SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2013

Alex Borstein ‘Getting On’ with on-screen dream he’s appeared in numerous film and TV productions since the 1990s, but folks are most likely to recognize Alex SBorstein only after she opens her mouth. The 40-year-old actress is the nasally voice of long-suffering Lois Griffin, wife of hapless hubby Peter Griffin on the Fox animated series “Family Guy.” But soon, Borstein’s face could become familiar, too. Though the actress logged five seasons on the Fox sketch-comedy series “MADtv,” only now does she seem ready for her close-up. Borstein joins Laurie Metcalf and Niecy Nash as one of the three leads in HBO’s Americanization of the widely acclaimed British comedy “Getting On.” Like the original, HBO’s version, which debuts tomorrow at 10 pm EST, gleans laughs from the most unexpected place: a hospi- tal’s neglected all-women’s geriatric wing. It spoils nothing to reveal the pilot’s series-defining moment, as nurses played by Borstein and Nash frantically attempt to understand a woman’s pleas for help. Problem is, she’s shouting in a foreign language. It takes the caregivers two desperate and side-splitting minutes to This combination of images shows the combat uniforms of the various US military services. — AFP decipher what is being said, but an interpreter’s translation is worth the wait: “I can’t stand this. I wish I was dead. Please kill me.” The patient could well be referring to the hospital wing’s hilarious yet heart- The US military’s breaking “M-A-S-H”-like setting and characters. “There are really funny things that happen,” Borstein commented in a recent inter- view. “(But) we’re not laughing at anyone. It feels like a real honest peek into this world.” In fact, “Getting On” is also serious business, even for the frequently funny trio of leads. “Laurie, Niecy and I are actresses of a certain age,” said Borstein, “and most places don’t want to look at that anymore. I camouflage fashion show just think it’s amazing that HBO says, ‘No, I think people do.’”Borstein brought her 2-month-old daughter (with actor-hus- amouflage may be designed to blend in, but for the The Corps’ proprietary approach has annoyed some sen- band Jackson Douglas) to the set while filming the pilot, and she US military, a plethora of combat uniforms offers a ators, who want to lift the restrictions. A proposed defense clearly left work that day with a grasp of what “Getting On” was Cway for each branch of the armed forces to distin- spending bill for 2014 includes an amendment saying “no getting at.”I had to clean her bottom and take care of her,” guish itself. In Congress, the costly proliferation of camou- military service may prevent another military service from Borstein said of her newborn. “And you can’t help notice: We’re flage has angered lawmakers, who see it as an illustration of authorizing the use of any combat or camouflage utility uni- the same coming in as we are going out.” — AP Pentagon extravagance. Before 2001, American troops all form.” wore the same camouflage uniform, a green version for As for the US Army, commanders tried to introduce a temperate climates and a beige model for the desert. But as universal camouflage pattern in 2005 that could be military spending mushroomed after the September 11 employed in any landscape but the pixel design proved a attacks, the US Marine Corps, Army, Navy and Air Force failure in Afghanistan. Instead, the army issued a “MultiCam” crafted their own combat uniforms for the wars in Iraq and uniform especially for soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. And Afghanistan. since 2010, the service has spent millions in search of a new There are now 10 different camouflage styles, from a pix- camouflage design. Replacing the army’s current combat el pattern to the “tiger stripe,” and even a blue “aquaflage” uniform could cost up to $4 billion over five years, according for sailors-also known as “blueberries.” At a time of budget to the Government Accountability Office, an investigative austerity, the veritable fashion show has increasingly come arm of Congress. The Air Force in 2002 began research to in for criticism and ridicule both inside and outside the mili- develop its own camouflage pattern. tary. “It’s not like the F-35 cost overruns but it is something Several years and more than three million dollars later, that a common ordinary person would consider a waste of the service opted for a “tiger stripe” design in a nod to the money,” said Larry Korb, a former defense official and mili- Vietnam War. Airmen who wore the uniform in Afghanistan tary officer, now at the Center for American Progress. or Iraq said it failed to function as camouflage, and instead made them stand out. In the US Navy, sailors wear an unusual blue and gray camouflage. But the “blueberries” are not deemed flame retardant and even the Navy secretary, Ray Mabus, has joked that the uniform provides camouflage only “if you fall overboard.” Lawmakers are not amused and a proposed spending bill in the House of Representatives would require the military to have a common uniform across all the services by October 2018. “We can’t afford to have different camo patterns just for the argument that it’s esprit de corps. That’s what dress uni- forms are for,” said Representative William Enyart, who called for the deadline. “The military’s budget has doubled in the last ten years and we can’t afford to waste money in today’s fiscal envi- ronment,” he said in June. The commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Amos, has made clear how he feels about the camo his forces wear into battle. “We are on it A prototype of a the new female specific Women’s Army Combat like a hobo on a ham sandwich,” Amos told troops in Uniform is modeled on the left and the bulkier, straight cut stan- Hawaii in July. “I love the hell out of this uniform and I don’t dard issue unisex uniform is at right in this file photo taken at have any intention of changing it.” — AFP Fort Belvoir, Virginia. — AFP

The Marine Corps, which touts itself as a “breed apart,” was the first service to come up with its own camouflage wear in 2002. Dubbed MARPAT, the uniform features a digi- tized green “woodland” pattern and a beige desert pattern. Italian actress Sofia Loren blows a kiss as she poses at the Based on a Canadian military uniform, the design is patent- 2014 Pirelli Calendar red carpet event in Milan, Italy, ed and the Corps has barred the other branches of the mili- Thursday, Nov 21, 2013. The calendar debuted in 1964 as tary from using the pattern, which has the service’s emblem a racy way of promoting Italian tire maker Pirelli and has embroidered in the fabric. since grown into a fashion institution. — AP