A More Honest Female Bodybuilder

I watched a documentary last Sunday, called Twisted Sisters - it is about one of my favourite subjects, female bodybuilding. It had some of the usual items - the radical diet, the hours in the gym and of course, competition, but it didn't focus on the competition quite so much as in other documentaries that I have seen. Interestingly, it focused more on the lives of the women, their nearly insane commitment to the sport and the extraordinary lengths they go to in order to continue to shape their physiques. And even more interesting, the ladies were very open about their use of steroids to get their look. I found it refreshing, and would like to see it again.

Trailer below:


"TWISTED SISTERS" trailer from Braverman Productions, Inc. on Vimeo.

Venice: The Series - Season 1 Impressions

With all the hullabaloo about Otalia, the chaste lesbian paring on the now defunct Guiding Light, (which I knew of tangentially and not from watching), my interest was definitely piqued for Venice: The Series. There was tremendous buildup on the soap blogs. So, after watching the first episode (a freebie) I was more than ready to dive into this new web soap. I paid my $10 subscription fee and jumped right in. Rather than give my opinion in a piecemeal fashion, I thought I would wait until Season 1 ended to give a more fulsome assessment.

So...what did I think?

Venice is really a welcome respite from the usual fare on daytime these days. Women have lately been given really short shrift - one needs only to look at the storylines on Young & the Restless (my favourite soap), General Hosiptal and One Life to Live to see evidence of some truly bizarre portrayals of modern women. Some current examples feature a woman who was gaslit until she miscarries followed by an hysterical pregnancy, only to be given another woman's child as her own. The poor woman whose baby was kidnapped was deceived into thinking her child is dead and then actually marries the man who stole her child. There has been a sickening rape-mance on another soap and my personal favourite: a diabolical mobster's wife is bludgeoned to death with an axe by her stepson - and his father, an abusive, psychopathic mobster, is covering it up! And this is DAYTIME television!

Needless to say, I find I miss what soaps used to show: romance and relationships. I really enjoy seeing a relationship grow, blossom and evolve - with well-drawn, well acted characters. Venice provides all of this and more.

The acting is fantastic, from leads Crystal Chappell, and Jessica Leccia in particular. The supporting cast (which appears rather sparingly) is also strong, although it is harder to assess them since they didn't have a lot to do. Nonetheless, the show is populated with interesting characters (Gina's brother Owen, Jamie the bar owner to Michele, Gina's assistant). I hope we get to see these other characters fleshed out more in Season 2.

Since webisodes are much shorter than traditional soaps; the average episode is 7 or 8 minutes; pacing is a real challenge. Venice probably had a tad more exposition than needed and things really began to pick up in Episode 5. Things hasten forward pretty quickly after that and lead to a fantastic, soapy cliffhanger ending that leaves me just dying to see what happens next.

The weakest link in the series thus far is Leslie Kay/Tracy. We are introduced to Tracy as a highly professional, confident, slightly icy attorney based out of London. Within a few beats, she's saying she's in love with Gina and is totally falling apart. Her uneven character is not helped by Leslie's basically non-existent British accent.

Most pleasant surprise is Nadia Bjorlin/Lara. She has fantastic chemistry with Ani and their growing relationship is well drawn and very well acted. I want to see more of this couple.

All in all I'm very pleased with the series. It features strong women in compelling relationships and also has a diverse cast - another thing that is sorely lacking in TV soaps. Another great thing is that women feature behind the camera as well. I must applaud Crystal Chappell for pulling this series together. It shows that with the right mix of talent and drive one can create work that speaks to an audience, even when the mainstream media is not supporting it. (A-)

With Friends Like These

This whole Desirée Rogers business is very silly. I tend to think that Ms. Rogers got a little too high on the fumes of her lofty position prior to her arrival in Washington. Things came crashing down (as they often do), if this article is to be believed, before the Housewives wannabes swooped down in all their tacky glory. But such is life, I suppose - even Desirée Rogers can't be perfect.

My one big objection to this article is this:

"Public life has singed presidential friends over the years with striking regularity, people like Bert Lance during Jimmy Carter’s administration, Vincent W. Foster Jr. and Webster L. Hubbell during Bill Clinton’s, and Harriet E. Miers and Alberto R. Gonzales during George W. Bush’s. Washington can be seductive and then destructive."

I really don't think that the Rogers flap is any comparison to Vince Foster - who committed SUICIDE or Harriet Miers and Alberto Gonzales - two bungling incompetents.

Classic lack of perspective, in the redoubtable New York Times, no less!

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R.I.P., Eartha Kitt

Today is a sad Christmas - Eartha Kitt, one of my favourite performers, passed away from colon cancer. Ms. Kitt was 80. I also found out that Harold Pinter died too. What is it about Christmas and celebrities dying?? Anyway, here are two videos with the fabulous Kitt.

From Batman:


And photo montage to the song "Too Close for Comfort":

R.I.P., Sunny von Bulow

Today, Sunny von Bulow died at the age of 76. Ms. von Bulow's life became the subject of court room drama, as well as a Hollywood film (starring John Malkevich as her husband), when her husband Claus von Bulow was tried twice for attempted murder after Sunny fell into a hypoglycemic coma. Many people believed that Claus injected her with insulin in order to kill her and get her money.

On reading her obituary, I found myself feeling quite sad; it's easy to be caught up in the true crime aspect of the story, but really it was horrible. Who would ever think that they would end the way Sunny did? As with many sensational cases, the truth gets lost in the headlines - I don't know if Claus did it or not, and I don't suppose anyone ever will for sure.

We Have The Stars

I've been blazing my way through Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis by Ed Sikov. I'm finding it utterly fascinating - although I have to say that I don't think I would have liked Bette Davis very much. She was very high strung. Her work, her drive to work was almost a force of nature. Inspired by this book, I've been watching segments of Dick Cavett's interview of Bette on You Tube. God, I love the internet! Anyway, I came across a clip from the final scene of Now, Voyager - I'll never tire of watching it.

J'Adore

I've had Travis' The Boy With No Name for quite some time, but I've recently fallen in love with Closer. Something about Fran's voice - it's just so darn sweet. And thanks to MTV Music, I was finally able to see the video. And it's not bad either. Enjoy.

Travis |MTV Music

Michael Crichton Dies of Cancer

Michael Crichton, the author of The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, among many others, died on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. I've actually never read any of Crichton's books, although there was a spell in the late nineties when every book he wrote was turned into a movie. Truthfully, most of them were very bad - Sphere anyone? Aside from those books (which both successfully made it to the big screen) I think he'll be remembered most for being one of the creators of ER, the show that launched George Clooney into the stratosphere. Interesting that ER is also packing it in after a million seasons.
In any event, R.I.P. Mr. Crichton.

Lando Calrissian for President!

It's Election Day here, and while I have refrained from posting stuff from the campaign (Go-bama!), this hilarious video from Funny or Die was crying out for a posting.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

I've Still Got Two Years...

The Man Booker Prize was announced today in London, and the winner is (drum roll please) Aravind Adiga for his novel The White Tiger. It is his debut novel, and he was also the youngest author on the shortlist at 33 years old. The book sounds fascinating; it's the story of the two Indias - the rural poor in contrast to the booming economy that we're all hearing about. Yet another book on the list to read - does it never end?

It's Giller Time!

The Giller Prize short list was announced today, and it looks like an interesting list this time around. I curious especially about Marina Endicott's novel, Good to a Fault. I've got a fond spot for the Giller - a pretty good sum of money, and it spotlights some great Canadian fiction. Maybe one day I'll be shortlisted? Sigh. A girl can dream right?

J'Adore - Spiralling

I am so looking forward to the Keane album, Perfect Symmetry - I've already pre-ordered my copy! I'm just loving the new single "Spiralling" - it's a departure for them - a real pop-y tune - but Tom Chaplin's vocals are rock solid, as usual.

More Sad News

Between the stock market tanking and banks folding, I must confess to feeling pretty sad about this item in the Times. I was just a kid when The Satanic Verses came out - and I haven't read it, but I do remember seeing protests and hearing about the fatwa put out on Salman Rushdie. This kind of story really angers me. I'm just glad that the publisher is remaining strong in the face of this intimidation. Standing up to bullies is really the only way to go.

Sad Sad News

I was just thinking about Paul Newman yesterday; while watching The Torn Curtain, with Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, I wondered about his battle with cancer and how he was doing. He was the most handsome physicist I've ever seen! Anyway, I was so sad to hear this morning that he's passed away. He was a great actor, and a real humanitarian - he didn't do his good deeds just for show. Among his many roles, my personal favourite performance was in Cool Hand Luke, although Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a close second. He will be sorely missed!

J'Adore

I've always loved Tracey Thorn, and I came upon a version of "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" by Massive Attack - who I also adore. Maybe it's just the head space that I'm in, but I can't stop listening to it. Enjoy the video.

Swedes Do It Better

Ikea products might be shoddily put together and the Swedish "meat"balls may be made of mystery meat, but those Swedes seem to have gotten something thing right (beyond ABBA, Greta Garbo, and Stefan Edberg). When Sweden had a similar financial crisis to the one facing Wall Street in the 90s, they managed to come to a solution that doesn't involve sticking it to tax payers. Why Bo Lundgren, Sweden's financial minister during the 1992 crisis (left), must be a some kind of genius! Why none of these solutions are being seriously entertained in Washington is beyond me. Don't even get me started.

Story

Death, Animated

My husband, visual artist Saul Chernick, has been working on an interesting idea: animating old drawing and prints. His first foray is based on Totentanz by Heinrich Knoblochtzer. Click here to check it out. I think he really captures the herky-jerky quality implied by the lines in the print.

At Last!

I was so very pleased to stumble upon this blog. The Snob had me at hello.

An Excellent, Touching Documentary

Umm...Sap??

As you may already know, Norman Mailer passed away earlier this month - November 10th to be exact. Well, I must confess to not being a huge Mailer fan. I frankly consider him to be a rather sexist couchon. But, no one take away his many accomplishments, especially those of the posthumous variety. Imagine my "pleasure" when I read that Mr. Mailer won the Bad Sex in Fiction Award!

I won't keep you in suspense...

His mouth lathered with her sap, he turned around and embraced her face with all the passion of his own lips and face, ready at last to grind into her with the Hound, drive it into her piety.

"The Castle in the Forest"

Now really, what does one say after that?

LINK