I do watch Whale Wars, but I have really really mixed feelings about it, not the least of which is that they seem really unconcerned about any actual communication with the Japanese fleet.

Have you seen the last few episodes? They have a Japanese translator on board now who's been relaying messages over the radio. She always has her face covered, because she says that in Japan, Sea Shepherd is thought of as a terrorist group, and she doesn't want to be identified and put her family in Japan in danger.

Top chef: Las Vegas debuts on August 26th:

-Ash Fulk, 29 Hometown: Pleasant Hill, Calif.; Resides in New York City
- Ashley Merriman, 32 Center Sandwich, N.H.; Resides in Seattle, Wash.
- Bryan Voltaggio, 33 Hometown: Frederick, Md.; Resides in Urbana, Md.
- Eli Kirshtein, 25 Hometown/Resides in: Atlanta, Ga.
- Eve Aronoff, 40 Hometown/Resides in: Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Hector Santiago, 41 Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico; Resides in Atlanta, Ga.
- Jennifer Carroll, 33 Hometown/Resides in: Philadelphia, Pa.
- Jennifer Zavala, 31 Hometown: Cromwell, Conn.; Resides in Philadelphia, Pa.
- Jesse Sandlin, 30 Hometown/Resides in: Baltimore, Md.
- Kevin Gillespie, 26 Hometown/Resides in: Atlanta, Ga.
- Laurine Wickett, 38 Hometown: Rochester, N.Y.; Resides in San Francisco, Calif.
- Mattin Noblia, 29 Hometown: Biarritz, France; Resides in San Francisco, Calif.
- Michael Isabella, 34 Hometown: Little Ferry, N.J.; Resides in Washington, D.C.
- Michael Voltaggio, 30 Hometown: Frederick, Md.; Resides in Los Angeles, Calif.
- Preeti Mistry, 33 Hometown/Resides in: San Francisco, Calif.
- Robin Leventhal, 43 Hometown: Sun Valley, Idaho; Resides in Seattle, Wash.
- Ron Duprat, 40 Hometown: Mare Rouge, Haiti; Resides in Hollywood, Fla. and Naples, Fla.

Kayla and Kupono were AMAZING. Excellent choreography.

Yeah, that was great.

I'm slightly bummed out that no one said Ade was actually great in the disco, where Melissa was good for a ballet dancer -- I thought she looked stiff, where he was shaking it.

So far, so good tonight!

Jesse, I agree. I feel like they sometimes ignore Ade. I thought he was so much better in that disco.

The judges seem to be overpraising at this point. I thought the NappyTabs number was bad.

I should point out that I hadn't seen the Russian dancing when I said "So far, so good"...

re: Top Chef- I was reading a puff piece on women restaurateurs in Boston, and discovered that Tiffany Faison (runner up in TC season 1) is a chef at O Ya, which is our most high-falutin' restaurant in town these days.

I would link the article but it annoyed me so intently that I can't in good conscience inflict upon you all. But. Tiffany! in Boston! at O Ya!

Brandon is usually better than he was tonight. He kind of sucked at the tango. He messed up his footing at the beginning of the dance and I think his clothes were too loose. his partner was the bomb.

Man, I feel like a complete crank tonight. The judges are WAY overpraising.

[link]

the above link is a critique of Bravo's "The Fashion Show." Save it for your train ride because this is lengthy. The Project Rungay guys are very comprehensive.