Bastet

Wow. Yay, they finally found Earth! Oh, but look – it’s a nuked wasteland. That is so typical of this show. I knew the final stretch of the series couldn't just be about learning to co-exist on Earth with the cylons, so I knew some sort of twist was coming when they found it, but I didn't know what. That's a twist, alright. Backing up, Sine Qua Non is a seriously weird episode. I mean, first of all, Lampkin is carrying a dead cat around, and by the time it’s all over Saul has knocked up Caprica Six (eww), the cylons’ resurrection hub is destroyed, Lee is president (is it me, or did they wait about five minutes after the basestar jumped to move Zarek into the presidency, and about five minutes after that to form a search committee for a new president?), Tigh is in charge (I love “you can’t be crazy enough to leave me in charge”), and Adama has relinquished command to float in a raptor because he can’t live without Laura. It’s such a nice thread of consistency for Adama to temporarily lose his mind, and unnecessarily risk Galactica, and the fleet at large, though – for all the ways in which he’s a typical military leader, he has also always lost sight of his duties when someone he loves is at stake – Kara, Lee, and now Laura. This one is particularly interesting, since she’s the one who normally calls him on it. Random thought: Adama in the flight suit made me laugh, thinking of the deleted scene from when Starbuck came back; after finding out her viper was magically restored to pristine condition, Adama wanted to fly it to check it out, and told Tyrol, “I don’t care if you have to sew two flight suits together.” The Hub is incredible, though – by far my favorite episode of the season thus far. I didn’t like Jane Espenson’s last episode, but she’s back to form with this one. It’s great to see Elosha again, and “If you’re my subconscious, I’ve got to say, you’re a little full of myself” is fabulous. Laura and Baltar’s squabbling antics trying to communicate with the hybrid are hilarious. As is “That morpha worked fast” when he tells her she’s very pretty. And, holy crap, when he confesses his role in the initial cylon attack, going on about being forgiven by God, and she’s just shaking with the shock and rage of it all, then very calmly removes the bandage to let him bleed out?! And then changes her mind following Elosha's admonition during that incredible vision of Bill at her death, does what she can to save him, and just curls up on the next bench. That was all fantastic. I like that D’Anna comes back as nasty as ever, rather than being softened by her experience (per the commentary, that was Lucy Lawless’s requirement for reprising the role). I like when she kills Cavil upon finding out death will be permanent, and I love when she fraks with Laura, telling her she’s one of the final five. I love Baltar talking to the centurion about hierarchy and slavery. And Laura telling Helo, in explaining they can’t afford to be sentimental, “You’re not married to the entire production line.” They did a nice job of including bits that explain things we saw in Sine Qua Non – how the book wound up in the raptor, how dead Pike’s raptor showed up, why a basestar was found among the hub ruins, etc. Bill’s “About time” when Laura tells him she loves him is great. Their relationship is beautiful, and they've both pulled back from it at times; I can see saying "I love you" being the final vulnerability that she wasn't yet ready for, while he'd already said it. Revelations is exciting, and has a whopper of an ending, but there's one thing about it that bothers me: Laura is sidelined as a hostage on the basestar while Lee and Baltar save the day dealing with D’Anna. And Bill is the one who tells the people of the fleet they’ve arrived at Earth, when that should be the president, not the admiral. She’s the one strategizing as the episode opens, she’s the one who says to blow the basestar to hell if that’s what it takes, and she’s the one who snaps Bill out of his funk, so she has great quiet little moments and I appreciate those as part of her strength and leadership, but the big, heroic speeches all go to the men in this one and it’s vexing. Adama just falling apart upon finding out about Tigh is incredible. I love how he’s initially in denial, saying cylons don’t age, then saying they did something to Saul on New Caprica to make him think he’s a cylon and they should go see Cottle, before he finally has to accept it’s true. And then he’s just down for the count – can’t get off the floor, can’t be the one to airlock Saul, can’t even care about getting to Earth until Laura snaps him out of it. Tyrol’s reaction when he and Sam are taken into custody is great, that little chuckle. He’s been waiting for this shoe to drop for so long, he’s almost relieved it has. Oh, the heartbreak of the ending. The hope of Earth is what has kept these people going all these years, so now what? The despondency and in-fighting that has been a recurring problem is going to be amped up by a hundred. I predict Laura's reaction to this will make Adama's reaction to finding out Tigh is a cylon look calm by comparison; she felt her death was going to be worthwhile, because she'd have led humanity to its rightful home, she believed and she got others to believe, and now they can't live there and have no idea where to go. Getting up off the mat after that is not going to be easy.

She's so fluffy and pretty! I'm glad she's out of the cage and happy in her new home. @Mindthinkr, I'm glad you and the kitties are getting caught up on snuggles.

<raises hand> And with that fantastically goofy and adorable inflection, too. I love Detour. The forest in general reminded me of that episode, and definitely the falling through the ground.

Adorable - she looks like she could take flight with those ears. She has a great face and cute coloring. How old is she? And who'd you wind up with for a grandcat? Congratulations.

Yes. I remember when a cousin had both her parents walk her down the aisle about 30 years ago (I was a "guestbook attendant," whatever the fuck that is, but there were two of us, and our moms made our dresses to coordinate with the color [pink, ugh - think Steel Magnolia's Shelby for the resulting look]), it was A Thing among many for her to have bucked tradition by having both parents accompany her. Fast forward to when the friends of my generation who married (all of my close friends rejected marriage - like really does attract like, it seems - but I experienced some second-tier friends' weddings) did so, and most brides, offended by the "giving away" concept, opted to either walk down the aisle alone or with their spouse-to-be, and all but one of the few who were accompanied had both parents escort them (and omitted any "who gives this woman ..." verbiage, and had the groom escorted down the aisle by his parents, too).

Great, but it's unlikely that's what Mustache Joe is using, making my original point stand.

Which is why she worked for the little maggot peddling fast-food chicken. But there's a difference between taking a crappy job you can get immediately versus investing time and money on education/training that may or may not pay off in the future, and that's why a lot of people in Roseanne's position don't do the latter.

Where does the idea that the kids have power of attorney come from -- was it stated in an episode and I missed it (possible; as we neared the end, I was paying less attention) or is it an assumption based on the fact they were the ones who put the house on the market? Because no court would have awarded them PoA over Grace and Frankie's objection, and I can't see G&F giving it to them voluntarily; it's too broad, and unnecessary even under the misunderstanding of the circumstances. I assumed the kids were handling the sale for them as a "favor," not that the kids had actual legal authority over their moms' affairs. But that raises the question of how the sold sign (not just In Escrow, but Sold) could be a surprise to them -- that means one/some/all of the kids, not them, signed the documents. Which raises a whole host of other questions, and I suspect the writers glossed over all of it in favor of that dramatic moment where they make their escape but then come across the sign. But maybe there really was a reference to the kids having been given power of attorney - either for the home sale, or in general (although, again, the latter is just unfathomable to me) - and it flew past me. So, can anyone point me in the right direction, and I'll re-watch that episode next time I have Netflix access? Thanks.

Carrie’s phone call home had me nervous, but they've been doing that fake-out a lot this season. “Have you ever cracked open an egg and had an unborn chicken?” No, Mustache Joe, because the eggs aren’t fertilized. Maybe some random backyard chicken owner doesn’t know to keep roosters out, but other than that, it’s not going to happen. And, yeah, it could just be a nightmare, but the way he posed the question made it sound like it was an actual concern. LOL at Bruce just making up a story. But I feel for him not knowing how the hell you translate a nightmare into a dessert, or how to put his TC journey on the plate. My mind doesn’t really work that way either; I, too, would come up with a dish, and then craft a story loosely based on reality to explain it. (I don’t think I’d make up out of whole cloth something like being afraid of seeds, but who knows.) I also laughed at Chris’s marzipan dead hiker, but in a different way; that was fun. I liked Adrienne’s concept, too. Gee, Tom, no pressure -- yikes on that talk as they prepped for the EC, but if he’s consistently getting better food out of LCK than on the show, that’s something they need to hear. I liked Carrie’s journey story, gaining her confidence as she more than held her own with chefs from bigger culinary markets/with more experience. And I love Chris honoring the influence of the other chefs he’s shared this experience with as his journey tale, but agreed with Carrie that it's a dicey strategy that is probably going to fail, especially at this stage. Mustache Joe’s lamb and pasta dish looked delicious, except for the beets (which I don’t like; if I did, I think I’d love that dish). He's my least favorite, but I can't argue with his win. Carrie’s elk dish looked beautiful; elk is not my thing, but if I imagine it with a different meat, I salivate over it – what a great mix of flavors. I was rooting for hers to win. (Her BFF fantasy with the governor was cute, too -- I don't normally like people as cheery and goofy as Carrie, but I really like her.) Adrienne’s monkfish dish needed a contrasting color somewhere, but otherwise looked terrific (and I could so clearly see how perfectly cooked the fish was). And sounded terrific. Bruce’s duck dish was also a little bland, color-wise, but also apparently failed on multiple basic levels. Chris’s trout sounded good, but the pasta part quite problematic, but Bruce just never got out of his head for QF or EC, and it was clear he’d screwed up the most. And also that it was easy to see why Chris failed in the way he did, but confusing why Bruce screwed up the way he did. The elimination was a no-brainer, even without the ability to taste.

Plus, it wasn't something she had any particular interest in -- I find it a stretch to think that because she worked in a salon with great people she should have felt compelled to spend the time and money to study a trade in which she had no natural interest or passion, in the hopes of, what, getting a position that would have to be created unless Iris quit?

And, per the commentary, that little story - that he sings as a way to cope when he feels his phantom limb twinges - was written specifically to give AJ a chance to sing; someone had heard him singing, and then mentioned to Moore, "Hey, did you know he has a great voice?" and an idea was born. It was such a great thread throughout the episode, like when Lee tracks down Laura in sick bay and glances over at Gaeta singing and she says it's a hell of a way to discover a great voice, and then for it to provide the soundtrack for the suspenseful ending - really nice idea.

After the run of three episodes I didn't much care for other than Laura's scenes, I thoroughly enjoyed Faith and Guess What's Coming to Dinner. I feel like the basic storyline between Laura and Emily has been done on every single show in which a main character is battling a serious illness -- our character meets someone we've never seen before and never will again, who is very near death from the same disease; our character is afraid and/or angry about dying, but new character is at peace and optimistic about what it will be like -- but it was still well written, and incredibly acted. Laura's memories of her mom were especially touching, although I felt bad for Mary McDonnell, who lost her own mom to breast cancer, having to revisit that so explicitly. Per the commentary, MM was responsible for a lot of changes, and all for the better -- she's the reason it was just a straightforward conversation between those two women, rather than constantly inter-cut with metaphysical stuff, and she's the reason Laura went to talk to Bill at the end. “I have good moments and bad.” “And that was which?” Ha - that was such a great moment of levity. I liked the stuff on Demetrius and the cylon basestar, too. It seems incredibly wrong to me that there are seemingly no consequences to Sam shooting Gaeta, but, as Lee pointed out during Baltar's trial, all sorts of stuff has been forgiven. And I'm annoyed that it took that disaster for Starbuck to admit she was wrong and, duh, decide just to take a small crew to the basestar, but I'm over it because things were interesting once they got there. That the cylons truly believe themselves to have been the good guys on New Caprica is kind of mind-boggling, but definitely interesting -- I like that these rebel cylons aren't suddenly perfect. Athena piloting the base ship was a kick-ass final moment. And the final five knowing the way to Earth, and thus needing to unbox D’Anna so she can reveal who they are is an exciting story development. I was jazzed for the next episode, and it didn't disappoint. That the rebel cylons will let the humans destroy the hub, thus making all cylons mortal, is a huge game-changer! It’s fascinating how the lines are so blurred by this point; it has built up gradually over the series in a great way, but it's crazy noticeable now: - There’s a Six, pleading the rebel cylons’ case – help us find the five, and they’ll help you get to Earth - to Laura and Adama, who are accompanied by Tory and Tigh, who are themselves cylons, but only they know that - There’s a cylon standing next to the president, addressing the Quorum - There’s a big ol’ basestar as part of the fleet now - When Laura, Adama, Tigh, and Helo are discussing whether to help the rebels unbox D’Anna, it’s the secret cylon who advocates for just obliterating the hub and following Laura’s visions. She’s the one who says no, let’s discover the five and see if they can point the way to earth (but we’re keeping them until they do, not giving them over to the rebels). This, of course, would mean Saul and the other three will be revealed. (I love when Tyrol says if they unbox D’Anna, hey, at least they’ll find out who the fifth one is, and Tigh says all that will do is crowd the airlock.) It's all so layered. I like the symmetry that as Laura, Adama, etc. are planning to double-cross the rebels, the rebels are having the same conversation about the humans. Saul having no explanation for knowing to call weapons hold when the basestar jumped in – having just learned the five are among the fleet, is Bill at all suspicious or is the thought of Saul Tigh being a cylon so unfathomable to him that he accepts Saul’s non-answer? It seems to have played like the latter, but I'm curious. The Laura and Lee dynamic being revisited is fantastic in this one, where previously I'd been frustrated by the anemic way it was being explored. They're starting to understand the position the other is in, and listen to each other. I am a bit nervous the writing is going to prop up Lee's new identity as a politician at Laura's expense, but for now I'm going with it. I love Laura telling Kara she has to hand it to her – if she is a cylon, this road to earth/final five plan was the perfect one to come up with, too much possibility for even her to pass up. And then Laura asking her for help, after Kara tells her what the hybrid said about the dying leader and the opera house? That's a big moment. Laura revealing she knows Tory is frakking Baltar is a glorious moment – “charter member of his nymph squad.” And later informing Baltar he'll be accompanying her to the basestar, because those shared visions he saw fit to inform the entire fleet she's having include him, was great, too. My favorite was once they were on the basestar, and getting ready to plug in the hybrid: “Let God’s will be done.” “Shut up.” Athena waking up from one of her shared dreams to find Hera standing by the bed saying, “Bye bye” was creepy as all hell. Then finding all the drawings of Six? Holy crap. Let's see if they continue the "sure, go ahead and shoot with impunity" cycle, or if Athena winds up in the brig for killing Natalie. (Yeah, she's a cylon, but she's supposed to be an ally, and killing her based only on a dream and, in so doing, jeopardizing this fragile alliance?) Gaeta singing as the soundtrack for the basestar jumping away with the president on it was a great ending. If it hadn't been so late, I'd have kept going. People are dropping like flies this season – it seems like every episode, someone dies. At this rate, when they find Earth there will just be a handful of people to inhabit it.

I was annoyed they gave the one female director of the season (or one of two? one of the few, at any rate) the Skinner episode, but Banker did a good job with it; visually, the episode was pretty damn good. In terms of writing, I feared this was going to be like an Agnes episode of Moonlighting; sure, I love Miss DiPesto, but as a secondary character – center an episode around her, and that’s not what I’m here for. Same with Skinner. But at least this had more of M&S than we got of Maddie and David. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, either. Kind of like this season. The government plot seemed reminiscent of a couple of the thoroughly underwhelming episodes from the Scully-light time of season two – Sleepless and Blood? And talk about allusions to old episodes – Mulder tells Scully to do something, she asks him what he’s going to do, and he gives some vague answer (at least not sarcastic this time) that doesn’t actually tell her where he’s going to be. But she shows up to save the guys, and I’m always down with that. How the hell did Skinner get out of the pit to save them in turn, though? I can’t properly recall the scene from the original series in which Skinner tells Mulder of his potentially paranormal experience in Vietnam (the “I was afraid to look too deeply into that experience, while you’re not” thing), so does this relate to that at all? I think the part about him having enlisted in the Marines the day he turned 18 was part of that, but that’s about all I can remember. I have only a couple of random notes, owing to the fact I found this episode neither good nor bad – nothing much stuck. (It’s a rather unfortunate offering heading into a three-week break. Back in the day, I’d have been coming out of my hair having to wait. Now? I’m quite happy to watch the Olympics and pick back up with the series afterward): - Mulder’s (actually, DD's) parking job in that wide open space at the curb was funny - Fanning the “chemtrail” bullshit I can do without; the best part of these conspiracy theory scenes remain Scully’s reactions to them. But validating it in the final shot? That’s some My Struggle level crap.

How would having a John and a Sean cause complications, Alex? You of all people can properly articulate the two names so it’s clear what name is being said -- and, look, you did. Giving credit for that mangled version of veterinarian was bullshit. I find it rather funny that the contestant who’s so careful in his enunciation he often sounds ridiculous is the one who tripped up and spit out something stupid. And giving him credit for discography when he left out the c was crap, too. “Disography/Yes, discography.” Um, NO! I knew the SCLC, but also predicted someone was going to guess the NAACP instead. Same with the SSA – I knew someone was going to say the New Deal. I also got cosmos, shrill, remedy, proprietary, Ulan Bator, but the other TS also stumped me. And even where the contestants weren’t, I was terrible in the Authors’ Fictional Places category; I don’t think I’d read a single one of the books. (I read significantly more non-fiction than fiction, so it’s an ongoing problem, but that was particularly bad.) FJ was easy for me; if you’d just asked me to name the NYC flag colors, I’d have had to guess, but ask me the colors of the Knicks and Mets, and I’ve got it. The Dutch flag part of the clue just confirmed I was right. I was rooting for Marcy, but John played a good game.

She didn't turn it down, the offer was revoked when the personnel manager (Muriel) found out she didn't know how to use a computer. Roseanne said she was a fast learner, and would come in early/stay late to learn the system, but Muriel said "not by Monday, you can't" and went back to her list of candidates. What Roseanne didn't do is go take any computer classes so she could apply for office jobs in the future, but that's also typical. It's one of the things I love about this series -- for all the ways in which the economy is rigged against them, they also make short-sighted decisions that may make me want to shake them, and then I have to sit back and acknowledge, well, that was incredibly realistic, and that's the show's goal. I almost always understand why they're doing what they're doing, and recognize it as something many people in their circumstances do.

I have raised two of the best damn liars in the free world; don't embarrass yourself. [Ragging on lying teens] is what I do. I did it with Becky, I do it with Darlene, but doing it with you is even more fun 'cause I can yell at you all I want and I don't have to buy you a car. ... Since I'm not your mother, I'm not gonna tell you how stupid it is to get into some stranger's van. And I'm also not gonna tell you how terrible things happen to stupid little girls like you every single day. ... Now, you want to screw up your life, I don't care. But when you leave this house with a Conner kid, you're gonna be extra careful, 'cause Darlene is one of the few things we own outright. And then she tells her she's going to work off her debt (for Darlene's cab ride home) washing dishes at the diner -- and doubles the actual cost of the cab ride, heh.

Those were two of the TS that stumped me right along with the contestants (the other being Selkirk). I got the other TS; I knew FJ, plus Sea-Tac, scarlet fever, and Diamondbacks, I guessed correctly on unknown soldier, and I scored with a wild-ass guess on caddies (something I would not have rung in with under game conditions), but I had no clue on those two. But, I hate sci-fi other than The X-Files and the modern Battlestar Galactica (and even those two I have trouble with when they get traditionally sci-fi), so that's to be expected; it's a genre I'd need to study before appearing on the show. The Sea-Tac TS was really surprising to me as a TS; in fact, stunning, maybe. That must be something I, for whatever reason, think is far more widely known than it is.

I'll pretend it ends with them on the rowboat in IWTB, on the road - or, you know, ocean - to figuring out how to achieve a healthy balance in their lives going forward. (And I'll slot the weremonster case into my personal universe somehow, because I don't want to lose that.) I'm just tired of viewing on eggshells, waiting to see how much CC fucks things up and how many episodes or even moments from other writers can make that worthwhile. The law of diminishing returns is in full effect.

It is, and it's also fascinating and infuriating. Federal Indian Law was one of my favorite courses in law school.

We never saw it, but we learned they'd told her they had a college fund for her (just not how much was in it). That scene where she sits down to fill out her paperwork and they reveal they'd drained her fund was great on multiple levels, including how it revealed that not one of these people knew how the whole thing worked - one of the reasons she'd bought the narrative all she had to do to go to college was get good grades is that's exactly what they'd told her. And how fucked up our system is that someone in their financial situation still has too much money to qualify for full financial aid to a public college, but that's a whole other rant. What's so frustrating - although, admittedly, typical - about her winding up not going to college is that originally she did consider the practicalities. After first asking Mark to stay in Lanford with her rather than taking the Minneapolis job, she came to her senses after talking to Darlene and was heading off to tell him to go ahead and go (without her). Then she has that ugly fight with Dan and winds up going with Mark, but with the plan to get her GED and then go to community college in Minneapolis instead of Lanford. It's still dumb as all hell to get married that young, but the original plan had some merit.

I liked the first two episodes, but now I hope I'm just in a lull, because if the rest of the season is like The Ties That Bind through The Road Less Traveled, I'm going to want to just fast-forward through all but the Laura and Bill scenes. The Ties That Bind was one where Moore said in the commentary it didn't come together right, but he was pleased with the next two, and I wasn't. I did start getting interested with the mutiny on Demetrius as The Road Less Traveled ended, so hopefully when I get to Faith things will pick up (it's on the next disc, and I was too lazy to get up, even though that meant leaving off on a "to be continued," something that would have been unheard of previously). Everyone is just falling apart at the seams, and after four years of living like this it's no wonder, but for some reason I'm not invested in that as I have been previous emotions; almost overnight, I'm either annoyed by or - worse - uninterested in so many characters I'd previously been engaged with. Lee is bugging me despite being right, Kara is just frustrating me when I should be highly intrigued by what's real and what's not about her visions/destiny, Tory practically disgusts me, and I don't care anywhere near as much I should - and want to - about Tigh or Tyrol as they struggle through their identity crises. (I learned via video blogs that both those actors were upset their characters were made cylons and thought it was a mistake, but ultimately decided to trust Moore and the writers based on three seasons of history, so maybe their discomfort in the early days is coming through to me in these episodes?) Baltar's cult led to a truly hilarious description of his harem by Laura, and I'm mildly interested in the "freedom of assembly applies to everyone except those we don't want to assemble?" struggle, but otherwise I don't care about this damn holy war. It was funny to hear Moore say the Manson acolytes were one of the groups they based the followers on, when that's who so many of them had been reminding me of. Zarek remains a layered villain, like when he's manipulating Lee to use against Laura yet seems genuine when he dismisses the idea of her as a "benevolent tyrant," since a tyrant seeks power for its own sake and Laura seeks it to save them all, but they're not fully developing the quorum stuff, so that I find myself backing Laura even when she's wrong. Caprica Six morphing into Ellen and back and forth was creepy good, but the overall thing between her and Tigh got old fast. Tigh in these three episodes is probably the storyline where I am most left thinking, "I should be into this, but I'm just not." The Laura and Bill show remains worth the price of admission, though. Him reading to her as she lies there trying not to puke during doloxan treatments? Hell, I could watch an hour of that. Especially since once she's back on her feet, she's right back to giving him what-for when he deserves it. The balance between personal and professional is interesting. Including the way they talk about Lee. It's such a refreshingly mature relationship. And, as I said, after disliking the Demetrius scenes (and I do hope Adama calling it "a sewage processing ship" instead of "the sewage processing ship" when he gave it to Kara indeed means the fleet has others, because they've been gone two months now), I started getting into it as the mutiny began. Starbuck's friendship with Helo has long been when I've liked him best, and their history made it interesting for him to be the one to rise up against her after he'd spent the whole mission admonishing everyone else to shut up and fall in line, but I think I'd have liked even more the original plan. He wasn't written to be part of that mission, so Gaeta was the XO. And I like Gaeta better, but that's not what appeals to me -- it's that Athena was the one who called for defying the order, and the crew sided with her. After all this time of being the cylon outsider, people trusted her more, because at least she's been consistently loyal and they don't know what the hell Starbuck is now and she's acting crazy. That sounded even more interesting. (The reason everything was re-written to put him over there is that the network notes on the first scripts complained that Helo wasn't being adequately used. The hell? All the times Laura gets shortchanged, and they're worried about Helo? Sounds like a total demo/genre thing to me.) Fingers crossed for the continuation, because I'm cranky.

Yeah, Becky was book smart, and she also believed the narrative that all you had to do to get into college was get good grades. So when she hit the stumbling block of no college fund, she crawled into a hollow log and died like Darlene predicted.

Yeah, that's right in line with what I said when they came upon that SOLD sign when they made it back to the house - I'd love it a thousand times over if it was Sheree, rather than Nick, who bought it, because a) we avoid the white knight crap (especially with a character who has already been quite problematic) and b) it's great symmetry after they helped her get her house back, but she's not likely to have that kind of money (unless she sells her own house, and she's not THAT good a friend, ha). But, even if it's Nick, having bought it under one of his company names or something, hopefully they just buy it right back and move on with their "punishment" of the kids.

1. Since a cash bar is the height of tackiness, the first option would be preferable, but what's better is not hosting an event you can't afford to do properly. So invite fewer people, spend less on flowers, whatever, and then you have room in the budget. But if you want to skip alcohol entirely - if you're not even going to offer so much as wine with the meal or champagne with the cake - then have your reception during a time/with a meal that makes it logical not to offer alcohol. If your reception is a casual thing during the day, then you provide what logically goes with that, so you could even just do snacks rather than a meal. But if your reception is an evening one with a sit-down dinner, then provide what logically goes with that. 2. Every addict in recovery I know would say, as part of their guiding philosophy that the world is not supposed to change for them, they are supposed to learn how to manage their addiction in the real world, they should skip the event if their recovery is still so new and tenuous that being around alcohol would be too tempting -- they'd go to the ceremony and then go home. Now that it has come up, I have fuzzy memories of a co-worker dealing with this years ago when she was getting married; I think it was her sister whose sobriety was still pretty young, and she hadn't quite worked up to attending large social gatherings at which she'd normally drink (I think she was going out to dinner with folks and stuff like that and handling it, but not going to parties and such until she felt more confident), so she was going to skip the reception. My co-worker wanted to postpone the wedding, but her sister wouldn't hear of it, and then they wound up having to postpone anyway because the groom's father took ill, and by the time they had it, the sister was comfortable in such situations and it was a non-issue. Anyway, speaking of some posts about having things on hand for guests that you don't eat or drink yourself, I realized this morning that I need to get light beer and Coke by this weekend (I have three friends coming over to watch movies, and one of them usually has beer and prefers light while one of them almost always drinks Jack and Coke) and today is probably my best day to go shopping, so I'm going to take a lunch break shortly and go do that. (Now watch it be like the time I bought a bottle of Coke Zero for my best friend, who usually has that with rum, and then when she arrived she wanted a martini. No problem, as I just made her a martini and then sent the soda home with her, but it made me laugh because I'd rushed in at the last minute when she'd called to ask if she could stop by after work for a couple of drinks, and then that was one of the rare times she drank anything else.) Oh, and I didn't see anyone say they refused to attend weddings without alcohol, that alcohol should be served at any and all gatherings, or that they couldn't have fun without alcohol.

I batted pretty much .500 for TS - I knew hue, UCLA, Uganda, Russian (river), and Native Americans, but I joined the contestants in missing Ptolemy, Rappahannock, Bruno Mars, Tim McGraw, bereavement - which was pretty dumb - and, even more embarrassingly, communications (satellite). I only knew two (Adam and Samson) in the bible category that the contestants ran, but that's to be expected; with the latter I only knew there was some sort of connection with hair. The only thing I watch on The Weather Channel is re-runs of Why Planes Go Down, but via watching them every single time I come across them I've seen "Local on the 8s" and pop-ups asking me if I want to select a local forecast every time I tune in, so while it took me almost until time ran out, I got FJ, but I'm not sure I could have scribbled it in time. In Friday's episode (which I missed, but read the clues on the archive), I got all the TS/missed DD in the world capitals category, and I got Van Halen and Metallica. I also knew Oklahoma for FJ. But I sucked in the TV category the contestants did just fine in - I knew fairies by the wording of the clue, not the shows referenced, and got The 700 Club (my learn something new for the day - where that title [of a show I've never seen a moment of yet heard of many times] originated), and other than that I came up blank. I sucked in the Catholic category, too - a big, fat zero. Sigh - another "Women Authors" category in that game. Exactly what decade do we need to reach before women and men of color are adequately represented in general categories about leaders, artists, etc., instead of being relegated to their own? I joined the contestants in being stumped by Kristin Hannah, though; I've never heard of her. I agree on puppets not needing a BMS prompt and Johnson needing one. I didn't get Xavier for the baby name TS, because I couldn't come up with what I thought was a popular "written with X but sounds like Z" name, but having it revealed and then reading posts here, I have to say none of the several people I know named Xavier pronounce the X; I know someone named Xzavier who pronounces the X and the Z sound, but Xavier, no.