I have seen every Project Runway episode ever created, well, televised anyway.

What’s not to like about this show?

You have a drop dead gorgeous, supermodel host- Heidi Klum.

Then there’s Tim Gunn, everyone’s favorite fashion consultant. If his sheer fabulousness isn’t enough to win you over, his catch phrases alone will.

“Make it work!”

“Carry on.”

A very controversial designer, Santino Rice (season two), used to do absolutely incredible impersonations of Tim. There are a lot of Santino haters out there, but I don’t think any of them can argue with this brilliance:

And then there’s the judges, Nina Garcia and Michael Kors. Nina is nothing but brutally honest in her critic which makes absolutely stellar television.

Michael Kors always uses very obscure references when delivering his critique. I never know quite what he’s talking about, but it’s nothing short of entertaining.

Two seasons back, Project Runway switched networks from Bravo to Lifetime. When they initially made the change to Lifetime, during season six, they chose to film the show in L.A. and not New York where they had filmed five seasons before this. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love L.A. I live here for pete’s sake, but they should not have switched cities. I’m not sure if it was the adjustment to the new network or the new city, but season six was the worst season of Project Runway I have ever seen!

It was so boring, and nothing seemed to ever happen. Last season, season 7, was a bit blah too.

Alright, so let’s fast forward to this season. Season 8. It is the best season yet! So much drama, you know the good kind, in the name of television.

There are designers turning on each other left and right, and though I would never want to be in the middle of that sort of cattiness. It is delightful to watch.

One designer Gretchen Jones, who I was really rooting for at the beginning, had a not so flattering moment on the runway. Tim Gunn even calls her out on it, in front of the other designers! In all my years of watching Project Runway, I have never seen that. Tim Gunn has stated his dislike of people’s behavior on his blog, or after a designer was kicked off. But nothing like this:

If you have never seen Project Runway, this is the season to start. This is what you’re missing! Every episode is full of edge of your seat suspense, a little humor, and of course some harmless cattiness.

For years, I have had a love affair with the television show I Love Lucy. Lucille Ball is arguably the greatest comedian of all time.

I cannot hide my love any longer, and so I have created a new blog as a tribute to Lucille Ball!  More specifically, the many faces of Lucille Ball. Allow me to explain.

In the course of her life, Lucille Ball was a woman of many faces. She was an expert in all areas of physical comedy, but what truly amazes me about her is how much emotion and comedy she can portray with her face.

My newest blog – I Look Lucy is my project to recreate the many looks on Lucy’s face. The joy, the pain, the surprise, the dismay, etc., etc….

I will also replicate any of pictures of Lucy’s faces, so send ‘em in: ilooklucy @ gmail

Let the face making begin!

I was house sitting for the past couple of weeks at a farm house. Every day it was: up at sunrise, feed the chickens (and a very large turkey) and begin the morning. Now I’m pretty much a city girl at heart. I live in Hollywood, which means that when you walk outside your door, there are about twenty pizza places within a mile all open until 3 am or so. Being at the farm was a bit different, the only fast food place within a half an hour walk was Taco Bell. Which, just happens to be my favorite.

I don’t know if it’s that artificial  cheese, or those tasty beans, or the delicious cinnamon twists, but I whatever it is, I want to wash it all down with a delicious ice cold Pepsi.

I realize that this is not real Mexican food, but that’s not why I love it. I love it because it tastes like everything is going to be okay. That this great big scary world isn’t so bad after all. As long as I can have my Nachos Bell Grande, life tastes a little bit sweeter.

“You better work.”

Who’s fiercer than Tyra Banks and Beyonce combined? RuPaul of course!

I thought T.V. broke the mold when they brought us Project Runway, but I had yet to see RuPaul’s Drag Race.

You couldn’t even spoof this show if you tried, because it is so outlandish, and in such a delightfully sweet way. What other show takes the two bottom contestants ready to be voted off the show and forces them to “lipsync for your life?” None other than Drag Race, honey.

You’ve heard of Tyra Mail on America’s Next Top Model, well every episode of Drag Race, RuPaul delivers “She Mail.” Brilliance!

You’ll be in tears from laughing so hard from this show. And girrrrrllll, it’s gonna get catty. Santino Rice, the cattiest in the history of all Project Runway designers, is a judge on this show. And that says it all.

So grab an Absolut cocktail, your best pair of heels, and run, don’t walk to your T.V. Cuz RuPaul’s Drag Race is in the house.

Oh So Very Animated!

Haven’t blogged in a while, which is painfully obvious from such a large gap in post dates. But, hey, I was busy working away in the world of Animation. The studio I worked at was right next door to the the old Hannah-Barbera building, and since I lived and breathed The Flintstones as a child, I was pretty much like a kid in a candy store. I have since closed that chapter of my life, but I brought a little something along as a souvenir: a cartoon version of myself!

Being a cartoon in cool, but it’s even cooler when you are drawn by an awesome animator. I was drawn by the creator of Cow and Chicken. And what a job he did! I’d say that the likeness is pretty uncanny! I’ve always felt like a cartoon character on the inside, but just boring old flesh and bones on the outside. But now I am immortalized in ink and paint!

I think my first act as a cartoon character will include running to the sound of bongo drums, or getting hit so hard on the head that I see little birds circling my noggin. You know, the kind of things that cartoon characters take for granted that we humans only dream of.

Don’t think being a cartoon character is any cake walk though. You still have to look out for things like erasers, and dip (that deadly stuff used to kill cartoons in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?).

I intend to make the most of being a cartoon. Maybe I’ll call up Yogi Bear so we can steal a couple of picnic baskets, or dig up some rootin’ tootin’ varmints with Yosemite Sam. Whatever it takes.

I know, I know, who doesn’t love The Secret World of Alex Mack? I certainly do.

I remember writing down in my fifth grade planner what T.V. shows were on what nights. Who knew what was for homework? And who cares? The Secret World of Alex Mack was always written in big, bold letters, right under The Wonder Years.

I love any storyline where the main character has fallen into spilled chemicals, and then produces wicked awesome powers from stewing in some yellow ooze. Cool. Did I mentioned that this character was a child who fell in the chemicals?  Yes, my generation demanded only the highest quality of entertainment. She could do lots of things, she could shoot electricity out of her fingers. This came in handy for a lot of things.

The best of all of Alex’s powers however was when she could turn herself into water, even though because of bad special effects, she looked more like a puddle metallic silver. Whatever it was, it looked awesome. That would be my super power, turn into a giant glob of metal. Done.

What does this story teach us? Bathe in chemicals, you’ll get super powers.

Hilary Duff made a comment recently about how none of her fans even know who Faye Dunaway is. This was in response to Faye Dunaway’s near shock and surprise that a remake of  the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde is being remade and Hilary Duff is set to play Bonnie Parker, the role Dunaway played years ago. Duff’s comment saddened me, does the younger generation not know about Faye Dunaway? In my humble opinion, one of the greatest actresses of all time? With the invention of YouTube? And the fact that our world has access to whatever entertainment they choose to watch, no matter what decade that entertainment happens to come from?

And then I remembered. When I was in the fourth grade, my favorite T.V. show was from the 1790’s: Happy Days. So there must be some hope for this world.

Even if you think it’s impossible to love Ron Howard more than you already do after seeing him on the Andy Griffith Show, you’re wrong, he will steal your heart all over again on Happy Days. Now most people believe this show fell apart the moment Fonzie jumped a shark, water skiing in Hawaii. In fact that’s where the term “jumped the shark” comes from. (When T.V. shows clearly should have  been canceled, but that show is still on the air, that show has “jumped the shark”) The show really ended when Ron Howard’s character left the show. Ritchie Cunningham joins the army, and I stopped watching.

This show is an American institution. Who doesn’t want to grab a burger at Arnold’s or watch Fonzie jump over a line of cars on his motorcycle? That’s what I need in a good sitcom.

I also need a good sitcom to come up with it’s own insults, yes Battlestar Gallactica wasn’t the only show, and Happy Days came up with the term “sit on it.” Not the worst thing you can say to another human being, but once you hear it on this show you’ll become obsessed and die to hear it again. Joanie says it to Ralph, Ritchie says it to Potsie, Mrs. C. says it to…the Fonz?

Wow, I didn’t think anyone would live to say that.  Although the Fonz is supposed to be a hoodlum, he is the most polite delinquent you’ll ever meet.

Ralph makes bad jokes, and Potsie sings.

Anson Williams, who played Potsie, even put out an album a while back. I’ve never heard it, I can only picture Potsie singing.

This show is just a classic and I have to believe that it has stood the test of time, I still love watching season to season of a show made about the 50s in the 70s.

You know a show is good if: It was based off the movie American Graffiti, it makes you want to move to Wisconsin, there is a character on the show named Pinky Tuscadero, and if it produced the kind of spin-off like Joanie Loves Chachi.

So, because my ten year old self loved and was obsessed with a show made in the 70’s, I have faith that there is some little girl out there whose favorite actress is Faye Dunaway. I know mine was.

Finally brought myself to go see Avatar. I was not a big Titanic fan, so I needed some convincing. I mean James Cameron did give us The Terminator so he can’t be all bad.

Avatar was pretty , it really was worth seeing in 3D, but the story was less desirable. I loved watching the forest glow and the animated characters were so lifelike. When I saw Polar Express and Beowulf the eyes on the characters looked really dead, but the animation in Avatar looked like the characters were alive and had a pulse.

I was distracted at times because Sam Worthington’s Australian accent kept coming out of his American character’s mouth. This made me giggle but totally took me out of the world of the movie. Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver both delivered great performances, however.

I think this movie is great movie to watch in the theater, once it’s out on DVD I think a lot will be lost watching it on a smaller T.V. screen. I think in all fairness, if this movie didn’t look the way it does, many people wouldn’t give this movie a second glance.

I think I may have figured it out, James Cameron is a wizard and we are all under his spell.

Check out some other thoughts from some of my gals from the Filmgirl Force:

Action Flick Chick

Film Gurl

Just Chick Flicks

Reel Artsy

Zenbitch

I haven’t felt this emo since I went through that Dashboard Confessional stint in High School.

My So-Called Life was a little bit of an emotional roller coaster for me. I wanted to see the show because I love Claire Danes and because I have a soft-spot for 90’s television. Claire Danes also won a Golden Globe for her performance in this show, so I was interested.

Initially I couldn’t get into it. I felt like it was way too over the top. I mean trust me High School is a certain torture chamber that I can’t believe society subjects children to, but I mean sometimes watching this show I just wanted to slip some of the characters some Prozac. The only character that seemed remotely happy was Rayanne Graff and she had some major drinking problems.

I will say, by the middle of the series (which wasn’t very long, it was cancelled after one season) I was hooked. Then  all of a sudden this storyline comes out of nowhere that completely horrified me, I won’t tell you what it is because surprises are the spice of life, but I just couldn’t recover.

I also have never heard the word “like” used so many times in my life. And believe me, I live in Hollywood, that’s twenty minutes from The Valley–I’ve heard it used a lot.

The last episode didn’t wrap a whole lot up, which sometimes happens, I understand, but the only explanation I can come up with is that the show must of been canceled before they could give their audience a satisfying ending. Or maybe they were going for torture, that’s cool, but it was torturous.

Bottom line: Claire Danes is a great actress, I’m glad this show did good things for her career. She deserves it.

I dunno maybe I’m being unfair to this show because I watched such an amazing show before this, Twin Peaks, and My So-Called Life couldn’t possibly live up to TP’s high standards. But for the most part, My So-Called Life = meh.

Orange, please.

Thank you Vat19.com for making a dream become a reality.

A Gummy Bear Vision Come To Life