Rant #915: Twins

We have all known twins in our lives, people who were either born with an identical or fraternal buddy or people who just look like other people.

Growing up in Rochdale Village, Queens, New York, I was friendly with Eric and Larry. They looked alike, but were quite different people. They never saw eye to eye on much of anything, and were basically two ships at sea going in different directions. They were both good people, just so different from one another.

Then there was another person, Jay, who could have been my brother. We looked very much alike, but no, there was no hanky panky involved. We just resembled each other pretty strongly.

Later, my first wife was a twin, a fraternal twin. Her sister resembled Sandra Bullock, as I recall. My wife resembled her mother. 'Nuff said.

My wife, who I have been married to for nearly 20 years, early on told me that many people thought she looked like Adrienne Barbeau, top to bottom. She kind of does, kind of doesn't, head to toe, but to me, she is the best-looking woman on the planet.

I also believe that my maternal grandfather was a twin, but his twin died in childbirth, or something like that. I may have gotten that story wrong, maybe it wasn't him, but a close relative was a twin whose sibling died in childbirth.

I have known other twins during my lifetime, and even though they look alike, they are very, very different people.

You might remember that there was a movie called "Twins." Ahnold what's his name and Danny DeVito played fraternal twins. 'Nuff said about that one too.

And then you have people who just look like other people, like my ex-sister-in-law.

The latest example of this is that model Kate Upton, she of the famous Sports Illustrated cover, seems to have a twin somewhere in Russia.

And yes, she is pretty much a twin from top to bottom.

Evidently as a joke, young college student Ania (no last name) decided to put up on Twitter a duplicate photo of the one Kate Upton did on her famous S.I. cover.

Ania, like Upton, is blond, but the resemblance doesn't stop there.

She is tall, big and very busty like Upton, and since lots of skin was shown in that S.I. photo shoot, and lots of skin is shown in Ania's photo, it set the Internet world abuzz once again.

Yes, whether we like to admit it or not, it's what's up front that seems to count, and both Upton and Ania have proven that.

Upton even gave a thumb's up to Ania's photo, and that made the whole thing go viral and make Ania a star, at least for now.

She doesn't really think much of herself, saying something to the effect that she is a "mail-order bride" waiting to happen.

Yes, she would certainly be a "male order," she got that right.

What happens to Ania after everything dies down is anybody's guess.

I saw a picture of her other than the S.I. duplicate, and she is quite a pretty girl.

She kind of looks like Upton, kind of doesn't, but what difference does it make--is Hugh Hefner paying attention?

Anyway, it also proves another thing.

Models are looked at for their beauty, and many people hold them as the beauty ideal.

But there are beautiful women everywhere on this earth. You don't have to be a model to attest to the fact that beautiful women are everywhere, and some just go into a profession that exploits their looks.

Others become teachers, nurses, doctors, or stay home and watch the kids.

Yes, Kate Upton is beautiful, but I am sure that in your town, there are plenty of ladies that would be her rival for beauty.

Ania just happens to be one, in Russia of all places, but I am sure there are plenty of other Anias around the world, too.

And as they say, beauty is only skin deep ...

That's what they say, at least.