pretty pleasing in pink

Someone I know who recently attended a business seminar said that their speaker gave them a very important success tip: "There is a particular shade of pink which, if worn to a business proposal presentation, would ensure the wearer of an approval."

Since I make a lot of sales/advertising/creative pitches myself, I scoured the Internet for pics of men in pink, so I could get an idea of what shade that might be. Check them out:

Players in Pink: The Catani Football Team (above) and the Middlesex Country Cricket Club (below) dress up in support of breast cancer awareness.

Posing in Pink: Men on the street, from Asia to the U.K.

Pop Group in Pink: Japanese boy band Arashi during their Around Asia Tour 2008.

Prickly in Pink: Sprockettes (All-Ladies Mini Bike Dance Troup) tees look cool on angry-looking guys.

Pumped-up in Pink: Wrestler Dave Batista at WWE's Diva of the Year 2009 (where he did a "Kenya West").

Prisoners in Pink: Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio introduced pink fashion to disgruntled inmates.

Baby pink, medium pink or hot pink? Which shade made you like (or trust) the wearer more?

The way I see it, any pink shirt can make a tough guy look tame, and a hardened criminal appear harmless.

But beware, it can make guys look downright silly, too!

(Top Pic) The pink Fujio Akatsuka Bearbrick was created by the Beams retail chain in Japan to promote Mangart Beams T, the new line of Manga-inspired Tees at their concept shop in Daikanyama, Tokyo.

The bear is based on the Iyami character created by Fujio Akatsuka (1935-2008), a famous Japanese manga artist. You can check out his official website here.

Bearbrick pic by Yours Truly / Other pics from weeklytimesnow.com, dailymail.co.uk, bamboolounge.friedeye.com, a-man-fashion.blogspot.com, ynaoblivious.livejournal.com, sprockettes.org, wrestlegasm.com, themormonworker.wordpress.com

what's in a name?

All my brothers' names, including mine, start with the letter "A". Antonio, Ariel (me), Armond, and Achilles. I don't know if the letter had any significance to my parents – it never occurred to me to ask them.

What I was told, however, was that my grandmother (who was into names and numerology) made sure we had lucky names. According to her, the letters in people's names corresponded to numbers. And these numbers all fell under four different fates: Buenas (lucky), Penosa (painful), Peligrosa (dangerous), and Muerte (death). Now, don't ask me if this is a fair segregation – apart from one, all the others seem to suck.

Do I believe in this kind of thing? I don't know. But I sure got fascinated by what people said about the name of Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino boxer who is currently the world's best. They say his name is very lucky indeed: "Manny" sounds like "money", while "Pacquiao" sounds like "pakyaw" (which means "to get everything" in the Filipino language).

Interesting analysis, for Pacquiao now ranks 6th in Forbes.com's list of the world richest athletes. :-)

So parents, how about naming your baby "Euro", "Dollar", or "Gazillionaire"? LOL

(Top) The Fujio Akatsuka Bearbrick with the letter "A" on its chest was created by the Beams retail chain in Japan to promote Mangart Beams T, the new line of Manga-inspired Tees at their concept shop in Daikanyama, Tokyo.

The bear is a representation of Fujio Akatsuka (1935-2008), a famous Japanese manga artist who created many famous cartoon characters such as Daddy Bakabon (see t-shirt below). You can check out his official website here.