micat

About Rinat saying that her outfit was for a lawyer: my husband turns to me and says, she's a lawyer in a firm whose only clients are drug dealers.

Watching Kentaro's collection, accompanied by his music, was like watching a Japanese ghost story. It gave me the same sort of dissociative and unsettled feeling that I get when I see Japanese horror films. Not something I expected to experience during a Project Runway finale. I will never forget watching that runway show. I am so glad that it was appreciated by the judges too, and that they awarded him the win.

I feel like I can tell who here has played or at least encountered Assassin's Creed based on whether or not they are calling Brandon's hood a baby bonnet.

I think we heard from Ayana a lot this episode simply because she won. That's what the editors always do - they focus on the person who won, the person who lost, and a few selected others. IMO, I enjoy watching the designers deal with the design challenges while remaining true to their own aethestics. The fact that hers has a religious meaning for her makes it even more of a challenge. But all of the designers talk about it in the context of whatever their own deal is. I did not get the sense that she was saying she was better than anyone else, just struggling with how to deal with the parameters of the challenge in the context of her own personal situation. And Nina always likes ugly outfits. She thinks they are editorial. This is the woman we have to thank for the Gretchen win, after all /s. So it surprised me not a bit that she was into Ayana's dress.

I felt that Jamie made an honorable choice. It seemed like he looked at his priorities and said, do I want to stay on Top Chef worse than I want to be the kind of person I want to be? And he chose to be the person he wants to be rather than stay on Top Chef. I don't see that as stupid or pointless or as having a loser mentality. Top Chef is a reality show - a game show. He will benefit from being on it regardless of how long he stayed or when he went home. Many people would not make the same decision he made. That doesn't mean it was a bad decision, that means that there are different types of people in this world (thank goodness). It is true that immunity only comes into the elimination decision if the immune person made the worst dish - but that is NOT the only purpose for immunity. Immunity has, many times in the past, allowed the immune person to take risks that they would not have otherwise taken. Sometimes those risks pay off and sometimes the person lands in the middle or wherever. That wasn't the case in this particular episode, of course.

That's funny. As if being a vegetarian normally makes it so you can't taste a dish with meat in it properly? Can't judge its balance, flavor, seasoning, spiciness, sweetness, depth of flavor, etc? Hmm, as a long-time vegetarian, I'll have to mull that one over. I'm pretty sure the way I taste food is the same as always. Padma and Gail know what meat and fish taste like, they have eaten a wide variety of cuisines. If anything, I would say that they could be fairer as judges, having a wider notion of what food can be good, than the meat-eaters we sometimes get who act like if there's no bacon there's no possible flavor, or are so limited as to think that the only way you can develop flavor is with animal products. Chiaros, even though I quoted you, this is a rhetorical question, not directed at you personally. To the comment that vegetarian dishes are anathema on Top Chef - I have been rather pleased in the later seasons because there has been less and less of that attitude. There is so much of world cuisine that is naturally vegetarian and even vegan - it makes me happy to see other ways of developing flavor be embraced rather than categorically shunned.

Mah-Jing has mentioned his girlfriend and child a bunch of times. There was a call earlier in the season, the one where he broke down afterwards?

I like Mah-Jing and I thought his shade about Rik's dye job in his talking head was expertly thrown. Does anyone here watch Skin Wars? I ask because I am watching it on Netflix and recently saw the episode in which the painters had to be inspired by tarot cards. One painter painted a hand with red nails coming down the neck of a model, to represent the hand of the tarot card reader. That's what Cornelius's dress with the red, finger-like pattern on the shoulder made me think of. More like a set of talons than the feathers some of the judges saw. Having said that, if I could buy that dress for work I would. It was fashion but in the sense that you could still picture an actual person wearing it. I thought it was one of the best things I've seen on the show this season. Wasn't Dexter calling some of Erin's pieces student work? His goth outfit this week was the very definition of student work to me. It was just weird for the sake of being weird.

I liked Roberi's the best. He got the proportions exactly right. I do think the top was a bit sporty in cut, but the way the patterns went together was great, IMO. I am commenting to mention the thing that caught my attention the most about this episode: the fact that, on the runway, Erin seemed to be wearing a lapel pin on her left shoulder that was a banana coming out of a peel, except the banana was actually a penis.

That was devastating. I didn't even think of the CPR angle. I figured he crushed her ribcage (actually I was cringing the whole time waiting to hear her spine snap) and she wasn't coming back from that. But they should have tried. I am done with Suzanne. I think the character, while well-acted, is poorly written. She is exactly as crazy, out-of-control, in control, cognizant, empathetic, oblivious, violent, nonviolent, smart, etc etc as the plot needs her to be at any given moment.

I thought the sign said "Now Leaving the Keys"?

I have to go back and watch again to look at Georgina's outfit. The comments about it here are cracking me up. What kept mesmerizing me was her earrings, which I think even some of the queens on Drag Race would think were a bit much. They were pulling her earlobes down. I liked Alyssa's look from afar, but close up the makeup with the strong undereye color and the bare lid looked strange. I agree with Dom's win for her body of work this season. I would love to own one of her pieces someday. I was not a huge fan of some of her collection, although I disagreed with the judges about the last dress. While I didn't love the print, I thought the shape was amazing. Also I loved the kimono jacket that they all hated.

I dunno. Millions of people lived in the USSR. Not all of them were miserable all of the time. I had a close friend who grew up in Ukraine during this period. He said that there were limits to what goods you could get, but he also said he enjoyed his life. He said there were lines for a lot of things, but people got what they needed. He had stories, like that the government would decide when to turn the heat on in their apartment building! Sometimes they would wait until September or October to turn it on, and people would grumble. So yes, different from the US, where whether or not you have a job, and whether or not it pays enough for you to pay your bills will determine if you can turn on your heat. There were things people didn't talk about, but then there were lots of things people did talk about - just not politics. Millions of people all over the world move to countries where they don't speak the language, and they figure it out and survive, and not all of them are miserable. I have traveled in Russia myself, and I spoke to a bunch of people who spoke rather fondly of the communist times. They seemed to think that it wasn't like now, when everyone is out for themselves and they don't take care of the old folk like they did in the USSR. It sure surprised me, having grown up on the same diet of anti-USSR propaganda that many of you have. It also changed my perspective - that perhaps for ordinary folk it was just life and it had its ups and downs like any life. Now, how Martha will adapt, given that this was not her choice and she has no particular affinity for Russia, who knows? I agree with some comments above that the Rezidentura lady is up to something. I particularly didn't like it when Arkady came in to tell them that the exfiltration was back on and she said, "We have her?" in a sort of skeptical tone. Like, she seemed to know something about it that she shouldn't if she was on the up and up.

Naomi has shown us all she brings to the runway, and I thought that was eminently clear during the lip sync. There's Naomi and her body in her lingerie. I think she's gorgeous, but come on, Ru. Naomi's not going to win and neither was Betty, so whose future runways would be more interesting? Stay tuned for next week: same face, different lingerie, sexy body Naomi. What would Betty bring? Who knows! I sure wish I could see it.

I thought they dropped a few anvils in this episode, anvils that made me think Paige is going to die. First, in P & E's conversation about what would happen if they ran, Philip ends up saying that no matter what happens, Paige will suffer. Second, the scene with the Russian-accented travel agency employee telling Philip about the Epcot trip. He says that they have four seats together on the way there but only three together on the way back, and Philip dismisses that saying, it doesn't matter. Third, the scene with Paige looking at Henry was shot very much like a sentimental goodbye. Fourth, the scene where Philip says to Gabriel that of course they couldn't ever think of continuing to recruit Paige if they kill Pastor Tim and wife Bigmouth, and Gabriel waves it off like recruiting Paige doesn't matter any more. Of course, all of these things have other interpretations as well and make sense in the show, but especially the four seats there, three seats back, doesn't matter part jumped right out at me and Mr. Micat.