vibeology

It's a little crude but there are certainly things Littlefinger could have done that would not result in a a baby but would have kept Lysa hooked. I'm very willing to believe that there was some intimacy without sex over the years. But Martin does not need to write another bad sex scene to confirm that for me. Also of all the hanging threads I'm pretty sure we'll get more answers for the ToJ but my biggest question is Benjen. I just want to know what happened to him.

Obviously we don't know, but I do think he has serious food skills for two reasons. The first is I trust Bobby when it comes to food. As much as I acknowledge Bobby is happy to play the game on this show for the sake of good TV, I do think he takes food seriously and wouldn't say something tasted great if it was bad or even just average. The second is when we see Dom preparing food, its very clear he has the best knife skills of this years contestants and is well trained. While that's not a guarantee that his food is the best, it certainly makes Bobby and Giada's comments more credible. If they had said Michelle was the best cook, with her flailing about in the kitchen, I would be doubtful, but the moment he's cooking Dom has focus and purpose that you tend to see in people who have real skills in the kitchen. Still, I get why he's gone because those presentations have been painful, but I do believe his food was some of the strongest this year.

As an Ottawa girl, the most offensive thing about the AM segment was that John referred to dirty river ice when in fact that was dirty canal ice. Also, everyone in Ottawa knows that the Rideau Canal is the worlds largest outdoor skating rink. It was funny and made me laugh to see someone have a go at my town since we are the place that fun forgot.

Have him host a FNS after show. They could have judges and past contestants on it to cook with him while they dish about the show. Or any of the competitive shows, really. Arnold is snarky and good at hosting a party. It would be so much fun.

In defence of Giada (something I thought I would never say) if I had to eat the food, I'd try to keep the stronger cooks around over the weaker ones.

If they really wanted a group salsa, four would have been better than three. A few parter swaps, some nice side by side stuff but probably much easier to pickup than a trio.

This old chestnut! Benjiwas not just a good performer, he was a skilled Swing dancer who consistently won top prizes in competitions around the world for ten years before he won SYTYCD. He was considered one of the best WCS dancers out there when he won. Travis wasn't even the best contemporary dancer in his season. (Natalie and Alison were both much stronger). Hell, Travis isn't even the best contemporary dancer in his family. Nigel built up a technique vs performance narrative that season like WCS is easy. It's not and I know that to be true because any time the show tried to do it after it sucked. Travis has grown as a dancer since, but he wasn't robbed. He was good and got to do dances that played to his strengths. Technique does not equal contemporary. Every dance style involves technique. That's the one thing I dread this season; eventually we will hear that Jaja is loved but Jim can really dance, like somehow Jaja's style isn't "real" dance. Nigel has a history of it, so it's only a matter of time.

Its pretty clear that the "cool kids" got shout outs and the ones Nigel didn't like were left out. I get that DWTS is not something Nigel wants to talk about, but Witney got an Emmy nomination this week. According to this show, that's a big deal. Jess has been on a Broadway stage pretty much non-stop since he finished his season and Blake became a judge and choreographer on SYTYCD Canada for a few years. I was so hoping for Rama Lama as the opening number. Anyone can be a zombie if you slap them in the makeup and if you're a dancer on this show and you haven't taught yourself the choreography to Rama Lama, just leave now. Its by far the shows most iconic group number and they could have had every single alum there as a dancing zombie rather than another white outfit, wind machine Travis Wall contemporary number just featuring his clique of dancers. That was a horrible opening number considering this shows epic group number history. But of course, no stairs so.... No, of course not. I was angry at Dennis for pulling out at the Green Mile, but its looking more and more like he made a smart call. no way would "team stage" care that his Ballroom/Latin technique was on point since Ballroom/Latin is not a genre this show cares about anymore. That was clear when Mary was fired and when Travis, who is still frosty about coming in second, was made captain of team stage. Yes! If you're going to spend time on showing auditions, why not show one of the most special auditions ever? I was really hoping it would be Cat's choice since she's the one who spent the most time with him but the show should have made the call to feature good auditions over bad. That was a bad hour. For a show with such incredible riches, it really fell flat. The one thing I got out of it was that Cat has worn some truly ugly outfits over the years but does she ever deserve an Emmy. Were it up to me: Rama Lama with like 30 Zombie dancers Who Run the World Hip Hip Chin Chin or Black Mamba (because I don't know who of Lacey, Danny, Heidi or Benji would be available) The Garden Fix You (because Robert danced it even better last night so it can stay) Hummingbird/Flower Outta Your Mind

I was almost rid of Alex! Dammit! This was his best week in a while since he didn't waiter at me the whole time, but his choice of going crazy spicy and then screwing up his food on top of having very little presentation skills should have done it. I just don't like him. I can't explain why but I really want him gone and Michelle ruined it for me. As for her quitting, if that's what she wants then good for her. Some people want to chase fame and some people don't. I hope she figured out that being a mom/blogger was for her and it wasn't just guilt and sadness at missing a birthday. Its her choice to make and while I didn't love her as a contestant, I hope she's happy with her decision because its the type of decision you can never undo. Dom was pretty good this week. In the first challenge he had some spark, he went all in for the slapping video and he, unlike "I love heat" Alex, actually understood balance in composing his spicy dish. That would be the thing I'd most want to try food-wise from this episode. Jay and Arnold also killed it. I'd try either burger but that ramen bun was the most intriguing thing they made. Props to Arnold for pulling that off since his food has been inconsistent. Since I started watching it, the way I see this show has changed completely. I think its why I like Dom even though he can be a bit of an ass and why I'm pretty forgiving of Michelle's behaviour this week and the week she walked out. I always sort of knew behind the scenes was crazy but I really believe now the sky could be blue and a reality show could make me think its yellow.

It seems to me the best place to send Jon would have been to the Reeds. Howland would protect Jon with his life and the Reeds are isolated enough that Jon would have been safe from prying eyes. If Jon hadn't volunteered for the wall, it seems the Crannogmen would have been the right fit.

I think the difference between Dom in the talking heads and Don during the presentations comes down to editing. In those talking heads there is a producer just next to the camera asking Dom questions and chatting with him. It's been the same person since the start and he's probably more comfortable talking with someone and having the conversation edited down to his talking heads than he is talking to a camera having a totally one-sided presentation. I can easily believe he gets nervous on his own but is okay in a more produced situation. With Emilia I can see a producer saying "we fell in love with you because of your blog. Give us more of her. We loved the way you went after your dates. It's hilarious and real. Be funny like that. It's what got you here." I can see that messing with Emilia and making her think those impressions were the way to go.

Emilia was painful in that Michael Scott sort of way. The difference was on The Office I knew those weren't real people. I'd read her blog a few weeks back and I don't think that was scripted so much as produced. She's a bit of a mean girl in print and I can imagine it's worse when you see it. I can believe a producer told her she needed to break free from the teacher mode and be more like her blog since that was part of why the show loved her in the first place. Add the alcohol and you get that mess. It was catty and so out of touch with the audience. I really dislike Alex and after his presentation was so sure he'd be gone but I should not have underestimated this group and their ability to be the worst. Dom was a disaster again. Eddie was great, Jay was good and the rest were boring to awful.

On some weird level I do like Dom. he's an ass for sure, but an oddly likeable one as long as I'm only watching him on TV. This week, the food was very bad, but it seems like otherwise, his food has always been one of the strongest. A final warning shot seems about right. Arnold is actually the one I'd have sent home. His food has been bad for weeks, his presentation skills were totally lacking. I get why they cut Rue. I know nothing about South African cuisine after weeks, but her food has been good to great most of the time. That's a plus for me. As for Michelle, well, she brought the drama. If she was really concerned about Dom and the Dom show, she should have called him out while they were cooking. She did talk about his food during the presentation, which was not what they discussed and she did freak right out at the end. Of the bottom four, she had the best food so I'm glad she stayed but I do think the stress of the competition will get her to crack soon enough. I'm most excited for the "true story" about Emilia's brother we're going to be hearing next week.

As much as Matthew annoys me, I do think he's a pretty cook chef and it'll take a few weeks before he's eliminated. It seems the first few people to go besides him have had pretty bad food, his issue was personality and its going to take someone with a bit more skill to get eliminated before he has any serious competition.

Between the miniskirt at the beginning and the "boob window" dress at the end, Giada was clearly in a much hotter bubble than everyone else. Glad to see Rosa go. I was never a fan. Dom was a disaster on stage and Alex was even worse. I hate the way the judges are so dismissive of international cuisine but at the same time I don't need to know every spice and sauce that goes into my meal. He was so boring. Eddie got a bad deal having to go after him.

That is a brand new thing though. Prior to Robert's Rebellion, children of big houses (including the heirs) almost always married bannermen. Ned's mom was her husbands cousin. Tywin married a cousin, Hoster's wife was a Whent, Robert/Stannis/Renly's mother was an Estermont. There was the occasional marriage across the Great Houses, but it wasn't some set tradition. The bulk of those marriages mentioned above all came about to secure alliances for Robert's Rebellion. Previously marriages were made to secure loyalty between a lord and his bannermen. And you can't look at Sansa's forced marriage to Tyrion as a positive. She was their hostage and the match would not have been something her parents would have agreed to. The Starks just weren't that ambitious when it came to their children's future spouses. Instead of spending time in the South making matches, Ned and Cat were content to stay in Winterfell and marry their children to the children of Northern Lords. Robb and Alys Karstark were considered and if that's who they chose for their heir, they weren't suddenly going to be trying to marry their youngest to Robyn Arryn or something. The only reason Sansa is engaged to Joffrey is because Robert suggests it. Arya was not going to marry the heir to a great house. As far as Cat and Ned were concerned, before the war broke out, their kids were marrying people at the Alys Karstark level so Arya ending up engaged to a Frey is pretty much in line with what Cat had always planned for her children,

That was a lot of angst for a secretary taking an new job 20 feet away. The way they wrote and shot the first panic attack was very much like the episode of the West Wing where And this is no where near as serious a situation. So much drama for "and then I vomited." If Harvey can't handle Donna taking another job, he is too much of a mess to be working. Also, I was so annoyed when they showed Harvey flushing the case for those pills down the toilet. Someone will have to fix that. I did love that Mike told Rachel its not her job to become Harvey's secretary. Women so often fall into a caretaking and administrative role and with Rachel skipping a test doing that can really limit her. This. Louis fixates on Harvey too much and sets himself up to be disappointed over and over. He really needs to find a way to gain his sense of approval from within and stop relying on a comparison with Harvey. Donna telling him that when he's feeling insecure they need to talk about it is a good start. I don't doubt that Donna will eventually end up back with Harvey, but hopefully Louis will be in a better place by the time that happens.

You can't ignore how marriage works in This world. Children are married off to unknowns often enough that Cat has no reason to push for something else. She married Ned practically sight unseen. Joffrey/Sansa barely knew each other. Joff/Margarey even less before the agreement was made. Robert/Cersei, Dany/Drogo, Lysa/Jon and so on. Expecting Cat to reject a system she's grown up with is unfair. Some arranged marriages work and some don't but one thing is clear; love matches are a disaster in this world. Rhaegar/Lyanna destroyed the kingdom. Having a plan for Arya's future is Cat's job. It's all fine and good to say Ned wanted to marry her to a king but the reality is Sansa was betrothed to the heir to the throne and Arya still has to marry someone. It's not the most prestigious match that could be made but it's a solid match that would give Arya some level of agency. I think Cat knew Aray wouldn't be happy but I struggle to think of what would and I imagine Cat would too.

Elmar is an ass and Catelyn doesn't know the guy, but the reality is he thinks he's more important that Arya because she's a servant and he's the son of a Lord. He values the political capital he holds so in a situation where things work out, she's revealed to be Arya Stark and she has far more political capital than he does. She also has male relatives who are more important and all he has is a father who has too many mouths to feed and doesn't really care about any of his children on a personal level. Elmar doesn't really have to agree to letting Arya do her thing, her family does and he doesn't have all that much power to stop them. Cat, as the wife of a Lord, has two big jobs: have kids and get them married. I'm sure, knowing Arya, she's thought about what sort of match makes the most sense and when the demand is made to marry her to a Frey, Cat knows that while its not a perfect match, there are some advantages for Arya in marrying someone without lands. Sansa is the daughter you marry out to a Lord with holdings. She has the skills and temperament to be the Lady of a household. Arya would do better if she can stay at Winterfell and be protected by her family. Like I said, its not ideal to marry her off without her knowledge or consent or marry her off without meeting the groom, but I can see why Cat agreed to it since its probably the sort of match she'd been hoping to make for Arya anyway.

To me, marrying the 22nd son of Walder Frey is actually a decent match for Arya. Arya is a willful young woman and she would benefit greatly from being the person in her marriage with more political capital because then she could still fight with swords, dress in whatever makes her comfortable and run the show. Son 22 wouldn't have land so they could settle in Winterfell and Arya would always have her father/brother's protection and support in doing her own thing. The worst case scenario for Arya would be marrying the heir to a house. Then she'd be expected to be the Lady of the house and excel at all the things she hates. Even a minor house would require her to act as hostess, pop our heirs, run a household (and do things like embroidery, running a kitchen etc.) Ideally her family would let her opt out of marriage or choose her husband but neither is very realistic for a Stark daughter so considering a lower Frey is a match that makes some sense for her and I can see why Catelyn agrees to it beyond needing to cross a bridge.

I really feel like the moment you start telling me what your personality is rather than being personable and open during presentations and letting me decide what sort of person you are is the moment you fail. The more Emilia tells me about how I should perceive her, the more I look for things that go against what she's saying. That she got praised this week for her presentation shows just how weak so many presentations were. #Douchetag must have been so sad he missed the social media challenge! The food tonight was not great. The desserts looked good. Dom's chicken looked good. That's really it. I was happy to see Dom crack a few jokes but I get the sense he's one of "those guys" who wasn't going to work with the women unless the show forced it. I didn't get the sense that the guys had worse food. They loved the crudo, the chicken and the dessert but I think the salad and jumbo were some of the worst dishes of the night. The women had a good soup and good dessert. Rue's was bland, Stia's was a total mess and Rosa's wasn't great either. I think the women lost but they wanted the drama of frontrunner Eddie in the bottom and he coasted enough that it made sense to do it.

I would imagine that once he got another son, Randyll kept Dickon away from Sam so Sam couldn't taint Dickon. I agree that the Tarly brothers aren't close but I put the blame for that all on their awful father.

Matthew has less than 2000 Twitter followers. That's great numbers for a regular joe but for someone who has been on TV and touted their social media skills as a selling point, it's pathetic. Its a shame no one could call him on that.

I'm so thrilled Matthew is gone but I will defend his "beast" comment. It is a huge compliment to call someone a beast and I think Matthew awkwardly wanted to compliment someone he really respects food wise when he said that to Alex. The guy has next to no social skills so he screwed up in his delivery but it's very much a positive thing. I would have loved to lose Sita too. She really bugs and not a single thing she's made had looked good. I need Dom and Rue to get better on camera. Rue's pov would be something new for this network and Dom is just really likeable. Also, sorry Matthew, but it seems like he might be the best chef in the competition. All his food gets raves.

I loved it. Its a silly popcorn flick and I wanted to yell at the screen every time these people didn't understand that dinosaurs are dangerous, but it was fun, the homages to the movie I loved as a child were spot on and the ending felt earned. Who doesn't want to see a 3-way dino battle? It was awesome. I was worried that they were going to make Claire's journey about discovering her softer side and her love of children and family and while I think she grew, she was still awkward enough with the kids at the end that I was cool with it. Some people aren't kid people and that's cool. I do wish they'd given Chris Pratt a little more comedy. He's so good at it. That's what it looked like to me. InGen is dumb. A flying T-Rex is just a horrible idea. I wish there had been less tourist deaths and more comeuppance for the idiots who made the mess.