Project Runway 4 - Rami vs. Chris

I love the season's penultimate Project Runway episode for one primary reason: Tim Gunn visits each designer in their home environment and meets their families. Reality television does the meet-the-family gimmick well when it's down to the finalists and Project Runway has been touching and surprising in the past. (Another reality show that does this well is American Idol.)

This season around, Tim Gunn doesn't travel all that much. It's three stops in New York and one cross-country trip to L.A. The rundown:

Christian in NYC
Inspiration: romantic gothic look
Tim's comment: "It's a lot of look." Needs editing eye.
Family time: We don't get to meet Christian's family. Instead Christian points to photos of his sister, his parents. There's no explanation for this and this makes the segment disappointing. I disliked Christian at first, but he grew on me. Apparently I wasn't the only one because at last week's reunion episode, Christian won the $10,000 cash prize for being voted the Fan Favorite. But couldn't he get a posse together to introduce to Tim Gunn? Doesn't Christian have any friends?

Jillian in NYC
Inspiration: continuing with the museum idea by using 15th century armor, etc. for inspiration
Tim's comment: "Your palette is a cloudy day."
Family time: Tim Gunn is invited to the Long Island home where Jillian grew up. We meet her boyfriend, her mom and sisters; they are all good-looking. A sharp contrast to the disheveled man in a trucker cap and unkempt facial hair. It's not clear if this is Jillian's father or stepfather, but it's delightful to see that they've all rallied around Jillian with pride.

Rami in L.A.
Inspiration: Joan of Arc
Tim's comment: "Pull it back a bit." The heavy clothing looks put together with hammer and nails.
Family time: Rami introduces Tim to his best friends, an attractive young couple. Rami told a story about growing up with the compulsion to keep his designing talent a secret because he was in an Arabic culture and because it wasn't masculine, etc. But his brother, father, and stepmother supported him. "They've always known this is what I wanted to do."

Chris March in NYC
Inspiration: beauty with a quirk - 95% fashion and 5% costume
Tim's comment: Human hair doesn't work. "You've been living in the monkey house."
Family time: Chris takes Tim Gunn to a friend's home that is decorated in opulent Rococo and Baroque style where his "New York family" of friends have gathered. He mentions that his four brothers have relegated each of his achievements as yet "another thing Chris is doing." This includes dressing in drag, having a career in costume design, and getting on television via Project Runway. Chris didn't speak of any pride or support from his family. It struck me as sad.

In this season's gimmick of having a run-off between two designers for the chance to show at Fashion Week, Rami and Chris present their three strongest looks. All Rami had to do was make something that didn't look like a Grecian goddess. Chris created innovative designs, but the use of human hair made every judge cringe. Chris is out.


I preferred Chris's designs over Rami's, but a costume designer can't beat a red carpet designer. Certainly not on Project Runway.

Chris had already gone farther than he deserved. He was already eliminated once and if it wasn't for Jack's medical emergency and the judges' decision to bring Chris back, he would've been a footnote to Project Runway. Did they bring him back for entertainment purposes only?

So it's Jillian, Christian, and Rami as the final three. Having seen glimpses of their collections, I'm guessing the judges will give it to Christian. We'll know by next week.

Triple Homage

SNL seriously rocked the other night, so much so it's said that the show scored the best ratings in 2 years. Congrats writers! The break worked! And Tina Fey helped a wee bit. Where do I start...

The homage to Obama and Hilary was too funny! And then the homage to Rock of Love with Bret Michaels was too much for my little dirty heart. Tina Fey is too much in this. And Kristen Wiig looked exactly like Peyton and sounded dead on, check it out, soooo freaking me out. I love it.

Next, an homage to There Will Be Blood's Daniel Plainview, ok this was really freaking me out and I don't know how Bill Hader kept a straight face through this one.

And the best homage was to the duty we all face as women, the dreaded PERIOD. Thank goodness we have Annuale!



p.s. Next week's episode:

Ellen Page (and WILCO!) on March 1st

Kate's Baby

I've been running around LA lately...the Getty Center...Stage 2 @ Hollywood Studios...Hollywood Blvd...so I didn't get a chance to let y'all know how much I loved the last LOST episode. Gee whiz the LOST team has gone baby crazy with the latest episode Eggtown. Claire’s got the little one, Sun is preggers and NOW Kate in the FUTURE (I love these future flashbacks now) has a KID- like a 2 yr old and his name is Aaron. It's getting good folks. Whose baby is it? Jack's? Sawyer's? I'd like it to be someone else’s. But my guess it's Sawyer's but Jack is pissed about it in the future and won't see Kate because it's Sawyers. Right?

Correction- OOPS- Ok, I'm a big dummy and didn't get that Claire's baby is Aaron, although I still think it's weird. So there must be something special about Aaron and now we know that his mommy is dead?!! So just wanted to add that as I'm a big dork. This is what happens when you watch episodes online trying to catch up. :)

I also want to go on record as claiming Locke and Sayid as my favorite characters. They are easily underestimated continually...all the time and it makes for good story and character development. What is Locke to do now? He's getting nothing out of Ben and his dictatorship won't go far with Sawyer brooding and Jack plotting. Is Sayid lost now? He didn't make it to the ship. Or so we think...I hope he comes back! And it would be nice if his shirt were half falling off and displaying his toned muscles and broad shoulders like last time we saw him. (hee hee)

Idol Worship

Blah blah blah Obama, blah blah blah Hillary. Yeah I know all that political stuff is important for our future, but you can’t vote for these people via unlimited text messaging! It’s prime idol season people, time for 12 on 12 boy girl action! The boys were first to take the stage last night, with girls to follow this evening. Here is a breakdown of some of my picks for best and worst:


David Archuleta – WTF?


I don’t see what is so great about this little castrate. Why Randy Jackson likes this boy so much is a mystery, Randy even spontaneously sang along with him at auditions, not acceptable! All the attention is always put on which contestant Paula is sleeping with, but I think we should set our sights on this NAMBLA worthy paring. Randy is definitely helping little Davey hit the high notes. Unfortunately I think this boy will be around in the final 10.


Jason Castro – Side Show Bob has some competition


This young man is pretty good except for the fact that he looks like the offspring of Bob Marley and Jeremy Sisto. Interesting looks and dreads will get this guy to the final 10, but he won’t win. Lose the guitar.


Jason Yeager – Osmond and the Omen

This guy is cruise ship scary and to make things worse he has a freaky little demon offspring cheering him on in the audience. Definitely Osmond inspired crooning, unfortunately he will be around for a bit. I swear that Seacrest introduces him as “Chasin’ Jaeger” which is good for a laugh. But seriously, someone needs to shave his kid's head and check for “the mark”, I think the Anti-Christ is among us.


Michael Johns – Pick of the night


This is my hands down favorite of the night. He’s from Georgia but moved there from Australia. Randy said he had a real “Michael Hutchence” thing going on. Hopefully this young lad doesn’t take that to heart and incorporate autoerotic asphyxiation into his next performance. Hang in there dude with two first names, take off that scarf before you hurt yourself!

My loser picks (not video worthy):

Chickezie – The name alone makes you a loser.
Peach colored suit was the nail in the coffin.

Luke Menard – How did you get on the show?
Picture a bad Kenny Loggins impersonation.


Make sure to tune in tonight for the ladies.

Oh Baby It's Knight Time!

I was watching the return of Knight Rider last night on NBC when I realized about oh, 30 minutes in that I didn't really watch this when I was younger. I mean, I remember Hasselhoff, the talking car and the big rig that drove around to pick it up. But I found myself asking my husband, hey, what was Knight Rider about? Because I couldn't seem to figure out what the heck I was watching and why. I watched the A-Team, Dukes of Hazard, and The Great American Hero but I only remember seeing Kit at Universal Studios when I was twelve. And I remember my brother sitting in the car thinking he was all bad ass or something. I just remember the blinking lights and computerized voice and looking for Mr. T who was from the other show.

Anyway, we really wanted to see the return of the Hasselhoff last night. We forwarded through on our Tivo last night and it wasn't completed (2 hr show!) so to no avail I went to asleep without seeing the german superstar. I woke up this morning, tivoed it all the way thru...and there... at the very end at the cemetery greeting the next Knight Rider himself...in all his spent out glory...the Hasselhoff! Michael Mike! Who died? I don't know because I didn't watch it. But the art direction of the flowers on the coffin was primo. And Michael Mike's suit was nice. Oh wait I'm watching right now...it was his little Mike's mother who died. Very sad. His mom loved him from the "very first day." Isn't that normal? And wait, there's a legend, 25 years..."a man made a difference." Oh geeeezzz...and then he says, "Take care of yourself." This dialogue is wearing on me. Is this a mini-series? a one time TV movie? Hope so, I hope it goes nighty night. Goodbye.

p.s. Also, this was a really good Ford commercial for the Shelby Mustang. Way to go Ford. Nice beauty shots and good job getting Val Kilmer to do Kitt's voice. And I like the color change and spin outs.

In Good Taste

Project Runway 4 - ep. 11 - The Met

Project Runway taught me two lessons tonight: even if you have one look such as draping in your designs, you can still be in. And if you can bring the drama, you can be in even though you were already out in an early episode.

The elimination challenge: Design a look that showcases your vision as a designer using artwork from The Metropolitan Museum of Art as inspiration.

I envied the remaining five designers and Tim Gunn for having three rooms of the Met all to themselves. To document their inspiration, the designers took photos with provided digital cameras. How I'd love permission to take photos in a museum!

Rami chose a statue of Aphrodite and justified making yet another dress with draping.

Chris, inspired by a painting of a noblewoman, seemed more inspired by the avant garde dress he co-designed and co-executed with Christian a couple of weeks ago. Guest judge Roberto Cavalli never saw that dress so he didn't see the echo so obvious to the rest of the judges and to those of us in the audience.

Christian wins. Rami and Chris were in the bottom two, but the judges deem Rami and Chris good enough to stay in. Huh? Yes, once again, Project Runway changes its own rules for determining the final three. Once again, we don't even have a final three! Last season they weakly declared, "You're all good enough for Bryant Park so you're the final four!" This season it's: "We don't want to make a decision yet so you're the final four!"

Sweet P is the only one eliminated in this episode. It's a cruel move.

Jillian, Christian, Rami and Chris will take time off to design a collection. But before showing at Bryant Park, Rami and Chris need to show their three strongest pieces and the judges will eliminate one of them.

Favorite quotes:

• "I'm passionate about draping." - Rami's defense for his design
• "I sew fast. Get over it." - Christian while making several individual pieces for his look

My prediction for the big finale:

Rami to be eliminated, Chris to make the final three. Jillian to win, Christian to place.

Magic Fingers

I'm so excited but I promise I won't piss my pants again! An old movie house- The Empress- circa 1911- less than a mile from my house opens next month! The plan for now is old movies, new movies and performing arts. I couldn't be happier about this. I'm going to convince them to host events like a live broadcast of the Oscars (like a movie house in El Cerrito and Oakland) and maybe have old runs of TV shows. Old movie houses make me happy, I don't care if they are old. This audience member is not fading! In fact, I've got a love of old things- old homes (my house is more than 85 years old), old furniture (all my furniture is antique except for 2 pieces), old books, old TV shows, old pictures, even (aghast) old people.

Anyway, speaking of old...old news...an old machine...CNN. I've been under the rock called CNN for the last few weeks. On its website, news alerts, on TV, all about one thing--- this presidential primary election. But I tell you this--the new (but really old) news game I can't stand. It's full of familiar story angles, gawdy baseless accusations, and vague, broad pontifications.

But I can't seem to stop watching. It hasn't been this bad since the 2000 election. And I keep reminding myself that - that CNN watching period ended badly. I went to sleep knowing that Gore was president and then woke up the next morning to Bush as president. WT!?!? Bad times... Tomorrow night is another big showdown and CNN will be playing hard in my house. And I'll keep on making funny faces at the monitor- chiding their news alerts of calling states, laughing at their “political” experts and rolling my eyes at the magic fingers that zero in on counties, cities and states on their magic wall. I want one of those boards in my house, where I've got a magic finger on my precious to do list and I just keep striking things out with red highlights and making green circles for my husband's to do list. A girl can dream...

Hallelujah!

Writers to pick up their laptops tomorrow? Tuesday? I almost don't want to go on as I might jinx it...

Project Runway 4 - ep. 10 - WWE

The most exposed busts and booty in a Project Runway episode ever!

What I thought was an overly gimmicky challenge -- create an outfit for a World Wrestling Entertainment diva to wear in the ring (can you feel my eyeballs rolling into the back of my head?) -- turns out to be an interesting way to weed the designers down to five.

For who would want to get sent home for failing this challenge? The closest similar challenge in Project Runway history was designing an outfit for an Olympic figure skater. But WWE? Instead of going to Mood for their fabrics, Tim Gunn took the designers to a place called Spandex House.

Rami seemed bewildered that he couldn't drape anything. Sweet P couldn't wrap her head around the entertainment value needed for the design. Chris and Christian easily adjusted to the costume aspect of the challenge. Jillian and Ricky had moments of self-doubt.

Fittingly, Chris wins the tackiest challenge this season, but his green leopard hoodie was truly a scene stealer. And finally, FINALLY Ricky is out! The judges criticized Ricky for designing an orange bathing suit. I'll miss Ricky's crying, but not really.

Favorite quotes:

• "It's the classy sexpot, not the whore sexpot." - Candace describing her style to Sweet P
• "It's like Eva Gabor in Green Acres!" - Tim's horrified reaction to Sweet P's design
• "I feel like the Pope at a sex club." - Michael Kors on seeing all the WWE divas in their outfits

Tim Gunn with the Funny Man!

Did you see Tim Gunn on The Daily Show the other day? He was so funny with the funny man. My friend Wella reviews Project Runway on here, check it out! Project Runway is great as Jon Stewart says here in this interview because people actually make something.

Growing out of MTV

This is the worst thing ever!


I had to share it here, because MTV doesn't air videos anymore. No forum for the horrible and beautiful music videos anymore unless you've got MTV2 and well the internet. But seriously isn't it crazy that every Saturday for the last 6 months MTV has been airing marathons ALL DAY of America's Next Top Model. I mean, how much can you take. But I believe this is further evidence that I'm getting old and MTV can't deliver anything to me anymore. I was in the test market for it when I was a kid, we were in the cable market that got it so I was watching Van Halen videos starting at age 6. And I thought my love for MTV would last well into my late years but...lately I'm doubting my loyalty to Road Rules, Real World, etc. I think the old MTV left a long time ago and I've just been in denial.

Just a side note...the budget for Heidi's video must have been so sad, one location, two outfits, one handheld camera, plus factor in the fake boobs equals a HOT MESS.