DearEvette

Yeah, the first reports of the project, under a different name, were all abuzz (ha!) because Malia Obama was hired to be a writer on the show. But as far as content, it was supposed to be about the Beyonce-like figure herself. That was about a year ago. But since then it seems like they've re-tooled it, gone darker and now centered it around a crazy stan. Not what I was expecting, LOL. but I like Dominique Fishbeck and I keep her projects on my radar.

We are now a post-racial society? Ha! Just kidding.

There are quite a few Federal and State funds available for public schools for the sole purpose of professional development. And the CARES act allotted quite a bit of money for educators to use to help with development, especially as so many schools had to close due to Covid and educators had to learn how to use alternative teaching strategies. Also, remember Abbott got a big grant at the end of last season and Barbara helped Ava allocate that money so that could be a possible extra source. And it looked like Ava was a presenter at one of the sessions, so her costs were probably comped by the organization. When I would present at conferences the conference organizers always footed my entire bill including travel and food. It sounds like from what Janine and Jacob were saying, they had to fund their own transportation costs and probably had a per diem for food. Alcohol is usually not included or it might have been something the organization itself negotiated with the conference center/hotel as an inclusive price with the room as a way to keep the conference goers at the hotel and using all their amenities as opposed to going out to bars. I thought it felt about right for a local public school conference. I never worked in public schools but I'd go to a lot of conferences in my role as an IT person in the college and Universities I worked for. And also when I was an education software consultant for a big software consulting company. In my heyday of conference going I'd go to about three or four a year. One was given by our accrediting agency of which I was a member, that was usually in Lancaster, PA or Atlantic City. One was given by my national professional organization and would hit some bigger East Coast cities like NYC, Chicago, Boston. The best one though, was the one sponsored by the big software vendor we used for our student system. That was Hawaii, Vegas, Los Angeles, Florida, New Orleans etc. My expense account for those was great an I was able to drag the husband and kids along so they could sightsee while I sat in sessions or presented. Anyways, I liked seeing them outside the school. This was nice because even though they were outside of school it was still very much work related and therefore it very much still felt like a workplace comedy. One of my favorite episodes of the season.

Very funny episode. I laughed quite a bit. And the writing for this episode was simply excellent. They absolutely got the conference vibes correct. The vendors, seeing people from other places that you see on the conference circuit, the flowing alcohol, some people being excited to go to the various sessions and taking notes, while others slack off and visit the sites of the city. The only thing they didn't really include was the sheer joy of eating out at expensive restaurants on the company's dime. Another thing I really liked about this episode was how many callbacks we got and the continuity (Kristin remembering she thought of Janine as "Bilbo" to the return of the teacher that kicked the student and she is a mess, to mention of Draemond again and the revisit of the charter school possibility that was left hovering from the first half of the season, and Barbara's penchant for losing shoes -- I guess since she spent so much time at the pool 'Sea Barbara" made a quick appearance). Oh, I loved the pointed irony of being a white teacher who has made a conscious effort to learn about other cultures and be enlightened only to be dismissive of the students who are less likely to "make it out" and be so unaware at how tone deaf that is. Some people would characterize her as "woke" but her actual attitude literally the opposite of what that word means. Yikes. I saw Jacob's face fall when she was saying all that. Also, of course Jacob would know about the AKA pinkie sign! A couple of things that made me LOL the most: The "Damn" -- both of them by bystanders re: the Amber/Gregory breakup. The photographer who was so over it and his sarcastic asides “No one’s ever done that.” said in thee most deadpan voice. Kristin showing up on the down low in her Inspector Gadget/Carmen San Diego get up with her spy vs. spy whispers only to have Janine loudly blow her cover by saying her full government name loudly several times. HA! "Absolute Gasp!" And finally... I am so glad they pulled the trigger on the kiss. I hate the idea that a will they/won’t they has to be dragged out until it limps along from old age. I like the progression of this. Also the deployment of the kiss was really nice — the setting, the absolute lack of any ambient noise, the continued flower/plants motif that has meaning for both of them… so nice. It was a great scene for them.

I was watching Back to the Future and as we know the movie makes a point of showing the big effects of the changes that Marty's intervention in the past made to his family. But I always get tickled at one small thing. In the present day, Marty meets Doc at the Twin Pines Mall that has a bright neon sign that says 'Twin Pines Mall' at the entry of the mall parking lot. But when Marty time travels to the past he knocks over one of the twin pine trees at the Twin Pines Farm which was the original site of the current day mall. First thing he does when he comes back to the present day, he runs to the Mall to see if he can save Doc from the Libyans and he runs right past the neon mall sign that now reads 'Lone Pine Mall.' I love that scene because the movie didn't try to draw your attention to the new sign because all the tension was on Marty trying to get there in time to save Doc. But it was there, and they let the audience realize the significance on their own.

Not only did the younger actors look like a younger Will and Angie, they sounded like them… especially the guy who played young Will. The Faith and Will banter remains top notch. Also that awkward hug after his rescue was great. I get why Amanda is invested and has a personal relation ship with Faith but she also has a major soft spot for Will. Feels more than just a commanding officer who respects and is invested in their subordinate. She was visibly shaken and distraught by his disappearance. So I want to know more about their back story. The way Will said “Babs’ every time he spoke to Bars tickled me for some reason. Also, the fact that Babs just wanted to get to her pole dance class until shit got real also tickled me. Man, I have not heard cheap sneakers referred to as ‘bobos’ in a minute! When we were kids, that was a legit insult and quite shameful if your footwear was called out as being bobos and not a named brand. I dislike Ormewood, but I also appreciate that the show is showing the kind of cop that he is. Most cop shows have their POV cops of the "And justice will prevail and I will work this case with a burning fervor to bring the bad guy in" at all costs type of cop. Or what on the Wire they referred to as "good po-lice" and what Trevor Noah calls Copaganda. But Ormewood is the type of cop who does a convenient, expedient type police work which may or may not lead to to justice. Oh he may get a bad guy off the street, but it may not necessarily be the guy who committed the crime that he is currently investigating and he doesn't care. From the moment that woman basically laser pointed him to a person who she didn't like and was inconvenient to her business and he just fell in with her plan because she had something on him, it spoke of sort of a lazy, work-a-day type of corruption that is likely more common than not. So yeah, I appreciate that we are seeing that and especially because it is coming from a main character that they are not trying to make out to be evil, per se.

Airdate: 02/22/2023

Barbara's husband on was on an episode last season. He came by and they had lunch in her classroom. He was played by Richard Brooks (or as I will forever think of him as Paul Robinette)

Love Is Blind Season 4 drops on Friday, March 24th. All the singles are from Seattle this time. Per Tvline:

Yeah. In retrospect, I think Cole and Zanab were doomed the minute she asked him to rate her against the other girls. Why would you do this? I can't think of any other person on the show that has done this. But I think that poisoned (to her) the entire relationship from there on out. And I think if she had picked any other guy she would have asked the same question. The only difference would have been if he'd responded differently than Cole.

Airdate: 02/19/2023

RIP Richard Belzer. I know that his character Munch appeared on several different shows but I never realized just how many and in every genre: Of course he started on Homicide: LOTS and ended on one of Law and Order franchises But he also appeared in: Arrested Development The X-FIles 30 Rock American Dad Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt And there was even a Muppet version of him on Sesame Street!

The Podcast with Nick is here and I listened to about an hour of it. First of all, Raven looks gorgeous. I really like her with the dark hair. And her make up looks great. Second, SK comes off as even more shady than I originally thought. The one thing that kinda floored me the most: He and Raven were engaged during the reunion show. But couldn't reveal it because it was going to be part of the After The Altar show that had already been filmed. But... some of the revelations about the women had come out by then. At that point (during the taping of the reunion) Raven believed the women were relationships before they had gotten back together. But apparently, the one woman he went on an intimate couples trip with happened after they got back together and after the engagement. That hadn't been revealed to her yet. But SK apparently (during the reunion taping) told the producers and had begged them to remove the proposal/engagement footage from the After The Altar. This was apparently was him trying to shore up the claim he wanted to make that the other women happened before he and Raven got back together. After Raven found out about the third woman, he had asked her to lie and claim that they weren't together then either. He was apparently upset that the opinion of her on social media had gotten so much better (people began to like her more) while his reputation was tanking. He wanted her to lie to help him out. Anyway there was a lot more really not cool stuff he did in relation to his cheating including trying to get her in trouble with the producers, claiming she was posting things that they were prohibited from posting because not everything had aired yet So he'd narc on her, she'd get calls from the producers and it would turn out that she hadn't violated anything. So yeah. he was a peach.

What a great Barbara episode. Gregory was channelling All About Eve. Ava better be careful, LOL. "What is the number one cause of fire in a school?" "The CIA" -- Oh Mr. Johnson, never change with your conspiracy theory loving self! Although I a not surprised he is so well adjusted. Shalita Grant was great in this. She really made her small scenes work. She was on Season 3 of the show 'Search Party' and she killed as the lawyer. And then she topped that with her suburban wife role in Season 3 of YOU. Actually, all the guest stars were great, including the two firefighters that got most of the face time. Favorite line hands down this episode. I DIED! I believed her. Her facial expression showed disbelief. Also she told them to cut the tape after she said it. Also one of the firefighters who had used the cookies to try to knock off the frisbee on roof, licked off some of his fingers and he did a "hey this is actually good" facial expression. It really was a nice blink and miss it moment. I think it was supposed to be a quick foreshadow that the cookies were good. Yup, yup, yup. I loved her running after Barbara and Barbara opening up to Melissa and not hiding behind her facade with her.

The Will/Faith partnership really has become a highlight of the show. I liked the whole paranoia 'big brother is watching' concept of the COTW. The diner murder was really shocking. I knew intellectually the relationship between Faith and Amanda was quasi-familial in nature and that is probably was long standing. But Faith lashing out at Amanda brought home just how personal and long-standing their relationship is. No quasi-familial about it at all, but straight up family-close. I wasn't sold on the casting for Charles. He just reads as younger than Faith. When he first appeared I thought he was a younger brother or a friend of her son's. Even her interactions with him felt more maternal than those of a parental partner. The way they were playing it, the Director definitely was aware. I can only assume that it was just greed that motivated him to look the other way as a software company mined his organization for information that could potentially put his agents in danger. But the company sounded sophisticated enough with their spyware that they didn't need him to be aware. They could have simply mined all the data and gone about their business. It sure sounded like maybe no one in IT was even aware that anything squirrelly was going on until this case. I still maintain that Angie/Ormewood feel like they are on a different show. Even their cases feel like easily solved busy work. I like Will expanding his connection group first with Betty and now Nico and his looking out for Faith. Good episode.

I just saw this on Will Trent and it made me think of this forum. When you are sent to hide in a closet for your safety when an imminent home invasion/crime is about to happen, the closet will be one with louvered doors, easy to see out slats, so you can witness the crime/murder being committed but they can't see you in the closet.

Juliet Marillier's Blackthorn and Grim trilogy is a fantasy/mystery series. The first book, Dreamer's Pool, introduces the two protagonists, Blackthorn is a woman who was imprisoned for attacking the powerful man who killed her family and Grim, a quiet, giant of a man who tried to watch over her while they were in prison. Blackthorn is laser focused on one thing. After one year she will get her day and in court and will seek her revenge on the person responsible for her incarceration. But things don't go as planned. In order to save her life she enters into a strange bargain with an elf lord. The bargain entails her to travel to a far land and take up the role as a Wise Woman. For a period of seven years she must help anyone who asks her. Grim, still in his self appointed task as her guardian, accompanies her. The two of them settle in the principality of Delriada and somehow word gets around that Blackthorn can help you solve a difficult problem. In this first book Blackthorn and Grim become embroiled in solving two mysteries both Fey and mundane. The start of the book is pretty dark with the scenes of the two in prison which is rather a vile place, but that only lasts about a chapter or two. The rest is very much high fantasy/mystery.

Airdate: 2/15/2023

Agreed. I don't care one way or the other that he doesn't want to do sex scenes. It is totally fine not to want to kiss or caress someone even when it is a job and everything is choreographed. I have never been on a movie set but have heard enough about the need to have intimacy coordinators on some sets to know that sometimes intimate scenes can get a little heated and may disregard previously agreed to choreography and standards. That some directors become over zealous and some actors feel they are not able to voice consent when they feel uncomfortable about an ask. So it can go beyond just acting. Using that reasoning would have been fine. And In listening I think he glanced on that. But I think using marital fidelity as a reason not to do love scenes just seems a little extra. I think if he had kept it to himself nobody would have ever noticed his lack of love scenes. But then again he probably thought he was just chatting on a relatively obscure podcast and didn't expect the likes of GMA to blow it up, LOL.

It wasn't a press release. He has a podcast and he and his podcast partners were talking about S4 of You. As podcasts go, it was pretty conversational and they were talking about what a departure S4 is. How there didn't seem to be that longing/romantic central theme that characterized the other season and how they kinda struggled to bring this season together because it was conceptually different. He also struggled with trying to explain some stuff without spoiling part 2. As a follow up, one of his fellow podcasters mentioned that there was less intimacy this season and she was aware of why, and did he want to share. That is when he talks about the marriage and fidelity. To be fair, his answer is a little broader in that he said before he took the role in You he had been consciously steering his career path away from being a romantic lead. He also said he had never mentioned that publicly, it was just a decision he made. He said he just got to a point where he just didn't want to have to kiss people. He also acknowledged that he signed a contract and that the romance and intimacy aspect was part of the DNA of the show and would abide by what the creators needed from him, but he made the ask and was accommodated.

Yeah I think it was filmed before the reunion. The actual Pods/Honeymon/Weddings all took place during the Summer of 2021. Zanab and Cole both say they haven't talked to each other in a year, which puts this somewhere at least Summer 2022. Alexa's birthday is either August or September, depending on what site you believe. Most say September. So this would have been filmed in September of 2022 at the latest. The show aired October-November 2022. The Reunion had to have been filmed after the show aired because they talked about watching some stuff back. I do think some of the Talking Heads for After the Altar were inserted after the Reunion, though.

In the end this felt kinda... thrown together. Nothing felt new or interesting. Like S1 where we got a lot of Mark tea and we saw how well Kenny had moved on and they redeemed Jessica and we saw how Diamond and LC were BFFs. And even though I was never an Amber/Barnett fan or even liked her really, they come out heads and shoulders above everybody on this show (except maybe Raven and Cole). I read somewhere that Alexa said she and Brennon are the new Lauren and Cam and I'm like... Cam would nevah. He is dead ass in love with Lauren but he never comes off as whipped. I feel like the show tried to rehab Matt's reputation. They showed him all jokey and smiley. Trying to make it seem like he and Colleen just butt heads all the time and are equal offenders. But Colleen and Matt are so … offf. They feel like a green card marriage or something. They don’t act like they are married or even dating seriously. They act like they’ve only been dating for a month and just aren’t sure about each other. Their vibe is just weird. Matt’s parents saying marriage is work is 100% correct. But man, it shouldn’t be that difficult in the beginning. There is work and then there is hard labor. LOL. Also was that really Colleen’s apartment or did they just say that because she didn’t want them to film in her real apartment? Because that place looked un-lived in and sterile. Like the model apartment in a complex they tour new people. There wasn't even a coffee table. Just two sad looking mis-matched couches. SK’s brother “Ask them about cancellations and returns just in case.” This is pretty hysterical in hindsight. That as a pretty ring. I hope Raven kept it. But man I could not watch that travesty knowing what we now know about SK. Raven’s shirt dress was super cute this episode. Actually Raven looked great all three episodes. So, did we just see a live example of how Zanab and Cole’s relationship works within the bigger LIB group dynamic? We saw how the conversation with down between the two of them. And sidebar: as much as I have castigated Cole as being immature I thought he was very mature and thoughtful in his conversation with Zay. You could tell he was still reeling under her ‘No’ at the altar and this is the only chance he’s had to get some clarity about it with her. And in what I feel is a lot of growth, when she tried to make the conversation devolve, Cole steered it back and tried to get them to a place of peace. And even Zay caught herself one or twice with the interruption. So props to them both. But then she went back to her girl group and represented the conversation in a way that I feel isn’t exactly how we just witnessed it go down. I just found it odd that she characterized herself as this woman who put her foot down and made a statement of strength to this man “I said what I said and I’m done” when that as … not my takeaway. I learned that this was actually filmed before the reunion. So I understand so much better Cole’s state of mind at the reunion with them ganging up on him when he felt he had put a lot of bad feeling to bed with Zay with this conversation. He felt blindsided so I get it and feel even more bad for him for the shitshow that was the reunion.

Brennon is a gaping asshole. There I said it. In what world does he have a right to talk down to Cole that way about what went down between him and Zay. He didn’t like the way it went down… uh, newsflash Zay said no to Cole and proceeded to eviscerate and embarrass him in front of everyone. His anger at Cole is bizarre. If this was the energy they were bringing it was rude to invite him. That is just nasty and inhospitable. Cole is an idiot. Yes. But you can see how uncomfortable he was. It was gross how he was trying to be cordial and people were not giving him the cordiality back. Like I said, inhospitable and serves no purpose except to show that you know how to be a bully. NGL, I thought his word vomit to Alexa's stepmom was funny. Hey, it's not like I didn't say the same thing when they first showed her, but I have the luxury of being on my couch. And to his defense, she did say 'Mom' at first before correcting it to 'Stepmom.' But he just went on. LOL. For once, Bartise did some good by getting him the fuck out of there. Sorry but that party felt tacky as hell. Alexa’s dress was not cute. Lingerie as evening wear has been played out since 2003. But beyond the dated look of the dress, it was simply not flattering. The addition of the sheer gloves was giving me stripper wear. And not high quality stripper wear. Oh Zanab. Why do you need to look HOT AF for Cole? Why are you dressing for a man who you say disrespected you? You have had nothing to do with him for a year but suddenly your entire well being at this party is dependent upon him. Make it make sense. I feel like she and Nancy absolutely internalized the fact that their chosen men did not think they were the prettiest girls in the room. Bartise, imo was way worse about it than Cole. Bartise actually constantly TOLD other people he did not find Nancy attractive. Cole only ever said he thought Colleen was more his physical type to Zainab and only at her request or goading. In both cases the women are doing this over the top fashion with blonde highlights and the extensions and pillow lips. In Nancy’s case it is coming out in an extra neediness toward Bartise and trying to seek his approval of her looks and to prove she can pull him back. In Zanab’s case it is coming out in a more negative way, belittling and snide remarks. She wants to punish Cole and show him that she really is a 10, not a 9. In either case it is pretty sad. It has been a whole ass year. I am sure the show coming out and the public scrutiny has kept it feeling more immediate, but really they had been apart a long time before the public had ever heard of them. Like Brennon, my overall opinion of Zanab has fared the worst over the course of the show. I was initially really liking and rooting for them both, but now I think they are probably sunken down to just above Matt and Bartise in my estimation. These four have mainly soured a fun show for me. They made Season 3 trash, imo.

I had almost decided not to watch this because after the reunion I decided I did not like any of these people, except Maybe Raven and I felt bad for Cole. But I am nothing if not a completionist. My first and overwhelming thought when watching this was.... why the 10lbs of spackled on make-up? And the lips! Did they all invest in a Kylie Jenner lip plumper? I am really disheartened by the dependence on this specific aesthetic. And why so many women buy into it. Nancy and Zanab in particular are remaking themselves into the image of, well, Alexa. Their unique features were perfect for them. Raven looks so natural in her apartment with SK and then we get to her talking head where the lip liner and super gloss is so distracting. Nancy was doing too much. She was wearing a cocktail dress for a lunch and drinks. I lost a LOT of my early liking I had for Brennon and Alexa and this did nothing to change that. They both are annoying. She keeps talking about their sex life. And he comes off as holier than thou. I think it is hysterical that it seems like her dad back hand shades him for being the beta member of their pair. It feels like her dad likes him ok, but doesn't totally respect him. And Brennon saying "I just don't want to be around him." About Cole when Bartise is right there acting a fool. What did Cole ever do to you? Look, I am no great fan of Cole, but the outsized dumping on him is ridiculous especially coming from Alexa and Brennon. Zay is the only one who might legitimately have beef. The way they continue to personalize what went on in someone else's relationship is stupid. Colleen saying “He sees a future with me.” That sounds like something you say about someone while you are dating, not while you’ve been married for a year.

So Sad. RIP Trugoy. The impact of 3 Feet High and Rising can not be overstated. In the midst of Public Enemy's social rage and NWA's gangsta realness supremacy comes this trippy, happy, fun hip hop with beats and samples that were genre spanning. It was a perfect and necessary expanding of the genre. I remember when it came out, we played the hell out of that CD!