Also, being a short guy (5'4"), I found the next article particularly interesting this morning:
The long and the short of it
Illustration by James Hilston of the Post-Gazette for this article, also on height
With cosmetic surgery, we can change almost any aspect of our appearance - except our height. But with new research claiming tall people are wealthier, happier, even, some say, more intelligent, Americans are already demanding growth hormone injections for their children. But does size really matter? Simon Garfield on the culture and science of height - and how it affects our lives
In the dim and trivial past, when some of us on this fragile planet still gave a moment's thought to the marriage of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, the big issue was not the prenup, the dress or the party guests, but elevation. In his real life and his film life, Cruise had always appeared inches shorter than his new partner, but in the official wedding photos, there was a remarkable transformation: they were suddenly of equal height. Those who believed in fairy tales were inclined to put this down to the magic of Hollywood. The rest of us would have to contend with the medical miracle of a very late midlife growth spurt, or the humiliating spectacle of a hunching and barefoot bride, or the continued transformative possibilities of stacked heels. The world has moved on in so many ways since then, but few mysteries have proved so intractable.
Height is big news these days. Tall people are reported as wealthier, happier, more confident; they complain less, they are less uptight. But short people...just look at Martin Sorrell, if you can spot him among the giraffes in Court 13 at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand. Sorrell, the hugely successful advertising/marketing/public-relations executive, recently became known beyond his professional circles for another thing: his shortness.
Last week, he was suing former colleagues for libel and invasion of privacy, a case in which forensics specialists had uncovered 'vicious' images, allegations of criminal activity, the possibility of malicious character assassination and the one that really pushed the quote-of-the-week button: the prospect that he may or may not be 'a mad dwarf'.
With his friend and business partner Daniela Weber (who objected to being referred to in the same email as 'the nympho schizo'), Sorrell was fighting a battle of reputation, repudiation and decency; his barrister claimed that the slur on his height was the least of his worries. But the spin from his court battle was beyond his control. Here was a chance to talk about a successful short man in legal circumstances, and damn if we weren't going to make a meal out of it. Reports were mixed: he was somewhere between 5ft 4in and 5ft 6½in, certainly small enough to suggest that here was a boardroom Napoleon, a man in need of proving himself.
Then last week in Israel, there was talk of the lack of height in the box caused by the absence from the England football team of Peter Crouch, sidelined after a broken nose. Seemingly at least three times Sorrell's height, it has become a cliche of Crouch reporting to say, on those occasions when he actually takes the field, that he is really not too bad at controlling the ball with his feet. Ball control is often taken for granted among international footballers, but with Crouch, it is seen as an added bonus, as if he was also good at three card brag.
For what he is really good at is taking mild abuse. It never actually gets very funny: 'He's big/He's Red/His feet stick out the bed/Peter Crouch, Peter Crouch,' his Liverpool fans serenade. His response? 'Everyone's entitled to their opinion...' Analysts and managers and fellow players have judged him 'the 6ft 7in striker who does not score', 'a lovely big bag of bones', a 'clumsy beanpole'. His former team-mate Matthew Rose remembered that, 'when Peter turned up, we just saw him as a head on a stick'. Former England manager Graham Taylor said: 'You will never read just "Peter Crouch" - it will always be "Beanpole Peter Crouch".' Or, as opposing fans like to chant: 'Freak! Freak! Freak!'
Our height may be the most underestimated and under-reported determinant of our physical and mental well-being. We are comparative souls and we judge ourselves against others in endless ways, many of which we can conceal, inflate or improve. Being short or tall in a world that values conformity can be a difficult thing to live with and is not an easy thing to disguise or change. The average person, defined most often as men between 5ft 7in and 5ft 11in and women between 5ft 5in and 5ft 9in, may deny prejudice and embrace diversity, but society is less forgiving. Beyond the casual dilemmas of transport, clothes shopping and seeing nothing/blocking everything at pop concerts, there is something else at play for the short and tall: heightism, a prism through which a general fear of the strange finds a new and legitimate voice...(READ MORE)
Music News
Harlem Shakes will be touring with Tapes N' Tapes soon, a great show. Below are the tour dates:
TOUR WITH TAPES N TAPES...
4/16 Columbia, Missouri The Blue Note
4/17 St. Louis, Missouri Creepy Crawl
4/18 Nashville, Tennessee Mercy Lounge
4/20 Dallas, Texas Granada Theater
4/21 Austin, Texas Emo's
4/22 Houston, Texas Numbers
4/23 Phoenix, Arizona The Brickhouse
5/1 Santa Cruz, California The Attic
5/2 San Francisco, California Great American Music Hall
5/4 Portland, Oregon Dante's
5/5 Seattle, Washington Neumo's (recording live on KEXP earlier that day)
5/6 Vancouver, British Columbia Plaza Club
5/9 Denver, Colorado Bluebird Theater
5/10 Omaha, Nebraska Sokol Underground
5/11 Des Moines, Iowa Vaudeville Mews
5/12 Chicago, Illinois The Abbey Pub (2 SHOWS!!!)
5/14 Ottawa, Ontario Barrymore's
5/15 Montreal, Quebec Le National
5/16 Toronto, Ontario Lee's Palace
5/17 Buffalo, New York Mohawk Place
5/18 New York, New York Irving Plaza
5/19 Boston, Massachusetts Paradise Rock Club
5/22 Cleveland, Ohio Grog Shop
5/23 Columbus, Ohio The Basement
5/24 Newport, Kentucky Southgate House
Music Downloads
Featured Single - Rival Joustas' "The Masquerade"
Young progressive/electronica/punk band from the UK that tears it up. Debut single "The Masquerade" out March 26th, but you can hear it now on Veritas Lux Mea thanks to the guys from Rival Joustas.
Rival Joustas - "The Masquerade"
Rival Joustas - "The Masquerade (Friendly Bomb's Remix)"
YouTube music video of "The Masquerade"
Rival Joustas at Myspace