Project Run(a)way again

They say a picture says a thousand words. And I think that's what they should have showed the contestants in the second challenge in the second episode the other night. For those who missed out on it (I can't blame you since it's aired so late), the challenge this time was to design an outfit based on an assigned legendary Filipino designer and to inject one's personality in it. To help them come up with their concept, students from SOFA were assigned to each contestant. I think it might helped if a visual peg was shown to the contestants. You can't expect someone to come up with something based on someone else's description of a designer's style - especially if you aren't familiar with their work, or what they're known for to begin with. It's just like asking a artist to do paint Return of the Bucintoro to the Molo on Ascencion Day by Canaletto without ever seeing it or to have someone draw any of Stan Lee's Marvel characters without seeing any of his comic books or watching any of the Marvel movies. In the end, it was the work of this guy who made the fabric he got look cheaper than cheap that didn't make the cut. It was an alright show. 

Except for a few things: - Teresa Herrera looked like a Swiss maid wearing a teletubby costume. - Better if they interviewed the SOFA students to ask how they helped each contestant come up with their design. It looked like they were just there to hang out. - Aries felt bad that the old lady was booted out in the first episode but he had a sudden change of heart when he saw his first ensemble next to hers in the studio so he moved it farther away from it.   - They really ought to spruce up the contestant's apartment. - Why make Amina the guest judge when they didn't design bags, which is more of her area of expertise?

- When the booted designer left on stage, there was no, hug, beso, shaking of hands.  But the host did say "take care"

Project Run(a)way

I almost forgot to watch the local version of Project Runway last night. If it wasn't for Happy's text 30 minutes after 10pm, I would have gone straight to la la land and missed the show altogether. It was an entertaining pilot episode, but I wondered about a few things: 1) Why did the 51 year-old old lady bother joining when she knew it wasn't going to be just a walk in Rizal Park? The dress she made looked like something a girl from the province would wear if she came to Manila and wanted to "impress" the city's denizens. 2) Why did they cast designers who have been featured already in magazines? 3) Why did they cast Teresa Herrera to be the host? Couldn't they just have made Apples Aberin the host and got somebody else to be the Nina Garcia? 4) Why Jojie Lloren as the (ter)mentor? How does he feel that he doesn't get to judge while Rajo does? Why not cast Michael Salientes instead? 5) Why isn't the place of the designers as nice as the one in the US Project Runway? 6) Why didn't they cushion the runway? Every footstep could be heard. 7) Isn't there a better way of saying goodbye the way Heidi does? Teresa just said, "ingat!" And it even didn't sound heartfelt. 8) Why did Frederick Peralta wear his sunnies the entire time? 9) The challenge was to use every single piece of fabric and to not leave any leftovers (at least that's what Teresa said). One guy hoarded everything but only made a tiny dress. Where did he stuff the rest of his fabric? 10) Will they have a terno challenge and invite Imelda to judge?

Mess in the city

It's been a very unproductive weekend with me super glued to my bed practically the whole day, getting up only to pee and eat. I finished the (almost) entire season 1 of Brothers & Sisters save for the last 3 episodes because the player claimed it was "damaged". I switched to Gossip Girl after dinner and I wasn't impressed. It was like Sex in the City minus the restaurant scenes, comedic timing, and substance. I found the characters a huge mess - it was a wild roller coaster ride from being friends, to enemies, to friends, then back to being enemies. For those who aren't familiar with the show, Gossip Girl is based on the hugely popular young adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar and is about four filthy-rich main characters and two financially challenged sibs who show you their tumultuous world where teens have sex, swig dirty martinis and smoke pot during leisurely walks through Central Park, and how good a seamstress one can be if you can't afford to buy a dress from the department store. You have Serena van der Woodsen who suddenly left for boarding school but made a comeback for the new school year, thus shocking the entire student body especially when it's revealed that she slept with her best friend's boyfriend, Nate, who looks like a girl. Blair Waldorf (her salad-sounding best friend) is obviously pissed off so she makes Serena's social life a living hell in the first few episodes. It's only when Serena's brother who attempted suicide shows Blair his wrist wounds that she decides to wave the white flag. I really didn't understand it. To me, they were more like girls PMS-ing and channeling angst towards each other. You never know who Gossip Girl is but you'd end up being amazed on how she gets all her news and how almost every teen reads the blog where she posts her info in. Kinda reminds me of Soozie Hopper.

All in the family

My eyebags have reached the floor thanks to Calista Flockhart and Sally Field. I didn't know watching a family's messy life can be so entertaining. What started as a three-episode only sitting turned to 5, then 7, then 10 and till my eyes finally gave up and when I started hearing birds chirping outside my window. Brothers & Sisters is an Emmy-award winning TV series that tells the story of an upper class American family, its business woes, and personal problems. The trouble starts when the Dad dies from a heart attack leaving his family with an almost-bankrupt business because of his money funneling ways. The kids take over the family business and that's where all the action begins. The mistress is discovered, the brother in law falls in love with her, the estranged daughter moves back in and gets jiggy with a senator, the eldest daughter has a whole lot of problems that I even don't want to start enumerating, a brother discovers he's sterile, the youngest brother is ordered to go back to Iraq, and the gay brother can't just find the perfect man. The mom doesn't really know half of whats happening because she spends half the time beating around the bush with the contractor, who it seems doesn't get any job done on time. or at all. And that's just Season One. In some scenes you can't help be drawn to Calista's lips and start to have visions of a duck wearing lipstick. At least she isn't as thin as when she was during her Aly McBeal days. Then you see Sally who can't seem to keep her hair all in one place. She also looks problematic in most of the show. But even if, you'll still really, really, like her in this show. Then you also notice that the family drinks an awful lot of wine whenever they get together. In every kitchen or dining room scene, you're bound to spot them clutching a glass of red or white or a bottle or two lurking in the midst.