BW Manilowe

On Friday, or whenever he picked KT McFarland as Deputy NSA (National Security Advisor), Trump also chose Donald McGahan, the General Counsel for his Transition Team (& a former FEC Chairman), as his White House Counsel. http://www.npr.org/2016/11/25/503352809/trump-picks-former-fec-chairman-as-his-white-house-counsel

Actor Keo Woolford, age unknown (he was relatively young though--maybe late 40's to early 50's... I think), who played the recurring role of Detective Chang in the current reboot of Hawaii Five-0, died today after suffering a severe stroke on Friday. Yes, I pulled the obit from a Facebook page for a fansite for the show, but it's still accurate & the obit hasn't made the Hollywood entertainment industry publications yet. https://m.facebook.com/H50hana/posts/834335986668801

Today (Monday) is the LAST day to order either/both of the TWWW shirts--the "Signal" T-shirt, depicting the hand signal worked out to tell Toby if the issue with his brother's space shuttle flight was fixed during the Rosslyn town hall meeting, &/or the The West Wing Weekly University sweatshirts. https://mobile.twitter.com/WestWingWeekly/status/803280886812667905?p=v If you're interested in the women's shirt (presumably just the T-shirt), per a Tweet from the manufacturer, those run very SMALL so order them 2 SIZES LARGER; also, the sweatshirt runs LARGE, so order 1 SIZE SMALLER. https://mobile.twitter.com/cottonbureau/status/803397178542723072?p=v

According to the article linked in the linked Tweet, they're rebooting Iron Chef America. https://mobile.twitter.com/Variety/status/803288463323828224?p=v

I'm not sure if Jerry (& his sister, Isabel, whom we met in Ep 620) is a native-born Hawaiian either, but he was definitely a classmate of Chin's at Kukui High; 1 of his first eps was when Chin & Jerry went to 1 of their class reunions together, as friends, & a classmate was murdered there (it was also the ep where the audience got to vote on various elements involved in the ep). I think Steve's family's considered kamaʻāina, though they may have contradicted themselves by the way they've described Steve's Hawaiian heritage in the show. I'm Filipina/southern US (Alabama, in my case) in background too (Filipino dad/southern US mom), if I haven't mentioned it in a previous post to you. And my family also did the "Aunt/Uncle" thing as they do (or similar to it) in Hawaii (I had at least 2 sets of non-related Aunts & Uncles, growing up). I kinda figured maybe Kono was supposed to be treating Gracie as more of a "little sister", as you said, by not including the "Aunt/Auntie" with her name when she introduced herself to Gracie, even though her cousin Chin used the "Uncle"--whether or not it was an "acting choice" by Grace Park because Kono's supposed to be the youngest on the Five-0 team, or it was in the script.

I wasn't the poster trying to apply it to how Gracie or Charlie refer to Jerry (but I assume he gave them permission to do it offscreen--as so many important/semi-important things in this show seem to happen). As for the rest of it, we'll have to agree to disagree.

Over the weekend, People magazine posted a pic from, & article about, Mark & BC's wedding. I think they're covering it in the issue coming out the end of this week, or another upcoming issue. Anyway... Here's a link to what they posted about it over the weekend. I think her wedding dress is perhaps a bit odd, but whatever... http://people.com/celebrity/mark-ballas-bc-jean-married/

The Emmys for last season's programs/series were on in September. The Emmys for this season will be on either late this coming summer or early this coming fall (2017); they haven't announced the date yet. They're usually on close to when the next TV season starts.

Hawaiians aren't all of non-white descent, as I'm sure you're aware. If the non-white Hawaiians can call their elders "Aunt/Auntie" & "Uncle", the white Hawaiians should be able to as well--including the fictional ones who were actually born "Jersey Girls", like Gracie. And I've read plenty about how H50 strives to be culturally accurate--I'm pretty sure they have a "cultural advisor" who, if not always on set, they can go to with questions about how the Hawaiian people/culture would do certain things. Grace Park referred to him on 1 of the DVD episode commentaries/the DVD episode commentary on the S1 DVDs. I think it's (at least in more recent seasons, if not always) 1 of the Hawaiian priests who've presided over at least 1 of the set blessing ceremonies on the first day of filming. And, by the way, if the show makes the effort to actually have a set blessing ceremony on the first day of filming, & they've done it for all 7 seasons now (as far as I know--& I'm not completely certain about when/if a blessing happened in S1) I don't agree at all that TPTB aren't steeped in cultural heritage & it's just "a TV trope", as you called it. If they didn't care about that tradition, they wouldn't have been doing it since the show started at least filming after the Pilot (as we all know, the Pilot was filmed, like, in March 2010, separately from the other 21 eps of S1, which started filming in July 2010 after the Pilot got a series commitment--while they blessed the set, as I can remember, once the actual series began filming I'm not sure if they blessed the set for the filming of a possible "one-off" Pilot).

Gracie's never called him "Uncle Chin" but, in the scene in Ep 104 (Lanakila [Victory]), I think it was (it might've been Ep 103, the title of which translates to "Respect the Land"), where Grace meets the team at the Kukui High football game where the gang-related shooting breaks out, when Chin introduced himself to Gracie, he said "And I'm Uncle Chin" (having introduced himself after Steve & Kono). He also pointed to his chin, presumably so Gracie would understand that was his name. Seeing as Chin was raised in the Hawaiian culture, & is Gracie's elder, I wasn't necessarily surprised he'd do that, since the team had--for the most part--become ʻohana since the 4 of them got together; more like I was surprised that the script took the effort to be culturally accurate & have him do that since Gracie was Danny's family, & now also Five-0's. It makes perfect sense, to me, that Gracie would also come to call Steve "Uncle Steve", though he didn't introduce himself that way in the scene I referred to & appeared to not care if Gracie called him by his first name (he said, "Hi Gracie. I'm Steve.). At least based on when you stated you see it appropriate for a child to call someone who actually isn't related to them "Aunt/Auntie" or "Uncle". She & Steve may not have day-to-day personal interactions (though they seem to see each other fairly regularly, at least I get the vibe there are Gracie/team/Uncle Steve interactions that occur offscreen), but their relationship did start when she was very young (as you said, Gracie was 7--& she, the character, actually was; they mentioned at the end of the ep Gracie had a birthday coming up &, in eps after that, for the rest of S1, she was said to be 8... so it was her 8th birthday), & Steve & Gracie's relationship became very close (which you seem to think is another "prerequisite" for a child to call a non-relative "Aunt/Auntie" or "Uncle"), as did Steve's relationship with Danny (to where they feel like brothers). To be fair, we don't really know if Gracie was raised in a situation (before moving to Hawaii, that is) where calling non-relatives "Aunt/Auntie" or "Uncle" is considered proper or not. We've only seen her being raised in Hawaii/the Hawaiian culture, which she seems to have respect for, even though Danny doesn't (or at least didn't when he first moved to Hawaii--the stuff with trampling through the heiau crime scene before it could be blessed, or whatever, among other things). And it's proper for children, & even adults, to call their non-related elders "Aunt/Auntie" or "Uncle" in that culture (Kono even did it to at least Kamekona in the ep where the ex-SEAL with PTSD, who was accused of killing his wife, took hostages from a USS Missouri tour group). Gracie may have a lot of non-related "Aunts/Aunties" & "Uncles" in New Jersey & England that we don't know about... Yet. I found it sort of odd that Gracie called Kono "Auntie" in the ep where Kono got lost at sea during the solo outrigger trip she was making on her mother's behalf (when the extended ʻohana was with Kono at the outrigger before she left, Gracie said something like, "I brought you something, Auntie." & gave Kono flowers or something). In the scene I keep referring to, where Gracie met the team for the first time, Kono introduced herself as "I'm Kono.", with just her first name like Steve, not seeming to care if Gracie showed her the respect she "deserved" in the Hawaiian culture, as 1 of Gracie's elders, or not. I just figured Kono didn't care about using the "Aunt/Auntie" formality because, while still Gracie's elder, she was still closer in age to Gracie than Steve or Chin. But, again to be fair, while Gracie & Kono have shared scenes on the show (but not many) before, they haven't really had any interactions where Gracie would call Kono anything. Obviously, the "Auntie" thing with Kono developed offscreen, as did the "Uncle" thing with Steve. I think Gracie spends a reasonable amount of time with the team, given that they have work, & lives that don't include each other, & Gracie has school, activities, & a life that includes her dad, but doesn't always include the rest of the team. Though, of all the team/ʻohana included, it appears Gracie spends the least amount of time with Kono & Chin, when she's with any of the team, for whatever reason.

NBC News' obit said Ron Glass' cause of death was respiratory failure. http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/celebrity/ron-glass-star-barney-miller-firefly-dead-71-n688676?cid=sm_tw

Indeed we have lost a good one. Being an ECHL season ticketholder as you are, you should Google "Bob Chase hockey". Granted, maybe you won't find that much, but you should find out why his loss is such a big one to our city, & to the professional hockey community, from what's there; especially if you read the articles related to his passing which were published in our local papers, The Journal-Gazette & The News-Sentinel, on/since Thursday. You might also YouTube him. NBC, & "Doc" Emrick, profiled him during the intermission of an NHL game, I think last season, & I think that might be on YouTube. There was definitely something of a pall around town over the Thanksgiving holiday because of the loss of Bob Chase. By the way, Chase was actually his "stage name"; when he got into sports broadcasting, his real last name, Wallenstein, was deemed "too long" for someone in that profession--so he used the maiden name of his wife, Muriel (aka "Murph"), to whom he was married for 65 years when he passed, on the air.

Considering Delta flight attendants on not 1 but 2 recent flights also chose white male doctors over equally qualified African-American female doctors--who responded first to an onboard call for doctors--to assist with inflight medical emergencies involving other passengers, I'm afraid I can believe they'd do nothing. And Delta's always been my airline of choice when I travel--at least until now. But I haven't traveled in over 6 years now, because of health & other reasons. At any rate, I've gotten at least some Tweets related to this on my Twitter feed. The guy who originally posted about this incident on Social Media (at least on Twitter) apparently (as he should've) contacted Delta about this (along with many others, including at least 2 celebrities I recognized, on Delta's Twitter feed); he posted their response to him tonight. It was their standard "We're sorry this incident happened. We are investigating." form, non-answer, answer.

The Secret Service, as I remember, is part of the Treasury Department. I think, like the FBI, they have agents all over the country--so they're probably (as far as I know) using agents based in NYC to protect the family. At least right now, since he's not in office yet. But once he & the family get the actual Presidential-specific protection detail, those agents may be based strictly in DC & have to relocate to protect him, Melania (not Melanie) & Barron (at the very least)--while his adult children (Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany), if not his grandchildren, also get protection (as long as he's in office, anyway), they may be protected by agents not attached to the President's specific detail. And I guess their spouses/any live-in significant others in Tiffany's case get protection by proxy (because they live with protected Trump relatives--after all, it's not fair to make Trump's adult kids live apart from their non-protected family for at least the next 4 years). I'm not real sure how protection works for immediate family of a POTUS when those relatives don't live at the White House with the rest of the family.

Another thing I read/heard was that she hadn't been feeling well "for a few days" (presumably meaning before being hospitalized on Wednesday); but, again, apparently nobody expected her to end up dying as a result.

If anyone's interested, here's what the Obama family enjoyed for their last White House Thanksgiving dinner. The Trumps' meal is linked to in his thread, if anyone's interested in comparing or whatever. http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/307500-heres-whats-on-the-white-house-thanksgiving-menu

Yep, former presidents (& their wives) still get a Secret Service detail upon leaving the office. But somewhere in the last 3 POTUSes (Clinton, Bush 43, & Obama), & I forget which 1, they reduced protection for former POTUSes from lifetime to 10 years (I think it is) after leaving the presidency. OK it turns out I inadvertently misspoke above. In 1994, they limited protection for former presidents as of January 1, 1997 to 10 years from the original lifetime protection. Then, in 2013, President Obama reversed that change & restored lifetime Secret Service protection to former presidents & their wives, under the Former Presidents Act. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_Presidents_Act And, yeah, since Bill actually reached the Oval Office, & Hillary didn't, I'd guess his detail's in charge of security at their house.

Trump's Thanksgiving dinner comprised 24 dishes, including a choice/choices from among 6 main courses & 8 desserts (see linked article for the entire list of the family's menu choices). But in what universe are deviled eggs & "tuna martinis" considered to be "from the garden"? http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-s-thanksgiving-dinner-featured-24-dishes-n688241?cid=sm_tw If anyone's interested in comparing/contrasting, I posted the Obamas' last White House Thanksgiving menu in President Obama's thread.

Everything I've read said Florence was at both Monday & Tuesday night's shows. And, my local morning news said she apparently had been hospitalized since Wednesday.

This is more minor league/ECHL-related, but I hope you'll indulge me, & I'm posting it here in case anyone here is familiar with the man. I doubt this will mean anything to anyone here (besides me) unless you follow (particularly minor league/ECHL) hockey, are from the Northeast Indiana/Northwest Ohio area, or you're familiar with WOWO Radio in that area (particularly from the days when their 50,000 watts stretched across a good chunk of the country--& even around the world--especially at night), but legendary Hall of Fame hockey/sports broadcaster Bob Chase died today, at age 90, of congestive heart failure. He's most notable for calling Fort Wayne (IN) Komets hockey games, in multiple minor hockey leagues, for all but 1 of their 65 seasons until his illness prevented him from calling any games this season--so he was behind the mic (at "Radio Rinkside", as he called it) for 63 of their (currently) 65 seasons. Chase's tenure behind the mic is apparently second only to that of recent Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree & retired LA Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, who called games for 67 seasons until retiring at the end of the most recent MLB season. He also called the real-life basketball game depicted in the movie Hoosiers, among his career milestones not related to hockey. And he mentored NBC's equally-legendary NHL broadcaster Mike "Doc" Emrick, who grew up in the Northeast Indiana area. http://news-sentinel.com/news/local/Fort-Wayne-legend-Bob-Chase-has-passed?platform=hootsuite

I doubt this will mean anything to anyone here (besides me) unless you follow (particularly minor league/ECHL) hockey, are from the Northeast Indiana/Northwest Ohio area, or you're familiar with WOWO Radio in that area (particularly from the days when their 50,000 watts stretched across a good chunk of the country--& even around the world--especially at night), but legendary Hall of Fame hockey/sports broadcaster Bob Chase died today, at age 90, of congestive heart failure. He's most notable for calling Fort Wayne (IN) Komets hockey games, in multiple minor hockey leagues, for all but 1 of their 65 seasons until his illness prevented him from calling any games this season--so he was behind the mic (at "Radio Rinkside", as he called it) for 63 of their (currently) 65 seasons. Chase's tenure behind the mic is apparently second only to that of recent Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree & retired LA Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, who called games for 67 seasons until retiring at the end of the most recent MLB season. He also called the real-life basketball game depicted in the movie Hoosiers, among his career milestones not related to hockey. And he mentored NBC's equally-legendary NHL broadcaster Mike "Doc" Emrick, who grew up in the Northeast Indiana area. http://news-sentinel.com/news/local/Fort-Wayne-legend-Bob-Chase-has-passed?platform=hootsuite

For those who haven't yet seen it, here's the link to the Turkey Pardoning, as posted to YouTube by the White House. It runs less than 10 minutes &, yes, POTUS' nephews (the sons of FLOTUS' brother, Craig Robinson) are cute. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xzzNdZ28Kjk I cannot imagine Trump doing this for the next 4 years. Sigh. At least he has 8 grandkids for the "cute" factor. Ivanka's new baby boy should be old enough to participate in it by about year 3 or 4 (if we get that far). Her other 2 kids, & Don Jr's 5, are old enough now I think.

This is apparently more like a done deal than a rumor. The morning news shows are saying South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has been chosen for, & apparently accepted, the post of Trump's Ambassador to the United Nations.

Here's the White House's video of the Medal of Freedom ceremony, which was posted to YouTube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J-txpiizCgc It's the *entire* ceremony, lasting a few seconds over an hour. POTUS makes remarks (many of which are funny, all of which--in my opinion--are heartfelt) about this year's honorees for about half the video, or maybe somewhat less (there were 21 recipients this year, which is part of the reason for the length); then the actual presentation of the Medal of Freedom to each recipient (or a family member, in the case of 2 posthumous recipients) takes up the rest of the video. Once they start presenting the medals Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, since he was specifically mentioned, is the first recipient (they're presented in alphabetical order of the honoree's last name; Melinda Gates received hers before Bill Gates, though, perhaps in a nod to "ladies first"). YouTube also has other individual presentations from the ceremony, but not necessarily all of them (or all of the "popular" recipients' presentations), if you prefer not to watch the entire presentation--just go search for whomever you're looking for. I thought, maybe, some here might like to see the entire program though, especially since it's POTUS' last, so that's why I chose it.