Bastet

Especially a refrigerator! Yeah, like excitement is going to be my reaction to not only having to shell out big bucks at a time I wasn't expecting to, but to having to either research on the fly and make a hasty decision or accept that a bunch of food is going to go bad and I'm going to have to order in for several days while I figure out what I want and where to buy it.

I like Sara Evans's cover of Could Not Ask For More as much as the next person, but the songs of hers I love are Suds in the Bucket and Cheatin'. I didn't realize Janie Frickie (whom I almost exclusively associate with She's Single Again) had been a session vocalist on songs I've listened to frequently, Elvis Presley's version of My Way and Conway Twitty's I'd Love to Lay You Down.

I got antsy calculating how long it will take Lifetime to get to season five, so while taking care of the cats of my friend who has this series on DVD, I borrowed season five to watch Sharon's original three episodes. I had completely forgotten that her first episode, Red Tape, is also the episode in which Kitty is put to sleep. I cried my way through it again. The cat looks so sick and miserable, and the way Brenda and Fritz are written is perfect - he knows it's time, and he tells her that - more than once - but without pushing her. And it works, because in the end she admits on her own that she's not ready, but Kitty is, and she has to do what's best for Kitty, not for her. And then that "I wish I knew what you were thinking" moment, when she tells Kitty whatever she thinks is about to happen to her is only because Brenda loves her so much. And then I had to watch Walking Back The Cat before I went on to Sharon's next episode, because I love all the stuff with Kitty's ashes (Fritz trying to hide them, Brenda wailing "it's not ashes, it's chunks" and that they put him in a plastic bag ["Her. They put her in a plastic bag."] - and then putting them in Tupperware instead, Brenda wanting to scatter them someplace Kitty loved and Fritz asking, "Where? She was never allowed to go outside," Brenda carrying them around in her purse, and Pope's "maybe you should stop bringing your dead cat to work" reaction) and Brenda and Fritz sitting down to watch one of Kitty's nature videos at the end. This show depicted pet ownership better than just about any I've ever seen.

I keep meaning to check that book out from the library, because I remember loving it as a kid, but don't remember many details; I'm curious as to what I'd think now. The movies are horrible, but maybe a proper adaptation instead of a generic slasher film would be good.

Anyone who watched Drop Dead Gorgeous. Or The West Wing. Or Mr. Sunshine. Or Primary Colors. Or ... Her comic timing is every bit on par with her dramatic chops, and I'm glad she has a successful sitcom at this stage in her career - it's an easy schedule for TV, so she's raking in big bucks with plenty of time to go win Oscars for other projects. She toiled in obscurity for so long despite her immense talent, it really makes me happy that she has just kept on going since The West Wing finally put her on the map. She's also someone who likes most people she works with, and who is almost always adored in return, so particularly with this show where it's a group of women, I love that image, too. I'm so glad this show is in syndication, as I love watching the old episodes (I like current ones, too, even though I'm usually quite behind in watching, but I really love revisiting the old ones).

I think in the original episode in which that aired (last night's was a compilation of beatings they - and owners - have taken from unhappy patients), he wound up being euthanized. It's possible I'm mixing him up with another aggressive dog, though.

That has always been one of my favorite things about Planned Pethood, and every time I watch Dr. Pol and staff (on The Incredible Dr. Pol, a vet show on Nat Geo Wild) treat the poor cats/dogs in a labor that isn't going well, I wish they'd pull a Dr. Jeff and tell those damn breeders, yep, I'll do my best to save everyone - and then I'm spaying this poor girl. Moana's reaction to that shoulder splint was funny. Poor cat; I wonder what on earth she got into. Maybe got her leg caught in something. It's sad it took her a week to get back home, but at least she did and now she's all fixed up. Zebras in Colorado?

I love every word of that restaurant confrontation between Dorothy and the doctor, but my favorite moments are probably when she says if she'd been a man she'd have been taken more seriously and when the doctor's wife tells him oh yes he is going to sit there and listen to this. But, yes, the champagne thing is utterly stupid -- you're in a nice restaurant and order a bottle of their best champagne, and you don't think it's going to be expensive?

Holy crap, that grub living behind the kitten's eye! The kitten sure picked the right driveway to wander up. And she was so big just four months later. I laughed at being named Rye since she was missing her right eye. When the narration said a good samaritan dunked the overheated dog in cold water, I yelled at the TV. Same with a rerun during the recent marathon where a woman brought in her cat who hadn't eaten in "three or four days" - I started grumbling at her about hepatic lipidosis. I'm glad when they show stories like that, educating the audience. Cats are in danger if they go too long without eating. Hyperthermia has to be treated gradually, or you'll cause further harm. As evidenced by the cat's owner and the good samaritan who tried to help the dog, there are people out there who love animals, yet do not know these basics. So that means there are people in the audience like that, and now they've learned something. And I freakin' love their three-legged office cat, Tater. I love how people have to step over him and work around him (or her?), because he'll just plop down and demand to be petted.

FYI, there's now a forum for The Incredible Dr. Pol.

Six - The Thin Man, After The Thin Man, Another Thin Man, Shadow of the Thin Man, The Thin Man Goes Home, and Song of the Thin Man. Yes, I did that off the top of my head, because I watch all six - hello, it's Myrna Loy and William Powell; I watch most of their collaborations multiple times, and certainly when they're Nick and Nora Charles - but even I must admit only the first two are wonderful and only the first three are good. I can't think of a movie franchise where the quality doesn't drop off after the first couple of sequels, but I agree that doesn't mean sequels inevitably suck. Not as good doesn't mean bad. All the Thin Man movies are at least enjoyable, and same with the Scream films - and that's quite a feat in the horror genre!

Holy shit, that's practically movie premiere searchlight level of light output. Okay, hyperbole, but that's ridiculously bright -- there's no cause for something like that in that application, so I hope your landlord does right by you.

I don't give a tinker's damn if people set off reasonably contained backyard fireworks for an hour or so on July 4th, even though it is prohibited here, but fireworks for hours late into the night and for days before and after the holiday do bother me, along with those that are landing in someone else's yard. It's excessive, and at that point, quite rude.

That's just crazy talk! Don't you know if the appliance finish isn't your first choice, you must gut the whole kitchen?

Wow. They waited a whole six episodes to subject the female lead to sexualized violence. I do like the way her reaction is written, though, as I recall.

Hee. As a Sharon Raydor fan(atic), hearing the squad react with surprise that Brenda had been the subject of an ethics investigation in Atlanta, because she's so about the rules, had me howling with laughter. Now that's a line that's only properly appreciated in hindsight! One of the few things I prefer about The Closer to Major Crimes is that Buzz doesn't do much more than say, "Yes, ma'am." And, holy crap, what is with his hair?! I had blocked that from my memory. Fritz's annoying habit in later seasons of a) bugging Brenda about having kids when she's already said she doesn't want them and b) acting like it's new - and unacceptable - that her job can be dangerous remaining big downsides, he is still my TV boyfriend. I'm enjoying revisiting his early days as much as anything else.

That is probably my biggest cooking show peeve (well, when it comes to this show, it may just be a tie with the sob stories)! The average person transposing the letters - mildly annoying. A chef doing it - nails down a chalkboard level of annoyance.

Yes! I liked him so much until that, and then I wanted to smack him all the time. I forgot Taylor was a captain, not a commander, when the show started - every time I hear "Captain Taylor," it takes my brain a second to adjust.

I wish they'd left in the scene in episode two where all dressed-up, made-up Brenda is waiting for Fritz at the restaurant and he doesn't recognize her when he first walks in - he looks, smiles, and keeps right on walking. The way she asks, "What do I normally look like?!" joins Gabriel and the kittens (or maybe Fritz and the kittens; I know that scene was deleted, but I have it in my head that part of the Gabriel/kittens scene was, too) as the only two deleted scenes I remember from the series. And, hey, this red and white dress she bought is the one she wears for her interview with the mayor for Chief of Police (when Sharon begs her to wear something different than her usual flowery frocks), right?

Among the recurring first-round judges, Katie Lee doesn't bother me, and I really enjoy Anne Burrell, Michael Symon, and Alex Guarnaschelli. But Giada De Laurentiis bugs the ever-loving shit out of me, as does Sunny Anderson. At least with the latter, it's easily explained -- just get a minute or two of her personality. But with De Laurentiis, I can't pinpoint why she annoys me to the degree she does. I hate her smile, but she can't help the fact she looks like she has twice as many teeth as the rest of us. And it's a bit of a laugh to get culinary feedback from someone who eats approximately three bites of food per day. But she irritates me far beyond any of that. There's just something about her.

Oh my. I remembered that I absolutely hated Andy and Taylor in the beginning, but I forgot that I hated pretty much all of them. Watching the pilot, it seems impossible to believe Provenza wound up being one of my favorites!

Ugh, this heat. I rarely turn the AC on in the whole house (I usually just cool the room I'm in) and I usually set it at 80, but yesterday I had it going in all rooms at 78 most of the day, and today the same -- starting at 9:00 in the morning! I'm going to pay more for electricity this week than I normally do in a month. It's already 110, and still climbing. I'm happiest at around 85, but I'm fine up to about 95. This 100+ stuff is madness and I'm glad we normally only have a few days a year this hot. And then I got to spend my morning changing a breaker that had gone bad, but at least it wasn't the one the air conditioner is on! I'm kitty-sitting while the newlyweds are on their honeymoon, and last summer at peak heat their AC had to be fixed. Hopefully it doesn't conk out this year, too, because I don't think Riley would like the addition of three cats.

(The Dr. Pol marathon continues ...) Good gods, seriously - take two different blood glucose tests at the vet's office and when infection is suspected (stress and infection both raising blood sugar), never once do a fructosamine test or even have the owner test at home to rule out a stress/infection response (more likely than diabetes in a six-year-old female with only a moderate weight issue), and put the poor cat on insulin, then, gee, find a pre-surgical BG of only 66 and have to give sugar to get the cat through surgery, and STILL label her diabetic?! If that poor cat doesn't die of hypoglycemia, it will be a great stroke of luck.

I'm persnickety about ice cream; I mostly only like vanilla or sweet cream ice cream with stuff mixed in. For example, I love chocolate, mango, strawberry, etc. but I don't like chocolate, mango, or strawberry ice cream -- only "neutral" ice cream with chunks of that stuff mixed in. But occasionally I like a flavor other than vanilla (e.g. mint chocolate chip ice cream). Anyway, the B&J flavors I like are: chocolate chip cookie dough, cookies and cream, bourbon brown butter (I only like a couple of bites of this, due to the overwhelming sweetness even for ice cream, but it's good), mint chocolate chunk, vanilla caramel fudge, salted caramel almond (vanilla with roasted almonds, fudge, and caramel), Americone dream (vanilla with fudge-covered waffle cone chunks and a caramel swirl), salted caramel blondie (sweet cream with blonde brownie chunks and a caramel swirl), milk and cookies (either vanilla or sweet cream [I can't remember] with chunks of a couple different types of cookies), and spectacular speculoos (another one I can only eat a few bites of, but yum). I like truffle kerfuffle because of the chocolate ganache swirl, but eat around the pecans; if they used a different nut (maybe walnuts or peanuts), I'd love it. I want to like pistachio pistachio, because pistachios are my favorite nut, but I don't like the pistachio ice cream. Same with peanut butter cup; the peanut butter ice cream is too much for me. (So sometimes I just get vanilla ice cream topped with peanut butter cups, and then mix it up.)

One of my favorites! I love that Sharon taking her to the scene and making her face the step-by-step reality of what she set in motion finally makes a dent in Brenda's thick skull. And, yes, I think of Cathy Tao giving Mike shit for having Kevin there - and the various WTF? reactions to Brenda plopping Charlie down in the murder room in another episode - often in the early days of Rusty, the Squad Mascot, on Major Crimes.