the iraq elections

so. i saw hala this weekend. on saturday, sadly, i was too exhausted to finish viewing her whole shift. but, i saw hala.

then comes sunday. the Iraqi elections gave people who ordinarily report on their own to have co-anchors: jonathan (something) and ralitsa vassileva (if i misspelled that i am so sorry), and, more importantly, shihab with hala.
now, i know i've made a lot of comments on jim clancy's lack of chemistry with hala, but shihab... wow. that guy has no clue how to be a co-anchor. shihab! look beside you! it's a smart, witty, intelligent, beautiful woman! show some personality! and shihab just... doesn't. hala properly ignores him, giving him back the i-just-happen-to-be-sitting-with-someone reporting style he has for a few minutes, but hala knows how to be a co-anchor. she looks at him, tries to talk to him.... nothing.
it was so sad to watch because i love hala, and shihab's somewhere on my list of favorite CNN personalities. except, argh, shihab is still yet to show any.

by the way, i know hala loves her jeans (every Design 360 or ItME show she's hosted, she's been in jeans. and, love the shoes), and she's got good fashion taste, but what was the deal with that coat? that gray-like, fuzzy-like... thing?

i am so sorry

i just have to say this out loud: i am so sorry for ranting on jim clancy. i promise to try and focus more on hala from this point. i just need to vent on mr.talking head sometimes.

"it's warm in the summer and cold in the winter. isn't that Weather 101?" - Hala

someone else's jim clancy point of view

"I liked her with Michael as well, when she hosted with Jim she lost all her *fun*, actually everyone stops being funny when alongside Jim Clancy ."
- HUGO LOH

Got this from a cnnfan.com forum. It was about Daljit Dhaliwal, who I have mixed sentiments for, both as an anchor and on her departure. The point is about Jim Clancy.

See? I'm not alone in this. i know i just retracted my jim clancy sentiments a post ago, but not by much.

Hala's supposedly in New York, and I have no clue what the latest news is over there, but what the heck.

I miss Hala already.

hala, you must be doing something amazing

saw your world today early saturday (for their friday broadcast), and okay. to all jim clancy fans: i'm sorry. he doesn't have zero personality. because (gasp!) they were laughing! it was a report on the headwear during george w.'s inauguration, and, okay, it was funny.
so obviously clancy has a sense of humor. i give credit to hala, because, well, i want to.

i really wish hala would have more humorous co-anchors. or someone she can banter with (and sometimes verbally mock). because during her world news updates? hala's not as much fun as i want her to be.
ahh. the verbal abuse she would hand richard... good times.

good times.

you know things are bad when we're glad that a company is flatlining... - Hala, sometime in 2003.

the weekend

hala wore glasses. it was one of those buddy holly-like frames, big and black, and not really doing anything to highlight hala's pretty eyes.

then she was on inside the middle east. the highlight of which was when hala was on that very bumpy boat ride. hala looked like she was having fun. and we all love hala when she's having fun.

stayed up (and out) late last night (with friends, one of whom was having a minor emotional catastrophe), and when i got home your world today was on. i didn't see hala, but jim clancy was there.
jim clancy is a talking head.
okay, now i'm just incurring the wrath of jim clancy fans out there (yes, all ten of them). kidding. okay, jim clancy's reporting does nothing for me, and maybe i just miss hala with questy. (by the way, yes, i am writing this as a reaction to a remark on the forum, and i have to acknowledge it, because, well, he or she's reading this blog. cheers, buddy.) but, fine. jim can't be completely lacking in personality, because he can be placed in a co-anchor position.
i love shihab (rattansi), but i don't see him on your world today with a co-anchor.

point is, hala rocks, the rest of the world is just for us to play with.

"it's ironic, to want equal rights for women and yet have a world women's day just to be reminded of it." - Hala

i stayed up for this

forget work. forget the fact that by staying up until 2am, i would effectively only have 3 and a half hours of sleep. i had to watch Your World Today, and i had no idea why, other than to see hala. i had a feeling it was going to be important that i do.

and, lo and behold, instincts proved true:
RICHARD QUEST WAS ON YOUR WORLD TODAY!!!
amid my personal hum of 'glory, glory, hallelujah', questy gave us his take on the whole prince harry-wearing-a-swastika-armband fiasco. trust richard to put a very interesting perspective on it. very british, very honest, very funny.

he was with hala, and all is right in my world today.

note: to hala's right, the talking head jim clancy. to her left, the always-fun richard quest. the contrast in their personalities is only emphasized by the chemistry hala had with them (or, in jim's case, the lack of chemistry hala had with him).

note, 2: it's not hala's makeup. i think the lights of Your World Today is just too bright for her natural-shade makeup.

richard and hala in the same room! yay!

over the weekend...

hala had really good makeup this weekend. not too pale, not too heavy. hala, did you read my note about your being a little pallid?
hala took over anchor duties from shihab yesterday. nice one-two punch, cnn.

a few notes:
- that necklace. where's the heart-shaped pendant? but i'd rather this one (with a square-shaped pendant or something) than that huge other necklace she sometimes wears.
- her drink for saturday's report. as they went on break, hala lifted this big paper cup (i mean, big) and sipped on it. so, um, what's hala's beverage of choice, and why that huge cup?
- on sunday's report, i don't think hala noticed, but someone was cleaning a screen or something behind her.
- is she losing weight?

i miss hala's wit. it hasn't manifested itself as often as i would want her to. granted, wit isn't exactly something you should display when discussing the news, but she used to be able to do so on BizNews/CNN Today. or even Business International. Yes, i know it's impossible to insert wit in a report on the tsunami, but... i don't know. i just want to hear hala being funny again.

my world this (very early) morning

saw hala on YWT this morning.

love to see hala on, even at the earliest hours of the morning (i'm on HKT). but, and i hope not to cause any violent reactions, but did she seem a little pallid? not enough foundation, perhaps?

and, i know it's been discussed before (re: her move to atlanta), but isn't her mom based in paris, or something?

ahh, hala. seemed a lot less bored (or violent) with jim clancy. maybe he wasn't ruining her new year's eve plans anymore.

updating myself

Was invading the cnnfan module the other day, reading up on hala, when some things were made clear:
- hala's move to atlanta is (sob) permanent
- hala was born in 1970
- there are other freaks who watch cnn for entertainment value

so of course i joined the group.

Hala and Richard Quest talking about his inclusion on the last Concorde flight, 23 October 2003; on Business International:
Hala: who is going to be on this last flight?
Richard: ME!
Hala: (not paying attention, as she is reading her notes)
Richard: You were stunned into silence!
Hala: (realizing that his answer was really that short) Who else, Richard? There is a world outside the Richard Quest Universe! Let me just bring you up to date.

Miss them so.

that was... interesting

it was hilarious. watching hala co-anchor Your World Today with Jim Clancy was hilarious in that Hala did not look like she was having a good time.
If you've seen Jim Clancy report before, you know he's your classic anchor man, with his straightforward, talking-head reporting style. And if you've seen Hala co-anchor back in the London, you'd know that she's tons more animated than a talking head.
put these two together and what do you get?
hala looked like she was ready to fall asleep right there. she was trying to create some kind of animation, any kind of chemistry with her co-anchor, and it just wasn't there. i love hala, especially when she's with richard quest, because they've got chemistry.
now: jim clancy? he's no richard quest.
and hala proved it by her look of complete death-by-boredom expression.
heck, even charles hodson or tony campion have more animation in their reporting than jim clancy.

that was new year's eve, US time. I'm on HKT, and that sure made my New Year. :)

Happy New Year to everyone, especially to the staff of CNN International.