HKIS 11th Annual Fashion Show - March 20th 2010

We had the privilege of sponsoring the 11th Annual HKIS Fashion Show last Saturday. This is a huge event in the international school/high society circle every year, and we were truly impressed (but not surprised!) to see all of their state of the art equipment and the grade A production that these students put on! In addition to a roster of the hippest and most prestigious sponsors, the event also showcased a slew of HKIS's student talents. So many juicy talents under one roof, and in my head I boldly dubbed a few of these kids "The Next Tom Fords," "The Wilder Thomas Wyldes," "The Future of Couture."

We pulled out all our best new stock, and because we opened the show for them it was super energetic and explosive! We were quite relieved to have been able to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the fantastic show without having to continue worrying about whether our clothes were fitting properly or if there'd be any wardrobe malfunctions. Luckily, everything worked out perfectly and everything looked fabulous on these young'uns of course! Here are some of the outfits:

One amazing aspect and advantage of having the funds to attend these prestigious (aka. bank-breaking) schools is that they have the ability to not only give high quality education and whip up these spectacularly lavish fashion shows, but they also have the means to organize a variety of meaningful and life-altering outreach activities as well. Every year the kids spend a week outside of school in different parts of the world, giving back to society and experiencing eye-opening real-life situations among people who live in extreme poverty. This year they spent a week in Thailand with Habitat for Humanity, building houses and spending time with the village kids. These experiences teach these high society kids to care about the world around them and outside of what they've known their whole lives. And opens their hearts to discover the differences that each of them can make and the significance that they each hold in this world.

HKIS's charity doesn't stop there. These annual fashion shows are also held for charitable causes. They raised $500,000 with this year's show! We appreciate and admire the work they've done and will continue to do, and are so happy to have been involved in a small part in this year's fundraising efforts.

BLOOD FALLS

Blood Falls on Taylor Glacier, Antarctica.

No, that red substance you're seeing is not ACTUALLY blood, but it sure as hell looks like it!

The story goes like this: About 5 million years ago, the Taylor Glacier accumlated down Dry Valley in Eastern Antarctica and over a small lake, completely sealing the lake from the rest of the world. This lake's inhabitants consists of "an ancient community of microbes" that evolved and have miraculously survived there with no oxygen and minimal heat, recycling sulphate to survive all these years. The water in the lake is too salty for it to freeze (I wonder why? Must investigate the science behind this!), with an excessive amount of iron in it which gives it its red color (tah-dah!). 17 different kinds of microbes have been found so far! Makes me think: If global warming eventually brings this glacier to its demise, and scientists are actually able to get into this lake, what in god's icy earth will they find in there next?? I mean, think of the creatures they've found in the deep sea.. there must be some gems at the bottom of this one!

If you look on the bottom-left side of the picture up top you'll see a small half circle that looks kind of like a beachball. That is no beachball, it's actually a tent placed there so we can see the magnitude of this bloody waterfall. It's 5 stories high!

Some people are saying that the discovery of such a tenaciously adaptable ecosystem on Earth lends credence to the possibility of life on other planets. If Earth has held up for so long against all the abuse we put it through everyday, imagine how much more nature could thrive without our interference (like this lake here under the Taylor Glacier)!

Thoughts?