Chickabiddy

Does Elena have…..an Adam’s apple? Maybe it’s just me. Dave is a moron. Any decent chef should know that an American pancake is NOT a crepe. The charter guest is an asshat to be sure, but what he described was NOT a crepe. Crepes are much eggier with two eggs to one cup of flour. It’s a completely different flavor and texture. If unsure, dummy Dave could have consulted Mr. Google. That’s what a professional does. Course, after the noodle trick, I hope Dave gives them all salmonella. 🤮

So, I posted way back in episode five (feels like a lifetime ago) that I have fanatically enjoyed the show because I treated as parody….along the the lines of “ The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. At first I felt it was unintentional parody, and then around episode six, I started to think the director just gave up and said, “Screw it. Let’s go all in for satire.” However, after this last episode included practically every horror film, suspense film, whodunnit film trope out there in the last 10 minutes….I mean black phantom rising out of the fucking staircase? I have to say I think the joke is on us. This whole fucking series has been one giant Easter egg. It’s like a more subtle Scream for grown-ups. A complete fucking horror film farce. Hard to believe with such a stellar cast of actors. However, maybe at a certain age, the actors are all like, “Screw it, what’s the point of getting old in Hollywood if you can’t fuck with the audience.” And apparently they all had so much fun, they left the door wide fucking open for Season 2. That series ending had more loose threads hanging than a cheap ass sweater from Target. And on a sidenote, how many people realize that John List was lying about going to work, and instead he was going to sit in a park every day before he killed his family. Sound vaguely familiar? Yes, I might be completely off base, but if I think of it this way, it keeps me from having to take the seven episode tripe seriously and try to make sense of it and the 6000 different directions that tried to go into at the very last minute. 🙄😘 p.s. not even going to revisit the comedy gold of Nora’s wild success with her pottery. Others have covered it far better. But I do love how we never saw a pottery wheel, a studio or Nora with her hands even remotely dirty. Ghost did a far better job on that note. 😜

Ok. Time to ‘fess up. I fucking love this show! I am forcing myself not to binge it all at once. The secret to my rabid enjoyment is I just assume it is the same genre as The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window. 😜 For reals if you just assume it’s parody with a lead cast of solid actors, it’s a really fun Spooky Season romp. I take none of it seriously and indulge in the camp. Add to that I get to enjoy some architectural and interior design porn, and it’s a win-win. Oh and Yeah no way could Mrs. Brannock ever sell out a show or support her family on that monochromatic, one-note, boring, bargain basement Pottery Barn pottery. That whole scene was comedy gold…without even trying. 🙄😘

Yep. Captain Lee don't play... Glad Brittini called out the double standard. I am so sick of Jamie and double standards and toxic masculinity bullshit. Talk about small dick energy. Maybe it's more subtle than Ryan's, but it's still there. It's another show, I know, but if they can bring Kyle back for another season, they better bring Tumi back and make her Queen Stew or something. She is just fabulous on all fronts. Maybe she is too good for this show. She needs a Food Network show on entertaining and being a fabulous hostess. I would totally watch her. That is all.

Jamie really gets under my skin for pettiness, control issues and insecurity. I have already commented on his toxic masculinity and misogyny that makes me treat women and non alpha males like Benny not very well. However, I am staring to think that his ego is so fragile that he is starting to feel threatened by Culver. Goofy Jack o' Lantern grin aside, Culver is a pretty buff, confident guy who has a good time, and if not the life of the party, seems to hold his own as "Chief Entertainment Officer." And more girls than Brittini seem to like him. I am starting to think that Culver's easy, confident, relaxed masculinity is starting to grate on old fragile pants Jamie at the end of the season. I think he is pissed at Culver for those reasons he can't name and just wants to take him down a peg...not stand up for him to captain and then rub it in that Culver is is in the captains crosshairs. Taking Culver down a notch, jumping in Benny's shit for everything and keeping the girls in line is all Jamie has to prop himself up. Add to that that we have seen him criticize the captain pretty openly and brazenly for his lack of security concerns. The bosun has concerns with the captain's performance and told his team that he would take it up directly with him if necessary. That's pretty fuchin' arrogant. With all that said, I just see Jamie as this fragile, shivering, weak little ego wondering around looking for validation in all the wrong places.

That’s all well and good, but what irritates me about Jamie is that he essentially scolded Tumi when she shared with him that she was irritated with Culver for hanging out in the hot tub with guests while she worked. Janie’s attitude in that situation was that flirting with guests and having a good time with them is part of getting a good tip. And Tumi has proven herself to be a good sport. If she complained to Jaimie, Culver must have been hanging out for an extended amount of time. No one complained about Britini’s flirting, but Jaimie was happy to jump in her shit about it anyway. With Jamie, what’s good for the goose is not for the gander. He has a double standard. 🙄

I think Jamie suffers dually from fragile and toxic masculinity. His professional experience is marked by “macho” rescuer roles…life guard, security guard, police officer. Or the roles feature a very hierarchical structure where Jamie gets to be “The Boss” and tell everyone what to do. Now he wants to land helicopters on yachts. 🙄 He keeps moving from job to job because none of those jobs is propping up his fragile sense of manhood. So, he moves on to the next job in the hopes of filling is masculine void, which no job can do because the problem is internal. That fragility makes him overly sensitive to criticism and teasing, particularly if the teasing includes insults meant traditionally for women, i.e., bitch. I don’t think he would have been as offended if the women called him a bastard or asshole. He gets butt hurt too easily, and this also drives his need to move on to new jobs. His over sensitivity might also alienate colleagues over time, and his increasing unpopularity also drives the need to move to greener pastures. As for his toxicity/misogyny, it wasn’t lost on me on he lectured Timo for being upset that Culver spent so much time hanging with guests while she worked because it’s the crew’s job to amuse the guests and flirt with them to increase tips. However, he was pretty critical when Britini was having a good time flirting with the guests. They seemed to to enjoy it, too. However, Jamie wasn’t happy. Double standard, much? Further, he tattled on the girls to a man for their insults to get them in trouble. He couldn’t have a conversation with Aesha or Britini to sort it out, and he gave Britini the cold shoulder when she tried to work it out after Jason talked to her. I think Jamie is smart enough to keep his masculinity/misogyny issues under wraps, but they do peek through from time to time. I’m actually starting to believe Benny a little bit that Jamie might be a domineering asshole from time to time, and we just haven’t seen that footage. Benny is not a stereotypical tough guy that a Jamie would have a lot of respect for. So I can see him treating Benny with the same respect he treats the girls. Just my two cents.

Yeah, that’s why I wrote large parts. I don’t think it’s all, and I do think it’s more common up north, but I am not an expert. 😘

Historically, high tea was actually just the evening meal eaten by the working classes at the kitchen table - a high table. In fact, large parts of he UK today still refer to the evening meal at “tea.” A low tea was enjoyed in the afternoon and served in the drawing room on a sofa table - low table - for the wealthy who did not have to work. This is afternoon tea with finger sandwiches. A cream tea is a souped up version of afternoon tea with scones, clotted cream, and petit fours. Afternoon tea, just like anything, can devolve into something pretentious where people are trying to be upper class. I guess we could say the whole BD franchise is just a lot of wanna be’s who are trying to be jet setters, if only for 72 hours. 😉

Ok, so in life according to Rayna, Heather must be raked over the coals forever for what she said when drunk, but when Rayna is equally insulting and vile to Wes, we all need to move on because everyone was drunk, and it was a bad night. 🙄 Sidebar: Rayna has every right to be angry with Heather for what she said, but she also needs to step up and own her own vile behavior with Wes. Hypocrisy thy name is Rayna. 🙄🙄

Of course Rayna doesn’t want to have a sit down with Eddie and Heather to talk about it. She wants to control the narrative and use it to her advantage to the bitter end. 🙄

I wrote about this after episode 6, and will mention again here, echoing what others have said above thread. As a Catholic, and not a hardcore one, I just can’t believe that a priest, even one with onset dementia, would be so quick to see that winged creature as an angel or emissary of God. It looks like something out of central Catholic casting for an evil demon. It looks like a gargoyle jumped off a church and came to life. Exorcism has taken a backseat in the Catholic Church for centuries, but the concept of good and evil is still very present. There is an understanding of Satan and his power to corrupt. The St. Michael prayer, which is common enough at Mass in different dioceses, even beseeches St Michael to protect us against Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl the world seeking the ruin of souls. Enter winged blood sucking demon stage left. I just can’t accept that a lifelong priest, attaining the rank of Monseigneur, would be so quick to accept that demon as an angel. He should have been more skeptical and questioning. it’s just a huge plot hole for me. It would have been more compelling if we some internal struggle or conflict with Pruitt wanting to believe that this chance at renewed life was something good, but trying to square it with all the evidence to the contrary. He just bought into it too easily as a miracle from God. It also would have been more interesting for me if the demon had looked more angelic or divine. Drawing on the understanding that the devil comes in many forms and has the power to deceive would have been more impactful. Pruitt just gave in to it too quickly. And, yes, Pruitt got off to easily. For one, he let himself off too easily. There was no repentance, no reckoning or atonement. Just a pat “Do you forgive me?” to Millie, and a let’s go off and die with our daughter. Oh, well. Even with these flaws, I did sort of enjoy it. I think the show tried to do too much in seven episodes. A good show, but not a great one. It came close, but just didn’t have the tension, pacing, and character development it needed to be as profound as I think it wanted to be.

I don’t know. This show is losing me. As a Catholic, but not a hardcore one, I just can’t buy that a priest, even one with onset dementia, would confuse that winged creature lurking in the darkness for an angel or an emissary of God. Whatever that winged creature is, it is out of central Catholic casting for an evil being. It looks like a gargoyle jumped off a church and came to life. While exorcism has taken a back seat in modern church life, there is still very much an understanding of light and dark and the power of Satan to corrupt. Just read the St. Michael prayer. It mentions Satan and the evil spirits who prowl the earth seeking the ruin of souls. When I lived in New Orleans, we said that prayer at the end of every Mass. I would find this story more compelling if the vampire/demon/evil spirit had taken on a more “angelic” or less outwardly dark form. That would have spoken more to the concept of how the devil comes in many forms and can deceive us. At he very least, Pruitt should have been more skeptical and less trusting about what happened to him. His immediate acceptance that what happened to him was an act of God is the biggest plot hole for me. And it just kind of ruins it for me. Well, that’s my two cents. They say confession is good for the soul. 😉

What people don't understand about gifts is that the moment you give it, your control over the item ends. You cede control to the person you gave it to. If an item is truly a gift, then the giver lets go completely - meaning the person who received it can throw it away, set it on fire, or give it to someone else. When gits have strings, they are not gifts, they are transactional items used to control for the benefit of the giver in some way. The definition of a gift is "a thing given willingly to someone without payment" Wanting a say in how someone uses a gift is demanding a form of payment in terms of control by exerting your own vision or desires for how something is used on to someone else. Using gifts to control the actions of others, no matter how subtly, means that the "giver" is not generous or actually giving. The giver wants something in return, no matter how intangible. It's a transaction. A quid pro quo. It doesn't make the person who does this evil, but it does mean that her or she is not the virtuous or generous person they want to think they are.

It’s been 22 years and Herr Chickabiddy and I aren’t divorced yet. Course, we circumvented the K1 process, so maybe that’s part of it. 😉 Happy Mardi Gras, y’all! 😘

I have to co-sign this from my time in Louisiana. Plus, one of my favorite memes ever was - “We’re no alcoholics, we’re from Louisiana” it’s definitely a culture that’s not afraid to imbibe. Cocktails are just part of every social event from brunch to lunch to walking the dog through the neighborhood with a wine glass after work. Commander’s Palace made the 25 cent martini at lunch famous. They did have to limit them to three. 🙂 We baptized my son at St. Louis Cathedral and had lunch with wine at Muriel’s for 30 afterwards. The Audubon Zoo sells daiquiris and my son’s school always had sangria at the spring festival. Bigger money maker than the bake sale. 🙂 It’s a different mindset. And to be clear, all that nasty drunken behavior you see in the FQ is from tourists who can’t handle their drink and don’t know how to behave in someone else’s town. Now, I may question Jovi’s taste level with his choice of morning libation - Brandy Milk Punch is a better pick, but I can’t accuse him of being an alcoholic based on what I’ve seen on TV. He is a hard drinker but I think that’s a a combination of occupational hazard and the local culture. And of course, if I had to go home to Yara the harpy, I would be diving head first into a bottle of vodka. 😉

How did I miss this before my reply? I totally feel you Dobian.

But that’s my point. Natives don’t sound like that when they say New Orleans. Jovi doesn’t. It’s so cringe that natives don’t even use it in jest or as a joke. It marks you as a total outsider. It’s like people calling San Francisco. “Frisco.” 🤮

Oh, Lennie, never been to New Orleans and commenting like an expert on what Yara can expect when she is there. All the Wikipedia links in the world don’t mean that natives use Nawlins, ever. It’s like calling the streetcar a trolley. Sure way to stick out like a sore thumb. I bet you wear green in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day. 😉 Also not sure what your travels in Europe have to do with NOLA, but ok. My family from France and my husband’s family from Germany always loved New Orleans. Plus all my EMBA students from all over Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and UKRAINE always had a fabulous time in the city when they can for intensive courses. I get it. Your mileage varies. I just wish some of your mileage had actually been in New Orleans before, ya know, commenting on it. 😘

I’m not really sure how much time you have spent in New Orleans - I don’t know anyone who actually uses the term Nawlins, but I only lived there for 15 years.😉 New Orleans offers so much more than the Jazz and crawfish stereotype. 🙄 They have wonderful art museums, several historical museums in the FQ, an aquarium, an Insectarium, the Audubon Zoo, WW2 museum, walking historical tours, architectural tours, voodoo tours, and historical riverboat rides up and down the Mississippi. My fave goes to Chalmette Battlefield. There is also a lot of great, local retail and day spas on Magazine St. Let’s not forget Audubon Park, City Park, The Joy Theatre, The Saegner Theatre, Mahalia Jackson Theatre. Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre. And then all of he music venues on Frenchman Street. All of the places offer live performances beyond the “street/jazz scene.” Tulane and Loyola both offer numerous theatre, music and cultural events. And if their undergrad students can walk around the city quite safely, I think street smart Yara from Ukraine can handle New Orleans on her own. Lived in the French Quarter and Uptown and used my bike and the streetcar almost exclusively. Never had a problem. It’s a tourist city with friendly, outgoing people, excellent restaurants and even better Happy Hours. Used to be able to sneak out of work early, hop a streetcar and meet the girls for 50 cent oysters and 2 for 1 frozen French 75s at the corner of Napoleon and St. Charles by 5:15. And if that’s not enough, Yara can easily arrange for pick up at a local hotel to go on s swamp tour, visit historic homes on River Road or go to Avery island to tour the Tabasco Factory and bird sanctuary. AND they even have indoor plumbing and AC in NOLA, too. Yeah, I should be working for the New Orleans Convention and Tourism Board. But I get my back up when my favorite city is viewed in one dimension as having no more to offer than a street scene with Huge Ass Beers. Course I sort of blame Jovi for taking Yara to Bourbon Street. Locals don’t go there unless under duress, and they certainly don’t take friends there, which actually may say a lot about how Jovi really feels about Yara. Thanks for coming to my NOLA TED Talk. 😘

So a few things: While I loathe Yara, I have to agree with her that wearing shoes in the house is gross. She needs to buy Jovi a nice pair of house shoes. Share a little positive Middle/Eastern European culture. I do feel Jovi for defending NOLA streets. It’s really only parts of the French Quarter that reek of pee, etc. And it’s not locals pulling that. It’s the damn tourists who can’t behave. Yara is such a spoiled fucking brat. There is so much fun stuff and cultural outlets in New Orleans. And so much of the actual city is walkable and lovely. There is plenty for her to do while Jovi is working. She should spend a week with Natalie or Julia to find some fucking gratitude for having landed in NOLA. As for Jovi not wanting to leave home, that’s a very Louisiana thing. As a population, Louisiana has the highest percentage of people who remain on the state or move back at some point. So even if Yara manages to get Jovi to LA, he will repatriate to NOLA within a few years. It’s just what Louisianans do. I’m amazed that so many people are surprised Brandon acts like a high schooler. We should be amazed he still isn’t in diapers with the way his mother treats him. Speaking of his mother, she needs some intense psycho therapy. Holy Cow! Mother’s Day weekend needs to be devoted to her adoration and veneration! Julia better be careful if she has the audacity to become a mother, too. Brandon’s mother is going to lose her shit if she has to share her glorious mantle of motherhood and weekend of worship with the likes of gutter snipe Julia. Things are gonna get ugly real quick. Yikes! And speaking of crazy, what is Natalie doing to her mouth in her talking heads? Injections? It looks like she slapped some wax lips on her face. Yikes again! And in closing, Mikevand his cat better watch out. Natalie keeps giving me a bunny boiler vibe that I just can’t shake. Yikes thrice! 😘

I think Mike is just fucking with Natalie for sport at this point. I can’t say I blame him. It’s long been obvious she would be absolutely no fun at parties. 😉

Yes it is! You can buy daiquiris at the Audubon Zoo and in drive throughs all over Metairie. Cops know you aren’t drinking and driving because your straw tip is covered in paper. 😳 My favorite meme ever was “We’re not alcoholics, we’re from Louisiana.” 😉😘 God, I miss NOLA. Yara can fuck right off with her NOLA hate. 🙄

Count me in with those who don’t quite get the Francesca hate. It’s not like she is refusing to train Elizabeth how to fancy pour wine or the the intricacies of a formal 10 course place setting. As others have stated, Elizabeth is failing at following the most basic of instructions. And frankly, it is not a managers’s job to help an employee succeed at any cost. An employee needs to take some personal responsibility for themselves and show some initiative. Even hapless Shane was seen making notes in a journal any getting help from Izzy on how to tie knots. And yet, he got fired and Elizabeth is still hanging on. Why aren’t we seeing the same level of Eddie bashing? Could it be that when men make a hard command decision at work, they are good leaders and when women do the same, they are just bitches? Is Francesca expected to mother and nurture and tolerate her weaker staff because she is a women? I certainly didn’t find Eddie to be good at training Shane. He wasn’t patient. He didn’t give compliments for meeting basic expectations. Izzy spent more time mentoring Shane than Eddie did. If Eddie had spent as much time training Shane as he did complaining about him, Shane may have done better. And yet, here we are excoriating Francesca and essentially giving Eddie a pass. And managers should not have to compliment and mollycoddle employees for meeting basic expectations. Compliments should reserved for excellent work or sparks of initiative. For example, Ashling came up with the idea of offering g a morning cleanse to the guests. She came up with the idea and executed it well. We never see Lee compliment the crew for executing the bare minimum. And maybe we are all ok with that because he is man. During the demotion talk, Elizabeth made no effort to find out from Francesca the specific details or concrete reasons of what she did wrong. She asked no questions and made no effort to work out an improvement plan. It’s just easier to shake her head, flounce her hair anf basically say that “Francesca just hates me because I am prettier than she is.” If Elizabeth spent as much time doing her job as she did taking shit about Francesca, she would probably be chief stew by now. 🙄 .

And yet, royalty would never partake in high tea. What a pretentious fucking moron. High tea is what the working classes ate at a high table, ie, kitchen table in the evening after work. Dinner refers to the main meal - usually had at lunch. School children in the UK call the lunch lady the dinner lady. Today lots of Brits refer to the evening meal as tea. Low tea is just a normal tea time and was what the upper classes had/have in the afternoon served on a low table, ie, coffee table in the drawing room. Thus douche wants a cream tea — the souped up afternoon tea with watercress and cucumber sandwich, scones and jam and cakes, etc, etc, etc. If you are going to be a pretentious, demanding, hoity toity dick, at least get your facts right. I hate these assholes already. 🙄