Bastet

"I got a lot of problems with you people!"

I don't know if you watched The X-Files, but in "Squeeze" Mulder asked Scully if she had any Dramamine when they sat down to search through a bunch of records on microfilm, since "these things make me seasick".

I hate facial hair, especially beards, so I enjoyed that brief respite from the mess that is his face, but I don't have any problem with him regrowing it not generating any commentary from the other characters - he shaved it off in the hopes of looking more appealing to the potential investor he was meeting with, not because he'd decided he didn't want a beard anymore, and everyone made fun of his clean-shaven face. So I figured it was temporary and that thing was coming back. I don't care that they didn't rehash the reasons why.

As long as it's not too sweet, that sounds delicious! What kind of dressing? I have all those ingredients, so I may put something like that together for lunch tomorrow. (It always amuses me when I see something, especially burgers, with avocado and pineapple called "California [Whatever]" in other states, and then here in CA, it'll sometimes be listed as a "[Maui] Whatever".) Tonight I have a pork chop brining, and will have that with a side salad (kale based), roasted Brussels sprouts, and Kraft mac & cheese. I'm a little sad not to be able to have dinner with my mom (we usually spend Mother's Day together most of the day, culminating with me making dinner at my parents' house), so I'm consoling myself with my beloved neon orange chemical packet.

It is a long and silly story as to why my friend sent me the link to a two-year-old tweet, but this cracked me up:

Oh, I don't think so for a moment. He has never had stability in his life until now. He could never make friends, since his mother moved him around so much and, more importantly, he never knew who he'd be coming home to (and bringing friends home to) - in terms of her own personality, and the guy she might have with her - depending on whether she was high. He got knocked around, "love" was always conditional, and then he finally got outright abandoned, necessitating selling his body to have money to eat. Now he has the first place that has ever felt like home, because he has the sense of security that comes from knowing you're loved, respected, and safe. Sharon transformed his life, and possibly quite literally saved it (given the number of street kids who wind up dead), and Provenza is also an important influence. He needs these people. Thus him saying he doesn't need any time to think it over, they know his decision - as much as he hates the restrictions that come with being under police protection, he'll take that in a heartbeat in order to remain with the people who've become the family he never had. The typical level of autonomy he could have under another identity isn't remotely worth the trade-off of having zero contact with that family until after the trial.

That's interesting, since he was reported by two DD&D producers to be homophobic. It got me curious enough to do a cursory search, and I found this AfterEllen article at the time of the group wedding. If it looks like a dudebro and talks like a dudebro, it's usually a dudebro. But, hopefully he did change (or wasn't like that to begin with) rather than this being a PR move, especially since his own late sister was gay and he has a nephew via her. It would be nice if his worst offenses were being unbearably annoying and a daily fashion crime.

There is a florist right down the street from my parents' house that has been there my whole life. The one nearest to me (about half a mile) has changed hands a few times and I haven't tried out the newest folks yet. There are a couple more in my neighborhood that have been around a very long time. The florist who did the flowers for my parents' anniversary party took over from his dad, so that shop has made it (very well; they do a lot of events for the studios) a long time. And the family-owned bakery from which we got the anniversary cake is the same place that had done their wedding cake. I don't order flowers very often, but I wish I'd thought to do it for Mother's Day this year. I don't normally get my mom flowers; instead we spend the day together (go to a museum, gallery, etc., go to lunch, then hang out at my parents' house and I make dinner), but obviously that cannot happen this year. It would have been a nice surprise for flowers to show up. Oh well. Maybe it will be an even nicer surprise if I order "miss you" flowers to show up on a random day next week. Especially if the card reads, "Just to let you know I miss spending time with you. Okay, yeah, I didn't get my shit together in time to send you Mother's Day flowers."

Oh, yeah - the one at my happy hour is the original recipe.

If these characters were real women, and we somehow overcame the geographic differences to have monthly happy hours together, I'd love my life.

The Charlie’s Angels sight gag in “Pick Your Poison” is perfectly done, because it’s not overplayed – they have no idea they’ve turned in unison, so that when Dr. Morales makes the joke, Sharon, Amy, and Emma all look at themselves and each other, confused, until they recognize the pose they’ve inadvertently struck. (And then when he calls “Angels?” to summon them into the autopsy bay, they turn in unison again. Ha!) Another thing that always makes me laugh in this one is when the obnoxious teenage drug dealer says they like to party at Grandma Pushkin’s house because she’s “like, deaf – and in bed after Jeopardy! [which, in L.A., means she goes to bed at 7:30]”. I also get a good laugh, in the midst of the horrifying realization one brother was victimized by his teacher, when Mike gets really into his visual demonstration of how the teacher’s fingerprints would have gotten onto the headboard in that pattern and Sharon has to cut him off. And Rusty’s deadpan, “Well, hanging around with dead people isn’t as fun as it sounds ...” when Sharon asks him if he wants to wait in the morgue to go with her or go to PAB now with his security detail is funny, too. As is Andy’s reaction when the narc – or buy guy, in LAPD parlance (which I don’t, well, buy, that Morales has never heard) – says the kids call ecstasy “slut dust”. And Provenza’s oh shit face every time Sharon reminds him that, when she has time, he’s going to get it about mentioning option three. And Julio calling Sharon to ask if he can arrest the lawyer for annoying him. There are a lot of little funny moments in an episode that is not at all comedic. I like the serious moments, too. I love how much Amy hates the teacher. And how disgusted the lawyer is with his brother; that asshole killed two teenage boys in order to get revenge on his wife by framing her for it! Most of all, as usual, I love the Sharon and Rusty stuff. That he, a month later, returns the “I love you” sentiment is wonderfully played, as is her reaction when she says, yes, she knows – she did, but hearing him say it is a big deal and that's written all over her face as she watches him walk away. Another perfect beat is Rusty, given a day to think about his two options, telling Taylor and Provenza, “You guys already know my decision”. And I love Sharon slipping and referring to herself as Rusty’s mother; for the obvious reason, and for how Taylor and Provenza – both fathers - react. Provenza went so far as to enlist Taylor, with whom he spends as little time as possible, to help him talk Sharon into option three, and he’s getting riled up at her about it, but he completely softens when he realizes why she’s being so obstinate about letting Rusty do something that could put him in danger. I also love her calling Rusty’s bluff when he says he’ll go to boarding school if she doesn’t let him see the new letters, and him asking, “What is it with you and the mental health industry?” when she makes being evaluated by a therapist a requirement for participating in a police action. And her reaction when she thinks he’s going to come out. (Also, I absolutely love that, thinking he’s going to ask to be evaluated by a therapist who’s gay only to find out he wants one who’s a chess player, she runs out and gets one who’s both.) Something that struck me tonight for the first time: Between “In my ongoing attempt to be less annoying …” and “Given that she had sex with a minor, I think it might be easier for you, Captain, if I dealt with her” the writers are now pretty much waving the white flag at the audience over Emma.

Yes, the other diners rate the restaurants - and that indeed happened this time around, per an article in the Media thread from one of those diners - and general reception has occasionally been mentioned at JT, although it was always clear it was just something to bolster the judges' praise/criticism, not anything that would dissuade them from a vote they were leaning towards (e.g. if something popular with the masses was not up to their standards). In situations like this, where one restaurant was so clear a winner they didn't even attempt to edit in suspense, it makes sense we saw the usual snippets of diner feedback during the episode, but their cumulative feedback wasn't a point of discussion worth airing, even if it was had.

Oh my god, the waists in those drawings!

In praising Stephanie for stepping in to expedite, I forgot to also note the great feedback she got for the salt cod patties -- I love how she asked Gregory for the origin and tradition of the dish and then executed it perfectly based on that feedback. She's not as imaginative or ambitious as many of the chefs left, but she makes terrific food other than when she's totally out of her depth; when she knows what she is supposed to be doing - either because she's confident in her own take on a challenge or she's made herself comfortable with parameters filtered down to her through a teammate positioned above her in a group challenge - she nails it. She's inconsistent and hesitant enough when she doesn't that, in how this challenge is played and with this caliber of competition, she's not a true contender for winner. But she's great. If I wanted to employ a personal chef and she lived in L.A. instead of San Francisco, I'd hire her in a heartbeat. (I'd also just invite her out for drinks and conversation regardless; I really dig her personality as well as her food.)

When I first saw the commercial for this, I got a little excited; they were hit and miss, and increasingly miss, but some of those original TV movies were really good and things I'd like to see again. Then the commercial continued and I realized CBS was just going to be airing theatrical movies, not any of its old TV movies, on Sunday nights. And that can be nice, certainly, but I don't like any of the first five films they've chosen.

OMG, the episode airing right now is the one where cocoa nibs were the required ingredient in the first round and the chef who moved on to round two was the moron who didn't get any of his food done (which was already only supposed to be something like candied nuts), so only served a cocktail with a dusting of cocoa nibs around the rim of the glass - because you could taste the cocoa more in his "dish". Now, yes, the other chef chose ingredients - e.g. lamb - that were almost guaranteed to mean cocoa was not the primary flavor, but he made good food and got it done under the time constraints; why on earth would you instead - when round two doesn't have any "make Bobby's ingredient the star of your dish" requirement, just that they make the best overall version of a dish of their own choosing - pick the guy who can't do anything more in twenty minutes than make a drink? And, indeed, the challenger loses. But Bobby wins that flourless chocolate cake challenge with an absolute textural and visual mess of a cake that looks worse than something out of an Easy-Bake Oven, because it's more chocolate-y than the challenger's. This has to be the most WTF episode of the entire series. I do not believe the first round winner is predetermined, but if I had to judge based on this episode alone, I'd instead align with those who do.

I had to pop over to the Live Chat thread while this was airing to ask the same thing - it was that Malarkey would be front of the house. I LOL at Padma’s “May I ask why?” when Gregory picked Malarkey as his first choice. (Wanting him for FOH makes sense, but “Um, what?” was my instinctive reaction, too.) I also may have done a little clap for more Stephanie Izard; I really like her. I like the free reign, and numerous shopping options they got this time, but until producers start hiring trained service staff, Restaurant Wars is never going to be a truly great challenge. And they should have more help setting up the dining room. It would clearly all be food I'd be happy to have the chance to try, but neither cuisine is near the top of my favorites list, so I wasn’t particularly excited by either menu like I have been in some previous RWs. At least in the prep stage – once I started seeing the food, I really wanted to eat at Kann. And they were the clear winners, at least from what was aired. Before I get to the food, I must say I loved Stephanie stepping in and saying it would be more helpful if she expedited; Lee Anne wasn’t going to get very good results with her style of dealing with the staff. Kann: I wasn’t sure if the menu blurb was going to be overdone, but I was pleased to see it come out well. First: On the whole (I don’t much care for plantains), I think I’d have really enjoyed this course. Second: The fish looked terrific. I don’t like rice and beans, but I love chicken thighs. So I’d have been pleased with this course, too. Third: I wasn’t excited by the dessert, but I have perhaps less affection for sweet than the average person. The Country Captain: Those menus did look ‘80s (and, I know this was in a talking head, not on the menu, but “the plantation South” makes me uncomfortable, not hungry, Kevin), and it just didn’t come together – problems on every level, and some of them inherent to deciding to do family style in a challenge in which customers (eating for free and wanting to be on TV) linger too long even when they have courses designed to keep them moving. Kevin was the right one to go. First: The canapes looked good, but I agree with Tom that none of it screamed “southern”. Second: While, as I said, I love chicken thighs, this country captain dish doesn’t really do it for me. And, really, the only side I particularly wanted was Karen’s – but, apparently, it wasn’t very good. This is all just personal taste; I don’t particularly like several of the ingredients used in the umpteen sides. Third: I hate bananas, but if it was made with something I liked, it would have been visually appealing. It was rather big for something everyone was getting an individual serving of, though.

Ah, that makes sense. Thank you (it was just mumble, mumble to my [crappy] ears).

What did Gregory say as his reason for picking Malarkey first? I couldn't hear him properly.

I loved both Cybill and High Society; the characters were a bit AbFab-ish, but they weren't "American AbFab" like Roseanne was hoping to produce. Roseanne put Patsy and Edina in an episode of Roseanne she wrote and directed (one of the post-lottery episodes, so the characters are all at some rich socialite's party in NYC; the AbFab gals give Roseanne drugs, and she has a trippy dream), but never developed the American version. That's among the special features on the DVD and Blu-Ray sets. I think it drags on too long, but, indeed, there are some funny moments.

I like it, too, because it's just so Provenza, and what I like most about it is my belief he wouldn't have said it if Sharon was still there. She leaves the van clearly shaken by Brandon having killed himself while on the phone with her, and is out of earshot by the time Provenza answers Carlo's question about what's going on with that dry quip. At this point in their relationship, Sharon is used to his Provenza-esque responses to things, and either smiles, smirks, ignores him, rolls her eyes, shoots something right back at him, or smacks him on the arm, depending on the situation. And the flip side is he'll squelch his particular brand of humor under the few circumstances when she's just not up for doing any of the above. As a random aside, I've recently been re-watching Any Day Now for the first time since it aired, and after a good half dozen episodes of wondering where on earth I recognized the actor playing Johnny from I finally looked him up -- it's the actor who played Daniel Dunn, just 15 years younger. So it's a little funny, looking at "Daniel" as he'd have been around the time Rusty was conceived.

It's expected to. It has not been formally renewed, but ABC has said consistently it wants another season, and John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, and Lecy Goranson have already signed new contracts (everyone is year-to-year on this show). COVID-19 obviously makes it uncertain when it could go back into production, and some of the actors may have scheduling conflicts that will have to be dealt with, but the intention is for a season three, yes. That makes sense; this was episode 20, and season two had a 19-episode order they added one more to along the way.

No, Stephen Root played the incompetent attorney. The bank guy was played by Joel Murray (I had to look up the actor's name - I just recognized him as "Pete" from Dharma & Greg).

Yeah, Dan has always taken the working class man's sense of pride in "providing for his family" very seriously - sometimes too seriously. He allowed the "kids" to be so caught up in their own drama they were oblivious to the household's finances because he didn't want them to know he needed help. Hell, he didn't even want them to know once the bank had announced it was going to foreclose; they only know because Louise told them. It's completely illogical, from a purely factual perspective, that Dan did not, the first time he realized he was going to come up short on a payment, tell the kids, "I'm happy to be able to help out by having you all live here, but remember it's just me now, and a 65-year-old man isn't highly desired for construction, or any other, work. I need you to kick in X dollars each towards the mortgage payment so I don't get behind, and then we're going to set up a plan for everyone to pay an affordable percentage of the household bills." But people don't operate from a purely factual perspective, so as dumb a move as it was by Dan to get so far behind out of pride, it's also a thoroughly Dan Conner move to make. He doesn't have Roseanne around to fret and fix things anymore, but even though it's just him, he's still doing his stick his head in the sand and hope something will work out routine. When family members are feuding, he expects Darlene to step into Roseanne's role and "fix it", but he won't come to one of his kids to fix something like this that's so fundamental to his concept of being Dad. He's left with admitting it to Louise when he has to say the reason he's trying to get away from her for the day is because he has to go meet with the bank, and thinking a ham and a "hey, I've always figured it out before, and I'll figure it out again" promise will buy him some time.

Ouch, Dan now being a number some algorithm spits out is sadly accurate. Darlene made me tear up when she talked about how she cannot bear another family living in that house. It's also frustratingly accurate that Dan was too proud to tell any of the freeloaders in his house back when he didn't have enough to cover the first payment that he was coming up short and they need to chip in. He wouldn't be this far in the hole had he told them what was up; all of them together would have added up to enough to make the payments, but now they have to play catch-up on the arrears. This foreclosure storyline makes me remember so keenly the tone of Roseanne's voice, after Bonnie told her they were both out of work because Rodbell's was shutting down the diner, saying, "I've got, like, three mortgages on my house." It's the only thing they ever had to leverage (Darlene being one of the only things they owned outright, heh) and they did it again and again. Ben saying it's not an adult child's job to bail out a parent at the expense of their own life is pretty damn rich given who he's talking to - it wasn't Dan's job to bail out his adult children at his own expense, either, but he never could have not done it, just as Darlene can't stand back and let this happen. (How are Darlene and Ben qualifying for a rental, anyway, given their uncertain [and limited] income?) I like that Louise was emotionally supportive, but didn't offer any financial support. That should not be her role. Ben can kind of have a seat on that front, too, but I'll try to look at his gesture as one of acceptance of Darlene's decision. Thank gods Emilio is going to live with his aunts instead of being yet another resident of that house. I know someone who's in a fake marriage in order to allow a friend to stay in the country, so I'm kind of interested in this storyline - but NOT if Becky and Emilio fall in love. It's so much more interesting if it's an arrangement, something they have to do so he can be a meaningful part of their daughter's life. There were a lot of funny lines tonight, many of them from Ben.