Jumpin' Jackie

She pushes her weight(s) around more than I thought.

In the 'Mud Run' ep, I was amazed to hear the male trainers mention how little cardio they did. A bit of web research reveals that JW herself does push weight-work much more than cardio. (Bravo's 'Work Out')

Jackie Warner quotes:

“Crunches are a waste of time”...
do weights that target chest, back & torso for good abs.

"Cardio is over-rated"...
do resistance training for speedy metabolism.

"Plyometric jump-squats, and lunges are great"...
do training w/legs and butt. (PJS = hand to sides of head, lower into squat then jump up quickly. Repeat...)

"Do the push-up/punch combo"...
to develop shoulders and arms. Do as many push-ups as you can stand, then stand and (holding 1 lb weights) punch for one minute.

Well, she does look buff - hard to argue with success.
So here's a video on how to do that P-jump-squat:

Small Bits

Antonia: "The diners are children!... 'Home Run!'..."

Plus a bit more of the kids & Mark, Spike
in Bravo's 'bonus' 4.08 video *opens in new window

Child Labor Laws Flouted!

Couldn't rustle up enough interest in this ep to do any kind of fun recap. Luckily others did... New links for TC's kiddie ep:

Gail 'on her high horse'... 'like getting career advice from Carrot Top'. LOL

TC ep 4.08:'a healthy dose of improbability'

The quickfire 'rice product' just seems to be the antithesis of what a chef would actually ever consider using...

NY Mag: 'worst episode'

Is Steph burning out?

'Work Out', the misnomer, Ep 2

YouTube - Work Out Episode 2

Interesting 'WorkOut' via Bravo
Does anyone every actually do any exercise for more than 20 seconds on this show?? And this link was on Youtube, in an area related to the show, supposedly. But who are these two women? (And 'eww' who would want to get it on in the weight room of a gym?)

*fyi: link below is PG-13 rated

I'm Judge Ted, the Foodie.

Top Chef, now spiced up with... quizzes?!
I went on Bravo's web site and found that they've upped the entertainment quotient of TC. Kinda. At any rate, here are my results for the terminally curious or totally bored TC fans:


This second quiz is quite interesting... since I did it twice, and the second time around I intentionally got -all- the answers -wrong-, and yet was still declared a 'foodie'...


Bravo's quizzes, opens in new window -here-. There are also games like 'Chef Suduko' there, but I didn't try'm. *If you do, let me know if they're *exciting*...

eta: Current standings on Bravo's Ep407 poll

Did Jen deserve to go home?

Yes -- 39% (3946 votes)
No --- 61% (6238 votes)

Hang onto your hats...

TLW fans may be in for a bump-y S6 ride yet.



Laurel Holloman
(pictured left)

TLW's 'Tina', as she appeared at this week's 'Glaad' awards.

Looks like the Beals rumor could be true about Ms. Holloman.
That, or LH really needs a new stylist.

I can hear it now,
Tina's first words in S6:
''It just... popped.''

*Original photo courtesy of:
Tibette.com


_____________________________________
And for the Shane & Alice fans...


*yeah, bad 'shop, I know...
but still beats that Kroll pic, yes?

The Truth, Improv'd

Take a look at the links. Now we really know that the wrong gal was packing her knives...

Padma, looking at Jen just after the PYK&G moment. She looks quite distressed, no doubt about it.

More convinced that ever that TomC was the one actually influencing Ted and Padma go go along with dumping Jen in favor of the drama duo. Purely a ratings ploy?... or something else?

Top Chef's own Lee Anne wrote in her blog:

I was sad to see Jen go. Again, everything is judged a single challenge at a time, and she is WAY more skilled than some of the remaining contestants. She is the Tre of this season, having gone home too early. I had found her food up until that point to be not only inspired and original, but food that I would eat anytime.

And Jen's quoted here in NYmag:

What did you like about your dish?
Just the technique of caramelizing goat cheese like that is really unique. The chefs, the other contestants, devoured the leftovers. They were like: “This is the bomb, this is so good.” No one had seen that technique with the cheese before.

When other chefs gobble down Jen's food... need I say more?

TWoP poll update: Now 90% think Antonia/Lisa deserved knifing.

Orange Turned-on Asparagus*

*that's code for 'Beware capricious judges who'll skewer you whilst letting others who ignore their challenge elements slide!'
Our Jen unexpectedly trips over an asparagus stalk.

I'm sorry we didn't get to see all the cooking Jen did (thanks to Bravo's editing monkeys) but the other chefs did, which makes Dale's remark even more telling: 'She scared me when she cooked, she was so good.' We know he's not the type to say that randomly. And I found the other chef's crying 'What?!' plus Stephanie's annoyed "Jen's going home, leave me alone." very telling as well. Thats all in Bravo's 'extra' Ep4.07 video, of course. Note: not surprisingly, this vid has been overloaded with hits since the show aired - be patient, or try later.

It appears Jen got the shaft and the other chefs knew it instantly. Hey 'Top Chef' if you're so sure about your judging why didn't you include those bits in the actual show? So 'Thanks again' Bravo Editing Monkeys. I'm hoping they turn the animals from the Zoo episode loose on you. Except for the penguins, of course, unless they're rabid.

eta:
TWoP's poll, 80% say Antonia or Lisa should have gone, not Jen.

'Last Call' Chef 5...

They're in the midst of the OPEN CALLS for the casting of Season Five of Top Chef: New Orleans. Below is the final list of open call sites from BravoTV.com:

Do you KNOW you could mop the floor with the chefs on Bravo's smash hit competition series? Well, here is your chance to make it happen! We are now casting for Top Chef Season 5!

OPEN CALLS:

CRAFTSTEAK - LAS VEGAS
Sunday, May 4th 2008
10:00am – 2:00pm
MGM Grand Hotel & Casino
3799 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
www.craftrestaurant.com

C.I.A. - NEW YORK (Upstate)
Saturday, May 10th 2008
11:00am – 1:00pm
CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
1946 Campus Drive
Hyde Park, NY 12538
www.ciachef.edu

C.I.A. - MANHATTAN
Sunday, May 11th 2008
10:00am – 2:00pm
CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
399 Lafayette St. (at east 4th street)
New York, NY 10003
www.astorcenternyc.com

CICADA - LOS ANGELES
Monday, May 26th 2008
10:00am – 2:00pm
617 S. Olive St.
Los Angeles, CA 90014
www.cicadarestaurant.com

So, care to try out? There's still time...

(source: Bravo's Top Chef - Casting )

Maybe looking at this will give you an edge:
Ilan Hall talks about his 'Top Chef' audition. (2 min)


Finally, if you need one more bit of inspiration before you show up at an open call; here's a bunch of 'Top Chef' auditions on Youtube. Good Luck!

Who's got a babybump?...

*using bad 'shop to scare TWoPers since early '08

Mitchellplus reported back from the L convention that 'Helena' Rachel Shelley said that LuH was not pregnant... but nobody asked about JB. Perhaps they should have... but tis just a rumor so far.
So follow the Hitchhikers advice: 'Don't Panic'!

{credit for orig. photolink: bendrix731, thanks}

JB and AH go 'V'!

The Vagina Monologues took a road trip to New Orleans and some of TLW stars took part.

Jennifer Beals and Alexandra Hedison
in photo from the event, modified for Mama B. ;-)
*original photo credit to tibette.com

Since I know how annoying it is to try to locate an older post a few days past on TWoP... here're a few links to make it easier to find these again later. Thanks guys!

Link to tipper63's TWoP post about the event.

*credit for link below to eagle-eyed gotmilf, thanks!
Link to elizalou's blog with 'V to the Tenth' details.

jabkelly's youtube link to JB's 'moan' scene.
(via handheld at the event) Thanks jab!

*fyi: link below is R-rated

Bitter & Sweet, Salty & Sour

Serendipity helped Lisa win this week...
If Team Fire hadn't met Team Earth at the beef counter, her Fiery trio might have stuck to their original plan. But they did run into them, and thereby decided to nix the beef and go with the lively shrimp/bacon/salad that went on to win.

And as we saw later, the raw beef carpaccio ended up being a bad choice for Zoi and her Earth-lings. * IMO, since the chefs knew 'Top Chef' was passing out comment cards... forget serving a raw course to that older crowd. (Since it was Meals-on-Wheels benefit, they could've guessed that the usual attendees wouldn't exactly be ravers.) The percent of over-50's that have embraced raw protein is too low to risk it.

Sorry to see you go, Zoi, since from what I saw you were a better cook than Nikki or Ryan, and a better person than Dale or Spike.

My favorite Top Chef bloggers in Season #4, so far.

Dorothy Snarker {see below}
minxeats.blogspot.com
mymonkeycoulddothat.blogspot.com
jordanbaker.blogspot.com
mangoandginger.blogspot.com
ericthreethousand.blogspot.com
thekarmickitchen.blogspot.com
singleguychef.blogspot.com
stickygooeycreamychewy.blogspot.com
onesharpcookie.blogspot.com
foodnetworkmusings.blogspot.com

I don't need to recap... DS does it here:
Top Chef 4.04 {opens in new window}
And Ep 4.05 will be here:
Top Chef 4.05


eta:
* 'TopChefSeason4' on blogger stole a web page from stickygooey (see her page for details) and so has been permanently banned from any links on my blog pages.