Throwing Away the Garbage With Style
For the yuppie who thought he had everything, Neiman-Marcus has come out with designer trash can liners.
The billowy plastic bags were introduced last Christmas in shocking shades of “jungle red and midnight black.” Now that the second installment is out, the store has settled for the softer hues of peach, aqua and beige.
Cheryl D. Ayers, a Neiman-Marcus representative at Fashion Valley, trumpets the new line as “Easter colors.”
Neiman-Marcus is serious about these things, Ayers said, deeming them anything but a trashy idea.
The 13-gallon size comes in boxes of 30 for $6.25; the 33-gallon variety in boxes of 20 for $8.
“We’ve noticed a transformation taking place across the country,” said Carl Youngberg, director of epicure programs at Neiman-Marcus. “People are no longer ashamed of their trash. Our bags provide stylish containment and protection from prying eyes and noses for a whole range of garbage, from plastic fast-food wrappers to depleted Dom Perignons. With this season’s fresh new look, we hope to wipe out curbside embarrassment and eliminate dumpsters full of dull debris.”
Dancing to Victory
Everyone seems to have an answer for what has been ailing the San Diego Padres in the years since 1984 when they won the National League pennant.
Al Germani teaches dance at Grossmont College and once taught a class at San Diego State University called “Dance for the Athlete.” One of his students was Webster Slaughter, now a wide receiver with the Cleveland Browns.
Germani, who’s helping out with the 24th annual spring dance recitals at Grossmont, to be held May 5-7, predicts that he could guarantee the Padres an additional 15 wins a season by giving them happy feet.
Dancing would give athletes “up to a 25% edge in every category of performance,” Germani said.
“That includes eye-hand coordination, agility, standing jump, flexibility and balance. It increases everything from speed to lateral acceleration. It could help a runner go around the bases faster or an outfielder make a catch he might have missed last season by an inch and a half.”
Germani, who played football at Rutgers University, called Slaughter one of his ablest proteges, saying that he held the potential to resemble Nureyev as much as he does Raymond Berry.
“Look at what Slaughter has done,” Germani said. “I know this could work for the Padres. Dance is nothing more than an inroad to athletic nirvana.”
Sister Backs Winner
Holli Haney continues to impress people--even her little sister.
Eighteen-year-old Holli, a senior at Coronado High School, was recently named Miss Coronado.
That surprised people--Haney is nearly deaf and uses sign language to communicate.
Her sister Heather, a 13-year-old student at Coronado Middle School, wondered what all the fuss was about.
“I’m really proud of Holli,” she said, “but she’s really just normal, like everyone else.”
Haney thus becomes one of 34 finalists for the title of 1988 Fairest of the Fair. The winner presides over the Del Mar Fair, serving as official hostess and greeter from June 16 through July 4.
“She said the reason she entered the (Miss Coronado) pageant was that she wanted to be an example to hearing-impaired people,” said Diane Scholfield, a spokeswoman for the Del Mar Fair. “I know one thing. She really impressed the judges.”
Haney said her hero is Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, who is deaf. Matlin won her Academy Award for the movie “Children of a Lesser God,” which Haney watches for inspiration.
Will she become Fairest of the Fair?
“If I were to bet, I’d say yes,” sister Heather said, sounding every bit like the title was a foregone conclusion.
Taking a Closer Look
A group of about 1,000 migrants were stunned recently when two official-looking white sedans pulled up into Zapata Canyon, a rugged patch of land just north of the U.S.-Mexico boundary line, east of the port of entry at San Ysidro.
Known as the “soccer field” in the United States, the canyon is a well-known gathering place for undocumented immigrants.
“Migra! Migra!” shouted onlookers when they saw the sedans. Some migrants began to flee back towards the south.
Soon, two figures, a man and a woman, emerged from one of the two cars. Several armed and uniformed officers--San Diego police--made way for the pair through the scores of migrants, for whom terror had given way to bemused curiosity.
The woman wore black pants and sipped a Pepsi. Migrants would be surprised to learn her identity: Maureen O’Connor, the mayor of San Diego. Just checking out her turf, she said.
Her companion was Colman McCarthy, the Washington columnist, who said, “The bureaucrats in Washington should come here and see this. It’s easy to talk about immigration in offices on Capitol Hill, but it’s a lot different to come out here and experience it first hand. It gives you a whole different feeling.”
