jmc

Speaking of things astronomical: Has anyone else come across the article in the AmericanThinker.com about the loss of daylight in the northern hemisphere? Someone wrote a "Letter to the Editor" that really adds some food for thought:

"Dear editor: "I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but I have detected a new crisis that I have named 'the daylight change crisis.' I first noticed it sometime around the end of June this year. I started paying attention and created computer models and sure enough I was right! We are losing daylight at an astonishing rate. Each day we are losing approximately 2 minutes of daylight and my computer models predict total darkness by next July. I have been able to detect this phenomenon around the entire Northern Hemisphere. And here is the scary part: the day light appears to be leaking to the Southern Hemisphere. I thought I should bring it to the attention of great scientists like Al Gore so he can help solve this new crisis."

As we didn't already have enough to worry about:w00t2:

Some completely anecdotal historical references seem to indicate that this has happened before, once or twice (or maybe thousands of times, the records are a little sketchy). There seems to be a cyclical phenomemon involved, with a period of roughly 365.25 days. Some disputed texts actually mention a gain in daylight hours, apparently only during certain times of the year. More research is clearly needed -- perhaps a Federal grant?

Isn't that "TARDIS"? (Time And Relative Dimension In Space)

While I do find his posting distasteful, especially from the point of "absurdity" in the way he looks, I am sure there is a website somewhere on the Internet that would welcome postings like this. Solution, to find it and direct his attention towards posting there.

Precisely.

Google might be able to turn up a dozen or so of that type of site.

Ok, I have a mental image here. Please follow me: You have a regular, nondescript guy -- let me call him "Joe Generic" -- who has held a fascination with high heels ever since he discovered what they were. He cannot imagine what it would be like to put his feet into a pair of these wonderful creations and deep down he would like to try. Trouble is, throughout his life he has only seen women wear heels as a viable fashion alternative. The only shoes he ever finds for sale with heels higher than 1/2" are on the women's side of the shoe store and whenever he goes over to look at them he feels like all the eyes in the world are staring at him, and with disapproval. He has seen a handful of guys in heels, but only as a gag at parties, as part of a Halloween costume or as jokes on a TV sitcom. The message is clear: "Heels are for women, a guy in heels is weird." Not wanting to be branded a weirdo, he keeps his thoughts to himself. Then he gets access to the Internet and late one night, on a whim, he types "men in high heels" into a search engine. Seconds later, right there at the top of the page, he has a bunch of links to this HHplace site. He comes here and starts to look around. His eyes open wider and his pulse quickens as he realizes there are a whole lot of men all over the world who love heels, and even wear them on occasion. Some are independent and brave enough to wear them out in public, in broad daylight, in full view of the world! He makes a resolution to obtain a pair of heels for himself. He has become a heeler! He realizes he is not weird, just a little less constrained than most of the world and the realization comes as a relief! -- Now I am going to interject at this point. I would be willing to bet that 90% of our membership can identify with this story up to here. **We have all been there at some point in our lives!** As evidence, peruse the "Hellos. . ." forum, we see parallels to this story all the time. -- Now the final paragraph: In his exploration of this site, Joe Generic finds this thread and s2005kz's pictures . . . and he starts having doubts. The "weirdo" scenario raises itself in his mind again. He wouldn't get caught dead in an alley looking like that and he would be embarrassed to see another man dressed like that. Is that what we want?

Yeah, I remember that show. Been a while since I've seen it though -- it was actually my wife who introduced me to it!

I'm no astronomy expert but I'm thinking probably some kind of magnification effect of the atmosphere or something along those lines.

That's exactly what's going on.

The same effect as the sun or moon looking larger in the mornings and evenings

Al

Right on that point too.

Refraction of the atmosphere on the horizons...

Yes, caused by the curvature of the Earth and its atmosphere. The air, as it is wrapped around the Earth, acts like a giant magnifying glass when whatever you are looking at is low on the horizon.

No offense, but have you thought of condensing your pictures into one ongoing thread highlighting your wife's shoes/boots, instead of starting a new thread each and every single time?

Good idea, so I took care of that.

StilettoHeel -- in the future, please use this thread to post further pictures.

DebbieHK has not been here in six years, an unfortunate fact for which we are all saddened. We can all carry on with hope that she will return but until that time I am closing this thread.

Well, I gotta say some of this comes from the days when feminism was at its peak. A lot of we guys remember getting yelled at by a woman for whom we had opened a door. We would get something like "I can open a door myself -- what do you think I am, a weakling!" -- and in a gruff and mocking tone. After encounters like that, most of us decided "Ok, lady from now on you're going to have to." Be careful what you wish for. . . That said, I still open doors or hold them open whenever possible -- even at the shop where I work. Sometimes it's a little bit awkward, in those situations I may not but generally I will. I think it's just common decency.

But how many mens' lines carry the names of women? I can't think of any -- can somebody help out here?

<mod mode> Merged postings from two other Insolia threads into this one. </mod mode>

Reel-to-Reel tape - - - now that's the way tape should be!

Yeah, I remember reels -- still have a few in fact, and a tape deck capable of playing them.

Always loved 'em.

Unfortunately the "Which Size" question does not have a once-and-for-all answer. We would all dearly love such an answer! Doc Shoe's advice to try 'em on is the best bet -- if they don't fit, the lovely and accommodating assistant will get you a pair in a different size (unless you're at the as-big-as-they-get end of the scale like so many of us are). If you don't have the courage for that (and I will admit I don't), the European sizes are the same for men and women. So just start with your guy shoe size. But you still might wind up taking 'em back for an exchange .

This thread and this other one are on the same topic and I think should be merged.

. . . and they are now!

Let us try to keep HHplace as "people-friendly" as possible -- if somebody is bashing gays (or anybody else) then please report the postings and we (the website staff) will take care of the situation. We don't want anybody to feel threatened here!

That said -- in the interest of the grand tradition of free speech -- let us not declare certain words or phrases "verboten" here. The concept of civility has been around for centuries and it is a lost art among far too many modern-day humans. Just keep the discussion civil -- you can disagree but do so with dignity. The other guy disagrees with you too! As the old saying goes, "That's what makes horse racing."

For a member to feel unwelcome because of disagreements, "testiness" or whatever just isn't right.

Let's face it -- a lot of us are guys who like to wear heels. When it comes to feeling like we're outside the mainstream, we have a certain connection! We should not shun anybody else for their own individuality.

I think a lot of shoe salespeople are accustomed to men buying heels -- and in sizes quite a bit larger than most women wear. What the heck -- mens' money is the same color as womens' money -- if you're selling something then why do you care if your buyer is male or female? It is in the sales staff's best interest to treat all customers fairly and equitably, with a minimum of discomfort. After all, a happy customer is a returning customer and a potential repeat sale! Kind of ironic when you think about how uncomfortable and self-conscious so many of us are buying heels.

Get married.

. . . But you'll still be buying just as many heels -- only they'll be for her!

I've been known to buy duplicates, but only once or twice. (I've wished I had several more times.)

. . . We are doomed!!!

Cheers---

Dawn HH

No, not doomed -- just different.

. . . and loving it!

Those of us who are more than just casual shutterbugs seem to develop an near emotional attachment with our cameras. I've experienced it myself and as young as this thread is, that theme seems to be emerging. I believe that since a camera is a tool used in an intensely creative process it becomes an extension of ourselves. A camera that serves us well and allows us to create interesting images becomes a close, if inanimate, friend. That's why we get so opinionated about them. The old 35 mm SLR's with the eye-level viewfinders "connect" with us in a special way -- we actually look through the camera body and lens to compose our image. This intricate mechanism becomes an extension of our eye as creativity takes place. Digitals, on the other hand, often display the image on that little LCD on the back of the camera. You hold the device almost at arm's length while composing the image -- a major disconnect between man and machine. (Yes, there are a few digitals with eye-level viewfinders -- my Dimage Z1 is an example of one. It's a shame Minolta decided to cash out of digital photography.)

<mod mode> Merged two similar threads. </mod mode>

I wonder if our moderators agree?

Our team of moderators is wholeheartedly in favor of moderation.

...for being a useless coward.

. . .

I am never going to see the day of street heeling at this rate

Well, maybe you're just not ready yet.

Anger won't help .

Maybe you should keep close to home with your heels and build confidence wearing them. If you venture out, do so at night under cover of darkness (and a pair of long pants). It can take a long time to build confidence -- some of us never do.

None of this is cause for shame or anger at one's self, nor is it cause for ridicule by the rest of this community.

One (heeled) step at a time . . .

We are "pushing the envelope" here.

Guys do outnumber gals here (vastly). It's always been that way and there have been a number of threads discussing why (I would suggest using the search facility to find them). It seems as though high heels are just shoes to women while they are magical things to us guys .

That said, this site is not aimed at guys alone. It is for everybody.

If you wish to discuss high heels from the male perspective only, I might suggest a side-trip to our "brother" site http://www.heels4men.org