Testing, testing for ecto: save as new

It's not a test of a photoblog without a cute cat picture.

Blogger's New Hotness

I'm not sure yet if this is all that new and hot. I just needed to see if it works with ecto now.

Nobody Leaves Without Me

  

Aloha Malan

You know, I've never felt the "passion for the fashion," but I find BravoTV's reality show "Project Runway," to be strangely addictive, even though I've never been interested in fashion or even in dressmaking.

It's the personalities that suck you in and make you want one to succeed fabulously, and another to go down in badly-designed flames.

The second designer to be dismissed, or "auf'd" as the folks at Television Without Pity call it, was Malan Breton. DRAT! Although my initial impression of him was that he was much too precious and pretentious, there was a very endearing quality to him and after reading his blog I found him to be much more sympathetic and interesting than before. But he was gone after his evening gown for Miss USA's run for the Miss Universe title was deemed too "heavy" looking, with ruching that didn't really succeed, although what he was going for was a very interesting and potentially flattering look. It did look rich, but the ruching was lumpy and not well executed over the bust. It might have been more successful if the ruching were sharp, interlocking pleats. Still, all that action around the torso and hips kind of detracted from the stated purpose, which was to make a smaller woman look taller. But I did like the glamor of the slightly off-centered "bustle" part of the ruching.

Listen to me, I flunked the sewing module in Home Ec in junior high. "Ruching," indeed.

Anyway. There was something that Malan said last night about how his mother rejected his attempts to show her his drawings for fashion when he was young that was inexpressibly sad. She basically threw them on the floor and told him never to do that again. It sounded like a rejection of who he was in addition to what interested him. At the end of the show, he expressed sadness and shame for leaving so early. It seems he's never had a lot of friends, and he felt part of something larger (perhaps for the first time), and now it was over. This made me tear up a little. Yes, the plain-faced fat tomboy who lives in jeans and never wears makeup felt sad for the winsome fashion designer with the dubious accent and the exaggerated mannerisms. I really felt for him; what a crushing blow to have to endure on camera. He held his head high and left with grace and humility, something I never would have expected based on my erroneous first impression.

Based on his bio, I (as a former outsider living in Utah) have a little more insight into Malan and his personality.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Malan, 32, traveled the globe as a child, living in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, California, Hawaii, Utah, Georgia and elsewhere. Named as one of 12 new designers to watch for on the New York runway by Women’s Wear Daily in February 2005, Malan has been designing since the age of 11. Inspired by a friend, one of America's foremost couturiers, he decided to create his own line drawing on the vast influences and experiences of his life.

Oh, Malan, if you lived in Utah... well, it would be the absolutely worst possible place for a person like you, no matter how old you were when you lived there.

My normal blogspace Blogula Rasa was down earlier, or I would have posted there. For now, I'm sorry about this development, because I think the wrong designer was sent away, ANGELA. What were the judges thinking? At least Tim has a blog of his own (a Movable Type one, no less) where he dishes a little. Still, I don't understand why Malan wasn't given a pass and Angela wasn't booted right "auf."

Satori 2-28-2006 4-42-45 PM 874x701

This is probably the best of the surf photos that I took on our last trip to Maui. Sometimes you don't really know what you have until you can sit down and look at photos in the largest format and think about where you'd like to crop them down.

This one just begged to be cropped as closely as possible.

Via: Flickr Title: Satori 2-28-2006 4-42-45 PM 874x701 By: GinnyRED57
Originally uploaded: 11 Mar '06, 12.04am CST PST
This guy was so relaxed, he could have been meditating. He was one with the wave.

Rock Slab Growing at Mt. St. Helens Volcano

This is awesome - you can see "growth rings" from the marks of the debris line along the smooth edge.

Via: Flickr Title: Rock Slab Growing at Mt. St. Helens Volcano By: Guano
Originally uploaded: 10 May '06, 8.14am CDT PST
Photo Credit: Dan Dzurisin, Cascades Volcano Observatory, USGS
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060509.html

A new rock slab is growing at more than one meter a day on the Mt. St. Helens volcano in Washington, USA. The rock slab, growing since last November, now extends about 100 meters out from one of the volcano's craters. A recently made time lapse movie shows the rock slab growing. Pictured above, a helicopter examines the steaming hot rock slab late last month. Mt. St. Helens underwent a spectacular eruption in 1980 but has been undergoing a comparatively serene eruption since 2004 September. A new volcanic dome has been building which is now about 100 meters above the 1980s dome. The rock slab is visible from the Johnson Ridge Observatory on the erupting volcano.

courtesy of NASA's "Astronomy Picture of the Day" for May 9, 2006.

note: full size photo is sweet...

Speak Truthiness To Power

Because this image needs to be everywhere.

Via: Flickr Title: speaktruthiness By: stricklin_family
Originally uploaded: 4 May '06, 2.34pm CDT PST
God Bless Stephen Colbert.

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: Media finally starting to report the President's systematic lawbreaking

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: Media finally starting to report the President's systematic lawbreaking

Oh, this is so good, I had to link to it here and at Blogula Rasa.

Jon Swift: The Secret Cabal That Threatens America

Jon Swift: The Secret Cabal That Threatens America

Mr. Jon Swift modestly proposes a solution to the problem of Freemasonry and how in his view it's a bigger problem than immigration. Sekrit clubs!

What I'd like to know is - is this secret cabal basic, or premium service???

Humpback Whale, Newfoundland

I'm part of this group on Flick. One or two of my photos from Maui may be good enough to be matched to a known whale, like this one.

This photo ended up on the site blog, demonstrating "the power of Flickr."

Crossposted to Blogula Rasa.

Via: Flickr Title: Humpback Whale, Newfoundland By: George K
Originally uploaded: 18 Jan '06, 9.34pm PST
Taken 6/29/03, off Trinity, Newfoundland

You Decide...

Presiduhnt Chimpy McFool!

Via: Flickr Title: You Decide... By: Guano
Originally uploaded: 28 Nov '05, 3.56pm PST
Evolution or Intelligent Design...
It's just too ponderous to fathom...

Woodgrain

Taken at Starved Rock State Park. Sometimes I just like the grain of wood.

Via: Flickr Title: Woodgrain By: GinnyRED57
Originally uploaded: 8 Jan '06, 4.10am PST

Birds!

Okay, let's try that with a midsize photo.

Hi, Riley! Lookit the birds!

Via: Flickr Title: Birds! By: GinnyRED57
Originally uploaded: 13 Dec '05, 9.38pm PST

U505 - Museum of Science and Industry

Just checking to make sure this blog has the right stylesheet set up now for posts from Flickr!

This image was sent from Flickr as a blog entry, email or cameraphone image.
Via: Flickr
Title: U505

By: GinnyRED57


Originally uploaded: 15 Dec '05, 8.51pm PST