Bastet

I tuned away from the game at halftime to watch Jeopardy!, and then switched from J! at commercial break to watch a couple minutes of the halftime show, and the entire fucking audience gathered around the stage having camera phones thrust out in front of them makes me shake my head. If they're actually watching the performance they're lucky enough to be feet away from, they're bouncing around and the footage they're blindly capturing will be unwatchable. If they're standing there watching through their viewfinder, documenting the moment rather than actually experiencing it, that's far worse. I don't get it.

Great description. And it's why I will freak my shit and be back here posting "Major.Fucking.Crimes." Tuesday night (or upon regaining consciousness Wednesday) if killing off Sharon - bad enough on its own - was to get her out of the way so the squad could revert to vigilante form and anoint themselves jury, judge, and executioner of Stroh, as if the past six years never happened. The show has been a huge breath of fresh air as a character-driven crime drama, rather than a true procedural or a relationship drama that happens to take place in a precinct, and also as a celebration of policing done right - and, further, a condemnation of policing done wrong. It has been so needed in general, and especially for the years it has been on the air. I don't want to get drawn into negativity before it even ends, but the past couple of episodes have tossed out some pretty heavy hints that I can only hope are misdirection.

I'm watching Battlestar Galactica these nights, so my immediate reaction is, "Doc Cottle!" (Nice to see that show's executive producer Ron Moore tweet about his death, per the linked article; it's obvious from the Blu-Ray commentary just how much Moore came to enjoy that character [I just finished season two].) But I liked him on Soap, too (I liked pretty much everyone on Soap).

That Drinkwell in the link, the 360 model (only in stainless steel) is what one friend has and one cat loves it while the other ignores it. The Pioneer in the first link, the Raindrop model, is what the friend I was researching these for decided on. New cats by this point, but between those it was bought for and those she has now, about half used it. So, same odds. If you don't have hard water - we do here, very hard - it's just a matter of which water delivery style you think your cat will like best - a more subtle flow or a more obvious fall from spout to bowl. But I think not being able to clean the motor, and thus going through them faster than need be, is just negligent manufacturing, and with hard water it will be an issue sooner than later. So if I ever get one (I have a tabletop fountain on the buffet in my dining room, so as long as I keep that, cats have the option, but only Baxter was ever really into it), I'll likely go with the Pioneer just on principle. But, if I didn't have that fountain, and had a cat who was really into that more-pronounced sound of falling water, the Drinkwell seems the best choice out there and I'd just resign myself to replacing it earlier than I should have to.

I like Michter's, too - the 10-year straight rye. The Knob Creek is pretty good; just about everything they do is pretty good. Bulleit is hard core, yet smooth. Russell's Reserve (from the folks at Wild Turkey, I believe) has a decent single barrel, as does Willett.

I love Angela Bassett's character's reaction to people coming to work dressed in costume on Halloween.

That made me laugh; I hope they were pissed at your aunt and uncle rather than her. I wear a size 10 and never have trouble finding shoes (it was a little hard for my mom when I graduated to adult sizes before I was ready for adult styles), but that seems to be the cut-off line; my best friend wears an 11, and she's sometimes limited in options. I imagine at size 13, your sister doesn't have a ton of cute styles available to her, although online ordering probably helps.

Wow. I'm very curious what reaction at the time was to the "One year later" ending of season two. The only thing that bothered me about it was how hamfisted they were in making everyone look noticeably different. Like we couldn't understand the passage of time unless Adama had a mustache, Lee was fat, Kara had long hair, etc. (Laura's untamed hair is gorgeous, though, so I'll take that.) But not actually seeing the process of the settlement being formed, the battlestars turning into ghost ships, Baltar collapsing under the weight of the presidency, etc. over that year didn't bother me; I think we got an adequate sense of what's good and bad about life on New Caprica, so joining it as the Cylons find them and come marching in like the Nazis into Paris works for me. Plus, this show loves to start with an event, then switch to "[X time] earlier," so I'm sure that even having skipped forward a year, season three will bring us at least one back-in-time episode to cover some of that year. I did not think I could love anything more than Laura standing barefoot in Adama's cabin, tearing up note cards and breaking pencils (and him being completely non-nonplussed about it). And then she got the giggles. Oh my. That was pure delight, and I am going to put that scene on my computer so I can watch it any time I need a quick pick-me-up. I also like Tory's "Great" in the hallway, when Adama starts laughing with her. I'm happy Moore went to the mat with Eick, who wanted to cut the whole thing. And "I'm not sure if you're aware, Tom, but the mob isn't usually in the habit of electing ungodly apostates who denigrate people of faith" made me laugh all over again. Normally, that's exactly who I'd vote for. Watching a woman who's dedicated herself to public service and gave voters the truth lose to a man who doesn't even really want the damn job and just sold them a pipe dream was unpleasant, certainly, but the way things changed over the course of the episodes was very well done. The change in tone from Laura's meeting with Tory after the first debate, when she's smiling and snacking as they talk, to that of their conversation about how Baltar telling people want they want to hear is resonating was perfect. As was Laura's face when she realized she'd lost the second debate, that Baltar was indeed "there he goes again" (nice twist on "there you go again," even though I can always do without being reminded of Reagan) distorting the issues, but he was doing it perfectly. Zarek's political acumen is undeniable, and Baltar may be a puppet but he's also brilliant, so this was all some sort of inevitable train wreck that they'd play the game and people would fall for it -- even if it was untenable as a permanent situation, the lure of ground under their feet and sky over the head after nine months in metal boxes would be too great. I love when Laura is pacing the cabin, wondering if people are really going to be that stupid and short-sighted to vote for the wishful thinking he calls policy. "That's all anybody wants to talk about is the frakking planet." When she meets with Baltar in Adama's quarters, that scene kicks ass. Her stepping out of the shadows. Baltar having to lose his cocky pose for just a moment to agree that the question of permanent settlement on the new planet is the single-most important issue that has faced them since the initial attack. Laura trying to get him to agree to table the issue until after the election and then, no matter who wins, take the time to truly study its feasibility; she doesn't just want to win, she's desperate to avoid jumping into something that could very well be disastrous. And then Laura asking him whether he was with the cylon on Caprica just prior to the attacks; now he knows she knows. The tension in that whole scene is fantastic. The question of whether it's justified to steal a democratic election because of the danger the people's choice poses to civilization is the kind of thing this show does so well, and I like that for all the times it has shown that good people often behave badly in urgent situations, this is a line Adama and Laura cannot cross. (And I love how sure Baltar is she would never do it, so that he totally dismisses Zarek's accurate reading of the situation.) She knows settling on New Caprica will be nothing short of disaster for humanity, and she won't say otherwise just to win an election. But she will give Tory permission to fix the vote if it comes to that, heh, because she believes Baltar is working with the cylons. Her sense of the danger a Baltar presidency poses to the survival of humanity couldn't be higher; if there is ever going to be a reason to steal an election, surely this is it. But when it comes down to it, and following that fantastic conversation with Adama, she can't go through with it. The way she just wilts when she realizes she has to let the people live with their choice - oh my. And then all her fears come to pass. I wonder if she regrets her decision (because as much as I agree with it, and love that she looked sick in the midst of everyone celebrating her win, I have to admit that when Gaeta was getting ready to spill the beans, a big part of me was groaning, wanting her to get away with it). At least she got to toss one more cylon out the airlock before having to leave office. (And Brother Cavil is interesting in his own right - great performance by Dean Stockwell - but also for returning a sense of suspicion to Sharon; she has helped in so many ways, but she won't reveal who the other models are, and now that she believes Adama and Laura killed Hera, what else will she do or not do?) Holy crap, I cannot believe Mary McDonnell didn't even get nominated for an Emmy for the finale! (Bias against a sci-fi show on basic cable?) That was an incredible performance. I love that things go to hell for Baltar about five minutes after he takes office, with Gina using the nuclear device he gave her to blow up Cloud 9. And he's devastated by it, but he's Baltar; he can't ever actually deal with the consequences of his actions, so he just orders settlement on New Caprica, puts a huge portrait of himself on the office wall, and spends a year whoring around while Gaeta unsuccessfully tries to get him to do his job. Then the cylons come - having found them from the trace of Gina's nuclear detonation, so the hits just keep coming - and he surrenders. I'm glad I don't have to wait a summer to find out what happens next. Something that niggled at me at the time, and does so more now that I've seen more of the cylons: How does the Sharon whose mission was to get with Helo have the memories of the sleeper agent Sharon (Boomer) - she remembers being with Tyrol, being in the fleet, etc. even though it was the other Sharon who did all that and those two Sharons existed at the same time. We've seen no other evidence of two contemporaneous copies of a model knowing each other's experiences, and in fact several examples of that not being the case. Every other time there's a copy who has the memories of another copy, it's where the first copy died, then downloaded into the new copy. Again, not the case here, since both Sharon copies existed simultaneously; Helo's Sharon existed before the Boomer Sharon died and downloaded into New Boomer. Also, how is it okay for Lee and Dee to be together when he seems to now be her direct supervisor on Pegasus? Cally and Tyrol are another situation like that, but I assume because they're down on the settlement rather than part of the skeleton crew on the battleships, that means they're no longer in the fleet and thus not subject to its rules? Boomer and Tyrol was prohibited, and she wasn't even his boss, just a superior officer. So how can the commander be banging someone on his ship, let alone someone positioned at his side? Also, one other thing I've been periodically wondering since the beginning: What the hell is that ship that looks like a spinning wheel?

I don't, but when I researched them for a friend several years back, the best were the Drinkwell and the Pioneer fountains. They were both available in stainless steel or ceramic (preferable to plastic, since it can harbor bacteria, although with moving water that's less of an issue). The Pioneer was best if you have hard water, because you can actually get to the motor to keep it clean; the Drinkwell had much more limited access, so with the mineral accumulation from hard water, the motor wore out faster on that one. No clue if all of that is still true.

I don't mind the pond; Chewy paid for it (and thus got to advertise on it). Before that, they improvised with a big ol' mud pit. Now it has moving water and won't accumulate so much slime and bugs; it will be a great place for the dogs to cool off and play, and it also makes a nice little place for potential adopters to go through the interview process and meet and greet. Just because they're a non-profit, I don't require them to sit around on folding chairs eating ramen. They're certainly not living high on the hog.

The talking heads are often filmed well after the events being discussed, so you'll see them with a new tattoo, totally different hair, etc. And even the events themselves that co-exist in an episode could have been filmed at wildly different times; they've filmed stories during one season that didn't air until the next one. I loved Mariah and Marcel being asked about their next big adventure and answering in near-unison, "Not kids." I also loved that all of the kids' dogs signed off on their future partners early in the relationship; those stories were cute. Worm is so cute! I remember her from a "Looking for a Home" interstitial last season; I adored her then, and even more now having seen her story. Poor Kiwi, but I understand why the potential adopters chose to take their son's dog instead. Tia dealing with the parolees who talked smack about Mariah was wonderful; I love when she said, "She's not a bitch; I'm a bitch." Kudos to the one guy for coming back and devoting himself to the job. And kudos to Mariah telling Tia to give them the option, I guess. If any employee of mine called a co-worker a bitch, I'd be hell on wheels. If I had a daughter and someone said that about her? Look out.

I've always liked the Saints and am rooting for them, but the fans cheering a player's injury is awful. They did that with Cam a few years back, too.

That list was so stupid! Shouldn't everyone throw out dead plants, worn-out shoes, expired sunscreen, etc? Why is that just for women over 40? I don't have most things on that list, but that's because I don't like them, not because I'm a woman in my 40s.

I agree; the Jags defense can pretty well shut down a team's passing game.

Heh; those are the only ones in the entire commercial I don't think are hideous (I'm not going to buy them, but they're fine; the rest, I'd rather go barefoot).

It will never stop boggling my mind that while one virtually never hears someone ask a mother, "Why the hell did you have kids?" it is somehow perfectly acceptable to grill a child-free woman on why she didn't. Whether she couldn't or opted not to, "Why haven't/didn't you?" simply isn't an appropriate query, and that's before we get into the judgment that is typically added to the question.

I'm waiting until the finale to determine whether it's retroactively ruined for me, and I am really nervous that it will be. I thought the way she died was great - I love that she was Sharon to the very end, and went out doing what she loved; a line of duty death that wasn't about a hail of gunfire was particularly refreshing - but I wish the decision to kill her off had not been made in the first place. I am truly upset that Sharon Raydor is dead; I've never had anything near this level of reaction to a fictional character's death in my entire life, but I loved her beyond reason, so I guess it's just the inevitable proportionality of the grief to the love. If the Stroh storyline ends with extrajudicial execution, which would be spitting in the face of everything Sharon and, by extension, the show stood for (which is why I loved it in a way I could never love The Closer), then Major Crimes is going to wind up in this category for me. If it ends in a way that honors the way Sharon changed the squad, and Rusty, for the better, I will always wish she was still alive, and always think it was a mistake to kill her off (on its own merits, and as part of the "expendable woman" problem Mary McDonnell talked about in response), but still be able to enjoy the show on DVD/in syndication. (Although methinks I'll just stop season six after the wedding, even though I like the case in the Conspiracy Theory arc even more than the Sanctuary City case; my heart might go the way of Sharon's if I put myself through losing her again and again).

Fuck my life. I'm ever-so-glad 2018 thus far sucks every bit as hard as 2017 when it comes to the diversions that give me a much-needed distraction from reality. My characters get killed, my shows end, my teams flame out. Thanks, universe. So, yeah, go anyone other than the Patriots!

Isn't Becky pretty much exactly the type of person vulnerable to being exploited - or not, depending on the other parents - as a surrogate? I'm eager to see how that storyline plays out, because it raises so many issues. It's an interesting way of including Sarah Chalke, too.

Since the Rams are slowly becoming one of my teams, I may be biased, but I came into this with them picked to win by a field goal. (I also had the Chiefs picked to easily win, a game I'd only have on because it was the playoffs, so take my predictions with a grain of salt!) The Rams are at home, and seriously fired up by their tremendous turn-around this season. The tiny handful of players who've been in the playoffs versus a team that was in the Super Bowl last year is a big counter-weight, yes, and one it looks like I may well have underestimated, but the Falcons are not an impressive team this year.

Yes! I had quite a bit of paper left over when I got rid of my dot matrix printer, and tore off the edges so I could use it for printing drafts. That was fun. Tearing the individual pages apart, not as much, although I got quite a system going and make quick work of it, but folding a big chunk of edges and pulling off the strip? Therapeutic.

He was Benton's student, and Benton was hard on him, even more than usual, because he knew Gant - as a black man - had to be even better to succeed. Carter befriended him, but when Gant lodged a complaint against Benton to Anspaugh, Carter did not back him. I think there was also something in there where Carter ditched him to hang out with his girlfriend (maybe this was during the relationship with Glenne Headley's character). Gant's long-distance girlfriend broke up with him; dude was all-around having a hard time. The shocking reveal: A mangled patient run over by a train - witness statements don't make it clear whether it was suicide or accident - comes in, and Gant is nowhere to be found, so they page him. The patient's beeper goes off in the trauma room, the number is County's, and they realize the patient is Gant. All the chaos of the trauma room just completely stops for a moment, Carter voices everyone's horrified realization, and then the activity kicks into overdrive, but they can't save him. As follow up, Gant's dad showed up, and wanted to talk to Benton about him, relaying how much Gant respected him and how much he was learning, and Carter wanted Benton to lie, to give this man the little bit of peace that would come from thinking his son was excelling in the program and realizing his dream, but Benton - who didn't think Gant had the chops for surgery - didn't want to lie. He wound up mostly avoiding the issue and saying something benign, and Carter did his best to give the father comfort.

Bless the Woodford Reserve, because that was fantastic. "SHE LEFT?! SHE WALKED OUT THE DOOR!!!!!!! THIS MOVIE IS THE SHIT!!!!!" And then he gets PTSD at the press junket scene.

She's delightful.

Well, Laura has been a busy bee in the next two episodes - banning abortion and stealing a baby. It certainly does make for interesting TV, to have those be the actions of the presidential candidate I'm rooting for. I'd pay good money to have been a fly on the wall during the conversations Mary McDonnell and Ronald Moore had about Laura banning abortion. Laura playing the religion card bit her in the ass, as I think Zarek even said it was going to do at the time, which is realistic, and it's frustratingly familiar to see the first rights traded away be women's. But that was hard to watch. I like how hard it was for her to announce, and I like Adama's reaction as he listens to it, knowing how conflicted she feels and knowing his talk with her is part of the reason she made the choice. (Also, great acting in that scene where they talk, because just the body language shows how their relationship continues to evolve; they are easy and comfortable with each other.) The scene with Laura dismissing the Gemenon delegate, telling her to take her pound of flesh and go, and then feeling again the weight of what she's done is good, too. And then Baltar announces his candidacy. Wow, that was quite a scene. Baltar earned that slow clap Six gave him, because that was seriously well played. Unfortunately, because it's him. But well played. As far as stealing Hera, they deleted all the scenes about the plan between Baltar, the stowed-away Six (who is called Gina by Moore in the commentary, but I don't ever remember hearing it on the show), and D'Anna to kidnap her. That storyline showed everyone was right about what the baby existing would mean, and thus Laura had only two choices, this one being the most humane (the other being chuck her out an airlock, and, holy crap, "I don't make suggestions, Mr. Baltar, if I want to toss a baby out an airlock, I'd say so," was a great line). But there being no realistic other choice came through even without that storyline. I do wish they'd left in the scene where Laura goes to see Hera in sick bay and says, "Thank you for saving my life," though. Downloaded was an interesting episode all around, more than I'd have thought of an episode focused on the cylons. But Caprica Six is great, and her having Baltar in her head as her conscience, just as Baltar has her in his head as his conscience, is a terrific touch. It's a nice contrast that Baltar uses her to assuage his guilt - envisions her telling him the things he's done are okay, because he's the key figure in the cylon god's great plan - but she envisions him more as a traditional conscience, the voice in her head calling her out for her bad deeds. I thus really enjoyed watching Caprica Six change as the episode went on, becoming a little less manipulative and a little more human, and ultimately aligning with Boomer against the D'Anna. (And "Humans don't respect life the way we do," from the D'Anna as she's getting ready to kill Anders was hilarious.) The Boomer Sharon has always been a sympathetic figure to me, because she didn't know what she was, so seeing her still regard herself as human, and thus be so angry at that life being a lie was moving.