Pic Of The Day - 01.05.15 - Lessons Learned From Reality TV

I believe it was Sonja Morgan on Real Housewives of New York who said, "There are three sides to every story." I found myself making that statement a week ago when I met Tall Todd for wine and appetizers at Flemings. On Monday, I was presented with another situation that no matter how it is explained, it will be another situation with three sides to the story; a no win situation for anyone.

It was either fortunate or unfortunate, depending on which side of the table you seated on, that I also watched The Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday night. Love or hate Donald Trump, there are lessons to be learned from him. The one that I like best is that it is just business.

When it was all said and done, I needed a drink. Actually I needed two drinks and off to la griglia I went with two friends/co-workers. Needless to say, I slept well on Monday night.

It's been awhile since I've had a Kettle One Martini, straight up with a twist. And last night I was reminded of the scene in Monster-In-Law when Jane Fonda finally has a cocktail, looks at her Martini and says, "Hello old friend."

Pic Of The Day - 07.01.14 - Tuesday Night Pleasure

My Tuesday night pleasure is watching The Real Housewives Of New York City.  And...my favorite housewife is Carole Radziwill.  If she lived in Houston, we'd be best buds!  I can't afford to live in NYC so she would have to move here.

We interrupt your Wednesday evening for a Project Runway laughfest

I can't stop giggling and laughing and The Calvinator is avoiding me. I REALLY need to either get Tivo, DVR or start taping Project Runway. There were some classic lines tonight.

The challenge was to design an outfit for the women's U.S. Olympic team. Some designs were sporty, modern and/or athletic and others were just out there.

Classic lines tonight (and not verbatim):

"You're using black?"
"We're in a depression."

"A sister has to sleep with one eye open."

"It's very Mary Had A Little Lamb."

"And she is from The Republic of Cocktail land?"

"...if her sport is drinking."

"...and you gave us a sad purple cocktail dress."

Be sure to check in with David Dust and LoneStar Steve for their recaps of Project Runway.

OK. Time for Shear Genius. It's not a Shear Genius episode unless Nekisa ends up in the bottom two!

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 14.0

Blah
That's how I feel this week.

The week got off to a rough start and it has zapped my energy. A couple of friends have had some things happen within their family and it has really put me down in the dumps. All I can really do is keep them in my thoughts and prayers.

Calvin hasn't been feeling too good. He is on the rebound but I feel like I'm constantly watching him to make sure he is OK.

I'm VERY frustrated with this job search.

I've had some bad runs this week and haven't been working out.

And I'm humming this!



and this is how I feel!



BTW. Pet Shop Boys produced this song for Liza. When PSB did their own recording they put in a maniacal laugh in it. When Liza recorded it she didn't want to include the laugh. Interesting huh?

Squirrel
On Tuesday, I posted a pic of a dead squirrel in conjunction with birthday greetings to KIM. Well, here's the rest of the story.

First of all, I thought KIM's birthday was later in the month but his Facebook profile said his birthday was on Tuesday. So, figuring that I had lost more of my memory I assumed that Facebook was correct since KIM created his own profile. Turns out KIM's birthday is on the 25th.

Now about the squirrel. A few months ago The Calvinator and I were out for a noon day stroll and we found a dead squirrel just laying in the grass. It didn't have any tire marks on it but maybe it got hit by a car, made its way over to the grass and then died. Maybe, as suggested by by Free Flow it died of natural causes.

And why did The Calvinator want to give this present to KIM? Well, KIM has an ongoing battle with squirrels at his swankienda in East River Oaks (ERO). I'm sure the ERO squirrels are having a blowout party while KIM is in Italia.

Mr. & Miss Mint Julep
Don't forget! Kaye Sedilla makes her final appearance at this event on Sunday. A rumor is circulating about the diva. I will ask her about it when I see her this weekend. Check this blog on Monday for more details.

Reality TV

Many of you know that I'm hooked on reality shows. This has been a good week to feed my addiction.

Big Brother premiered on Sunday and Project Runway premiered last night.

For the first time since season 3, Big Brother has decided to return to its roots and has put contestants in the house who don't know each other. Although viewership is down from previous seasons, I will say that I'm liking this season already. Good eye candy and they've already booted out the self-proclaimed puppet master. There is a quirky lady from New Orleans (is that an oxymoron?) that could be fun if she can calm it down and not be so annoying.

I was bit bored with the designs from the contestants on Project Runway. This was their first challenge and several of them used table clothes for their dresses. Creative? I think not.

Kelli won the challenge mainly because she used some creative techniques on the materials purchased at the grocery store.

Jerry lost because he had an awful creation. Yes. It looked like something from a horror movie when the ax murderer has escaped from the insane asylum and is chasing you.

Let's hope they get a bit more creative with their designs.

In case you missed America's Got Talent

Last night I wasn't up for watching 2 full hours of America's Got Talent so I was sort of watching it plus I was watching I Survived The Japanese Game Show (which I thought was hysterical). Anywho...

There were two acts that I thought were really good and I hope they make it far in the competition.

First up, Brokeback meets Broadways, The DC Cowboys.


I'm not big on Elvis impersonators but this guy was good. Better than his performance were the comments by Sharon Osborne.

Project Runway recap

I haven't said anything about the Project Runway 4 finale because everyone else has said it (Project Rungay and Blogging Project Runway do it the best).

My initial thought about Season 4 is that I wish they would contestants in there who don't have professional experience. Jillian worked Ralph Lauren. Christian worked for McQueen and whole list of others. And I can't remember if Rami worked for a designer at some point but my assumption is yes, he did. Give us Wendy Pepper again!

I thought the final three were good and any of them could have won. They each had some stand outs and they each had not-so-good designs.

I think the judges are a bit two-faced and I think if Heidi Klum thought she had a chance of turning Rami straight, she would. So back to the judges. The most blaring contradiction is that they told Chris he is too costume-y and auf'd him but yet Christian wins the prize.

Now, while I know very little about what women will wear, I'd like to see the woman who would wear Christian's over the top ruffle blouse and I do mean over the top ruffle. Oh wait. I do know of a woman...Victoria Beckam who is a size 0.

So that's all I'm going to say. I picked up some info from Reality Blurred that I thought was interesting and then I found out that Victorya posted a reply on Blogging Project Runway to Tim Gunn's statement. I don't feel like putting the links out there so...uh...you can look them up yourself. :-)

Bravo pre-planned the showdown between Rami and Chris, Tim is “in flux” past season 5
The pre-Fashion Week showdown between Chris and Rami during Project Runway 4’s penultimate episode wasn’t a spontaneous decision by the judges, but instead a pre-planned part of the competition that was supposed to be introduced during season three.

“I know Bravo wanted there to be an elimination in every episode,” mentor Tim Gunn told The Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan. “It’s actually a holdover from Season 3. But there was so much drama, with Laura accusing Jeffrey [of having help with his work] that we didn’t do it. … Part of it was a concern — I never have it, but I absolutely understand the producers’ concern about it — it’s the thought, ‘What’s going happen? They’re just going to sit around, do their work, have their model fittings?’ And my thought is, ‘And your problem with that is what?’”

Meanwhile, Tim says he’s only signed “through season 5 at this point. Then we’ll take it from there. I’ll tell you that things are in flux and I don’t know beyond Season 5. I’m just thrilled to have a Season 5. People ask me, ‘Aren’t you tired of this?’ How could I possibly be tired of this? It’s invigorating and inspiring. I am the luckiest guy in the world.”

Regarding this past season, says that season designer Victorya Hong “was sourpuss, a crabby apple as I keep saying, throughout almost all the show, other than Days 1, 2 and 3. She became this sour pill. Rich Bye, one of the executive producers, and I had two off camera interventions with her. I said to her, ‘You know what makes me beside myself is the fact that there are thousands of designers who would love to be in your place. What’ s the matter with you?’”

He says that Victorya was unprepared, and “said, ‘I never dreamed the experience of being on the show would be like this. … I never dreamed we’d only have a day for challenges, that we wouldn’t have any breaks.’ ‘But you said you saw the show.’ She said, ‘I assumed it was cheated.’ I said, ‘Then you only have your own delusions to blame.’ She was really angry and bitter.” Tim also reveals that Victorya demanded Tim count the designers’ cash at Mood because she thought some people were getting more than others, and got angry at other things. “She actually said about Jack’s departure that we had engineered him leaving because he wasn’t a pretty face anymore,” Tim says.

In other Project Runway 4 news, Christian told People that he will “be seeing [Victoria Beckham] next week, so I made her a few dresses. Hopefully she likes them, so we’ll see how it goes.” His plans for the $100,000 include “buying a bed” and “working very hard. I’m going to show next season at [Fashion Week] in the tents again. I have some sponsors … I really want to go more of a high fashion route. I want to be in high-end stores,” he said. “Who knows? Maybe Victoria Beckham will ask me to work for her new label. You never know.”

I fell asleep last night right after I watched Brothers & Sisters. Before I fell asleep, something was bothering me. Who was that guy who walked in and started talking to Patricia Wettig? I recognized his voice. The eyes looked familiar.

I had a restless sleep last night. All kinds of dreams kept me tossing and turning. A cold front blew in and I could hear the wind blowing. The temperature dropped about 30 degrees last night. I went to sleep with the air conditioner running and woke up with the heater blowing. And still on my mind, who was that guy?

When I was out walking The Calvinator this morning, I realized it was Ken Olin! Ken Olin first came onto my radar during the 80s when he was on thirtysomething.

In real life he is married to Patricia Wettig. She too was on thirtysomething. Patricia still looks the same but Ken has definitely changed over the years; not that I'm one to speak.

With the writers' strike going on I wonder if he will ever appear again on Brothers & Sisters? I wonder if we will ever find out if Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives will get rebuilt? I'm glad I'm a reality tv junkie because we're going to get flooded with reality shows!!!!!