Bastet

Unless his ex and their daughter moved, Matt has a kid in New Orleans, so I'm sure he visits a fair bit.

She's still the owner of Cypress Lake Animal Hospital, but VRC is going to a different veterinary clinic now (I'm not sure if it's in addition to or in place of Cypress Lake), so that's why we're seeing a different vet. Cypress Lake isn't all that conveniently located to either the city or country location (although I don't think much of anything is conveniently located to Assumption Parish), but obviously Dr. Kristen and staff were fantastic, so they started driving there (rather than the place in the city they'd initially been going to upon relocating to New Orleans). This place may be better located, at least in relation to the city, so if they found another vet they can trust and get reasonably-priced services from, that would be a logical reason to switch. But I haven't paid attention to the clinic name to look it up. I did just check Cypress Lake's Facebook page, though, and VRC, Tia, the Tayho, etc. are all still listed as related pages/liked by this page, so perhaps they take the country dogs there still and now use this new place for the city dogs. And it seems Cypress Lake works with other rescues as well. Dr. Kristen is good peeps!

She doesn't play that way to me; her tone and body language when she says her mom picked out the whole outfit, it's not something she'd choose on her own, and "sometimes she treats me like a doll" seems completely genuine in her "ugh, parents" and "ha ha, red carpet, I know" teenage frustration, and the few other times we see her in something other than her school uniform, she's in a less flashy style. And her jewelry, hair, and make-up when she's in her school uniform also suggest she is indeed not one to doll herself up in that particular way. It's kind of funny how many people who Rusty encounters are attracted to him, though -- Kris plus every gay guy he encounters other than Jeff, the A.D. on Badge of Justice. The friend from chess club wanted to be more than friends, the friend of Lina's made eyes at him in Do Not Disturb, and then there was T.J. and eventually Gus (who, I learned recently by coming across an old interview with Rene Rosado, was just supposed to be Marianna's brother, but then James Duff decided to bring him back with the hots for Rusty, so that explains why Gus having feelings for him when he returns to L.A. for the trial makes no sense based on what we saw of him initially).

H is for the healing facial masks Roseanne and Jackie ask Dan to pick up – “for our butts!”

Yay! I was wondering if she'd come back for one of them. Now Anthony gets to do absolutely nothing in the comfort of a home, and that's fantastic. And he was "only" ten or so, so I like that she may be cosmically rewarded for choosing Hump - she came in wanting to save the one who needed her most, and that's what she did, without hesitation - by having her next one stick around a while. I hate people. The dog had just arrived at a home after a very long time in a kennel. Of course he's going to need an adjustment period, and the adopter explicitly said - and this was just as important as her willingness to handle the meds and subQ fluids - she'd give him time and space to settle in however he wanted. Just because he wasn't frolicking around the yard - and, hello, he's quite old - doesn't mean he was sad. And how would he have been better off at VRC? It's possible the stress of moving moved up the timeline some, but better to die a little earlier in a quiet home with the love of one person on a daily basis than to hang on a little longer and die in a busy kennel with a variety of people who love him but can only spend limited time with him.

Oh, yeah, season six episode threads, the media thread, character threads, the old "past seasons" thread, etc. are archived because that main section was captured in 2018, so you can see that stuff via the Wayback Machine. But individual episode threads within the Past Seasons (1-5) subsections are sporadic. The M Vault was not captured by Internet Archive in the short time it existed, so the best option is the most-recent version of the MC forum that was archived before it was vaulted, and that was back in July. Back then, there was a Past Seasons subsection, and episode threads within those five past seasons subheadings are harder to come by, especially for the earlier seasons - a lot of those individual threads were never archived so the Wayback gives an error message (plus, it thinks those pages are available on the web, I guess because the site itself is still active). So, a lot was lost. <sniff>

You mean Roxanne's husband. 🙂 E is for Edna, the annoyingly talkative neighbor from whom Roseanne borrows a dress ("stick a few candles in it and make a wish")

I'm forever bitter at Sharon's death, but while I wish Duff had skipped the health crisis altogether, once he gave her the world's most rapidly progressing case of cardiomyopathy I'd rather a sudden death doing what she loved than languishing in a reduced life on forced medical retirement. I wanted her healthy and in charge when the show ended. Speaking of medical conditions, send in the folks in white coats, because I’m actually mourning the loss of the archived forum for this show (the entire M Vault went poof in the server switch, and is not coming back); over 5,000 posts about one of my favorites gone for good (the Wayback Machine’s offering is quite limited), and when episodes come up in syndication, I liked looking back and seeing what we all said at the time. And the thread for the episode in which Sharon dies was like an online support group, although at least that one is available via the Wayback Machine. Sigh. But getting back to the syndication schedule … Under the Influence is the introduction of Badge of Justice, and it’s described as being about a unit fighting crime and corruption inside the LAPD. That seems to have been dropped/forgotten as the show went on, because every time we hear about a Badge storyline, it sounds like a “regular” investigation, not an internal one. It also begs the question why Mike, not someone in Professional Standards, was who Pope recommended as a consultant. I get a good laugh out of Rusty being excited upon learning Jason is a TV writer, and then losing all interest when the answer to what show is “it’s not on yet.” Sharon’s annoyed reactions to the writer amuse me throughout, and I particularly love her little “you deal with this” whimper and facial expression to Andy when Jason objects that it’s a civil rights violation to listen to the suspect’s conversation with his lawyer. But I loathe the PATRIOT Act with the heat of a nova, so this is not at all a favored investigation. And they overstate the defense of property affirmative defense; most cop shows are wrong about the law all over the place, but this one is usually impressively realistic, so even that difference of degree bugs. They’re also flirting with a Johnson Rule violation with Mrs. Vega. I do like this exchange, though: If Julio is right- I am. And our suspect is cartel- He is. And the chase scene is fun. I crack up at Jason asking why Julio isn’t buckled up, hearing it’s so Julio doesn’t get killed if someone starts shooting and he can’t get out, starting to unbuckle his own seatbelt, and being told he can’t because he signed a liability release; if he gets shot, they’re covered, but if he gets injured in a wreck, then the LAPD is on the hook. Plus, Hobbs, not Rios, is the DA, so that’s a relief. And I absolutely love every single thing about Rusty’s practice college essay. First he bursts into the Murder Room declaring he’s in the midst of a crisis – causing Sharon to worry he’s received another threatening letter – and it turns out it’s because his teacher rejected his essay. Then Sharon says that does not sound like a crisis, but Buzz replies she hasn’t read it yet; Sharon says she doesn’t have time, but moments later when she complains they’re stuck doing nothing, Rusty jumps right back in and she gives him a great “talk to the hand” dismissal. Shortly after that, everyone’s reaction to the first line ensues and that’s followed by Sharon telling him she’ll take his phone and laptop away if he doesn’t re-write it (“Those are MY things, and using them is dependent on making mature decisions”) and Jason asking, “Are you sure she’s not your mom?” Later we get Sharon knowing he didn’t write the version that’s about her and telling him to re-write it yet again, and close with Rusty’s version about the lessons his mom taught him. I love it all. I, Witness, I love almost every frame of. I am oddly distracted, this many viewings later, that when they drop Lloyd off at the motel, they park on the street rather than the lot (and it’s not like they look and see it’s full [and there is an open spot – and some nicer cars than one would expect at that kind of place]). And I might otherwise object to Sharon needing to be the one to point out Lloyd being discredited rather than killed is so he can't testify AND his preliminary hearing testimony (which was cross-examined, which is constitutionally key) will be excluded, but a) Sharon – who wanted to be a lawyer, and who undoubtedly helped Jack study in law school/for the bar – consistently thinks like a lawyer and b) Rios is a fucking twit, so I’m fine with it. My only true issue is not with this episode, but with the subsequent handling of something raised in this episode: Sharon picking up on Rusty telling Kris he’s had “threats” (plural) gets dropped, and she doesn’t find out until Kris tells Emma about the letters, and that just doesn’t work for me; Sharon would continue honing in on that potential discrepancy, despite Provenza’s dismissal, and work it into conversation with Rusty on a fishing expedition. So I essentially have not even a quibble with the episode itself; it’s such a good caper. Lloyd stays just this side of too cartoonish to be accepted and is thus incredibly amusing. Even Shampagne is used just enough to make a caricature delightful to watch. “She is honest, dependable, and absolutely not a prostitute … Her name is Shampagne, with an S. And she has a website.” (“The three Xs make it classy, ma’am” – at which Rios takes Amy’s usual role in joining Sharon in her "men, amirite?" reaction.) I love that Flynn and Provenza think they’ve got it made when Sharon sticks up for them with Rios and snottily dismisses her, but then she delivers a perfect “Eh-eh” as they’re about to escape her office, pointing to her chairs and ordering, “Sit.” Heh. And there’s such good stuff from Andy and Provenza (and I love that they’re much more caught up in circumstances than bumbling into a blunder and making it worse like they so often were on The Closer; those episodes were quite funny individually, and I laughed my ass off at Brenda's and Pope's reactions to the duo, but as a pattern they were troubling): “One minute I’m arguing with my ex-wife, the next I’m waking up in an ambulance with some guy asking me who the president is. And, by the way, if you don’t want the full work-up, don’t say Jimmy Carter.” “The side effects could make me moody, irritable, quick to anger …” “Good to know the difference.” “For God’s sake, Flynn, I take twenty pills a day, with three glasses of wine. And look how healthy I am.” It’s also incredibly sweet that in the midst of all the joshing, Provenza really does devote himself to running interference in an attempt to reduce Andy’s stress. Mike gets some particularly funny stuff in this one, too: “I’m missing all the clients who depend on me for conversation.” “Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure those guys are just talking to themselves. “Let me see if I can fix it. [Techy jazz hands upon her skepticism] It’s made in China.” I love Sharon spying on Rusty and Kris throughout, providing several delightful little moments of body language, and her saying it without saying it reaction to Provenza thinking Rusty is going to ask Kris out is great – which has nothing on her adorkable dash out of Electronics to stare at an empty file folder when Buzz points out Rusty is on his way to talk to her. It’s obviously terrific that she gives Rusty all the freedom in the world to come out on his own terms, and it also leaves room for some funny stuff along the way, and this is the start of it. And their exchange about why Kris is in summer school is classic parent/teen, with Rusty’s sarcastic answer and Sharon’s ha-ha, now tell me the truth response. “Do you need to know absolutely everything?/Yes, actually” is a great conclusion to it. (But here’s my other distraction – we’ve just established it’s summer, and we can see through the condo windows that it’s typical L.A. summer weather. So why is Sharon putting on a coat over her blazer, an item not even needed for much of winter here?) It’s a little thing, but I am tickled by Judge Richwood also doing the earlobe thing to reduce his blood pressure during the request for a continuance. Julio’s crush on Rios is sort of a transition period for him, moving a step away from the gross creeper he’d been in The Closer. I like him pausing in the midst of checking on Andy to flirt with her. And his, and everyone’s, reaction to “Detective Lopez” is good. Random note: I appreciate the touch that when Sharon asks, “Please, somebody shut that door!” when Lloyd is hollering out that Shampagne isn’t a prostitute, they included the sound of a door shutting. Also, Kris’s mom dressed her up “like a doll” in her outfit for the political fundraiser, fine, but looking under the table at the shoes - which I finally did after several viewings - she dressed her teenage daughter in some seriously high and pointy heels. She’s got a dress and necklace that would fit right in, and then super-sexy shoes. WTF, Mrs. Slater?

Holy crap, I gasped upon seeing the update that Humperdinck died three weeks later. I wonder if the adopter will get her next senior locally or return to VRC; Molly-O was adorable, and Anthony’s lazy self cracked me up. There was something a little off about the adopter to me that I couldn’t put my finger on when she was at VRC, but whatever it was I didn’t sense it at her home, so maybe it was just some awkwardness in an unfamiliar environment. I salute her mission of going through the grieving process over and over so the seniors can spend whatever time they have left in a home. I’m really bummed it was such a short time, but I hope he settled in nicely – as great as a home is, it must be quite an adjustment after so long in a kennel – and lived out his final weeks in comfort and love. Humperdinck’s fate really deflated my balloon, but I loved seeing Country Matt again. I just adore him. His banter with Earl in the grocery store was funny, and I love him making Earl don the chef’s hat. If he looked up a recipe, he should have known to grind everything up, but I’ll go with it. Those poor puppies with all the fire ant bites! Just one of those suckers hurts like hell. Tia’s reaction to the Teletubbies names was terrific.

OMG, no one ever knows what I'm talking about when I mention that song, but it is such a fantastically weird combination that I love it. I have it on some "songs of the '90s" CD set.

She also in this challenge asked Eric if he was cool taking that round and making an African dish, or if he felt pigeonholed. She seems thoughtful.

That cracked me up: Alex (after "sent scent" was a - surprising, to me, even for being the first clue uncovered in that category - TS): We're going to have fun with this one. Amanda: Not yet. [Selects different category] Was tonight the first time Johann Sebastian Bach was referred to as J.S. Bach? It seems unlikely, but, on the other hand, I cannot recall hearing anything other than his full name (initially or upon receiving a BMS prompt after answering Bach, as Mark did).

It was another great first round for me tonight; I loved the word puzzles, body parts, “so funny,” and wife categories especially (thanks go to the folks in The X-Files forum talking about a biblical Rachel who died in childbirth for me actually getting that one). As often happens, I wasn’t quite as hot in DJ, but I did pretty well and loved the songs, Kafka, and homophonic pairs categories. I did a report on Goodyear in elementary school, so that must be why FJ was pretty much an instaget for me; I didn't specifically remember either of those descriptions, but he quickly sprang to mind and fit the clue, so I stuck with him. I’m surprised knee was a TS; that’s the only one in the body part category I wouldn’t have gotten just from the word alone, but with “as in genuflect” given as a (big) hint, I’m surprised none of them joined me in figuring it out. Eric saying warrant for subpoena is something he won't live down at work anytime soon. (The wrong president answer was on its face sillier, but he was flummoxed and just throwing out something he knew was wrong before time ran out. Warrant, he believed was right.)

The Philadelphia Story is one of the few films where it seems general consensus has moved far beyond "well, that's how it was then" to "yeah, the story sucks, but the performances are sublime." Of course there are unequivocal fans out there, but it's probably been a good ten years since I heard/read a defense of the narrative treatment of Tracy. Good thing, because they can all eat dirt; she's right. And Father of the Bride is one of a short list of films I vastly prefer the remake to the original. Given the writers, director, and cast of the original, this is truly surprising, but I would watch the remake twice in a row before I'd watch the original again. George's lunacy getting lumped in with his perfectly reasonably objections is a frustrating movie-long false equivalency, but it's overall a charming, enjoyable film.

These are the two biggest reasons I just go in once or twice a year to get specific items, but it is not at all feasible for my regular shopping.

It's hard to tell because footage of that part of the QF was so truncated, and I can't specifically remember what they showed of Sara's portion, but I figure all of them sniffed first and tasted only if they couldn't figure it out (since each item they tasted made it more difficult to taste the next one, and I don't think smell is dulled to the same extent taste is). But, while I can't remember if we saw her tasting anything, I know we saw a lot of her smelling, and she was right about her nose being a great tool. In one QF, Sara finally and totally lived up to all the bragging she does -- her sniffer is, indeed, impressive, and she can, indeed, turn out perfect fried chicken. (I should state for the record her "I can nail X dish" confidence only bothered me once, back near the beginning when Nini interrupted her litany of dishes she could do to perfection by asking, okay, which one did she want. But it is noticeable as a pattern.)

Thursday is Beat Bobby Flay night on Food Network, and tonight they're running some old Valentine's Day-themed episodes. In one from 2017 that is airing right now, Eric is one of the competitors in the first round. His opponent is picked to move on to challenge Flay, and I understand the reasoning behind that, but his food sounded/looked better to me. The episode is called She Loves Me ... Not if anyone wants to hunt it down.

I toyed with that idea, too. I've only had KFC once - it was about 15 years ago on a road trip - but I know the umpteen herbs/spices recipe is a trade secret guarded like Ft. Knox, so I briefly wondered if they'd be asked to taste the chicken (I'm assuming KFC has different flavor options, so one version per chef, two chefs for each version, whatever) and try to replicate it, with whomever's tasted the most like the KFC version they were trying to replicate being the winner. But then I figured that it would be hard to judge and they wouldn't even want to mess with the chefs all talking about what flavors they detected in the KFC chicken. A similar thought passed through my mind, and it's nice how general consensus changed before he died.

Not being a Muppets fan, I wondered that, too. She's the only one I know, so she was my answer. The first half of the first round seemed to go by more quickly than usual. I wasn’t sure how I’d do with the romantic comedies category as I can count the ones I like on two hands and probably don’t even need all 10 fingers, but they picked ones I know (and a few I even like). It was another good first round for me. A pretty good second round, too, thanks to Supreme Court cases, space history, novels about turning 40, and a vocabulary category. I even did well in the TV reboots category, only missing the game show. I’m better than the average bear at geography, and it’s not uncommon for J! to, seemingly accommodating the way geography knowledge has declined, offer up pretty simple clues, so I’d have been tempted to wager quite aggressively on FJ if I was playing. It would have paid off thanks to current events confirming my first guess. Eric the lawyer getting beaten to the buzzer on all but one clue in the Supreme Court cases category caused a sympathetic chuckle (not as sympathetic as it would have been without those juvenile smiley faces in his name).

Have we seen Justin in glasses before and I just didn't notice? I like fried chicken, but don’t drool over it like many people do. So I was only mildly interested to see what everyone did in the QF, but I was curious to see how Justin dealt with not being able to use salt; it’s interesting that he overcame that just fine, but overcooked it. (I always enjoy the blindfolded “identify the ingredient” challenge, because the cheftestants are always surprised by how many they miss.) I’ve never seen Laila Ali fight, because I dislike boxing, but I’ve seen her compete on Chopped, and she’s an impressive woman. And, of course, her dad was The Greatest. So I was excited all around for this EC. I love how moved Eric was by the opportunity, and his dish was totally unfamiliar to me so I enjoyed hearing about it and am glad he got the win, even though my taste buds weren't particularly tickled by the sight/description of it. I'm not surprised Sara was the other favorite; her dish looked/sounded nice and light to start, and I love when something simple comes together perfectly. I also think she incorporated the story of the fight well. She had a very strong two days. I know the judges said someone would be going home for a good dish, and they had to nitpick, but to me Eddie was a no-brainer to get the knife. His dish came across as fine but ho-hum, and I don't think having to switch meats had much to do with that - he didn't seem to think about the fight or Ali's overall legacy at all. Justin may have been a little simple in his take-away, but there was some thought there and his soup sounded good. Adrienne's spicy ribs sounded great and it's good she was told she had no clue about Filipino food because once she dug deeper and looked for inspiration in the details of the fight, she made a great dish. Kelsey's bread pudding sounded surprisingly - since I'm not much of a bread pudding fan - tasty, and I really liked the layers of story she told with that dish. So I was glad Adrienne and Kelsey were both readily declared safe from elimination.

You may be right. I've always figured it was based on how sometimes a person will quickly bring their hand to their mouth when they're that shocked by something, but this posits it's because you're as shocked as you'd be by suddenly getting hit in the face. Either way, it's a good word.

The supply and demand TS was surprising. (I’d never heard aggregate supply or aggregate demand, but the clue asked one to think of an S&D economic term, so supply & demand is something I’d have thought at least one would come up with.) It surprised me even more than FJ being a TS (which did surprise me, too). The missed DD of goblet made me think Eric was concentrating too much on the wording of the clue rather than just looking at the picture. (And, good gods, does he need to stop with the cutesy dottings of the I in his name. And, no, I don't care why he's doing it.) The “seven” category belonged in the first round. I ran the first round, but not at all the second, thanks to comic books and opera, two things I would need to do a lot of studying on if I wanted to compete.

Holy crap, yes. It's a moot point since I stopped subjecting myself to the hassle of anything beyond casual relationships long ago, but even back when I was dating I wanted nothing to do with Valentine's Day crap - crowds, higher prices (often for a limited menu), and those annoying flower peddlers at the table. All for a fake holiday. Nope.

That's from five years ago (five years ago today, so it must have popped up as an "on this day ..." thing or something).

The clue said its main theatrical release was the same day, so if - and I'm too lazy tonight to look this up - it was released in select theatres earlier and later put into wide theatrical release on the same day as its Netflix debut, the clue isn't wrong. (Again, I don't know; it's still on my "see before the Oscars" list.)