Bastet

Fairly early in the show's run, Tarek did an interview in which he revealed that the guy they occasionally show (Pete?) as throwing in with them on a job was actually their equal partner in every flip they do. Do you know if, now that the show/their business has taken off, that is still the case or if it's usually just their money and having another investor has become the exception?

Yay! But I somehow had it in my head that it had already been renewed; I guess my brain couldn't conceive of a show this winsome being canceled.

If Mulder is not a stable person at the time of this revival, then it's not a stable relationship right now. It's a permanent relationship, though (whatever the nature of it at any given time, they are forever tied to each other), and I have to imagine even CC assumes they'll get back together romantically at some point, but I can easily see them - her - needing a break from living together. I think Mulder was at a total loss after IWTB, suddenly free again but with no idea what to do with himself. And then when the alien invasion on which he'd staked just about everything didn't happen ... well, a downward spiral is pretty much inevitable for someone like him. And Scully wasn't particularly happy, so she's got her own issues. Whether it will make sense on screen, I don't know; the idea works for me, I'm just wary of the execution. Because I don't think it's going to be a focus (which makes sense, as this isn't a relationship drama), and that's a pretty layered story to tell in the background. I think this is going to come down to whether DD and GA can convey everything that's between the lines, and they've got a good track record. So maybe I shouldn't be so nervous, but CC has an equally long history of disappointing me ... Ack, I can't wait to get this over with because I'm getting emotionally invested again. I went through a long period of "Eh, whatever; it may be good, it may suck, but I don't really care," but now I'm back to "I love these characters, and felt good about them at the end of IWTB, so I'm going to actually get upset if I don't feel the same way at the end of episode six."

Is that what happened? I meant to post about it that night, but forgot by the time I sat down at the computer. I noticed her hesitation and looking over at the other contestants, and thought perhaps Alex had given first selection to the wrong contestant, but couldn't remember (heh, this seems to be a theme for me) where they'd left off at the commercial break.

Ha - Mulder is so typical Mulder in that clip. He calls her, but won't provide her with any actual information, then is all, "I can't discuss this; gotta go." I can't sit through the interview, though - those hosts are painful. CC has a long history of dismissing fans' criticisms by saying he knows what's best for them, but it's his show and his characters so it's not really what he says but how he says it. I haven't felt insulted, though. I have zero trouble accepting the fact they're separated, as I have no trouble imagining it under the circumstances. I just don't trust that CC opted to separate them based on some detailed analysis of the characters and the relationship - in which case I'd have faith in them/it being written in a way that makes sense - but instead simply because he wanted to be able to write the show old school rather than having to write them as a couple. So I don't care that he broke them up, I care that he may not have put much thought into it and thus the characters, especially Scully, will come off poorly as a result. I just want to get it over with at this point and see if I have reason to be nervous about his ability to present them in a way that feels right to me so I can just sit back and enjoy the MOTW episodes and muddle through the mytharc bookends. Apparently there's a screening this weekend in L.A. that's sold out, but friends and I have tickets for a screening next Friday night. So I'll be able to just enjoy football that Sunday without being a jumble of nervous anticipation.

Yeah, in the initial stages of describing that dish, it sounded delicious (based on its ingredients). And I've made squid stuffed with pork sausage before, so I was pulling for it.

One of the many reasons I make tacos so often is how quickly they can be prepared, so all the "Only 20 minutes?!" crap can miss me, especially since they were charged with making a fish taco.

I love Stone beer, so I'd likely have been pleased with most dishes, but Emeril's beer sounded the worst to me (and Padma's sounded the best). I do not like how androcentric this competition is at the midpoint, and was hoping Angelina would have emerged victorious over Wes in the QF so that there was a chance in the elimination round for a woman to stay while a man went home- and to see Wes over-cook lamb (quite the culinary sin to my palate) really made me wish she'd had that one more chance to do better than him - but both were (over?)due to go so I can't get too fired up. And when you do something so stupid in the first place to land yourself in the hot seat -- plating your food on a cutting board rather than on the plate that will be judged -- I can't muster up much sympathy. Kudos to Karen, whose food has interested me all along.

Yeah, Sir Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson offered particularly moving statements in tribute, and taken as a whole, the various comments lead me to believe my supposition based on limited exposure was correct; Alan Rickman was, quite simply, a good guy.

Damn right Zorro is more important. I hope he enjoys a complete recovery. (And please drop in a line to let us know.)

This is awful, I freely acknowledge, but when I first read this I thought you meant he suffered being married to Celine Dion. Then I realized you must have meant he suffered a long illness, so I went Googling (three bouts of throat cancer, the first in 1999 and then again the last couple of years).

Alan Rickman was one of those actors I really liked, despite not having seen very many of his numerous roles. I don't like Die Hard, so I haven't seen that since it came out. I couldn't even make it through Love Actually. I loved him in Sense and Sensibility, Dogma, and Bob Roberts. But the rest of his credits, I haven't seen. And I never watched his interviews or paid any attention to him as a person. Yet when I read of his death, I thought, "Oh no, I really liked him."

I thought that was a jerk move. If you don't want to arm wrestle her (and risk being beat by a woman), then pick another story from her list. Or just ask her about her arm wrestling victories. Don't challenge her then immediately give up.

That would be totally outlandish, but this is coming from someone who watches the show despite not being a fan of science fiction, so that's my response to a lot of things he comes up with. A world that always has Scully in it sounds good in theory, but as Fellig showed us, it sucks for the person who is immortal, so, no, that's not what I want for her. But there's a pretty good list of things that would irritate me more, so I guess my reaction is a solid "Whatever." (Maybe with a "Sure. Fine." in front of it.)

Ugh, I hate when things are designed so that something that will need to be semi-regularly accessed requires removing other components to get to it. I've always changed my own car batteries, and I've never run into something like you describe (but I've only had two cars). Honda, at least back when I had an Accord, made the timing belt ridiculously difficult to replace, but at least that only needs to be done once or twice in the life of the car. Congrats on getting it done.

I've never read Watership Down, or really even heard anything about it other than its title, so I had no idea on FJ. I was rooting for Megan, as a fellow public interest attorney, but she had a couple of wrong answers that really surprised me. I can't remember the other one, but misidentifying Vivien Leigh as Claudette Colbert despite the picture and the Atlanta reference kind of boggled my mind (and I don't even like Gone With the Wind). Gucci surprised me a bit as a TS, because I am not remotely into fashion, but Italian + expensive purses led me immediately to it. I had Bryan Adams in my head as soon as the Cuts Like a Knife category was revealed, so I'm on the same wavelength as someone upthread.

I'd rather McAdoo than anyone else available, which was my whole hesitation with Coughlin's departure now rather than a year from now -- yes, it makes sense to make a coaching change at this time, but who's out there as a better option right now? -- so I think I'm good with this. He's a good fit with Eli, and there's a lot there to build on with the offense. I was over the moon with Spag coming back as Defensive Coordinator, because I think he's great in general and especially with the Giants, but it hasn't worked out as I'd hoped. (To put it mildly.) With a beefed-up roster on that side of the ball, though ... It should be an interesting off season and draft.

I thought the vibe between Mulder & Scully in the clip shown on Jimmy Kimmel worked well for a couple that's separated but still loves each other, but I still have so very little faith their relationship will make sense to me in this revival. I know it's going to deal with storylines I either don't care about or actively hate (ahem, William), but if the characters and their relationship make sense, I can just enjoy it for what it is. I'm quite nervous that will not be the case. Alas, just as the dud that was IWTB was worth it for the delightful press junket, if we get more joint appearances promoting this revival I will again have that to fall back on -- and even better. Because now that they've not only made peace but really get along, they are just a joy to watch. Man, if someone had described to my 1997/1998 self the DD of the past several years, I'd have never believed it. I still remember the minor mind blow of sitting in the audience at WonderCon - what I consider the beginning of David v2.0 - and occasionally muttering to each other, "Who is this man?" Even then, I wouldn't have believed what was to come.

Oh, if I see a missed call but no message I assume they were calling for something relevant at that time only, and since I wasn't there they just hung up rather than leaving a message. Or it wasn't important enough to bother asking for a return call and they decided they'd just email me. It would never occur to me to call someone back based on seeing their number in my call log; I only do it if there's a message. I've never had anyone ask why I didn't call them back, so I guess we're all on the same page, but this has been interesting to read.

Yeah, her mom said she used to come visit them every weekend and no longer does, and Elena said it's because she doesn't like coming to the new house. I would not be surprised if Elena is more comfortable with one of her counselors (or whatever that person's title was) accompanying her on something that makes her anxious.

Damn.

Bourbon is a type of whiskey.

Back in the beginning, but only for a year or something like that. There's no connection like there is with the Rams and the Raiders, other than the fact we get treated as a secondary market of the Chargers and get stuck with too many of their games. I want the Raiders back, and in the Coliseum, but I have to acknowledge that's just a bygone era that won't be recaptured and I'll have to drive to freakin' Inglewood (or, worse yet, Carson).

Yeah, and with Megan at the end saying she's going to finish school (is she actually enrolled for a degree, because I thought she was just taking classes), get engaged to her boyfriend, and come back to LA with or without her mother, it has obviously not sunk in. She has $300 to her name, but thinks she's going to buy a place in Los Angeles. She cannot count money or select groceries, but thinks she's ready to live independently. I hope being around the other families - did they have no DS network in Denver? - leads Kris to have some frank conversations with Megan when they get home. Elena's is a difficult personality to abide, so I'm particularly curious to see her next season as she continues on the path to self acceptance. Cristina's parents were the season's all-stars for me. And, yeah, was that an engagement or a promise of future engagement?

No, they filmed both interiors and exteriors in LA and just used stock footage of NY for establishing shots. (And as you keep going, you'll get a good laugh at how often that shot from the pilot of everyone moving their cars outside the Lacey apartment gets reused.)