"Holler at your boy!"

My DVR messed up last week, so I had to catch a rerun of week two of Project Runway.  To condense the posts (this week only!), I'm doing an abbreviated "The 10 things you remember/ need to know/ are sad you missed from the last two episodes of Project Runway."  Make it work!

Week two - "Love ya, Leather Face."

• We are already very tired of Suede talking in third person.  
• Um, hello - of course the challenge was not going to be left at 'designing cocktail dresses for models.'  Bravo, we know you better than that!  They got us with the one-two punch, though...green fabrics and the models did the shopping.  OMG!  SHOPPING MODELS!
• Blaine compares Heidi to Darth Vader and names her Darthalicious.  Hahahaha.
• Tim Gunn used the phrase 'hot mess.'  How much do we miss Christian?!  sigh
• Stella's rant and rave about leather, aka 'leatha.'  'I just want to stick to my leather.'  'I want to just sew leather.'  'I would make a leather dress like this.'  Blainalicious makes fun of her by saying, 'I like to watch leather TV' and 'All my kids came out of me leathered.'  Stella catches on, and Blaine replies, 'Awww...love ya, Leather Face.'  From now on - Stella = Leather Face.
• Keith is not British.  I was way off on that last week.
• Natalie Portman, Actress & Environmental Activist.  Love Natalie and think she's adorable, but I wonder if Bravo considered trying to find someone that is 'Designer & Environmental Activist' or 'Fashion Editor & Environmental Activist.'  
• Runway - Love, love Kenley's cream dress with the ruffled collar and black belt.  Do not love Leather Face's one-shouldered, half long-sleeved cream dress.  But then again, I am an active member of the symmetry police.  Everything looked cheap, but that's only partially the designers' faults.  (The rest, the environment's fault.  Kidding!  I love the environment!  Speaking of, please consider the environment when printing the contents of this blog.)
• High/low prediction based on final six:  Kenley, Suede and Korto on top.  Wesley, Leather Face and LeAnn on the bottom.  Kenley will win, Wesley will go home.  (Leather Face was actually good; Korto was bad.  I'm 4/6!  In my defense, though, I didn't notice the butt fins before.)
• Suede wins!  I'm okay with this, although I'm totally loving Kenley.  Korto's safe - but instead of being happy, she walks off the runway and bawls because she 'worked so hard.'  Grow up!  LeAnn is saved, too, kicking Wesley and his shorts to the curb.

Week three - "I'm really just thinking about my hair."

• Daniel is really sad that Wesley's gone because they were 'connecting really well.'  And by connecting, he means dating.
• Tim comes to the apartment to take the contestants out for a night on the town.  The designers muse that they're going to a nice dinner...heeheehee.  When will they learn?!  The challenge is to create a look inspired by a New York night, so they (obviously) go for a double decker bus tour to snap some photos.  In orange ponchos.  In the rain.  How glam!  Korto says what we would all be thinking - 'I'm really just thinking about my hair." 
• Leather Face has no idea how to use a digital camera.  
• Scene:  Kenley's working, she looks up and Blainalicious is just staring at her.  Staaarrinng.  After a few awkward unicorn moments, he says in a Darth Vader Heidi voice 'I'm gonna eat you.'  SO WEIRD.
• Blaine tells Tim, 'Holla at cha boy' and hilarity ensues.  Tim is such a dear old soul and says, 'I don't get it!' and 'Holler at your boy!'  He leaves with a classic, 'Thank you!  Goodnight!  Make it work!  Carry on!  Holler at your boy!'  Presh.
• Random guest judge #2 - Comedian Sandra Bernhard, 'New York night life aficionado.'  Not exactly Anna Wintour, but we'll carry on.
• Runway time.  Hate Blaine's (wacky), hate Jennifer's (navy clock dress...boring and matronly), hate Terri's (backless and weird).  Kenley's dress reminds me of my tacky '80's prom dress that I wore to AOII socials...but I kinda like it.  LeAnn does a classy black tiered skirt that might be my fav.
• High/low prediction based on final six:  Kenley, LeAnn and Keith on top; Emily, Terri and Jennifer in the bottom.  LeAnn will win, Jennifer will go home.  (Keith was actually in the bottom, and Terri on top...yet another 4 for 6.) 
• Pause to note Sandra's ridiculously uninformed, yet expected, comments.  'So that's a skirt and a top?  That's cool...it looks like a dress...which is really nice, too.'
• Results - Kenley wins.  Great!  She makes me want to go buy new red lipstick and cut some blunt bangs.  (And wear her dress and sing some Madonna.)  Bummer, though - Jennifer is safe, and Emily is cut.  I was ready for Jennifer to go; her monotone voice is on my nerves almost as much as Suede referring to himself as Suede.

That is all for the last two weeks!  Auf wiedersehen!  :)

Sing us a song, you're the Piano Man

July 19, 2008

Paul McCartney Joins Billy Joel at Shea Stadium

By BEN SISARIO  (comments by Jamie)

It takes a lot to upstage Billy Joel at Shea Stadium.  (Which is where I was last night!  Yippeeee!)

But late on Friday night, nearly three hours into a career-spanning performance advertised as the last concert at Shea before it was to be demolished, Mr. Joel seemed happy to turn over the spotlight to Paul McCartney (We got chill bumps when he said, "Ladies and gentlemen - Sir Paul McCartney!"  Amazing.), who, he said, had just flown in from London.

The sold-out crowd of 55,000 people let out an ear-splitting roar as Mr. McCartney sang the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There,” with Mr. Joel singing backup and, fitting his reputation as a self-deprecating rock star, looking on from his piano as if he were just another fan himself.

Before beginning “Let It Be,” (more chill bumps) Mr. McCartney alluded to the Beatles’ first concert at Shea in 1965, the year after the stadium opened.

“It’s so cool to be back here on the last night,” he said. “Been here a long time ago — we had a blast that night, and we’re having another one tonight.”

The concert was the second of two farewell shows by Mr. Joel, who told the crowd earlier in the night: “They’re tearing this house down. I want to thank you for letting me do the job and keep doing it — the best job in the world.”

Mr. McCartney wasn’t the only big guest. The country star Garth Brooks, dressed in a Mets T-shirt, sang Mr. Joel’s “Shameless,” which was a big hit for Mr. Brooks (So awesome to see Garth, too!  Loved it!); Steven Tyler of Aerosmith performed “Walk This Way;” and Roger Daltrey of the Who — which played at Shea in 1982 — sang “My Generation” as Mr. Joel smashed a guitar on the center-field stage.  (Tony Bennett sang "New York State of Mind" with him, too...one of my other favorite moments.)

Before the show, fans praised Mr. Joel, Long Island’s favorite son, as an approachable superstar whose songs chronicle everyday New York lives and struggles. “Only New Yorkers have a true sense of what he talks about,” said Lauren Marchiano, 26. As an avowed follower of both Mr. Joel and the Mets, she said, the night was doubly poignant for her.

But the most popular topic of conversation seemed to be how much everyone had paid to get in. (Hmm...can I offer a sheepish nothing?  Big thanks to Wired magazine!!)  Ronnie Glowacki, an administrative assistant from Brooklyn, had been frozen out when tickets went on sale in February; she would say only that she paid “somewhere between zero and $500” to get in on Friday. A Yankees fan, she was there to catch what could be a last glimpse — not of Shea Stadium, but of Mr. Joel.

“I don’t know how much longer he’s going to be doing concerts, so I want to get every one I can get in,” she said. “For me it’s all Billy.”

"It's what you would wear if you were killing someone."

"Make it work!" "That's a lot of look." "Fierce!" "Carry on." "Auf wiedersehen!" That's right, ladies and gentlemen...Project Runway is back! One last season on sabotogeous Bravo...fab!

No fluffy intro - we get right into the contestants arriving in New York:

• Jerell Scott from LA. Used to be a model; became a designer because he couldn't afford "the cool clothes." Kind of reminds me of Taye Diggs.
  
• Blayne Walsh. Likes urban/street wear. Has kind of a Ken Paves blond swoopy doo goin' on and a gap between his two front teeth...oh, and a "ridiculous obsession with tanning."
  
• Joe Faris from Detroit. Too early to tell, but he just might be the token older, straight goateed male designer.
  

(cue hard rock music)

• Stella Zotis. "Rockstars come to me for a look." Builds custom rock regalia...also for "hookers ("hookas"), pimps or whoever's tough enough to wear it." She is scary and reminds me of Wednesday from the Addams Family.
  

(cue butterflies in a forest music)

• Jennifer Deitrich. 23, big smile, Pollyanna-esque. Has a "Holly Golightly goes to a Salvador Dali exhibit" style.
• Kelli Martin. "If Vivienne Westwood and Betsey Johnson had a baby, that would be me."
  
• Terri Stevens. Offers a charismatic "Hi I'm Terri!" and then we move on.
  
• Jerry Tam. "I'm actually...doing very well...as a designer...I'm on the forefront...of being a big name...in the industry."
  
• Suede. Blue mohawk. Representin' from New York City. Punk-rock-ish (if you didn't infer that from the blue mohawk). Speaks in third person.
  
• Keith Bryce. British. Tattoos. That's all we get.
  
• Korto Momolu. Looks like Jennifer Hudson. From Liberia, lives in Little Rock. How did she end up there?!
  
• LeAnne Marshall. From Portland. Has a clothing line, LeAnimal. Self-proclaimed "silent fashion assassin."
  
• Emily Brandle. Seems nice. Has bangs.
  
• Nameless girl with a yellow flower in her hair...looks French, like Marion Cotillard or Amelie.
  
• Daniel Feld. Green tie. Nothin' else.
  
• Wesley Nault. Spent a year at Marc Jacobs. 23. Wearing shorts. Claims that his "clothes are divine."
  

Joe Faris brings up his daughters, 5 and 9. Yep, token older straight guy.

Time to go to the roof to meet Heidi and Tim!!

Tim blows a kiss. (Love Tim Gunn!) Heidi looks fierce in a red and black belted dress. Heidi offers a shameless plug for Atlas New York, Gotham City's Luxury Apartment Building. Tim tells the group that they're the most diverse group of designers yet.

Time for the first challenge...maybe?! No! Heidi laughs in their faces, and they drink champagne and mingle awkwardly. Terri says she's "Aerosmith meets Lauryn Hill." What's with all these bizarre couplings?! Keith tells Heidi that he designs with Heidi in mind...brown noser.

We learn that the nameless Amelie girl is Kenley Collins (as she tells Blayne, "Wow, you're tan!"). She likes wild colors and prints. Daniel says, "If I wasn't a fashion designer, I would have been a zoologist." That could lead to some wacky tack bird dresses, I'm just sayin'.

Next day. Tim wakes the designers up. Keith is drinking vodka in bed. Holly Golightly is embarrassed about being in a towel because she didn't brush her teeth. Wednesday Addams puts on deodorant in the kitchen. And they're off!

First challenge? Gristedes! And guess what - the first Project Runway challenge ever on season one was a Gristedes challenge, too! In walks Austin from season one, who won this challenge with his innovative corn husk dress. Austin also gives me the total creeps, but oh well. The designers get $75 and a half hour to run wild in the grocery store (creepily handed out by Austin), and they're off!! Pandemonium on aisle five ensues.

Jerry wants an "April showers bring May flowers" look, so he goes for the shower curtains. Terri goes straight for "mopheads, mopheads, mopheads." Korto goes for asparagus and bell peppers, and I'm not sure if she's going to make a dress or a salad. Stella gets trash bags.

Over to Parsons! (Feels good to be back...) How does Suede describe the competition? "Wackadoodle." Ha. Let the frantic sewing begin.

Joe's outfit has an Italian theme (?). Kelli is dying vacuum cleaner bags with coffee (?). Daniel is using plastic cups that he ironed, and he seems surprised when he realizes, "Oh no, it started melting!" (?). We learn that Blayne ends every word in the suffix "-licious," as in, "I would like to introduce you to Girlicious." This could be entertaining. Wednesday didn't get the right trash bags...she is very distraught and says, "My fabric is trash!" Um, maybe because your "fabric" is a trash bag? Jerell does a fabulous impression of Tim...lol.

Tim comes to check in. Blaynalicious' dress is "obnoxious." Daniel's way behind. Tim's impressed with Kelli's dyed fabric. Wednesday has done literally nothing. Suede used a blue checkered picnic table cloth...that looks like a picnic table cloth. Korto used a...table cloth. Jerry used a (pause) table cloth. Keith used a (wait for it) table cloth. Tim is not happy with the lack of innovation and calls the designers "slackers." Funny thing is, they all seem surprised that other people thought to use a table cloth...um, hello?! Use some cornhusks, people. LeAnne tries to hot glue meringue cookies to her table cloth. Blaynalicous finishes first (never good, unless your Christian), and his dress appears to be tickety-tack with a capital T. Stella becomes convinced that she's going home and claims that if she gets eliminated first, she'll be "the biggest jacka** in the nation." Calm down, dear.

Runway day! The models come in for their fittings. Blaynalicous has to hand stich his models crotch area. Jerry's garment looks "American Psycho...like he created something for an axe murderer," according to Kenley at least. Quick trip to the Tresemme hair salon and the L'Oreal make-up room, and we're off to the runway!!!

Gutsy, I know, but I'm going to go ahead and ask Blaynalicious to pack his bags and head toward his homeland...the sun.

Heidi appears in a fierce short dress with red belt. She introduces us to fab judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia...you know if I could type it the way Heidi says it, I would. Creepy Austin will also be judging.

• Emily. (The One with the Bangs.) Short lacy dress, skinny belt, crazy bright collar made of bouncy balls and balloons. I kinda like this one.
  
• Jarell. (The One That Looks Like Taye Diggs.) Dress made of blue lawn chairs on top and paper umbrellas on the bottom. Seems disjointed.
  
• LeAnne. (The One That is a Silent Fashion Assassin.) Pink and white tablecloth and meringue dress. Turned out better than I expected...fun.
  
• Korto. (The One That Looks Like Jennifer Hudson.) Yellow tablecloth dress...a lot of material. Big billowing sleeves, long to the ground. Elaborate collar/necklace made of vegetables...not sure about the dress part, but I'm quite impressed with the vegetation.
• Jennifer. (The One You're Already Annoyed With.) Sweet little white ruffly dress made of paper towels. Boring.
• Daniel. (The One Who Loves Animals.) Blue Solo cup dress. Like a space outfit. Nina laughs.
  
• Terri. (The One Who Bought Lots of Mops.) Croched halter top made of mops with orange tablecloth skirt. Rather ugly, but impressive that it's made of mops.
  
• Suede. (The One With the Mohawk.) Tickety tack blue tablecloth strapless dress with a trim that looks like a Hawaiian lei.
  
• Stella. (The One That Scares You and Makes You Want to Hum The Addams Family Theme Song.) Slinky long halter garbage bag dress. Looks cheap but better than I expected.
  
• Joe. (The One That's Straight.) Italian dress...top made of tomato oven mitt, pasta skirt. Looks like an apron that a tourist would buy in Italy. At Epcot.
  
• Kenley. (The One With the Yellow Flower in Her Hair.) Cute little strapless dress. Top made of red dodge balls; bottom made of blue and yellow striped lawn chairs. This one might be my favorite in terms of something I would actually wear.
  
• Jerry. (The One That Was Way Too Smug.) White rain coat made of a shower curtain. Ugly and boring.
  
• Wesley. (The One That Arrived in Shorts.) Striking yellow tablecloth dress...short, strapless. Nice plastic-y details. Another favorite.
  
• Blayne. (The One That's Super Duper Tanalicous.) OMG. Whaaaat is this outfit. Dress?! Swimsuit? It's black with white ruffles down the front and random stuff stuck to it. Jump ropes and windshield wipers?! Oy vey.
  
• Kelli. (The One Who Dyed Her Fabric With Coffee.) Strapless dress. Awesome handmade print on the bottom, but the top just looks like two coffee filters and doesn't look finished.
  
• Keith. (The One With the Tattoos.) Another picnic tablecloth dress. Halter...much better than Suede.
  

The chosen six are Daniel, Jerry, Korto, Stella, Kelli and Blayne. My prediction? Daniel, Korto and Kelii in the top; Jerry, Stella and Blayne in the bottom. I'll stick with Blaynalicious going home and make Korto the winner...I liked her tomato necklace.

Austin loved Daniel's space Solo cup dress, and all the judges think it's very smart and creative. Michael thinks Jerry's model looks like a "bridal nurse," and all of the judges agree with Kenley that "it's what you would wear if you were killing someone." Austin is impressed that Korto used real food, and Nina and Michael think she has a well-executed look. Stella's dress looks like, surprise, surprise, a garbage bag, and the judges are less than enthusiastic. (Actually, Heidi calls it "butt ugly.") The judges like Kelli's resourcefulness and technique. Heidi thinks Blayne's outfit looks "Playboy Bunny gone grunge," and Austin agrees and calls it "hideous." Michael thinks it looks like she's wearing an old diaper, too. Looks like my three and three predictions are right on.

Time for the results! Korto's sent to safety, and Kelli is named the winner. (Oh, well.) Blaynalicious is saved (whaaaaa?!). It's down to axe murderer Jerry and trash bag Wednesday Addams...and Jerry's sent packing. Wow!! Who would have guessed that this designer who was "on the forefront of being a big name in the industry" would go first. He describes his Project Runway experience as a roller coaster...that's an awful lot of ups and downs for the first one hour episode.

We get some fabulous clips and quotes from the rest of the season, but that's all for another time and another recap. Until then...

Auf wiedersehen!

Did you know...

...that Project Runway returns tomorrow?!?!

I didn't either. Well, I didn't before I read the following article on Gawker last week.

Is Bravo trying to kill Project Runway?

(Note primary tag: Death)

The brief synopsis is this: "I like to think that Bravo is cooling the promotional jets out of good old fashioned spite. They're mad at Lifetime for poaching and they're mad at the Weinstein Co. for pulling the rug out from under them. They want to bury the show so by the time it gets over to Lifetime, no one will even remember that something called the L'Oreal Paris Makeup Room ever existed."

INnnnteeressting...What do y'all think?! Sabotage is so Bravo.

Nevertheless, don't forget to tune into your favorite tickety tack trannies tomorrow night. (I recommend watching this a few times to get in the spirit.)

21 Questions

New York magazine's fashion blog, The Cut, has a regular feature entitled 21 Questions.  Not surprisingly, it is a somewhat-grown up version of the email survey chains of our middle school days.  If it's good enough for Catherine Malandrino and Nanette Lepore, though, I think it just might be good enough for me...

Name:  Jamie

Age:  25

Job:  Senior Planner, Entertainment at Initiative 

Neighborhood:  Upper West Side

Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?  Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) in You've Got Mail. "Don't you just love New York in the fall?"  :)

What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?  Call me a cheap date, but Shake Shack's 'Shroom Burgers might be my favorite thing in the entire world.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?  A whole lot of Excel and PowerPoint.    

Where do you get your coffee?  Starbucks.

What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?  Gypsy with Patti LuPone.

Do you give money to panhandlers?  No.

What's your drink?  Sweet tea if available.  Red wine if not.

How often do you prepare your own meals?  Do frozen dinners and bowls of cereal count?  If so, a couple times a week.  If not... 

What's your favorite medication?  Advil?

What's hanging above your sofa?  Nothing.

How much is too much to spend on a haircut?  > $100.

When's bedtime?  Midnight.

Brunch: pro or con?  Pro!  (How could brunch be a con?!)

What's your thread count?  No idea...so probably not that high.

What do you hate most about living in New York?  No Target or real Chick-fil-A in Manhattan.

What's your brand of jeans?  Sevens.

When's the last time you drove a car?  Early June in Atlanta.  

Who should be the next president?  John McCain.

Times, Post, or Daily News?  NYTimes.com.  

Yankees or Mets?  Braves.  (But Yankees if I had to choose.)

What makes someone a New Yorker?  Flying into LaGuardia, looking out the airplane window at the skyline, and feeling like you're home.

  

Vent of the day

When given the choice between all of the American Girl dolls, WHY was Kit Kittredge chosen for the first American Girl theatrical release?


First of all, I don't even know who this Kit Kittredge girl is...if that's even her real name. When I was a young American girl, there was the trifecta of over-priced dolls - Molly (with her argyle sweater and glasses), Samantha (prim and proper in Victorian times) and Kirsten (kind of like Laura Ingalls Wilder). I personally was a Molly girl, and I had every birthday party set, accessory and piece of bedroom furniture. Every quarter, though, I religiously read the American Girl catalog, and throughout my childhood, I read every book about every character there was.


As I pushed 5th grade, a couple new dolls came around...Felicity (finally, a red head!) and Addie (...and an African American!). Apparently, this is where I topped out in American Girl land, because apparently, "Kit Kittredge" came to town after I was busy kissing boys and driving cars and poor Molly McIntire was stuck in the attic.


So why is it, when Molly, Samantha and Kirsten were the dolls (and forever will be to any true American Girl fan), that Kit gets to make the theatrical debut?! The original girls were reduced to poorly made, D-List-starring, straight-to-cable movies, but Kit is on the big screen played by Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin (who would have made a perfect Molly in her Little Miss Sunshine glasses)?!?!


I am bamboozled and, quite frankly, slightly more than peeved. I think I'll go drown my sorrows at the American Girl Place...I hear they have a nice little bistro with excellent tea. And a fabulous Doll Hair Salon.