Not a lot of Best this time around, sadly, but no especially spectacular horrors either. ( The reviewsCollapse )

Not the most stellar year for fashion: I could have included even more ugly/questionable gowns, and there were enough bad looks to group into a few different categories! ( On to the reviewCollapse )

I know that 2016 was a difficult year for a lot of people, and for the US in general. However, although it started out very difficult for me with the loss of my job of 24 years without any warning, that bad beginning turned out to be a blessing in disguise, bringing me a much better and more promising work environment and severance that I mostly didn't have to spend! I also got to do a few trips to the US (including to Boston, New York, San Diego, Santa Fe, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Cleveland) that included spending time with good friends, the marriage of the son of my closest friend, eackerman, visiting both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, exploring Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, and seeing HAMILTON!

Given the US election, it's hard to be optimistic about the new year on the larger national and international stage, but on a more personal level, I wish all of my friends health, happiness, and prosperity in the new year!

I admit that this annual red carpet for the high-profile Australian Rules player of the year award is picking low-hanging (in some cases, literally) fruit because the player's wives are not always public personalities on their own and most don't have stylists. But still can't resist. ( Fasten your seatbeltsCollapse )

I must say that Hillary exceeded my expectations in the debate: I didn't see a clear path for her for victory although I was pleased that my pre-debate posted Facebook advice did indeed turn out to be her winning strategy: "IMHO, the best attitude that Hillary can project in the debate is light disdain for someone who is unqualified to be there and whose opinion is predictably ill-informed, and to kindly correct his ignorant answers." I thought that the bar for Trump would be so low that if he just managed to avoid saying something blatantly kooky and avoided bullying or blustering, he'd win even if his answers to the questions were BS. He did manage to avoid producing a truly outrageous sound bite (unless you count saying that not paying taxes was smart and assuming that would be a positive for most Americans who don't qualify for tax loopholes or have a phalanx of accountants to find them). However, he was not able to avoid bullying or visible defensiveness.

I couldn't bring myself to watch the debate as I can't stand to listen to Donald Trump for more than about 30 seconds, so I employed my usual strategy of following the debate through a couple of live blogs and the Twitter hashtag, which generally provides all of the important lines and occurrences, plus some entertaining and clever commentary. Here are my favorite tweets:

@SamGrittner:

*at debate*
TRUMP: The whole thing was rigged! Just like I predicted. This is not good people. NOT GOOD
HOLT: May I ask the first question?

@Angel "Donald Trump is very shrill. He should try smiling more."

@Travon "Trump's campaign slogan should be 'Make America Great Again. I Have Property There.'"

@sherlockmichael "'The African-American community has been so badly treated'... let's stop and frisk them!

@ThePandoraBoxx "It's like watching a debate between the high school principal and the school bully."

@BlitznBeans "Allow me to be the first to welcome all overweight people to the Clinton campaign."

@WillMcAvoyACN "Donald Trump, who admitted earlier he does not pay his taxes, is complaining about other countries not paying their fair share."

@abdimusse "This debate is like watching that one class group who didn't practice their PowerPoint presentation present."

@brian_sack "If his number one asset is temperament, is his number two modesty?"

@nancykric: "I give in. I will vote for the white corporate militarized feminist. This windbag sociopath is terrifying."

@Stonekettle: "Trump made me drink a lot tonight. But not nearly as much as his campaign, who are somewhere right now shouting FUCK! and throwing glasses."

@SaritaManhattan: "For those who missed debate tonight - this gif is pretty much it..."

Thought I'd provide some other coverage: from GoFugYourself, and a round-up of the best and worst Emmy looks of all time from Elle magazine

It's been a while since I was able to post an awards show fashion report due to travel (missed the Oscars and the local AFL awards night) so thought I'd make this Emmy report even more comprehensive than usual! (New feature this year: links open in a new tab so you don't have to keep hitting Back.) ( Fasten your seatbeltsCollapse )

Mazal tov (and yashir koach) to marsgov and his lovely wife Ruchy on their special wedding anniversary!

Watched this on the plane: It's the tale of a middle-aged woman who left her family to pursue a dream of being a rock musician (with only limited and small-scale success) but is called back home after years away due to a family crisis. The film is as predictable as you might expect but is probably worth seeing if you can do so for free or cheap just for the performances of Meryl Streep in the lead role, Kevin Kline as her clueless and emotionally stunted ex-husband, and Mamie Gummer, Streep's real-life daughter, as the daughter who precipitates the crisis by trying to commit suicide due to her husband's leaving her.

Due to the fact that the awards cover both TV and film, the Golden Globes are one of the more populated awards of the year so this report is concomitantly long as well. ( The ReportCollapse )