Bastet

I'm pretty much at "fuck this" stage. I'll watch, and hope to be pleasantly surprised, but I'm expecting to wish it had ended with IWTB. If this was a relationship drama written by someone who doesn't have a pathologically unhealthy view of romantic relationships, I'd be looking forward to it -- there are about a million reasons this couple should break up at some point, and watching them decide if they can be together and, if so, in what form, would be compelling. But this seems nothing more than an egotistical rewrite of reality; when my show was a hit, they weren't together but had romantic tension, so now that I've been given another shot at this, I'll revert to a dynamic that is over a decade out of date on the infinitesimal chance I can keep this thing going beyond these six episodes. In short, fuck you, Chris Carter. Any number of people could make this work, if they were coming from the right place. You aren't, so you're going to screw it up. Because you don't understand your own characters; they've always thrived in spite of you, not because of you.

People who park in front of someone else's house the night before trash collection day, leaving no room to put the rubbish bins out. I mean, first of all, I don't understand using the entirety of your garage as storage for $2500 worth of myriad stuff and parking $25,000 worth of car outside. But if that's your bag, fine. Park in your driveway or in front of your own damn house, though. It's a public street, yes, but it's also common courtesy that my guests be able to park in front of my house and I not have to see your car when I look out the front windows. When it comes to trash day, do not leave me without room to put the bins out if I need to. And if you've left me just enough room for a bin, yes, indeed, I will put that bin right in front of your bumper, leaving you wedged between it and the car behind you.

I'd love to see Rose strike up a conversation with the Log Lady.

I hate everyone.

For me, a low 90s dry heat is perfectly bearable. Once you start inching up towards 100, yeah, hot is hot whether wet or dry. But until you hit about 93-95, I don't care unless there is serious humidity as well.

I like Eli saying, about the ODB catch and Tyree's catch in the Super Bowl, "You have to throw two pretty bad balls to be part of two of the greatest catches in the game, so I don't know if it's something I should really be proud of."

I live in Los Angeles, so our cold days/nights are not all that cold. In winter, I have the thermostat set to come on before I get up and heat the house up to 68, and then it's set at 66 for the day for the cat. It heats back up to 68 right before the time I usually get home. (And I just keep it as is when I'm working out of my home office; 66 is fine with me, since I'll just add socks and a cardigan to my typical loungewear.) I keep it off overnight (well, since it has to be set at something for those hours, it's set at 50, but it never gets that cold so it's effectively off). I have a down blanket, plus a comforter, plus a cat -- I stay plenty warm in bed. One of my close friends lives in Chicago, so when I mention in our email conversations "it's cold today!" I always have to add the "yeah, I know, I know" disclaimer since I'm referring to a daytime temp in the 50s while she's shoveling snow in sub-zero temps. We always need rain so badly, so I try not to complain when we get it, but it makes traffic terrible and - bringing this back to peeves - I hate umbrellas. Obviously, I enjoy being protected from the rain while walking, but then I get inside and I have this nasty dripping thing to deal with. If it's a light rain and I don't have to meet with anyone (and thus it doesn't matter if I'm a little damp and frizzy), I just get wet rather than deal with one. My dad is the same way.

The kitties are so cute, and the names amuse me so, I am willing to overlook the fact no one with two cats, let alone a house full of them, would choose one of those cats' names for a password and then just put "my cat's name" as the hint. (And there's no way this guy only had one cat when he made the account.) I especially love the cat lying between them on the couch, with his/her head up against the guy's leg.

Yep, that was the scuttlebutt -- atheists either got "we can't match you" messages or, in fewer cases, got matched with ultra-religious people (in the hopes they'd convert the heathens, I guess). Two friends of mine, both atheists, who were dating at the time (they're now married), each filled out the questionnaire to see what would happen, after hearing those rumors. Both got the "sorry, we can't match you" message.

Even if my motion sickness wasn't at its worst on the water, cruises would not be my thing for a variety of reasons - especially cruises like this where you're at sea the whole time - but even though almost nothing described sounded appealing to me (I might have liked - in an odd way - passing by Titanic's final resting place, but that's about it), that was a nicely evocative account of sailing on the Queen Mary 2. A fun read!

I hate this show - I gave syndicated episodes an extended chance because of the cast, but I find Henry and Danny utter assholes, and Frank less so but still an example of much of what's wrong with police forces around the country - but nothing was on last night and I was trying to distract myself, so I watched this episode. Nothing changed since the last time I watched; I, too, cannot figure out why Erin doesn't tell Danny to go fuck himself, and tell Frank she'll be at Sunday dinner once a month, not every week.

Wow, 74! I'd be chilled, especially with ceiling fans. I have mine at 80 when it's really hot, but usually 82. I knew our weather was improving today when I had to switch from 80 to 82 in the office because it was getting a little chilly (it's the smallest room that's air conditioned, so the ceiling fan really moves the cool air all around the room). Before long, I changed the other units as well. (I have a Mitsubishi electric ductless AC system, so I have a separate control for each room in which there is AC.) I don't think I've ever had it below 78.

My best friend likes her meat - of any kind - well done, and it pains me to cook for her. I mean, I do it, because I want her to enjoy her meal, but it's just wrong. What amuses me is she eats sushi. So it's either raw or cremated.

Pretty much, I think. Jean Darling, another child actor in the silent era (Our Gang) just died a few days ago at 93.

Deadspin's Tim Burke tries to make sense of the headset problems.

Goddamn, Steelers. Thanks to Ben, I no longer like you (much to the consternation of my best friend, who considers you her favorite team), but I'll still root for you over the Patriots. (Hell, I'll root for anyone - except maybe the Cowboys depending on consequences for the NFC East - over the Patriots.) I nonetheless picked the Pats to win, but you really need not have made that outcome such a given. If not for several ill-timed major mistakes, this could have been a different game. Shitty performance. I got some bad news about my cat's health today, and was hoping the Steelers could at least somewhat distract me on this normally sacred day as I wait for definitive results tomorrow. Assholes.

At least you can just pop in the next disc. Watching in real time, that summer was brutal. We Zaprudered the hell out of the shooting footage, drew diagrams, and then picked back up with the sputtering. One of the best season finales ever.

Same here. I did some reading long ago on the Quiverfull movement, and then later Gothard, so I was disgusted that this family was given a television series (and magazine spreads, and interviews, and ...) that presented such a thoroughly whitewashed version of their beliefs and lifestyle. I didn't watch it, and I didn't read discussion of it. Then the scandals started hitting, and this turned out to be the best repository of information. So reading this thread and the Media thread in order to stay updated became routine. I came for the info, and stayed for the snark.

I know I'm stretching "celebrity" a bit with this one, but for NPR listeners he's as famous as any other guest, given hundreds of interviews over the years ... pollster extraordinaire, and Pew Research Center founding director, Andrew Kohut has died.

Yes, that was the lead-in to Maggie's initial advice to cool his jets -- some variation on the old "the ink on your divorce papers is barely dry" saw. Which, as I said in the thread for tonight's other episode, means more time has passed than would seem ... except that's if they're in CA and now that I think on it I'm not sure where Pinebrook is supposed to be. (I was afraid to get attached to this show in season one for a variety of reasons, so I didn't pay proper attention[to things as basic as setting, apparently].)

I scared my poor, sick cat by laughing out loud when Danger Zone kicked in. Footloose was anti-climactic after that. I still don’t know how they bandy about an alternate identify of Bocephus without ever mentioning Hank Williams Jr. but clearly I am going to need to let that go. The letter and the song dedication ... good lord, I love this show. I wonder how many musicians they had to go through in the development of the script before they found someone willing to appear. Mark as Shaft undercover investigating the ticket fraud ... almost as good. I'm open to Mark/Emma, but it's moving a bit fast. Although, since Mark has already signed divorce papers, more time must have transpired than we've seen.

I'm relieved that the conversation about not being those kind of people did not end with them proving they are, in fact, those kind of people. Tiresome, first of all, and shitty. So it was nice to see people control themselves not just for their own reasons, but out of respect to someone else. Because as much as Rabbi Dan pissed me off last episode, and annoyed me a little bit this one, he deserves the human decency of Emma breaking up with him before she starts up anything with Mark. It was fun seeing Maggie and Bruce so comfortable with each other ... by which I mean the "this is our song" and dancing. I didn't see the sex coming, but I absolutely love it for how they reacted to it. They've moved on enough to remember they like each other, they know each other well enough to guarantee a satisfying experience versus getting the itch scratched by a stranger with whom they're not seeking a relationship, but it is no less and no more than that. Perfect. Also, that woman looked nothing like Andie MacDowell. But, speaking as a brunette with curly hair, I am well aware many people think all brunettes with curly hair look alike. We don't. I cannot simultaneously "oh my god, you look just like" Carole King, Kimberly Williams, Jennifer Beals, Andie MacDowell, Brooke Shields, Minnie Driver, et al. Because none of them look alike, other than their hair. Ahem. Carry on.

All I can remember Shannen Doherty saying about it (and I am truly frightened I remember this much) is that she was apprehensive it would seem - to young girls watching the show - not just one character's decision and reaction but a more general message that "if you have a nice boyfriend, you should sleep with him." If I recall, the interviewer posited the notion of a teenage girl deciding to have sex with her boyfriend because Brenda had sex with hers, and SD was troubled by that possibility.

The request itself wasn't odd to me, either, just the "Since we don't have one at our current place, I'm having to go home in my wetsuit" storyline underlying that request.

I recently watched Scream for the umpteenth time at a friend's house, and it never fails to amuse either one of us how perfect the smash cut from the principal's murder to the next scene is, thanks to School's Out for Summer kicking in as the soundtrack. Sticking with the horror genre, Halloween is one of my favorites, and it would be nothing without that score.