August 2010
I have not posted a blog entry this year so I thought it time to do so and hopefully I will find more time to follow up and post more.
My old gripe about the demise of smoking in recent times is still high on the agenda and it seems to have started to affect the movie, television and media industries too. There are fewer and fewer smoking ladies in the news these days and on tv or film let alone ones using a holder. There was a time when tv always had at least one prominent lady smoker, remember Bett Lynch in Corrie or Miss Brahms in Are you being served? In the movies the female baddie was often depicted with a holder, as in 101 dalmations, batman and the magnificent Lair of the white worm. And never forget the femme fatalles who swanned into a room draped in fur and lippy and demanded a light from the ever attentive male suitors. Magazines almost every week depicted a smoking lady often gloved and posed with holder betwixt finger and thumb but no more so. Smokers are frowned upon by publishers and advertisers, movie producers and tv directors. The smoker is censored more than the mass killer these days and I for one think they have all lost the plot.
I like to think positive and so I am looking forward to my holiday next month in Majorca where I recall the last time sitting on the beach just a stones throw from an elegant lady who spent the afternoon on her towel reading a novel whilst enjoying several cigarettes from a 4 inch black and silver holder. I tried not to stare and averted my eyes when she looked my way but it was the most memorable day of my holiday. I look forward to the remote hope of seeing another such beauty on the majorcan riviera.
What else has been going on? Several major holder groups on Yahoo have closed losing so many marvellous images that I do hope people here catalogued and can post here for prosperity. Holdergals has gone from strength to strength with ever more images being uploaded. Lets hope it continues that way and I would be interested in knowing when it was first formed? Eric? If you are there and have time to read this rubbish then please look through your archives and tell us when it was first established or when you first had the inclination to create such a site.
What has happened to smokergals?? I thought I would end on that.
Kev
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Comments
Hi Kev and thanks for an
Hi Kev and thanks for an enlightening blog entry. I hear what you say about the decline of smoking in the movies. Just this past week on the Fox News Channel here in the US, they were talking about the very same thing and how movie studios are becoming more judgmental about having smoking portrayed in movies, even though an argument has come up about how writers use the smoking element to establish character, which I tend to agree with. Regardless, they hold all the cards and the money so what they ultimately decide upon is their decision. Just last evening, I was watching Inglorious Basterds (the Tarantino version) and one part of the movie I enjoyed was Diana Kruger's role smoking with a holder in a French bar. Her scenes were well edited meaning that when she lit up, inhaled, exhaled, it was all shown in it's etirety without a quick camera pan or bad scene edit like what you would see in other films or shows of late. Tarantino has an affinity for female smoking as has been shown in his other films but considering that he's an indie film maker, he can get away with it.
Who knows what the future will hold for smoking in the media. My prediction is that it will come full circle just like everything else. Give it time and we may soon see more independent, free-thinking and creative folks come around that may paint smoking in a different light.
On another note about Yahoo Groups disappearing, well you do know that Flickr is owned by Yahoo, so don't fret, if the old Yahoo Groups are gone, they more than likely have moved to Flickr. I am a member at Flickr and have found several holder smoking groups there, even the off chance pic through some photographer's portfolios that aren't associated with groups. Do a search through Flickr and you can definitely get your holder fix. :)
Have fun on your holiday...wish I was going! :)
Regards,
Jim aka Creativedistractions...yeah the same person who once was a big contributor...miss me? Hehe