→ October 29, 2010
→ By

Friday links and bullets.

• Yesterday’s chat transcript.
• I won’t say the name of the Project Runway winner, for those of you who DVR’d it but haven’t watched it, but it looked to me like the judges chose probability over upside – and I’m a firm believer in going for upside. You have a chance to get an all-world talent, whether it’s a #1 starter or a fashion genius or a revolutionary chef, that’s who you go for. This wasn’t an example of the upside designer flopping in the finals; my wife, the real PR fan in the house, was mad because she thought the upside designer did exactly what the judges praised the designer for all season.
• Had breakfast this morning at the Hillside Spot in Ahwautukee, at Warner and 48th just west of I-10. To borrow a term from a certain AFL super-fan, it was “out-STAN-ding.” I’ve been hoping to find a funky, progressive kind of breakfast/lunch spot like that since we moved here, and I’m glad Phoenix magazine highlighted them last month. The food took a little while to get to us, even though the place wasn’t busy, but everything was made to order and that is the best reason in the world to wait for food.
• This NPR story on how the private prison industry pushed through Arizona’s immigration law is a model for modern journalism, a type of investigative reporting I don’t see as often as I did ten or fifteen years ago. I wish NPR did more of it, and given how many candidates campaigning here are using their position on the law as a major part of their platforms, it should be mailed to every voter in Arizona before Tuesday. (I’m not advocating a vote either way on any candidate or ballot question – merely that voters should be informed before making any voting decisions.)

• One of my favorite restaurants in Vegas, Lotus of Siam, is opening a second location Greenwich Village.
• I’m still under the weather, so I didn’t head to any AFL games and won’t today, but the forced rest meant that I finished Richard Russo’s tremendous novel Bridge of Sighs and am already halfway through Dave Jamieson’s Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, a quirky history of the baseball card industry – or a history of the quirky baseball card industry, and the quirky people at the heart of it. (I received a review copy of Mint Condition from the publisher.) I hope to post a review of Bridge of Sighs over the weekend.

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→ October 2, 2008
→ By

Chat 10/2.

There’s no link up on espn.com to my chat from today, so if you missed it, here’s the transcript.

By the way, completely lame-assed Project Runway this week. Grow a pair and eliminate someone already. And enough with the waterworks.

When someone asks you why you should win (in this case, go to the finals), don’t say how much you want it. State your damn case. Korto and Kenley did it, although Korto first went for sympathy (boring). I have no idea what Jerell said behind the sniffling and snorling and whimpering and whinging. Blech.

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→ September 12, 2008
→ By

Runway link.

I’m not going to lie: I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more Karalyn. (She’s the blonde, second from right … as if you noticed anyone else in the pic.)

Karalyn West is one of the models on Project Runway – the drop-dead gorgeous one, to be specific. Turns out she’s also blogging about the show, and she’s not afraid to dish a little dirt. For example, her post on that weird car-parts challenge has her dumping on two designers:

On the topic of stupid designers…. THANK THE LORD KEITH IS GONE! AGH! it’s about damn time, don’t you think? His cocky attitude was getting really old… I mean come on.. Its one thing to be cocky and talented, but cocky and UNTALENTED is another thing. …

Shannone (Kenleys Model) Left the show on her own will because the girl booked an ass-kicking (well paid) job! If you ask me, Kenley deserved it. Me no Likey Kenley, and you cant nack Shannone for going where the money is…

Outstanding. We need more Karalyn (and more skin on Project Runway).

We watched this week’s episode last night … I know sweet F.A. about fashion, but the winning dress was fugly. The model’s hips looked a mile wide; the eye was drawn directly to the freaking test pattern across her pelvis. I don’t know many women who are looking for that kind of shape in a dress.

I was fascinated to see how the judges ripped into the two designers who ultimately went home, but when it came time to criticize that weird thing Kenley made (were there turbines in the shoulders?), their words, tone, and body language all softened. Obviously, they already know who’s going home before they go through their trashing of the bad designs, but it was also clear that they liked Kenley and were disappointed in her design, whereas they could take or leave the two they sent home.

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