iJules

Tarot Reading

Me at my day job.

Friday Reality Check

I am a reality show junkie. This is how I feel about the shows from last week.

Project Runway: Finale

I thought Jillian's collection was way better than Rami's. His reminded me of the stuff you get in the cheap stores in Holland, stuff that you look at and think huh, that is interesting but I would never wear it. I thought Jillian's was ready to go into Neimans or Nordstroms. I would have worn pretty much every piece she had, so yeah it was very commercial and wearable. Then there was Christian, oh my. His collection was fierce. I could see that Victoria really loved it, it was very much her style but I have to agree that only a size minus 0 could pull it off. I think that he did deserve to win but honestly I liked Chris' collection more, minus the hair. It was the hair that killed him, it is almost like he sabotaged himself on purpose.

Survivor: Fans vs Favorites

Wow, what a stupid, stupid mistake. I think Ozzy is certainly going to come to regret that choice. Cirie will vote him off next. What a dumbass. He had all the time in the world to get rid of Joel, she said Joel didn't help them in the challenges, well neither did she so why not just vote her off? 

Big Brother 9: til Death

Seriously, I am not in love with anyone on this show. I was sorta liking red mohawk guy until I was told he does gay porn. ew. Who does porn? I mean come on, it doesn't pay enough to make it worth it. No, I am not going to tell you how I know that.

Biggest Loser: Couples

I am so over this group of people, maybe it came too fast after the last one, but all this man-crying is just too much. Suck it up already or at least edit that shit out, I don't care about all of that drama, that is not why I watch the show. I want to turn it off feeling insipred and positive, not like I want to go kill myself. It is depressing to see all that hate and backstabbing like there has been the last two times.

At this point I only watch to get tips from Jillian and Bob.

American Idol 9

Thank God Danny Noriega is gone. You know, the contestants need to be a little bit grateful, I mean to be so disrespectful of Simon is uncalled for. Yes he is an ass but so what, he knows what he is talking about and he earned his spot. If he says you suck then you do. I am also over David Archuleta, he is a little too cocky for his level also. I love all the boys and I love Amanda Overmyer and Carly Smithson, can't stand the rest of the girls.

America's Next Top Model

I don't have a favorite yet.

Hillary Takes Texas

WooHoo! I am grateful for the surge of support Hillary has received in the last few weeks but I sure do wish these endorsements had come a little sooner, I mean where were Ellen and Jack Nicholson when we were fighting for California? It would be great if the party would man up like the GOP did and tell Obama to stand down. He has no business being president of the United States, he doesn't have the experience or the power that this country needs right now.

Obama is not qualified to run this country, he has no stance on anything other than to twist what Hillary says and try to make it seem like that is what he wants also. I am offended by the people who are comparing him to MLK, he is not a tenth the man MLK was and it is an insult to all he stood for. MLK spent his life fighting for what he believed, someone pulled Obama's name out of a hat 2 years ago and decided to turn him into a presidential candidate on some bullshit Hope platform, 3 years ago most people had never heard of him.

Wtf is with the Hope anyway? We don't need someone running on a promise of Hope, we already have hope, what we need is action, someone who knows what they are doing and has the ability to make things happen fast, not a puppet for people with an agenda. We already had eight years of that and personally I do not want another eight years of paying back favors.

To be honest, it really is not fair to Obama, to expect that he can carry this burden when he is clearly not up to the task. When I look at his face I see a man who is burdened, he looks tired and haggard and clearly out of his league. You look at Hillary and you see a woman full of fire, ready to do the job she was born to do. Obama has difficulty even stringing sentences together. He is not ready for what the people ask of him and I am not ready to take that risk. I do believe Obama would make an excellent running mate for Clinton and in eight years he will have the experience to take over. It is the logical way to do it and what is best for this country. It disappoints me that he does not see this.

We are in the shitter people, we need someone who is ready. Hillary Clinton is ready.

Starbucks Shutdown

I know this is old news now but I just saw this clip and had to share it. Funny stuff. I am actually addicted to McDonalds Vanilla Iced coffee and have one or two pretty much every day.

Anthony Bourdain in Romania

Ok so the experience sucked. So what? I mean come on people, we dont watch No Reservations to get the gilded version, if we wanted that we would watch Samantha Brown. Will it keep me from visiting Romania? Of course not, the people who watch his show are intelligent enough to understand that shit happens. I don't know why the people of Romania need to be upset, I mean we have George Bush representing our country, how much more embarassing can it get?

By the way, I applaud the poor person who is stuck moderating that post, truly I do but two comments I made did not get published and the one that was got redlined into a mess of unrecognizable bad grammar and spelling. I am sure I can spell appalled. Really I am. I don't see why Tony can say fuck but I cannot say ass. I call foul.

Jamon Iberico Bellota

I get email updates from la Tienda regularly. I love this virtual shop and have found many items and foodstuffs there that make me think of the pleasures Spain has to offer without leaving my flat. There is no question that the jamon in Spain is the best in the world, but $1400 for a ham? Seriously? I could fly over there and get my own for that price. This jamon comes from the Cerdo Ibérico which eats fallen acorns. I did a little reasearch and it seems that not only are the males castrated but the females are spayed to prevent them being bred by feral or other domestic hogs.

This made me think about the ranch down in the Hill Country. T constantly curses the feral hogs that can destroy a property in no time if they are allowed to run free. This is a real problem for farmers and ranchers in Texas and probably other areas as well. These hogs can weigh over a thousand pounds. They are very smart also which is a little scary when you see some of the stuff they do. I imagine them having a beer in front of the flatscreen during the week when there are no humans around. I thought maybe I would encourage T to consider fencing off some  areas under the live oaks. What if we snagged a few and fattened them up on acorns. I could use the Benjamins. Do acorns fall off Live Oaks?

VW W3

I have new car! I am so excited, it is a perfect fit for me. I have been researching on the web for a couple of months trying to decide what to buy. I wanted something classic enough that I could keep it for several years if I wanted, I am gone so much so I do not drive great distances, my 2003 I traded in had 34,000 miles on it.

I had originally planned on a Mini Cooper, that seemed to be the cutest car on the planet. I did not see that many over in Cowtown but once I moved over here to Dallas they are everywhere. One day at Target there were 6 of them in the same parking row. I was on my way to the Scion dealership to drive the Xb. I was a little concerned about this choice because it is only offered in pretty boring colors but I thought I would drive that and then go drive the Mini. I could not find the Scion dealership and was looking for a place to pull over and check my iPhone for the location when I noticed my temperature gauge was quickly creeping toward the H. I turned around and headed for the VW lot which was actually third on my list but closest to where my Hyundai was apparantly having a meltdown.

I had planned on a red convertible with a black top, but one look at this one and I knew it was for me. It is called the W3 which means it is a triple white. I love the white leather interior, it looks great with all the black and chrome trim. I have a silk daisy in the bud vase!

Gourmet Guts

ew. Seriously. Offal and entrails are being touted as the "it" foodie experience but I will not be jumping on that bandwagon. Liver is as adventurous as I will get and that has to come from a fattened goose, served near the shore at Carly's flat in Marseille. I just don't see it. I mean sure, cooking can get boring like any other profession/art but I cannot see myself ever getting that bored. Now granted I am no Rocco but I still do not see it in the future of Chef Juli. Nope.

* photo from Wikipedia

Anthony Bourdain

  I read a post over on Chez Pim about Tony and thought I would add my own Love Letter. I adore this man, not just because he is completely hot I mean Seriously Hot but also the way he gets right to it. You know if he has something to say it is how he genuinely feels.

Tony struck me first on Top Chef when he called Howie a son of a bitch after Howie quoted one of his books. That was when my crush began. I had seen an episode where he was eating some disgusting crap on a houseboat in Viet Nam maybe and thought gah, this dude is nasty. I thought he was probably someone that I would not enjoy but I did not get to see his personality.

My favorite episode has to be the one where he and his crew were trapped in Beirut. I have since downloaded all episodes of No Reservations to my iPhone. Even though he still hates my girl Rachel Ray, I think he is great.

Petite Anglaise, In Paris. In Love. In Trouble.

   If you need something to read on the plane, at the beach, in bed or just for fun try this! I have to admit I have not read the book yet but I am a huge fan of petite and I am sure her book is just as delightful as her blog. In case you are one of the five people who have not seen it, take a look!