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Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Project Runway: Ugly Brown Fabric
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high: The realization that in a season of strong personalities, nobody on “Project Runway’s” Season 5 annoys me — yet. Surely I must have mellowed in my old age?
The low: The misconception that brown is ugly.
Tonight’s designers seemed to knock on the color brown. Or are we just too sensitive? (Ever since our days spent in the tutelage of really old nuns have we been fascinated by brown. Back then, the nuns wore brown; our uniforms were brown; the entire school seemed to be festooned in brown ribbons and craft paper.)
We prefer to think Joe’s, Leanne’s and Wesley’s designs (below) goofed because of the thin, ripply satin, and not the color.
But what about the “green” part? We couldn’t tell what difference “eco-friendly” fabric made in this challenge.
The winner: Suede, whose innovation with champagne satin (right) won him a fan in actress and guest judge Natalie Portman.
The loser: Forget the dress. Didja see Wesley’s shorts? Leave the legs to the models, Stork Boy.
We also looooved neurotic, nasal-y Stella’s one-armed, lace-up sheath, but thought it was poorly styled. It needed some Doc Martens, not Mary Janes, and tougher hair, not the Jerry Hall special (which is to say, lopsided).
Do you agree?
By the way, Nina Garcia, recently shown the door at Elle (because we’re not above shameless gossip, here’s what Gawker.com had to say on the matter), has a new title of “editor at large,” but that is apparently a temporary situation. She reportedly has signed on Marie Claire’s dotted line, and will take the reins as fashion director in September.
We haven’t read Marie Claire since, well, the last time we wore brown pleated skirts and saddle oxfords, but we’re still willing to give it a shot. Best of luck, Nina.
Photos: www.bravotv.com
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7/23: Stephen Colbert disses Canton, Larry Wachs reax to Janet fine turnabout, radio stations helping babies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Award-winning talk show host/satirist Stephen Colbert dissed Canton Georgia during his Monday night show. It was mildly amusing - at least for the folks in Canton, Ohio.
He was complaining that the media was so focused on Barack Obama’s worldwide tour, why not get “super jazzed” about John McCain’s “fiscally responsible staycation”?
“I’ve got his schedule right here,” Colbert noted. “This week, Sen. McCain is rocking through Kennebunkport, Maine, Rochester, New Hampshire, Baltimore Maryland. That means crabcakes! And Canton. And not the crappy Canton in Georgia. I’m talking about Canton, Ohio! Where he is hosting a… finance reception.”
Here’s the video (the joke is at about the 5 minute point.)
On the Colbert web boards, one Canton resident didn’t take kindly to this:
Dear Mr. Colbert
We, the good citizens of Canton, Georgia, do NOT appreciate your disparaging reference to our fine, God-fearing town as the “crappy” Canton! After all, to take second fiddle to Canton, Ohio? What were you thinking? I know you are a native South Carolinian, which by all means, casts a superior light of unbearable being on your shallow soul; however, have you ever actually been to Canton (aka - the crappy one)? As president of the Historic Canton Homeowners Association, I officially invite you to our next “Mint Juelp Party on the Porch” gathering, and I double dog DARE you to actually show up with your stage make-up and camera crew in tow! Show us what you are made of, or are you actually afraid that you may hurt your wrist or scar your pretty on-camera face in the process? Make no mistake, I have been a huge fan, up until tonight, but crappy Canton boy now says, “die, you gravy-sucking pig!” Have your people contact my people, and we will go from there. Now, I think I shall retire to my crappy bed in crappy Canton, Georgia…
I look forward to your crappy response.
Sincerely,
Bill Grant
Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood, a Cherokee County native, took the joke in good humor.
“He’s probably never been to quote ‘crappy’ Canton,” Hobgood said Wednesday morning. “Had he been, he probably wouldn’t have said that. It wouldn’t have been funny.”
Then I gave him a chance to sell Canton, which has about 17,000 people in it. “It’s one of the fastest growing cities in the nation,” he noted, nearly tripling in size since 1990. “Obviously it has a lot going on for it else people wouldn’t be moving here in droves.”
He noted the revitalization of downtown and on the same night Colbert made the comments, someone requested that a thousand acres be annexed to the city of Canton for 2,300 homes and commercial properties. “I doubt Canton, Ohio has done that!” he said, admitting he has never been to that Ohio city.
Indeed, the city of Canton, Ohio has about 80,000 people, based on the 2000 census but a 2006 census estimate had Canton shrinking to about 78,000.
Hobgood noted that newcomers to Canton are ironically more resistant to some of the growth in the city because many had come to the city to get away from the traffic and hassle. And he said people who move to Canton are from all over — even the North. “We have a few Yankees here,” he said, adding lightly: “Some are actually nice folks!”
-Larry Wachs of the Regular Guys on Rock 100.5 was not amused by the news Monday that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia overturned a $550,000 FCC fine against CBS for the Janet Jackson breast slip during the Super Bowl in 2004.
“I’m going to be writing a letter to the FCC to tell them what I think,” he said. “They put so many people through so much misery for nothing — including me.”
He said he didn’t even realize CBS had appealed the original fine. “I wish Clear Channel had the [cojones] to do the same thing but of course they didn’t. They didn’t have the courage of their convictions.”
Wachs and the Regular Guys soon after the “incident,” were trotted out by Clear Channel and 96rock (now Project 9-6-1) as a great example of “edgy” radio that wouldn’t cross the line. Then in April, Wachs accidentally did so while proving a point about the silliness of the censorship by trying to air backwards porn. But while recording it, some naughty words got caught on air during a car ad. After the show, Clear Channel suspended them, then took them off the air.
After they came back in 2005, the show minus “Southside” Steve Rickman wasn’t the same. Wachs sounded angry and Eric Von Haessler wasn’t fully engaged. The ratings never quite returned to their glory times. They were fired in 2006 for a problem unrelated to the FCC and indecency. But Cumulus has given them a third shot this year. And with Rickman part of the team again, they sound much happier.
Wachs notes that the Parents Television Council and other conservative groups have cut back on filing complaints lately. “The witchhunt is off,” he noted, as Congress and the public are focused on more crucial issues such as rising oil prices and the mortgage mess.
On the air Tuesday morning, he said my call dredged up bitter feelings from the past. “I started getting angry,” he said. “I gave him so many foul-language filled quotes, he probably can’t use them. Irony of ironies!”
-All morning shows on virtually every major radio station in Atlanta is participating July 29 in the second annual March of Dimes fundraiser. This is a repeat of last year’s efforts. Though it didn’t raised that much money compared to the Achievement in Radio Awards for the March of Dimes (or many multi-day station-only fundraisers), it is an impressive cooperative effort among competitors.
Here’s a segment from the press release:
All stations will direct listeners to make donations by calling the toll free number 1-866-MOD BABY (663-2229) or by going online at www.marchofdimes.com/georgia.. Certain pledge amounts will earn listeners prizes such as AirTran Airways business class tickets for domestic travel; two-night stays at Beau Rivage Resort on the scenic Mississippi Gulf Coast; Vacation Express travel packages to Oasis Hotels and Resorts in Cancun, Mexico and dinner for two at some of Atlanta’s most popular restaurants.
