Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Significant Hairdo Goddess Walks Among Us



I mean... OMG, right?

Meet Chantal Biya, First Lady of Cameroon and your new goddess. She's in LA for some conference about health. I love the Daily Mail's take on the whole thing: they use it as an excuse to underscore Sarah Brown's dowdiness, which is totally mean, because who can compete with the astonishing Ms. Biya?

In fact, this is typical of a newspaper like the Daily Mail, to encounter a gathering of women, so LET'S TALK ABOUT THEIR CLOTHING AND HAIRDOS. They can hardly be bothered to write about the substance of the conference. Sure, I'm guilty of the same thing, but I'm Princess Sparkle Pony, for god's sake. It's my job to dive head-first into the shallow end of politics and to surface brain-damaged yet refreshed.* What's their excuse?

I'll poke around and see if I can find other Chantal Biyaproduct (feel free to help!) when time permits, because she is truly fabulous, almost beyond comprehension.

A swish of the combable tail to Pony Pal™ Ray for this amazing discovery!

*Possible new subtitle for the blog?

UPDATE: Whoah, kinda overwhelmed by the response! I'm a little busy at the moment, but I'll try to sift through all this wonderfulness later.

33 comments:

drew in sf said...

With permission to scoop the Pony*, I give you:

An obvious and recent observation from TMZ.

And an older but more subdued look (all things being relative) from Getty Images via Daylife.com.


* For some reason "scoop the Pony" sounds like something that's very appropriate to say, albeit with a completely different meaning, when writing about Ms. Biya.

John McChesney-Young said...

Not only Hair, but A Hat:

http://leoafricanus.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/09_03_pope.jpg

Fran said...

Oh.
My.
God.

I miss Ursula but wow. Wow!

Mary said...

How about this one?

http://www.misscameroun.org/intro.jpg

That is some serious hair!!

Peteykins said...

Thank you, thank you! Please keep 'em coming and I'll do a roundup. What a special lady!

John in Montreal said...

and she has her own Wikipedia entry - note the following:

Among Cameroonian women, Biya is famous for her hairstyles. Her signature style is called the banane, and is used for formal occasions.[4] Biya has popularised other styles; collectively, they are known as the Chantal Biya.[5] She is also known because of her exotic wardrobe. Some of her favourite designers include high-end Western firms such as Chanel or Dior.

And they told me there was no content on the internet.

Muscato said...

Oh, the African first ladies are underappreciated as a group - there's a motherlode of couture-clad craziness out there, from the shopping-frenzied Grace Mugabe to the frozen-in-time lady styles of Suzanne Mubarak.

How wonderful to think that there's a whole new continent for PSP to mine, now that Condi and Ursula have turned their backs on us!

(also: love the new subtitle possibility.)

JR said...

PSP -- Have you seen the Libyan National Security Advisor? He met with Hills today: http://jezebel.com/5221313/hillary-clinton-welcome-to-the-chocolate-city

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness!!!

Every single thing in this post/comment thread is glamorous!

Except Hillary! What are the doo-dads on her slippers?!?! WTF!

whatdafuq said...

Check out:

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/54/039_32270~Claudia-Cardinale-Posters.jpg

She looks like she's straight out of
a Russ Meyer movie!!!

whatdafuq said...

And check out this hat!

http://leoafricanus.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/09_03_pope.jpg

Anonymous said...

you have to check out the hat[?] she wore to meet the POPE!!

The Telegraph has some FABULOUS pics.

Muscato said...

The Telegraph photo feature is indeed revelatory. All Hail Fierce Ruling Chantal!

sjelly said...

It's almost too good. I'm verklempt. The HAIR! omidog, the HAIR! And the Libyan Natl. Security Advisor...such glittery goodness.

Lulu Maude said...

Wow, Pony--you've written a mission statement!

Been hanging around organizational development consultants??

Diane Griffin said...

My favorite fromt he Telegraph series is the shot with Carla Bruni. Priceless.

Anonymous said...

This woman looks like a Latino drag queen impersonating Gloria Estefan, but with the wig Michael Serrato used on the Big Gay Sketch Show's bit about The Facts of Life when he was Mrs. Garrett. That kind of trainwreck is decidedly transfixing.

Karen Zipdrive said...

Byaproduct?
BWAHAHAHAHA!

Matthew Hubbard said...

Cameroon drag queens must be in a constant state of nearly suicidal depression. I mean, what's the point? Why go on living?

Wonderful find, Princess and Ray. Looks like PonyPals™ are coming out of the woodwork to help with this.

Terry in Silver Spring said...

"Some of her favourite designers include high-end Western firms such as Chanel or Dior."

From the CIA World Factbook about Camaroon
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cm.html

Life expectancy: 53.69 yrs
Infant Mortality rate: 63.334/1000 live births
Major Infectious Disease degree of risk: very high
School Life Expectancy: 9 years
GDP per capita: $2,300
Unemployment rate: 30%

Just sayin'

Terry in Silver Spring said...

OMG, the suit on the Libyan National Security Advisor is even worse straight on. Look at his last name, any guesses on how he got the job?

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/2009a/04/122021.htm

justlovely said...

I must say, this is the first time I've seen a hairdo that, whatever else you want to say about it, is also responsible for BAD LIGHTING!!!

JR said...

Terry- Count Chocula may be the next leader of Libya! Wiki:

"Gaddafi's fourth son, Moatessem-Billah Gaddafi, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Libyan army. He fled to Egypt after allegedly masterminding an Egyptian backed coup attempt against his father. Gaddafi forgave Moatessem and he returned to Libya where he now holds the post of national security adviser and heads his own unit within the army. Saif Al Islam and Moatessem-Billah are both seen as possible successors to their father."

I can't belive Colonel Hairdo gave him that security job after he pulled a stunt like that, though.

carmen sutra said...

I hope my comment can be heard above the clamor over the new found goddess, but I have to offer a heartfelt endorsement for the new byline. It's sheer poetry as far as I'm concerned. I feel so earthbound for not being able to come up with such brilliance.

Lady Wesley said...

My goodness, I've never seen hair(well, a wig) to compare with that -- not even Dolly Parton in her early days. What a discovery! I love the "hat" she wore to meet the pope, with crosses as part of the fabric's design.

dguzman said...

At the risk of offending everyone by kinda ignoring the BiyaFabulousness, I thought the pic was some drag queen doing a tarmac rendition of "It's Raining Men" on a USO tour.

The soldiers want it!

Terry in Silver Spring said...

"I can't belive Colonel Hairdo gave him that security job after he pulled a stunt like that, though."


Well, arguably, the son knows a thing or two about security risks.

sjelly said...

I've come back to say that my (truly beloved) dentist has a hairdo to rival our new queen of hairdo (picture to yourselves: petite, lovely black woman with a heart-shaped face, big oval eyes, luscious lips, all of this topped by a GIGANTIC FLAMING RED-ORANGE-SAFFRON colored wig. It adds at least 5 inches to her height. I'm still debating whether to post a picture.) She really is the best dentist ever. But the HAIR! I never need the numbing drugs. I just concentrate on the HAIR.

Unknown said...

Bebe Zahara Benet is looking fiercer than ever!! Yay RuPaul's Drag Race!

Anonymous said...

Terry in Silver Spring said:
From the CIA World Factbook about Camaroon
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cm.html

Life expectancy: 53.69 yrs
Infant Mortality rate: 63.334/1000 live births
Major Infectious Disease degree of risk: very high
School Life Expectancy: 9 years
GDP per capita: $2,300
Unemployment rate: 30%

Just sayin'
---------------------------------------

Gee, Cameroon must be just behind the U.S. in the rankings. They're catching up!

Glennis said...

Oh, she is awesome!

samael7 said...

She's like "Acid Queen" era Tina Turner mixed with Thunderdome era Tina Turner, against a backdrop of Pucci.

And on FIYAH!

Peteykins said...

You guys all did such a good job on this. I believe this is the best reader participation EVER.