VintageGent’s Menswear Daily

Fade Away and Rumi-nate

(My deepest apologies to Debbie Harry and the rest of Blondie for the hackneyed title.)

The VintageGent-ette’s sister, the Modern Gentress, was almost beguiled by a young man offering her quotes of Rumi. Unlike V-Gette who has a deep appreciation for ancient and medieval lit, the Modern Gentress turned up the Modern nose. “That’s just a bunch of old crap.”  What does she want? A guy to lure her with something more modern? Someone the American Classics, as opposed to the Persian classics, like “Someone’s In the Kitchen with Dinah” just don’t set the mood.

A Gent named Jerry Forman was intrigued, unlike the MG, by Rumi, and the wandering dervish Yunus Emre.  I was previously familiar with Whirling Dervishes, but was completely ignorant of the existence of Wandering Dervishes. Did they represent different philosophies, or with all the whirling, did one have to mix it up and wander once in awhile.  That would make one more of a Stumbling Dervish, if my freshman acting method acting class is any sort of corollary (for the uninitiated, spin someone around 10 times before they play a scene about being confused and the true authentic emotion will come out for sure). I digress.

Getting back on track, Jerry Forman has a nifty site (http://www.RumiPoems.com) that he has been adding poems and lyrics to for folks’ enjoyment. what’s more, is Jerry has composed original music to accompany them (when you go to RumiPoems.com, there are links to “Lyrics,” which are just the printed words. Click on the title of the song/poem and a player opens up for you to listen to them.)  The first one, Spring, reminds me of the slow-paced ballads that mariachis would play, sans the horns and rumba shakers just a single guitar. But that’s just me. Whether you are a fan of Jerry’s styling and voice or not, it is ambitious and way more original than holding a boombox in the window and throwing rocks to get the objet d’affection’s attention.  So, up your game.

He does identify Rumi as a “secularist,” when in fact, you analyze his poetry, he was not nearly so at the time. He did seem to hold a philosophy of the evolution of ego, but his work heavily reflected some sensibilities in the Quran. In fact a branch of Sufism evolved in light of his work. Hardly a secularist and unspiritual, his work takes on more depth in the context and understanding of his belief in God. In fact, his lyrics and poetry has been read in places of worship from Buddhist monasteries to Christian churches. Not bad staying power for someone who penned the paper in the 1200’s, no?

Truth in Advertising

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of MeetLocals.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

The name of the subtle, nuanced cinematic masterpiece “Snakes on a Plane” was going to be changed to Pacific Air 121, but according to Collider.com, Samuel L. Jackson balked, “ We’re totally changing that back. That’s the only reason I took the job: I read the title.”

Not since SOAP has there been such truth, but almost blatant tackiness, in advertising as the website named Shop4Guys.com. It is exactly what you think of it as. Women look on the website to find guys, and of course the guys used in the banner and graphics are all models. That being said, would the same concept fly if it were called Trolling for Ladies or Buying Women? Probably not?  Perhaps the marketers thought folks would think it was humorous and perhaps they do.

If I were to make a dating site, what catchy name would I use? Meetlocals.com is one of those “self explanatory” ones that is already taken.  Hmmm…. I think North Meets South, elegant matches for Civil War-reenactors, would be a hit.  It may attract non-reenactors who just pretend they ‘respect the hobby’ so much, but I am sure the diehards could weed out the womanizing petticoat chasers and the gals that are just attracted to the uniform who will inevitably leave them for the local mall security guard.

However, if there is to be another “total truth in advertising site, how about UseU?  UseU could be the site for folks who don’t really want a relationship but just want a date with someone who is far higher on the attractiveness scale to go out with them, but only where their ex, or the guy or gal they REALLY want to date will see them.  That doesn’t sound very ladylike and gentlemanly, but at least everyone is being honest with each other.

It’s Just Like Dating…So Why Do I Feel So ‘Dated’?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Smingle.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

First, there was good old fashioned meeting your future husband or wife at school. Or maybe you met them as penpals. Or maybe they lived nearby. Then came personal ads. Then came online dating profiles. Oh yes, and matchmakers have been around for years. Just ask the Fiddler on the Roof. Now, there is virtual dating. It’s like dating…but it’s not. You simulate a date online. You make an avatar for yourself and then you and another user that you might think you might fancy go at it. No, get your minds out of the gutter. You chitchat with each other just like you are on a date, except the other person looks like a cartoon character. This way, you get to see if the other person is worth meeting or calling first.

All of this stuff is too newfangled to me. If you are the type of person who isn’t a speedy typist or is just an “in person” sort of guy or gal, this isn’t going to work. However, I bet that those who are the main customers for the site ARE quick at messaging and texting.  Also, I still think people are more apt to stretch the truth when they aren’t face to face.  But that’s just me.

The European Journal of Psychology says touche’.  Okay, they really don’t, but they do say that “People who go on virtual dates first tend to like each other more when they meet and are two times more likely to go on a second date.  Computer-based communication results in more self-disclosure, and can be more effective than face-to-face interaction at early stages of a relationship.“   While I am still skeptical, this does bring to mind how Grandma and Grandpa met. They were pen pals.  Grandma drew Grandpa’s name as a soldier to write to in WWII.  The rest is history, of course.  In writing letters, you do tend to share more about yourself up front than you would if you met by chance at the ice cream counter.

Smingle.com is one of the venues offering virtual dating without the ickiness of web cams. If you are single – and i don’t mean married, I don’t mean having a girlfriend that you had an argument with and want to get back at, nor have a live-in boyfriend that just has a weird schedule – but if you are REALLY home by your self with your pet goldfish and your TVLand on Saturday night, then it might be something novel to try.  They are offering readers 3 months of free access just to take it for a test drive. So – you tell me…do you like it, or are you tending to prefer sitting at the museum poised in front of the same painting for 6 hours hoping a young (or old) lady or gent sees you and is taken by your obvious intellect and sense of taste?

I feel like a hypocrite.  Now that I am taken, I give advice to folks to go out to the library or museum and you might meet someone who is above the whole bar scene, but I have never heard of anyone who met their husband or wife in front of a Medieval shield or a Renoir.  Maybe performance art is different. Just ask Yoko Ono. She met John when he asked to pound a nail in her interactive art exhibit.   Anyway, for those of you who don’t have interactive art exhibits, you can try hiding behind your avatar that you can fashion to look like Yoko to meet your John.  Or peanut butter to meet your jelly.  I’ll just quit while I am not ahead…