ANTM All Stars!

I heard a rumor that next cycle of America's Next Top Model will be an All-Star show. This both thrills and frightens me. It seems a bit unfair since most of the awesome contestants were from the earlier cycles and those were a good 5-7 years ago. That's like 20-30 model years! This puts the best personalities at a distinct disadvantage since they are far too old to begin a modeling career now if the exposure from their cycle of ANTM didn't pan out.

If I ruled the world (or the CW) these would be my picks for the contestants:

For the "Drama (aka crazy, but so entertaining)":

Jade- (Cycle 6) that beautiful bi-racial butterfly. She always had something to say.

"Posing with an elephant, it's like posing with an ancient dinosaur. And elephants are in the dinosaur family."

Natasha- (Cycle 8) the Russian mail-order bride. "What it do, Shawtie?"

Dominique- (Cycle 10) hopefully sans mom-hair. Seriously, this woman looks like she's 40, and this isn't even a photo showing the missing molar!

Lisa- (Cycle 9) the sweet "dancer". I loved how annoyed Tyra got when Lisa compared her exotic dancing to modeling.

For the "Should have gone further (or should have won)"

Ann-(Cycle 3) my girl from Erie! and she brings the drama. You best be cleaning up your nasty dishes or Ann may just knife them. That's what I call "Respieto".

Claire- (Cycle 10) she went way to early (after they dressed her up as Minnie Pearl). She wasn't long for ANTM after the crazy face-plant she did in that stupid gowns-in water-on glass-shot from below.

April- (Cycle 2) one of those who was too smart for the competition. She's probably a Brain Surgeon by now, but her photos were gorgeous.

Elyse- (Cycle 1) already a real model so no chance of returning, but awesome nonetheless. Her rant agains every single girl in the house was hilarious and true. She really should have won. I thought I'd die when Robyn and her fellow crusaders forced Elyse to pray with them.

Kim- (Cycle 5) no way would Tyra have her back but I don't think her career is suffering. Best fight ever over a granola bar.

I also think there needs to be a comeback for Janice Dickinson and Benny Ninja. Oh yeah, and Sutan should come back as Raja and teach the girls a thing or two about makeup and runway walking.

What do you think? Did I miss any of your favorite characters? Who would you like to see on ANTM All-stars?

Lumpuckaroo

I was all set to write about my big Girl's Thursday Night Out but I got hit hard by a terrible head cold and couldn't really think or do anything. Really, it began at 2:30am on Thursday. I woke up with a tickle in my throat and I couldn't sleep. I took some of my brother's left over allergy medicine and went back to bed. That day at work, I was just miserable and could tell it was only going to get worse. Undaunted, I went out with my friends from work. First to a Tapas restaurant (where I insisted they serve me my portions so I wouldn't infect them) and then on to the movie theater for a screening of Water For Elephants.

It was a great deal. For just $20 we got a ticket for the movie with drinks and appetizers beforehand and a $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com. I already spent my gift certificate on the A Song of Ice and Fire book series.

We had a good time at the screening and the movie wasn't bad. It was pretty true to the book and the sets and costumes were pretty great. I really do prefer Robert Pattison when he isn't just acting sulky and sparkly.

It was a fun evening and I was even home before 11pm (meaning I could get to bed at a reasonable time). I even took some Nyquil, but I doubt I slept more than 2 hours the whole night. Miserable. I called in sick on Good Friday and felt terrible about doing that since things are so busy. I figured it would probably be better for me to miss one day than for me to infect everyone else so we were all out sick!

This is making for a yucky Easter Weekend and I probably won't be leaving my apartment again until Monday morning.

For all of you who aren't stuffed up and coughing...Happy Easter!

Reuben

I'm in this Lunch Club at work and every three weeks or so I'm responsible for bringing in lunch for myself and 8 co-workers. We have been doing it for almost six months and I love that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I don't have to worry about packing some boring frozen meal. The only problem is that when its my turn, I am always stumped about what to bring.

I've done chickpea curry, Greek chicken with orzo, ham pie, and assorted chicken salads and sandwiches. This time around, my parents sent me a recipe for a reuben loaf. I think my dad was concerned that I wouldn't know what to do about folding over the ends. I decided to take a picture of it and post it so he can rest assured (or tell me what I did wrong).

The reuben is really tasty and I hope my lunch club likes it.

Rueben Loaf

1 loaf frozen bread dough-defrosted

¼ cup Thousand Island dressing

6 oz. thinly sliced corned beef

¼ lb. Swiss cheese

1- 8 oz. can sauerkraut (well drained)

1 egg white beaten

caraway seed – optional

on greased baking sheet roll dough to 14 x 10 inches

Spread dressing down the center third of dough

Top with layers of corned beef, cheese and sauerkraut

Cut inch-wide strips along the sides of filling out to dough edges

Alternating sides, fold strips at an angle across filling (looks like a braid)

Brush with egg white; sprinkle with caraway seed

Bake at 400° for 25 min. or until done

Cool slightly; serve warm; refrigerate leftovers: reheat to serve.

Winter's Bone

I watched Winter's Bone over the weekend. I was a little disappointed. I don't think my feeling of ennui has anything to do with anything, except that it was a bit over-hyped. It was a very dark look at a group of very dark people. What a way to live. I guess I know that there are the rural poor out there and that many of them turn to things like cooking meth to survive, but wow, that was depressing. It made me wish someone would call child protective services. Those kids needed a meal, a bath, and a real bed. They also needed to not have their relatives beat up their older sister. Even the "good guys" were more than mildly unpleasant.

I was happy to notice 3 character actors from the HBO series Deadwood pop up as various unwashed characters. I guess someone watched Deadwood and thought "gee, those people look like dirty meth heads." Whoever thought that was a bit of a casting genius.

I promised myself that I wouldn't get into another Hunger Games movie post, but it is relevant because this was Jennifer Lawrence's defining role and the one that her supporters point to when trying to persuade us doubting Thomases that she can be Katniss. I certainly won't deny that she did a good job in this movie. There was quite a bit of talking through her gritted teeth, some hunting for survival, and a good amount of beat-down taking. All of that is necessary for a Katniss, certainly. It is as if they were just looking for taciturnity and the ability to look beat-up in a movie and said "There! We can cast her!" I mean, she has basically played the part already, just on a much smaller scale. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Seeing the movie has left me no more or less comforted about what is to come from our Katniss.

My greatest takeaway from this is that I am so glad I have my family and not that one!

Another Hunger Games Post

I know I haven't written in a while and that is mostly because I haven't had anything to say. A number of my latest posts have been about the upcoming Hunger Games movie and my thoughts on casting. I don't think I'm alone when I say that I am more than a little disappointed in the choices for Katniss, Peeta, and Gale.

I am definitely not one of those people who think that an actor has to look exactly like his or her character in real life. I do think that they have to be believable once we see them on screen. Who knows, maybe makeup and lighting will be such that I can totally forget Jennifer Lawrence is in her 20s and the exact opposite of petite, olive skinned, and dark haired. I accepted her casting and figured the choice had been made based on her outstanding audition, previous work and the fact that casting older allows for a better shooting schedule. It also made the casting of my personal favorite, Hunter Parrish, as Peeta a greater likelihood since he is also in his 20s. Unfortunately, they did not go that route. Instead, they cast Josh Hutcherson (the exact opposite of Peeta in stature and coloring) another good actor, but one who is and looks significantly younger than Jennifer. I would have been okay with Josh if they had likewise gone with a younger and smaller Katniss.

I honestly cannot think of any good reason for the filmmakers to do this. Everything I have read of the reactions of fans has skewed negative. I guess we will wait and see, but so far you can color me unimpressed.