pomme de terre

Could there be an Again w This/Blotter crossover event where you and Tara watch the Homicide: Life on the Street movie? Besides being a HITG-fest, I completely forgot that the shitty new rookie everyone hates is Jason Priestley. He gets beaten up by a homeless guy, undermined by Pendleton, and patronizingly called 'a fiesty little guy' by Peter Geraty in the first 10 minutes. Not strictly true crime, although H:LOTS was a nonfiction book and the furor over a black Baltimore mayor floating the idea of legalization was based in fact.

It is some bullshit that the vast majority of the cast is white. As ever, real life is more diverse than TV. The Church is increasingly less white, and Pope Francis has stacked the cardinal electors with people from Africa and Asia. The creators could have done way better than two Latino characters, one of whom is a drug dealer.

One other thing that's really jarring is how cavalier and even mean Susan and Carol are about Ross's post-divorce heartbreak and particularly his role in raising Ben. Carol cheated on Ross and always acted like that was totally fine because it was a part of her self-discovery. There's an assumption that Susan and Carol will be the primary parent and Ross will be allowed to "be involved." They refer to him Bobo the Sperm Guy, ouch. The ep where Ben is born gives it some dimension -- Susan is lashing out because her parental role is undefined -- but I always thought that was a strange note.

The (cute) bowling scene reminded me of a quibble I've had about the Jennings kids -- given that their parents are strong and smart enough to evade danger for decades, shouldn't their kids be super-genius athletic freaks? Shouldn't Paige be taking college math classes if her father can calculate the angle of communications satellites in the field? Shouldn't Henry's ice hockey skills be drawing the attention of NHL scouts if his mother has the coordination and grit to beat two grown men into submission? Besides their legit American-ness, I imagine the Centre knows they might have inherited the best of their parents, which would make them outstanding spies. I get that a lot of the show's tension lies between the ordinary kids and their extraordinary parents, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if the kids started garnering attention on their own, which they would almost certainly do if they are born of two of Mother Russia's most outstanding children.

Anyone who'd throw that plow line in her face is terrible. I applaud Kaitlyn's wide-eyed, pursed-lips "I cannot believe what I am hearing" face. I'm having flashbacks to having dated a guy who had a face and an educational background much like Ian's. He imagined he was incredibly complex. He was not. Most of the people I know who have brand name educations are nice, but there's definitely a strain of self-important weirdos who allow their diplomas to define them waaaaaaaaaay after they should. I went to Georgetown and I can explain the exact type of self-important political networker we are capable of producing. Tracy Flick is real, everyone.

Allegedly the phantom sixth season of the Wire would have been about the dramatically spiking Latino population in Baltimore, but Simon et al felt like they didn't know that world well enough to write it. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-10-06-hispanic06_ST_N.htm Fun fact about me: I was an extra in The Wire and you can see the back of my head in the series closing montage!

A favorite David Simon is a dick story: At one point, Martin O'Malley (Carcetti IRL) wanted to take away The Wire's tax credits because he was sick of Baltimore being shorthand for urban blight as a result of the show's popularity. Simon said he'd move the production to the shittiest parts of Philadelphia and still keep on calling it Baltimore, so the city would get all of the same terrible press and none of the economic benefits. O'Malley backed down.

"There are other men in Baltimore, and they, too, are good at the sex." Eh, not really. :/

I missed something from the last episode -- why was Elizabeth having mouth problems that would require a dentist? Also, it's totally in character for her to be all self-righteous about it, but doesn't Elizabeth consider the difference between her 16-year-old self and Paige's life? Elizabeth's mother was like, "Yeah, OK, this KGB job sounds good," because she was speaking to a daughter in 1956 in Smolensk with one (ailing) parent. Nadhezda's choices were limited. Paige has a lot more options. And Elizabeth still had a choice, which Paige won't if they manipulate her into the program.

Yeah, I don't know about this. Besides the promo not being great, P&R is plugged into the larger world of real-life politics in the way that a lot of sitcoms aren't. 2017 Leslie is either super-pumped about either the Clinton or Biden administration, or furious that one of them was taken down in the 2016 election.

I do improv and I hate bad improv so very much. Nothing brings out the high school Mean Girl in me like someone bombing on stage through their own personal choices. Related: I live in a smaller city and a fairly famous character actor known for darker roles enrolled in our beginner class. The teacher asked if he'd like to skip the 101 class since he IS a working actor, and he said he was really bad at improv and 101 was the right place for him. This was actually correct and kudos to him for knowing it. That said, I cannot imagine the poor bastards who walked into Smaller City Improv class and saw the equivalent of say, Tony Sirico standing there. What newbie can do a cafe scene with Paulie Walnuts sitting right there?

I am from Baltimore and I have always treasured this 2000 quote from then-Mayor, now-Governor, future-President* Martin O'Malley, the real-life Tommy Carcetti, for its whiny bitchery: "I kind of envy the mayor of Providence, who has that wonderful show about his town. There are always colorful leaves blowing across the street and the lady is a doctor and she's doing good work and helping sick kids." *If HRC somehow massive fucks up 2016 primary season, maybe

So I haven't been watching the show, just reading the recaps and finally looked up Doug the Monster's picture and -- he's really handsome! I can see how the moles might be all you see at first, but it's the kind of thing that recedes as you get to know someone and they seem like they'd be pretty easy to remove if they really skeeved Jamie out (and I say this as a person who has a facial mole that I really like).

It sounds like Nick was reading from this lady's playbook: http://www.theonion.com/articles/breakup-hints-misinterpreted-as-marriageproposal-h,137/ Andi shouldn't have slept with him, though. That was mean.

My real name is Clare, and when I was a senior in college, a classic L&O:SVU episode ("Denial") that guest-starred Martha Plimpton as a hooker named Claire aired. It kicked off a cycle of my roommates yelling Fin Tutuola quotes, including gems like: "Don't make me have to come run your ass down, Claire." "Claire's at that skank hotel in midtown that she likes." "Claire's going to the Tombs again. What can we do to help her?" [Note: this one was extra funny because the closest bar to our house was called the Tombs.] However, the only Clare (no i) on TV that I know was 90210's Clare Arnold. Ugh.