Good Queen Jane

I am so going to sing "For He's A Jolly Good Savior" at my next Christmas party. Ruby was on fire in this episode.

Based on this game, I think Kelly was absolutely correct when she said her grandfather lets her win when they watch Jeopardy together. That was painful to watch.

Charlie did say he would drop in once in a while to see how Dre was doing, so let's hope that happens. I like Charlie, but he's better in small doses.

The scene that really had me laughing was the one in the morgue at the end. Of course, Grinder NO would make love on the cold dead body of his brother. My second favorite scene was The Original Recipe Grinder's death in the courtroom. "The Grinder rests...in peace" indeed! Fun episode!

Courtney Hicks won Junior Ladies at Nationals in 2011. She had one of the most spectacular spins I even saw. She was considered a real contender but she broke her leg in the fall of 2011 and was out for a whole year. She was also being coached by John Nicks and then had to find a new coach after he retired. I'm glad to see her finally start to get back to some national prominence. She's only 19 (well, 20 on December 15) so she should just be hitting her stride.

The 2015 Grand Prix season is now complete and the list of qualifiers for the Senior and Junior Grand Prix Final has been posted. Normally, there are six qualifiers in each discipline. However, the rules were modified due to the abbreviated competition at Trophee Bompard. If the 7th ranked skater or couple competed in France, they get a bye into the Grand Prix Final because they couldn’t do their Free Skate at Trophee Bompard. Under the modified rules, the Pairs teams of Seguin and Boldeau of Canada will be invited to the Final as the 7th qualifiers. The rule didn’t apply in any other discipline. The U.S. will have competitors in every Senior discipline except Men in the Final, and will have competitors in Men and Dance in the Junior Final. For the first time since 2007, the U.S. qualified a team to compete in Pairs at the Grand Prix Final (Scimeca and Knierim). Below are the lists of qualifiers for the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, listed in order of finish: SENIOR GRAND PRIX FINAL MEN Javier Fernandez, ESP Yuzuru Hanyu, JPN Shoma Uno, JPN Boyang Jin, CHN Patrick Chan, CAN Daisuke Murakami, JPN 1st alternate: Han Yan, CHN 2nd alternate: Max Aaron, USA LADIES Gracie Gold, USA Evgenia Medvedeva, RUS Satoko Miyahara, JPN Mao Asada, JPN Elena Radionova, RUS Ashley Wagner, USA 1st alternate: Rika Hongo, JPN 2nd alternate: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, RUS PAIRS Duhamel and Radford, CAN Kavaguti and Smirnov, RUS Sui and Han, CHN Stolbova and Klimov, RUS Scimeca and Knierim, USA Yu and Jin, CHN Seguin and Bilodeau, CAN 1st alternate: Peng and Zhang, CHN DANCE Weaver and Poje, CAN Chock and Bates, USA Cappellini and Lanotte, ITA Shibutani and Shibutani, USA Hubbell and Donohue, USA Bobrova and Soloviev, RUS 1st alternate: Sinitsina and Katsalapov, RUS 2nd alternate: Gilles and Poirier, CAN JUNIOR GRAND PRIX FINAL MEN Nathan Chen, USA Dmitri Aliev, RUS Sota Yamamoto, JPN Roman Sadovsky, CAN Daniel Samohin, ISR Vincent Zhou, USA 1st alternate: Deniss Vasiljevs, LAT 2nd alternate: Alexander Samarin, RUS LADIES Polina Tsurskaya, RUS Maria Sotskova, RUS Yuna Shiraiwa, JPN Marin Honda, JPN Mai Mihara, JPN Alisa Fedichkina, RUS 1st alternate: Kaori Sakamoto, JPN 2nd alternate: Da Bin Choi, KOR PAIRS Atakhanova and Spiridonov, RUS Oganesian and Bardei, UKR Borisova and Sopot, RUS Gubanova and Sintsov, RUS Duskova and Bidar, CZE Poluiana and Korotkov, RUS 1st alternate: Hoffman and Chudak, CAN 2nd alternate: Weinberg and Fernandez, USA DANCE McNamara and Carpenter, USA Parsons and Parsons, USA Loboda and Drozd, RUS Popova and Vlasenko, RUS Lauriault and Le Gac, FRA Skoptcova and Aleshin, RUS 1st alternate: Abachkina and Thauron, FRA 2nd alternate: Carriera and Ponomarenko USA Because of the abbreviated competition in France and several highly ranked skaters doing only one or no Grand Prix events due to injury (e.g. Jason Brown and Joshua Farris in Men, Volosozhar and Trankov in Pairs, Papadakis and Cizeron in Dance), this Grand Prix Final isn’t quite the preview for Worlds that it has been in the past. Still, the competition should be fierce among the skaters who will be in Barcelona as they take their measure of each other prior to Worlds in Boston.

The ISU has announced the action it will take in light of the cancellation of the Free programs at Trophee Bompard in France: 1. The results of the Short programs will be considered the final result, and points and prize money will be awarded to skaters accordingly. 2. Since skaters were not able to compete in the Free Skate/Dance at Trophee Bompard, the ISU will modify the tie-breaking criteria for the Grand Prix Final as follows: - If there is a tie after the best placement in the skaters’ two designated events, the total points scored in the Short Programs will be the first tie breaker (previously, the first tie breaker was the total points scored in the competition). - If there still is a tie, participants who competed in two events will be given an advantage over participants who competed in one event. - If there still is a tie, the number of participants who competed in the two designated events will be added to the total. The higher number of participants at a competition will count for the better total/ranking. - If there still is a tie, all tied skaters will qualify for the Grand Prix Final. 3. The top 6 skaters/couples in each discipline will qualify for the Grand Prix Final; skaters/couples who finish 7 to 9 will be considered substitutes. However, if a skater/couple who competed at Trophee Bompard is ranked 7th, that skater/couple will be invited to compete at the Grand Prix Final. This is probably as good a comprise as the ISU could devise. It doesn’t penalize the skaters who did not compete in France but still offers some avenues for skaters who were at Trophee Bompard a way to make the Final. Under this revised procedure, Gracie Gold will qualify for the Grand Prix Final. Patrick Chan is currently ranked 3rd in the Grand Prix standings and Max Aaron is ranked 6th. Assuming that Boyang Jin of China, Maxim Kovtun of Russia and Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan all make the podium at this weekend’s NHK Trophy, Patrick Chan would be invited to the Final as a 7th place finisher who skated at Trophee Bompard. There’s an outside chance that Max Aaron could end up in the 7th spot if Jin, Kovtun and/or Hanyu crash and burn at NHK, or if one of the three withdraws for some reason. The chances are slim for Aaron to make the Final but there is a chance. Jason Brown has withdrawn from NHK because of a back injury, so he won't make the Finals. Volosozhar and Trankov have withdrawn from the Pairs competition at NHK, so they won’t make the Final. Seguin and Bilodeau of Canada could go to Barcelona depending on where Duhamel and Radford, Scimeca and Knierim and James and Cipres place in Japan. In Dance, Gilles and Poirer of Canada also have a shot at going to Barcelona. It will depend on the placements of the Shibutanis, Hubbell and Donohue, Bobrova and Soloviev and Coomes and Buckland at NHK. There is a lot more riding on the outcome of NHK this weekend than usual.

Who is the actor who played Ted, the older gay guy? He was fantastic! I know I know him, but I can't remember from where.

I was just coming to post this, but selkie beat me to it. NBC has purchased the rights to figure skating events (as well as other Olympic sports) from Universal Sports TV and will be showing figure skating on its Universal HD channel (not be be confused with Universal Sports). They will be airing the Men and Ladies Short Programs from Rostelecom Cup on Friday night and the Pairs Free Skate and Free Dance on Saturday night.

From icenetwork on 11/14/15: Peter Krick, the figure skating sports director at the ISU who is present in Bordeaux, also made a statement. "I have just informed (ISU) President [Ottavio] Cinquanta of the decision of the French government. We're sorry for it," Krick said. "I'll propose that the results of the short program provide the basis for the selection to the (Grand Prix) Final, so that the skaters present here are not penalized by having participated in only one Grand Prix. This, however, is only a proposal, as the ISU Council will have to make a formal decision. But I am confident the Council will follow it, so that no one will suffer to have only one Grand Prix event."

So is Tom dead? I could have sworn I heard him moaning and taking breaths when Jake rolled him over. And as Jake himself proved, a few mortal wounds don't mean anything on this show.

I want to know who are the other game show contestants who are on Vaughn's pub trivia team. If Vaughn has only the fifth highest winnings, the other guys must be pretty spectacular.

I have to admit that I didn't see it coming that the son was a 23 year old man. That was funny. And I liked how everyone was concerned about Clare being upset about Dean dating someone and she was all, whatever. Much to like about this episode.

Spousal privilege means that that a spouse cannot be forced to testify against the other spouse. So if Olivia and Fitz were married, Olivia could refuse to even appear as a witness in the Senate investigation against Fitz without penalty, just as Fitz could by claiming executive privilege. There is another kind of spousal privilege that covers conversations between spouses, but that can be invoked whether the spouses are part of the proceeding or not. That only covers conversations while you are married.

Well, of course you can claim the Fifth Amendment. But would that be as much fun as getting married to claim the spousal privilege or blackmailing Senators?

So everyone in the federal government (with the possible exception of VP Susan Ross) is hiding some horrible secret that the delivery of an envelope can cause them to stop what they are doing. What a cynical view of politics, Shonda! I am more and more convinced that this is all going to be like the movie Sliding Doors and, just when the Olivia and Fitz are dying in each other's arms, we will be sent back to that fateful moment when Liv is asked if she is the President's mistress and this time she will answer an emphatic NO.

What I can't figure out is why there is a Senate committee investigating Fitz for possible impeachment when the US Constitution clearly makes this the responsibility of the House of Representatives. The House impeaches the President who is then tried by the Senate. The Senate has no business doing any investigation. Or are we in Bizarro World?

An update: Russian Men’s skater Evgeni Plushenko has told TASS, the Russian news agency, that he has no plans at the moment to undergo any surgeries on his spine. In mid-September, Plushenko was diagnosed with a new spinal injury and it was announced he would miss the current season. The report at that time was that Plushenko would undergo surgery at some point to fix the injury so he could be ready to skate in the 2018 Winter Olympics. But now, Plushenko seems to be hedging his bets. “There were media reports that I would undergo a surgery, which is necessary for me,” Plushenko said in an interview with TASS. “I want to say personally that there were no surgeries and I do not plan any as of today.” “I have traveled to Israel where I underwent spinal block and physiotherapeutic procedures,” Plushenko added. “I am feeling well now. Yes, I am not jumping quadruples as my doctor prohibits it. But I do triple and a half an all triple jumps. My spine allows such jumps.” Plushenko announced that even though he is skipping the current season due to the new spinal injury, he is working on two short programs and one free skate. He told TASS that he would skate his new programs at an exhibition performance in the Estonian capital of Tallinn on October 18. So once again, Plushenko has left the figure skating world in a fog of confusion. It’s not clear if he will have the needed surgery or not, but apparently his back holds up well enough that he can do triple axels and other triple jumps at shows for which he gets paid. Will he or will he not make a run at skating in the 2018 Olympics? Who knows. In other news, it has been reported that French Skating Federation president Didier Gailhaguet is formally launching a bid for the ISU Presidency when current president Ottavio Cinquatta steps down (hopefully) next year. Gailhaguet, as you might recall, was suspended by the ISU for three years after being named as a central figure in the judging scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Gailhaguet is said to have pressured the French judge in Pairs to give the highest scores to the Russian skaters in that discipline so that French skaters in other disciplines would get high scores from the Russian judges. Gailhaguet also has been criticized in the past by French skaters for taking what they considered to be an extraordinarily large percentage of their winnings at various competitions as a “fee” due to the French Federation.

That scene made me laugh out loud. I also laughed at the scene where Todd confessed to being the mole and everyone was, Yeah, we knew that.

I keep mixing this up with Night Shift. You have the doctor with the tragic past performing miracles with gonzo medicine, the calm ethnic doc, the wise black male nurse, the administrator worried about the bottom line, the gay/lesbian doc, the newbie residents, the overflowing waiting room. In the end, I like Night Shift better. I missed the first episode. Who are those people watching everything over the walls? Med students?

Jeffster! I loved Jeffster! Thanks for reminding me.

As legaleagle53 said above (on another topic): Quelle surprise.

The Finlandia Trophy, a Challenger Series/Senior B competition, was this past weekend. Adam Rippon won silver. Apparently he went to the salon with his pal Ashley Wagner to have his hair dyed. Adam, however, decided to turn his hair color to silver. It’s a, well, different look and one I’m not sure was the best choice. But it does make him instantly recognizable. The video from Finlandia wasn’t great, but it looks like Adam has also done away with all but a few curls on the top of his head. I’m not sure messing with the curls was a good choice, either. As Charlie White showed, there is power in those curls. Julia Lipnitskaia of Russia also won silver. She has changed physically since she competed last winter. It appears that puberty has come upon her. She has grown some, her legs are longer and her body has filled out. Not surprisingly, Lipnitskaia’s jumps were more awkward in Finland than she has shown in the past, although she still has the flexibility to do her amazing final combination spin. I’ve only seen one video of Elena Radionova this season (from the Russian Open in September) but she also looks a bit taller and more mature since last season. This is what happens with 16-year-old girls. It will be interesting to see how Lipnitskaia and Radionova cope with their new bodies. However, the Russians seem to have an endless stream of pre-pubescent girls ready to step in if Lipnitskaia and Radionova should falter.

The Japan Open has the skaters only doing their Free Skate and the emphasis is on the artistic, so I would expect Mao to do better than the young jumpers. Nathan Chen also has been hitting a quad regularly. On a shallow note, Ashley Wagner is now a brunette, the better to distinguish herself from Gracie, I guess.

This. Although I would have loved seeing Anna dance with someone else, I'm sure that all the other female pros were begging people to vote for Paula so that Gary would be eliminated.