Late last night I caught what I think was the first episode of Margaret Cho's new show on VH1. I remember reading a while back that she was going to have a show, but frankly, I kind of abandoned VH1's whole "celebreality" lineup a few months ago and forgot all about it. I'm normally all for trashy tv, but I've had more than my fill of Bret Michaels, "New York," rehab and whatever other dreck they've been throwing on.
I've always been a huge fan of Margaret Cho, even during and after her awful awful sitcom, but I kind of stopped hearing about her for a while. I think there was a rehab stint or something? Anyways, next time I saw her, she's all super svelte and has all these crazy tats! (If you want to see a crazy and slightly disturbing picture, check out the link in #3 on this site, found through Pajiba)
But I was pleasantly surprised by The Cho Show. It reminds me a little bit of Kathy Griffin's Bravo show, but not quite so desperate or mean-spirited. Not that I don't like My Life on the D List, but it gets a little old. Cho's show is a little bit over the top as well (her personal assistant is a glammed-out little person, she considers going to an awards show in body paint only), but then I would expect no less. And somehow, Cho is just generally less grating on my nerves. I also really like actually seeing her interact with her parents since I always wondered how accepting they were of her performances, among other things. But it's kind of tender to see that while they clearly think she's nutty, they just kind of roll with it, even when she makes fun of them and threatens to put them in a home.
I'm adding a season pass to my DVR. I believe new eps are on Thursday nights, but of course VH1 also reruns them ad nauseum.
I keep meaning to write about the new season of Project Runway, but it's almost too overwhelming during these early episodes. I can't remember anyone's name, especially now that they start with 16 contestants! But now that we're down to a sort of reasonable number, I'm going to do my best. Although I will preface with saying that I was sort of bummed that the Asian guy was the first one "Auf'd." Why is it always the Asian dude that turns out to be embarrassing? Dammit.
So we're only 3 episodes in, there are already 3 people I cannot stand. I'm sure it won't take rocket science to figure out who they are.
#1. Guy who keeps referring to himself in the third person. I'm sorry, was there EVER a point in time when this was considered funny or cool? T pointed out that despite the idiocy of it, it does effectively draw attention to yourself. So congratulations Suede, you win the prize for having having an asinine schtick to match your asinine name. I could almost over look it if he were 17, but he's freaking 37! I'm all the more pained by the fact that he appears to actually be talented, so we may have to endure this for a while. Bleh.
#2. Old chick who thinks she's still rockin.' From the first episode, she's done nothing but whine. Her cause is also hurt by the fact that she is annoying just to look at. What the heck is up with the dots of eyeliner under her eyes? Scary.
#3. Guy who thinks it's clever to add "licious" to everything. Um, yeah, not funny. It's not even original dude. Just sad, really.
Onto tonight's episode. Was I the only one who was shocked/horrified by the outcome? I honestly thought that Kenley's outfit was hideous. I mean, I guess it was well-made, but the colors made my head hurt. I wasn't a big fan of Terri's either, but I guess the whole 80s aesthetic is in now. I can't believe that Leanne didn't win though. Hers was so gorgeous!
I was also pretty surprised that Emily was eliminated. Her dress was definitely not great, but it wasn't nearly as hideous as Jennifer or Keith's! I'm usually pretty good at calling it on who's going to be booted, and I was way off this time.
So the frontrunners so far seem to be Kenley, Kelli and (sigh) Suede. The talent (and ego) levels seem to be very high again this season, so I suppose anything can happen.
Oh, one last thing. What the hell happened to Sandra Bernhard's face? She looked like she was so botoxed that she could barely manage a smile. Bleah!
I will say that one nice thing about having a kid is getting back in touch with some of the things that I loved as a child. Like most people in my age group, I have very fond memories of watching Sesame Street. E is still a little young to really understand it (or any TV, for that matter), but we watch it together on occasion. It's changed quite a bit over the years (Elmo seems to have taken over), but every so often there's still some really good gems in there. I've never been a huge REM fan, but I had to giggle when I saw this the other day:
And this one, I didn't see this when it aired, but it was on Pajiba today and I couldn't resist:
Last, but not least, I have to add this gem that T sent me a while back. I honestly cannot believe that they let him jam out with like, a 10-piece band, but they did and it is the pinnacle of awesomeness:
It'll be interesting to see what happens this week now, especially since I never thought Jessica was that strong a performer anyways. But I also doubt that Comfort will make the most of her reprieve.
It's taken me a while to catch up since we were out of town all last week, but I ended up watching last week's and this week's SYTYCD pretty much back to back. It's all starting to get a bit predictable now. After we watched last week's, where Kourtni & Matt were eliminated (meh - good riddance, tall freaks), I immediately turned to T and said, "Buh-bye Comfort & Thayne" because it was so SO obvious that they were going to be cut next. I mean, they were decent, but let's face it, they were also just both way out of their league compared to the remaining 10, some on a level of talent, but others on a charisma/personality level.
But all that being said, I have to say, it's starting to irk me how the judges really stump more for some couples over others. More than a few times this season, I've thought that a dance was really kind of sucky and tired, but then the judges come out fawning all over how wonderful it is. I hate to sound like one of those lame-o conspiracy types, but it really does seem odd how certain couples would just get hammered every week no matter how good the routine seemed to my amateur eyes.
Also, am I the only one who wants to punch Mary Murphy in the face? I know being loud and annoying is like, her schtick, but damn, she's really taking it to a whole new level this year. And since when did the "hot tamale train" become some sort of marketable catch phrase. It cracks me up when she shakes her head, all sad and serious, and says, "I'm sorry, I just can't put you on the train this week." It's not frickin' Sophie's Choice woman. I feel like the Queen Bee chick from Mean Girls and saying "Stop saying 'fetch!' It's just not going to happen!" No one is going to be buying "Hot Tamale Train" t-shirts, Mary Murphy. Just give it up. It was only moderately funny for one season. Now it's just sad.
Total side note, but how scary has her eye makeup has been the past couple weeks? In case you missed it, she's had this crazy shimmery white eyeliner all around her eyes. T said she looked like an alien. I wish I could find a picture.
But to get back to the top 10 remaining, I think Will is the obvious favorite, especially considering how much the judges kiss his ass. Jessica has clearly been riding his coattails, and once they switch to individual voting, I bet she'll sink like a rock. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she's off next week. Also, has anyone else noticed how all the remaining girls are all perky & cute, girl-next-door types? Hmmm...suspicious.
For the girls, I think Chelsie is the frontrunner. I like Courtney a lot too, but I don't think she's as strong a dancer. I think she benefits a lot from good chemistry with Gev. For some reason Katee rubs me the wrong way, so I'm having a hard time rooting for her, even though as a rule, I always root for the Asians. ;) Still, her Bollywood routine this week was pretty awesome.
Boys: I'm still rooting for Twitch, but he's starting to be a little too cheesy for me. I've always really liked Mark, but I don't think he can win the whole thing. The quirkiness that attracts me probably repels too many others. And I'll admit, Will's crazy six-pack did make a strong impression the last couple weeks. If they keep having him dance shirtless, he's a cinch for the female vote (ooh, wish I had a pic of that too).
A little backstory: T grew up in Iowa, not far from a town called Riverside that has dubbed itself the "future birthplace of James T. Kirk." Yeah, like from Star Trek. Long story short, once a year they have a festival called Trek Fest. T claims that he's attended before, and that the highlight of the festival is the demolition derby, where you can "see guys dressed as Klingons and rednecks in the same place while watching cars smash into each other!"
I've never been to any kind of sci-fi or comic book convention, but I find the idea of it appealing, mostly because I think the people-watching end of it would be highly entertaining. So after years of listening to his hype about this place, it so happened that we're going to be in Iowa when this year's Trek Fest was happening. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to catch the demolition derby, but we thought it might be a kick to check it out the next night anyways. This year's fest was supposed to feature a visit from Walter Koenig, better known as Checkov! Exciting...I guess.
Well, my first tipoff that it was going to suck should have been when both T's brother and sister refused to come along. They were like, "Really? Why do you want to go there?" After some cajoling (as well as more jokes about Klingons from T), we finally convinced them to come. His sister was suckered in by the promise of a funnel cake, and his brother mainly just wanted to see the looks of disappointment on our faces once we saw how sucky it was. And boy, was it sucky.
Even by small-town carnival/festival standards, it was sad. I'll chalk some of it to the time of day we arrived (around 8pm), but there were hardly any people there: no one riding the rides, and maybe a dozen people tops near the mainstage, where they were charging $5 to get close enough to watch some anemic rock band perform. I had my camera and really wanted to take pictures, but quite frankly, I was intimidated. My sister-in-law and I split a funnel cake and a friend Snickers bar and then we all got the hell out of there. There's a river casino nearby, so we all went to check that out instead. We didn't stay there long either, but on our way out, we caught sight of a hand-painted sign for the Trek Fest that caused T to make a dramatic U-turn and pull over so he could get out and take a picture. Of course, I don't have my camera download cable with me, and there's no way a description could do the sign justice, so you'll have to bear with me till I get home. Let's just say, it was completely ridiculous and apropos of the situation.
I'm a "former" lot of things (including web designer and aspiring pastry chef), now SAHM. I don't have a lot of time or energy for much else besides the kid, but with what little time I do have, I've become obsessively crafty. Most recently, I've been trying to parlay my photography skills into a business, and I have also been experimenting with vegan and gluten-free baking. I am also a self-confessed TV junkie.
I've always been a huge fan of Margaret Cho, even during and after her awful awful sitcom, but I kind of stopped hearing about her for a while. I think there was a rehab stint or something? Anyways, next time I saw her, she's all super svelte and has all these crazy tats! (If you want to see a crazy and slightly disturbing picture, check out the link in #3 on this site, found through Pajiba) 
