow ties (or tieing bow ties) reminds me of ballroom dancing-- You know how Ginger Rogers had to do everything Fred Astaire did-- only she did it on high heals and backwards-- and made it look easy.-

By age 10 or so-- I had mastered tieing a "Pretty bow" on sashes-- (remember when girls wore dresses that had fancy sashes tied in back?)-- and almost every woman can make a pretty bow on an apron-- that we tie behind our backs! So whats so hard about tieing a pretty bow under your chin! ---

some thread-- brought out the sailor in half the board-- and many knew the differerence between (among?) lines, ropes and hawsers..

tieing a square knot-- or bow is not a major skill-- this is a self select crowd-- we are all literate-- and not just any tom, dick or harry-- if we mastered reading-- surely we can master a bow![/rant]


#29858 05/22/01 06:15 PM
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Wow effuses about white tie and tails when properly fitted. Aye, there's the rub. 9 times out of 10 when you do see a man in white tie, the waisted part of the coat is so short that the white vest is exposed beneath it. It's not supposed to; you are only supposed to see the vest in the front under the coat. Do you ever see Fred Astaire showing a ring of white under the front of his tailcoat, even when dancing on the ceiling?

As to the alternative: please, ladies, the word "tuxedo" is considered declasse in polite circles and "tux" is downright vulgar. It's "dinner jacket" or "black tie", or in French "smoking". It's certainly an elegant way to dress and the cost is not exorbitant. I have had my own since I was 18* and am now on the fourth one, having worn one out and outgrown 2. All black, of course; anything else, with the possible exception of midnight blue, which they don't make any more, is for musicians and other riffraff.HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUSICK AND MANY MORE! And yes, every self-respecting gentleman knows how to tie a bow tie. It's the same knot you use to tie your shoes, except the perspective is different -- it's done from the point of view of your feet. (Why does this remark never make anyone more confident?)

*thereby hangs another tale. When I went away to University (1957), my father decided I needed a dinner jacket, so he gave me his old one, which he had bought in 1935 for $25.00, and stopped wearing about 1948 when he bought one of those horrible double-breasted ones which made every man look like a pickle barrel. This outfit was single-breasted, with the very wide satin lapels of the '30s, and, as they say, all wool but the buttons, and half an inch thick, or so it seemed. Since he was the only man in his circle who had his own dinner jacket, his friends were always borrowing it, so his grandmother would let it out as far as size 44 or take it in as far as 34 (my father was size 40) as needed by whoever was wearing it next. I wanted it updated, so I went to an old German tailor and asked him what it would cost to change the old wide lapels to the then-fashionable shawl collar. He quoted a price of $15, to which I agreed. When I went back to pick it up, he was greatly chagrined. He had not noted that the satin lining went all the way back more than a foot in the inside and he had spent $15 just on satin to re-do the coat. Tant pis, was my response. I wore that, sweating like a pig in warm weather because the material was so heavy, for 10 years, when my father took pity on me and treated me to a new Palm Beach dinner jacket in lightweight material.



#29859 05/22/01 06:26 PM
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Anyone can look good if it's wrapped around him; it takes a MAN to look good on his own!


#29860 05/22/01 07:25 PM
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Sure thing, wow. Soon's we get you guys to put the toilet seat back up when y'all're done with it.

If you are right and the bowl should be open I have a question : why did those male engineers design it with a COVER ?
Huh? Huh? Huh?




#29861 05/22/01 07:36 PM
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In reply to:

wow asks: Now, if we can just get the dear men to fill the ice cube trays before putting them back in the freezer! Or is that really too high an aspiration?

Sure thing, wow. Soon's we get you guys to put the toilet seat back up when y'all're done with it.



So, what prize does one get if one already does both?


#29862 05/22/01 07:41 PM
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wow wonders: why did those male engineers design it with a COVER ?

Oh, yeah, like you'd be happy if we left *both lids down.

According to Ramblin' Jack Elliott the top lid is for use as a bread board and the bottom lid is for framing pictures.



#29863 05/22/01 10:39 PM
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So, what prize does one get if one already does both?

Max: If YOU are "the one who does both," I'd say Mrs. Max got the prize!




#29864 05/22/01 11:33 PM
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So, what prize does one get if one already does both?

The admiration of your gentlemanly ways from every woman on the planet!

Now as to dancing : I just read an article in the magazine published by the AARP. The article concerned a 50th college reunion. One alum, Ray Gardner, had spent the intervening years as a dance instructor. The author, Dan Wakefield, noted that Gardner arrived with his wife ..."a svelte brunette in a black dress and black high heels whom he whirled with Astaire-like elan to the DJ's music"
Gardner revealed his secret in a dance instruction booklet : "The vast majority of the feminine gender will step completely over, around, and through the good-looking, well-built, even wealthy man to get one ... who knows how to dance."
And if he's wearing a "tux" ... yes I know it's "black tie" or Le Smoking" ... but everyone is familiar with "tux" ... and can dance...WELL!...Be still my fluttering heart!

So, a word to the wise gentlemen!


#29865 05/23/01 09:06 AM
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You really mean to say, Wow, that the ice cube trays are never filled by my father or myself?

jimthedog

#29866 05/23/01 01:51 PM
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You really mean to say, Wow, that the ice cube trays are never filled by my father or myself?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No, dear Jimdog, I am sure you and your Father are paragons among men.
However there are some among your gender who will persist in taking all the ice cubes in a tray and either replacing the tray without refilling or leaving the empty tray on the drainboard as if it will magically fill and freeze itself!




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