the greatest guilty pleasure in life

is bridezillas! and karen is the best of all of them!



imagine being so delusional that you lived your life like this? incredible.

awarding terrible people

I'm appalled at the decision of Irina as the winner of this season of Project Runway on Thursday. Lifetime's bizarre editing of this season (the first with the network after it aired since season 1 on Bravo) gave the American public the idea that Irina was really a nasty, entitled bitch. Every episode featured cruel remarks directed at her other competitors in great numbers, and treatment we are taught since children not to inflict on others, Michael Kors, a designed who was a frequent judge on this season, even says to the remaining contestants during one episode that you have to be a good person to genuinely get anywhere. It seems that this eventually didn't matter, and Irina was awarded the winner of the season in front of the exceptionally talented Carol Hannah Whitfield, who, through turbulent challenges and disregard from her challengers, kept a level head and presented a kind face as she went through week by week, eventually showing a beautiful collection at Bryant Park (Irina's, in contrast, was drab and even presented stolen material for one of her shirts).

What are you trying to say, Lifetime? Clearly this is just a television show, but saying that it's okay to treat others like absolute dirt to achieve something is bloody ridiculous. Irina is a good designer but her ugly personality has really made me rethink what I think of her clothing, and I really hope that she suffers success because of this attitude she has presented.

i think i'm in love with charlie day/kelly.

So I've been (a bit obsessively) watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia over the past few weeks, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm in love with one of the creators (& stars) Charlie Day. I mean, I'm not in love, in love with him, but I like to imagine marrying him, that's all. He's not exactly the Brad Pitt type, and his character on the show is a dirty, unintelligent asshole, but I love him, both in and out of character. Admittedly, he reminds me of a Swedish guy I know physically and I guess I've got that connection to him in a twisted sort of nostalgic way.

I'm so glad I've got a few more seasons of It's Always Sunny… to get through, especially since it means more Charlie.

All my music credibility is gone, isn't it? Oh well.

I'm going to look like a massive loser, but one of my favorite shows is back for the year - Swedish Idol. I've been watching Swedish Idol since it began in 2004, before I understood a single word of Swedish, and I've grown to really love the series - finding it much more interesting than the American counterpart. Now in 2009, I'm still not completely fluent in the language just yet, but I appreciate the show even more after living in the country, and have loved revisiting all the places I traveled to whilst I was there in the audition episodes (and will certainly return to).

The show switched juries in 2008, and replaced an older jury with Andreas Carlsson, Anders Bagge and Leila Bagge, who have produced some of the biggest worldwide pop hits of the past century and discovered many of the voices that went on to sing these songs - having these three on the jury is extremely interesting, and they know what they're talking about. While the funny auditions certainly are entertaining, there is more of a focus on the actual talent being discovered in these auditions.

I love watching the three of them together, they've worked together for years and know each other very well (Anders and Leila even being married at one point). They have a lot of fun, offer up some harsh criticism (but in a way that doesn't seem particularly mean as we see on American Idol so much) and overall succeed in sending on people that will be both be interesting to watch grow as musicians and great to listen to weekly.

One of my favourite singers from last year was 18 year Robin Bengtsson - who I wrote off when I first saw him enter the audition room, but changed my completely once he sang Sam Cooke's "Bring it on home to me" and offered up one of the best voices I've heard in quite some time. Maybe I'll find another Robin this year? With judges like this, it's likely.

the most beautiful show on television...

is most definitely Mad Men, and every Sunday night I watch in awe as I am sucked in to intellectual and witty dialogue, polarizing characters and beautiful visuals. The Drapers traveled to Rome in the latest episode, and when I came across this shot from part of their visit, I realized just how amazingly well done this show is:

















from the clothing, to the intricate details that make viewers feel like we're actually watching a scene right out of the early 1960s, I can only present this as one simple reason why I find this show so attractive and grabbing.

i love fridays.

After my regular Thursday Project Runway night with my friends, I got home at 1:30am and climbed into bed and proceeded to sleep until about...1:30pm. It was the best feeling ever. You know when you wake up at some point during one of these epic sleepathons and you just feel so comfortable, like the rest of your body isn't even there and you just fall back asleep? Yeah, the best.

And speaking of Project Runway, my favourite (Logan) is still in, but my favourite mini-collection didn't win, boo. My favourite outfit from last night was definitely this one:

















I love seeing outfits on here that I know I would wear if they were on ever to be sold.

It's 2:30pm now and I'm still in bed but have loads of work to do for the upcoming week. It never ends, does it?

'i'm cracking eggs of wisdom!'

I've started watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia after hearing so much about it from one of my closest friends. While the humour isn't exactly sophisticated, it's definitely a bit more interesting than the other half-hour sitcom choices out there today (I'm specifically talking about Two and a Half Men here. My hatred for that show knows no bounds...)

It's highly inappropriate (eg, one episode is simply titled "Charlie Has Cancer" and spoiler alert! He was lying...) but the style in which it's filmed is unique, and the characters are of course exaggerated - not so much that you want to chuck them all out the window, but would rather watch to see what stupid things they do next. I mean, the first YouTube hit for the show is this video clip.

Need I say more? I'm glad I have a few more seasons to get through.

procrastination fueled by dancing with the stars?

I'm naturally someone that leaves things to the last minute, but with horrible television coming my way tonight, it's going to be even worse I reckon - I have an assignment for my statistics class due in at midnight and I'm pretty much clueless as to how to go about it...so, this should be fun. Also our THR 216 assignment due in tomorrow, which is less of a struggle for me, but still requires brain power, of course.

I find myself so over consumed by media that I need to have the television on, or my iTunes open when I'm doing work. Silence freaks me out, and I legitimately come to a stop when I have no noise around me. But right now, I guess Dancing with the Stars has come back for the year, and while I'm not an avid viewer of this spectacle, it's sort of like watching a car crash, unable to turn your head away from the television and comprehend what's going on. From the insane judges to the cheesy arrangements of songs released several months ago, I have no idea what to make of this show, and found myself confused as to why it was nominated for an Emmy last night.

Oh well, at least it's noise.

Ellen, AI's 4th Judge???

WHAT?? Ellen Degeneres as the 4th judge for American Idol? Wow. I mean, I don't watch Idol anymore but I would think the producers would choose someone with some sort of music background. Ellen's great and all but this is a music competition. I was hoping Mary J. Blige, who's going to be a guest judge would actually be the 4th one. This is just totally weird. I just hope they know what their doing.

signs i'm an adult...

Just in the past year, I've found myself watching HGTV - or long form, Home & Garden Television. As a teenager, I found myself flipping past this channel as quickly as I skipped the religious channels and whatnot. But now, I'm mesmerized by this amazing channel - especially the show House Hunters. A simple enough concept, every episode consists of a home buyer looking at three possible choices for a new house or apartment, and at the end of the 30 minute episode, we find out which place was chosen.

Everyone I know that watches this show finds themselves so invested in every episode, there's something so voyeuristic about this process, about living vicariously through the featured buyer every episode. Home is our sanctuary - and with a show like this, we can imagine alongside the buyer how exactly we'd add our own personal touches to the kitchen and whether we'd use the second bedroom as an office. When the buyer chooses the house we least like, for even just a second, we feel a blip of disappointment, wondering exactly how they're going to make this work. It's a bit of a rollercoaster ride for 30 minutes, but I find myself on it every episode.

When I was 14, even 18, I would have never found a show like this interesting, and my reasoning for finding this show fascinating now, at 22, is the fact that I'll be on the search for my own place in a few short years, and I like to pretend watching this show prepares me for this life altering experience in some way.

And now I'll watch the rest of the new episode of Mad Men, which I will certainly talk about at some point in the near future.