Bastet

I love her thoughts on what she didn't want her character to be:

Wow. I mentioned during Mark Peel’s appearance (in which he lost in the first round with a passion fruit cocktail [only the cocktail, and not a great one at that, so an odd choice for him to put forward]) that – in addition to being surprised by his boneheaded move since he’s got major cred as one of the top go-to chefs for California cuisine and some good restaurants under his belt - I know his second ex-wife, Nancy Silverton (a similarly-accomplished chef and restaurateur in Los Angeles), as an acquaintance. Which means not enough to know what happened with their marriage and divorce, but after seeing Peel’s third wife on tonight's episode, I hope Silverton left him. Because if he left her in favor of taking up with this twit, yikes. I mean, sure -- ha ha that she got further than Peel despite not even being a chef, but she's ... not good. And annoying. She can't pronounce "chipotle" (to be fair, neither can Bobby) or Alton, or discern the difference between a frittata and a pizza, or generally behave like an adult (again, to be fair, she's not alone in that). I do love tomato bacon jam, but challenging Bobby Flay to a sandwich throwdown and then veering so far off course was not wise. Her sandwich wouldn't be bad, I'm sure, but it was never going to beat anything Bobby came up with. I hardly ever say this about a woman, but she got on this show because of her husband - her connection to Prawn is in name only; she is a home cook - and, while I don't think he's the reason she progressed to round two, I'm irked by her. I'm sure other challengers have made the first cut based partially on reasons that have nothing to do with culinary prowess. This just happens to be one of the few in which I have the slightest personal interest and it stands out.

I agree, because it wasn't about one specific kiss from one specific woman - she's not looking to go explore something with that bartender - but what her reaction to that kiss represents, igniting something she's suppressed for years into something she can no longer ignore. I like that his reaction wasn't to don a PFLAG shirt and proclaim "Of course you need to finally explore the feelings you've been pretending not to have, and I support you 100% in this journey to your true self," because his "WTF does this mean for me and the life we've built together over decades?" reaction is incredibly realistic for someone blindsided and hurt. And it hints at great things like explored on Grace and Frankie, where a cheated-on spouse is asked to better accept the betrayal when it's with a same-sex partner after a lifetime of suppressed - and oppressed - feelings than would be expected upon fooling around with just another partner of the opposite sex (how there is a difference, and how there isn't). But I also like the way she's handling it, because she's being honest in order to avoid that betrayal. She can't avoid hurt, once she realizes she can't ignore this any longer, but she can be up front and let him make his own decisions with eyes wide open, just as she's going to do. A woman kissed her. She didn't take it any further, and she told her husband about it and, most importantly, the long-suppressed confusion it forced her to confront. He's entitled to every negative emotion he feels, and to whatever - within reason, of course - action he takes in response, but she's not being a thoughtless or lying-by-omission ass. It's messy, and thus astoundingly realistic for something set in this universe.

It's an acronym - it stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure - so the capital letters are standard, and periods are generally not used. They can't help it that a P and an R look similar. And it's pronounced see-pap, so it doesn't sound anything like crap.

Hmm. "Blank Space" is the only Taylor Swift song I've ever liked, and that's in an "I can't believe I like this song!" way, but I think I legit like "Lover". Not the video, really, because there's something about her I find mildly annoying to watch. But just listening to the song, yeah, I dig it. But it kind of gets worse as it goes on, so I think I'll get sick of it if I hear it on the radio a lot.

Like @aquarian1, I've sat next to several celebrities on airplanes over the years, and normally talked very briefly with them, if at all. I know I mentioned this in the other Celebrity Encounters thread (there's one in Movies, too, but they're both about all kinds of celebrities), but it has been a while, so -- by contrast, Ray Charles was quite the Chatty Cathy. We talked off and on throughout the flight, almost always - and, in the beginning, always - at his instigation. Just general chit chat for several minutes at a time. I once sat behind Dick Clark and his wife (when I went to book my ticket, my usual seat - front row, left window - wasn't available, and it turned out to be because Mrs. Clark was in it ... and, yes, she had her hair in whatever you call that thing on top of her head she usually sported), and overheard some of his conversation with the flight attendant; he seemed very pleasant, and that voice was just so unmistakable and soothing. Melissa Rivers and her young son sat behind me once; he was very well behaved - and she quickly put the kibosh on any attempts at acting up - and he talked about "Grandma" a lot (we were flying from LA to NY, so perhaps they were on their way to see Joan). Then there was the time I was on a flight to Boston that was going on to Paris, and seated across from me were a pair of models whom I vaguely recognized but whose names I do not know, headed to Paris for a fashion show. We had a male flight attendant, and I practically had to make my own food, he was so busy chatting them up (sure, dude, they're going to join you at the airport hotel). I know this is another repeat from the other thread, but airplane encounters takes me to airport lounge encounters and I just have to reiterate how frakkin' fine Rob Lowe is in person. I used to also see him back home, because the Mexican restaurant where I held my staff meetings (discussions always go better with margaritas!) was also one where he met with his people, but in an airport lounge, we sat just one chair apart and talked about the NFL draft, that we were both watching on the lounge TV.

But she didn't suspect. I know airing them out of order caused that incredibly unfortunate implication (and ticked off Gillian Anderson [not to mention me, and to this day, as you're all about to be subjected to yet again]), but as Never Again was written, performed, and edited, Scully had no cancer worries going on. First, Never Again was written. So Scully's actions are predicated on four years of feelings about the path her life has taken (and Gillian, Morgan, and Wong's desire to finally get into the dark side of that), not any one thing - not even solely about Mulder's behavior, and certainly not about a cancer scare that doesn't yet exist. Next, Leonard Betts was being written. During that process, they found out Darin Morgan's script, which was supposed to be the next episode, definitely wasn't forthcoming (he's notorious for needing months on end to complete a script). Having to decide whether to move an episode up or write a new one (to take the place of Darin's missing script) in the midst of writing about a guy who eats cancer sparked a revisit of the heated discussion in the writer's room during the summer hiatus, when they'd argued about whether or not to give Scully cancer at some point (because they'd established that all the other abductees developed cancer, so did they have to follow through or was that not the right tone for the series); the "yes, cancer" faction (it had been a pretty even split) had won, but CC had not made a final decision on when in the season (or maybe even not until next season) they'd pull the trigger on that storyline. So, the decision was made to tack on the "I'm sorry, but you've got something I need" and nose bleed to Leonard Betts, and quickly crank out (which is why Memento Mori took so many writers four were credited) a script to follow that, in which she is diagnosed. Fast forward a couple of months, with all three episodes in the can, and FOX was scheduling its post-Super Bowl programming. The network wanted Leonard Betts - a more traditional episode, well-poised to draw yet more new viewers to the series (remember, this is not far into the switch from Fridays to Sundays, which was about the network wanting to expand XF's popularity; they were in love with the ratings, and wanted to take them higher and higher, and in fact LB wound up being the show's most-watched episode) - to air instead of Never Again, which would have aired that night had it been just another Sunday. Thus, the switch -- LB aired first, then NA, then MM.

I am quite happily not a mother, but I truly doesn't understand the lactation police. Breast feeding is great and we need to support it (time and access, not freaking the hell out over exposure to a boob or judging at what age a baby is weaned, etc.). But formula also provides balanced nutrition. So for whatever reason a woman is using it instead of breastfeeding - whether she can't or doesn't want to do the latter - she's providing her baby with a healthy alternative. We need to support that choice, too. There's not some wide gulf in nutritional quality, so I don't understand behaving as if giving a baby formula instead of breast milk is akin to feeding a child french fries and cake for every meal. If a mother fills her infant's bottle with juice, or soda, or coffee, or beer, go right ahead and judge. But formula? Come on! My peeve is mylar balloons. Too many people are careless about hanging onto them (or just deliberately release them!), and, in addition to the potential danger - especially to animals - posed by wayward regular balloons when they come back down, they can - and do, with disturbing frequency - cause power outages. They are just not worth it.

The only time I felt like the absence of a Luke mention was noticeable was in "The Pitch" when the network executives first met with, I think, Tori and Jennie, and the usual mutual bullshit society stuff at the top of the meeting segued into something about being excited to work with all of them/have all of them together again - something about all of them. In real life, that would have been another moment where someone - probably a network exec this time - realized that "all of them" is impossible now. But that would have been a direct repeat of the first episode, so I understand why they skipped it in the fictional version. In this one, yes, him being missing from their recreation of an old photo would have easily lent itself to someone - especially Shannen, since this is her first time with the new version of the group - acknowledging his death, but them not going there didn't stick out to me like it did in "The Pitch" for some reason. Every time they're "all" together is going to be such an opportunity, but the cast wouldn't bring it up every time in real life, so it's fine that they don't on the show. They're walking a fine line, and I think erring on the side of caution to not come off (to his family, never mind the audience) like they're exploiting his death for sympathy points. Had Luke lived, he wasn't going to be involved other than perhaps a one-off cameo due to his shooting schedule, so this series was already plotted as not involving him -- I think they're wary of coming off as shoehorning the memory of him in. They had to acknowledge him in the first episode, and I think they did it perfectly. After that, though, it gets tricky, and I think they'd rather risk a "wait, that's it?" reaction from some than a "quit milking it already" reaction from more. I suspect we'll get one more nod to him at most.

Sort of; I watched it because I knew one of the other actors on the show (Hannah Cutrona), but I don't remember much about it. (And, no, I don't remember if she said anything good or bad about Jason.)

She was my favorite part of the episode. I liked the new head writer shooting down all of Ian's attempts at "I'm sorry for whatever innocent thing I did that you totally overreacted to, you hysterical woman" and "us poor men just don't know what's okay anymore," especially when he said he can't win and she asked him, "What are you trying to win?"

He's wrong. Thank them for giving the cats a safe space to live, and then say if they're not already fixed, you'd like to help out by connecting them with a local organization that offers free/low-cost spay and neuter services (and, if applicable, covering the fee). Since your fiancé butting in caused you not to make this offer upon first meeting the cats and learning of their circumstances, now when you go back you can frame it as "I'm so tickled by you taking these cats in and making them shop cats, I've been thinking about them ever since" and continue from there.

Yes; I know him only as Helo from Battlestar Galactica, so it's almost disconcerting to see him again in such a different context. He appeared in "The Pitch" as the writer for the pilot (head writer overall, maybe; I can't recall), who also seems to be (or explicitly is; this was episode two of two in one night for me, so there had been a good bit of wine by the time he appeared; again, I can't recall) Jason's wife's side piece. There was a scene with him threatening her, and then later he showed up (interrupting the "BTW, you're infertile, so your wife's a cheater" revelation via Jason's conversation with his doctor) to introduce himself to Jason - at the private club where Tori had earlier been Jason's guest and run up a huge tab, which, of course, she left for him to pay.

Seriously. I've never cared about the Browns one way or the other, but I'm starting to hope for a spectacular offensive failure thanks to those two clowns. I'm amused by how Eli-like Jones is in his reaction to all the questions about Mayfield's comment.

And if you're with someone, at some point one of you must toss popcorn at the other. If you're a male and female couple, you must first have an argument about butter on the popcorn (which may come before or after the argument about which movie to watch).

She handled him turning her down just as well as he handled saying thanks but no thanks, so there's definite potential for them to develop a friendship that then may (or may not) organically develop into romantic companionship, rather than it being a dynamic where she's constantly hoping that will happen. Everything was so damned rushed the first season, with them not knowing if there would be future episodes, so hopefully they'll settle down and let storylines - including whatever they have planned for Louise and Dan - breathe this time around. Because my oh, it's just so nice seeing these characters again mellow is only going to temper my ugh, these stories frustration for so long. Speaking of which -- It's not too long now until this will be back, so I better start gearing myself up for the inevitable David/Darlene reunion saga.

I missed the first half hour, but enjoyed the bulk of it I did see. A friend of mine worked on one of his films, and had always talked about how much he looked out for everyone on set (something Mary McDonnell also specifically noted - as part of nothing but high praise for him - in talking about filming Tiger Warsaw); from that limited interaction long ago, she was quite sad when he died, so I was curious to see him through the eyes of people who knew him even better. I came in right as his wife talked about packing up their two cats and heading for Los Angeles (when his agent told him he needed to be there, not NY, if he wanted to make it) and was sold - cat guys for the win! It sounds like they had quite the menagerie of pets, and I cried picturing that majestic white horse giving a final bow to him after his death. I didn't realize how much he struggled, mentally, and as someone with depression and anxiety I sucked in a deep breath at that clip of him saying he'd given up on happiness, but he did feel happy. I was quite moved by his wife's relief that they'd reconciled before his diagnosis, since if she'd come back home after the cancer it would have seemed like pity. It also got to me when Kelly Lynch said she didn't think he realized just how much he was loved, no matter how hard that seems to believe. Was Jennifer Grey the only one who referred to him as Patrick rather than Buddy? I can't remember what Demi Moore called him, but it seemed that everyone else went with Buddy.

That completely depends on the cat. If she's not much of a furniture scratcher now, she's probably not likely to start scratching leather furniture, but there is always the chance that it would turn out to be a tempting texture; you could get a leather pillow or something else small and see how she responds to it. (If you keep the claws trimmed, the little snags/scratches from their kneading tend not to be a big deal in general, but I do think they're more noticeable on leather, especially if it's a dark color.) I'm not a fan of forgoing - or covering - furniture one wants because, hypothetically, a pet might damage it. Get what you like, employ redirection techniques if the pet does wind up going for it, and only if it's truly untenable do you figure okay, can't have X again until she/he is gone.

Dr. Lavigne's wife calling him "Sorta Rican" because, being racially ambiguous, he's frequently being mistaken for Puerto Rican cracked me up. I'm in Los Angeles, so the idea of a vet practice of any size not having anyone Spanish-speaking is, well, foreign to me, and I assume that, being in Houston, they at least have some staff members who can translate for clients who only speak Spanish. It's good the kids are learning, and that the dads are trying to learn along with them, at least the animal-related words (it's a lot harder as an adult). I love Dr. Blue's kid's reaction when Siri proved him right about how to say "bird" in Spanish. And his wife telling him the book was at pre-K level. Litters the foster fail cat getting stressed by the Roomba speaks to me; I really want one of those, but I absolutely cannot imagine Riley being okay with it. (And my parents' cat Bandit has idiopathic cystitis, which means stress causes bladder inflammation, so I'm extra glad they ditched the robot for Litters' sake.) I had to laugh at Marshall (the dog with congenitally weak ligaments) being brought in by his grandma, because daddy is a college student who got a dog despite not being able to have pets in the dorm. It sounded like he'd be home for the summer and then living in pet-friendly housing the following year, so he just jumped the gun, and that's pretty typical. Continuing with my like of IDing owners as family members, I liked the girl in Chispita's family being chyroned as "Chispita's sister." I hope Chispita was spayed after her C-section, though. I like how well everyone at Cy-Fair knows Rhett, the non-pooping German Shepherd, that they can tell he's not acting himself, but I wonder why he's been there so often in just his first year. It's funny that anal glands were a story on this show and The Incredible Dr. Pol (on two different networks, with two different production companies) the same night.

The beginning of part three of “Hindsight” always makes me twitch; it picks up right where part two left off, but Sharon was not at Buddha’s house with them when they entered and found Emile’s body (at the end of that episode) yet she’s there now (as this one opens). There is no way she got all the way to Fontana and Buzz was no further along in his recording; there’s no gap in time, yet she’s magically there. It’s such a minor thing, but it bugs me to kick off the episode. Thankfully, it’s balanced by my being tickled by the way Sharon says Buddha’s name when she wonders if he, not prison, was the source of Emile’s fear. The only other thing that bugs me in these next two episodes in the arc is Sharon asking if Jeremiah could be Emile’s son (when they’re trying to figure out the “To my pretty boy” card on the flowers he sent to the funeral). Come on, writers, she’s not dumb enough to fail at math that way. It would have been far better to have her, or anyone, say, “Well, that can’t mean he’s Jeremiah’s father, because he was in prison the past 12 years and the kid was only two” if they wanted that theory being raised and immediately dismissed as part of the brainstorming session. She’s the one who figures out Tamika was Pretty Boy, and the third “guy” in the robbery, but it’s tainted by that stupid question. (I’d write it off as her being exhausted if she gave herself a good eye roll when it being impossible was pointed out.) But there’s so much more I enjoy in these two. First and foremost is how irritated Sharon is with everyone who didn’t tell her about Hickman’s affair with DDA Gray (and that Hickman’s wife confronted Gray over it) back when she was investigating his professional conduct. Even Andrea, and she hardly ever gets testy with her. Sharon’s ire hitting its peak upon realizing Hickman was stalking Gray and no one bothered to pursue that is one of the many reasons I love her. As I mentioned last week, while I’m annoyed Mike didn’t heed her order to stand down when Hickman was baiting them, I appreciate that it’s virtually unheard of for Mike and the special circumstances of having Hickman and this case back in his face motivate it, and like both his apology and her easy acceptance of his assurance it won’t happen again. The whole thing is very true to both characters. My second-favorite thing occurs in the beginning of that scene: When Sharon tells Rusty she needs to get back to work, but if he goes to County they may be processing his mother during visiting hours, and Rusty says, “You’re my mom” and gives her a hug. Aw. I remain such a sucker for their relationship. I also love Sharon calling Rusty on “this is what you always say” when he tries to justify not telling her about Gary because he doesn’t want to upset her, be a problem, etc. And that he says, “You’re right, this is the end of every argument we ever have; I won’t do it again.” He really does mean well, and readily admits when she exposes his good intentions as bad ideas. Next on my favorites list is Goldman telling Taylor the cameras are over there when Taylor does his spiel about why he’s attending Tamika Weaver’s funeral. They give Fritz the last word with him coming right back with “Leave it to you, Peter, to always know where the reporters are,” and I love Fritz, but Goldman wins that interaction with his delivery. (Speaking of the funeral, I love Sharon’s “Take him at his word” instruction to use Goldman’s “confession” he has Jimmy Hoffa in his trunk as probable cause for a search of the car - ha!) After that is also at the funeral, Taylor not wanting Provenza to sit next to him in the church; “I smell brimstone”/”It’s my cologne” cracks me up. Just behind that is Stephanie Dunn having no patience for the person kneeling there praying instead of trying to actually help the gunshot victim when Barnes does his revenge drive-by. “Stop praying and get out of the way” gets a big amen from me. I also like the way they expose Dennis Price and Goldman having kept the drug trafficking through the church from Daniel Price, especially that Rev. Price doesn’t immediately embrace the people who’ve had it out for him for over a decade, saying, okay, now he doesn’t trust Goldman, but he doesn’t trust them either, so how can he know this is true. It sets a good stage for both sides to team up and set up the trap for Dennis as the episode ends. And the payoff of Julio finally confronting his wife’s doctor, only to find out she’s the one who chose – against medical advice – to stop taking her anti-seizure medication is a long time coming, a huge development in his anger issues that have been so methodically dealt with for over a season now. Finding out the root of his anger at the world, and possibly his refusal to engage with women as people (instead treating them merely as objects, unless they were his commanding officers), was fundamentally different than he thought – that if he really wants to blame someone rather than accept it as a tragic accident, it’s his wife he has to pin it on – is a big test, and I like where it leads him. Little bits I also like: - Julio casting a pointed look at Andrea when Sharon asks him to keep the latest info between the two of them because Hickman is getting information he shouldn’t have is great, and Andrea’s “my lips are sealed” in response to that look is even better - Cooper’s “Well, as a gentleman, I wouldn’t remember” when Amy calls him on remembering that no-tell motel as a high school hook-up spot is cute, as is the pointed way she looks at him and says “Secret Garden Motel” in calling for back-up; I like their relationship - Also, Cooper knowing Sharon will want to address the SIS team and thus putting the walkie-talkie up to her mouth and pushing the button is an incredibly minor touch that stands out to me as great - The awkward exposition of Provenza and Buzz recapping everyone’s various names is saved by Patrice walking in and saying, “Louie, those better be names on your guest list.” (But her “I said ... ‘don’t spend lots of money’” is another indication he’s paying for this wedding alone, which is so wrong – I think a good 80% of the reason I ever like Patrice is Dawnn Lewis, because the writing for her is not great.)

The interstitial with Diane making fun of Dr. Pol for the strength of his accent all these years was funny; I'm glad they've been adding those this season. The kitten Dr. Nicole picked out had a raging flare-up of herpes going on (or one of the other three viruses, but almost always herpes), probably indeed progressed to a bacterial URI, so while I'm pleased to see how sociable all those barn cats are - meaning the farmers interact with them nicely - I do not at all like how many she could tell by looking at them needed medication (and did only that one get it?). I like the name Gizmo; my aunt had a dog by that name. Dr. Brenda calling Darcy "a hot mess in the skin department" was funny. It was nice to see him all filled out with fur. Impacted and abscessed anal glands - been there, done that, with a cat who ultimately had to have his removed. Ah, memories. Lexie the alpaca looked awful, and I'm not surprised it didn't end well. Those must have been some long days for the owner, first waiting to see if the treatment for presumed pneumonia worked, then to see if the next set of medications for the diseases Dr. Pol suspected; a definitive diagnosis is worrisome enough, but having to let a series of educated guesses go through trial and error is a long wait. I don't know if I could stand there and watch samples be taken of my pet's brain for necropsy, but I'm glad she got an answer that made her feel better.

That's what I do, because I'd rather just avoid their website altogether (and definitely don't want to subscribe). Recipes are not copyrightable (the list of ingredients and instructions on what to do with them), so people can easily publish them elsewhere. I've never gone looking for an ATK recipe and been unable to find it, although I have to say I don't make many of their recipes - I more just like to watch.

Not in general, just when part of "The Ohio State". A level of obnoxiousness on top of its existing pretension that will surprise absolutely no one. I love this first line from the linked article: Any time I might wonder about my degree of distaste for a football program in a division I don't care about, I can look back on this as a concrete example.

Does it's bath time! lead to wrestlemania? Because with every pair of cats I've ever had, whenever they had a lovely moment of bathing each other, it regressed in minutes to a full nelson, back legs kicking, someone running off meowing "Mommy, [sibling] hit me!" spectacle. And then they'd cuddle up again upon getting it out of their systems.

I've probably told this story before, but we were in the same somewhat-crowded corner of the room at a benefit, and he put his hand on my back to keep me from getting jostled, and then pardoned himself and gave me that incredible smile as he walked away. I was all giddy just over that brief interaction. (It was a Feminist Majority Foundation public education event back in the late '90s about the human rights abuses against women and girls in Afghanistan [in other words, before the Taliban was paid much attention in the U.S.], and he not only attended but participated in the program, something that made him even more wonderful in my eyes.)