The Beauty of the News

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
CNN Leaves It There
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

And we'll leave it there.

Mad About Mad Men

If you haven't seen AMC's original series Mad Men, immediately add it to your Netflix queue. Then, lock yourself away until you catch up to the new season. Season 3 premiered last week to rave reviews. If you missed it, you can watch the episode on the AMC website.

It's 1963 - there's more drama, sex, smoking, lies, and absolutely fabulous clothing. The men of Sterling Cooper are back with impeccably tailored suits while the women show off their hourglass figures in silhouettes that are back in fashion today. If you're looking for that Mad Men-esque look, head over to Banana Republic. They've partnered with the show to bring 1960s inspired styles to your own closet.

The premiere in a nutshell: Don Draper continues in his existential crisis with more notches on the bedpost, Sal Romano takes a dainty step out of the closet, and a somewhat subtle battle between Pete and Ken surfaces on their way up the corporate ladder.

Season 2 really got me interested in the character of Betty Draper. She's often overlooked as a complicated character as everyone focuses on Don Draper's mysterious past. January Jones, who portrays Betty, gives the audience some insight into the mind of a 1960s housewife while channeling the charm and elegance of Grace Kelly. I'm eager to see if she'll play a larger role in the series, but I'm not holding my breath. The drama inside Sterling Cooper is too hot to be billed below Betty Draper - you'll just as soon see a pucker in one of Don's suits.

The next episode airs tomorrow night at 10pm on AMC. Also, be sure to check out the Don & Betty's Paradise Lost spread in Vanity Fair shot by Annie Leibovitz, featuring January Jones and Jon Hamm, for more Mad Men fashions.

Designers for Payless

Remember when people bitched about Christian Siriano designing shoes and accessories for Payless? Well a few other designers realized that the economy is failing and people want cheap shit so they cried, "Me too!"

Abaeté, Alice + Olivia, and Lela Rose just launched their limited edition discount summer shoes and accessories lines for Payless. They're now available online for under $40. It's a little pricey for Payless, but keep in mind that these designers sell their ready-to-wear clothes for several hundred dollars.

Christian Siriano, an apparent fan of the cone heel, also has his fall line of shoes out.

It's probably not real leather, but if you're only going to wear them for a season, why not buy them cheap?

Gap Jeans Get a Face-Lift

If you happen to live in a cave, you probably haven't heard of Gap's new line of premium jeans, "1969". Gap just recently unleashed new and fashionable styles for men and women that compete with that of higher-end denim companies, but with a more attractive price tag.

Gap used to be a respectable jeans retailer that sold pretty good quality jeans...in 1996. But over the past several years, their jeans progressively became less stylish and cheaper in quality. Gap has been working to rebrand itself as a high quality retailer and finally, their time is here. Just in time for the company's 40th anniversary, 1969 came in to pull Gap out of it's self-dug grave. The company has certainly invested a lot of money into 1969 by whoring itself out with expensive ad placements in magazines, malls, and online and new store openings. They even opened a store on Robertson Blvd as probably the cheapest retailer there. Fortunately, the jeans have been flying off the shelves - many of their stores are already out of stock of the most popular styles and sizes.

Yesterday was the ideal time to buy yourself a pair. All Gap stores were throwing themselves a 40th birthday party by offering $20 off every pair of 1969 jeans, 2 for 1 sweaters and t-shirts, and an additional 15% off your entire purchase between 7 and 9pm. Every store even had local bands come in to play live acoustic sets while you shopped.

I went to a Gap at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. There was a mediocre indie band selling out while shoppers and employees rushed around the crowded store. I scored 2 pairs of skinny jeans for $34 each (originally $59.50) and a v-neck pullover sweater for $14 (originally $39.50). If you missed the in-store sale, you can still get 20% your entire purchase through August 23rd on gap.com with promo code "FALL".

Barneys New York Warehouse Sale

Prada, Givenchy, and Manolos, Oh my! It's time for the semi-annual Barneys New York Warehouse Sale! LA and NY shoppers and discount-fashionistas have two weeks to scour the racks for deals on designer duds.

This time around, LA's host site moved from Santa Monica's Barker Hangar to the uncool LA Convention Center. Reasons why this is bad: Parking at the convention center is $12 (Free in Santa Monica!). The convention center has creepy abandoned hallways - the perfect setting for a perfect crime. The South Hall in the convention center is much smaller than the hangar in Santa Monica.

Beside the mistake in location, this place was paradise for anyone looking for designer products at a fraction of the cost. It's just like shopping at Barneys, except the clothes are on plastic hangers, bitches are using giant plastic bags to carry their shit, there's more security, and you strip in front of everyone in a communal dressing room.

[Photo credit: Racked LA]

I went yesterday, the first day of the sale. I arrived at a leisurely hour while some stood in line a few hours before the flood gates opened. I mean, look at those bitches run! I have to say that this whole fiasco was a lot more civil than I had imagined. This was my first time attending, but I was expecting cat fights and screaming. Of course, there were some nasty glares exchanged and swift hands greedily swiping up shoes while other hands were reaching in the same direction. This was a good place to people-watch, if anything.

[Photo credit: Racked LA]

The selection of designer clothing was pretty good. Me being the poor college student, I could only look, contemplating how long I'd be in debt if I actually bought everything I wanted. Designer dresses were around $400-800, but I guess you can say it's a deal from the original cost of thousands. There was a ready-to-wear, more affordable, lower tier designer section with clothes from Theory, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and DvF to name a few. You have to pick carefully through the items though because you may chance upon a $79 Madras dress. The jeans table was pretty ok too. JBrand, Seven, and Citizens were there for $59-89. Curious, I checked out the men's suits too. Armani, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, etc. were all marked down like crazy! And nothing was wrong with them. They even had on-sight tailors there to help you get the perfect fit.

As far as accessories go, it was non-existent. I heard there was a purse table, but it seemed to be gone by the time I got there in the afternoon. Besides, Racked LA reports that it was a lot of damaged goods with a laughable "discount". Overheard: "There are better, non-damaged, cheaper bags on sale at a regular Saks store." Noted.

And then...

[Photo credit: Racked LA]

Shoes. Omgshoes. I took Kelly's advice and totally got some shoes. I would never have an occasion to wear (let alone afford) Manolo Blahnik jeweled heels, Prada pumps, or Fendi sandals. I opted for the last pair of red leather Barneys CO-OP flat ankle boots. Originally $440, I got them for $125. Believe me, I was probably the most conservative shopper there. Overheard:

Rich Bitch: "Hey, which one do you think I should get? The Pradas are only $425 and the Manolos are $600."

Daddy's Girl: "Wow, I mean, both are SO cute and they're marked down so much!!"

Rich Bitch: "I KNOW! I was thinking about the Balenciaga heels too, but I should really limit myself."

Daddy's Girl: "I guess....Haha, we ARE buying a lot of clothes. But it's like we're getting $6,000 worth of clothes for only $2,000. So I think it's worth it."

Rich Bitch: "Yeah...okay so which shoes? ....Do you think I should get both?"

Daddy's Girl: "Well, you know you're going to buy shoes later and right now, you could get 2 pairs for like the price of 1 pair of shoes later. You know?"

Rich Bitch: "You're so right!"

Tip: There will be a few major overnight markdowns throughout the sale period. If you want the best deals, go on the last few days, but you'll probably have a skimpier selection.

New York, I Love You. But will I love your movie?

From the producer of Paris, Je T'aime comes another love story anthology. New York, I Love You has been named as one of the most anticipated films of the year. Natalie Portman returns as part of the cast of the second "I Love You" film and will make her directing debut in the film.

This time around, the love stories are set in New York City with an even more randomly star-studded cast than Paris Je T'aime. Blake Lively, Bradley Cooper, Cloris Leachman, and Christina Ricci? Click here for full credits and watch the trailer below. Thoughts?

The sketchiest purchase of my life

While in New York, I made a visit to Chinatown with Nicole, the fake purse purchasing expert. Apparently, these illegal operations have become much more covert nowadays to avoid notice from law enforcement. 

Most "vendors" have old Chinese women stand on street corners with grocery bags like they're just shopping. They usually approach you asking, "You want purse? Dee-sigh-nah!" You follow them, making sure not to trail too closely behind. You are led to a sketchy-ass mini-van with black tinted windows. A Chinese man slides open the rear passenger door and sneakily whispers, "What you want?" Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Prada, Gucci, Coach, you name it - they've got it. 

I ended up with a black quilted "Chanel" with a gold chain for the attractive price of $32 (with a bit of haggling). I have no shame. 

In Lagerfeld's Likeness

I know this is old news, but it's news to me.

German fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld, of Chanel, Fendi, and his own self-titled fashion house has his own bear. The bear was created by Steiff, the iconic toy company famous for popularizing the "teddy bear." Only 2,500 KL bears were manufactured as a limited edition. 

The bear's outfit was designed by Lagerfeld himself to look just like him. From the black demin pants to the sunglasses, Lagerfeld and the teddy bear are close to identical. The bear even has a f#%@ing Swarovski crystal studded KL belt buckle. 

You can buy the bear at Neiman Marcus for just under $1,000. What a steal! Original retail price was $1,500. 

From the desk of a proud patron of the Huntington Beach Playhouse

Apparently some people thought that my last entry was a bit offensive. All I did was say that the acting was insufferable and that the best part was when the Nazis came to send them to Auschwitz. These are facts.

The following is an email that I received about my review of The Diary of Anne Frank at the Huntington Beach Playhouse:

"Dear Flightless Robin,

I found your review of the Anne Frank play at the Huntington Beach Playhouse to be rude and offensive. How can you compare anything to Terri Shiavo is utterly deplorable. You did not write a review. You wrote an insulting and biased rant. The darling girl who played Anne Frank is only 13 years old and lots of people agree that she is very talented. I have to completely disagree with what you said about Mrs. Van Daan. She made the best performance. 

I have been a proud patron of the Huntington Beach Playhouse for 12 years. A lot of hard work from theater loving volunteers go into making these wonderful plays. Your "reveiw" was mean and inappropriate. Anne Frank has opened with great reviews from theater professionals. It is a beloved story and was depicted extremely well on stage there. Think twice before writing something so disrespectful about a historical piece of lierature."

Wow. I've never received hate mail before. Keep 'em coming! 

Let's review (or rather, rant about) the hate mail! It was a little hard to concentrate on the repetitive content of the letter with all the distractions of the simple grammar and spelling mistakes. I wasn't sure whether the quotation marks around the word reveiw were supposed to call attention to the meaning or the misspelling of the word. The last sentence sounded a little threatening. Think twice? Or else...? Also, I have to argue that this email seems more like a rant than a "reveiw" of my recent blog entry. 

This has really made my day. It is pure entertainment. I encourage everyone to write poorly written hate mail to me. 

The Diary of Anne Frank at the Huntington Beach Playhouse

Last night I went to see The Diary of Anne Frank at the Huntington Beach Playhouse. It was possibly the 3 most insufferable hours of my life. Maybe except that time I watched Taxi with Jimmy Fallon and Queen Latifa. 

It was performed by a bunch of low rent amateurs who over acted and made too many gesticulations. The girl who played Anne Frank was annoying and failed to successfully convey the personality of the character. On the opposite end of the spectrum was the girl who played Margot, Anne's sister. I know she's supposed to be a bit of a recluse, but she was just exceedingly boring. She had zero presence whenever she talked. It was like watching Terri Shiavo on puppet strings. The worst one yet was the woman who played Mrs. Van Daan. I can't begin describe how horrific this performance was. I'll just say that she had the voice of a tranny with black lung. The best actor in this whole production was Mushi, the invisible cat.

Overall, this was a huge flaming pile of crap that wasn't worth 2 cents. Beyond my understanding, other members of the audience seemed to enjoy it. Family of the cast perhaps?

The best part of the play was when the Nazis came into the annex to ship them off to the concentration camps. Before you go calling me an insensitive anti-Semite, I just mean it as a relief that I knew the play was ending soon after. I love Jews and latkes!

I only went to see this because I got the ticket for free. Other people actually shelled out $20 for it. Don't get me wrong. I am a supporter of local and amateur theater, but I have seen high school plays better than this.