ProudMary

Longtime Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos dies at 94 Edited to add: The article addresses how his death will affect the family's sale of the team.

Embarrassment-free zone here. Every year, I think to myself, "Opening Day should be a national holiday." 😉

Thanks for that link @shoregirl. Calcaterra's breakdown was great. The opening was 😄, but spot-on.

In a shocking development--well, to me, anyway 😄--Matt Jackson didn't bother me at all tonight. He seemed more relaxed, less tightly-wound than in his earlier appearances. I was only half-listening to the interviews, but it seemed that he had a career change? If so, it seems to have changed him for the better. 👏 I wouldn't go as far as to say I'd be rooting for him, there are several others in the tournament that I'd prefer, but if Matt were to win, I wouldn't be shouting obscenities at my screen the way I was the other day when Yogesh won!

Week 28: 1/5.

@DMK I agree completely with your response to my comment. It's just that with the feds (rightfully) involved, there will be a cloud hovering overhead for a while. The bloom is off the Ohtani rose. Not to mention that investigative journalists will be sniffing around on this for the rest of his playing career. If they find well-sourced info on him, even if it wasn't quite strong enough for the feds to charge him with, it will still be reported. I actually feel sad about the whole situation. Ohtani's incredible abilities are good for the game I love. Controversy surrounding him certainly isn't. 😔

You're not wrong. California doesn't allow MGM, Draft Kings or the like. You want to place bets, you need to go through a bookie, and that's illegal. You're also correct that the Dept. of Justice is investigating, which makes the fact that MLB isn't investigating Ohtani, moot. As much as MLB would like to sweep this under the proverbial rug, as it involves the face of the game, it's not going away any time soon.

Kristen's a natural at this. Incredibly smooth transition for a new host. I loved the way the judging was done each round, so we knew Top 3 and Bottom 3 as the show was happening. Obviously, this couldn't work with every challenge, the numbers have to be right, but it was great for tonight. I liked all three of the challenges presented. Gail: I may pop out of my dress. 😄 I wanted David gone right from the jump. He had asshole written all over him; from the opening in the TC kitchen, to shopping at Whole Foods, during the cook, and especially at JT after the cook-off with "Amanda stole the fish." She got there first, Dude. She had a plan. I hope the judges took that into consideration when they chose who to send home. And then, saying his was an historic elimination because it's Kristen's first PYKAG. Just get off my screen. Thank you, judges. I hope he flames out quickly in LCK. Tom should wear a hat to the first LCK challenge. It usually takes me a lot longer, but I think I've got 7 or 8 contestants' names down pat already. This seems like a pretty good bunch overall. "Mr. Milwaukee" Dan may get on my nerves. He seems like he's a lot. We'll see. I really didn't care for him at the WF protein counter, with "I'm from Wisconsin so help me out here." 🙄 I already like Melissa, Charly, Danny, Manny, Valentine, and Amanda, the witch. 😄 Note to our Mods: We usually have a live chat thread here in the Top Chef forum that is only open while each episode is live on Bravo during Eastern Time and also during Pacific time. Last season there was a dedicated S20 Live Chat, There is a general Live Chat thread already in existence, but it needs a mod to unlock it weekly. We can start our own individual episode threads, but we need a Mod for the live chat.

I didn't see an episode thread for the new season's opener. If I've duplicated, Mods, please close.

IMDb has episode titles posted for the first four episodes. I'll just link the episode guide page here for those who don't want titles spoiled here in the anticipation thread. Only titles are listed; no episode descriptions are given. Only nine more days! https://m.imdb.com/title/tt8230448/episodes/?ref_=tt_ov_epl

A media thread for the series. Interesting. Makes sense. From Decider: Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead Used Intimacy Coordinator When Filming ‘A Gentleman In Moscow’ Despite Being Married: “It’s Still Necessary”

Thanks for the heads up @laredhead. Here's the clip of the segment.

@slowpoked First, thanks for the JLC info, which probably does explain why there was no portrait of the six Best Supporting Actress winners. As to your quote I've added here, I was thinking the exact same thing when I posted the photos yesterday. It was a big part of the reason I was pulling so hard for a Lily Gladstone win over Emma Stone; not to mention why I thought it was not only correct, but also important that Lily's nomination was in the top acting category, not in the secondary one. When you look back at the Best Actress nominees historically, there have been way too many years where all five of the nominees were white. Viola Davis alone, should have won for The Help and/or for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, although I'd have been more inclined to believe that was a supporting role. Honestly, and I know I'm out in left field on this one, (although she did win a Golden Globe) if I were an Academy voter that year, my Best Actress vote would have gone to Andra Day for her remarkable performance as Billie Holiday. At least there were two Black women nominated that year. Last year, it was beyond reason that Danielle Deadwyler was not nominated for Till. IMO, the Academy must nominate more non-white women in the Best Actress category and then, vote for them to win!

I don't trust anything that comes from the mouths of Cashman or Boone anymore when it comes to injured players. On the other hand, Gerrit Cole's very positive attitude after testing and meeting with Dr. ElAttrache gives me some level of confidence that we're not being lied to. For any Yankees' fans who didn't see the interview with him Saturday, here it is. (Video length 1:39)

Question for those here who have appeared on Jeopardy!: When the show cuts away for a commercial break, do the contestants get a short break, where they can walk around or sit down for a bit, take a few sips of water, etc.? Maybe not during the first commercial break, when it runs right into the interview segment, but at least between the Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy rounds? While the entire show may only last 22-23 minutes, those are stressful minutes! I know I'd want to sit down and do some deep breathing, even just for a few moments.

And their shoes!!! ❤️

From the "I'm Just Ken" performance, here's a photo of Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir, along with one of Wolfgang Van Halen with Slash.

The Oscars' website has another photo gallery posted with tons of backstage photos of winners, presenters and performers. Although there wasn't an official portrait of the six Best Actress/six Best Supporting Actress winners, there are, thankfully, backstage photos. I'm posting those here along with two photos from "I'm Just Ken" performers that I particularly enjoyed seeing. You can see the full photo gallery here.

Yes. It's just a shame that it took the writers EIGHTEEN episodes to get here. 😕

This is a strange 10 pm Friday hour. It's being hosted by Andrew Weissman and Melissa Murray, who are touting their new book, but also interviewing others about related current news. Melissa is doing an excellent job IMO, but Andrew Weissman is much better in his regular role as a legal commentator. He seems much better at answering questions rather than asking them.

Wow! Ben is, once again, the Comeback Kid! I hope he wins it all, but I like Troy almost as much as I like Ben, so I'd be fine either way.

Week 27: 0/5. I'll bring some tortellini in pink vodka sauce; A comforting plate of cheese stuffed zeroes. 😋

Moving this discussion over from the 96th Academy Awards topic: The general public certainly considered Henry Fonda to be a beloved, iconic actor. I don't think it's a given that the Academy did. They didn't award him a competitive Oscar until he was quite literally on his death bed, and had only given him an honorary Oscar the prior year when it became known that he wasn't well.

I'm going to move this discussion over to the General Discussion topic in this forum as we've ventured away from the 96th Academy Awards for a few too many posts.