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We know he wasn't taking a shower somewhere, since when he turns up he looks like he always looks -- as if he hasn't had one in a week. I know I need to let it go, but I cannot believe they saddled Susan with him.
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Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage
Bastet replied to Maverick's topic in Commercials
After extensive deliberation into which of the numerous colorful Instacart commercials plaguing my Hulu experience annoys me most, I have concluded it's this one: -
I like what he said about it being half an hour out of each day when this country agrees facts do matter, and we adjudicate things based on science and history.
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S06.E05: When Sisters Collide And The Return Of The Grifters
Bastet replied to DanaK's topic in The Conners
Neville gave - gave, not loaned - Dan $500 to hire a DUI lawyer since Dan got nabbed trying to protect Neville. But when Crystal's issue came up, Dan used the money to pay for her medicine instead. Dan didn't ask Neville for more money, or impose on him in any way. He just chose to use what was now his money in a different way, and didn't mention it to Neville. Representing himself meant he got community service (which he may well have received even with a lawyer, if he hired some strip mall attorney who'd do it for $500), which is how Neville found out he hadn't hired a lawyer with that $500 and that had him off and running at warp speed to "I'm done with him". -
Forget What to Expect When You're Expecting, I think all parents-to-be should be handed a copy of Lise Eliot's Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps -- And What We Can Do About It as soon as the line shows up on the pregnancy test.
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I finally sat down and watched this, and it's great. I'm not engaging in the Oppression Olympics, as for any given situation it may be that white women had it harder in America or Black men did (and, of course, Black women were doubly marginalized, and that's before we get into the rest of intersectionality), but in the case of space exploration: How many people who know Sally Ride was the first American woman in space can name Guy Bluford, or even recognize has face as “Oh, the first Black American in space, what’s his name” even though their historic missions were only two months apart? I loved hearing from Ed Dwight. I'm far from an expert, but more knowledgeable than the average bear about both the space program and Black history. While I knew the basics about how the criteria for inviting pilots to apply to the astronaut program was purposely set up to eliminate most Black pilots (including all the Tuskegee Airmen), I didn’t know the specifics of his story, being courted as the first Black candidate (as JFK had promised in courting the Black vote) and trotted out for PR yet ultimately set up to fail. And I didn’t know Chuck Yeager had been such a racist asshole to him, and about him (saying Washington was trying to cram a [n-word] down their throats and they couldn’t let him graduate), although I’m horribly unsurprised. I was also not surprised to learn that while he was out there trying to break a racial barrier and encouraging Black kids interested in science and space to believe they could pursue it, he got flak for talking about that rather than the struggle. To have any chance at all of succeeding, he had to play the government’s game, but the fundamental point about the gulf between the money and attention spent on technical prowess versus social injustice was spot on, and something to grapple with. I didn’t note who later said it, but it was pointed out that the space program was just a particular example of how Black people had to navigate leaving one foot in their community while stepping the other into the white world in order to be successful. The segment on Afrofuturism as the one way to visualize Black people in space was also interesting, and something I’d never thought about. What I did know well was how the space shuttle program was big shift in terms of who NASA recruited, actively pitching it to women and people of color (and scientists and engineers, not just test pilots). Fred Gregory (the first Black shuttle commander) was interviewed for the Challenger documentary on Netflix, too, talking about how that video of Nichelle Nichols felt like she was talking directly to him, and I got a kick out of it both times. Bluford’s description of himself was touching – an introvert, treasuring the few friends he has but not wanting to socialize otherwise, to the extent he outright avoided the flight director everyone else was schmoozing, and sometimes needing to be reminded he’s better than he thinks he is – as was him saying he couldn’t think about the historical impact of his flight while he was up there, because he had to make sure he did a good job, so when he got back down people would say yeah, okay, we can send African Americans into space. The pressure! I love that, while he didn't want to only fly once so readily signed on to a second mission, he alsofelt a responsibility to use his fame to make sure the rest of them got to fly, too. I am plain embarrassed that the segment on the Black men in between Dwight and Bluford was news to me. I’d never heard of Bob Lawrence, despite the fact enough people at the time knew his name for his widow to receive more than one letter saying they’re glad he’s dead because “now there will be no c***s on the moon”! I also didn’t know about Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, the Black Cuban who Russia quite deliberately beat the US to the punch in sending up, whose flight was ignored by American media because the combination of Russia AND Cuba was just too much for them to handle. It always makes me sad seeing footage of Ron McNair (who was killed on Challenger); he was such a terribly talented and interesting person. I think he got more of his due in this than in the otherwise excellent Challenger documentary, and was touched to hear Charlie Bolden (first – and only, I believe – Black NASA Administrator, who delightfully invited and paid tribute to Dwight at his confirmation hearing) say he wouldn’t have even applied to the astronaut program if not for McNair, and that when he briefly doubted if he should stick with it after the Challenger disaster, he know McNair would be pissed at him if he just walked away rather than being part of finding out what happened in the hopes it would never happen again. Bolden was used particularly well throughout given his extensive experience, but good interviews all around. Another highlight was Victor Glover talking about keeping a painting of George Floyd with him for his six months on the ISS, and his conflicting feelings about this country sending him to space as its representative but allowing such atrocities to regularly happen back home. I liked hearing how many of the other Black astronauts were on his conference call, asking how they could help him navigate such a fraught time (in the wake of Floyd’s murder) while he’s so far away. It’s nice that brought them together in a new way – “the Afronauts”. Obviously, given how I’ve gone on, I recommend this. My only complaint is I wish it had not been so exclusively focused on the men; even Mae Jemison got only a brief mention, and the only footage of even the smallest length is a sweet phone call between Jessica Watkins and Dwight. If you want to tell the story of Black men in the space program, fine, and in an ideal world we’d also have someone out there telling the story of the Black women in the program, but we don’t live in that world, so if you’re going to keep talking about “Black astronauts” but only in terms of men’s experiences, please at some point acknowledge your limited focus.
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This same wonkiness (technical term) has appeared before, and then disappeared pretty quickly.
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Tournament of Champions - Season 5 Discussion Thread
Bastet replied to Mellowyellow's topic in Tournament Of Champions
Antonia vs. Michael - They got a good combination from the randomizer, and I wanted to devour Antonia's dish. I'd have been quite happy to eat Michael's, too, but hers looked like the perfect brunch. I'm thrilled she won, and would love for her to take it all this season, since it means so much to her. Shirley vs. Kevin - I like Shirley, and am still ticked Brooke lost in the first round thanks to Kevin, so I was heavily rooting for her. "Cutting acorn squash is like wrestling with a dragon" made me laugh. I really like it, but am not a huge fan of the fish, so I wasn't as excited by these dishes. Bummer Shirley lost, but kudos to Kevin for the success he's having in this tournament, including highest score of the night. Tobias vs. Dale - I have chronic anxiety (and depression), and have had attacks, so I developed a soft spot for Tobias two seasons ago when he had one on camera. Tonight I felt for him getting so overwhelmed by not finding the kimchi that he just stood there and couldn't do anything. So I was rooting for him, and loved Marcus calling his dish "Van Halen on a plate" because I was worried the judges were going to find his plate excessive (I did). Maneet vs. Eric - I wanted her dish more, and agree with the judges hers hit "decadent" harder, but both sounded absolutely delicious. I was rooting for Eric, just because Maneet sometimes irritates me for vague reasons as I said before, while he's never done anything to bug me (that I've seen, anyway), but she didn't bug me today and showed her skill with the randomizer (that's where all her winning points came from; they tied on the others), so I am happy with her win.- 173 replies
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It's not just boys, it's kids who like bugs or just find it interesting what all is in the dirt once you start digging. A couple of friends and I (all girls) used to do that when we were probably around five or six. I don't think it lasted all that long, because once you've found at least one of everything there is to find, there's other interesting stuff to move onto.
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Oh, that's right -- she saw him over the date's shoulder, didn't she? I'd developed a false memory of him appearing at her window, not his. Thanks for the correction.
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Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet - General Discussion
Bastet replied to Meredith Quill's topic in Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet
A bunch of re-runs until the plug gets pulled altogether, I guess. I just used a friend's Instagram account to check out Dr. Jeff's posts and track his recovery -- it's been almost a year since the lung cancer came back, and he's all done with radiation and IV chemo, now just on an oral chemo drug. He kept working pretty much the whole time, got the new clinic all set up, made several trips to spay/neuter clinics in Mexico and elsewhere, the usual. He's truly a special man who feels a calling and has dedicated his life to it. He will live on through all those he's taught, but I hope he remains around to do it himself for many, many years to come.- 660 replies
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Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet - General Discussion
Bastet replied to Meredith Quill's topic in Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet
It's unlikely there will ever be any new episodes. After all the mergers, Animal Planet's parent company is Warner Bros. Discovery, and its CEO is making a right royal mess of most things. No new Animal Planet shows have been produced, nor are they expected to be; the network might go away altogether. -
I'm glad you posted, as I didn't realize a new season had started -- I haven't come across any commercials for it while watching ToC (the only thing I've been watching on FN lately) and it's not on Discovery+. So I just watched the three episodes that have aired so far via the regular Discovery app. The one with English peas in the first round and steak Oscar in the second was possibly the least suspenseful episode I've seen. The editors didn't even try to disguise that neither round was close. I loved the second one, with jicama in the first round and moquecas in the second. I was really impressed with what both challengers did with jicama -- very creative. I use it in salads and slaws, but that's about it, and mostly for texture because of its bland flavor. So I'd have been at a loss to make it the star of a dish. And I love moquecas (I won't order them anymore, though, as I avoid palm oil as much as I can), so I'm glad the challenger's traditional version won. The one with the mentor vs. protege did not do it for me in the first round with the dueling bean toasts, as I hate beans, but OMG I wanted both shrimp tostones in the second round. Especially Bobby's, so I figured he was going to win.
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My favorite of the bunch.
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Gods, yes - those voices are hard enough to listen to coming out of actual children, so all the awful Haribo ads where they're coming out of adults result in an instant mute/channel change for me.