she makes torture look sexy

this is why jaslene is hot. congrats to her!

i know this is a wee bit of a late congrats for the season ended a few weeks ago but i must say: i'm super happy that Jaslene won America's Next Top Model! her story of overcoming an abusive relationship, getting therapy and getting strong is also quite a nice back story.

hip hip, hooray!













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Shuffling Sincerity

The Frillseekers love of the Irish has been well-documented and now I add another piece of pop culture to the pile. The movie, "Once", set in Dublin is charming. It's the story of a guy who sings folky songs on the streets and his relationship with a woman who sells flowers and cleans houses, but who is also a musician. I really liked the dynamic between them-- always an undercurrent of sexual tension but also something else. In A.O. Scott's review in the NYT he said, "While there is an evident spark of attraction between them — Ms. Irglova’s teasing directness works beautifully with Mr. Hansard’s shuffling sincerity — “Once” is far from a conventional love story. It is, instead, the story of a creative partnership that develops by chance and that involves a deeper, riskier bond than mere sex ever could."
Any review that has "deeper" and "riskier" in the same line as "sex" already has me sold.

Better late than never?

You guys, I have a lot of random stuff about my attendance to the Unofficial Yet Awesome California Frillseekers Conference that I haven't posted yet. So, I might just post this stuff even though it might be a month (or two) "old". Would that be weird? I just haven't had the patience to deal with computers much lately :/

To keep it entertaining (and themed)....

Here is a cute image I just adore (it's one of those internet memes I was briefly obsessed with learning about):

...and here is a wee preview of the above-mentioned California happenings (image copied from The Imaginary World):

I never trusted the American voters

Tonight there was a miscariage of justice. The "American people" chose Jordin, who is cute and occasionally soulful, and Blake, a beat-boxer who is riding on JT's popularity, over Melinda, the most talented singer and exciting performer on American Idol. It is an obvious point but it makes me sad that people voted for youth and a conventional idea of beauty over talent,experience, and Tina Turneresque sass.

All About Eve

From what I remember, some of you watched All about Eve for a class when we were in college. I just saw it and really enjoyed it. I liked all three female leads (and Marilyn's bit part) and thought that Anne Baxter (Eve) played the conniving ingenue in a perfectly creepy way. I even thought there were some interesting and forward thinking ideas about gender in it, but then I got to the scene where Bette Davis starts talking about what it means to be a woman (i.e. having a man) and I was reminded that it was made in 1950. I especially enjoyed the scenes in New Haven, the place where "shows have 'out of town' openings for New Yorkers who don't really want to get out of town". I am starting to understand the Bette Davis cult following: I loved how brash, ambitious, and stylish she was. What do you remember from the movie?

"Oh no you didn't...."

...said Ryan Gosling in a charmingly joking manner.

I am sure that Aging Cowgirl may be, er, disappointed, but that was one of my favorite moments in the movie "Half Nelson". Which she made me watch. But it's good. So I'd make you watch it too. But I'd make you watch "The Wire" first. Then I would ask you the difference between snorting, smoking, and freebasing because I still can't get my head around it.

Aging Cowgirl, I think you should definitely watch "Murder by Numbers" for another take on Ryan Gosling's scary/seductive quality. He does it so well.

But to tide you over until Netflix delivers it to you, here are scans of a recent article about him (sorry for the wrinkly pages):
Page 1
Page 2

And something I made especially for you, with something else Goslingy to follow soon:

[click for link to larger one you can download]

it's baaaaaaaack!

After last week's surprisingly satisfying GG ep, I am all revved up for more... and quite excited about the return of the one, the only, VM. So grab your suntan lotion and boogie boards, ladies, 'cause we're heading back to sunny So. Cal.!!