Editorial: (8 October 1999)

Yes, I have been negligent about this feature for some time. It is now early October and there has been no posting for 2 ½ months. This is terrible, considering the amount of big bead news there has been:

The beaded dress in which Marilyn Monroe sung the infamous "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy was recently auctioned. It had a paltry 6000 beads, dwarfed by today’s standards. Sophie Rhys-Jones married Prince Edward in a dress with 325,000 beads. What’s the record?

A constitutional crisis was averted when a high school board in Mississippi decided that one of their students of the Jewish faith could, indeed, wear the Cross of David to school. They had forbidden him to do so initially because they deemed it a "gang symbol." Seems to this writer that a little more bead-amulet-pendant smarts could have averted the embarrassment.

Beads made it to the top of the sports world when Serena Williams won the US Open Tennis Championship with a complete head of beads. Her father had predicted the final match would be between her and her older sister, Venus, equally be-beaded on top (they wear colors to reflect the theme of the tournament). I was waiting for it to happen so I could write "Battle of the Beads." Venus missed it by only one round. Wait ‘til next year.

Finally, a funny story. French Stewart was interviewed by John Stewart (no relation) on The Daily Show. Mardi Gras came up and French said he was on a float ("Wonderful, like a five hour standing ovation") when he noticed that the women with the most beads were getting them by exposing themselves. As the float came into the Superdome he could hear someone yelling "French, French." He turned to see his new wife, but his joy turned to chagrin as he saw that she was loaded with beads!

This is a rich field to explore. Would someone like to help me with it?

See you soon.

~ The Editor