Salon.com > Julia Furlan

Brazil’s tempest in a minidress

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:01:00 +0000

From this side of the equator, it seems like sex is one of Brazil's biggest exports, in ideology if not in actual market share. In the United States, Brazil is the land of bikinis (and their waxes), booty dancing, Carnaval and sex tourism. (Full disclosure: I'm Brazilian.) So we can all nod knowingly now that the Oct. 22 scandal at a São Paulo University has international press buzzing, blogging and jabbering: Brazil? Check. Sex? Check. Blonde in a hot pink minidress? Double check.

Women (and affordable rent) only

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:06:00 +0000

There is a scene in everyone's favorite nun movie, "Sister Act 2," when Whoopi Goldberg's character -- a lounge singer on the run -- is escorted to her new room at the convent where she will be hiding out. Her two (legit) nun counterparts have promised that the room holds a big surprise. "What did you put in it? A bidet?" Ah, the hope of the innocent. "Curtains!" shout her friends, and the camera pans around a small, stark and dreary room.

This is almost exactly the scene I imagine every time a friend of mine mentions her housing situation, at the Jeanne D’Arc residence on the West side of Manhattan. The reality is that instead of austere, convent-like surroundings, the rooms are chaste and frilly, decorated with what seems like an entire botanical garden of flowered things.

Thursday's New York Times story on women's residences highlights the old-world nature of these group homes: strict women-only policies and complicated admittance processes function to keep the areas -- if not the residents -- protected from the loose morals and dangers of … 2009? If the ideals seem old-fashioned, the fortunate thing for the ladies who live (and lunch) at these homes, is that the rent is, too. Ranging from an astounding $355 to $1,000 with two meals a day included, the women's residences are a steal straight out of the past, especially when rent at comparable locations can balloon to $3,000 per month and beyond.

Gang-raped at the school dance

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:28:00 +0000

No matter how many debates we have about whether sexting or offensive T-shirts mean the proverbial sky is falling for our youth, some stories just make you shudder for today's kids: Saturday night, a 15-year-old high school student in Richmond, Calif., was brutalized and gang-raped in front of a group on school premises after she left a homecoming dance.

When police arrived on the scene, they chased several boys off the scene and apprehended 19-year-old Manuel Ortega, a former student of Richmond High School. The 15-year-old girl was found, shirtless and unconscious under a cement picnic table, and was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition. Reports say the assault went on for as long as two hours, with a crowd of up to 15 people watching. Since Saturday, another 15-year-old boy has been arrested for his participation in the crime.

Who you calling fat? Nicole Eggert strikes back

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:09:00 +0000

If it’s difficult to look trim standing at the bar in Spanx and heels, imagine how hard it is to pull off a bikini while running in slow motion. Nicole Eggert spent years on “Baywatch” ensuring that both the coastline and the high-cut one-piece were safe.

Since her days as Roberta “Summer” Quinn, Eggert put on some weight, and in the grand tradition of tabloids, was recently criticized for it. But in a new tradition -- thanks to celebrities like Tyra Banks, Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Love Hewitt -- she shot back. Eggert took to the beach armed with a red two-piece and the comedy website FunnyOrDie.com.

The video (below) shows two notably doughy guys attempting to pull off the hot lifeguard-CPR plot that has entertained male psyches from “The Sandlot” onward. Eggert jogs toward the boys as the camera zooms in on every trans fat and neglected ab workout. The result? The boys ditch their plan -- see, cause she's not hot anymore -- and the audience gets an eyeful of an actress who isn't nearly as obese as the closeups try to make her appear.