Ice, Ice Baby

Did anyone else notice this picnic jug on "Mad Men" tonight? I know I'm a little obsessed with thermoses these days, but I was thrilled to see the whole picnic set up. Perfection!

A Good Week for RISD

Wow, this has been a good week for RISD alumni on this blog! Last night Eric and I watched a documentary on Vh1 called NY77, which sort of contexutalized the innovative music of the time (punk, rap) in the socially uneasy setting of New York City.

As we were watching, we were very impressed with the graphics and animation, and I suddenly had a hunch that I'd seen something similar before. Sure enough, a quick visit to fellow RISD grad Wyeth Hansen's website, and we discovered that he not only directed all the visuals for the project, but also composed some of the music. Impressive! Yay for RISD's class of 2003!

A.N.T.R.V.C.

The judges have deliberated, and we have come to a decision. There are seven beautiful cupcakes before me, but only one of them can be America's Next Top Red Velvet Cake....


Duncan Hines, we love your color and your light, fluffy texture. You somehow manage to be moist but not heavy, and that is a valuable skill as a cupcake. But some people here think that making cakes from mixes is a little "commercial", and we wonder if you have what it takes to be a gourmet treat.

Martha Stewart, we think you have a beautiful color, and we love your style, but we wonder if you are too "mature" and dry to make it in the world of cakes.

Paula Deen, you are so sassy and vibrant, and we thought that using marshmallows and coconut in your frosting was a really daring move. But your texture is so coarse, sometimes we think you might be better off taking away the food color and calling yourself "yellow cake".


James Beard, we had high hopes for you from the beginning. You walked in here with more experience in baking than any of the other recipes, but taste after taste, you have disappointed us with your blandness. Where is the color we see in the other cakes?

Beet cake, we all know that in baking, like in fashion, old is always new again. We love that you took such a risk in bringing back the traditional coloring ingredient, beets, but your texture and your flavor just don't seem like "America's Next Top Red Velvet Cake".

Chocolate cake, you came into this competition as the odd one out. We thought, "how could a chocolate cake be red?" But you surprised us again and again with your flair. Unfortunately, we felt your texture was lacking, and when you fell apart before we could even bite into you, some of the judges gave up on you.

Suicide cake, we thought you were moist and flavorful. We especially liked your swirly color. But we don't understand how we can replicate you, since you are such a mixed up mess.

So who doesn't go home? The cakes that are flavorful but dry, or the moist ones that taste like nothing? Or is it the one from the box, the one that nobody thought could be good?


Duncan Hines. Congratulations, you are America's Next Top Red Velvet Cake!

(screaming and crying follows)

fame and (J.D.) fortune

Alright, I promised to do the research, and I have! Here's what happened to the winners of the TLC and INXS shows.

According to Wikipedia,
'Tiffany Nicole Baker (born 1985) is a choreographer, singer, and rapper from Atlanta who was chosen as the winner to be featured on TLC's new single "I Bet" (October 4, 2005) on the reality tv program R U The Girl. She currently is going to college and will release a solo album soon after... She is also trying to start up a reality show; a teaser was shown on youtube.com...
O'So Krispie has recently appeared on a remix of Chris Brown's single, Poppin' rapping 2 verses.'

You can also check out her website here.

As for the INXS show, "Rock Star", the winner was J.D. Fortune, whose long biography can be read here, and who 'is currently working on a solo album, Death of a Motivational Speaker, which is expected to hit shelves in the fall of 2007. He told the Australian Associated Press "It's the best stuff I have ever written."'

So, things look promising for Asia, winner of "The Search for the Next Doll"... she may even have a solo album oneday!

Going Down the Tubes Without You*

I am bummed that last night's episode of Top Model was a recap, but things are about to get good... And what about The Search for the Next Doll??? I can't believe that Asia won!! I was rooting for Chelsea, but would have also been happy to see Melissa R. take it. What were they thinking? What I wonder is, given her age (18?), will she really be able to fit in? I mean, I don't know that much about PCD, but it seems like the women in the group are considerably older, and undoubtably more mature. I hope she can handle the fame and fortune. What does become of the people who join established groups through reality television? What happened to the INXS show, or the TLC show? I will have to do some research and get back to you on this.

*PS- that's a reference to "Making the Grade", one of my favorite movies.