Babalu

Possibilities - I was intrigued by your issues with Medicare since I've worked for fairly large government organizations most of my life and know how difficult it is to advocate for change. It's unfortunate, but your ideas probably aren't going to be heard from within the bureaucracy. There are a few Medicare advocacy groups, though, so maybe you could contact one of them? Our most intriguing Christmas gift was the Samsung Gear VR (or something like that) I got for my husband. We're trying to figure it out and desperately need the assistance of a small child. I did take a short virtual ride on a roller coaster yesterday; while I logically knew I was safely standing in my living room, that didn't prevent me from almost falling over, grabbing the end table, and knocking everything on it to the floor, as I was swooping around and upside down by the shore of Lake Erie. NOT for the easily nauseated.

Huh. Just now learning it's not "sassy." I don't think I can change what's been ingrained, so I guess it stays "sassy" for me,

Just finished watching the series last night. I'd been watching it weekly as it aired on Starz, rather than binging because I couldn't stand to watch more than an episode a week, but when I finished episode 7, I decided to get through 8, as well, just so I'd be DONE with it. I did love the dancing, but even at the end there were times when there would be quick cuts from the performances to Romeo and Bryan, so I couldn't even enjoy that without cringing. I was pretty sure that Romeo was going to kill Bryan from the second episode (I think? The one when Bryan first came to New York), but in my mind, he was going to tumble off the rooftop of the apartment building with Bryan and die, as well. I'm not sure about this, but I studied Farsi many years ago, and it looked to me like Bryan's tattoo said "Claire" in Arabic script. Which means that, when Romeo carved it on his own chest, he did so backwards. Which seems about right for this mess of a story - that the prophet doesn't know what the symbol means.Oh, well, at least I got to see a little more Alex Freaking Wong, especially in the finale. And read more of Adam Grosswirth's writing, which I've enjoyed very much, both here and in the Smash re-watch conversations between him and Tara.

You intrigued me, so I had to Google Orly Smolder to see what it looks like. It's darker/bolder than I usually wear, but it's gorgeous, so I put it on my Amazon wish list (just to bookmark it so I don't forget about it, not that I'll likely order it from Amazon). Thanks!

Gorgeous, Kalliste! I love all the water.

Yes, perception of cold very much depends on your circumstances. I lived in Minnesota for many years, and when it got into the 30s (about 2 degrees for you, Kalliste, though you're probably far more bi-metric than we insular Americans are), we thought it was a gorgeous day. Now that I live in Hawai'i, I've been known to stand in my back yard, say that I'm freezing, then look at the thermometer and see it's 74. But when I visit friends and family in Ohio or New York in the spring, the 50s and 60s are refreshing and pleasant. Anywhere, though, the 40s inside without heat is distressing, so I'm glad you have your back, KoB.

Whoa - that's cold, KoB! Hope your heater is fixed soon. I would love a dog, too, and always considered myself a dog person. When I got together with my husband, though, he had a cat, and my previous indifference to cats has turned to love. I still want a dog, but one of our present cats is a (slowly improving) monster, and I'm afraid she'd make its life miserable; the other is timid as can be, and if we got another creature, we'd probably never see him again because he'd be under the bed permanently.

Yes, that was Alison's house (which she inherited from her grandmother). I'm sure there were repercussions, but probably not serious ones, and they happened off-screen between the night Joanie was born/the fire and the scenes where Joanie is almost a year old. (I don't think we've seen anything in the interim, have we?) Whoever brought the property obviously did it for the location, and the house was going to be a knock-down, so I'm guessing Alison didn't press charges against Cole and may have paid for cleaning up the debris, so there was no legal fall-out, and it didn't really effect the sale. Wouldn't it be funny if the buyer was Max and his beautiful new place is on Alison's old home site? I'm sure that's not the case, though, because Max thought Noah might have a hard time finding him.

Count me in with those who think Whitney killed Scotty - but accidentally. She and Noah still haven't reconciled - probably haven't even seen each other - until the wedding. Noah begs her to talk to him, they drive away in his car (she's driving because he's had too much to drink?). She starts screaming at him, takes her eyes off the road, and hits Scotty. Noah is panic-stricken - his first instinct is to call the police, but Whitney is hysterical, knows a case could be made for premeditation given her history with Scotty, and begs Noah not to report it. Helen also wants to protect Whitney but doesn't want Noah to be convicted so hires expensive legal representation and steals Joanie's pacifier to try to shift plausible suspicion to Alison/Cole. I could also see Helen behind the wheel, with Whitney and Noah as passengers, getting distracted when they start screaming at each other, bit I think Helen would be acting guiltiest if that were the case. I do think it was Noah's car that hit Scotty, but Noah wasn't driving, and whoever was in the car hid while he washed the blood off. Now watch it be Margaret Talbot who was in the car with Noah!

Robert Loggia always makes me think of this very odd commercial: http://youtu.be/bZIzRqDOSZo. RIP, sir.

I haven't looked at IMDb to see if Adam Rodriguez is listed in any upcoming episodes, but I'm not convinced Laz is dead - yet. My speculation is he told Lucius he's a cop, Lucius told him to get out of his sight forever, but that he'll show up at Cookie's concert and save her and Hakeem from the bull-tattoo gang, killing one or two of them and possibly being killed himself (dying in Cookie's arms, natch).

I think that's the infinity pool at the Sheraton Waikiki.

Thank goodness no one chose the "no dessert for me, I'll be too full" option. I knew I liked you all. When I do Thanksgiving at home, I usually make a pie that has pumpkin but also cream cheese, vanilla pudding, and plenty'o'whipped topping. I'm not crazy about plain pumpkin, and this is a perfect compromise. Or sometimes I get a Ted's pumpkin haupia pie. (Ted's is a local bakery and haupia is a coconut pudding.) If you're ever on O'ahu, let me know and I'll hook you up.

Thanks, BW. I thint you may be right. I wonder where the underwater shots were done - probably just stock footage from somewhere but would love to know where.

Where are these deserted, pristine islands within a couple-hour boat ride from O'ahu? I think the closest Northwestern Hawai'ian island is at least a couple of hundred miles away. Oh well, as always, I'm willing to suspend my disbelief doe the gorgeous scenery - and the underwater photography was spectacular. I'd love to know the filming locations.

Rinaldo - I remember you saying that Santino Fontana's understudy was on when you saw Cinderella? Was that understudy Nick Spangler (winner of one of The Amazing Race seasons, with his sister, Starr)?

Sorry about your sad/bad news, KoB. I've seen the first 5 Star Wars movies (or #s 4, 5, 6, 1, and 2, I guess, although I dozed off a little during 1 or 2) and don't plan to see the new one. If my husband husband wants to see it, I might go with him, though. We did make a rare outing to the movies last weekend, though, for The Martian. Matt Damon has said a couple of bone-headed things lately, but I think he's a good guy who was regrettably stupid, and he has enormous appeal.

I'm intrigued, as well. My conjectures are that, as you said, his novel's ending is beginning to germinate and present itself during moments when he's not consciously thinking about it (sleeping/swimming or the old "I get my best ideas in the shower" syndrome). If this is the case, I would think we'll see his visions differ significantly from what later happened with Scotty - unless someone who read the novel (Helen? Whitney?) decided to bring fiction to life. That seems uncharacteristically soap-opera-y for this show, though. Then again, maybe there are similarities - didn't Detective Jeffries mention the novel last season and its parallels with the murder (accident?) when he was questioning Noah? My other thought is that the visions are Noah's memories of the night Scotty was killed and, even though that hasn't happened in the timeline we're watching, it has happened as Noah is remembering that time and has become kind of a subtext of all his memories.

An article in The New Yorker about some of the art in Empire (I'm a subscriber, so I could see it; hope it's not behind a firewall): http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/empire-tvs-contemporary-art-gallery?mbid=social_facebook

Quoting myself because: DOH. This is BEFORE Fargo, the movie, so there was no box of money yet. I was so fixated on thinking that would be a recurring motif that I forgot the timeline.

What if Peggy found the money and was planning to leave her husband, skip town, and run away to Hollywood the next day? It still doesn't explain what she thought the explanation for the body would be, but maybe she was going to try to frame Ed. She seems deluded enough to think she could just change her identity and disappear. And it might be a reason she didn't call the police when she hit Rye if she thought the police or someone else might find the money. Just wondering how and when the money will turn up - because it has to, right? I'll probably have a million other theories before we find out.

I'm still confused about Frank's purported cannibal scene. Wasn't he talking to Jermel while he was eating? Jermel seemed freaked out and frightened but not in physical agony like he would be if he'd had a chunk of flesh removed. Also, when Cookie opened the box, it looked like a white guy to me, so I had to re-wind to make sure it was Jermel - which I didn't want to do, believe me.

Tobias, named after Adam's grandfather, I think.

First time viewer; just finished S2. Walt absolutely knew he was supposed to turn Jane on her side. That episode was very heavy-handed regarding that message. First, there was a scene where Jane told Jesse to lie on his side so he wouldn't suffocate in case he vomited; then, there was a scene showing Walt putting Holly on her side with a towel behind her so she wouldn't roll over onto her back. He purposely watched Jane die to save Jesse from her. And was filled with grief at the whole situation. The discussion about how long you sympathize with Walt is really interesting. My husband and I were just talking about the whole teddy bear/body bags teaser and how it ended up not being a drug war or anything else we might have expected - but also how much the plane crash tied in to the main storyline and who was at fault, leading back from Jane's dad to Jane to Jesse to Walt. My husband said he thinks everyone is a victim, and I disagree with him about Walter. Okay - diagnosis, no savings, family, pregnant wife, blah blah blah cancercakes (am a cancer survivor myself), but I pretty much stopped feeling any empathy for Walter quite a while ago.

Darn, I wish I'd realized Sarah was in We Are Heroes. I loved her. I went to the very last show of the S3 tour in Reno and ran into her in the hotel. We chatted for a few minutes, and she's really nice. The Triplets of Belleville number is one of my favorites. In addition to Philip and Emilio, I.aM.mE has kind of a "stepsister" relationship to SYTYCD. Tam Rapp (and her twin sister, Tiara) dance(d) with 24-7, home of Mark, Pono, and Cole. The Rapps had also previously been on ABDC as part of 8 Flavahs (along with Camren Bicondova, the adolescent Catwoman on Gotham).