Miley and her father:

[link]

I think the "scandal" is ridiculous. I think it's partly media-manufactured, and partly mass hypocrisy - how many people let their 15 year olds, or their 12 year olds, wear makeup? How many people read fashion magazines, where many of the models are 15 and most of them got their start by 15 even if they are 19 now? I think the Cyrus family should have said, "We were working with a world-famous photographer and doing something creative; this is not meant to be a reflection of who Miley is." Miley is an actress (well, sort of, you know). Lots of 15 year old actresses have done much more risque stuff in films.

Cyrus's parents were at the shoot, including her dad Billy Ray who also posed for photographs with his 15-year-old daughter. Although Cyrus’s parents left before the controversial photograph – in which the singer is actually clothed but appears to be nude – was taken, her grandmother and her teacher were present.

The picture with her dad looks harmless enough. She looks glam beyond the age of 15, but not overly sexed up.

I read "I own one pair of blue jeans" as "not 20 different pairs", rather than as "I wear the same jeans every day".

It's just that she says she has four black dresses and one pair of jeans in rotation. Doesn't sound like much to work with, if you're going to start describing your outfit.

Speaking of which, I really need to decide what I'm wearing to work. High of 76, to what does that translate?

I saw my first dead baby bird of dead baby bird season this morning. Fallen from one of the two nests under my back porch awning.

I would see a lot of that on the farm. Are some baby birds just suicidal? Is it the result of too much baby bird roughhousing? ("It's fun until someone falls out of the nest and plummets to her death.")

We have swallows that nest in the garage here. It's always traumatic for me.

Are some baby birds just suicidal?

Very often they are shoved out of the nest by their sibs. Gotta compete for those limited. resources.

er...not to gloom all over the happy robin story.

Honestly, my though pattern went "oh cool! Wait, I shouldn't get too attached."

Hey, cool. DC is getting a bike share program: [link] Wonder how well it'll work out.

Speaking of which, I really need to decide what I'm wearing to work. High of 76, to what does that translate?

Me hating you?

Sorry, probably not helpful.

A Disney spokeswoman, Patti McTeague, faulted Vanity Fair for the photo. "Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines," she said.

This statement irks me beyond reason. Of course Vanity Fair manipulates in order to sell magazines, in much the same way that Disney manipulates children to sell (and hell, to buy) shit.

I think the image is whatever. I think the tempest in the teapot about it is a result of Disney being pissed that they aren't controlling her image as well as they would like.

a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines

As opposed to putting her on the cover of Disney magazine, which is a totally spontaneous event with no adult or corporate intervention at all.

@@ forever.