This will hurt me...

I like the subtly of this advertisement... the Enticement of a Skin More Precious than Personality or Cleverness ... Indeed, it's the oldest story in the book: the stunning blockhead perched in the corner surrounded by a gaggle of gents, while the intellectually superior - but aesthetically displeasing - lady sits alone in the corner, weeping inside. Know it people: surface not depth. Forget the books girls, concentrate on your anionic surfactant and H2O!

Here is the bag lady that lives on top of one of the museum buildings. Well, actually, I don't think that she's a bag lady. She's probably Athena , the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. I know that she isn't Diana Princess of Idiots Roman Goddess of Hunters, as she isn't carrying a weapon. It looks like she's carrying a load of very large grapes. Maybe she's Gefjon , the Scandinavian Goddess of Ploughing? It could be Princess Mary, I guess...

Here we have a lady ostrich from ZooDoo checking out the scene. Like many of our feathered friends , the lady ostriches are a dull shade of brown; as opposed to the striking black and white of their male partners. This lady ostrich was particularly taken by one Ezra L.F.M. Esq. Who can blame her for that, I ask?

The best that I can say about this French advertisement for tampons is that it is, err, very French . The tagline reads: "I am like a fish in water" , but I am not sure that this really helps all that much in getting the gist of the piece. Now, you must believe me when I say that I’ve thought long and hard [oohh err missus!] about this particular product promotion, but admit that I am no closer at answering the riddle that might unlock this particular enigma than when I began, and figure that I shan’t locate that answer any time soon. The most obvious answer harks back to grubby schoolboy locker room jokes, but to my knowledge – and I say this as someone who remains a grubby schoolboy at heart – grubby schoolboys do not represent a significant proportion of the market share of feminine hygiene products . No, I figure that is women who buy tampons (see, all of that taxpayers’ money wasn’t wasted on my education). As it is women that buy the tampons, it must be women that t...

I realise that I have been terribly negligent in posting ads that encompass the televisual medium. So today, I have decided to embrace a number of my favourite things: Soviet era social history, lovely ladies, kitschy slogans and (most of all) MEAT . So, today I present to you a sexy and passionate commercial produced in Estonia in the 1980s. I am led to believe that the words "beef" and "chicken" are repeated throughout. You could probably guess that for yourself, although you might be forgiven that a little “HOT” and “SEXY” might also be thrown in for good measure. I defy any vegetarian to watch this video and not go rushing out to the butchers for eight kilograms of mince, a bag of chicken necks and waltz home with a young lovely attached to each arm. Enjoy!

Henry and I have just finished Muriel Spark’s excellent short novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie . No doubt, many people will be more familiar with the cinematic version of 1969, but I must say the book is far better, for the usual reasons (nuance and depth not the least). Upon some reflection on our recent reading habits, we have deliberately chosen a ‘feminine’ novel to mix things up a bit. I have been worried about Henry’s escalating assertive masculinity, and figured that a book written by a woman, set in a girl’s school and ostensibly about a ‘strong’ women in her prime would offer a counter balance to the raging testosterone that has taken over the house. Having not read any Murial Spark previously, let’s just say that I was taken by surprise. I was taken aback by the complexity of the narrative and plot. This is a book rich and original in style. In terms of delivering a ‘feminine’ voice, I guess it did that. I am not sure if it delivers a message that will be helpful for He...

Today I have chosen three advertisements that work in relation to each other. Each contains a vital message that every lady must learn prior to entering into the beautiful alliance that is a successful marriage. I can express myself no more eloquently than the first advertisement itself, so I will leave it to them: A man marries a woman because he loves her. So instead of blaming him if married love begins to cool, she should question herself. Is she truly trying to keep her husband and herself eager, happy married lovers? These are wise words and well worth consideration. Indeed, they ask a reasonable and fundamental question. The answer? Complete feminine hygiene . It is just so dreadfully sad that many marriages fail due to unnecessary ignorance around what is an essential issue. The second ad builds upon the concerns identified in the first. The good folk at Zonite are spot on, how can Bill [below] explain all of this to his sensitive young wife? Bill is correct: there are some th...