tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52920469450468005222012-02-16T17:34:34.827-05:00Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.comBlogger631100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-75067546252717122552011-09-06T19:05:00.001-04:002011-09-07T08:06:36.148-04:00

Freddie would've been 65 today. Alas, he is an eternal 45 (just a few years older than I am now), dead for these last 20 years. Some people think Queen was one of the best rock bands ever to exist. Some will say the music was good, but nothing special. But even many of the people with the latter opinion concede Freddie Mercury was an amazing performer; as frontman of the aptly-named band, he

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-80541140611506747382011-03-01T08:49:00.000-05:002011-03-01T08:49:44.366-05:00

You know what I want to see? A spin-off of Top Chefs called "Home Cooks" or something. You know how people who are really good home cooks sometimes are told they should open a restaurant? The purpose of the show would be to help someone do just that. I'd want it structured more like TC Masters, with qualifying rounds and then "playoffs" and finals, and with a rating system like theirs as well.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-71938128020837707202010-12-14T11:19:00.000-05:002010-12-14T11:19:43.274-05:00

I'm not watching Glee, but I do read some recaps (done by TLo, aka "the Project Rungay boys" from the old name of their blog) and watch clips of songs I'm interested in. I'm gonna have to pry some money loose from the budget to buy a few of those clips. In particular, I definitely want the NPH "Dream On", and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" from the Christmas episode. I swear that Chris Colfer sounds

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-9612286863564938072010-12-09T21:21:00.000-05:002010-12-09T21:21:59.418-05:00

Dear American Wing-nuts, Pray, enlighten me: when did Australia become a U.S. state? Was it right after Canada was annexed*? Because apparently I missed it. Look, I realize that you're genetically programmed** to respond to any criticism of the United States or anything that you think threatens the pocketbooks of big businesswar effort, but you might want to try thinking a little about the

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-29206629291276082912010-10-29T13:44:00.000-04:002010-10-29T13:44:15.288-04:00

I'm now kinda glad I wasn't able to spend more time doing recaps, but that's not what I'm gonna talk about. I'm gonna talk about the actual three finalists' collections and what I thought about them. Andy Let me get something out of the way first: there's been a lot of speculation on teh intarwebz that he borrowed ideas from a pattern book to put together his collection and/or some of his work

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-52696048320005682932010-10-28T23:13:00.000-04:002010-10-28T23:13:57.286-04:00

Dear Nina Garcia and Michael Kors, You have lost all credibility with me. Seriously. I've been disagreeing with your choices for a while, sure. But this season, not only have I disagreed with you, I've started to wonder if you actually do have any real idea what's going on in the fashion world. You just gave Gretchen the win over Mondo. And I'm pissed off about that, yes, but it's not just

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-89362534406252579352010-09-30T14:38:00.000-04:002010-09-30T14:38:50.713-04:00

No, seriously. I just went to try to go look at finishing up E2 and found out they have taken down the full episodes for everything prior to E6. That means the four hours or so I spent on the E2 recap was a total waste, because no way to finish that one without the video handy. Oh, I probably could go dig up some other people's recaps and figure out which designers I hadn't yet managed to get to

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-90333867417834865582010-09-23T20:04:00.001-04:002010-09-24T10:14:54.058-04:00

Because of the length of time it takes me to write a recap like the one I did for S8 E1—it's a good 5-6 hours of watching for a few seconds, pausing, and writing something, then starting the video up again—I'm clearly not going to get caught up. I'm going to try to finish up the one for E2 anyhow, since I was near the end of it, but then I'm going to try to find a way to write much leaner recaps

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-44216811302099974472010-09-23T19:20:00.000-04:002010-09-23T19:20:28.958-04:00

Here's one thing I don't get: A lot of people seem to think the Republicans are being taken over by crazy right-wing extremists, but also think the Democrats are a bunch of liars who make promises about how they're going to change things but then support the status quo. So, uh... why is no one seeing "vote for a third-party candidate" as the obvious answer? I mean, here we have a fair bit of

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-54659118120583150482010-08-19T17:11:00.003-04:002010-08-19T17:12:01.276-04:00

I'm mostly done with my episode 2 recap, but I'm really distracted by all the info coming out on Guild Wars 2, I'm afraid, so it's not going up before the show. I'll get that up maybe tomorrow, and try to have 3 and 4 done before next week, and then do my best to start getting a more timely recap up, though no promises until my doctor decides to give me a better painkiller for my back problems.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-43138857984711564202010-08-13T20:10:00.006-04:002010-08-13T23:04:09.148-04:00

Last season of Project Runway, I made a stab at doing a dress overview with my opinions of it, with a couple comments here and there on the episodes, and then realized I couldn't keep up and stopped trying until the end. This season I figured I just would be better off not trying, but you know what? I've got some free time and am sitting at the computer anyhow, so I think I'm gonna try again...

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-32422552636412746232010-08-11T17:57:00.000-04:002010-08-11T17:57:17.788-04:00

From my local paper today:Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group is teaming up with a Silicon Valley start-up to reward smartphone-equipped shoppers for walking into Simon's shopping malls. The partnership with technology company Shopkick Inc. is a big step in realizing retailers' long-held dream of using cell phones to beam ads and coupons to people passing by to convert them into buyers. I

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-42126861281039116882010-08-09T10:42:00.000-04:002010-08-09T10:42:55.210-04:00

Here's my reaction to Top Chef so far: x.x Seriously, I'm not loving it. Yeah, I'm still watching, but I feel like a) none of the chefs remaining are really very likeable, and really none of the ones gone were, either, and b) the producer manipulation to keep big-headed Kenny in is ridiculous. (I'm sick of hearing him talk about how good he is, like it hasn't even registered to him that he's

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-3025001074034164242010-07-05T20:43:00.001-04:002010-07-06T01:34:38.999-04:00

"Israel will never apologize for defending its citizens," a high-ranking Israeli government official told CNN Monday, after Turkey reportedly demanded an apology or an inquiry into an Israeli raid on an aid ship that killed nine Turkish citizens. "Of course we regret the loss of life, but it was not the Israeli side that initiated the violence," the official said. Yes, it was. Armed men

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-27794891358540592222010-06-18T02:06:00.000-04:002010-06-18T02:06:47.518-04:00

So, as usual with the first episode, I barely remember anyone's names or much about their actual dishes, but a few things did stand out: Dude with the dreads. Sorry, I know this is shallow, but to be honest I'm kinda glad I'm not going to have to be creeped out by his hair anymore. I know that dreads are just as likely to be clean as some random sweaty chef's hair, and he wore a bandana to keep '

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-34411890093386965522010-05-13T20:06:00.004-04:002010-05-14T02:15:31.335-04:00

[Warning: This Post Contains Many, Many Words Below the Cut.] Let's go back a couple years from the last playlist. As before, the flash object below the cut is an embedded playlist of American Top 40 hits I liked, this time from 1979. [If the embedded object does not show up or work, try this link.] Me and 1979 So: In 1979, I was living with my mom in a suburb of Chicago, and was what was

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-86115034927757006942010-05-06T13:34:00.027-04:002010-12-15T09:13:51.769-05:00

[Warning: This Post Contains Many, Many Words Below the Cut.] The flash object below the cut is a playlist of songs that were either Billboard or American Top 40 hits in 1981 (back when it was hosted by Casey Kasem, for those of you old enough to remember that). It's obviously not even close to all the hits on either chart, but it's a good cross-section of music I actually enjoyed listening to.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-2826818269035678592010-05-05T18:42:00.002-04:002010-05-05T18:43:57.145-04:00

Got blue balls? There's an app for that! A commercial advertising something called "Juicy TV", which appears to involve very large-breasted women, touted their service, which apparently includes an iPhone app. The statement above was not literally in the commercial, but it sure seemed to be the message. Commercials with the sound off can be strange. Based solely on the visuals, I believe that

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-89155940461026515212010-04-30T11:05:00.001-04:002010-04-30T11:05:33.858-04:00

I'm sick of people categorizing moderates as wishy-washy and unable to make up their minds, especially if they're willing to compromise on certain points. First off, political opinions do not just come in "left" and "right". There's a whole wide spectrum. For instance, when it comes to abortion: you can be avidly for legalized abortion or avidly against it, but it's just as possible to be in

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-2038624521220936392010-04-28T11:06:00.002-04:002010-04-28T11:06:51.298-04:00

What it said: mythological conspiracy. What I read: mycological conspiracy. What I pictured: Nazi mushrooms. What you probably just did: rolled your eyes and suppressed laughter.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-23431054365859814162010-04-23T05:41:00.004-04:002010-04-23T05:48:30.204-04:00

On the off chance there's anyone a) reading this blog, who b) hasn't seen it, have a jump tag. Oh, and warning: it's very, very wordy. I believe I may have scared my neighbors tonight by yelling "YES!" very loudly when Seth Aaron won. I know I startled my SO with that and the fist pump. But I am super, super pleased that he won. Pre-Show Let's review: The judges passed Emilio and Seth Aaron

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-72260762045706834382010-04-19T15:19:00.000-04:002010-04-19T15:19:38.454-04:00

Rant ho: Oh, just legalize pot already. C'mon. You know it's not going to be any worse than alcohol and cigarettes. Legalize it, set a minimum age on it, slap a sin tax on it, and worry about the drugs that are actually far more likely to cause problems, okay? Please understand, I do not say this as a pot smoker. I have no interest in smoking it, legal or not. I say this as someone who just

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-89232826435846653402010-04-09T07:55:00.000-04:002010-04-09T07:55:45.994-04:00

Should I go again with the excuses I could make about why I haven't done any more episode reviews? Naah, just fill in whatever reason you like. Anyhow, cut for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet. So, we were down to five, with Miss Thang getting his second chance (which is kinda cool) after Maya dropped out (which was strange but from her reasons understandable), Seth Aaron (my favorite)

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-27103280030183510442010-04-04T05:27:00.000-04:002010-04-04T05:27:13.887-04:00

So, the teabaggers, or tea partiers, or whatever they're calling themselves this week... basically a lot of them are objecting to our national debt going up because of "Obamacare", right? Where the heck were all these people during the Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II years?

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-11708480075493277632010-03-24T20:45:00.001-04:002010-03-25T13:31:10.835-04:00

AP: Bricks have been hurled through Democrats' windows, a propane line was cut at the home of a congressman's brother and lawmakers who voted for a federal health care bill have received obscenity-laced phone threats in the days before and after passage of the sweeping legislation. Yeah, guys, that's doing a lot for your image as reasonable people who should ever be listened to, there. House

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-43323406917862188342010-03-22T12:22:00.000-04:002010-03-22T12:22:31.159-04:00

You'd think that congress had just passed a bill outlawing stupidity, because boy are the wingnut bloggers and their commenters out in full force claiming their right to it. Obamacare sucks, I shouldn't have to pay, soshulism waah and all the other usual aside, there are actually those who are all like: Armed revolution! Secession of conservative states! You can have my insurance premiums when

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-12023650627920513202010-03-16T10:03:00.000-04:002010-03-16T10:03:26.428-04:00

Leaving your 6-year-old kid in the car while you run into a store for a few minutes, tops? Probably fine. Leaving your 6-year-old kid in the car in winter while you shop for several hours and then lose track of the car and have to ask the cops to help you find it and him? Stupid on many, many levels. End result? Kid in hospital for hypothermia; parent arrested for neglect; CPS taking custody of

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-74564564181466294482010-03-12T00:07:00.000-05:002010-03-12T00:07:06.852-05:00

Tonight was not happy PR night. Nope. [Dramatic re-enactment.] Heidi: Ben, you bored us and you can't sew. Amy, you're insane. Amy. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... You're in. [Amy breathes a sigh of relief.] Heidi: That means, Ben, you're out. [/Dramatic re-enactment.] Awwwww. Ben! I'm sorry I said mean things about your dress from last week! Come back! Not that I wanted Amy to go,

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-67354285386096388202010-03-11T18:14:00.002-05:002010-03-12T00:19:22.480-05:00

I hurt my back really badly right after posting about catching up, because it's kind of one of those laws of the universe that any time I try to get on top of something, my body rebels. So let's see what I can get done before tonight's episode. The Challenge Make a dress and a fabulous accessory with materials sourced from the hardware store. I thought this was potentially one of the more

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-64114612131898132502010-02-24T05:35:00.000-05:002010-02-24T05:35:06.760-05:00

Apparently I am the only person on the entire planet who actually thought Ben's kid's dress was cute. I find that weird. I understand the people who thought it was plain, because most of the details were very subtle, but seriously, how can I be the only person who thought that a) lavender was a nice alternative to pink and b) it suited the girl's colouring really well? Eh, oh well. So, there's

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-29844628619815967092010-02-22T18:45:00.001-05:002010-03-11T18:39:59.346-05:00

I didn't get to this last week because I was too busy gaming. :) The Challenge The designers must make an outfit for a spring cover of Marie Claire to be worn by Heidi. The winner will actually have the cover shot. The actual editor of MC is the guest judge and points out some things they're looking for: no busy or pale fabrics because they won't work well with the backdrop or the coverlines,

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-38290195870373417032010-02-22T17:40:00.002-05:002010-02-22T20:03:15.485-05:00

Okay, I'm a little behind here, so let's go with the newest first and then I'll try to work some more on the skipped ones. The Challenge Create a look for a young girl in roughly the K-3 age range. The twist came on the next day, where they were given an extra day to add an adult outfit to go with the kid's outfit. Dresses by Designer Amy Girl made some odd choices this week. Her kid's outfit

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-19162747376572542332010-02-12T15:57:00.000-05:002010-02-12T15:57:37.292-05:00

The right-wing positions are as follows: "Socialized medicine" is bad. The government should make sure Medicare stays viable. Government-run anything is not as good as privatized anything. The government is handing the Moon to Russia and China by leaving space exploration to private companies. More government spending is always bad. The two wars we're fighting need more funding and staffing.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-56104411444282269722010-02-11T11:02:00.002-05:002010-02-11T11:03:49.212-05:00

Since I've got some time and the inclination today, let's start back-filling those earlier episodes' dresses. This is going to be based primarily on the stills and whatever memory I have of how the outfits moved. I'll try hard to keep my later knowledge out of it but I can't guarantee that I won't be affected by knowing who ends up auf later. The Challenge The designers were taken to a park in

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-20446920210242222272010-02-05T11:57:00.003-05:002010-02-22T17:42:00.816-05:00

Okay, I've decided to belatedly start doing a little summation of Project Runway outfits and what I thought of them (and the judging). Maybe I'll go back and fill in the other episodes, but let's start with the most recent. The Challenge Make a red dress with Campbell soup branding for the Red Dress Awards, which promote awareness of heart disease in women. The designers will be making these

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-6477288851136948152010-02-05T04:36:00.000-05:002010-02-05T04:36:47.677-05:00

So, as is my custom after Project Runway, I watched The Daily Show tonight. (I usually don't remember to turn it on the other days of the week; thankfully, the site has all the video available.) During the show, Jon Stewart did a segment on the headings of blog posts when discussing... oh, let's call them critiques of certain people. Mainly people blogging about his own critiques, though he went

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-44645339009796631452010-02-02T10:19:00.000-05:002010-02-02T10:19:40.981-05:00

And by that, I don't mean "a new season is showing" (though, of course, it is). I mean that so far, at least, it's an interesting season! Okay, so they had two one-day challenges in three episodes... that part I can live without. But one of those challenges was actually interesting, and the first team challenge actually gave them 2 days for the first time in what seems like forever, so yay on

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-19312138035207682182010-01-21T12:23:00.000-05:002010-01-21T12:23:22.981-05:00

So, I'm over at Passive-Aggressive Notes, when I come across this entry regarding a note put on the artificial sweetener drawer at some office. The note reads "HOW ABOUT GOING TO THE GYM INSTEAD" [ALL-CAPS and lack of punctuation preserved from original]. My initial reaction was: But... what? I mean, you... Do you... Ummmmmm. Or, translated: Seriously, what the hell? Did non-overweight people

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-10348380295940697602010-01-06T18:51:00.000-05:002010-01-06T18:51:07.551-05:00

Things that will wake me up, guaranteed: The sudden cessation of all white noise in the apartment coupled with the sound of four separate UPSes beeping. Luckily, the power outage was only for a bit over an hour, as our heat depends on the power and it's, um, not warm out.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-61785107599937324402009-12-22T11:37:00.001-05:002009-12-22T11:37:58.592-05:00

So, over at Questionable Content creator's Jeph Jacques livejournal, which I periodically peruse, I found this comic. If you're too lazy to click, the important part is this statement: "Stop using 'win' and 'fail' as complete sentences." The post's a month old, so rather than post a comment there, I'm just gonna put it here, where no one will see it. I can't really understand the animosity

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-6239262095467933712009-12-18T12:06:00.000-05:002009-12-18T12:06:14.302-05:00

Unless, of course, you are Joe Lieberman. Or anyone else who has done their best to gut health care reform.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-65574066864422385322009-12-09T23:02:00.000-05:002009-12-09T23:02:33.401-05:00

Three chefs. I liked two. The third one won. My reaction? A big 'whatever'.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-79555320513894909662009-12-09T10:33:00.000-05:002009-12-09T10:33:12.537-05:00

Over at Making Light, this post on cold-weather safety contains links to helpful posts on how to avoid hypothermia and other winter troubles. (If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, save until June.) Right now it's a comparatively balmy 36°F outside here, and I'd be willing to bet at least one of the sets of sirens I've heard this morning has been for someone who thinks that means it's not cold

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-9982594608609975212009-12-04T14:56:00.000-05:002009-12-04T14:56:33.234-05:00

Via Penny Arcade, I was linked to this post about a group called the Entertainment Consumers Association. To sum up if you don't want to read: ECA is an online organization. They offered a free one-year membership coupled with some discounts on video games. Some people who signed up decided to cancel after some of those discounts disappeared. A few people found a cancel button online, but it was

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-64681702981327762652009-12-03T10:54:00.001-05:002009-12-03T10:55:17.109-05:00

I just love reading a random blog and seeing, in the comments, someone roundly and smugly criticize someone else for using singular 'they'. I especially love it when that comment is followed up by a person basically saying how it's the result of how uneducated modern people are. Look, you may not like it, but a) it's been in use a long, long time, b) it's accepted professionally by some editors

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-37802002114667514922009-11-18T22:26:00.000-05:002009-11-18T22:26:56.003-05:00

Michael V (interview): Kevin cooks the kind of food I cook on my day off. Michael V (to Tom C. during walkthrough): I'm making couscous and tzatziki. Me (to Michael V's image): I can make those on my day off. Or any other day. What does that say about you?

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-34406007886638728532009-11-06T11:19:00.003-05:002009-11-06T11:41:40.897-05:00

I'm going to rant a bit about Project Runway now, and then I'm going to tie it in a bit to my feelings about Top Chef, and then I'm going to wonder if I should go back to watching neither of them and just sticking to the recapper's blogs as I did for S5 of both. Suitable warning: This is extremely long. If you don't want to read lots of words, don't clicky: Dear Lifetime, or B/M, or whomever,

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-7490813947519597472009-10-29T03:12:00.000-04:002009-10-29T03:12:28.082-04:00

Tonight's Top Chef involved needing to cook for a vegetarian. This was a twist on what looked like an otherwise straightforward dinner party, so I do understand the chefs being thrown for a loop at first, but they got to go straight into looking through the non-meat products (fresh ones from a Farmer's market, Tom Collichio says in his blog, so probably plenty of good choices even aside from

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-30439315481518729672009-10-16T07:05:00.000-04:002009-10-16T07:05:41.544-04:00

Dear Designers, You were asked to do a Bob Mackie-style outfit for a singer. Bob Mackie-style stage outfit! I know most of you would not normally do something like his costumes, but you'd think one of you might've realized that he rather likes colour. Black, white, grey, black, white, black and white, white, grey... I think I saw a hint of blue somewhere, but it was pretty subtle. 'Subtle' is

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-60904971629845400942009-10-15T02:37:00.000-04:002009-10-15T02:37:56.427-04:00

Cuz, like, um... this is their cover (work safe unless risque and the word 'Playboy' count as non-work safe where you work):

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-15373640379389525282009-10-13T14:43:00.001-04:002009-10-14T17:29:55.313-04:00

...but I've been watching Top Chef regularly this season again. I think it's obvious at this point who the front-runners are, the probable top four. Granted one of them might screw up (anyone can have an off day, or succumb to the pressure of time), but really it's been pretty clear for a couple weeks that Kevin, Jen, and the Voltaggio brothers are the likeliest top four. If one of them screws

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-77221434027031145752009-10-05T04:46:00.000-04:002009-10-05T04:46:59.690-04:00

I have noticed a trend lately in U.S. fashion shows to use a) more women who look like they're naturally lean rather than starving themselves, and b) models who actually are a bit larger, albeit still not anything like average size. I've even noticed some of the shapes of clothing looking more adaptable to different body sizes (fewer microbodices, looser construction, etc.). But I'm not going

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-34303359076343572372009-10-05T04:32:00.000-04:002009-10-05T04:32:04.843-04:00

Average height of women in the U.S.: Approximately 5'4"[1] Average dress size of women in the U.S.: 14[1,2] Size "plus size" begins at: 12-18, depending on the store. Typical height for models: 5'8" and above Typical dress size for "normal" size models in the U.S.: 0-4[2,3] Typical dress size for "plus" size models in the U.S.: 8-12[2,4] [1] Height based on 2002 CDC report, the latest

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-3749081738123206312009-09-29T21:31:00.000-04:002009-09-29T21:31:41.183-04:00

Look, I get that $900 billion is a lot of money, and I understand why people might want to try to find ways to cut costs in any government overhaul of health care, of any sort of subsidies for people to afford insurance, and so forth. But... it seems sort of odd that the people who are so focussed on the money that they're putting out advertising on the issue don't seem to have a problem with

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-4814013973705112072009-09-21T10:20:00.000-04:002009-09-21T10:20:35.451-04:00

Seems like a bad idea to me.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-16342888536918247742009-09-18T11:50:00.001-04:002009-09-18T11:50:34.562-04:00

Because who else, honestly, could possibly say "I am woeful." and not sound like an emo-freak?

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-55527633322659761532009-09-08T18:26:00.000-04:002009-09-08T18:58:04.399-04:00

Dear Mike Isabella of Top Chef,You seem to not realize that your audience is composed primarily of foodies and chefs. I base this characterization on the fact that you felt a need to condescendingly let us know that risotto can be made of other things than rice. I realize that 'condescending' is your normal tone, and what with your obvious hangup about women and bloated self-importance I hardly

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-44271340202606083282009-09-06T20:20:00.000-04:002009-09-06T20:44:24.724-04:00

The other day I got curious about the whereabouts of past Top Chef contestants, and happened, in my searches, to come across a restaurant run by Season 5 contestant Stefan Richter. The restaurant has a menu, so I thought I'd take a look at it and see what he was offering.I'm not going to critique the food choices; that's not really the point. I am, however, going to note that it's a really,

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-60592758486691044352009-09-04T19:58:00.000-04:002009-09-04T20:04:47.033-04:00

So, President Obama wants to broadcast a speech to schools encouraging kids to study and finish school. And judging from the response, apparently, "study and finish school" is a code phrase for "kill their parents, get pregnant, abort the fetuses, and eat them, while singing praises to Satan and dancing the Troika".I'm glad there are so many helpful right-wingers out there to help me with this

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-66234350394864537662009-08-28T12:24:00.001-04:002010-03-08T16:16:22.700-05:00

I'm not watching Top Chef this season. I freely admit I got bored of it, which seems weird because I really do love cooking shows. Maybe I just like them better when there's less manufactured drama. I find Iron Chef (the real one, not the American version) and Alton Brown pretty entertaining, for instance. That doesn't mean I'm totally disinterested, though. I'm reading the recaps over at

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-45429437471179581862009-08-20T00:49:00.000-04:002009-08-20T01:07:12.759-04:00

I don't really like to discuss politics much. It tends to start fights I just don't have the energy for. But there are just some things that I can't ignore.See, here's the thing. I don't mind if you don't really like Obama, if you disagree with his policies, if you think he's the wrong guy to be the President. I probably won't agree with you much if you think that—I don't think he's by any means

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-31046448821821381092009-08-19T06:11:00.001-04:002009-08-19T06:33:51.335-04:00

I'm reading a book in which a PI is posing as a bartender. The author was careful to note that she had experience, which is good as the waitress-to-bartender ordering shorthand she depicts is a bit opaque, even to me, who was once fairly interested in cocktails and thought about being a bartender.I never did it, though. I decided that customer service in general wasn't for me (I waitressed for

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5292046945046800522.post-332012217049917962009-08-02T04:09:00.000-04:002009-08-02T04:11:22.888-04:00

I suppose if I'm gonna have a new blog, there ought to be at least one post.Hmmm. Let's see. What shall I write about? *crickets chirp*Okay, you got me. I just made the blog because I was thinking that if I did want to post about something random, none of my other blogs would work. I don't know why I didn't wait until I had something to say....Hrm, no. Still nothing.I'll get back to you.

Tinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17501225796369200145noreply@blogger.com0