Things Fall Apart

Rumble on the  Runway – This is the first episode this season where the designers had to work in groups, so I knew that all of the goodwill of previous weeks was about to go the way of the dinosaur.

This episode begins with a recap of last week, and then shows some of the guys (Ra’Mon, Mitchell, Epperson, and Logan) talking to each other and in the interview room about how they do not want to go home next. I can’t believe that it has taken me this long to realize that there’s no model-swapping this season. Your model is your model, unless you’re eliminated, and then you’re both out. Harsh! That does do away with one source of tension, though. I guess that’s another reason they can have the companion show about the models, but so far I haven’t remembered to watch or tivo it.

On the runway, Heidi tells the designers that they’re going on another field trip. I do not know why those words excite them so, since Project Runway “field trips” usually end up being only slightly less psychologically harmful than the Stanford Prison Experiment. Tim Gunn in sandals and sunglasses?? My life is complete!

The challenge is to create a fun and fashionable look based on surf culture. And of course, because the beach offers limited options for branding, the “seamless” advertising that this show is know for enters with the second part of the challenge: designing the perfect complimentary hairstyle for the model, with the help of Garnier products. I always feel those meetings with

Mitchell’s face when he heard the word team was a little ridiculous. You’d think that somebody who’d messed up so greatly the last two weeks would have preferred to have all the help he could get. Shirin picks Carol-Hannah. Logan chooses Christopher, Nicholas chooses Gordana. Mitchell chooses Ra’Mon, and says honestly that he’s looking for somebody to carry him. Then what was with the face before? I think that maybe somebody’s a little conflicted about needing help so early in the competition… Althea picks Louise, and Spell Check (aka Qristyl), like the bitchy kid who picks second to last for kickball, can’t resist saying “This is tough” before taking Epperson over Irina. Cow. That leaves Irina to work with Johnny, the final team leader. I’ve liked things that Irina made, but most people picked their friends, I think, rather than people who would necessarily create well with them, so I don’t see this as much of a slight. Everybody gives a mock “oooohhhhh” at her being the last person, and it all seemed kind of goodnatured. Not sure how she feels about it, though.

Oh! Nice! The women modeling the surfwear are actually surfers, and are able to look good in the clothes and offer opinions and information about what the clothes need to be like. I appreciate that kind of attention to function, not just form.

Ra’Mon, for his part, understands that Mitchell is pretty much an anchor around his neck. He’s worried that the pairing is going to make the two of them targets for the judges. Understood. Spell Check, living in whatever parallel universe that she inhabits, is offended that Epperson, whose stuff so far has been far superior to hers, is treating their relationship more like a student-teacher thing than recognizing that she’s the leader. Does she remember her dress from the first week?

They have $50 and 15 minutes to shop. This is pretty messed up. They get half the time and the money of the previous week, even though there are two people. And watching the pairs shop is sort of difficult. The facades are slipping! Compromise does take a long time, I guess, and now captains are starting to pull rank. Understandable, but uncomfortable to watch.

I love watching Epperson trying to handle Spell Check’s choices in everything: fabric color, dress shapes, etc. Mitchell is being super rude to Ra’Mon. Unless I’m missing something in editing, he seems to be rude for no reason. He’s not being funny, he’s being a jerk. In the middle of the freaking work, the designers get a message from Heidi and the judges: now they’re responsible for making a second complete look. The second look is described as an avant garde look that will compliment the beach look, and just for giggles, another Garnier hairstyle must be created. What a bunch of jerks. At least they get another $200 and 20 minutes to buy more fabric. The only catch is that just one person gets to go to Mood.

It surprises me that Mitchell allowed Ra’Mon to go. Maybe he just wants to have something he can bitch about later. Aaaand Mitchell can’t sew. This is not a shock to me. Spell Check is a moron, and a horrible leader. Tim Gunn enters the room, calling himself the Prophet of Doom. Although I personally get excited every time Tim Gunn appears on my screen, I can understand how the designers might not feel the same way about him. This time he tells Carol-Hannah that her model has an issue (a commercial), and that she can choose a new model if she would like. So she chooses another model, Valerie, who was eliminated previously.

Gordana really doesn’t love their avant garde look, but she seems to be trying to understand and get behind it. Nicholas is kidding that when Mitchell is eliminated, he’ll help pack him up. It’s not the nicest thing to be joking about, and I sort of feel like most humor like that is at least a little based in truth. I don’t think that anybody on this show is going to lose sleep if Mitchell is sent home. It’s not good that, on top of sub-par design skills, he’s also not pleasant. I don’t really care about the hair styling meetings at all. I don’t know why this guy gets air time. Oh yeah! Garnier paid Lifetime a boatload of money! Still don’t care.

I love that Tim’s critique of Spell Check and Epperson’s design is exactly what Epperson has been trying to tell his partner all episode. Sometimes it’s wiser to yield to better taste, regardless of who is the leader. Tim is not enamored of Ra’Mon’s outfit. It doesn’t go with Mitchell’s. Tim’s parting words: “Work like there’s no tomorrow, because for at least one person, there won’t be.” I’m intrigued by the “at least one person,” part. What does Tim know???

Ra’Mon has to completely scrap the jumpsuit, and at this point I’m almost feeling bad for Mitchell. Spell Check is being a cow to Epperson and bringing up things that really don’t matter “I don’t know what kind of woman you’re used to” instead of maybe listening to him. Everybody can see that those two are not getting along well.

Nicholas to Mitchell, “Are you ready to be in the bottom two again today?” Does Mitchell understand how much Nicholas doesn’t like him? Christopher and Logan seem to be getting along very well and are both happy with their looks. With 35 minutes to go, Ra’Mon is still blow-drying the avant garde look, which he’d just dyed in the bathroom. Wow, there are some really cool looks in this room.

Heidi looks great, as usual. The judges today are Max Azria (love his stuff!), Nina Garcia, and Rachel Bilson, who I haven’t seen in anything in like 100 years. She’s still as cute as ever, though. Spell Check and Epperson’s looks are first. I thought that their beach look was great, but the avant garde look did leave something to desired; as Qristyl mentioned, the poor girl’s butt cheeks were hanging out. Oops. Johnny and Irina’s looks were nice. I didn’t love the beach look as much as Johnny did, and neither did Irina. Hmm. Mitchell and Ra’Mon’s beach dress was gorgeous, but I didn’t love the avant garde look at all. I find it sad that I can’t blame it on Mitchell, but I’m pretty sure that was all Ra’Mon.  Shirin and Carol Hannah’s dress was beautiful, and they made a bathing suit to go under it. Overachievers! Their avant garde look was amazing. I liked both of Althea and Louise’s looks, especially the avant garde dress. Nicholas and Gordan’s avant garde look seems kind of crazy, and I didn’t love their first look, either. Logan and Christopher’s beach look sort of look like the model peed the pants, or at least had a stubborn patch of sand directly blew her crotch and on her upper thighs. Unfortunate. Their avant garde piece is ugly.  I can’t believe they love that mess.

Holy crap. Ra’Mon and Mitchell are one of the teams with the highest scores. This is unbelievable. I kind of love how I spent all episode wondering how they were going to explain their partnership when one of them was on the chopping block, only to have both of them be find. Sneaky, sneaky editors! The other team in the top is Johnny and Irina. They get to explain first, and you can see that their collaboration was a positive one. There’s not jockeying for credit when it’s not necessarily due, and they defer to each others parts in making their looks. Ahh. So maybe the Mitchell/Ra’Mon implosion will still occur.

Hahah, Ra’Mon starts to speak and explain what he did, and Heidi wants to hear from Mitchell, since he’s the team leader. It clearly becomes apparent that Ra’Mon did most of the stuff, and that what Mitchell worked on the most (a swimsuit), can’t even be seen. Then Mitchell had to admit that he did almost nothing. Love it! Especially since the previews were edited to make it seem that Ra’Mon hadn’t done anything, and that he was going to be in danger of being kicked off the show because of it.

Then the people with the low scores come in. Spell Check is willing to give Epperson credit for everything, since it tanked, and the two of them are trying to talk about what happened, and they’re not giving each other a chance to explain. It’s pretty hard to watch, and I still hate Qristyl. Nicholas and Gordana’s looks are easier to explain, because they both believed in them, and didn’t have a bad time working together, which showed.

The judges are gaga over Ra’Mon’s avant garde dress, which I still don’t get, but whatever, nobody asked me. They’re trying to figure out how to judge Mitchell, who did relatively little. They loved the backs of Johnny and Irina’s looks. Nicholas’s design ethic was questioned, and they said that he’d have to watch which prints he used, especially with sexier pieces. They decided that Spell Check was weak and Epperson took advantage. Results coming up soon. So I think that Ra’Mon will win and be given immunity. I think that Mitchell might be tossed out. If it’s not Mitchell, it’s probably going to be Spell Check.

I was right. Ra’Mon won! He has immunity for next week. Irina and Johnny are dismissed, as are Nicholas and Gordana. Suddenly the final three are Epperson, Qristyl, and Mitchell. Oh wait, Epperson is dismissed, so now it’s down to Qristyl and Mitchell. How many times can one person screw up on this show and not have to go home because of it? Answer: three. Later, Mitchell.

I forgot to mention that I’m pretty sure the judges know of (or can see) at least some of what happens in the work room. They always seem to pick at least one look made by somebody (or in the case of teams, somebodies) who are flipping out for one reason or the other. That can’t be a coincidence.

So your ex wants to friend you on Facebook, huh?

via: Gina Trapani

Apropos of everything

The Tim Gunn bobble head doll.

Project Runway West

First: Tim Gunn is awesome. He’s so cool, and even when faced with the craziness of some of these designers, he manages to convey both his support and his doubts. I wish that all people could have a Tim Gunn in their life.

I’m really happy that this first challenge was to design for the red carpet, instead of making an outfit out of stuff in the apartment, the clothes off the designers’ backs, trash, or supermarket finds. Those have been done to death. I was concerned when Ari said that she didn’t draw, but only because that made me think of Angela, which is always unfortunate. It’s good to know that the shameless promotion of Mood could continue with the show’s change of venue; for a second there I was worried that the designers would have to go to a Michael’s or A.C. Moore for their silk charmeuse. I don’t know if it was this group of designers, the way the editors spliced the show together, or some combination of the two, but the atmosphere in the workroom seemed pretty good. People were stressed and working hard, but I didn’t see anybody get the side-eye or be on the wrong end of a harsh word. I wonder how long this can last.

It might have annoyed me in episode five or so, but since this was the premiere, I didn’t even mind Johnny’s meltdown. He did have a valid concern, and I think that the other designers were amazingly supportive in a way that one might not have expected, given the newness of their acquaintance. Plus, Tim talked him down from the ledge and he mad it into the top three, so I hope he can carry his confidence forward, because if he does this again, I will not take it as well.

I’m shocked at how happy I was to see Nina Garcia and Michael Kors. Nobody can bitchslap a designer like those two. it was great how excited the designers were when they saw Lindsay Lohan. Nobody is that excited to see her, except for the paparazzi. I feel slightly ashamed at how surprised I was at her coherence. I know she’s not all “Dur, Sam, argh,” all the time, but I still didn’t expect her to speak as well as she did.

There were a few designs that I looooved. Shirin, Louise, Gordana, and Irina’s dresses were super. I liked Ra’Mon and Johnny’s dresses, too, but not as much. I thought that Christopher’s dress was okay, but not amazing. I was surprised that none of the women I mentioned were included in the top three. In fact, the whole top three was men; what’s up with that? I think that it would be interesting if, for one season, the designs came down the runway without the judges knowing who made them. For this to work best, I think the designers would not be able to be in the room, either. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that female designers did better when the judges didn’t know who made things. Plus, this would prevent designers from being pigeonholed as good or bad, and stop people from coasting on past successes or being punished for past disappointments. Blind judging, Project Runway. Think about it. If you use my idea, though, I’d like some credit (and free clothes).

I’m happy that Michael Kors managed to include the phrase “taste level” in the very first show. Is that a record? How can they already be worried about Qristyl’s taste after viewing only one of her designs? Going into the runway show, there were a couple of people who I worried about, but there was so many unfortunate things going on in that room that there wasn’t anybody who was a lock to go home. I was pretty unimpressed with Epperson’s dress. It looked like something that you’d wear to a fancy funeral, if such a thing exists. I’m glad that Mitchell wasn’t sent home. His dress sucked because he was given improper model measurements, not because he’s unable to design well.

I think it was nice that the person who won the first challenge was a non-fashion school graduate, because the nonnies seemed really self-conscious about everybody else knowing stuff they didn’t. I just hope they don’t spend the rest of the season harping on their feelings of inadequacy, because that would not be interesting. Of course, the loser also didn’t go to fashion school (I think!), either, but I don’t think that’s why she had to go. Her outfit was insane, and she knew that, but I think she missed the part where somebody else had to be interested in it, too. I agreed that Ari should go. She definitely had a point of view, but I can’t imagine it ever lining up with the judges’ enough to do her good on this show. And it was nice to hear her say that she learned that one should take risks responsibly; it is wearying to hear rejected contestants go on about how they were misunderstood, without acknowledging that there might have been more to it than that.

Given the fact that this is the first season of Project Runway to be cast using the Bunim-Murray people (of Real World fame), I’m surprised that there were no fist-fights, drunken hookups, or attempts to bond in a conveniently located hot tub. Malvin’s hair kind of pissed me off when I first saw it, but he doesn’t seem obnoxious, so he and his coif have grown on me. I still have zero respect for the spelling of Qristyl’s name, but from here on in, I’ll only have to see it once an episode, so I think I can keep my rage at bay. Plus, she’s on thin ice already, so if she doesn’t straighten up and fly right, she may be going home soon, meaning that I’d have to see her names zero times an episode. This would also be acceptable. The closest I came to being annoyed was with Logan’s “I’m more of a guy’s guy” comment. What did that statement add to my life? Not a thing. Maybe that’s why I thought he was going to be a pain in the ass.

This is why the Internet exists

I was randomly clicking around the intertubes this afternoon, desperately attempting not to fall asleep at work, when I came across this slice of online awesomeness: TYWKIWDBI. The blog’s name, which the authors pronounce as “Tai-Wiki-Widbee,” stands for “Things You Wouldn’t Know if We Didn’t Blog Incessantly.” And they’re probably right. After all, did you already know that the hands of people with Reynaud’s Phenomenon tend to be awesomely bright colors (although Reynaud’s phenomenon itself is infinitely less awesome)? Doubtful.

Pics or it didn’t happen

I’m home! I really enjoyed California a lot, and although I wouldn’t say that my vacation was especially relaxing, I do feel like the time away benefited me. As promised, I am including links to my pictures from my trip to California. I also went to Disneyland, but didn’t really feel like taking pictures there.

• Los Angeles Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves
• Bullitt at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs Texas Rangers
• San Diego Zoo
• SeaWorld San Diego

Some of my favorites:

Despite the Dodgers' loss, the stadium still shot of fireworks

Cute couple dancing before the movie started

The actual name of a street on the bus route back to the hotel

This animal is not dead or dying.

Sometimes complaining works

I wrote this letter to the Goergia O’Keeffe Museum fully expecting that it would end up in some spam folder and would never be read. And I’d fully intended to mail it, but just got sidetracked. Moving on. Then, I saw the following email in my inbox this morning:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 7, 2009

For more information please contact:

Jackie Hall

Director of External Affairs

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

505.946.1020

jhall@okeeffemuseum.org

Georgia O’Keeffe Elementary School and Georgia O’Keeffe Museum to Work Together

Santa Fe, New Mexico—On July 31, 2009, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s Interim Director, Carl Brown and its Director of Education and Public Programs, Jackie M, met with Lucinda Sanchez, Principal of Georgia O’Keeffe  Elementary School.  Mr. Brown conveyed  to Principal Sanchez the Museum’s regret over the misinterpretation of issues surrounding  correspondence between the Museum and the elementary school.

Mr. Brown stated, “The Museum does not object to the elementary school’s use of Georgia O’Keeffe’s name, nor do we object to the selling of t-shirts that feature the school’s name for fundraising purposes.   We are pleased and proud that the elementary school is named after Georgia O’Keeffe. The school has been in existence for 20 years and the Museum has never had an issue with its name.”

The Museum and school officials spent most of the meeting discussing cooperative efforts in the area of education for students, faculty, and family members.

“I’m so appreciative for the opportunity to work collaboratively with the O’Keeffe Museum in coming to a win-win solution for all.  We are so grateful to continue honoring the brilliant legend of Georgia O’Keeffe through the use of her name,” said Principal Sanchez.

Ms. M added, “ We look forward to working with the school, one with such a noteworthy academic record and a long history of outstanding accomplishments.”
# # #

It’s nice to know that public shaming was enough to get the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum to back down and stop looking like such greedy jerks. I think the reaction to their attempt to strongarm a school showed them that people will step in when such overt wrongdoing is happening. Right now, I feel like people who care can actually make a difference. On that note, I will get on with my day and enjoy the loveliness of Newport Beach!

Some pics

Yesterday’s concert at Mohegan Sun was awesome. Amazing, even. It was definitely in my top 5 Mraz concerts ever. Considering that I’ve been to six of his concerts in less than a year, that’s really saying something. Right now I’m exhausted, so I’m taking myself off to bed soon, but I’ll share a couple of pics.

I’ll go into more detail about the concert in general and Mohegan Sun in the near future.

Whee!

I’m on the train from New York up to Mohegan Sun. I’m excited partly because I get to see Jason Mraz again for the first time since April, but also because I’ve never been to Mohegan Sun before. I haven’t been to a casino lately, so I’m itching to be parted with my standard $20.

I still have five hours before the concert, so it’s too early to start listening to Mraz. Thankfully, my good friend Ingrid Michaelson is here to keep me company.
I’m bringing my camera, but the concert has assigned seating, so I don’t know how well any pictures will come out. If they’re not terrible, I’ll post them tomorrow.

Good on so many levels

I love helping people. And cupcakes. So I’m really stoked that there’s a new business in Teaneck that specializes in both! The bakery, Zoe’s Cupcake Cafe,  opened in June, with a mission to help teenage mothers get work experience. All proceeds from the shop benefit Zoe’s Place, a non-profit organization that helps pregnant teens and teenage moms and their babies. NJ Monthly magazine has a lovely article on the cupcake cafe.