Bastet

I cannot imagine publishing or broadcasting something erroneous and not wanting that mistake brought to my attention. I wouldn't want to make the same error again, and I would want to correct any written work for subsequent readers.

The Viewers Choice episode is being re-run right now, but I peaced out after the intro segments when one chef proclaimed himself the "dictator" of his kitchen and bragged about having a "Wall of Tears" (or similar) where he posted the names of anyone who cried. WTF? If dictator is your preferred style of leadership, get stuffed, and if employees crying for reasons other than they found out on the job their mom died is enough of an occurrence you can keep track, go find a fire and die in it. I thought of hanging around in the hopes he got his ass handed to him, but decided I didn't want to waste a minute of my life on him. Did he lose? Preferably knocked out in the first round in spectacular fashion?

“We’ve talked about his daughter, which means he’s married, of course”? Um, no, those do not automatically go together. He’s already talked about his wife a lot; there were any number of ways to word the intro to today’s interview story that weren’t stupid. I guess I’ve hit James fatigue, because I let out a big sigh when he hit on the first DD, and groaned when he came upon the second. I’ve always watched for the clues far more than the contestants, I don’t dislike him (I hardly ever go so far as to dislike a contestant, but there aren’t a lot I actively like, either – they’re just sort of there), and I’m quite impressed with his successful strategy and breadth of knowledge, so I was surprised by my reaction. But apparently I’m tired of the runaways (not of him winning, just of him winning in a blowout). Or maybe it’s just a mood. Or maybe bummed that a woman no longer holds the number two slot for most wins. I don't know, but I hope this is just a one-night annoyance and I get back to enjoying the game tomorrow. Putting me in a happier place was how much I liked the homophonic and Tory Spelling categories. I thought Half Dome when spotted Yosemite and a picture was famous enough not to be a TS, so that surprised me. Another instaget for FJ; I have sure had a lot of those lately.

The draft also airs on the NFL Network, which is where I watch it. I didn't realize it was airing on ABC in addition to ESPN until I read complaints about that here; obviously Disney wanted to air it on a broadcast channel as well, which it wouldn't do if the forecast ABC ratings didn't support preemption (of prime-time programming on the East Coast, no less), but it surprises me a bit.

I didn’t need any of the video clues in the Billboard Music Awards category. I loved the Before & After category, as I always do. They could put one of those in every game and I'd be happy. The General Foods TS surprised me, since they were spotted “General” by the category. It's rare for me to get a biblical clue correct, but I knew FJ was referring to the four horsemen, and I know the painting, so I had a one in four chance and picked the right one. Good for me.

I was going to say that's where he keeps his condom, but I just looked the commercial up on iSpot and don't at all get the vibe that it's parodying the pizza delivery guy porn trope -- she's in a store with a bunch of people around, not at home, but she's in her pajamas with a blanket because xfinity has so much to offer she settled in like she was on her own couch (the commercial is called "Make Yourself at Home"). The way she says she doesn't have her wallet doesn't at all mimic the "so I guess I'll have to pay you some other way" way it would go in porn. Plus, there's no cheesy music, and you can't have a porn parody without the bow-chicka-bow-bow.

People, especially women, should act in their own best interests when it comes to what they will and won't accept in a relationship. Dorothy didn't remotely imply that cops doesn't deserve romantic relationships, just that she was not the person to be involved in such a relationship. Whether or not her fears were overblown (and I agree they were, but she had just been through his partner's shooting, so it's understandable), that's how she felt -- that she would spend so much time worrying about him, it wouldn't be a good way to live. Selfish would have been getting involved with him despite her issues and proceeding to hover over him or ask him to quit the job he enjoyed to accommodate those issues.

I thought they'd always asked contestants not to do that, but there wasn't any penalty for ignoring that instruction. Does this mean there will now be consequences? If so, I wonder what the penalty will be. Because, while those shout-outs mildly annoy me (mostly because Alex reads them; it would be better if he just ignored them), I'm having a hard time picturing someone having the most points at the end of FJ, yet not winning because of "Hi Mom." Maybe it will just be a situation where any such message is digitally erased (so there's no point in doing it, because it will never be aired, but one doesn't lose anything).

It's just a republishing of last week's Washington Post article that was posted upthread (but I didn't get any "you've read 1 of X free articles this month" pop-up, so the Trib may give unlimited access to its website; just in case there is a limit, though, FYI - it's a repeat).

As a random bit of trivia, Allison Janney has made the same joke.

I took Thursday and Friday off to watch the NFL draft, and had missed almost all of the week prior, so I’m happy to be back to my J! routine this week. Good for Adam going for it with his DD bet and making it a game, and then doing the same with his FJ bet – he came so close, and I liked what we saw of James’s reaction to really being challenged for the first time. Anyone who makes it on the show can go home proud regardless of what place she/he winds up in, but Adam really can. FJ was an instaget, and there seem to have been more of those than usual for me lately. “Oh, the liver” when James heard the correct answer of hepatic was funny. I knew Jimmy Stewart was going to be a TS, but it was still a bit of a bummer.

Singleton pissed me off something fierce with his defense of R. Kelly, but Boyz N the Hood is an incredible film (that's not his only work I like, but it's the one I watch over and over and appreciate just as much every time). It's frightening that he went to the hospital for leg pain, didn't have the stroke until he was already in his room, and still didn't make it.

Her performance really struck me when I watched the episode a couple of years ago; I had remembered so much about the main cast's great scenes, but didn't have any memory of her at all. Yet that quiet moment at his bedside, when she realizes he really is schizophrenic and really did stab two people, is right up there with the others.

The Human Fund? (TM Seinfeld)

At least she just leaned it up against the wall, so they could easily remove it and plop their TV back up where it belonged. I'm sure these designers know the TVs are coming right back in, and whatever they replace them with is just for the picture of their final design. It's better than replacing a (non-ugly) ceiling fan with a fixture that only provides light; it's not hard to put that back, but you're working over your head and some people are scared to touch anything electrical, so it's more of a burden.

It wasn't meant to be sat on, or at least not as its primary purpose -- Sabrina knew hardly anyone actually sits on those benches (and she and Joanie said both of theirs were used to set laundry on), so its main purpose was decorative over functional. And I think it was a success, decoratively. Even if one did sit on it, it would be for a very short period of time (e.g. to put on shoes), so as long as it was strong enough to actually hold a person, then it would work either way.

Right, that was a different vet - Dr. Nath. So I wasn't sure if Dr. Fedke is someone we'd seen in previous seasons and I forgot (since they didn't introduce her to the audience as clearly as they did with Dr. Nath), or if this was the first time we'd seen her. Either we both forgot, or it's the latter. It seems to be the latter -- I looked her up, and she's class of '17 (from Tuskegee). That's also the year Dr. Nath (class of '09, with Dr. Blue [Doctors Ross and Lavigne were two years ahead of him]) relocated to Houston (because of her husband's job) and joined Cy-Fair. I hope to continue seeing her, because it would be interesting to see a rookie's approach to cases in the midst of all these more-experienced doctors (veteran vets, heh - I'm easily amused sometimes).

This was a nice variety of species and ailments/injuries. And I always like studying things in the background in their clinic and truck; they have such nice facilities, and seem to have the most updated equipment. The pit with the torn ACL had such a sweet face! I was familiar with megaesophagus and the problems it creates with feeding, but had never seen the chair; that was pretty cool. A black cat named Maggie because she wound up with maggots on a wound? If I was ever going to adopt a kitten rather than an adult, it would be her - I hope she found a good home. I hate zoos because wild animals should not be held in captivity for the entertainment of humans, but sanctuaries like the one featured tonight, for wild animals taken in as pets and then abandoned/seized when the idiot owners are in over their heads, and thus not able to live in the wild, I am in for if they provide a proper environment. So it was nice to get a glimpse of what they provide at the wolf sanctuary. Have we met Dr. Fedke before? I haven't been particularly diligent in watching this show in previous seasons, so I may well have missed her.

It was on top of the larger rug. So, at the foot of the bed was the Overstock rug, then the rest of the larger rug extending out from under that.

Watching “Jane Doe #38” is a little different in hindsight, because it ultimately leads to the Identity vlog storyline - in which Rusty is insufferable - and Gus - who is annoying, then great, then infuriating - but if I cast myself back in time and receive it on its own, I love it. It’s so poignant to me that “Alice” died protecting the belongings of a woman who never even bothered to learn her last name, but also that for the myriad ways Joanna Cass is a typically-detached rich snot, she did buy Alice that professional hair-cutting kit after a short time because she knew Alice was working to save for cosmetology school. And it’s very touching that Alice and Rusty were in the same position, and Alice made the smarter choices of the two, yet in the end Rusty lucked into a great life and Alice wound up dead. For all that the vlog storyline annoys me, I do appreciate how Rusty mulls all that over and talks with Sharon about it. Even just in this episode, there’s some good insight into the plight and typical fates of homeless teens, via Rusty, Alice, Bug, and even Slider. And especially all those pictures on the board – that those are just the girls matching Alice’s description who were reported missing, and there are a countless more when you add in boys, girls who don’t match the description, and then the untold numbers on whom a missing person report is never filed. I like that Andy is even more affected than the rest; even when he was an asshole, he was particularly sensitive to young victims, and that probably ties into his flaws as a father. It’s a nice bit of continuity, and especially for it to be even more intense now that he’s rebuilding those relationships. It’s a cute touch when Sharon shoulder bumps him at the service he arranges for Alice, to get him out of his head a bit. (And I love that they all, including Dr. Morales and Andrea, not only attend, but dress in funeral clothes for it.) Speaking of Sharon and Andy’s friendship, it’s also a nice touch to see Andy’s attitude towards Jack so different than it used to be; now that he’s come to know Sharon, and she’s probably confided in him some of how that marriage went, Andy no longer sees him as “good ol’ Jack Raydor.” I love Sharon’s handling of Jack in this (as I always do), and learning that the main of the many reasons she’s been content with legal separation and not bothered to file for divorce until now is pragmatic. It’s sure a blow to Jack’s ego, and of course he thinks there must be another man involved. (I love Sharon’s “Oh, me too” when Rusty says her dating someone would be news to him.) It’s so sweet that – unlike Jack who naturally says “our real children” in referring to Ricky and Emily – Rusty asks what her “other kids” think about the adoption idea; he hasn't thought about this the way she has, but in his heart he's already her son. It’s a great talk between Rusty and Sharon, about how she’s legally just his roommate now, and that fact – as much as the way she loves him as a son – is why she’s looking into adopting him as an adult. And again at the end, when they talk about not needing to share a last name, just the idea of family. The Sharon/Rusty relationship remains a highlight, and something not often seen on TV. “Two Options” always makes me wonder where they intended to go with the SOB spin-off (that thankfully never happened, because I wouldn’t have wanted to watch it and would have missed Fritz on this show). Obviously Fritz would be the focus, and Brenda’s absence explained via the D.C. job, but they seemed to be setting up some sort of something with him and Ann McGinnis. If this was a “regular” drama, having a long-distance relationship with someone who doesn’t want kids would become an issue, with him working alongside a smart, kick-ass woman who’d lost her husband and daughter to an accident. I don’t think Duff would have risked the wrath of Brenda fans by splitting them up or having Fritz cheat on her (of course, this is a man who sure didn’t care about upsetting Sharon’s fans by killing her off, but he never cared about Sharon the way he did Brenda, since a lot of Brenda was based on him), but they’re just too obvious, especially with her watching him with the little girl after the rescue, for there not to have been some sort of tension considered and I'd love to know where he was planning to go. It’s not a favorite episode, for all the time spent on new characters, the technology and shoot ‘em up focus, the ridiculous idea of the LAPD’s FBI liaison being recruited as Deputy Chief of SOB being forced because it’s Fritz, and because Gloria Lim is a horrible and horribly-written character (and offensive that the two such characters they’ve introduced so far on this show are both women of color), but it is better than most back-door pilots, and I always enjoy seeing the helicopter guys, so I don’t dislike it. And I have an entire backstory in my head about Sharon and Ann – with Sharon having been (maybe still is, but they never mention it again and I can imagine her not having time once she took on Major Crimes and Rusty) the LAPD’s Women’s Coordinator, dedicated to helping her sister officers overcome the sexist barriers to advancement, and Ann a commander at her age, I like to picture Ann as grateful to Sharon making things easier for those who came along behind her, and for whatever specific help/mentoring she gave along the way; I think my head canon on this really took off after “Zoo Story,” when Ann continued to be almost deferential to Sharon, despite out-ranking her, even in the midst of her frustration at one of her officers being taken. There’s something about their interaction that lends itself to Ann being one of those Sharon helped. I also like that it’s another one where Sharon and Fritz work well together, and in opposition to Taylor. And, of course, Julio is fucking hilarious with his ice cream truck idea. Sharon never breaking stride when Rusty accosts her with the community service form to sign, just asking “When did you do that?” and continuing on to the Murder Room before giving him another assignment. Andy giving Amy a hard time about Coop being smooth with the ladies. Sharon insisting on her full 20 minutes from Taylor. Hospitalized Julio being upset not by the pain of being shot, but because his mom drives him nuts. Sharon asking Rusty if he’s sure about the adoption, because she doesn’t want to pressure him, and guaranteeing she’d find him if he ever went missing. “Sounds like a marital argument to me” when Sharon recounts the list of dead/kidnapped. Taylor telling Fritz a long-distance relationship shouldn’t be a problem at their age – and “with her.” Provenza yet again knowing when Sharon could use a pep talk from her second in command. There’s a lot of good stuff. Something that always bugs me about this episode, though: Why does Princess the cat stink? Cats don’t smell funky unless they’re living a rough life on the streets (and usually not even then) or sick; she’s not the former, so I worry about the latter. At least the daughter/wife survived, and will presumably take her in, because that cat - old, black, an escape artist, and suffering whatever the hell is wrong with her - would have very low adoption prospects in a shelter. Yeah, yeah, I know – I am a proud crazy cat lady. I also would like to know why Princess has two chips; normally, the owners would just change the address with the microchip company, and even if we were going to say they, being in the witness protection program, were cautious enough to avoid any link between their old and new identity, they’d have had the original removed and replaced, not just added a second one. So it’s a convenient-for-the-plot tidbit that mildly annoys me. Also, that poor little girl’s hearing would be so fucked up from all that gunfire going off right next to her, but ignoring that impact is something that happens across television. A bit of Princess trivia to close: Graham Patrick Martin is afraid of cats, so Rusty having to remove the cat from her cage and hold her was not his favorite day on set.

The chairs in Hildi's room were not attractive (I won't say ugly, but not attractive), did not at all have a bedroom vibe, and were rather pointless -- why not just sit on the end of the bed to do whatever they were supposed to be for, be it putting on shoes or whatever (certainly not watching TV, since that would be done from the bed to begin with, and then she removed it). If she wanted to add something to the foot of the bed to cover that floor space, a bench would have made more sense. They seemed like something blue she got for cheap and shoe-horned into the room to fit the assigned color scheme; a real weak spot in an otherwise ho-hum yet cohesive design.

Working together, living close to each other, and traveling together sounds awful to me, but the twin sisters seem very happy, so good for them; they’re lucky to have found husbands who like each other so much and are cool spending so much time together. This was a nice episode for everyone being in such a good mood, just nice and funny. Well, Paige was annoying as ever, but everyone else was great to watch. I don’t like white walls, and both rooms were underwhelming to me – neither one would make me think a designer had done it – but I knew the homeowners were going to be happy. In Hildi’s house, the first thing I’d do is put my TV back, and in Sabrina’s the first thing I’d do is put my ceiling fan back. But that's easy. There was nothing offensive, and some nice touches in each. I really liked the art work Sabrina did (and loved how giddy she was when it came out as she’d hoped) and the rope bench, and like the wall texture Hildi did, plus the curved headboard and the bed linen. Manish had me rolling my eyes at his worries about the blue – “it’s a lot of blue” (um, no, it’s a ceiling, surrounded by white walls) and “it’s really dark” (when it’s medium at best) – but I appreciated him saying the next day he should have trusted Hildi. I don't really care for the clouds, but I will say they looked better than any other "sky" ceiling I've seen them do on this show.

I did, too; that outfit took me a minute to comprehend.

I figured the guy who’d never handled a mango in his life (?!*) was a goner, but then the other one declared he was just going to slice his and I hurt my eyeballs rolling them. What an idiot the first round loser was in his choice. *There are plenty of ingredients you could hand me and I wouldn’t be familiar with them, but I’m a home cook, not a professional; I don’t expect chefs to know about every food item under the sun, but, whether he uses it in any of his dishes, it’s mind-boggling to me that someone who prepares food for a living would be wholly unfamiliar with something as common as mango. A fried oyster po’ boy, in any form, sounds like heaven, so I enjoyed round two, though. “A shot of bourbon, Chef? Are you a drinker?” “I’m from New Orleans.” Heh.

I generally only watch this in syndication, but I happened to catch the final ten minutes or so of this in first run, and loved it. Bonnie's conversation with the wonderful Lois Smith as the former foster mom was terrific, and when Bonnie and Tammy were in the car and Tammy realized Bonnie now knew about her parents, I knew she was going to deliver a seemingly simple but powerful one-line response, and it didn't disappoint. What a great moment.