Bastet

Oops. Note to self: Wait until 7:30 to start drinking.

I'm getting ready to make spinach, artichoke, and cheese dip, and eat that with tortilla chips. Dinner of champions here tonight, folks. My parents, on the other hand, will be dining on the stuffed peppers I made them on my way home. I made them old school - stuffed with a ground beef mixture, rice, and tomato sauce, three things I'd never put in my own stuffed peppers - so I didn't bring any home with me.

I'm pretty sure he's heard the word "cars." That was the first response in which I noticed his "ah" pronunciation of "ar," and then I noticed it quite a bit after that. I wonder if he did it before and I didn't pick up on it, or if that really was the first time. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and K2 being the highest point in Pakistan were the TS that surprised me the most tonight, and the celestial TS was also something I figured someone would come up with. The cardinal DD going unanswered also surprised me, given how many ways the clue could get you there -- the picture of the bird itself, a definition of cardinal, and an example of a phrase in which it's used. Come to think of it, the Rand-McNally DD seemed an odd bust, too. I wonder if, with both of those, the other contestants were thinking, "Damn, I wish I'd landed on that!" (I missed the second half of the first round, so there may be more.) Africa being my weak spot when it comes to geography didn't bite me in the butt tonight; unlike the contestants, I knew Libya was on the other side of Chad's northern border. Speaking of geography, I, too, thought the Baltic Sea clue was too easy for FJ.

B is for the bodega at which they'd shop.

Well, most things are, heh.

Yeah, I didn't really like that line because neutering is not a guarantee against a male cat ever spraying again (it certainly increases the odds dramatically, and the younger they are when it's done - within reason - the better, but it's not an absolute), but other than that Scooter continues to crack me up.

But it will be nice that, unlike IWTB, these scripts can undergo the usual re-writes. So if GA, DD, or another writer speaks up to say, "Um, this doesn't feel right for M&S," at least there's the opportunity for it to be changed. And I think the actors have fantastic insight into who M&S are, as individuals and as a couple. I think they have good ideas. I just don't think they write entire episodes very well. With only six of them, I doubt anyone will be inviting them to (or that they'd ask to).

I haven't heard the veterinarian one, but hearing realtor pronounced with three syllables drives me crazy, too. (As does hearing an imaginary third syllable added to athlete, or a fourth to triathlon.)

While I want many people other than CC writing these six episodes - and, in fact, would be happy if CC didn't write a word, but simply oversaw scripts - I don't want DD or GA on that list. I found The Unnatural pretty bad (the M/S scenes were cute in theory, but in reality they were DD/GA instead, and the rest was blah) and Hollywood A.D. and all things just so-so, and would thus rather leave this to actual writers. GA and DD do much better improving on what's on the page than drafting the action and dialogue themselves.

I've only ever discussed the show here and on TWoP, so my frame of reference is limited, but within that context TS has been used to mean a clue that none of the three answered correctly -- whether none made a guess, one or more made an incorrect guess, etc. Just something where the correct answer eluded all three.

I missed the first round tonight. Alex's Wile E. Coyote style wave goodbye gave me a chuckle. I had no idea on FJ. I knew it wasn't Facebook, but it could have been Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or something I'd never heard of for all I knew. I went with Twitter since that's the only one of those three I even know what it is (I once learned what Instagram and Pinterest are from J! clues, but it didn't stick with me). The exuberant buzzer pushing didn't bother me, and there was something about her little flair at the end of each successful buzz that tickled me. I knew Africa was my geography weak spot, but my performance in that category was embarrassing. I did know Sierra Leone, though, so I was surprised none of them did.

Yes, that’s the dialogue, but I’m not sure what part of my quoted opinion you’re using it to disagree with. That I don’t find the male characters weak? If so, I don’t take that dialogue as a statement – by M’Lynn or the narrative – that men are weak. Just that since men are commonly regarded as the stronger sex, it struck M’Lynn – and gave her a bit of a chuckle in the midst of this horror - that when it came time to take Shelby off life support neither her husband nor father could stand to watch it, but there sat her mother, unable to leave.

I'd love to see CSM in a flashback or in some other way that makes sense (given the fact he, like Howard Graves, is very dead) because William B. Davis made a terrific villain who was a huge part of the show. But if he's alive, or a clone, or a twin, or something like that - no thanks. If they're resurrecting characters, my vote is for the Gunmen.

Ha! I hadn't clicked on the link to read his actual tweet, but after your post I did. Hilarious:

In the source material (the play), there are no men at all; they're referred to, but not seen. Heaven forbid Hollywood make a film without men, so when Harling adapted his play into a script, he had to add scenes with the men. I don't think of them as weak, just as on the periphery. Which I don't mind, because they're not the point of the story being told (which is why the play worked; just hearing about them was enough). And I love that Tom Skerritt and Sam Shepard took small, supporting roles (and did such lovely things with them). Harling wrote the play to keep his sister's memory alive (her husband was remarried within six months, and the child - who had no memory of "Shelby" - was calling her mommy), but when he sat down to write he realized the story was how these women supported each other on a daily basis, not just when shit went down. The men weren't incidental to their lives, but they weren't the focus. So that's what he wrote. And even a sexist ass like Herbert Ross couldn't diminish it.

S is for Dorothy's mink stole that Blanche wanted to borrow. "It's Miami in June; only cats are wearing fur!" It was stolen when their house was burglarized, but the police recovered it when they caught the burglars. (Because, while they could sell Blanche's jewelry - had it not been in safely tucked away in the freezer - nobody wears stoles anymore.) Of course, S is also for the many sequined gowns and sweaters we saw over the years.

"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." Like when they're writing a Christmas episode, and want to work in Scully's cross - the fact they'd previously established she received it as a birthday gift didn't stop them from retconning it into a Christmas present. They knew they were going to get razzed about any and all errors, since online fans were so notorious for dissecting the show it was worked into a script as a shout-out (the LGM hopping on the internet to nitpick the scientific inaccuracies of Earth 2), but they went with it anyway. Hell, with the necklace, even Gillian and her horrible memory spotted the error and called CC upon reading the script to point it out.

I’m glad I didn’t watch, because parents who allow their kids to mistreat animals send me into a rage. When I was sixteen, I came home with a kitten to add to our family that already consisted of two cats. My parents’ “WTF?” reaction quickly faded when I explained why I’d brought home this kitten without asking. I was out at my best friend’s house, and learned her neighbor’s cat had produced a litter of kittens, so we went over to see. There was only one left, the runt of the litter, and the neighbor started relaying what she thought was a highly amusing story of how her shithead of a son (I’m not good at judging kids’ ages, plus this was such a long time ago, but I’d guess he was about four – so the bulk of the fault in him being a shithead lies with the parents) liked to use the kitten as a football and throw her down the hall. Seriously? Someone is sitting there laughing at this shit? I told her all about herself, announced I was taking the kitten, scooped kitty up, put her in the car, and she spent 16 years living the life of Riley.

I've never seen Janel Moloney in anything else other than that SN appearance (as a character I found somewhat annoying), so I don't know if she just came off as a weak link in this because she was surrounded by such talent or if she'd always feel that way to me. Donna was fine to me in the beginning, when she was an assistant on par with the others, but it didn't take all that long for me to feel she was being shoehorned in to scenes in which she didn't belong and being presented as something more than she was. The idea of Josh and Donna together romantically turns my stomach a bit – as I’ve said before, it was an odd scenario in which I thought each one wasn’t good enough for the other, and each one deserved better than the other – so I’ve always been glad I stopped watching before that happened.

This is a series of moments, but ... While I adore Steel Magnolias for the friendships and dialogue, so much that I own it on DVD yet still watch it every time I find it on TV, I pretty much hate Shelby. And I feel bad saying that, because she's based on a real person, and if her family doesn't feel this way about her why should I, but -- while she seemed like a nice, kind-hearted person, what a selfish twit she was when it came down to it! She knows her body can't handle pregnancy, and doctor after doctor has told her not to have a baby as it may very well kill her, but what does she do -- get knocked up to try and save her failing marriage to an asshole (this only gets hinted at in the film, but it's still there) and fulfill her "but I want to be a 'real' mom" desire. And then, oh look, her mom has to give up a kidney to try to save her, and ultimately she dies anyway. So she barely gets to be a mom (they didn't show the fact she spent much of those two years in hospital, where the kid couldn't visit), and now her family has lost her, and her son gets to not only grow up without her, but with the guilt of having been "responsible" for her death. What a waste, and entirely avoidable. And she knew that, but did it not just to herself, but to her family, anyway. So I want to throw things at my TV every time I watch that "I'm pregnant" scene; I love M'Lynn's reaction, and feel so bad that Ouiser is the only other person who understands what's at stake here. Everyone else is all, "Oh, blah blah, kittens and rainbows, I'm sure everything will work out." No, fools, it won't. Why would it? Because she's nice and wants it so bad? That doesn't negate reality.

ToC - Tournament of Champions

Yeah, the grocery store chickens are ridiculously large. The ones I get at the farmers market are still right around 3-1/2 pounds, but at the store the smallest I can ever find is over five pounds.

DJ

I do have pepperoncini, and that shrimp looked really good to me when they made it, so I'll have to give it a whirl one night next week. Thanks for the review!

I'm going to make stuffed peppers for my parents next week. Now, if I was making this for myself, I'd stuff them with just about anything other than beef, rice, and tomatoes. But, they're craving the classic version, so that's what I'll use. I've been perusing recipes, including my mom's, and they're all just variations on a basic theme, so this should be a breeze and they'll be happy. But if any of you who make these add anything that doesn't show up in most classic recipes, let me know. My mom isn't the medical marvel she was after the other knee replacement, but she's still ahead of the curve with this one. She's making good progress with her physical therapy, and while it will be a longer, slower road to full recovery this time, there's no doubt she'll get there and finally have two fully-functioning knees for the first time in ages. Chester the Physical Therapy Supervisor has been on duty again, and the other cat has been joining in as well. But, unlike Chester, who meows encouragement, nudges her limbs along with his head, etc., Bandit just plops down on the bed and watches, then gets my mom to dangle the band for him when she's done so he can play with it. My mom gets up after icing her knee for about 10 minutes, and the two kitties stay in bed napping. The two competing dietary needs, with my mom needing to eat a lot of iron and potassium and my dad needing limited, consistent amounts of vitamin K, have been interesting, as I figured. Along with cooking/reheating instructions, my notes to my dad now have things like, "Give Mom a big helping of this, but you can only have a little." Tomorrow will be my first day entirely to myself since the surgery. I'm going to sleep in, make a Bloody Mary, make a quick breakfast, make another Bloody Mary, plop down in a patio chair with a book, and proceed to spend hours doing nothing but reading in the sun and watching Maddie chase bugs around the backyard.