This is a Project Runway Post!

Alright guys, I fell behind last week, and I really hate that I missed talking to you about Ari and how weird she made me feel, and Johnny's epic breakdown that made me think whatever they're paying Tim Gunn it isn't enough, but the past is the past. I've tried to think about how I should go about writing this, because everyone sounds the same at this point with all their blogs and "OH THAT WAS GREAT, I'D WEAR IT" comments. I'm even gonna be really honest and say I don't even remember which designer is which, so I'm gonna post the outfits and tell you all what I think. Sound fair, easy, and simple? Okay, let's go. Oh wait, I forgot to say that those baby bumps were the most ridiculous looking lumps of potato sacks ever. Alright, moving on.

First up: Althea

I'll admit that I liked this dress, minus the boob support. Pregnant women need a lot of support there (I'm assuming), so hoist up the girls a little bit, and I would have REALLY loved this dress. (I'm so distracted by the boobs, I'm trying to move on, really.)

Next we have Carol Hannah:

I do not love this. I think the jacket looks like half of a pinata. Really, my only gripe IS the jacket. I like the underswoop of fabric (that is the technical term) around the belly, but the jacket really takes away from the over all design for me.

Christoper:

The winner from last week made an outfit that says 'Hey, I may be ready to pop out a kid, but I can still go to the club and have fun, too'. I really like this outfit paired with the leggings. Dare I say it's chic?

Epperson:

Okay, so I don't HATE this, because I can tell where he's going, but I imagine that the last thing a pregnant lady wants is to look even BIGGER than she already is, and that top definitely isn't helping. It's not form fitting at all; it looks like a pillow is stuffed under her shirt making her all billowy.

Gordana:

This outfit also says 'I'm ready to party' but unlike Christopher's, it also says 'But please have me home by 9 p.m. so I can have my warm milk.' That cardigan looking sweater needs to go, because it seems really out of place.

Irina:

I could get behind this dress if the flare across the chest was gone. Otherwise, I think it's a cute little dress, even if from this angle I feel like I'm about to see first hand where babies come from. I'm pretty sure that's just the timing of the walk with the picture being taken.

Johnny:

Boooooring. Although I will ask: Why the hell is she caring a diaper bag already? She's obviously still pregnant with her sack of potatoes.

Logan:

You know...I like this. It may not be much, and it's definitely safe, but it looks ultra comfy and classy at the same time. The gold collar gives it that touch of something different, but definitely doesn't push it over board. I have to honestly say that I'd wear it if I were pregnant. Who am I kidding? I'd wear it now if I could.

Louise:

I'm okay with being the only person on the internet who does not like this concept. I was with Nina when she was trying to point out that it looks absolutely ridiculous for a night out. I wouldn't even wear that to bed. The poof on the shoulder is too much, though I can appreciate the pleating that keeps the dress (?) from getting too tight the bigger the pregnancy belly gets.

Malvin:

Oh, Malvin. So literal! I don't even know where someone would wear this outfit. To Lamaze class? I...no, that doesn't work. See, what this looks like is someone trying to pretend to be pregnant in order to pull off some kind of heist, but really she's not convincing ANYONE, because NOBODY wraps the baby bump in swaddling clothes to make it stand out more unless they really want all the witnesses to know that YES OFFICER, she was pregnant. Auf wiedersehen.

Mitchell:

I agreed with Rebecca Romijn on this one. This is the way I wold imagine Mary-Kate Olsen dressing when she's pregnant. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's right, but I'm just saying; there's a market for it. If the shorts were more tailored I think he would have had the support of all the judges. Also, I'm gonna put this out there too: If he doesn't stop blaming everyone but himself for his mistakes, he's going to get auf'ed pretty quickly. Being in the bottom two twice in row is never a good sign. GET IT TOGETHER, MAN.

Nicolas:

Every woman needs a little black dress in her closet, and that doesn't stop just because you're pregnant. While there's nothing eye-catching about the dress I like the embellishment around the neck and I like the shoulders. Safe but cute.

Qristyl:

If Malvin's design hadn't been so horrible, I would have sent Qristyl home for this. It's not pretty, it's very boring and it looks like a sheet draped around the model. Qristyl needs to step up her game, because so far, she's only getting through because there have been some real atrocities ahead of her.

Ra'mon:

I get it Ra'mon. I see exactly where you were trying to go, but then you got so lost that you didn't even see the train when it was coming straight at you. Not only did a fellow designer say it looked like a bowling ball bag, but so did a judge. One parallel strip going up the sides, that's all you needed to keep it looking a little sporty, but then you went all the way and had the stripes curve in around the baby belly and that was the death blow. It's okay though, you just really have no idea about where babies come from or how women want to look when they feel like whales. I'm glad you're safe, now never make that mistake again.

Shirin:

The winner! I need to have that coat in my life right now, honestly. It was so cute, and I love the lining. The dress itself has wonderful pleating around the belly so that it doesn't feel too tight, and the color is magnificent. Not bright as if to say 'HEY LOOK I HAVE A BABY ON BOARD', and not too dark as if to say 'Ugh, I feel so unsexy like a blimp'. It's very classy, so I'm going to hope that all of you ladies are hugely pregnant in the wintertime so you can have this coat and love it and wear it everywhere.

Just one other thing I want to say, and I've noticed other people say it as well. This challenge could have used some REAL pregnant ladies. Those bumps were just ridiculous. But I'm guessing with the show Models of the Runway, there won't be any special challenges with guest models. Ah well, no sweat off my back, but those bumps weren't fooling anyone.

Mad Men - Out Of Town

Just so that you all know, there WILL be spoilers in this post. And this isn't going to be a recap per say, for that you can head right over here. This is just going to be a collection of my thoughts from the episode, and I'll try to go in chronological order so that it's not messy. But we're going bullet-point style. Crazy!

• Don's birthday story - You know, as far as having a legitimate reason to change your name goes, I think this is a pretty big one. The opening sequence of the episode was a little confusing for a few moments, especially seeing as there's no way Don remembers this experience. This isn't a memory for him, so is this just how he imagines it happened? Or is it a wink, wink to the viewers? 'This is how it really happened just so you know, but who knows what Don really thinks'? His mother's last words were 'I'll chop off his dick and boil it in hog fat'. So naturally his name turns out to be Dick. But does he know this story? I mean, I ask my parents how I got my name and they tell me they deliberated for weeks and weeks before deciding. Don asks the same question and they actually tell him 'because your mother's last words were dick and hog fat'. I doubt that's how it happened, but then again, his adoptive household was so abusive, it could have happened, who knows.

• The 'lesbian' versus 'tomboy' argument - I've heard this at more than one forum, and even from people I talk to who watch the show. When Betty was explaining to Don about how his suitcase got broken, she also said "She's taken to your tools like a little lesbian." First of all, I have never laughed at anything Betty said (except for maybe that Nordic comment in season two), but that was so unexpected that I laughed hard. The argument that I've heard surrounding this, is that back in the 60s, she would have said something like 'tomboy'. I agree that yes, maybe in public she would have. But in the privacy of her own home when she can say whatever she wants, I don't see why she wouldn't say 'lesbian'. And let's be honest here, it wouldn't have packed as much of a punch if Betty had said 'She's taken to your tools like a little tomboy'. See, not as funny.

• Joan vs. Moneypenny (sorry, Mr. Hooker) - Writing my original recap, I had only watched the episode once, and so didn't pick up fully on what Joan did. But after watching again, I want to stand up and cheer. Let it be said that you just don't mess with Joan. You won't win, because in her own little way, she'll give you an awesome reality check. We didn't get to hear the initial conversation about Mr. Hooker being more than just a secretary, so we have to assume he was pretty prissy about it. What we do get is Joan having this great idea of 'if you're so much better than the secretaries out here, have an office and a secretary'. Wouldn't you know that the British Overlord (BOL) knocked Hooker down a few pegs as soon as he told him to get rid of the office and the girl. BOOM, ROASTED. Oh, Joan. So cunning!

• Pete vs. Ken - HOW DELICIOUS. Oh, now this is exciting. Obviously the whole thing is an experiment in who can persevere the longest in order to get the permanent position as head of accounts, and BOTH men know that, but Pete refuses to not be childish about it all. He was so elated when he called home, too, and I particularly loved this exchange between Trudy and Pete:

Trudy: I love the way you sound right now.
Pete: That's because I'm already drunk.
Trudy: Good for you!

Oh, standards back then! And then slowly it all comes crashing down and Pete is sharing the spotlight. He wants everything NOW NOW NOW, and when he can't get it, well, he turns into a brat. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

• Keep it in the closet - Sal. Poor, poor Sal. He was finally going to get lucky and then that fire alarm went off. And you know what? I actually have a bone to pick with ALL OF YOU OUT THERE. I got so many e-mails and personal comments about how 'graphic' the scene was with Sal and the bell hop. The graphic part, apparently, was the shot of a hand going down Sal's boxer shorts. To that I say: HEY REMEMBER THIS:

In my opinion, Don fingering Bobbie Barrett is no more graphic than Sal and the bell hop. A friend of mine pointed this out and do you know what she was told? "Well, I guess since it was heterosexual [with Don and Bobbie] I was okay with it."

...

...

WHAT? Okay, hypocrisy much? Sexual content is sexual content ladies and gentleman, and if you're watching this show for morality you are watching the wrong damn show. And again, I'll quote my friend - everyone's okay with the cheating, and the abortion conversations, and the egregious drinking, but as soon as two men get it on people flip out and go on long rants about how it's just WRONG. God forbid. Did your television explode? People, chill out. CHILL. OUT.

Then there was that conversation on the plane with Don and Sal. Some people think that Don will use Sal's sexuality to black mail him. I say no. 'Limit your exposure' is what Don suggested for the London Fog account, and it was his advice to Sal as well. They're moving on because Sal's sexuality doesn't compromise the fact that A) Sal is amazing at his job and B) that he and Don did good work together while in Baltimore. It also hearkens back to 'It'll shock you how much it didn't happen' in season two when we found out Don was also there for Peggy. So really, one could wonder how long it will be before Sal knows a secret of Don's and is trusted to keep it.

That officially ends my thought process on the first episode. I apologize for any wonky spacing - I'm working on it, I promise. But I want to hear your thoughts! Leave me some comments, and tell me what you think. I don't bite - much.

Breaking Radio Silence

T.V. shows are about to pick up again (Mad Men tomorrow - yay!) but right now, I have something to say about an article e-mailed to me by not one, not two, but FIVE people. A man by the name of Bryan Singer is going to helm yet another version of Battlestar Galactica.

My main argument was just going to go like this: No Mary McDonnell, no Edward James Olmos = NO DICE. But I suppose I have to be a bit more articulate than that, so here we go.

Battlestar Galactica (the re-imagined version) was by no means flawless, but it was epic. It was more than a sci-fi show, it was more than 'space drama', and certainly it was more than a campy show with special effects. Ron Moore and crew took this 80's (okay, late 70's) show and turned it into a show about the struggle of what it is to be human and why we deserve to survive as a species. The show didn't exactly end where I would have liked or where I think it could have gone creatively, but after 75 episodes with maybe…five or six out of those that just feeling like complete misses, there were too many that were poignant, meaningful, and carry a resonating message. I don't feel like the story needs to be told over again from anyone else's writing perspective yet. The dust hasn't even settled on my DVDs, and Bryan Singer wants to have a shot?


I'm all for people having their own ideas, hell, that's how BSG got done again. But in Singer's case it feels like he's more upset that instead of being the one to helm the re-imagined series, Ron Moore took over when Singer got busy with other things and was (probably) too nervous to start penning an idea for a show about the end of the world after September 11, 2001. So now that Ron Moore's show is over he can finally say: 'OKAY LOOK AT MINE NOW. LOOK WHAT I CAN DO'. It's like a case of sibling rivalry gone awry, only it's between two people who had the same idea about a sci-fi show.


Now, I know what most people are saying as far as having yet another re-imagined version of the 80's show. Ron Moore got a lot of flack from hard core fans of the original show and hated him for even attempting to do it. Even one of the original actors, Richard Hatch was against the idea. So yes, I know that people are looking at this the same way. However, there is one key difference between what Moore did, and what Singer is going to (attempt) to do:


There was a twenty-five year gap between re-toolings. Twenty five years is a long time for people to miss something. It takes about that long to think to yourself 'Hey, you know what would be kind of cool? If someone did that one show again'. However, FIVE MONTHS is pushing it more than just a little bit. That means this was being talked about as early as last year before the show was even done shooting its final episodes. It would be like someone now saying 'You know, I realize LOST isn't even done with its final season yet, but in January of 2012, we're doing it again!' WHY IS THAT NECESSARY? I mean, I realize there are absolutely zero new ideas in Hollywood, but this is ridiculous.


To wrap up: Bryan Singer is hoping to cash in on a show that was re-done extremely well. I think that fans loyal to Ron Moore's version won't be quick to embrace this idea after such a short period of time. I don't wish anyone to fail in Hollywood because God knows I'm trying to get a writing job in L.A. or New York, but I do wish Singer would take a step back and realize that he had his chance, and he didn't take it. Let it go, and talk to the fans again in twenty-five years or so.

EDIT: I'm editing to include a source for this article. Sorry about that; this is the link to the actual Variety article.