Triumph the Insult Dog is a hand puppet that made his debut on the 1997 Conan O’Brien show – Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The man behind the puppet is Robert Smigel, and the humour is certainly an acquired taste. The puppet is incredibly crude and his jokes centre around ridiculing celebrities, or mocking bystanders involved in celebrity issues or events. One such encounter was at the Santa maria courthouse in 2005 for Michael Jackson’s trial where he innately yelled “No one knows yet if he’s innocent or guilty. But there’s one thing we do know…He’s guilty!.

The puppet has been featured in segments with Joan Rivers, Bon Jovi, Heather Lochlear and numerous other celebrities and TV personalities along with comedy events. Triumph was famously thrown out of the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston with Michael Moore, where the pair proceeded to harass organisers but were refused re-entry.

Americans have long been labelled as being unable to laugh at themselves, and this character is a satirical statement in reaction to this, hence his sparse popularity in the US. Consequentially, he abuses others but never pokes fun at himself. Lacking in this most endearing and likable form of humour leaves many viewers dissatisfied and unimpressed. It is little wonder that MTV removed Triumph’s segment from their re broadcasting of the MTV Video Music Awards.

BLK1 Article: CAILTLIN REID

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Being Canada’s most recognised fashion event of the year, L’Oreal fashion week kicked off in Toronto featuring designers from all over. With new sponsors and marketing teams, Toronto was to host a new and improved runway.

Unlike Paris and Montreal, with the staple colour palate being mainly black on black, Toronto featured a youthful array of rich hues and wild metallic’s, creating the transition from day to night wear to easy for words.

With every girl’s favourite doll, the infamous Barbie, celebrating her 50th anniversary, David Dixon wowed spectators with a Barbie inspired collection. You didn’t have to see the show to imagine what pieces were like. Pink, Pink and more pink. Tailored classics owned the runway, ensembles which every working woman would definitely have hanging in her wardrobe after the seeing the very Pink show. Not only did Dixon have one spectacular show, he also showcased a second collection, which was filled with bold choices and mixes of patterns and fabrics.

Having a powerful feminine vibe, one of the yearly favourites, Andy the Anh presented another breath taking and dreamy collection. With a soft neutral earthy colour theme, long and cropped over coats in soft coco browns with luscious silk lining, only to be worn by the most sophisticated women, were favourite pieces of the collection. Silk skirts which hugged the hippy models figures and flattering blouses and tunic pinafores in milky creams celebrated the power of women.

Canadian Project runway contenders even got to test their collections on the runway, bringing youthful designs to the cat walk.

Both the men and women ready to wear collections were all standouts. Toronto tastefully made the new trends for fall/winter 09 stand out from other fashion weeks around the globe.

BLK1 Article: EMILIE BANKOVIC

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