Dartblog

Like so much of the Internet, I’m following Power Line’s cue. John Hinderaker alerts us that it is time for the Miss Universe pageant. The main event happens in Mexico City on May 28, and will be broadcast into the television sets of eager viewers the world over by NBC. Principally, though, what you will want to do is to become familiar with the contestants. John is right, I think, in observing that the photography on the website is a touch too frantic, but if you click around enough you can find relatively candid shots.

John’s rooting for Miss Brazil, Natalia Guimaraes. She wants to be an architect. She’s also sort of vixen-y, which goes against my closely held beliefs about who ought to occupy the throne of the universe. Here you see my favorite: Lyudmila Bikmullina of the Ukraine. The best thing about these pageants is that they have nothing whatever to do with wealth or fame or celebrity. These are normal girls. Take Ms. Bikmullina. I suppose she is about twenty-three, which means that she was a small girl during the storm of the independence movement and the swift foundering of the Ukrainian economy.

She writes that she “want[s] the judges to know that I’ve come so far in this contest and in my life because of the great support of my family. We had a very rough life in Ukraine. After the country became independent, the political situation became critical and people’s lives became very hard. My father’s business failed and my mom was a doctor earning $100 USD a month. My 70-year-old grandma was the main financial support in my family before I started making some money modeling in Asia. My parents sacrificed everything to give me and my sister a good education and a chance to be successful in this world. Maybe I was born in the wrong time for my country, but I was and am definitely in the right family.”

A cheer for Lyudmila! Good luck to her next week.