Bastet

I don't remember the context; I remember that she referred to them as Thing 1 and Thing 2, because that's how my mom and I refer to my parents' cats when we're telling each other a story about some mischief they got up to together, so it registered with me, but I'm blanking on when she said it. In the conversation she had with Grace? If so, it definitely didn't bother me, as I love that whole talk.

I'd have been annoyed too, in your circumstances (or in any, really; ask first!). I think I'd have told him his impulse to help people is admirable, and thanked him, but then explained that in this particular instance I was keeping the grass long for a reason, so it would be a better idea if he knocked on people's doors and offered to mow their grass, just in case somebody else had a reason they wouldn't want it done (e.g. they have Sod A, and don't want it "infected" with the Sod B the kid has in his mower blades from doing someone else's yard).

Pierce Brosnan also has a cat, which for me definitively answer the question (yes, I know you were being facetious). But, other male celebrities who have/had cats include: George Clooney, Clark Gable, Steve Martin, Morgan Freeman, Johnny Cash, Robert Downey Jr., Ewan McGregor, David Bowie, Russell Brand, Marlon Brando, Bobby Flay, Ricky Gervais, Jesse Eisenberg, Jay Leno, Vincent Price, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Alice Cooper, James Dean, Leonard Nimoy, Alexander Skarsgaard, Simon Pegg, Axl Rose, and Michael Showalter, who wrote a book called Guys Can Be Cat Ladies, Too.

Some shallow moments: The beach volleyball scene in Top Gun, because of Rick Rossovich's body. The ending (or close to ending; I can't remember) scene of Independence Day, because of how good Jeff Goldblum looks in that flight suit. On a non-shallow note, another scene from Independence Day: The First Lady in the hospital, because Mary McDonnell nails the moment where she gestures for the president to get their daughter out the room, because she can't keep it together anymore.

"You are not a nobody. You are a badass, who robs trains."

I've been on Jen's side in the Greene marital dispute up until now, but refusing to even try commuting from Kenosha, claiming those two hours per day spent commuting would take too much more time from Rachel, was a cheap tactic -- clearly, she's done, so just say that. I in no way advocate "staying together for the kids," as I think kids are a lot better off in two happy homes than one miserable one, but I do think when you have kids you owe it to them to make sure that one home can't be anything other than miserable before you walk away. But they haven't tried working on their problems. She shouldn't have to beat Mark over the head with the fact the family has worked around his desires this entire time and it's her turn, but the fact he proposed the "live halfway" compromise shows he is finally waking up. Maybe try having a very frank, "we need to spend one year seeing if we can make this marriage work, and if not, that's it; we let go before it's downright ugly" conversation. Jumping instead to, "I'm leaving you" seems like the writers setting her up as the bad guy, and I don't think that's fair considering their history. Speaking of doomed relationships, what is it going to take for Carol to realize she has no business marrying Tag? Love's Labor Lost. I hadn't seen it since it originally aired, but it's one of the few episodes of which I had any significant memory; I was very curious to see how I liked it this time around. I like the continuity, given recent history, of Susan being put off when Mark says he wants to stay on and see the patient through. Once he explains what happened earlier, she understands, but of course it initially sounds to her like he doesn't think she can handle it. They make it sound plausible (for TV purposes) that she's initially fine to wait for Coburn to get there; Coburn is an hour out, the eclampsia-induced seizure is controlled by meds, the baby's vitals are all perfect, etc. But inducing her seems like too much of a stretch, and then once things start going pear-shaped, the whole "they're swamped upstairs in OB" line of reasoning gets really far-fetched. But I can set that aside, because it's still a gripping hour of television. Great casting in Bradley Whitford and Colleen Flynn; they both exude the "everyperson" quality in these roles that make the audience care about them in short order, and they keep the characters from seeming unnaturally perfect. It is just brutal to watch everything that can go wrong happen. When she gets the episiotomy from hell and Mark still can't get the second shoulder out, and then they shove the baby back in for an emergency C-section?! The entire sequence that follows is perfectly paced, and I love the dissolve to the shot of all the empty bags of blood they've pumped into her and the long trail of heart monitor readout, and Susan calmly telling a frantic, hyperventilating Mark, "She's gone. It's 30 minutes past too late." It is one of the oldest tricks in the TV book to handle a death, or other horrible news, notification through a door or window, where we see but don't hear, but I love it every time so long as it's done with good actors, and Edwards and Whitford nailed it. I don't remember how they handle this going forward (because I assume there was a lawsuit), but so far I like the acknowledgement that Coburn may be an asshole, but she's also right that Mark missed some things. Not just that things went unanticipatedly wrong and it was a perfect storm of bad circumstances, which are both also true, but that there were indications present that he missed (e.g. the placental abruption).

It almost never is, because even if her economic and family/friend support circumstances eliminate many of the typical barriers, that doesn't account for what's going on in her head. Just as someone who suffers from depression inherently views her life circumstances differently than she would without that illness, so does a victim of abuse process her circumstances and options differently than she would if she wasn't being psychologically abused (which happens well before the first shove or punch, and in fact the physical may not ever even be part of it). A victim of depression who commits suicide isn't selfish, and a victim of abuse who stays in the relationship isn't a drama queen. And, yes, NutMeg, you are right to perceive the situation as you do; there are classic signs of abuse present, so you are not over-reacting or being hyperbolic to treat it as such. It is, in fact, wildly frustrating at times, because you want to be able to wave a magic wand and say, "See things how they are and get out!" But you can no more do that than tell a depressed friend to snap out of it and cheer up. You're largely limited to emotional support and empowering her to make her own decisions. Here are some basic guidelines for friends and family, as published by the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Heh; Brian Williams spoke of a "proportional response," explicitly referencing Sorkin, on MSNBC last night before the Pentagon statement was even released.

The shockwave conversation is timely, as Major Crimes just aired on Wednesday an episode titled Shockwave, as that was the cause of death following a bomb detonation. Not shrapnel, not being engulfed in a fireball, but the damage caused to the body by the shockwave. Another only on TV thing when it comes to walking away unscathed from nearby explosions -- no one's hearing is affected (unless it's done for comedic effect, so the person can walk around shouting for the rest of the episode).

Yeah, but the discussion was of films where spouses reconcile after one or both tries to kill the other; they can't go through with it, and fall back in love. In The War of the Roses, instead of reconciliation we get the fabulous scene where she uses her last bit of energy to shove his hand off of her.

If you mean using a can of spray paint, the answer is probably no one. But if you mean using a paint sprayer, the answer is lots of people. So I assume the guy in the commercial being discussed is using a paint sprayer, but now I'm having quite an inappropriate burst of laughter picturing some guy covering the hole in his throat while he sprays graffiti on his own house.

I remember Pizza's rescue and reunion with his owner very well; they adored each other. It's sad to learn of the owner's death, but I'm glad at least that Pizza was once again found and will be back with his owner's family. Per a news article, the owner (Keenan) and a few friends hopped a freight train in Austin, intending to ride it to Dallas. When the train slowed down in someplace called Lacy Lakeview, the guys decided to get off in search of food; Keenan was the last one off and, because everything was slick from rain, he slipped and fell and the train ran him over; he died at the scene. Apparently (per a post by VRC), the theory for how Pizza was found so far away (in Ft. Worth) from the accident site is that Pizza was still on the train when Keenan fell, and didn't jump off until the train was approaching the Ft. Worth station.

Yes, I think the reference to a child he fathered but has never seen was one of the many ways they're showing in this early episodes that Doug is changing a lot from the man he used to be; that's his story arc in this introductory phase (like Susan finding her confidence, Mark dealing with the competing demands of his career and his family, etc.). He used to run screaming into the night from the very thought of commitment, he used to go through women like Kleenex, etc. and now he's got Carol marrying someone else and Linda (I think that's her name; the sales rep who's been keeping him) telling him he's not the kind of guy women marry, and it's bothering him. He used to have Mark cover his shifts so he could goof off, and now he's keeping his nose to the grindstone. He's finally getting serious and responsible about his life, and dealing with how his past actions color people's perceptions of him. There were some sad cases in today's episodes -- the cancer patient brought in from hospice begging Mark to let her die, and the guy with CF who went from already only having about five years left to having mere hours, because he saved a little girl from a fire and the toxic fumes he breathed in destroyed his weakened lungs. Dr. Casen winding up a patient of Susan's after she'd turned the tables on him before the review panel may be kind of a hokey plot twist on paper, but I really liked it in execution.

Yeah, I didn't see the first one (although I just read that elsewhere, that someone asked if he has kids and he responded yes, he has a son), but in the second, a patient's father asks if he has children and he says he has an 8-year-old son. Then later, while waiting for an elevator together, the nurse who overheard that exchange between Doug and the patient's father says, "I didn't know you have a son. What's his name?" He replies, "I don't know; I've never met him."

Well, he also talked about the son later with one of the nurses; she, having overheard him, later says she didn't know he had a son and asks his name, and that's when he said he's never met him. I think if he was just lying about having a child in order to relate to the parent of one of his patients (which didn't seem to be the dynamic between him and the father who asked him), he'd have told the nurse - and, thus, the audience - that when she asked. I don't think the writers intended for Doug to be lying. This is early in the series, when they're fleshing out the characters, and Doug's storyline is about how he's changing from the commitment-phobic playboy he used to be. I by having him say he has an 8-year-old son he's never met they, in fact, intended to say that he'd fathered a child 8 years ago but is not part of his life. (And then I think as the series went on, they dropped the idea altogether.)

Holiday has long been on my list of underrated gems, and is one of my favorite films. I watch it semi-frequently on DVD, but when I came across it last night about halfway through, I had to stop and watch yet again. I love the chemistry between Grant and Hepburn in all their collaborations (yes, even Sylvia Scarlett; there isn't a long list of things I like about that film, but the way they play off each other is one of them), and think it's at its best in this film. And, yes, it is wonderful that Hepburn's character is "allowed" to be right - and righteous - about how she sees the world and what she wants out of life.

Run like the wind! I hate to speak ill of someone with a mental disorder, but with NPD psychotherapy can only help so much (and nothing else helps at all), and the very nature of the disorder means most people with NPD never seek out psychotherapy to begin with. Regardless of the reason behind this so-called friend's behavior, it's better to have one healthy relationship than 100 unhealthy ones. You're right to cut off contact.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit "I'm going crazy. I'm standing here solidly on my own two hands and going crazy."

Round two of the Star Power Tournament: Ranch. Dressing. Soda. That’s a thing?! Dorothy Hamill and LaMarr Woodley are the only two I know. I couldn’t remember if Woodley wasn’t one of the Steelers’ dirty players, or if it just seemed like he wasn’t because his linebacker counterpart Harrison was such an obvious one, so I decided not to root for or against anyone coming in. But then the MMA fighter used girly, awesome, and amazing within 60 seconds of each other during her introductory segment, at which point she fell to the bottom of my list. Her charity sounded good, though (I know nothing about it, but I like money going directly to people in need), and she didn’t bug me too much after that (still more giggly and juvenile than I like, but harmless), so I enjoyed this competition. Hamill’s appetizer slider looked really tasty. Woodley’s beef was an unappetizing color, so between that and the disjointed feel of his dish as a whole, I figured he was going out first. It was cool having the three female athletes left, and like that they were all excited about that, too. I love zaatar bread. In fact, I love all the ingredients in the entrée round. I loathe over-cooked meat of any kind, but lamb is particularly bad. I think I’d have liked all three dishes had they not ruined the lamb; they all looked pretty flavorful. I’d have been at quite a loss with the dessert basket; I don’t like anything in it other than the brioche and the blood oranges, and I just wouldn’t have known what to do with the rest without more time than the contestants had. The MMA fighter’s dessert looked beautiful, and I agree Hamill’s seemed more like breakfast. But Hamill seemed, overall, like the most knowledgeable cook to me, so I was a little surprised she didn’t pull it off.

Well, they filmed the outdoor scenes on location in NYC, so it wasn't something they had to consciously do (except when they were filming episodes set in a cool month during a warm month, of course).

All of Me. (Love that movie!) "I don’t know what your generation’s fascination is with documenting your every thought, but I can assure you, they’re not all diamonds."

That pissed me off, too. The drunk girl wound up getting belligerent and insulting Roni, including a gender slur, if I remember correctly, and there's no call for that (insult people based on what they're doing, not who they are), but that's after she was taken into custody over something stupid. Before that she, of her own volition, told Roni she'd given a fake name (which, of course, Roni knew anyway) and apologized for lying. Then asked if she could please just get in an Uber car and go home. Yet the answer was no? Come on. She wasn't falling-down drunk, or anything close to it, and she was underage, but not a kid. She wasn't trying to drive. She wasn't bothering anyone. She was an older teen drinking on Halloween. Nothing positive comes from running her in. Like you said, give her a warning and send her on her way. If they really want to go for scared straight tactics, drive her home and hand her over to her parents.

Right, if you can access the hinge pin, you can pry that out with a screwdriver and take the door off. In the Conner house, though (and in my house, which is what made me check theirs in the first place - and I double-checked it yesterday when this came up, since I have the series on DVD), the hinges were inside the room, not out in the hallway. I'm increasingly sorry I ever mentioned this, heh. As for characters in inappropriate outerwear during winter scenes, there's the obvious consideration that, for those scenes shot on a soundstage, it's hot under those lights, but they crank up the AC so it's possible to bundle the actors up without making them entirely miserable, so it's not an automatic excuse. My second thought is that many of these shows are filmed in L.A., where we don't wear hats, gloves, and heavy coats very often, but that's not an excuse for the wardrobe department not to dress the characters properly, either (plus, a lot of people working in the entertainment industry came here from someplace else, so snow-weather gear is not foreign to them). In other words, that bugs me, too.

Wait, Doug has an eight-year-old son he's never seen? Add that to long list of things I had forgotten. I love every time Benton's brother-in-law appears to give him a reality check. Benton teaching Carter how to scrub in was fun; I just knew Carter was going to do something to contaminate himself once he finally got into an OR. Susan's lack of confidence is another storyline I'd forgotten; I guess I just have later-seasons Susan (didn't she leave and come back?) in my mind. Dr. Casen is a sexist asshole, but Morganstern, Mark, and Dr. Hicks all comment on it, too (Hicks is my favorite: "When I was a resident, I worried about everyone's approval - the attendings, the patients. Maybe because I'm a woman, a black woman. Life got a whole lot easier when I stopped worrying about it"). It's painful to watch Susan need to have Mark take over, in front of Casen, on the little girl who's bleeding out. I like the difficulty that comes about because Mark and Susan are friends, but he's also the chief attending.

I think by talking about "growing" their family they mean they're adding to it, which I like a lot more than "starting a family," as the latter implies they're not family until/unless they reproduce. But, while I like the sentiment (if that even is what they mean), the word choice sounds quite clunky to me -- like Nysha, I picture Cabbage Patch Kids.