The Return of The HimPlus Roundup

We’ve been bad bloggers of late. Dragged ourselves through September with only an occasional post, then October stepped up to beat us with a long-stemmed pumpkin.

There’s stuff we want to write about. Honest! Real stuff! But lately there’s been more life to live than time to write about it.

So, don’t go away, please. Don’t think we’re finished with this blog just because we’ve not shared much lately. We’re still here. The blog heart still beats.

And to prove it, here’s a HimPlus Roundup! Betty White, Chrissie Hynde, and Time magazine’s declaration that the “Cougar” phenomenon might be a media creation …

J.P., Chrissie and the Fairground Boys

Chrissie Hynde and her new band recently ended a tour in support of their album, an album that has as its hook her love affair with a younger man. He approached her at a party. They chatted. Next thing you know, they’re together in Havana writing songs. “He was learning to stand,” Chrissie sings in the opening track, “when I was wearing my first wedding band.”

Reports Chrissie on her web site:

“We’ve been truthful on this album. We’ve proven that two people can love each other, override their base desires, and distill the love into something musical, something elevated, something rock and roll.”

I’ve listened to a few tracks, and Hynde’s voice sounds fabulous as ever. The young man, J.P., sings out of some place between Tom Waits’ growl and the earnest rasp of John “Cougar” Mellencamp.

Oh yes I did! I used "Cougar" with Mellencamp.

J.P., who is 32 and Welsh, and Chrissie, who is 58, co-wrote the album, and each track is a kind of duet. The tracks I’ve heard have energy and edge, and they’re not always pretty, but ain’t that how it goes?

SPEAKING OF WALES

A psychologist from the University of Cardiff has declared that there is no Cougar phenomenon. According to Time magazine, Michael Dunn has released a study based on his review of dating sites in which he finds a statistically insignificant portion of older women seeking younger men.

And here I go, quoting Time quoting the Australian Associated Press quoting this guy from Wales: "I do believe the cougar phenomenon is a myth and, yes, a media construct."

In its article, Time immediately notes that the phenomena DOES exist if you ask the right people, such as a woman who wrote a book called Cougar: A Guide for Older Women Dating Younger Men.

BETTY WHITE IS NO COUGAR, BUT SHE LOOKS CUTE WITH THE EARS

And, finally, Betty White told Parade magazine in an article published a week or so ago that though she might lust for Robert Redford (14 years younger) she’s not really a Cougar … “I’ve always liked older men,” Parade quotes her as saying. “They’re just more attractive to me. Of course, at my age there aren’t that many left!”