Friday fragments

I had to turn on the word verification on comments, thanks to a repeated spammer. Hopefully this will be temporary, and a week of word verification will be enough to get my blog removed from their spam list. Then I'll turn it off again. Please bear with me on this.

Its official: "Project Runway" is finally coming back. Look for season 6 to start in June on Lifetime, the network for women and gay men. The legal feud is over and Lifetime won. More details can be found at David Dust, whose top-notch "Project Runway" recaps are sometimes better than the show itself! Despite the channel change I'm confident they'll 'make it work'.
But not to be left without a fashion-based reality show, Bravo will be replacing "Project Runway" with "The Fashion Show". They've already started running commercials for it, and the cast has already been chosen. They've probably already taped many of the episodes too, knowing the potential of losing PR.

Tim Gunn's role will be played by the far less elegant and often insane Isaac Mizrahi. Now, I like Ike, but if you think I'm being mean by calling him insane, just watch this video on "The Fashion Show" website. He says "...in my regular life I prefer to wear almost nothing, because I like to focus on what other people are wearing, you know? That's my job... my job." WTF??? I wonder what Ike's catchphrase is going to be. Maybe "I'd wear that." Picture it: Ike is milling around the workroom "mentoring" the designtestants. He looks at a mannequin dawned in a haute couture evening gown and exclaims "I'd wear that." Meanwhile, Heidi Klum's role will be played by Kelly Rowland. Record scratch. Huh? Isn't she the Destiny's Child whose mother is NOT a fashion designer? Obviously Kelly won't be able to say Heidi's famous "As you know in fashion, one day you're in, and the next day you're out" because its surely copywrited. So instead, maybe she'll say something like "As you know in fashion, one day you're a 'Survivor', and the next day its 'Game Over'. So 'Say My Name', bitches." Probably not.

And speaking of reality shows, did you notice that "Make Me a Supermodel" changed its formula this season?

In Season 1 the viewers' online and text votes determined who went home. In this season, the judges decide who goes home. Interesting... Also, last season each week's episode was taped within a few days of its airing because they didn't know who would be sent home. This year it is all taped in advance, like "Project Runway", "Survivor", etc.

But enough about TV. I do have a life, afterall.

Many bloggers I read have posted photos of their furry, 4-legged family members, which I always love to see. It occurred to me yesterday that I have never posted any photos of ours. Although I've written about ours, I've never posted any photos of them. I'm not one for taking lots of pictures, mostly because it seems I'm always having camera issues. So here you are:

Pouncer the Wondercat, whom I woke up from a nap with the flash of the camera. Pouncer is an 11-year old male who prefers me over Spouse, and loves to sit on my chest and stomach at night while we watch TV. Pouncer the Wondercat was named after Victoria's cat in the movie "Beaches". I loved the name Pouncer, loved the little song Victoria sang to him, and decided when I got a cat (some time in the future) I'd name him Pouncer the Wondercat.

Here is Jordan the dog, doing what she does best: relax and sleep. Jordan is a female lemon beagle, approximately 15 years old. We adopted her from a rescue league so we're not sure of her age. 12 years ago the rescue league folks said she was about 2, but the vet we took her to for an exam said she was older than 2. She prefers Spouse over me, despite the fact that I am the one who feeds and walks her most often. Bitch!

A reader called to my attention the comical timing of my Earth Hour post followed immediately by photos of Big Ella, my gas-guzzling, polluting, but absolutely gorgeous piece of drivable art. Honestly, it hadn't even dawned on me that these back-to-back posts might make me appear to be talking out of both sides of my mouth. But in my defense, I just want to say that Big Ella is not a daily driver. I do not drive her to work every day, so she is not guzzling gasoline or polluting the air on a consistent basis. She gets driven once a week, for about 10 miles. So I can still be an advocate for energy conservation, reduced need for fossil fuels, recycling, and increased availability of alternative fuels without being a hypocrite.

How many people have you heard lament over their ability to lose weight and inches, but not be able to get rid of excess tummy fat? Let's just say it has been heard around our house before. So this article caught my eye. It sounds like you can make your exercise more effective and drink your way to a slimmer stomach! Green tea, the magic elixir! You know I'm gonna try it.

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone.

Crush du Jour: Flavio Mendonca

Make Me a Supermodel, Season 2

Although it is totally NOT something I would normally be drawn to, last year I was enticed into watching Bravo's new series Make Me a Supermodel.The reason was because the trailers for the show indicated that one of the contestants, Ronnie Kroell, was an OUT gay man. I thought Ronnie was attractive so I decided to watch the show as long as Ronnie remained on it, fully expecting him to be eliminated early on simply because I was rooting for him. This often happens to me. Tammie Brown and Victoria Parker were my faves on RuPaul's Drag Race, but were the 1st 2 to be told "Sashay, away".

Ronnie did very well in the competition and made it all the way to the finale, so I wound up watching the entire series. Surprisingly it wasn't half bad.

I thought the photo shoots were very interesting, as many of them were at actual locations, rather than in a studio. I found Ronnie to be smart an articulate - not just another pretty face. Last summer Ronnie worked on Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Unfortunately, just like Hillary, Ronnie came in 2nd place, but has been modeling ever since. I wish him all the luck! Visit Ronnie's MySpace page.

So, a few weeks ago I saw the trailers for Make Me a Supermodel (MMaS) Season 2 and decided I would definitely watch it, because I enjoyed last season, and to see if there were any other OUT models.

Last night was the premier of Season 2. Don't worry if you missed it; Bravo always re-runs the episodes throughout the week, so you can catch it.

The first gay I spotted was Chris, a blond feminine-looking male who proclaimed that he had an advantage over the other models because he "can look masculine or feminine" when he wants to. However, the judges and I both decided he just looks feminine all the time. Although he was not eliminated last night, I believe he won't be in the competition much longer.

But then came the 'sweet spot' I'd been hoping for: Shawn.

After their first photo shoot, Shawn and the other models were relaxing at the group house and telling things about themselves to help the others get to know them. Colin says he's never modeled before; Salome says she was raised Mennonite, etc. When its his turn, Shawn shows his wedding ring finger to the models and says that he's "been married to a man for 7 years".

There we go! That's what I was waiting for.

Today I checked Bravo's MMaS website for Shawn's bio and was delighted to read this: "Shawn is currently working in Sales in Pensacola, Florida., where he lives with his beloved husband of seven years."

Bravo!, Bravo.

So, as you can imagine, I am now fully supporting Shawn (gotta give mad props to those who have the courage to be OUT in the public eye) and hoping he will be the winner. In the meantime, I will enjoy the interesting locations, fashions, hair and make-up, and personalities in Make Me a Supermodel, and I suggest you do the same.

Crush du Jour: Mark Consuelos