• "Nguoi Mau: 1st Runway" on the AZN network, also known as the Vietnamese Modeling Project. I found this a couple months ago while looking up Joanie Dodd (from ANTM Cycle 6), I think, but paid it no mind. Then, last night, while hunting for something to watch on the kitchen TV that I hooked up to the DVR, I found this. (I know I shouldn't be watching TV at all if even the OnDemand programming offers nothing good, but I couldn't help myself. Besides, I wouldn't have stumbled across this if I'd given up.) The show/contest is super low-budge, but it offers a "never before seen!" (my words) look at the different Vietnamese types without requiring you to go to the Tet festival and run into all the unnattractive ones. The more Vietnamese people I see, the harder it becomes to pick them out of a crowd. We are a pretty diverse bunch.
• "How to Date a Male Model". An article written by Min Lieskovsky for this month's Elle. I read it on the plane going to Reno last weekend. Pretty informative for those of you living in close proximity to male models. I guess my husband felt it was safe to point out this article to me only because we live in Seattle and I'm now an old hag. Oh, right. Old married hag.
• Models.com. Described by Lieskovsky as "the so-called NASDAQ of modeling". It ranks models based on earnings and a bunch of other secret, math-y stuff.
• Fashion Model Directory. Another directory of models that I found when I was researching the girls on "A Model Life". Like lovely Lucy!
• Make Me a Supermodel. Some people think this show is "too real". But that's why I like it. I like that the models get weighed and measured and that they are mostly "model pretty," not "girlfriend pretty," descriptions I'm very fond of. That's how models should be. Also, Tyson sometimes takes his shirt off. (He provokes the same reaction in me that he got from all those girls on ANTM Cycle 9 when he showed up at the model house for a teach. Which is to say, I turn into a squeal-prone twelve-year-old girl trying and failing to be coy.)
• Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. This show has gotten progressively better with each season. Now in its third season, there are more shoots and more shenanigans. There is still lots of repeated content as filler (ie., what you see before the commercial break is replayed after the break), but that's what you get with "reality" TV. One of my favorite things about watching this show is looking up the results of the "jobs" the models book afterward, but the downside of this is that I have run into stuff that might be categorized as NSFW while looking up some of the male models who are popular with clients with a gay customer base... (Um, yeah. I didn't even dare look up the results from the Rufskin shoot while at work.) More and more, I doubt that the agency is an actual agency, but it's still interesting to watch. Last night, I saw the Vegas episode where Janice even says, "We paid a lot for 2(x)ist..." And, yes, if you follow the link, those are JDMA guys at the top. Dominic is second from the right.
• Disgrasian blog. It just occurred to me that I included only one Asian link, so I figured I'd better add this one too. Candice introduced me to this blog yesterday. I like that there is an "Amazian of the Week" feature.
• Oh yeah! Elyse Umemoto, Miss Washington 2007 and second runner-up in the Miss America pageant this year. She's part Asian. I saw some videos where she seemed personable, but I had no idea she'd make it into the final rounds! So close!

• "Borat" - Some people don't see the humor in preying on "innocent" people. These people weren't exactly "innocent". The only scene that truly made me uncomfortable was when they pulled the bull-in-a-china-shop bit. I hope they paid those poor people for everything they broke. Watching this was far more appalling/enlightening than watching those segments on "The Tonight Show" when Jay Leno would quiz kids on the UCLA campus. Above all else, Sasha Cohen is genius. We rewatched "Talladega Nights" after this and doing so made me really want to check out his Ali G work. I was shocked that "Borat" was nominated for big-deal awards at the Golden Globes, but happy too.
• "Stomp the Yard" - Chris Brown is hardly in it at all, but I found Columbus Short and Meagan Good pretty easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, the movie took itself too seriously without having all that much to offer. It was like too many other movies that have already done this story much better (aka "Drumline"). Throughout the whole movie, I felt utterly confused about whether or not I should take any of it seriously. The stepping? The hardcore competitive attitude of the steppers? The only steppers I'd seen before this were the oldsters of Seattle Steppers, who were low-key but made stepping look cool enough that I momentarily thought about taking classes after seeing them in the Central Area Community Festival parade a few years ago. I tried to take something away from this movie, but that was hard to do what with all the giggling. Also, not enough dancing.
• "The Departed" - I had no idea what this movie was about going into it, but I was pretty sure it wasn't about newsies, like Peter thought. Emily was right about this one; suddenly, Leo DiCaprio isn't just an overgrown version of the kid he was on "Growing Pains". No, I never saw Titanic, but some claim that was the movie that changed him for them. I could have done without the unnecessary flourish with the rat at the end. Get it? A rat?!? If the movie wasn't so good, that could have utterly ruined it for me. If you're a fan of Vera Farmiga and of seriously funny indie comedy, you should watch "Dummy".
• "Babel" - This was good, but it didn't rock my world like I thought it would and like I wanted it to. I think I may have built it up in my mind while taking my sweet time getting around to seeing it. For me, the movie induced a quiet anguish rather than one that had me sobbing. It was pretty obviously an Inarritu film, though. It also reminded me that guys have it much easier than women when it comes to aging, but hot damn, Cate Blanchett is doing a damn fine job of it herself.
• "Casino Royale" - Like most, I was wary of a blonde Bond, especially one so roguish in his looks. I'm a fan of the James Bond that Sean Connery brought to the screen, but all of the actors since him have brought much more of a pretty-boy quality to Bond that I couldn't imagine the studios shaking. However, their gamble paid off and Daniel Craig (whose name always brings to mind Craig David first and foremost) was utterly convincing as Bond. Peter says this flick was truest to the books. I really liked how the plot of this one emphasized Bond's pathos and it made me want to see more of Daniel Craig in this role right quick.
• "Children of Men" - This movie had me alternately on the edge of my seat and shrinking down in it. There wasn't much of a plot, but it didn't matter at all. Like Gina, I'm big into dystopian depictions and I thought this was spot-on. There were so many really nice touches. I thought I was so perceptive for noticing the one long take with the blood on the camera lens, but everyone I've talked to about the movie mentions it breathlessly too.

Next up, I think we're going to try and catch "Pan's Labyrinth". I think this is the first time I've seen so many of the movies nominated for Oscars. You'd think it'd be right up my alley to do so, but I've never been one to set out and methodically see them all. Roger and Gina said "The Last King of Scotland" was really good so I may still want to see that one too. Peter said he'd only see it if it was about soccer, though, so I guess I'll just have to take him to a showing of "Apocalypto". Or wait, isn't that Mel Gibson's movie about Jews? I guess I meant to say we'll be seeing "Flags of Our Fathers"...

After watching a mini-marathon of this new "reality" program, I went to bed kind of sad. Sad because I will probably never be that rich. Sad that some people think that money should be spent like there's no tomorrow. Mostly sad because a lot of kids will watch this show and think that the teenagers featured in this program are people to be envied and should be emulated. But, oddly enough, also sad because it's all downhill for these teenagers after this. I'm sure if any of them were ever to read this, they'd say I shouldn't be sad; I should be jealous. But, I'm not. What do you have to look forward to after your "super sweet" 16?

Again and again, the girls talked about the feeling of control that it gave them to hand-pick guests and to hand out the invitations to their exclusive parties. They all had that same look of I'm-sorry-but-not-really when the subject of the uninvited arose. The word "control" kept coming up again and again. Also a common them: the mantra that "money is no object". Good luck, ladies, because you'll be hard-pressed to ever find anyone else who will so willingly squirm under your thumb as much as Mommy or Daddy.

Unbelievably, I woke up still thinking about this show, feeling mystified because I couldn't understand why parents would ever raise their kids to say things to them like, "Would you please just shut up for ten minutes?" or make them think that it's just a given that you will always get what you want if you bitch and whine enough. What happens during childhood that makes a kid think it's okay to order their parents around? ("Just go and sit on that little thing over there.") At what point are the tables turned so that the child rules the parent? Is it that first time that you give them a cookie simply because they asked for one? Is it when you buy them something because they're throwing a tantrum at the store and you want it to stop? If I have kids and money, will I ever let them know my real net worth? (No. Peter and I have already discussed this.) Will I ever have kids after seeing how some of them turn out?? I think I've just found myself a new form of birth control.

One of the parents on the show talked about wanting to set boundaries for his daughter and not always give in. Is that what he's doing, setting boundaries, when he doesn't present her with a brand new Range Rover on her actual birthday, and gives it to her on the night of her birthday party instead?? (Way to go, Pop! You showed her. Mom did a better job of setting boundaries when she canceled Ava's credit card. Mitra, you rock!) Another parent celebrated the victory of having the upper hand for once when she successfully pulled off a ruse where her daughter was the target. (So... the moral of the story is that Sophie gets what Sophie wants and Sophie is always right. And...the one time you can claim you had control is when you tricked her into thinking she might get a four-year-old car when in fact she would be getting a brand new Audi...) Is there nothing wrong with this picture?

The thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on these ungrateful kids would have been better spent on a lifetime of therapy (just why is it so important to prove that you now live in the lap of luxury?), a personal trainer, ending world hunger, or paying off my mortgage (and then some).

** WARNING: This may contain spoilers. **

So, I was really looking forward to Unleashed. I'm paying particular attention to fight scenes now that I'm learning martial arts. The movie was fine, but I was disappointed in the number of fight scenes. I can easily think of three more ways they could have included more fighting.

1. When Victoria took Danny's collar off, he should have involuntarily given her a beatdown. I mean, the main character of the movie is a man who's lived his life as a dog trained to kill when his collar comes off! And don't you think that if you've managed to train a man to become a killer-dog, you've spent enough time rewiring him that he's reached a point where he can't exert control over the impulses you've battered into his brain? Okay, so I understand that you lose the believability of his possible redemption if he beats the girl and is so hard-wired that he's beyond repair... But the story of how Danny feels guilty for doing this and has to redeem himself for beating up one of the few people who's been good to him would have been interesting, too.

2. Danny could have run into Uncle Bart's henchman much sooner in the movie. Then, there would have been the struggle that Danny makes to keep his new life, as well as the ensuing fight scene back at Uncle Bart's where he makes his first getaway. If they wanted to go with this idea of Danny as having a mind of his own, this would have worked just fine.

3. Danny could have obliged and fought in several death-match tournaments before giving in to nostalgia for his new life. Again, the whole trained-dog story kind of falls apart when he asserts his independence and refuses to fight. Would a trained dog really have disobeyed his master like that??

Mostly, I am disappointed the filmmakers didn't take advantage of the suspense they built up in the trailers and during the movie with the moment when the collar comes off for the first time. After seeing the trailers, that was the one scene I was anticipating the most. I am not advocating violence against women or anyone else, but I just think it didn't make sense that that didn't happen. It must not have tested well. I can only hope that they'll have a Director's Cut DVD or will include the alternate scenes in the DVD special features.

Now, I realize I'm probably partial to Mercedes because she's pretty, but I think it's hard to argue that she also did the best in the "cold reading" screen test in the finale of The Starlet. Hers was like a reading for a soap opera, but you know how these things go... If she had been any less dramatic, they would have called her "wooden". Even Katie Kneeland's spastic reading was better than Michelynne McGuire's.

Michelynne's problem is that she never learned how to read. What does it mean when there's a period or a comma in the text? Stop. Take a breath. For a woman who crosses herself as much as Michelynne does, she doesn't seem to know what the protocol is for the confession booth. Your intro is separate from anything else you have to say and is always, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." Then, insert pause. Then, state sin. When is it ever, "Forgive me Father for I have sinned you see lately I have been having impure thoughts" all in one breath???

I'm sorry, but I've got a beef with people who think they can get by in life without the ability to read. The thing that really gets me is that the producers of "The Starlet" have done nothing to make Michelynne believe otherwise by giving her the title and the part on "One Tree Hill".

Each actress was handled with kid gloves during her last critique. Peter, Mark, Beth, and I had fun coming up with different theories why. We initially thought the judges were letting Michelynne down easy when they waxed poetic about her performance. It was so godawful that we shouted at the TV, "You couldn't possibly have watched the same scene we did!" Truly, the judges are all much better actors than any of the competitors.

Despite the fact that she had the best scene, the judges did not gush over Mercedes like they did Michelynne. Joseph's conciliatory, "You're MY starlet" made it pretty obvious that Mercedes was not going to win. It was his way of saying, "The producers of 'One Tree Hill' decided weeks ago that they wanted Michelynne, long before anyone saw this crappy reading. My hands are tied." Joseph Middleton's a casting director. If anyone knows who's right for a part, it's him. But I think the decision came down from above on this one. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. They've shown the same disclaimer at the end of every episode, stating that elimination decisions are made in consultation with the producers, but it never meant as much as it did this time. Poop.

Mercedes deserves a period piece.