Bastet

This gave me such a grin, because I do the same thing for the same reason.

Heh; that Buffalo episode is infamous, and if you want to entertain yourself you can go back and read all the horrified commentary from when it first aired. I actually like it as an episode, just for being different from the formula we normally see. But as a design? Yikes.

Brenda is so great with the surviving rape victim in Cherry Bomb. Brenda, who will normally stop at nothing to close her case and who at this point still believes it's a murder, not a suicide, with the dead victim, realizes this girl really doesn't have it in her to report it and backs off, telling her not to be sorry and "you've already done enough things you didn't want to do." It makes the moment at the end, when it turns out she's waiting in Brenda's office ready to testify, all the more satisfying. And Brenda just walks in and hugs her. Although there were about seven years between roles, the actor playing the dead victim was instantly recognizable to me as the little girl from my favorite episode of L&O: SVU - she played Sophie Douglas in Countdown.

While this isn't as bad as when someone gets romantically involved with a person who has a dangerous or time-consuming job and then continually huffs about that fact - because there that's how things were from the beginning of the relationship and a choice was made to enter into it, and here is a parent/child relationship - Angela pitching a fit after all this time had me wanting to reach through the TV and strangle her. It's not like Jane being a cop is new, and this undercover gig was less dangerous than her day-to-day job. God, Angela bugs me so much! Jane loves her job. She's good at it. Doing her job helps people. If they're going to have her shift away from it as the series ends, it had damn well better be for her own reasons, and not some ridiculous guilt trip from her overbearing mother.

The difference between two miles to the beach and eight miles to the beach is more significant than six miles would normally suggest for me, too, and for the same reason -- being able to ride my bike or walk rather than having to drive (and pay to park).

When Brenda and Gabriel's car gets shot up (the journalist in the back is the target) and crime scene footage shows Pope racing to the scene and then just collapsing at the waist when he realizes she's okay. A terrific moment of face and body acting by Simmons.

Fritz: You're not suggesting that I pick up your dad, who I have never met, all by myself. Brenda: You've met my mother; she'll introduce you. Brenda, upon being told the shrink hasn't cleared her to return to full duty: That's nuts! Pope: According to this report, so are you.

Rachel's "you dance with the one who brought you" opposition to what was going on at her pre-ball party was so endearing. As were her rules for when twerking is and is not appropriate. She's a good egg, as is Cristina. The rest take turns annoying me. I felt for Steven at the mixer, talking about how the focus among most people there is to find a spouse, and he's not thinking that way now; he just wants to get laid. That's so typical - and healthy - at his age, so is he not allowed that because he has Down Syndrome? But it's also "Irony, party of one" to watch him writing skits about being rejected because of his disability, when at every turn he rejects women for the same reason.

I just love that they sat down and explicitly talked early on about how studios love to play "divide and conquer" between women and vowed they would always be a united front when it came to the show. And that such a close friendship developed and continues to this day just makes one of my favorite shows all the more enjoyable for reasons I'd need time to properly sort and articulate. But seeing them together makes me stupid happy every time. (Sharon went to the opening of Tyne's Broadway play last year, too.)

I know, right? They also hosted a fundraiser for Clinton's campaign this spring, that was really intimate (in some producer's home with only a small group of people) and made me wish I was there.

Brenda's epic "apology" to the DA, FBI agent, and Taylor at the end of season one and Pope's reaction to it will probably forever own this thread for me (well, maybe tied with the beanbag gun), but this morning I watched Saving Face with Taylor trying - and failing miserably - not to laugh when Brenda gets beat up by a bride and becomes the most-downloaded clothed woman on YouTube, and the memory of it has been popping into my head all day and making me laugh again. I think the first time around I hated Taylor so much it didn't properly register, but this time it just delighted me. Another favorite moment is in the credits for To Protect & To Serve, when they incorporate the actors' names into the opening and closing of Provenza's garage door.

Also D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. And the gazillion different recordings of the Gershwin song. Unless they also did a song called Summertime (entirely possible, but when curiosity sent me Googling, I didn't come across one), Buffalo Tom's is just Summer.

Remakes have been around since the dawn of film. In discussing old films, it's not unusual to have to include something like "the 1932 version with A&B, not the 1936 version with C&D" as a lead-in. And a large number of movies from the '30s (when film really took off) are adaptations of a short story or play.

Upon reading the episode summary, I was really nervous how they were going to present a transgender character, but while I don't think it triggered any GLAAD awards, my cringing was largely for naught. I seem to be largely re-watching the show as I go back through the DVDs to watch special features - looking at the episode list of each disc and thinking, "Oh, I have to watch that one again!" at least once - so I'll examine it more closely when it comes up in the rotation. I didn't mention this in my first post, but this show has one of my favorite presentations of pet ownership on television. I understand how difficult it is to shoot with animals (particularly cats - as a cat mom) so I understand why pet ownership on TV is so much less common than in reality, but I appreciate seeing it, especially in such a natural way. Kitty (and then Joel) are omnipresent and important parts of Brenda and Fritz's home life and it's always nice to see. Poor Miss Kitty.

Ugh, this is sliding away from documentary series to reality show in a hurry. It's distracting to watch talking heads from last season juxtaposed with events from this season, making it painfully obvious they're not actually reflecting on what we just saw with their commentary. Having sympathy for Elena doesn't stop me finding her annoying, but as I said before - I'm glad we see these people warts and all, rather than the common saintly portrayal of those with a disability. Sean's parents are doing him - and society - no favors by continuing to brush off as amusing completely inappropriate behavior. Do your damn job, people! I didn't even recognize Steven's parents; it was as if I hadn't even seen them last season. Weird. Rachel and Cristina are sweet people. Kris did what every single parent is supposed to do, but which must be so freakin' hard to do when your husband bounced and left you to raise a kid - especially a child with special needs - without him, by declining to talk shit about the other parent to that kid and instead trying to bolster her self esteem by saying he loves her. Kids see the truth for themselves, and maybe with a typical child you can be a lot more "Yeah, Dad sucks" by this age, but Megan probably still needs to hear it's not about her.

The message being patched up to the cockpit could have been verbal or written, but if she was just copying text from a screen, I don't think she'd have been concerned that she didn't get it right, so I assume it was verbal. What stretches believability for me is that such a non-critical message for Toby would actually be relayed to him that way - someone had to call the airline and request that the pilots be interrupted with a message to pass along. Nothing would have been different had Toby not found out until he landed, so I think they'd have just paged him as they did everyone else, knowing he'd see it as soon as he landed.

Someone hearing POTUS spoken and not making the connection, I can easily understand, but seeing POTUS written and not knowing what it means would be less common. Then again, Laurie was totally baked, so we can give her a pass.

I missed last week, and only read the archive for last night's game, so I haven't seen this latest contestant to get everyone aggravated. But y'all are cracking me up with the description of his mispronunciation of Montevideo. From last night's game, I'm surprised it took three times to get to French's. I don't even eat mustard, and I knew that one. I knew David Mamet, but that one didn't particularly surprise me as a TS. Same with Mondale and black-eyed Susan. I was just as stumped as the contestants on the book series about teenage demon hunters, Moses' brother, and the mountain he climbed (but I did know "let my people go"). So none of the TS surprised me, which is the first time in a while that's happened. I almost never watch animated films or shows, and had never heard of Laika, so that was a bad category for me; I think I only got two (but I was just reading rather than watching the Clue Crew video, so I don't know whether that would have helped). I'm very annoyed only two sports nicknames clues were revealed.

I always tip the letter carrier once a year. Same with the woman who delivers my newspaper and the guy I hired to mow my lawn because I no longer wanted to bother storing a lawnmower. A few years back, I decided I just wasn't in the mood to scrape, sand, and paint my exterior woodwork, so I outsourced that. Although I was paying them (the two brothers who own the company and do most of the work themselves unless it's a huge job) quite fairly for the job, it wound up being rather miserably hot and humid when it came time for them to do the work. Working outside in those conditions, and maintaining their dedication to doing everything right -- they deserved a bonus, for sure. I treated them to beer and pizza the afternoon they finished, and gave them each $100. I don't outsource much work like that, so my experience is limited, but there was one other time where the circumstances led me to tip (this time $50 to the person doing some plaster work for me). I tip anyone providing a service where "well, you can earn tips" is used as justification for their pitifully low wages. Twenty percent is my norm; I can go up or down for particularly good or bad service (but it has to be really bad for me to give less than 15 percent). For independent contractors, typically no, but as I mentioned, I have given something extra when they've gone above and beyond.

Especially if Tyne Daly had walked in with her. It's not a fair world in which Sharon Gless plays such small parts, but I'll take any glimpse of her I can get. Angie didn't do a bad job directing. It was very much a first-time deal, where you do certain shots because you're excited by them visually, not because they serve the story, but not at all horrible. She doesn't have a career in it (nor do I think she's seeking one), but it wasn't embarrassing to hand her the reins for one of the final episodes. Hopefully Sasha's will come off the same. I don't trust this show with where it seems to be going with the characters, but I'm working to keep an open mind. Angela can get stuffed though; that opinion isn't going to change.

As noted, that is not true in cases where custody is contested -- in those cases, custody is more often awarded to the father. The prevalence of mothers with primary custody comes not from fathers petitioning for it and being denied, but from them never asking for custody to begin with (not always because they're jerks who don't want to parent the kids they created; it also happens where the two parents agree circumstances make Mom's home the best one for the child).

Pope, apologizing for Brenda's behavior: Sorry, sometimes she forgets there are other people in the world. Simmons' delivery makes it art.

Indeed; skin sags and wrinkles whether it's inked or not. One of my tattoos is on my stomach and, yeah, that's bigger than it was 20-some years ago. The fact that a tattoo has stretched along with the rest is something that never crosses my mind. I think certain symbols/images would be inappropriate to display (whether via tattoo, t-shirt, or anything else) when working with the public, but just the fact that a tattoo, any tattoo, is visible is a non-issue to me. My other tattoo is on my ankle, so I can hide it in court by wearing a suit with pants rather than a skirt. But, really, the type of judge who's going to get his boxers in a twist over a tattoo is often the same type who's going to huff at a woman wearing pants rather than a skirt. He can get over it. He's probably already grumbling because I don't wear make-up, anyway.

I checked the A&E website for the show to see if I could find that sneak peek, but only found a two-minute one. From that, it looks like season two is one activity after another that is only happening because of the show.

That's why I wish the "gap year" was embraced here, as it is in so many other countries, instead of looked down upon or feared. Even though I was only 17 when I started college and only 21 when I graduated, I don't know that I'd do it any differently if I had a time machine. But maybe, and, regardless of what I or any other given individual would do, it would benefit everyone if taking a year or two to work and travel between high school and college was recognized as a good option. Being a second-career student made law school a really different experience for me than if I'd gone directly from college, and I'm so thankful for that. I just had a different mindset in general, and knew for sure I was working towards what I wanted to do for the rest of my professional life. I never had to put forth more than minimal effort to sail through high school and college with honors, so law school was the first time I buckled down and really worked at an education. Graduating at the top of my class under those circumstances meant infinitely more. Not to mention the fact having worked for nearly 10 years in between degrees meant I didn't have to go into debt. The freedom that granted me -- to work for course credit rather than pay those two summmers, meaning for my final semester I needed to take only one class and work an internship two days a week and was thus thoroughly rested as I headed into bar prep after graduation, and, especially, to go directly into public interest law without having to make myself miserable at a big firm for several years first -- was HUGE.