other hala fans' insight...

There's this quote on the Hala fan forum, and it makes me smile and appreciate the world of CNN fans, because I like to think of the same thing.

Spitfire said:

Julius Caesar said of Cleopatra that "her face could topple empires" when Hala has her hair back I know exactly what he meant. This can be interpreted two ways I mean it as a compliment, so did Julius Caesar.

Three Hala queries
1 After Paris and London won't Hala find Atlanta a cultural vacuum.

2 Was Hala's only fashion faux-pas when she dyed her fringe.

3 Hala and Lola Martinez always have great rapport, are they firm friends off-air.

Well, for the queries, the only one I can answer is number two, and that would be no. She's made one or two other fashion mistakes, but because that's one or two in a hundred (or so) appearances, I think it's fair to let them pass.

Aggh. Loathe the travel to and from work. By the time I get home I'm so exhausted Your World Today is but a distant dream.

Need to stay up a bit more often...



by the way...
If anyone can tell me where in the world Maria Ressa is, it would be much appreciated.

Hala and Cellphones

some idiot earlier was letting his cellphone ring at the office, and two quotes come to mind:

Richard: Hala has to go now, her cellular's ringing. (pause) Answer it already.
(back when it was still BizNews, at the end of the three-hour shift)

and:

Hala: ...Sign up to receive breaking news alerts as well as mobile news with color photos and even a scrolling news ticker. Again cnn.com/mobile if you need your phone to ring and beep even more than it does already.
(Hala abusing sarcasm on March 19, 2005)

Hala during daylight

why oh why is Hala on during my working hours? What kind of cruel God is doing this to me?
okay, drama much?

anyway. turns out Hala has been making broadcasts during the morning, local time. while i am at work.

you see, this is why i almost decided to work at a call center a few years back. i figured, with a night shift, i can watch CNN BizNews/Today. then Hala started hosting Business International, which i could catch if i rushed home from work. then she decided to move to Atlanta, and, okay, it was glorious, because she was on during weekends. And on the rare occasion i'm not completely exhausted, i get to see her when she'd do YWT.

Now she's on during daylight hours, and i'm at work. Hala, you hurt me.

But, mercifully, i have people who don't work during the daytime, or start moving late during the day, and i have them videotaping hala. and since she has someone to talk to (kristie lu stout, but any "co-anchor" would do), maybe hala would be more quotable.

now to view the tape...

sigh. to have a DVR...
dear santa, i know it's a little early...

spoiler

okay, this has very little to do about Hala herself, so bear with me.
i just found out that the webmaster of halafan has been, well, grounded from the internet. this is really sad, because she made the fan forum constantly active, and she does have all those pictures. i don't know exactly what went wrong, but apparently we all have to wait 'til april for her to make a comeback.
and she's one of the reasons why i try to keep this blog updated, so i am sure to miss her the next few weeks.
liz, don't go through withdrawals, it'll be fine.
what else...

hala's accessorizing. the necklaces, i'm more than familiar with. but that ring. woohoo, where'd you get that ring, hala? should we be worried that you'll choose family over career soon?

not much in way of quotage, but hala did have some really amused expressions over the weekend whenever they aired that story on the dog on that New York highway.

she's supposed to have had a birthday recently, but still i don't know the exact date (other than the approximate that it's a bit before Richard Quest's), so i'll just greet hala a belated happy birthday.

our quote for today is by richard and andrea:

richard: (on some businessman whose affair has resulted in a sacking and a divorce) but it's been public knowledge that he and his wife had been separated since 1995.
andrea: that wasn't part of the report, richard.

crocodiles

just to share: after a report on the human-crocodile relationship in some town somewhere (sorry, brain dead at the moment. if i remember soon, i promise to edit this. if not, please feel free to fill in the blanks), hala had to point out something: notice that the reporter (see? totally drawing blanks at the moment) did not actually sit on the crocodile.
and:

"don't try this at home with the crocodiles you keep safe in there."
- hala, on sitting on top of a live croc (06 march 2005)

inside the middle east -
saturday's broadcast was interrupted by breaking news in lebanon. right during hala's report, darn it!
saw the whole thing on sunday. hala in blue jeans (again). the blouse left much to be desired, though.

oh, and how low was hala's neckline during sunday's shift? the camera kept pulling back, and still the top of her blouse refused to reveal itself.
but the heart pendant's back. and hala's so pretty.

too many anchors

I love Hala (well, duh there). So when CNN International takes her out of London, where there is an opportunity to see her practically everyday, I expect them to give the same guarantee when she's in Atlanta.

Or, if that won't happen, at least have Zain Verjee take over the shift.

So when I tune in to Your World Today, Rosemary Church is not the person I expect to see. Is not the face I want to see. Rosemary, then Tumi Makgabo.

Which leads me to today's complaint: there are too many anchors in Atlanta. I'm sure they're not all getting their maximum face time. At least Hala's got Inside the Middle East.

I know it's a bit futile to request Hala's return to London (and i don't want her to, especially now that I really don't get to tune in to London-based programs), but it's just...

Seriously, CNN: we (or, more accurately, ME) here in Asia don't stay up until the ungodly hours of morning and watch CNN to see Rosemary and Tumi.