CatsAndMoreCats

I'm tossing my prediction into the ring. Craig Melvin has been spending more and more time at the weekday Today Show desk. Peter Alexander was just named as Melvin's permanent replacement on the weekend show. I predict that, within a few weeks, Melvin will gradually slide into the host spot for the 3rd hour. Hey, fine by me. He's certainly likeable. It also gives me hope that NBC will take my suggestion to make "The Bro Show" a permanent part of the weekday lineup. I'm still grooving on the day, months ago, when the guys sat in for Kelly during her absence. It was fun and fresh. Fingers are crossed.

I'm surprised that no one has yet posted Harris might be the one who's pregnant?

I know. I was just musing about how refreshing it would be to have a grown-up -- any grown-up -- playing the role of network wonk.

Steve Bannon, one of the architects of the downfall of democracy in the United States.

Perhaps it's a generational thing. The original Murphy Brown (which I was old enough to watch...and loved) was ALL about commenting on the political climate of that day. It's what the show does, it's who Murphy Brown is. This is precisely why the show works for me. The people in the background were at the bar for drinks or food. I didn't expect them to stop what they were doing, forks in mid-air, to catch what was intended as a private conversation. While I appreciate Diane English bringing in the producer-as-network-bitch character, I cannot stand her. She's too young to hold that position. Her "I'm all that" persona is a total cliche. If she were a person and not a character on a TV show, I'd be wishing for real life to hurry up and punch her in the gut a few times so she would learn some humanity. (Sigh...Where are Garry Marshall and Lily Tomlin when we need them?)

I only caught the last bit when the show aired last night -- when Dan went to bed. I thought it was curious that he actually got into bed on Roseanne's side (see original series for reference). She always slept on the right side; Dan was on the left. Maybe this was a continuity error on the producers' part? Or perhaps it reflected something I read once about a newly-widowed man. His wife, whom he adored, had passed away after a long illness. Someone told him it might help to sleep on her side of the bed. That way he wouldn't wake up and constantly be reaching out to the empty space where his wife had slept beside him for decades. It was a sad, sweet and very touching thought. Can't help wondering if there was a bit of that going on in this scene?

Another good vocalist is Dave Tull. He's a drummer as well -- played for Streisand on her last tour. Dave writes and performs a lot of his own work. If you know & like Dave Frishberg, you'll like Dave Tull's stuff. Not sure where you live but Dave is based in Pasadena. Does quite a bit of traveling and performing along the West Coast. Paula West is in San Francisco. Very popular and well-known in SF and NYC, but not so much outside of those markets. Elaine Dame and Alyssa Allgood are THE BEST female vocalists in Chicago. Both ladies are known for their work with G.A.S. And O.M.G.: For heaven's sake you MUST check out Sheila Jordan. She was a protege and friend of Charlie Parker. Sheila travels the world, teaching and performing. Didn't give up her day job as a typist until she was 62. She's 88 (or is it 89?) years old now and has the energy of someone HALF her age. And her talent? No words. You gotta check her out.

Dang, where's that heart emoji when I need it??? Do you know Wesla Whitfield? Rene Marie? Becky Kilgore? Two of these three ladies were/are good friends of mine. Also three of the finest female vocalists who ever lived...whom no one has ever heard of. :o(

Why would they watch it here? "Hashtag Dan Quayle." That's why. And all the surrounding context for why that line was so funny, to those of us who laughed and laughed at it. #MakeAmericaMurphyAgain

It happens. For 20 years after I graduated college, I weighed 118 pounds and was a perfect size 8. And then blammo. Menopause and uncontrollable weight gain. Last time I got on a scale I was somewhere just south of 160. Has nothing to do with my thyroid or any other weight-producing physical condition. Getting older sucks. But... the trade-off is that you gain confidence and a comfort level with who you really are. Which is what I see in Murphy. And I saw it in Hillary times infinity, tonight.

Oh DEFINITELY a reference to the late Roseanne.

Oh yes! I laughed. I cried. I missed Eldin coming in from the kitchen or through the front door. I LOVED the Twitter war at the end. "Hash Tag Dan Quayle." Yes! My soul has felt so crushed and devoid of hope for the last two years. The new/old Murphy gives me hope for impending change.

I realize I may be the odd woman out here. I don't recognize most of the names of performers listed. My taste runs more toward the Great American Songbook. Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Sammy Cahn...those are my peeps, along with the singers who sing their compositions. More recently I rediscovered Neil Sedaka. I was flipping around stations on my car radio out of boredom. Landed on an adult oldies station that was playing "The Immigrant." Wow. Memories flooded back. I was in college when "Laughter in the Rain" hit #1 on Billboard. But I was a dumb college kid. Had NO idea the depth of Sedaka's talent and popularity. Ever since that afternoon and "The Immigrant" I've happily been at the bottom of a very big You Tube rabbit hole, listening to everything I could find that Sedaka ever sang or composed or both. The fact that he has continued to reinvent himself as a composer just blows my mind. Children's music, piano concertos... wow. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that the same person who wrote "Calendar Girl" also wrote "Bad Blood," "Solitaire," "Going Nowhere," "The Hungry Years" (omg, this one makes me cry every single time), "You" and "Manhattan Intermezzo." Sedaka began composing songs when he was thirteen years old. I think about what I was doing when I was thirteen (frying my hair with hot rollers, watching The Partridge Family on Friday nights). How amazing that Neil Sedaka has given us nearly 1,000 songs and 60 years of his talent. Frickin' amazing. Here's a sampler. (Keep in mind, this was taped in the 80's. Goofy clothes.)

So sorry to be this tardy in responding. Just wanted to thank you for your thoughtful comments. As it turns out, I have just put in an offer on a place...#516! lolol...and we hope to close on this property at the end of September. I'm still not sure of the significance of 9-A. But your response is very interesting.

50 cents to the person(s) who can identify that reference! lolol

She thinks this helps her? And why does she think it makes any difference that she now states that she thought Valerie Jarrett was white? The tweet was still unblinkingly racist. She should never have said something so horrendous about anyone, at anytime, in any venue. Hurtful and clueless. She apparently will never, ever get it.

That was supposed to be funny? No editing, constant shouting, comments having nothing to do with the tweet that started this shit storm. Is this what she is really like? I mean, really, in real life? Frightening. I hope she goes away forever and ever. I won't watch another single thing she does.

Um, isn't it a Federal law that employees must be paid on time...or else? I presume the "or else" means employers will be dinged with a huge fine. This came to mind because I had an employer back in the 80's who liked to threaten that we wouldn't get our paychecks if (insert ridiculous job task here) wasn't finished on time. Maybe things have changed? Maybe you're not technically an on-staff employee who is supposed to receive a paycheck on a set schedule? But honestly, why is it so hard for people to pay for services rendered?

I had an odd combo of dream and thought/message last night. In the dream, I was excited because I was moving into my new home. I entered my new building and was asked which unit I was looking for? I kept saying 718 even though I was moving into 9-A. The only significance of 718 is, that's the number of the unit I lived in for 10 years in real life. Great building, great management, great neighborhood. 9-A has no significance that I'm aware of. I just recognized my "dream" building as being next to my old building, the one where I did live for 10 years in real life. I was excited to see 9-A in my dream. I was walking to the door when... My beautiful 19-year-old foster kitty started walking on my chest demanding to be petted and woke me up. lol So I'll never know what my new home was supposed to look like. lol The thought/message? It happened concurrently with the dream and I cannot understand the significance unless I'm simply taking in what I see on the news: I had a very strong impression that I will be shot in the chest and I will bleed out, and that will be the end of me. WTF? I don't know if this thought is connected to my dream about 9-A. I just know that they both occurred last night at roughly the same time. Any takers on interpreting this weirdo stuff?

Oh thank you for not posting "Go Cubs Go." I would have needed a barf bucket for that one.

I chuckle at the comments I saw on this morning's news programs. People are saying the supporting characters couldn't possibly sustain a show that was based on, and built by, Roseanne. The supporting characters are played by solidly experienced actors who have been nominated multiple times, for multiple awards, well beyond their work on Roseanne. I can't wait to see John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf front-and-center on the re-reboot.

The last time I smiled about ANYTHING coming out of D.C. was the morning of November 8, 2016, after I'd cast my vote (not for DT...duh). Rachel is just catching up to what the rest of us are feeling. That's all. And I agree: there is nothing wrong with feeling pain and distress about children being taken from their mothers and fathers.

This.

Not to mention the (at least one) Emmy she won during the original run of "Roseanne."

Congrats to Laurie Metcalf for winning the Tony for featured actress in a play. I wondered if she might make any reference to "Roseanne" in her acceptance speech. She didn't. Class act. Super-class act.