Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Grown Men Could Learn Something From Nico
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Emily Nash is sixteen and an avid golfer; she recently finished a Massachusetts high school golf tournament competition, where she was the only girl playing, with the best score.
Good for her, but ... rules set by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association prevented her from getting the first-place trophy because ... wait for it ... she’s a girl. The girl with the best score; the best one playing; but not good enough for a trophy because she doesn’t have a penis. Oh, and let’s not forget that Emily’s score, again, the best score, was used to contribute to her school’s overall team score, but she was not recognized as an individual player, again, because of her gender.
Luckily, Nico Ciolino, who got the second-best score, and received the championship trophy instead, because he’s male, is more aware and grown-up than the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association:
“I felt a little bit awkward. It felt like I cheated in a sense because I didn’t win and I got the trophy. It didn’t feel right with me. I felt bad. It’s so hard winning tournaments. … It’s just so tough when you finally win and you get the results that you worked so hard for and then it’s like, ‘Oh wait, you can’t win. You’re a girl.’” 
And so he offered the trophy to Emily, who was touched by his gesture ...
“He came over and said he didn’t win the tournament, that I did. It was really nice of him and respectful”
... but politely declined.
Nico says:
“I like to call myself a good golfer, but it’s very hard to win in the tournaments I play in, so it’s very hard for me to kind of say, you know, give up the trophy ... But I knew that she deserved it. She beat me fair and square. It was the right thing to do. She won. It didn’t mind me that she was a girl. We played from the same tees. We played in the same conditions.”
Again, too bad the adults running the tournament were as, well, aware, as Nico.
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Monday, October 30, 2017
Something's Fishy In The Swamp
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I think when the Fat Bastard promised to drain the swamp, he meant, drain bank accounts so the swamp dwellers, er, his appointees, and their friends can make some coins.
I mean how else can anyone explain that a $300 million electrical reconstruction and repair contract for Puerto Rico was awarded to Whitefish Energy, a tiny Whitefish, Montana firm?
What’s that? Whitefish just happens to be the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke ... left? Well, drain my swamp!
See, when hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, Whitefish Energy was a two-year-old company from Montana with two, yes, two full-time employees and yet it was somehow deemed worthy of getting a $300 million contract?
Whitefish is now serving as an unnecessary middle-man, profiting off the disaster situation and Luis Vega-Ramos, a member of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, is rightfully pissed off:
“It is reprehensible that shameless profiteering is going on literally on the back of the devastated people of Puerto Rico. It is beyond contempt and people should answer for it.”
So how does this little business, this two-man operation, win such a contract? Is Zinke connecting his homies with lucrative government contracts at the expense of the recovery Puerto Ricans deserve? Is he lying about his close connections to Whitefish Energy?
Enquiring minds on both sides of the aisle want to know, so, yeah, here we go again:
Contact your representatives in Congress and demand answers. And while you’re at it, tell them that Puerto Rico's recovery needs to be led by the Puerto Rican people and not by friends of friends in high places.
On the upside, Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello has demanded that the board of the Puerto Rico’s power company cancel the $300 million contract with Whitefish Energy Holdings. His demand comes just as federal legislators are investigating the contract.
Naturally, Whitefish spokesman Chris Chiames—is he one of its two employees—has yet to release a statement.
Something’s fishy in the swamp y’all.
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Sunday, October 29, 2017
Saturday, October 28, 2017
It's Snarkurday!
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Kate del Castillo is the actress who accompanied Sean Penn to interview international drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán last year, but now Penn is trying to get Kate’s documentary about their trip—The Day I Met El Chapo: The Kate Del Castillo Story—removed from Netflix. Why you ask? Perhaps it has something to do with del Castillo’s revelation that, right after meeting El Chapo, she and Penn banged because, you know, meeting a drug lord turns folks on:
“It was never a relationship. It was just business. And sex.”
In her documentary, del Castillo says she “fell” for Penn during their adventure, but Penn wants nothing to do with that storyline, and had one of his lawyers send a letter to Netflix saying “that blood will be on their hands if this film causes bodily harm.”
Wow. But they didn’t let the drama end there; Penn’s spokesman Mark Fabiani says:
“This is not about one person’s safety. These producers are propagating false and reckless fabrications for their profit. This is nothing but a cheap, National Enquirer-esque tale spun by a delusional person whose hunger for fame is both tawdry and transparent.”
Wait, so Sean Penn believes that people will die if this story stays out there; this story of him banging some D-list actress-documentarian? I mean, if every time Sean Penn banged an actress someone died, we’d all be dead by now. Am I right?
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Lock up your wives and daughters, sister and aunts, Harvey Weinstein is out of sex addiction rehab and he’s cured.
After one week at a posh rehab facility in Arizona for “sex addiction”—exposing himself to women, jacking off in front of women, grabbing women, climbing on women, attempting to rape women—the ladies now have nothing to worry about. After a quarter of a century of sexual harassment, of sexual assault, Harvey’s fixed himself.
Weinstein’s doctor—who may or may not be an unemployed actor looking for any kind of a break—says Harvey completed his one week of treatment for “psychological issues” and was ready to return to society fully cured.
Of course, when people began to question the validity of the One Week Cure, it was decided that Harvey will remain in Arizona for another month because “he doesn’t want excessive distractions and wants to continue working with his doctors.”
Oh, so it’s a Five Week Cure? Seriously; it’s classic white privilege because if Harvey Weinstein was a different color he’d have been in prison years ago.
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Someone check the video and get the police to confirm Taylor Swift’s alibi for where she was last Wednesday night because that was the night that, during Katy Perry’s concert in Nashville the shiz hit the fan.
It seems there was a bit of a malfunction junction at Perry’s show when, after performing “Thinking Of You,” Perry’s tie-dyed version Saturn got stuck in the air and she couldn’t get down; and Perry said:
“This is the first time I’ve been stuck in space! I know I’m kind of a space cadet, but actually, this thing is being stuck right now.”
No word yet on where Swifty was or why she was last seen carrying A Hello Kitty Tool-box.
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Oops! Ewan McGregor has been caught kissing his “Fargo” co-star, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, in a London restaurant, and Ewan’s wife just might not be thrilled about it. It seems the 46-year-old father of four and the 32-year-old Winstead—who played his lover on the FX series—shared a passionate kiss at the Good Life Eatery and there are pictures to prove it.
Maybe this was Ewan’s of telling his wife their marriage was over because the Good Life Eatery is London’s version of LA’s Ivy, where celebrities go to be seen; it was at the Ivy during the height of their Bennifer-ness that Affleck and JLo often visited dressed to the nines and looking all lovey-dovey.
Perhaps, though, it’s all stuff and nonsense, because McGregor and his wife of 22 years, Eve Mavrakis, apparently called it quits in May but kept the news private, though they each posted photos to social media of themselves without their wedding rings on, which, you know, is the way of saying “It’s over.”
So maybe Ewan isn’t a cheater, maybe he just got a new love first except ... it was back in May, right about the time Fargo finished shooting that McGregor and his wife split, and that was the same time that Winstead announced her split from her husband of seven years, Riley Stearns.
Just sayin’.
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Gosh, Kathy Griffin will do anything for press.
This time she announced that she is firing celebrity attorney Lisa Bloom, who represented her after she held up a fake bloody head of _____, and stood by her side as she went rogue during a press conference. And in typical Griffin fashion she went all over social media to share the news that she fired her attorney:
“Dear @LisaBloom pls stop calling me. If you’d like to refund me the tens of thousands of $$ I wasted on your services maybe I’ll talk to you.”
Griffin ALLEGEDLY paid Bloom $40,000 to represent her for two days, most notably at that June press conference, where Griffin whined that she was the victim of bullying by the _____ family over that photograph. And of course, because this is two dimwits having a spat, Bloom lashed back with her own tweet in which she said in a lengthy statement that Griffin had reached out to her before the press conference:
“Her entire team (entertainment lawyer, criminal lawyer, and several others) approved in advance the statements she and I were going to make. Yet Kathy then during the press conference spontaneously chose to put aside the notes we had worked so hard on together. She said on camera ‘my notes are by the wayside and it’s all off the cuff’ and then ad libbed. I was sorry she made that choice but I respected her right to speak as she saw fit. She was, as she says, the widely panned for her comments. Now she blamed me.”
Of course she did, because Griffin does things and then blames everyone else for the repercussions.
She really needs to sit down.
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Faye Dunaway used to be a serious actress and was most often taken seriously ... then came Mommie Dearest and she either turned into a parody of Joan Crawford diva-ness, or else the diva-ness was already there and was only exacerbated by playing Christina’s axe-wielding mother. And now the weave workers at the Marie Robinson Salon in NYC have their own tale to tell.
Apparently Miss Dunaway believes she was overcharged for services rendered and went all wire-hanger on the salon when they presented her with a $3,000 bill and expected her, Miss Faye Dunaway, to pay full price!
“She claimed she didn’t know it was that expensive and then said, ‘I’m not paying that. I can’t believe how expensive this is. I’m only paying half!’… they took her half, but staff explained, ‘You’re going to have to pay the rest.’ And Faye stormed out screeching, ‘This is ridiculous!’ Everyone in the salon was aghast … Her hair looked great — so she should pay!”
Um, Faye, honey? Maybe when they began adding a full head of hair onto your head you might have pointed out you just wanted a retouch?
Dunaway is now doing damage control herself, telling Page Six:
“I’d prefer you not run [the story]. I’ve now paid the whole thing — but I will not be going back there because it is not the price they said it would be. So, I don’t know what to say to you except I didn’t throw a fit. I was just very alarmed at the amount they were charging me for the very small amount of hair work that they did.”
The salon said nothing; they just cashed the check before the stop payment went through.
Poor Faye; the two biggest highlights of her career are playing Joan Crawford so well that she started to think and act like her, and for blurting out the wrong Best Picture winner at this year’s Oscars.
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Last year Miles Teller did and interview with Esquire in which the magazine called him “dickish.” And so he became the new Dickish Actor and is now telling us that it’s bothered him the whole time because ... oh, let’s have him tell it:
“I can’t put much weight into whether the public likes me because the more important thing is that, as an actor, I can truly say that there’s not a single director or actor who I’ve worked with who’d have a bad thing to say about me. I’ve never missed a day of work. I’ve never not known a line. ... I know the kind of brother I am. I know the kind of son I am. I’ve had the same friends since I was 14, 15. I’ve been with the same girl for four-and-a-half years. I have a dog. I know who I am, and it’s not who I was in that story.”
Wait, so he shows up to work on time, has a girlfriend and a dog and that makes him less dickish?
Try again, Miles.
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Oops, sexual harassment isn’t just a Hollywood problem; it’s everywhere, including the kitchen ...
New Orleans star chef John Besh is stepping down from his company, Besh Restaurant Group [BRG], after he and several of his colleagues were accused of sexual harassment. In a letter to restaurant staff, BRG announced that Besh was stepping down “from all aspects of operations . . . to provide his full focus on this family.”
Meaning he’s got some ‘splaining to do.
A lot, because there are some twenty-five woman who say that “several male co-workers and bosses [at BRG] touched female employees without consent, made suggestive comments about their appearance and—in a few cases—tried to leverage positions of authority for sex.”
One former employee claims she was pressured into a sexual relationship with Besh, though the married father says the affair was consensual ... which makes it okay ... ?
Seriously, men need to stop this shiz, and women need to speak up more.
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Eight years ago, The Weinstein Company announced they were working on a feature film about Judy Garland, based on the book Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, and was supposed to star ... gulp ... Anne Hathaway.
Eight years later that project went nowhere until recently when it was announced that a different Judy Garland biopic will be made and will star ... double gulp ... Renee Zellweger. The movie will be called Judy and will focus on Judy Garland’s final sold-out concerts at The Talk of the Town in London in the late ’60s shortly before her death.
Seriously? Renee will be Judy? I mean, I know they don’t want an impersonator but that up there—before and after plastic surgery—is supposed to be Judy Mother-Effing Garland?
Even with her new face she ain’t no Judy. Zellweger ruins everything.
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Friday, October 27, 2017
PR 16 Ep 11: I Am The Warrior
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So, I was wrong last week when I thought it would be boxing; and I so hoped they’d bring back the twins so the other designtestants could take a shot at them. But this is good, too ...
They arrive at the boxing ring to find ... and this is just sacrilege ... Tim Gunn in a sweat suit. Seriously? Everyone knows, Tim Gunn does not sweat and does not wear sweats. We are all confused, until we learn that this is the Avon Make-up Challenge, of sorts. Avon supports breast cancer research and women who cannot afford breast cancer care and so there are a group of women, all fighting breast cancer, to share their stories; cut the tears from the designtestants and from yours truly.
Tim then explains that the fighters are the inspiration for this challenge: to create a high fashion editorial look inspired by these warrior women with $250 and two days to do it. But first ... the designers do get to throw some punches, at an instructor. Kentaro was cute because he hates to hit people and was so shy at punching the instructor’s hands, but Ayana lost all her modesty as she went after the guy.
Note to self: get Ayana to have your back in any fight.
Now, let’s rip ...
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KENYA
I’m beginning to worry about Kenya because, once again, she cannot get to work; she sits and frets about an idea and what’s she’s making. If she makes it to The Tents and has to do a collection in what amounts to about a month, how will she ever finish?
Finally, she decides to do a petal detail—hasn’t she done this before?—on the shoulders to sort of mimic the strong I am woman pose; Tim seems to like it even though, and reminds her that she is the only designer left to have not won a challenge. And at that point, all she really has is an idea ... and some ugly blue fabric. No, really, I loathe that color blue and it’s all she’s got. Now I’m worried ...
WHAT SHE SAID
It totally represents who I am as a designer.
WHAT I SAID
I seriously don’t like that blue, especially all over. It doesn’t say warrior, unless it’s Flower Warrior. Still, gotta give it up to Liris who rocks any look.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Heidi says this is the first time someone got a look for Liris 100% right—and Liris says this is the moment she’s been waiting for.
Nina Garcia said this look proved you didn’t need hijinks to communicate power; there’s power in the silhouette, the color ... seriously Nina? ... and the tailoring. She was blown away by the pleating and the quilting Kenya used to make the petals and the skirt.
Guest judge, actress Rachel Brosnahan calls it stunning and, as most guest judges say at one point, she wants to wear it.
Zac Posen says Kenya delivered on the power of fashion and that this is the look he’s been waiting for Kenya to deliver.
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BRANDON
Okay, Brandon has a very definite POV and a definite color palette—pale pinks and whites—that he rarely steps out of, but that’s one thing the judges want to see ... your own point of view.
But then we see that Brandon and Kentaro, The Brothers, have each created a hoodie and a turtleneck and, well, is he pushing his POV? Even Tim, who loves Brandon’s signature style, says he needs to push it more this week. And so Brandon works on creating a look that will be a “360-degree bomb.”
WHAT HE SAID
She looks killer. She’s like a Gangsta Bo Peep.
WHAT I SAID
I didn’t get the look, well, the bonnet, until he said that, and then it all worked.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Heidi says it’s “out there” even though she appreciates that he created something new and both masculine and feminine; she is not a fan of the bonnet, even though it is a great editorial piece and would photograph well.
Nina Garcia loves the juxtaposition of the millennial pink with the sport-street attitude—but also isn’t a fan of the bonnet; she loves the details, though—like the side bow—and says he has a sense of what’s happening in fashion.
Zac Posen did love the bonnet, even when it was worn down, and said Brandon hit it out of the park; and then he even said that, while poopy pants have also been a bad thing on the PR, he loves Brandon’s version of them.
Rachel Brosnahan loves the bonnet, saying it looks like a helmet and armor, and fun.
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MARGARITA
Margarita is the first to tear up with the breast cancer warriors and then, back in the workroom, worries about the judges saying she doesn’t have a singular POV; she says she doesn’t need one—think again, honey—because she’s all about ideas, and says she has many voices, but a bunch of ideas is a scattered collection and no one wants to see that. Still, she comes out strong with an idea to create “contained chaos” and does an explosion of organza held in by a gold leather corset.
That took me a minute; gold leather corset? I’m not liking it.
And when Tim comes by, he looks at it, rests his head on his fingers and says he likes it. Huh? What? Huh? I thought for sure he’d dog the gold as a kind of superhero—and he didn’t mention the WW—word but thinks it’s “fantastic.”
WHAT SHE SAID
It’s powerful in my eyes.
WHAT I SAID
I’m getting ball gown cheese with a gold band and I think I know who’s out.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Zac Posen liked the draping of the skirt, but says the corset feels more clubby that warrior armor. He actually called the bustier “ugly.” Ow.
Rachel Brosnahan says she liked it better after hearing Margarita’s “contained chaos” description.
But Heidi reminds her that you don’t often hear the story before seeing the look, and without the story this is just a literal Wonder Woman dress without the bracelets. She also calls out the bad tailoring in the back; bad for a two day challenge.
Nina Garcia loved the concept but says the dress looks stuffed into the corset; stuffed chaos. Then she plays The Costume Card™ about the cliché metallic corset,
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KENTARO
Right off the bat he’s thinking Japanese Samurai warrior, which is kind of his wheelhouse, but then the issues arise. He’s made the top, and the hoodie, too tight to fit over Jazzmine’s head and so he tosses them out.
And that’s not good, because Tim liked the idea and the fabrics—mostly whites and grays—though he warned Kentaro about having too many ideas, and not to resort to his old standby colors of blacks and blues.
Kentaro says he’ll make a lot of things and then edit down, but the first cut is the gray and whites, and then he digs out the blues and the blacks ....
WHAT HE SAID
She looks majestic and strong and modern.
WHAT I SAID
It’s an all black look; quite the turnaround from his original look. Maybe I see someone else going home?
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Rachel Brosnahan sees inspiration but not the model’s body or any of the details because of the black fabrics.
Nina Garcia calls it more monastic than majestic and says it would photograph like a black blob; she also wonders why it seems like a darker version of Brandon’s look.
Zac Posen worries that Kentaro cannot edit a look down; he doesn’t mind the all black, but says Kentaro needed more texture if he was going monotone.
Heidi liked it from the waist down—with the white pants beneath—but isn’t a fan of the waist up, where it was “sad;” she did love Jazzmine’s makeup.
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AYANA
I think Ayana is hitting her stride at the right time. For the past few weeks she’s stepped up her game, tried something new, but still stuck to her modest POV; even the week of avant-garde she didn’t show a lot of skin.
She designs a fresh take on the power suit with a very detailed shirt ... buttonholes, cuffs, and ruffles ... oh my ... worn over cigarette pants and a skirt in a bold stripe. Tim absolutely loves it and says he’s getting chills; she is definitely stronger and more confident in her work.
WHAT SHE SAID
It’s strong, tailored and fun.
WHAT I SAID
It’s very cool, and that shirt is pretty amazing.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID
Zac Posen calls it “wacky, but impeccable,” and says it’s definitely editorial, though maybe not as “empowered” as the rest; still, he loves all the details and the expert tailoring.
Rachel Brosnahan agrees that it’s beautifully tailored, and says it could have gone so wrong, but turned out so bold.
Heidi, who loves showing skin, said this look pointed out how you could be powerful without showing skin; she called it strong and sexy and said it could have been very busy but it all worked.
Nina Garcia loved watching Ayana’s evolution throughout the season, from gowns to this look; she loved the masculine freshness of the piece.
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It was clearly an Ayana and Brandon showdown—and I loved that they are both admirers of each other’s work—and this week was Brandon’s turn for his third win.
Kentaro and Margarita are the Bottom Two and, I’m thinking because she has no clear POV, Margarita gets Auf’d ...
“You’re not going anywhere,” Tim says, using his Tim Gunn Save™ at the last minute.
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I noticed last night that this season, at the end, they are no real villains; all these designers seem to get along, and seem to like and respect one another. I used to think that’d make for a boring PR, but it doesn’t. Nice really is nice!
So, this was the Avon Makeup Challenge so I assumed there’d be a cash prize, or an Avon ad featuring the winning look, but no? Cheapskates!
When Kenya settles on the petal detail, Ayana supports her by saying she needs to find the part of the look she loves and develop that. I'm thinking that if Tim Gunn ever gets sick, or needs a day off, Ayana could fill in doing the critiques.
Lines of the Night:
Kentaro, wearing the pants Brandon designed:
“It looks like I have a huge penis.”
Kentaro, starting over after Tim’s critique:
“I make my dress like quicker than Cup of Noodle.”  “I want the girls up. I want the waist snatched?" “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s about to slay them all.”
I have such a crush on Liris; almost as bad as the crush I have on Brandon, but, you know, for entirely different reasons.
When Kenya is told she’s safe, she heads back to the waiting room, and when Brandon enters and it’s clear he’s won, again, she says: “I hate you. I hate you so much.”
And he replies:
“You really love me.”
And I said:
“I do ...”
And Carlos said:
“What did you say?”
As for The Tents it’s clearly got to be Brandon and Ayana; if they do a threesome I’m still hoping for Kentaro. A foursome? Well, I hope they don’t do it, because I’m kinda over Kenya—though she’s as sweet and funny as can be—and I agree that Margarita has no personality of design, no POV.
I kinda wish Tim hadn't used his save, though I'm betting somewhere, in a shabby motel room in Middle America, Shawn and Claire saw that Save and shrieked like banshees.
Next week? A Snow-Way? Brrrrrrr ....
What did YOU think?
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