Bastet

That was either a seriously easy first round, or they just happened to hit on a bunch of things I knew or, if not, could easily figure out (e.g. all the merit badges), because I ran the round. And the odd (numbers) and irregular (verbs) clues were too easy for DJ. “You picked the right Supreme Court justice?? Or maybe he knew. Yeah, she’s the only one of the three women who has children, but he didn’t seem to need time to work that through; he answered quickly other than needing to clear his throat, so he either knew or figured it out quickly. They still make pom-pom socks? Huh. And why the hell do I know who Cindy Crawford’s daughter is? Compression (socks) surprised me as a TS, especially with Alex’s pause before ruling pressure incorrect. I’m also surprised Alan couldn’t come up with Christie’s as the other auction house in his DD; if you pay no attention to auctions (as I do not), you generally know Sotheby’s and Christie’s and nothing else. Cattle was kind of surprising, but not like those. Similarly with FJ; in fact, with that one, I'm disappointed it was a TS (it just happened last year, and there was the chatter about her needing to do a spoken word album so she can win a Grammy and join the EGOT ranks, because Viola Davis is just that great), but not particularly surprised.

What does this woman who throws out the pacifier every time her dog gets a hold of it do when her dog licks her kid? Good gods. Wipe it dry on your pants and hand it back to the kid. Or, you know, wash it. But tossing it? Ridiculous.

Tonight’s EC joins last week’s QF in being one where the “Today’s winning dish was great because of X,Y,Z” lead-in caused me to think Adrienne was the clear winner, only to have it turn out to be Mustache Joe. Most of the food prepared by the family members didn’t look very good to me, especially the beef stroganoff, so it wouldn’t be hard to elevate them! But Joe and his dad got me choked up; seven years and not having her there still hurts them both so much. That resonates with me. Adrienne and her mom were really nice to watch together, too. They all touched me with how they wanted to honor the starting point dish; they wanted to adhere to the “inspired by but elevated”, this is Top Chef finals, mandate, and showcase their professional technique but maintain the great home cook flavors. Last week, someone was going to go home for a great dish, and this week someone was going home for one of the best dishes of the season. That’s tough, but I’d also rather go out like that than by screwing something up and forever wondering how far I could have gone had I not fumbled. I figured it was Carrie; they all had minor things that weren’t mistakes, but elements that could have been better, and her sauce seemed like it would edge out the other two and send her home. I’m bummed, as I like her and Adrienne best, but I’d have been bummed to see anyone but Mustache Joe go (and I wouldn’t have cheered his exit; he’s said several things that annoy me, but it’s mild – it’s just that no one else left has annoyed me at all that I can remember). Mustache Joe’s dad’s WTF? face when Joe put his dish down was hilarious. Joe F’s grandma complimenting Carrie’s dish was sweet (and that Carrie called her “Grandma Mary” when thanking her, presumably because that’s how Mary had invited everyone to address her, was cute). Adrienne’s deconstructed gumbo looked the most delicious and the most interesting twist on the original, and I was possibly going to throw something if she didn’t finally win.

Having recently watched Battlestar Galactica for the first time, finally, I have a new favorite: Laura Roslin and Bill Adama. I don't think I have ever loved a love story more. It grew organically (it was not planned from the outset), it progressed at the perfect pace, and the mutual love and respect was nearly palpable.

When the show originally aired, I couldn't stand David almost from the time we met him. I felt bad for him when we saw his home life, and loved the scene where Roseanne changes her mind and says he can come live with them, but I thought he was unbearably annoying. Now, I like him well enough until he's an utter asshole about Darlene going to Chicago, and from then on I pretty much hate him. Of course, now I also hate Darlene once she goes to Chicago, where originally I always liked her. She's such an ass! She still has some good moments, and I know Sara's availability was limited by her college schedule, but Darlene constantly comes home for a planned visit, get into a stupid fight with David, and stomps back to Chicago early, never mind that her parents would like to spend some time with her. And she's awful to Becky. And, yes, New Coke Becky is pretty awful, but still. They ways they insulted each other had always been rooted in reality and tempered with love, but it became this constant refrain of withering condescension about what a stupid bimbo Becky was. Even in Sarah Chalke's hands, that wasn't true.

I don't know if you have Sprouts markets in your area, but they have good-quality offerings of both. When I don't want to make a trip to the local butcher shop, that's the store where I can pick some up alongside my other shopping and know it's going to be good.

As soon as the They Quit the TV Show category was announced, I said, "David Caruso."

I watched my recording Sunday night and then forgot to post about it, so I've forgotten a lot of the names by now, but: Seeing the "swimmer puppies" getting around so well now is adorable. Tania, Mariah, and Mo really put a lot of time into their physical therapy, and it paid off. Hannah loving life at the Puppy Bowl (and Caleb just hanging back and observing from Marcel's arms) was sweet. I knew the adopters were going to pick the dog with emotional needs, no matter how adorable the arthritic dog who did that hilarious upside-down maneuver on the couch was -- she needed them in the same way they needed her, and it was written all over her face. I'm glad the parolee who opted to show back up and turn it around is doing well so far. It hurt my heart when he said being at work with the dogs was the only light in his life, he went home to a big black hole. It's so hard for these guys to cobble together an existence they never had in the first place, and which got completely beaten down in prison; that any of them succeed long term is rather astounding, and that's never going to change until parolee/work-release/in-prison programs like those featured on the show stop being anomalies.

Everyone alive and of TV-watching age at the time, I hope; that was very funny, and we still say his name that way whenever it comes up. That was such a jerk move. Damien's "Really, jackass?" look in reaction was good. I’ve never heard “the staff of life,” so that one stumped me, too. I couldn’t come up with the first line of Macbeth, either; I'm incredibly sporadic with my Shakespeare knowledge (and I wouldn't know it from A Wrinkle in Time, as I either never read it or did so as a kid). But I got the northern cross, Sean Connery (that was a guess), Oliver Wendell Holmes, St. Patrick’s Day parade (a Thanksgiving parade in March? Talk about forgetting the category), Urdu, e-book, Gandhi (I cannot believe that was a TS!), and road rage (I also can’t believe no one noticed Damien said ‘roid rage instead and thus didn’t ring in). The Death, American Style clues all seemed rather simple, even for the first round. I had a feeling Damien was going to say Hamilton instead of Burr, though. And .jpeg was far too easy a clue for a DD in DJ. FJ was an instaget (not that I knew that's what the hummingbird is called in Portuguese, but that "flower kisser" instantly brought to mind a hummingbird).

For me, it's just how family works -- because they're your immediate family, you suck it up and attend something utterly stupid (that you'd never subject yourself to for anyone other than family), and because you're their immediate family, they suck it up and listen to your comments on how utterly stupid it is. I liked how Grace and Brianna were over it from jump, Coyote and Barry were totally into it, and the rest made an attempt at first and then gave up.

Yes. After Dan died, she was depressed and didn't want to do anything. But when Darlene had the baby and it almost died, she pulled herself together to be there for her family. With that crisis over, she started thinking back on her life, and decided to write it all down - but she'd change the stuff she didn't like. So, in the book, Dan was alive, the girls were with the guys she thought they should be with, etc. When Dan died, any semblance of financial security flew out the window (they had a hard enough time with two incomes, so now one?), so she wrote them winning the lottery and living life like characters on TV. She also felt a sense of abandonment and betrayal as a result of his death, so she wrote him as leaving her for another woman. She wrote the book to work out her mix of feelings, and says she thinks she'll feel a lot better now that it's done. That's when she goes upstairs and plops down on the couch to watch TV by herself. She's now equipped to deal with her new reality; life goes on.

I didn't find any of it creepy, but the Land of Make Believe segments were largely uninteresting to me - even as a child, I preferred reality-based fiction - other than Daniel Striped Tiger (because he's a cat), and the stuff in Mr. Rogers' living room was even more boring with the wardrobe change, so I watched Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood only for the Picture Picture segment, where he showed how something (in real life) was made; How It's Made (which I love) has always reminded me of that.

Both episodes in which Doug having a son is mentioned came early in season one, when they were explaining the characters to the audience - Doug's story was the perpetually adolescent playboy trying to finally grow up. That, in the past, he impregnated someone and didn't remain part of her/the child's life was just one more way of contrasting who he'd long been (and who people saw him as) and who he was trying to become. I doubt the kid was ever meant to be an upcoming storyline, but if he was, I can see why they decided against it once the show started picking up steam. And by the time Carol got pregnant, when it might naturally have come up in conversation again, it would have been unnecessarily distracting, since he was gone anyway, but I suspect the writers had forgotten by then it had ever been mentioned.

No, they both got it in the settlements (it had originally belonged to the four of them); that's how they got stuck together to begin with.

They knew the kids were handling the sale of the house (Grace tells Nick they put it on the market), but didn't know it had sold (they're surprised to find the Sold sign when they reach the house after their break-out), so that means the kids were not just handling the logistics, they were authorized to sign the papers. That makes no sense; there is absolutely no reason for Grace and Frankie not to have retained title in their names. You wouldn't bother transferring to the kids, so they could turn around and transfer it to whomever they sold it to, and then deal with another unnecessary step (and tax implications) in that the money comes to them and they turn around and give it to Grace and Frankie. Dumb, dumb, dumb. They just wanted the cliffhanger of Grace and Frankie triumphantly breaking out and making their way to the house (contemplating the kids' punishment along the way), only to find the big ol' Sold on the sign, and decided to ignore the lack of logic to get there. I'll ignore it, too, if next season's storyline getting them back into the house is good, but I'm going to go ahead and grumble during hiatus.

Wimbledon would be a bit too far out for my tastes. I generally stay in the Kensington area when I visit; nice but not too posh, easy access (via tube) to everything, near to Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens (where I love to stroll), and just enough removed from the hustle and bustle to feel like I'm coming "home" at night (yet still with plenty of local restaurant and other options) yet close enough in that everything is a short tube ride away.

Me too. I also like when he says he feels like he should say something, she quickly assures him he doesn't have to, he reiterates that he should, and while he's contemplating, she says, "Grandpa says they used to have laces on them." He's utterly confused until she gestures to the basketball. My favorite is when Darlene starts tossing all her sports equipment and such, and Roseanne tells her, "These are a girl's things as long as a girl uses them." I also like the end of that conversation: "Thanks, Mom. Can you go now?" "Yeah, one more thing - watch out for those mood swings."

A lot of that was just John Goodman ad-libbing, and Roseanne absolutely adores his sense of humor (as does Laurie), so the laughing is her genuine reaction. I love that tag, because it works on both levels - that it's largely the actors just being in the moment does not at all distract from the experience, because they're both behaving as their characters would.

Chuck (and Anne Marie) and Crystal will be appearing for at least one episode.

Well, I know what I'm doing next! I just went and tracked those down, randomly selected The Oath as my first sample of his reviews, and found these first words: Later this: And finally this: So, yeah - I will be reading every single one, because that is me. The next day, when I'm thinking (and posting here), I'm rational and reflective about the episode as a whole. But at night, lying in bed watching Laura, and Bill and Laura, that is the sort of thing that is going on in my head; she's now one of my all-time favorite characters, and I don't think I have ever loved a love story more. Romantic relationships are consistently my least-favorite part of shows, but this is one whopper of an exception. Thank you for the recommendation.

I've known that for years. Roseanne talked about it in one of her episode commentaries she did for the DVD, but I think it had come up in an interview before that, too. It has always amused me.

Having re-watched, I like the finale on the whole. I have some quibbles, but I’m pleased. When I wondered how they were going to send Galactica off in style, I wasn’t expecting it being flown into the sun. That’s pretty great. I love the flashbacks; I really like that before we find out how everyone wound up, we get our best look yet at who they were before the attacks. (It makes me want to re-watch the miniseries, meeting these characters for the first time again with this additional understanding of them, but I think I want to track down The Plan before I start over.) I found all the flashbacks well done, and nice insights into the characters. Laura losing all that remained of her family in one fell swoop was tragic! It made the deep connection she formed with Bill all the more moving. It had always struck me how relatively lucky he was – he’d previously lost a son, which is huge, obviously, but unlike most he came through the cylon attack having retained those closest to him. Most people lost everyone or almost everyone, but he had his son, his “daughter,” and his best friend. That was always contrasted with Laura, who emerged from the attack with no one but Billy – who, then, was brand new to her; he only became like family to her post-holocaust – who wound up being killed. And now to know she’d already lost everyone years before the attack is profound. That she ultimately allowed herself to love Bill completely and openly, after a lifetime of losing everyone else she loved, is huge. The real-time stuff was good, too. Laura using some of her last reserve of energy to walk onto that deck, slow and frail but determined, really got me, and I love Kara reaching over to support her after Bill steadies her in place. That whole sequence, ending with Laura and Kara clasping hands, was when I knew I was going to spend some time crying. I love Laura’s good-bye with Cottle. “No, don’t ruin your image; just light a cigarette and go grumble.” I also like that he was among the first to volunteer for the mission, and Bill told him they couldn’t risk losing him; he stays, Ishay can go. Nice send-off for a character that has been a small but important part of the series. The main action sequence of the mission to rescue Hera went on a bit long for me, because I have a low tolerance for the CGI action/adventure stuff. At first, I wasn’t sure why so many people signed up for a suicide mission (risking a future in which President Lampkin and Admiral Hoshi lead the fleet). The key characters, I all understand why they’re there, but given how many people just recently participated in mutiny over alliance with the cylons, it seemed like, even though more people lined up on the “nope” side, there are still too many people volunteering to likely die by way of fighting alongside centurions, providing cover for rescuing a little half cylon. But really looking at how many people volunteered versus how many didn’t, and thinking about how uncertain their future is anyway, it made sense to me. Centurions vs centurions was a really cool image. As was seeing Tory get her neck snapped (that’s quite a way to answer my question as to whether it was ever going to be discovered that she’d killed Cally). And Athena killing Boomer was perfectly chilling. I’m glad we finally saw what the Opera House stuff is about; I wasn’t expecting it to be the CIC, but that wound up working, especially for something they had no idea where it was going to go when they first wrote it. I did want to yell at Hera to just fucking stay put, though – that kid runs off all the time. Starbuck finally realizing what the song means happened at the same time I did – when Adama told her to jump the ship and she said she didn’t know the rendezvous coordinates, I had an “A-ha!” moment that the purpose of the song was going to turn out to be showing them where they should live. Maybe I should have picked up on it when she said she thought turning the notes into numbers was the key, but I didn’t. There’s a long time between finding the planet and the end of the show, and I really like that; it’s a proper good-bye to everyone. I like that finding Hera isn’t the end, reaching an agreement with Cavil isn’t the end, finding the planet isn’t the end – there are all these big developments, but the end is about the characters. Adama flying the last viper off Galactica is great, and I’m glad they went that route rather than having him be the one to fly Galactica into the sun. If he’d done that, Laura would have gone with him, and it wouldn’t have been a bad ending (she’s going to die along the way, but she’ll be alone with him when she does, and he goes down with the ship), but I love her getting to see Earth, when the prophecies had said she wouldn’t. “So much life” is a great last line. Of course, I cried when she dies and he puts his ring on her just like he’d done in her vision. I’d started tearing up when she and Bill were sitting on the ground talking about this new Earth, those tears fell when she waved goodbye to Lee and Kara, and when she died I was done for. Knowing it was going to happen helped, immensely, in being affected by it, processing it, and moving on, but damn, that hurt for a long moment. Laura was a terrific character, and I’m glad she found peace and happiness in the end, but – even though I don’t actually want this for the show, as it wouldn’t have been true to it – I can’t help but wish that in some alternate universe she was there, not under the pile of rocks, as Bill built the cabin she’d dreamed of. I also, to my total surprise, teared up at Baltar saying he knows about farming, and even before he started crying. That was a great little moment. Sam’s story is moving, too. Everyone’s is, really. Kara and Lee’s final conversation is beautiful, and I love that she disappears and he’s off to explore, rather than them walking off into the sunset together. We never get a concrete explanation for what she is, and after much deliberation I’ve decided I like it that way. Overall, I like that it was a happy ending, but this show’s version of a happy ending. Yeah, I felt beaten upside the head by religion at the end, as I did many points along the way. But when current day Six natters on about God’s plan again, Baltar says, “You know it hates that name,” so that’s a nice out. And, yeah, while I really appreciate – given what an allegory for our times it always was – this turning out to have been not some alternate world in the future, but our world, far in the past, I don’t think the “abandon all technology rather than just learning our lesson in how to use it responsibly” is the best, most-logical, or maybe even a good way to get there. But, in the grand scheme of things, I can deal with it in order to wind up where we did. I like the reveal that this is our history, and the question of what that means for our current – then, and holy hell, now – increasing reliance on technology, our in-fighting, our worst impulses, etc. There were some weak episodes, but, on the whole, this series is wonderful, and I am so glad I finally watched it. It really does avoid almost everything I hate about sci-fi, so I was engrossed. It’s a great allegory and tackles a lot of issues in thought-provoking ways. The characters and relationships are really interesting – well written and even better performed. Ron Moore said numerous times in his commentaries, probably as early as season two, that the actors know the characters better than he does, so I think the fact he collaborated with them rather than just dictating to them is a significant factor in the show’s success. I’m trying to think if anyone is just pure good or pure bad on this show, and not coming up with anyone. All the humans did bad things, and while not all cylons did good things, even Cavil (the worst of the lot) was developed enough that we understood why he did the terrible things he did. The co-existence of good and evil is one of the best things about the show. The trajectory of Laura and Bill’s relationship is incredible; if told where they’d end up as I watched the miniseries, I’d have never believed it, yet as it played out, it’s perfect. Organic, perfectly paced, beautifully acted, and refreshing on a television landscape that doesn’t often show the development of romantic relationships, let alone sexual ones, between characters their age. It could have been something like Tyrol said, just choosing the best of your limited options – who else could either of them realistically be with? They’re the two most-powerful people in the fleet, they can’t honorably sleep with anyone else. But they’re not just frakking it out, finding relief and release with the only person realistically available to them, they probably don’t start sleeping together until New Caprica, when she’s no longer president, and then there’s the constant push-pull of their responsibilities versus their feelings. They fall in love in the midst of, and even in spite of, not because of, their situation. Their relationship –from thorns in each other’s side to partnership, then friendship, then love – is my favorite part of the show. It's one of the greatest love stories I've ever seen.

They're probably secretly using horse meat -- the horse is euthanized, so the drug is in its system, the meat is used in the cat or dog food, and, voila, trace amounts of the drug are now in the food. (Those brands are all among the lowest-quality pet food options, so if the manufacturer was further maximizing profit by replacing some of what's supposed to be chicken or beef with horse meat, it wouldn't surprise me.)

The ABC special about the revival was rather joyful; there was nothing new learned (except confirmation D.J. has married Gina, the girl he wouldn't kiss in the play) and nothing old revealed for the first time, but it still left me giddy with anticipation. I loved all the behind the scenes glimpses, the old table reads maybe as much as the new ones. Their reactions to the rebuilt set were terrific. I love everyone wanting the chicken shirt and the afghan to reappear. I’m excited by both, plus the Godzilla. Add in corn, and I’m good. The Roseanne Barr/Matt Williams conflict is one for the ages, and I think Marcy Carsey (inspiration for Kathy Bowman) – who, by all accounts from those I know working in TV at that time, tries to play both sides to create good product, but who is also quite duplicitous - was somewhat the root of it. I’ve always loved this recounting of Barr’s side of things. I’ve also always loved - well, hated, but loved being revealed - the story of when Roseanne got the chocolate number one, as opposed to the huge rewards men got for the same triumph, so I liked that coming up again. Saying the final season was a story is wrong, though; the whole series was a book – some of which was directly copied from real life, some of which was entirely fictional, and some of which was a slightly-altered version of reality. I think this means, especially since we already know Dan is alive in the revival, they’re going to play seasons eight and nine (and somehow only season nine gets mentioned in such scenarios, but Darlene’s wedding, at which Dan had the heart attack that either killed him or didn't, was not the end of season eight, but a few episodes before) as the book that they dismiss via whatever storyline they come up with, and in the grand scheme of things – even though I’m one of three fans who liked the “it was all a book” revelation – I’m fine with that, but I’m still a little grumbly at the misrepresentation.

I watch the draft on NFL Network, and FOX is just simulcasting its coverage (at least for rounds one through three), so this won't change anything for me.