Ripped from the wires

While I was in Seattle last week I came across this story in the Seattle Times. I offer it as evidence that journalism in Seattle is not, as some have said, dead or dying. Read this excerpt and watch for the word "basement."

Taking it all off: the lowdown on the Brazilian wax

By Pamela Sitt
Seattle Times staff reporter

For bringing the Brazilian bikini wax to Seattle, Anne Uhlir credits actress Demi Moore.

Uhlir, who waxes everything from eyebrows to panty lines, had been called to the Four Seasons Hotel to give the visiting Moore a standard bikini wax — only it wasn't.

"She was like, 'I want the full monty' (translation: everything off)," Uhlir recalls, "and I said, 'Are you sure?' "

That brief 1999 encounter launched Uhlir's Wax On Spa on Capitol Hill, specializing in "the full monty" — commonly known as the Brazilian bikini wax. Wax On — the self-proclaimed "Home of the Brazilian Bikini Wax" — is one of a growing number of local salons to offer the Brazilian, which is a very thorough removal of one's pubic hair. ...

"What makes a Brazilian a Brazilian is when I 'clean the basement,' " said Pegi Carnahan, who does at least five a day at ARIA Salon on Capitol Hill. "It's Brazilian (thong-style) swimwear that requires that kind of intense wax, which is why they call it a Brazilian."

I just came from Holden Village, where it's hard to convince people to clean the bathrooms. I wonder what they'd say if they knew there are people whose job it is to wax the hair off people's "basements."