wongie's world has moved to http://wongiesworld.tumblr.com/

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Sunday, January 28, 2007

wongie want: i'm not a shelf whore... no really!

i was surfing the interweb today and came across this really spiffy shelving system called make/shift. made up of triangular wedges, you can buy enough units to make your apartment look cool and functional at the same time. so far, online site movisi is offering it via shipping, but inquire around, i'm sure you'll see this at your neighbourhood hipster store any day now.

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Saturday, January 27, 2007

wongies list: january 2007

we all love lists. so i figured that from now on, i'll put out a monthly list of things that i'm buzzing about, and therefore you should too (as you probably have figured by now, modesty is a trait that i kind of lack):

tv
1. greys anatomy - emotional, surprising and just the right dose of humor, it is possible to consistently have the best show on tv.
2. medium - scary as all hell! the most under appreciated drama around.
3. celebrity big brother uk - i got caught up with the shilpa shetty drama and now i'm hooked
4. ugly betty - with the addition of a transsexual to the campy mix, is there any more reason you haven't fallen in love with this cute show yet?
5. the knights of prosperity - between the burly black guy and the columbian waitress, this is probably the funniest show of the new season.
6. the office - still painful to watch, which is why i love it so much!
7. 30 rock - between alec baldwin and the running 'rural juror' joke, '30' finally has it's comedic rhythm down, and i love it!
8. heroes - FINALLY the show is back!
9. brothers & sisters - totally sentimental, but i love this dysfunctional family.
10. battlestar galactica - with the best winter cliffhanger of last year, i'm ready for more.
11. waterloo road (uk series 2) - my guilty pleasure series of last month returns with brand new episodes from the uk. i never knew public schools could be this tumultuous.
12. 24 - oh great, now it's nuclear.
13. dancelife - it's cheesy, but this will bide me until 'so you think you can dance' starts again in the summer.
14. the L word - estrogen girl on girl drama continues to be a blast.
15. dirt - it truly is trashy. which is probably why i'm a guiltily addicted.

music
1. siobhan donaghy
2. tracey thorn
3. chemical brothers
4. lcd soundsystem
5. eddi reader
6. ingrid michaelson
7. just jack
8. metric
9. kaiser chiefs
10. timbaland

movies (on the buzz)
1. 300 - aka buff men fighting in shorts
2. hot fuzz - from the creators of 'shaun of the dead'
3. grindhouse - tarantino and rodruiguez go genre crazy! so do we ;)
4. 1408 - creepy horror with john cusack and samuel l jackson.
5. reno 911: miami - loved the show, will probably like the film
6. protege (hk) - one of my fave hk directors offers his spin on the drug world of asia. strong sexy cast led by andy lau.

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Tuesday, January 23, 2007

award season: 2007 oscar nominations are in!

The 79th annual oscar awards announced their nominations earlier this morning. Though there were few surprises, all in all, I totally agree with the list. Check out my highlights of the full list below (with the ones that i wish would win in bold - that doesn't necessarily mean my actual predictions of who will win)

Best motion picture of the year
Babel (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
The Departed (Warner Bros.)
Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner Bros.)
Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight)
The Queen (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)

Achievement in directing
Babel (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu
The Departed (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese
Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood
The Queen (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Stephen Frears
United 93 (Universal and StudioCanal) Paul Greengrass

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond (Warner Bros.)
Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson (THINKFilm)
Peter O'Toole in Venus (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council)
Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz in Volver (Sony Pictures Classics)
Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal (Fox Searchlight)
Helen Mirren in The Queen (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (20th Century Fox)
Kate Winslet in Little Children (New Line)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight)
Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children (New Line)
Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (Warner Bros.)
Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Mark Wahlberg in The Departed (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza in Babel (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandal (Fox Searchlight)
Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight)
Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Rinko Kikuchi in Babel (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)

Best animated feature film of the year
Cars (Buena Vista) John Lasseter
Happy Feet (Warner Bros.) George Miller
Monster House (Sony Pictures Releasing) Gil Kenan

Best documentary feature
Deliver Us from Evil (Lionsgate)
A Disarming Films Production Amy Berg and Frank Donner
An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David Production Davis Guggenheim
Iraq in Fragments (Typecast Releasing)
A Typecast Pictures/Daylight Factory Production James Longley and John Sinno
Jesus Camp (Magnolia Pictures)
A Loki Films Production Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
My Country, My Country (Zeitgeist Films)
A Praxis Films Production Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer

Best foreign language film of the year
After the Wedding
A Zentropa Entertainments 16 Production Denmark
Days of Glory (Indigenes)
A Tessalit Production Algeria
The Lives of Others
A Wiedemann & Berg Production Germany
Pan's Labyrinth
A Tequila Gang/Esperanto Filmoj/Estudios Picasso Production Mexico
Water
A Hamilton-Mehta Production Canada

Adapted screenplay
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (20th Century Fox) Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer
Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips
Children of Men (Universal) Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
The Departed (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan
Little Children (New Line) Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta
Notes on a Scandal (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Patrick Marber

Original screenplay
Babel (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Written by Guillermo Arriaga
Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Iris Yamashita
Story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis
Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight) Written by Michael Arndt
Pan's Labyrinth (Picturehouse) Written by Guillermo del Toro
The Queen (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Written by Peter Morgan

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge
"Listen" from Dreamgirls (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler
Lyric by Anne Preven
"Love You I Do" from Dreamgirls (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Siedah Garrett
"Our Town" from Cars (Buena Vista)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
"Patience" from Dreamgirls (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Willie Reale

Achievement in costume design
Curse of the Golden Flower (Sony Pictures Classics) Yee Chung Man
The Devil Wears Prada (20th Century Fox) Patricia Field
Dreamgirls (DreamWorks and Paramount) Sharen Davis
Marie Antoinette (Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero
The Queen (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Consolata Boyle

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Sunday, January 21, 2007

uk celebrity big brother update: jane goody is truly sorry


after watching how the whole week went down (yes, i did a marathon last night), i do have to say that the bullying incident on celebrity big brother against bollywood actress shilpa shetty has played itself out to an unfortunate ending.

the leader of the pack, jane goody, has basically killed her career within a week and it's a sad sight to see (especially when the media and politicians have portrayed her out to be public enemy #1).

with shilpa herself forgiving of what's happened in the house, hopefully jane will find a flicker of something at the end of this tunnel.

here is her exclusive interview with the 'legitimate' rag news of the world
part 1
part 2

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good news: obama and hilary in the race for 2008!

it's official! obama and hilary have both formally acknowlegded their presidential nomination for the 2008 elections! wongie is a happy camper!

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catfight gone wrong: the uk celebrity big brother drama

in the past week, the UK exploitative reality experiment celebrity big brother has ignited a now worldwide debate on class, bullying and racism.

the start of all this drama stemmed from a group of friends led by jane goody (who herself gained fame by being in big brother) and danielle lloyd (a d-rate 'model') against bollywood star shilpa shetty. calling her shilpa 'poppadum' and copying her accent behind her back, the girls have consistantly badgered shipla to the point of tears; all this caught live daily.

outside the house, complaints led to politicians and educators discussing the state of racial tension in the uk, with the debate exploding into international territories.

the good news is that the bullying has had serious implications to the girls (various companies have dropped them as spokespeople) and shilpa has quickly become a much buzzed about celebrity beyond her bollywood circles.

channel 4 (the show's broadcaster) is also under some serious scrutiny as it seems like they didn't intervene fast enough and the subsequent live apologies from the girls to shilpa reeked of behind the scenes egging. the drama continues... but here are some highlights.

here's a really good breakdown from the hindu times

here's a bbc world report


here's the beginnings of some backstabbing nastiness in which danielle calls shilpa a 'dog'


one of the first fights where the girls gang up on shilpa


the full infamous comment by danielle
"do they do that in india, eat with their hands... or is that in china?"
(that danielle is a stupid bint!)


shilpa fights back at jane


here's pt 1 and 2 of jane's eviction in which she discovers just how bad things have gotten

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Thursday, January 18, 2007

the interview: here is the whole TR Knight interview on Ellen

the whole interview speaks for itself. T.R. is such a cutie! a kooky dorky cutie!


PT2 in which he addresses 'the comment'


and then read isaiah washington's 'please don't fire me' statement [thanks to perez hilton]

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naughty naughty: no van damme no!

this is just so wrong! has been jean claude van damme ends up on live tv and gets a woody in the process! [thanks to popbitch for the, ahem, heads up]

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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

note to actor: isaiah washinton, just shut the f**k up already!

backstage after their triumphant win at the golden globe awards, it seems like greys anatomy star isaiah washington may have missed the sensitivity training class yet again. when asked about the incident between him and patrick dempsey a few months back, without skipping a beat, he said that he had never called co-star t.r. knight a 'faggot', much to the uncomfortabilty by all onstage.

when asked about it a few hours later, katherine heigl gave a surprisingly candid response to access hollywood.

then TR went on ellen degeneres show today and made the following comments (thanks to perez hilton)

[UPDATE: i just watched the TR interview on ellen and i totally understand why katherine is so angry at the whole incident. seems that isaiah DID call TR a 'faggot' and then later denied it to the press... MANY times over! to make things worse, TR seems just so uncomfortable with all the attention, he literally was shaking when ellen asked him to tell his version of the incident. gosh, it makes me want to kick isaiah's ass now!]

tv guide's insider guru michael ausiello had this to say about being backstage when it happened:

"I certainly was there, and I have the internal scars to prove it. It was by far the ugliest, most uncomfortable press-room moment I have ever experienced. And judging by the shell-shocked faces on the cast — particularly T.R. Knight and Patrick Dempsey, who have been class acts throughout this entire ordeal — it was a new low for them, too. And what's ironic about the whole thing is that in Washington's attempt to clear his name, he came off as an out-of-control homophobe who throws the f-word around like it's candy. (He's also playing fast and loose with the truth. Did he call T.R. a f----t to his face? No. Did he refer to him as one behind his back? Yes. T.R. says so himself on today's Ellen DeGeneres Show.) His continued employment on a show that wears its diversity as a badge of honor is the height of hypocrisy. If ABC wants to be remotely true to the principles Shonda Rhimes so eloquently espouses through the show, it has to do the right thing and fire Washington. Anything else at this point is simply unacceptable."

i couldn't agree more.

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must watch tv: dancelife

i live for this stuff!

the new fly-on-the-wall "reality" series dancelife premiered this week on mtv. following the lives of six struggling dancers in los angeles, executive producer jennifer lopez steps in now and then as a mentor/employer for these talented kids. constantly competiting for the same gigs, the (makeshift) drama runs high and you really get an idea of just how difficult it is to break into this world. i'm addicted! hopefully you will be too!


dancelife trailer

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

you can call this news: trl rumored to be on the verge of cancellation

according to new york daily news, the daily music video countdown show (and one of THE stops for publicity tours) ratings are so low that cancellation is imminent. this is a shame because where else can i watch trashy pop videos (and world premieres) in less than 10 minutes (ok, i fast forward)? bummer...

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award season: congrats to my gals america ferrera and jennifer hudson at the golden globes!

congrats to my hype wongie gals america ferrera (ugly betty) and jennifer hudson (dreamgirls) for their golden globe wins! though well deserved kudos were also given out to sasha baron cohen (borat), meryl streep (devil wears prada) and the film babel, the awards itself was a pretty subdued experience (ok, it was boring).

while i'm in a congratulatory mood, my friend and celebrated designer brian reyes, also got a serious boost today as he worked very closely with america on her beautiful award winning dress! totally awesome!

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Monday, January 15, 2007

buy buy buy: nyc shopping has officially moved to the mall

what a wacky concept, the online site refinery29 breaks down city shopping like it's a floorplan. separated into different areas, the lists give you a pretty good idea of what's hip and sexy in shopping in your neighbourhood (though the new site is now limited to downtown areas but will definitely expand)

check it out, you might discover someplace new in the process, i know i did!
[thanks to coolhunting for the tip]

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Friday, January 12, 2007

hype wongie: be ugly in 07

[taken from wongie's music world]
as part of an 07 campaign for the hit tv series ugly betty, jason mraz has penned the theme song for the be ugly project that promotes positive female identity amoung young girls.

rewriting his song 'plain jane' as 'the beauty in ugly', the cute track is also the official ugly betty promo song of the season:

check out the extended promo clip here

obligatory cute pic of jason:

jason mraz - the beauty in ugly

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Thursday, January 11, 2007

hype wongie: let the jennifer hudson hype train continue

if there's one thing that about dreamgirls that i still get goosebumps about, it's the fact that jennifer hudson is truly one of the most amazing discoveries in awhile. with her golden globe nomination and imminent oscar nod in a few weeks, i still go a little loopy when i hear this young lady sing. here are some interviews she's been doing of late:

but not before you watch this girl sing.

jennifer hudson - i am changing (live on david letterman)


jennifer hudson on david letterman


jennifer hudson on the view

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must watch tv: the view

daytime tv is so much fun these days!

if you haven't heard about the current fued between donald trump and rosie o'donnell (in which donald called rosie a fat loser and that he'll send guys over to steal her wife kelly), things have escalated to the point that barbara walters is now making comments. check out some current highlights and read about it here from the ny times:

rosie's 1st response after his initial comments:


rosie after his continued tirade over the new year break:


rosie and barbera (after an arguement the morning of their return to air) and after he exposed to the nypost that barbara regrets hiring rosie... oh this is mud slinging at it's best!:


UPDATE (1/16):

check out this spoof on this weeks SNL

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Monday, January 08, 2007

hot tv show: 24 (season 6) leaked!


for those of you who weren't updated on my whereabouts, i've taken my annual trip back to asia for a good month+ to spend quality time with family and friends. in the process, i've had ALOT of time to catch up on movies and tv that i might have missed while on the road (for those of you who don't know about asian viewing habits, lets just say that EVERYTHING is accessible here. as for the copyrighting legalities of these items, well...)

so imagine my utter surprise last night when i came across an advance screener of the 1st four episodes of 24 season 6 (a good week in advance of it's worldwide broadcast date)! my interest in the show kind of waned during years 2 through 4, but last years season was one of the most consistantly nail biting series in awhile. needless to say, i was impressed.

the good news is that the new season ups the ante with an interesting underlying plot of america on the verge of a racial war. tension is high because this time, random attacks on US soil are being claimed by islamic terrorists. once again, jack bauer is brought in to save the day (duh!).

without giving away too much plot, i can tell you that 4 hours in and i'm totally hooked. can't wait to see what the rest of the season has to offer!

[check your local listings for showtimes, if you can't wait, well... you should know where to find these advance gems]

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Saturday, January 06, 2007

love connection: the subconscious rules of mating

want to know the difference between wanting to shag a guy or actually date/marry him? turns out it's all in the physical traits of a man.
according to some new studies explained on yahoo, men with more angular masculine traits are considered (by those looking) as really great candidates for short term flings. but subconsciously, they think that these men will also turn out to be bad fathers, most likely to cheat and combatitive in the workplace. those who have more feminine and rounder features are deemed to be keepers for the long haul.

whether that's true or not, the ironic thing is that i'd totally shag angular clooney, but wouldn't mind dating the rounder version of him. ah heck, it's george clooney, who am i kidding? i'll take whatever of his i can get!

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Thursday, January 04, 2007

bye bye now: the OC

it's finally happened, the teen show that overstayed it's welcome (by about two years) finally announced that it got the boot today.

though i stopped watching the OC after season 1, the only thing i will miss are the wonderful soundtracks that the show has spawned over the years. shame really...

[UPDATE]
looks like OC creator Josh Schwartz bounced back pretty quickly. zap2it reports that his production company just signed a deal to produce the pilot 'Gossip Girls' for the CW network. based on the popular book under the same name, the gossip girls talks about a blogger who exposed the crazy world of rich and spoiled teenagers on the upper west side of NYC. sounds tasty!

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catfight: watch donald trump get aggro with meredith viera on the today show

while surfing the net today, the gossip site tmz tipped me on the continuing war of words between rosie o'donnell and donald trump.

it all started with her making fun of the trumpster on live tv two weeks ago, and well... the man hasn't let up since.

check out what went down when he tried to do a promotional interview on the today show with meredith viera (who coincidentally was the ex-host of 'the view', the show that rosie mouthed out on.)

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