Bastet

As a Navy brat, she lived all over the place; we can narrow down living in San Diego among other places as a kid, getting her B.S. (in physics) at Maryland (U of M) and her M.D. at Stanford, and, as the series gets going, her home being in Maryland, but it's later retconned to Georgetown.

That's pretty funny, because she initially lived in Annapolis (MD), but then in the first movie her apartment - the same as we'd seen on the show - was said to be in Georgetown. And, of course, we all wanted Scully to have the cool address rather than the shitty commute, but where does she really live? So if they put this totally uncharacteristic sleek, modern home - as, apparently, part of a sleek, modern development, given the fact her neighbor's home (when they tried to call 911 after their phones didn't work) looked the same - in Annapolis, are they really putting her back there after her having returned to the FBI rather than centrally locating her as they, possibly, hadn't before? The hell?

Of course I can, if their instincts are at least partially rooted in sexism, and they most certainly were. So, good for the producers/editors including it, including an explicit statement from Adrienne, and hopefully it causes at least a few people to open their eyes.

I laughed pretty hard when, because they didn't go in order, they got confused by the "non-nose-twitching" part of the Joanie clue (something they'd have probably quickly nailed otherwise, because, hello, daughter Joanie = Happy Days), because they hadn't already seen the Tabitha clue. Take that, board jumpers! (Even though I actually have no problem with board jumping as a strategy; it's just, as an anal-retentive viewer who likes symmetry and order, I laughed.)

I don't like trout, nor do I like fishing, so the QF wasn't my thing, and I thought the "cook on a cauldron, vegetarian, for 200 people" mandate was maybe a bit much for the EC to determine the final two, but then I came around on it. I was nervous for Adrienne when she had one of those days where, no matter how good you are, things just don't go as you intend them to, and could tell it was between her and Mustache Joe for elimination -- she seemed to me the better performer than him this round, but I've thought that at least twice before yet he's been crowned the winner, thus the nerves. I'm very happy for her. And good for the show including the fact that when many chefs walk up to a male/female duo, not knowing either one, they think the man is the lead and the woman the assistant, because that happens all.the.damn.time in pretty much all professions and needs to be talked about. I'm pleased with the final two; I'm almost positive Adrienne has never cooked, said, or done anything that makes me not want her to be crowned Top Chef in the grand scheme of things, and I'm fairly certain Joe hasn't, either. I'm rooting for Adrienne, and pretty damn hard, but I won't be angry if Joe winds up putting out the best final dish. The promo certainly feels like a "Joe thinks he's toast (no pun intended - and, seriously, shut the fuck up about fancy toast, Mustache Joe), but, when you watch, surprise, he winds up winning" edit, but I hope that's misdirection.

In the hopes of never having to hear about car radios again (it's my pTV equivalent of the Super Beta Prostate stuff on TWoP's commercials threads), what actually happened is some guy who forgot high school science sprayed a bunch of aerosol deodorant and then lit a cigarette.

Maddie always met me at the door, and if I'd had a late night, she'd give me a look that was the equivalent of holding up one's watch and pointing to it. Riley does something Baxter used to do -- if I have company, and they stay late, she gets out of bed, sits on the doorway between the hall and living room, and stares at my guest(s) as if to say, "She was supposed to be in bed with me hours ago; you need to go home now." That one reminds me of my mother appearing in the doorway when I was having a slumber party with my friends and she wanted us to shut up and go to sleep.

Skewers with grilled zucchini (the pieces they'd cut off to make the first course), zucchini blossoms, and sausage.

Which he didn't want to do, because she was going to move to Michigan, and because she's awful -- "I can't live with my mother, not without my father there." So for to only take the girls and leave David with her is shitty, and screams "I don't want you."

I love the similarities between current pets and those who've died - it's fun to watch a behavior and think, "She/he is so totally channeling [pet] right now" and to see a pet take equal joy in a toy or activity enjoyed by one from the past - but the best part is each one's unique set of characteristics, from markings to personality. I still love and miss every cat I've had to say good-bye to, but I cannot imagine trying to replicate them rather than simply enjoying other cats for who they are. And, yeah, with MILLIONS of pets being euthanized in U.S. shelters each year simply because there are more of them than there are homes, I have major issues with breeding, and those apply to cloning -- general principle objections before we get to the creepy "replacement" factor.

I can't believe how much of this is still in my head. She got pregnant during the winter hiatus of season one (which is also when she got married), and found out she was pregnant shortly after filming Young at Heart, which freaked her out a bit, as she'd just spent umpteen takes falling (onto a mat) when Scully got shot, but obviously everything was fine, as Piper entered the world in September (while GA was filming season two - she was born during the filming of 3 [the only good thing to come of that episode, but that's for the season two thread]). Although she worked a reduced schedule as season two began filming, she got only ten days off once she gave birth; she was in hospital for several (she had to have an unplanned c-section), home for several more, and then had to shoot One Breath (which she mostly spent sleeping), and then go right into a mostly-normal shooting schedule for Firewalker. That always amused me, just on general principle of how fucking stupid and sexist it is, and for the fact she is naturally blonde - and busty (although who could tell in Scully's early wardrobe). Just not bottle blonde, silicone tits in your face busty, and, even accounting for the typical short-sightedness of network executives, how utterly stupid do you have to be to think that's who Scully should be? To want more Pamela Anderson than Gillian Anderson for Dana Katherine Scully? Please pursue a different line of work. I have approximately 8,046 issues with Chris Carter, but I'll always give him - a fledgling showrunner trying to get his pilot greenlit on a fledgling network - credit for being adamant he wanted Gillian.

There is a whole lot of modern technology I want no part of, so I was looking forward to this one (as much as I actually look forward to XF anymore, since I'm so ho-hum about it this season), but apprehensive that the "silent" aspect would feel like a gimmick. Which it did, as these are people who say each other's names every three minutes, but it really only bothered me during the dinner date, which was fucking ridiculous - they're both constantly on their phones instead of interacting (why not just each stay home and order in?), to the point they don't ever say a single word to each other. And, yes, I get that it's just an exaggeration of the ridiculous way many/most smartphone users behave these days. But Mulder and Scully are not these people; they just got inserted into a story without regard for what's realistic characterization. Like Scully's house. Come on; there's no way she's that high-tech. (And I see the writers still can't agree whether they live together - there's far more in the "they don't" column, so I guess the "they do" thing was a continuity error, and I don't give a shit whether they do or don't, so I'm not complaining about anything other than the inconsistency. Maybe now that her house tried to kill her, she'll move back in with him.) And, my goodness, her home decor has changed since her old apartment; her house looks like something Gillian would have come up with in all things, but that's about where the similarity to the past ends. And, fine, people change styles, but it, too, was just so painfully exaggerated. The episode wasn't bad, though -- we got one of Scully's great laughs. A shout-out to Queequeg. Bigly Credit; hee. And GA and DD do non-verbal interaction better than most, so they're ideal candidates for this type of experiment. Plus I had my memories of Mulder's two-cent tip for pizza delivery triggered. Scully telling her driverless car to be quiet in response to "how can I make your trip enjoyable?" was great, too. I like poking fun at shit like taking pictures of your food and posting it, being expected to review (and post that review on social media) every damn thing you use (about two seconds after you get it), the stupid descriptions for "poor, fair, good, great" ratings, arguing with the phone you've voluntarily turned your life over to. (And having to pull out ye olde Thomas Guide to actually get somewhere.) The drone-to-drone search and rescue mission was fantastically creepy. Trying to get a company's automated customer service to respond properly is low-hanging fruit, but it also never gets old. "Get rid of everything we can be tracked with" leading to casting off half a dozen things was great. I kind of like the idea of poor-/non-tippers being hunted down, heh. And I definitely like the "put your fucking phone down and engage with the person sitting right there with you" message. The concept was great. The execution was okay. These days, that's plenty for me. The opening just kept me thinking, "Battlestar Galactica did this theme better," but I couldn't help a rueful laugh at an AI let loose on Twitter to learn about being human from the people posting there inevitably winding up posting racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, etc. shit. Am I correct in assuming the tag line translates to something, like on boards where spoilers are turned into gobbledy-gook like that? Anyone know what? Who keeps their vibrator, totally uncovered, under the bed with all the dust bunnies? She indeed needs an automatic vacuum if she's going to do that. It amused me that so many of the commercials shown during this hour were for automated things like were causing them so much grief in the episode. That juxtaposition was a better commentary on modern society than the episode itself.

Oh, Alex, how unusually diplomatic of you to say you seem to have run into more difficult material than usual rather than saying stupider contestants than usual. Good gods, the contestants sucked at Native American history. Given the way it’s (not) taught, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – except for Wounded Knee. I knew all three of them that they got to, but that’s the one I really would have expected at least one contestant to come up. They also sucked at British singers, another category I ran; Billy Idol, Billy Ocean, and Leona Lewis were all TS. The missed Illinois DD is the one that really surprised me; Chicago politics seem nationally notorious to me, and with Ryan named in the clue, I was groaning that it was too simple for a DD and then she whiffed it. I got most of the TS, but I didn't know FJ. I knew from the category that I had very little chance (religion/mythology is probably the subject I know least about), but once Antigone was revealed, I was really annoyed I hadn't reasoned my way to it. Molly Ringwald being 50 reminds me how old I am. Did any other Seinfeld fan answer “jambalaya” in Newman’s voice? I'd have had to consciously stop myself from doing it that way on the show.

I look forward to finding out what the deal is with Mulder and leaving a tip (it airs in a little over an hour here; I always pop in early to see if there's something truly horrible awaiting me), because one of the 873 things that make me laugh in Bad Blood is when Mulder tips the pizza delivery guy TWO CENTS, at which point I root for the little vampire to go ahead and gnaw on his cheapskate neck.

So what do they say to each other on that phone call, then? Because it started out conciliatory, and then he heard Mark in the background.

I only watched Friends for a few years, and almost never watch an episode in syndication, so my memory is fuzzy: I thought Rachel suggested they take a break, but he later called her and they made up/said they wanted to work on their relationship/something like that (the content of the call is what I'm really fuzzy on), but then he heard Mark in the background and got on his usual jealous, insecure bullshit and hung up on her, and that's when he went out and slept with someone else. I can't say I hated any of the characters (although I very much hated Ross and Rachel's relationship, and was so angry when I tuned back in for the series finale and saw that she gave up Paris for him), but I didn't like any of them, either, which is why I quit watching.

I love mint, but I grow it in a pot to keep it contained - and I still wind up yanking it out of random places in my yard.

You just ruined my day.

He kicked Mark out, and when he left his wife, he took the girls, but left David with the also godawful Mrs. Healy. No custody battle, no David choosing his mom, no Mrs. Healy even really wanting David - just, bye, son. Exactly; David came into the Conner family via Darlene, but he became part of it all on his own, and remained part of it during all the umpteen break-ups. Unless their break-up/separation (I'm not sure which route they're taking) is because he did something horrible to Darlene or the kids (not a road I expect them to go down), he's not going to lose them.

The ideal diet - replicating what they consume in the wild - for cats is very low in carbs, high in protein, and moderate in fat. That's hard to come by in commercial cat food (and damn near impossible in prescription cat food, which uses junk ingredients at gourmet prices; unconscionable), because protein is more expensive than fat or carbs (especially species-appropriate protein, meaning meat rather than vegetable). Like humans, though, genetics mean cats can die young on this ideal diet or live long and prosper on a lesser but adequate one; feed the best you can afford that your cat will actually eat and move on, because none of it is poison. But, if you're looking for the ideal, all but one of the dry food formulas exceed the carbohydrate component of ideal caloric composition, and most by a significant margin; even the healthiest dry food options (Nature's Variety Instinct, EVO, and Wellness CORE) are nearly or double the ideal carb content, even though still well below the average, and there's one only dry food formula (Young Again's Zero) that is within range, but it uses inferior ingredients, so most canned (or, even better, raw) formulas are better than most dry food formulas, and among canned food options, the gravy-heavy formulas tend to be higher in carbs than the rest. But, again, cats can do perfectly well on any of them. It's just something owners should know if they have the entire field of options from which to choose.

Ha - I have no idea how that came out of my fingertips. Well, I do, in that it has been a day of bad news and I'd had a couple of drinks before I watched, but damn. But, yeah, substitute Egypt for Greece in my original post, and I'll go edit; thanks!

I forgot Paul was even there until the first round was nearly over. How could he not come up with the House of Representatives (something he really should have known) after being prompted to be more specific after saying Congress?! I can’t believe he was even in contention, let alone wound up in second place; what an odd performance that was. The missed DD of Alexandria was rather surprising; for the average contestant, wouldn’t you know it has to be a city in Egypt, and then knowing it has to have an X get you to Alexandria? Maybe it just came too early in the game and Amy's nerves were a factor. Vis-a-vis as a TS was unequivocally surprising to me. Same with ARCO, unless those stations are only regional (just like not knowing Los Angeles in the farmers market clue that followed in that category would be unfathomable to me, but I live here). None of them ever relied on the AAA discount in choosing hotels, to remember the diamonds rather than stars? That was a good chunk of my 20s. Is accepting "Mary Tyler Moore," when the category asked for the show from which the clue show was spin off, legitimate? I know the title card just showed her name, but wasn't the name of the show officially The Mary Tyler Moore Show?

When the end credits came up, putting an end to my hour-long nightmare.

That would make sense in terms of taking only Lisa and Nicky when he left Mrs. Healy, but Mark and David both have his last name, so unless he adopted them after marrying their mom, that doesn't fit. He was always referred to as David and Mark's father, not stepfather and it was always "Mom and Dad," not "Mom and [Name]." When Mark and David talk before the wedding, about the Conners being their parents now, and list the ways in which the Healys sucked, I think they would have said something along the lines of "Dad took off, Mom married another loser and then he took off" if that were the case.

Oh, they do; there are two in my area alone, both owned and run by British immigrants. But I'm nowhere near Hartford, so I can't help you there. Your hosts will likely know whether any of the local options are authentic.