the promo

Of course, if you're a Hala fan, you don't need to read this entry. I just needed to post something to ease my mind about possibly missing Hala on YWT tomorrow night, and maybe even Friday (for details, see my other blog).


Saw the ITME promo. Aww, Hala.

Is that the same shirt that caused a stir on the forum?

Inside the Middle East this weekend! Yay!!!


We'll talk again once we see it, yes?

for-rumble

I'm just losing my mind, so if you don't agree, comment away. I also have been having my Hala viewing interrupted by live coverage of interviews, so...


From the dotcom:

cnnfreak wrote:
Was she demoted from top anchor position at CNN's flagship morning news show in London to be an weekend anchor in Atalnta? It looks to me.

To which Liz answered with a post from an old interview. Now, Hala nut that I am, remember that interview fondly, and recall it to have been from her days when she was still in London. The "breather" she was referring to, I believe, was doing more BI than BizNews. I could be wrong (and I often tend to be). I therefore conclude that the move to Atlanta was like a gift from God (or some other higher power, let's not get political here) for her.


Another thread on the dotcom:

The younger daughters, Fionnula, Becky, and the cousins from the ITN family are all well-educated, but apparently at single-sex universities, since their on-screen flirting and sense of humour appear to have developed in a parallel universe.
---------
Fionnula is from RTE so that would explain the lack of personality.

heehee.


On the dotorg:

A guest posted:

I find the Michael Hala team working well now, what do you think?
it's not like with Quest, that's for sure, but they are begining to have a chemistry.

Hala can work with Shihab, for crying out loud. And Michael manages with Colleen McEdwards. But the Hala/Michael interaction can be likened to a sibling relationship, not like the verbal sparring that Hala and Questy got into.

My two cents.


Hala: Some excitement there. Are you going to go see it?
Michael: (scoff) Me? (scoff) No. (inviting absurdity) You?
Hala: (adamant) No!
(hala and michael, ywt, date long forgotten, regarding the Star Wars episode 3 hype)

Sigh.

Sigh. Colleen McEdwards doing Hala's weekend shift again. I wonder what this woman does in her free time. Why does she appear at random time slots? Doesn't she have a life?

Whoops. I digress. Where was I?

Last Friday a friend of mine and I were discussing the The Gaza Strip pullout, Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat and the whole Middle East political landscape over dessert. The place we were eating at was showing CNN (don't ask me why), and then Hala shows up with her report on souvenirs. Having been aware of this report from the forum(s), I ignore my friend while I watch the report. And then my friend pointed out that if she's in Gaza, it's a major story to cover. A rough transcript of our "debate" follows:
Friend: Hey, that's a big story. That could be her 25 years "story".
Me: Guy Raz is there. John Vause is there. Paula Hancocks is there. And did you see that? Hala was talking about souvenirs.
Friend: Geez. Calm down. (the futile attempt at being comforting is) Maybe she's too pretty to be covering something so heavy.
Me: (evil glare)
Friend: What?

Well, at least Guy Raz is pretty.
Paula Hancocks has finally emerged from the confines of the LSE.

On the BA conundrum: I take it back, Robyn Curnow - you're no longer a Liz George replacement in my book. Love the glasses. *grin*

Hala reporting from the field. How do you fans of non-anchors stand it?
Sigh.



(edit: yup, I changed "West Bank" to "Gaza strip" because Spitfire pointed it out and I figured some people might be using this blog for their current events.)

the good, the bad and the incredibly ugly

Ahh. Back on the net. Long story of why I've been away, and will not bother.
Anyway.

The Good:

Hala's outfit on this month's ItME. How nice is that outfit?
Only Hala can pull off something like that and still seem so professional.


As per usual, image courtesy of Liz.


The Bad:
Colleen McEdwards doing YWT with Michael Holmes. Okay, they were good, but I wanted to see Hala.

The Incredibly Ugly:
Certain people posting at the Hala Gorani thread in the original forum.
And this insight :

Okay, one of the things I love about Hala is her ability to maintain composure even in the most offensive of guests (and there have been a handful). Although she sometimes takes on an if-looks-could-kill expression, she still keeps her professionalism. Yes, she sometimes abuses sarcasm, but that's in good fun. She never does it with guests. What is this writer talking about?


Edit: Yes, I've seen this before, too, but recent interviews (that general guy or something, I've repressed the memory a bit) I think have proven this writer wrong. Okay, it was written while Hala was in London, which means she was being sarcastic a lot more often than she does these days.

random

Ohhh... Hala in light blue. So pretty. So cute. So absolutely wonderful.

Did I say I like her in dark clothes? I take it back, she's better in light blue. And pinstripes.

@Liz: Great prediction on what Hala'd be wearing. :) And who cares if her blouse under the jacket was messy? The Ice Princess could be wearing a garbage bag and she'd still look good.

Check out the obsessive behavior. This is exactly what misssbev was whining about. Speaking of, why oh why isn't she letting it go? *insert eye-rolling here*


Can I just say that I was impressed with how well Colleen handles sharing a desk? Much better than Shihab...

Oh, for pink-a-demic fans: in Paula Hancocks' report from Gaza and Becky Anderson from the London desk, both were in pink.

And who else saw Guillermo and Femi talking in the background during Insight? *rofl*

the forum

Have you seen the Hala Gorani thread on the original forum? The latest bunch of posts (prior to Liz "saving" it at 2:30 am) was... well, disturbing.
I don't know exactly how it all started, but the thing is, it went from the prettiness that is Hala to a really disturbing exchange.
Vic tries to do a good thing, and it's completely misconstrued.
Geez. We were having fun on that forum.

Geez, part two. With such guests on the dotcom, no wonder the dotorg is thriving well.

Anyway. I just wanted to get that out. And why won't I be surprised if someone bites Lizzy's bait about what the exchange has to do with Hala?



"I have no idea what I'm supposed to be looking at here. Liz, explain to me why I'm looking at... a fruit plate?"
- Hala, waxing confused, when a cut to the LSE shows a plate of grapes and some other things.

sigh. I miss Liz George.

waiting for ITME's premiere to happen

Hala's back!!! Oh, yay. *does happy Snoopy dance* yay!

And Inside the Middle East this weekend! Yay! *does some more of the happy Snoopy dance*

I am so ecstatic I just don't know what to do with myself.


Heh. Maybe I'll pay more attention to what I should be doing.

Anyway.



Who else enjoys Shihab's new hair? Like a schoolboy who's been ordered to get a haircut. *evil laughter*

Oh: To the moderators/admin of the dot org, please delete Tiff from the members. I don't take advantage of it, anyway. I mean, I haven't posted anything. At all. So delete my membership in the meantime.


Inside the Middle East this weekend!!!

where in the world is Hala Gorani

Now I'm annoyed. Where in the bleeding heck is Hala?

It's one thing to not have Hala, another to see Colleen McEdwards during Hala's shift, and yet another to see Suzanne Simons (no, she wasn't on, but her showing up is usually a good indicator that Hala's away).
Okay, Zain taking over Hala's shift was wicked. I liked that.

I continue to hold out my opinion on Asieh Namdar.

Ahh. Zain. Wonderful to see you without Jim. And in good lighting, too. You're so pretty...

I miss Hala.

Now, I think I've mentioned my adoration for Sumi Das in a previous entry. Here's something from James Knine's site, and it's wicked funny. It's from Sumi's days on Tech TV, but what the hey. Click here.

I really, really, really miss Hala.