Bastet

This from last year, rather than being something new -- it's just a repeat of last season's first episode - no bonus footage, no new chyron with tidbits, or anything like that - and I guess somewhere in there will be a sneak preview of the new episode. Bleh; I'll just wait an hour.

But it generally doesn't. When they have an "Authors" category, or an "Artists" category, or "World Leaders" or anything open-ended like that, or a category whittled down to century, genre, etc., the overwhelming majority of people asked about in the clues are white men. Men of color and women are frequently relegated to those "Women Artists" (which, yes, is doubly annoying because it should be "Female Artists") and "African-American Authors" style categories. There are not "Male Artists" and "White Writers" categories recurring alongside those. It's rooted in white and male being the (conscious or subconscious) default.

I didn’t see last night’s episode, so Lindsay was new to me, but she was impressive tonight. The twist my arm TS was surprising. Perplex and Philip Marlowe, too. Collins wasn’t surprising, but that it doesn't surprise me makes me sad; astronauts used to be national heroes and now the first female shuttle commander in NASA history and a member of the Apollo 11 crew - he's the guy who stayed in orbit while the other two got to become the first people to walk on the moon - are unknown to three people who've memorized enough to compete on J!. That first golf clue was a horribly long-winded way of asking contestants to identify a picture of Tiger Woods. I got a phone call right after that I had to take, so I don’t know if the rest of the category droned on as well.

The new season starts tomorrow night, not tonight. (There's a "countdown to the new season" special airing at 7:00 EDT, and then the new episode in the regular time slot at 8:00 EDT.)

@Mindthinkr, every time you post something about this guy (I'm assuming it's the same guy all along), he goes up a notch on my Total Tool Meter. Ditch him! Either way, though, get back to hanging out with us here -- it's good to see you pop up again.

I love a cooking competition that almost always boils down to the most fantastic of two wonderful meals – no one chokes (ahem, Blais), it’s just one great effort is better than another – so I’m always quite bummed when Top Chef is over, but glad to have enjoyed the season and regard it as the one such show I return to over and over. Backing up to the "serve the few of us your first course to see who gets to do the whole thing" portion of the competition: Kelsey, I like you, but if you were “literally” serving up your grandmothers on a plate, that would be cannibalism. Hers was the dish I didn’t understand from the description (just because of my own limited familiarity with southern cuisine, not any fault of hers), but the others sounded good in the description stage – especially Eric’s, as I love jerk-spiced meats. Once I saw Kelsey’s, it wasn't my thing, as I hate buttermilk, but that’s on me and the judges were happy with it. Sara’s looked and sounded the best to me, and I figured Eric was toast because he had two errors – one purely objective, the burnt lotus chips, plus one a little subjective but universally agreed-upon by the judges, over-powering the taste of the beef – and Kelsey’s was more “it could have been even better if” feedback. I’d have loved to see all three get to cook four courses and compete (especially once Eric was eliminated, because I absolutely loved his “trajectory of the slave trade” concept for the entire meal!), but that’s just not how it goes and someone had to leave early. What the editing elves showed seemed to track with what Padma said – three great dishes, but two of them came out better than the third. Sara saying, “The food I’m going to cook is different from what people are used to seeing from me” was interesting given Tom’s “Cook what got you here [now and in the future]” admonition so many contestants forget in the finale. Plus her not doing a dessert, especially against someone who does good desserts on her own (not via a pastry chef) – that was a risk that could sink her or be brilliant, should all other things shake out pretty equally. Red herring or foreshadowing, I wondered, and I like that it wound up being a non-issue. I loved Sara’s immediate enthusiastic reaction to Kelsey’s victory, and my belief the same would have happened had Sara won – they wanted to win, fiercely, but if they had to come in second, they wanted it to be to the other and were happy for their friend. Southern cuisine isn’t my favorite, but they made a lot of it I’d really want to eat, and, regardless, I like that a chef cooking that food won the top prize, just as I’d have been happy to see Eric take it with his West African-influenced food. Was seeing one finalist's meal all the way through rather than seeing course one from each of them, course two from each of them, etc. unusual? I don’t remember details of previous seasons very well. At any rate, my course-to-course analysis, because that's how the judging makes sense: With course one, Kelsey’s was obviously a hit, but Sara’s was a home run. A grand slam, even. Sara takes it, hands down, but over a dish that would have won against probably eight out of ten other competing dishes, so that will be considered. In course two, Kelsey’s looked just absolutely great - hearing one of the judges say it was one of the best things he’d eaten all year will be a “wow!” moment for her – and I laughed aloud at her thinking, “Damn, why didn’t I make that last; I can’t top it!” Sara’s was a test of problem solving, which was only semi-successful and she made it worse with her table presentation. I hate baby corn, but that's again just my quirks -- the judges had actual issues, and I think the fact one judge disliked A, one disliked B, two disliked C, etc. is a bigger problem with any dish than all judges agreeing on Issue D as the one, but significant, problem. Kelsey takes it, quite strongly – she nailed hers, and Sara fell down on hers. As Kelsey freely admitted, her course three would have been a weak point in the meal, regardless, and really seemed like a letdown after the one that preceded it. Sara’s third course seemed like a great, could have been even more terrific, but on point, deal. So Sara takes it, strongly, but I think the overall gap is not as much as in course two. For course four, Kelsey’s dessert looked/sounded great, so she ended strong, but not quite as strong as Sara; her non-dessert fourth course was a very strong ending (based on description/look/reaction, and for them not to kvetch about no dessert) – another home run, but also compared to someone letting three (maybe two, but probably three) runners score. I liked Kelsey giving her kudos for it. So, two and two, as far as who did better in each course, and it just came down to how handily they each beat the other in their winning courses. I love when it’s such a close call. Padma’s talk to the two of them, about how this would affect girls, was very nice. Great season, and I’m already jonesing for the next!

I spray the brush, and pull slowly, so the dust sticks rather than flying.

The Dry Tortugas was a first round category, where they uncovered all but one clue, and The Wet Tortugas was a DJ category, where they only got to one clue.

There are two; general gardening is here and growing your own food is here.

FYI, for when you can't get up and down as easily - or just don't want to, they make brushes on extendable handles for ceiling fan blades (they're shaped/sized so the bristles get the top, bottom, and sides of the blade at once). Here's an example

While you can't get non-show topics to show up individually on your CHP, the way to have some form of access to them from there is to follow the forums in which they are contained. For example, if you follow topics within the Music forum, you can also/instead follow Music. Then Music will be added to your CHP (not in your M section, but down below your shows, in the "Beyond TV Shows" section, before the Site Business). When you click on Music, all topics within Music will show up, not just the ones you follow, but I find it easier to use my CHP as the base for all navigation than making my way through the shows on my CHP and then going to Follows > Topics to get to my non-show topics.

The stucco TS was a doozy, but I'd have to look up where the contestants live to see if they all reside in areas where it's not common. Black lung was surprising, too. On the flip side, I was surprised two of them got FJ, because I would have thought the novel nowhere near as well known as the movie, making that a more challenging quote than the results indicated.

I'd have loudly said something like, "Oh no, did I accidentally don my invisibility cloak today?" If she had asked, "You can't just tell me what aisle it's in?" that would still have been rude, because a) if she only wanted to be pointed in the right direction, she should have asked "Where can I find X?" rather than say "I need X" and b) it doesn't matter, because if she wants to know where something is she should wait until you've completed your transaction and then ask, but the fact she phrased it as "You can't help me now?!" makes it seem like she really did expect the cashier to walk away from you and escort her over to it/go get it for her. Which is a big ball of WTF.

Which reminds me: I hate that nickname, Fritzie/Fritzy. If he doesn't mind it - and we didn't see any indications he did - I certainly shouldn't be bothered on his behalf, but when she calls him that at work, I cringe. Frankly, I twitch a little even at home, because for those two syllables she sounds stupid and annoying to me even though she doesn't change her voice to baby talk or anything. I don't know why that particular example of the common habit of adding a y to someone's name for a nickname is so irksome to me, but it is. There are other examples I find juvenile-sounding, so maybe this is just an extreme reaction on that wavelength, I don't know; I've never identified why it's so nails on a chalkboard to me. Did his sister call him Fritzy, too? I can't remember.

Good for you, Alex. It has to be a bit awkward, with everyone - on that stage and in the viewing audience - knowing his diagnosis and how poor the prognosis for stage four pancreatic cancer is, so, seriously, good for him that he's going to keep on keepin' on as long as he can, despite the public death watch that will inevitably ensue.

I missed more than half of the first round, so I had to find it online. I love that Elaine answered “antici …pation” like the song; I was going to be annoyed if whoever rang in didn’t. Allison Janney is one of my favorite actors, so her being a TS was a bummer. Also a bit surprising given a recent Oscar win for one of the roles asked about. Susan Sarandon, too, but not as much based on the two roles listed. Crawdads was another one I'd have predicted someone would get. I was surprised it took three tries to get to airport, too; maybe McCarran not being as well known threw them off that trail, but airport is the first thing I think of when I hear Logan. Really, Roe v. Wade being the case establishing abortion rights and that the CL in ACLU stands for civil liberties in DJ? Some of the Feelings clues (in the first round) were Teen Tournament worthy, but it always bugs me more in DJ.

It takes me a few days to adjust to DST, so I wasn’t ready to quit at 7:00, and the archive isn’t updated, but I decided to watch the episode online. It’s fun watching on drink three instead of one. The absence of a llama clue was odd. Book Club was a very surprising TS; I haven’t yet seen the film, but even if the cast didn’t give it away to any of the contestants, so the text of the clue didn’t help them, damn – the pictograph was quite simple; I’m surprised Alex wasn’t snarky in revealing the answer (like he appropriately did with the missed DD, where the contestant didn’t figure out it would be the planet ruled no longer a planet). Lymph was mildly surprising as a TS given the category. The Maude TS actually caused a twinge of pain. But count me in among those who could picture plain as day a white label with a red devil, yet not come up with the brand of the deviled ham; I had this vague grocery store memory of that label wrapped around a can of something, but no idea what -- I've never eaten it (nor do I want to), and it didn’t even sound familiar once revealed! I'd have never come up with that one. The ropa vieja clue was coincidental timing; I know enough Spanish to know both words, so I’d have come up with it regardless, but just last night on an old episode of a cooking show, I learned there’s a folk tale around the origin of the dish about shredding old clothes, so it was fresh in my mind. Munch = The Scream never belongs in DJ, unless it really is the Toddler Tournament. FJ was an instaget for me, and I thought, given the timeframe, a bit too easy for a FJ clue – I was surprised to see only one get it. But she was my favorite of the three contestants, so, yay.

Adam over indulges sometimes, but lately I'm not sure I would even classify him as a heavy drinker, let alone someone who abuses alcohol. And I've never seen any indication he's addicted to it. So, no, I would definitely not classify Adam as an alcoholic.

My worst example yet of someone failing to read was a few years ago when I ordered a cell phone battery and it didn't show up. I'm sure I posted here at the time, but it's so egregious I'm going to repeat myself. I emailed the company that regarding Order X, USPS Tracking # Y showed it out for delivery the morning of Z date, but it was never delivered and now tracking shows the status as basically "hm, beats the hell out of us," so the package appears to have been lost and to please send a replacement. In other words, every single piece of relevant information was contained in my original email, which was a short paragraph. The customer service rep wrote back, "USPS Tracking for this order X is #Y and it shows [hm, beats us] status." I replied, "Yes, I know; that's the information I sent you. As I said, the package appears to be lost. Please send a replacement ASAP." Reiterating all relevant information, in even shorter form. His response (and it was the same guy; small company): "It seems the package may have been lost. Would you like a refund or a replacement?" Oh my gods. If you would have read my email(s) rather than your script, the damn thing could have already been in the mail. (I'd have said never mind - refund, and I'll give my money to someone less stupid, but it was a very old phone and the battery was hard to come by.)

Well, I do love nature. But, no, I do not enjoy sleeping on the ground, or just about anything else associated with tent camping. They are two different things. Thus, an RV is the perfect means of camping for me -- I can spend the day exploring nature all I want, have drinks around the campfire in the evening, and then for dinner I have a stove and an oven (not to mention a refrigerator) at my disposal in addition to the grill. And a nice comfy mattress to sleep on. A flush toilet and a shower. A heater or air conditioner if desired. Etc. I'm very glad to have grown up with a motorhome, as there are a bunch of places I'd have never gone otherwise - places where there is only a campground, no lodge - because I had no interest in tent camping. (I did it once, with a friend's family [the friend came with us several times, and her parents insisted they needed to return the favor], and confirmed it was not for me.) This way there was no choice between either missing out something I liked or enduring an experience I did not find enjoyable in order to get it.

Indeed. I said before that just having an overall substitutions yay or nay option, rather than allowing the customer to specify on some items that only a certain type of substitution - same price, same brand, same flavor, etc. - or no substitution is acceptable, expects too much of the employee, but damn. The odds of someone being so attached to a specific brand of paper towel they'd rather go without than have another are exponentially lower than someone who asks for vegan burgers saying, "Yeah, sure - cow is fine, too."

That's exactly what I told her when this first started.

Oh, that's a big loss. They love all their dogs, but he was literally a mascot for them (and then for the VooDoo). He was a great ambassador for the breed, and will be mourned even by people who never knew him - not a bad legacy. I looked the post announcing the news, and it was the folks at Cypress Lake who gave him his peaceful ending, so they are indeed still serving VRC (something that was wondered about upthread since they're also using a different vet clinic on the show now).

My best friend moved to a conservative area for work, and is flummoxed by a great many things, including people's reaction to the fact she is single "at her age" (mid-40s) and, gasp, doesn't care. If she, in the course of her daily life, happens to meet someone who turns out to be someone she'd like to get involved with, she's not opposed to dating him. But she has zero interest in looking for a relationship - she doesn't want to be set up, doesn't use any dating sites, declines to give her number to anyone she chats with while just trying to enjoy a drink, etc. She is perfectly happy with her life as it is - it has been over 10 years since her last romantic relationship - and this was generally no big deal in L.A. But now she has an office full of people declaring, "We're going to find you a husband!"

When Sophia tells him he has to eat, he says it doesn't matter. "Once they goofed up my blood with that transfusion, there wasn't anything anyone could do. No one's ever beat it, Sophia." (And she says, "But someday they will, and it could be tomorrow, and it could be you. I believe that and you're gonna believe that, because right now, today, that's all we've got - hope.)