Beauty – Page 61 – Splendid Isolation

Sunday In Belgium

October 10, 2021 Kim du Toit Beauty

Ahhh, Belgium: a flat little country sandwiched between Holland and France, and used as a military highway by the Germans twice during the 20th century.

But it’s beautiful, especially in the south where the Ardennes Forest covers the hills and valleys.

Oh yeah, and there’s Spa:

Also Bruges:

…and Brussels:

And while we’re on that topic:

And they just loves their football, oh yes they do:

For tennis, there’s former world #1 tennis totty Kim Clijsters:

…who quit tennis to have a baby, then came back three years later as a plump matron, and won the U.S. Open. Twice.

And back when there were still F1 grid girls (grrrr don’t get me started):

Speaking of delicious things to eat, there’s the peerless Belgian chocolate:

…then, and still, the finest chocolate in the world. In Belgium, it’s regarded as an art form, and supermarkets devote whole aisles to the lovely stuff.

And then there’s this stuff:

…but I have to say that while others swear by Belgian ales, I don’t care much for them. Maybe I just didn’t spend long enough in Belgium [makes note] or maybe I should just have read something like this.

But I’ve left the best till last. From Liège:

Aaahhh, you know all about their guns, so I haven’t bothered putting any pics up here. Read more

Confederacy Of Awful

October 6, 2021 Kim du Toit Architecture, Modernism

In the traditional sense, the word “awful” had the precise opposite of its meaning today; something “awful” (or “awe-full”) created awe in the listener or viewer, rather than making one want to puke.

I suspect that “awe-full” was intended in the creation of this list. But as one who as World Emperor would impose a retroactive global ban on any structure taller than twenty floors, the list simply makes me want to head for the barf bag.

As far as I’m concerned, of course, “Ten Best Skyscrapers” could just as easily be “Ten Best Snakebites”. That this is an annual competition depresses me even more. Here’s one example, taken at random:

And, to add insult to injury, the “Tour Alto” (6th place) is in Paris.

Kill them all.

Seventies Beauty

October 5, 2021 Kim du Toit Beauty, Drive Time

When looking at something beautiful, you always have to take note of the time in which the thing appeared. This is particularly true of women, of course, because what was considered beautiful in, say, the 1970s would cause snorts of derision when applied to today’s standards. Here’s a sample of those 70s fashions:

None of which are particularly bad (the lass on the right is sensational), but the style is very dated.

I didn’t come here to talk about women’s fashion.

Nope; I want to talk about the successor to the wonderful Renault Alpine A110, the A310 which made its first appearance in 1971.

Of course, in typical French tradition, they put a severely underpowered engine in the A310 (a 1600cc four-banger which developed a muscular 105hp) which, considering that Renault intended the A310 to be a competitor to the Porsche 911 (which at the time was developing about 270hp in its 2.4L flat six), must have been a joke played by Engineering on Marketing.

In 1976, Renault got the message (prodded by piss-poor sales, duh) and put in a 2.7L V6 engine which developed 148hp: still nowhere close to the 911, but with its ultralight body and excellent handling (which was a little better than the 911’s), the new model doubled sales of the A310 — but sadly, doubling nearly nothing meant that Renault was selling about 500 units a year compared to the 911’s 1,600.

Pretty much only the French bought the A310 in any numbers, and in 1986 Renault pulled it off the market.

All that said, I quite like the looks of the later A310 PRV (denoting the larger engine). Once again, by today’s standards that angular shape might be considered ugly, but frankly, it’s not horrible compared to other cars of the time.

Even in the PRV specs, though, the petite A310 never stood a chance against the Porsche 911, and still less against the massive American muscle cars, never mind the Ferraris and Maseratis.

But for a nimble sporty little runabout which according to its customers was very reliable, you could have done a whole lot worse than the A310.

Sunday, Italian Style

October 3, 2021 Kim du Toit Architecture, Drive Time, Gratuitous Chick Pics, Gratuitous Gun Pics

It’s Italy Day here on this back porch of mine:

…and here are some fine Italian things.

First up, a matched pair of Rizzini shotguns:

Next up, a 1955 Fiat 8V, styled by Zagato:

…and a 1967 Fiat 2400 Dino Spider:

Speaking of fine Italian models of yore, it’s about time we looked at Sophia again:

…and her younger compatriot, Monica Bellucci:

And speaking of yummy:

Where could one buy such things? Well, in Milan, for instance:

That’s all Italian style, folks, and it’s pretty much unbeatable.

Month Of Contrasts

October 1, 2021 Kim du Toit Beauty

Ahhh October… when fall colors appear:

…the weather turns cooler:

…and we see the arrival of (ugh) pumpkin-flavored everything:

…not to mention wall-to-wall horror movies (double ugh) on every TV channel:

Myself, I prefer the only thing that matters in October:

Your opinion may differ, but you’d be wrong.

HBC

September 26, 2021 Kim du Toit Gratuitous Chick Pics

Brit actress Helena Bonham Carter has often been featured on this back porch, most usually as a figure of fun because, well, because:

HOWEVER:

Let us never forget that she got her start playing posh Edwardian ingenues (Room With A View, Remains Of The Day, etc.):

And given that the fashions of the time worked really hard to hide the bodies of women, what those pictures showed was HBC’s two best features: her extraordinarily beautiful face, and her mass of wild, un-tameable hair.

What the above two movies showed, in a lovely example of life imitating art, is that HBC really, really doesn’t give a damn what people think of her, or how she looks, or how she dresses, and so on. So, for example, if she couldn’t be bothered to fix that mane of hair, she just lets it go, or else starts off with good intentions, but then just says, “Oh fuck it” (in that exquisite, classy accent):

And of course, her “don’t give a damn” attitude is often on display with her clothing at formal affairs such as on the red carpet:

Which brings me to the topic of her breasts. They are generally of modest dimensions except when she’s pregnant, when they balloon out quite delightfully: