Dated!

I started watching my Grey’s Anatomy season 2 dvds and was really struck by a lot of things. The first was that the show used to be really good. Even in the midst of that goodness, I noticed that watching episodes one after the other revealed patterns that were not obvious when the shows were spread out over a whole season. The writers seemed to like some lines a lot, and used them in various episodes, giving them to different characters. The Izzy/Denny story line seemed even less probable this time around; what would make them fall in love so quickly, and why weren’t stronger measures used when Izzy’s actions were revealed? Why weren’t the police called? Something that big couldn’t stay a hospital matter.

Derek was really indecisive, and his wishy-washiness really angered me a lot. He wanted to have his cake and eat it, too, and now I see why other characters considered him so insufferable. I still feel for poor Mer, though, and don’t think that she was as annoying as other viewers find her. A lot of crappy stuff happens to her, and it’s not usually her fault.
So that show has held up reasonably well. But then I finished with Grey’s and decided to watch Veronica Mars. I got hooked on that show after having heard so many of my friends rave about it. I’d spent 24 snowy hours of a blizzard watching all of those episodes, and then the first half of the second seaon. So when I popped in the first dvd of season 1, I was prepared to be bowled over all over again. While the funny lines are there, the acting is off and the really low production values are kind of glaring. There are green screens for everything, including every car scenes. The supporting actors are often pretty terrible. The videography is cheap-looking. So I don’t know if I wasn’t into noticing things like that back then, or if I just didn’t care. I sort of think I didn’t notice.

With both shows, it’s fun to watch characters evolve, and to see little things that I forgot happened. I had remembered that Veronica and Logan hadn’t gotten along in the beginning, but I hadn’t remembered that she and Weevil hadn’t been pals to begin with, either. It seems to me that Grey’s has aged better, but that probably has to do with a more polished cast and way higher production values. Also, VM is so steeped in teen culture, which changes so quickly that even things from last year can sometimes seem dated. Paris Hilton guest-starred in one of these episodes, and now she’s not even relevant as a punch line.

Too Funny Not to Share

I wanted to share a video that I first saw on Jezebel, because it is just that hilarious.

Good news!

Yay! A judge announced that Imam Mohammad Qatanani, a local Muslim cleric, will be allowed to stay in the United States. Imam Qatanani had been charged with having ties to Hamas, and failing to disclose a related prior conviction in Israel. Some of the evidence presented included a signed confession from Mr. Qatanani, obtained after he’d been detained and tortured in Israel for three months. The confession was in Hebrew, a language he does not speak. He did not realize that he’d been convicted during his detention, and therefore did not report it when he applied to be a United States citizen.

According to Judge Alberto Riefkohl, the case presented by the Department of Homeland Security lacked evidence and credibility. I’ve been following this case, and I’m glad that it has such a happy ending. Imam Qatanani is beloved not only in the Islamic community, but has also been supported by many non-Muslims; rabbis, pastors, lawmakers, FBI agents, and other concerned citizens in the Paterson area were vocal in their support of Mr. Qatanani, and they, too, shared in the joy of learning that he will not be deported from the United States.

I don’t understand how our government can condone and participate in actions like this. Not only do we have Guantanamo Bay, which is more of a disgrace every day, we also allow people to be taken to other nations specifically for torture, and accept from other nations information received by people who are mistreated, if not the victims of outright torture. Every day, in addition to the possibility of death, our troops face being kidnapped, tortured, and forced to give false confessions in hostile nations. We view this with the utmost condemnation, as well we should. So how can we believe that this is okay when the person being tortured is not American (by birth, at least)?

I’m glad that Imam Qatanani’s story has a happy ending, and that after all the physical, emotional, and legal hurdles, he can go back to focusing on his family and his work in the community. I’m just sad that this goes on at all, and that there are probably people in this situation with fewer resources or supporters, whose stories don’t end as happily.

Then they came for the librarians

I don’t normally end up laughing in actual amusement when I read editorials in the New York Times. Mostly, I’m laughing in disbelief, like “Did s/he really just say that?” So I was pretty shocked today to find what Gail Collins had to say to be both salient and amusing. The salience was already the icing on the cake, so the amusement factor was wholly unexpected, yet appreciated. Here’s the column.

Apparently, my nausea last night meant that I missed the part where Palin bragged about threatening to fire the town librarian for refusing to censor books. Sorry, but even if the rest of your speech didn’t make me feel ill, I would never have cheered at the thought of using mayoral power to threaten a librarian. It’s not the job of librarians to censor books. If you’re concerned with your children’s reading habits, or what they may be exposed to, visit the library with them and talk about what you do or do not want them to read. This is another part of parenting. I think enough people have piled onto Palin’s parental fitness with not nearly enough evidence, so I don’t say that expecting the library to do this is bad parenting. I will, however, say that it is passing off important family decisions that people probably should not expect strangers to make for them.

STELLA!!!

It’s kind of funny that I got traffic last week based on my post about Keith. I’m strangely flattered that, of all the people out there snickering at Keith, a blogger at the SL Tribune found it in his heart to single me out. I doubt that any New York sites are clamoring for my take on Stella’s exit, but I’m going to give it to you all anyway.

The loser: I thought that Stella’s earlier outfits were really interesting, and I’m sad that the quality of her work decreased so appreciably. Also, I like the way she says “leathuh.” Have you noticed that the last three people eliminated had been in the bottom two the week before their departure? Or was it four? There was the boring “surrealist” person who I refuse to look up and she went home at some point in recent memory, so I’m just going to say four here. So at least the judges are paying attention to who isn’t bringing the awesome. If pattern holds, I guess Joe might be out of here next week, but his previous work was was kind of all over the place in quality, so he might bounce back and end up winning the challenge.

The Winner: I was happy for Leanne, because at the beginning of this season I couldn’t figure out which one she was, and now I recognize her before they put her name up on the screen. Progress. Plus! Her dresses are really cute and I would wear some of them. Not the one that won tonight, though; I am an Amex cardholder, but I’m 99% sure that dress would not look any good on me. Also, she’s funny, and the previews for next week make it seem like she was kind of pissing off Kenley which, in my eyes, can never be wrong.

Everybody else:
A lot of people are getting sick of Terri, and I guess she may be more annoying than they edit her to seem. But two of those people are bitchy Kenley and bitchier Jerell, so what does that mean? While I’m not sold on her being annoying, I do find it easier to see what the other designers mean when they talk about her not having many looks. Everything she makes is excellent, but all really similar. I wonder if the judges are going to mention that soon. I think that if it all hadn’t been so well-executed, she would have had problems before this. They don’t usually let designers coast on the same design for this long even, so she may be overdue, or maybe her stuff just isn’t as similar as I think it is.

Korto makes me really nervous, because during the runway shows she gets heaps of praise and doesn’t seem at all happy with it. What does it take to make this woman crack a smile? She’s often really excited and hopeful about her designs in the workroom, but not so much later on. I wonder how much enthusiasm helps your case, and whether she isn’t doing herself a disservice with the extreme stoicism. Blayne isn’t as orange as he used to be, and his designs have also improved as the show has progressed. I believe that these two facts are related. I refuse to give Suede any serious thought until he stops using the third person so frequently.

What ever happened to kindness?

I am not the world’s most enthusiastic Obama supporter, but enough of my positions are close to his that I feel comfortable voting for him. I don’t feel like the Republican party addresses my concerns, but I’v never actively hated them, or regarded them with the ridicule that I see in a lot of my Democrat peers. I understand that 2008 is an election year, and people will do what they feel necessary to try to get elected. STILL I was disgusted by both Rudy Guiliani and Sarah Palin’s speeches. Guiliani has no hope of getting elected to a higher office than the one he’s already held, so it didn’t hurt him to give a nasty, unsubtle, totally negative speech about the Democratic candidates. He has nothing to lose and it bought him a little goodwill from people who six months ago wouldn’t have spit on him if he was on fire.

But I was totally unprepared for how nasty Palin’s speech was. She’s been raked over the coals by a lot of people in the last week, but the Democratic ticket did not participate in the very public rehashing of all of her family’s business. They didn’t condemn either her or her daughter, and didn’t question Palin’s decision to stay in the presidential race. So why would Palin give such a dirty speech, and take cheap shot after cheap shot at Obama? The qualifications and half-truths were bad enough, but outright lies about death taxes and clean coal really make me wonder why the Republican powers that be would think it necessary to craft and deliver this speech. It definitely played to the rabid base in the convention hall, but I can’t imagine it going over well with moderates. And for somebody who considers herself a strong and committed Christian, I really wonder how such a dirty attack could be considered in any way Christ-like. In terms of delivery, she totally nailed her speech. In terms of content, Ms. Palin did little to solidify her own party’s positions on issues and gave the kind of light-on-actual-information speech that Republicans often accuse Obama of giving.

Maybe

I reconsidered my initial position on Mad Men, so I may have to do the same with Dr. Horrible. I didn’t like it when I last watched it, but I’m really pro-Whedon, and I’m totally fascinated by this MetaFilter post.

The price I pay for vanity

I bought these shoes for Christine’s wedding:

Gorgeous shoes of death

They are really pretty, but I suspect that they might not be the most comfortable things ever. I’ve been wearing them for the last fifteen minutes just to get used to them, and I feel like they’re restricting the blood flow to my feet. AND I’M NOT EVEN WALKING AROUND IN THEM. This is not a good sign.

Keith, with the crying and the Utah

Keith is the most realistic crier in Project Runway history. Of course, unlike some reality program contestants who cry at the drop of a hat (Ricky, I’m looking your way), we only saw Keith bawl once he’d been eliminated from the competition. And cry he did. There was the scrunched up red face, fluid leaking from several places, and the choked up voice…it was enough to make me like him. I still don’t really like his stuff, but I liked him as a person. This show is at least 50% about personality (why else would Blayne still be there??), so I feel fine in saying that his likability should have been enough to keep him on the program. Plus, just about everybody else seems to find him hot, and while I definitely do not, I am shallow enough to also take that into consideration. During the episode, I almost felt really really bad for him, what with the self doubt and the Utah and all, but then he started talking about how much more he wanted this than everybody else, and I remembered why I used to find him insufferable. Why does every reality show person somehow think that their own desire is stronger or purer than that of everybody else? How exactly would one come to that conclusion? The self-absorption and sense of entitlement that I’ve seen this season is pretty staggering.

What is Kenley’s deal? She laughed at Daniel last week (ON THE RUNWAY) when he was talking about his taste, but then this week said that he was her best friend and she was sad he was gone. If Jerell thinks that Terri has two faces, how many does Kenley have?

Ha! Found it

The song that was stuck in my head was “Tarde o Temprano” by Tommy Torres. Who is completely adorable! Apparently that’s song #16 on the Nielson Latin Pop chart, but I would be super surprised if it didn’t go higher.