Calvin Klein's raciest ad yet ires Aussies.

The other night at Marianne Williamson's weekly lecture (yes, this cynical atheist went to hear a woman who talks about miracles and God speak--what of it??), Williamson took time to bring attention to the above billboard--the raciest ad yet from a brand that has built its name on racy ads. Calvin Klein has long sold everything from jeans to perfume to tighty whities with the attitude that sex sells. And sell, despite many controversies over the year, it has. The controversy has even become a marketing tool in itself--recently played up by the brand with a billboard on Sunset Blvd. that showed nothing but a scannable code, through which the user could see the ad's naughty bits from home--implying that the image was too risque even for the Sunset Strip.

Which brings us to the recent hype about this now-censored billboard in Australia--the nation (slash continent)'s Advertising Standards Bureau has decided that model Lara Stone looks like she may be getting raped by three handsome, if expressionless young men and has demanded the billboard come down.

Do I buy it? No, not so much. To me, it looks like her blank stare matches the gentelmen's perfectly and they're all tangled up in a consensual orgy of equal disinterest.

Perhaps, however, I'm being callous and insensitive and should be more of a stodgy feminist about all this.

What are your thoughts?

[via AOL News via Marianne Williamson]

Food Find: a history of Lamingtons, an Australian dessert of great importance.

I worked an Australian hosted event last night and was introduced to the strange and wonderful world of Lamingtons. These squares of heaven are a little known treat here in the States. But one the Aussies have perfected. If nothing else good has ever been imported to the US from Australia by way of the vast Pacific Ocean, let it be known that Lamingtons arrived last night. And they were worth the journey over.

According to this History of Cakes, a Lamington or Lemmington means 'layers of beaten gold. An Australian dessert of little cubes or squares of sponge cake, dipped in chocolate, then rolled in coconut. In Victoria (State of Australia) they often add a layer of raspberry or plum jam.' Whatever they say. They're delicious.

And speaking of the history of the cake, 2006 was an apparently rather impressive year for the Lamington. Wikipedia tells us that Friday, July 21, 2006 'was designated as National Lamington Day in Australia.' And that 'in September 2006, the National Trust of Queensland named the Lamington one of Queensland's favourite icons.' The cake is either that good. Or Australia is seriously devoid of significant cultural news.

To make your own Lamingtons, find the recipe here. Enjoy the sweet taste of Australia!