doodlebug

She is still alive at age 85 and working as an actress as of 2014. Maybe she had other commitments. Maybe Grandma didn't go to the wedding because she was off trekking in Katmandu and couldn't get back on short notice.

Not only that, she's been getting lucrative job offers for 'months and months' despite the fact that she has absolutely no training or experience in education and the Snowflake Academy has only been open since September, not even 5 months. In real life, I doubt anyone would be hiring her for a consulting job when she hasn't even run a school for an entire academic year, let alone graduated a class or collected enough academic data to show that the kids are succeeding. I guess she was sprinkled with the magical Braverman career pixie dust that Sarah has been benefiting from. In real life, she runs a school without any qualifications herself with a faculty that seems to consist mainly of family and friends who are also not qualified and the main 'accomplishment' we've seen is that Kristina was able to praise her very own specialest snowflake of them all after he sexually harrassed one student and assaulted another.

Just saw American Sniper and Sam Jaeger has a small but significant role playing Chris Kyle's commanding officer in it.

I wonder the same thing. What is particularly strange to me is that these women seem to clamor for this style of wedding dress when it is not a style that is particularly popular in any other venue. And for good reason. Tip for brides: if the wedding dress is not a style you'd wear at any other time; then it is probably not for you.

Thanks for the info. So Morgan actually thinks the people who buy country music publications will do anything more than glance at her wedding picks and form an opinion about her gown? Delusional much? Most of 'em won't be able to get past her weirdly plasticized face, IMO, to even notice what her dress looks like.

While watching Amber's baby shower, which, I admit, was one of the better scenes in the eppy; two things came to mind. First, as mentioned above, where were Amber's friends? Why wouldn't the shower have been planned for a time when her cousin, Haddie, could attend? Amber has no friends her own age? Surely a few extras could've been rounded up from a local acting class to portray her peeps. It's pretty cheap as long as they didn't have any lines. And, considering the constant jabber and overtalking from the main cast, nobody would've noticed Amber's friends were mute, anyway. Secondly, anyone else want to get their hands on the binder full of parenting advice and publish it as a treatise on how NOT to parent? The chapters written by Kristina and Julia would be particularly instructive, I'd think, Amber should do exactly the opposite of what they recommend. And Sarah's kids seem to have turned out OK in spite of her from what I've seen. I'll give Jasmine a pass (other than on the not telling Crosby about Jabbar) as her kids don't seem too screwed up. Camille seems to do well with her grandkids, though her kids are certainly fairly messed up. Most TV shows are unrealistic about economic issues, but this one is worse than most. People on sitcoms generally live in places that would be out of their reach in real life (Friends) and this happens on dramas, too. One exception was ER where Mark Greene, an ER attending making well into 6 figures could only afford a studio apartment after his divorce despite the fact his ex was an attorney and he didn't pay alimony. It is particularly grating on this show where the characters are shown living in some of the most pricey parts of town in a place that is one of the most expensive in the country. Hell, Zeek and Camille, both retired and in financial straits just a couple years ago, sold their house in Berkeley and bought a multi million dollar home in San Francisco just last year. It's no wonder the rest of the family has no common sense when it comes to money. Maybe Jasmine figures Zeke is going to kick the bucket soon and Crosby will be inheriting a tidy sum, so no problem keeping the Luncheonette going. However, given their current situation, it is completely ridiculous that Jasmine would tell Crosby to 'follow his dreams'. They have two young kids and a mortgage. He needs to get a regular paycheck and follow his dreams on nights weekends and holidays at this point in his life. Of course, this is the show that wants us to think it is just great for Sarah to stumble from job to job without a second thought while raising two kids without a reliable father. And that Kristina is a 'head master' as a prestigious charter school with no education or experience in the field. I am sure that in the next week or so, Taylor Swift will be calling and wanting to record her next CD at The Luncheonette. And Crosby will turn her down because his artistic integrity would be compromised by working with a pop singer.

Anyone else watching last night and distracted by human Barbie doll Morgan and whatever it was she had done to her face? Only 33 years old and already with fully siliconized lips, cheek implants and so much Botox that nothing moved, even when she laughed. Considering her mom worked at the shop, the show did her a disservice when they showed all the pics of her as a kid which only proved that she has had more work done than some of the Kardashians. Makes me wonder what sort of self image issues she must've had to willingly alter her appearance so drastically. She looked like a cartoon character, not a real person. As for the 'unlimited budget' because she was marrying a country music star; so what? Personally, I've never been very impressed with any of the 'custom' creations we see on any of these shows. Her dress was nice enough, surely she could've found one for a quarter the cost that would've been just as nice. It makes me think she's got more money than sense. I understand why the shop owners are excited to see these suckers who are willing to shell out a small fortune for a dress they'll wear just once, but to me, they are fools. I am no country music aficionado, but has anyone ever heard if the guy she was marrying? Who exactly are the 'millions' of people she claimed would be seeing pictures of her wedding dress and judging? Methinks some of the Botox leached into her brain. Well, that and that she should perhaps spend some money on counseling to try to figure out why she has self esteem issues that she's trying to fix with cosmetic surgery and ridiculously expensive dresses.

Third person Sonny and Amber's 'special' was about 75% footage from their original wedding show, which aired just prior. So, counting the repeat of the wedding complete with teasers leading into commercials followed by the 'new' show; we saw the same stuff 3 times in less than 2 hours. Autumn didn't appear over it to me. She was bragging about how their daughter, Liberty (of course), wears genuine diamond studs in her ears. 'What other six month old has real diamond earrings?' asked Autumn. Only the ones whose parents, like Autumn and Sonny, equate spending money with class and taste. The baby is a cutie, though. Autumn still has the bad overprocessed bleach job and sets her makeup gun on 'whore' as before. She also spent a goodly amount of time lamenting her baby weight which she hasn't lost, although I thought the extra fullness in her face softened her looks in a good way. Sonny also hasn't lost his baby weight and its not quite as flattering on him. Their home is furnished in the expensively tacky style they favor and they continue to be inordinately proud of buying the most expensive stuff they can find, need it or not. Anyway, they do seem like a good fit as a couple and reasonably happy, if clueless.

Well, her stuff is 'exclusively' found at Kleinfeld's, so they probably do maximum markup on it and have a greater profit margin on her stuff than on the other merchandise, which can be found at other, less expensive, bridal stores. Between her many, many appearances on the show and the seemingly unending supply of engaged women who want to get married in stripper fairy finery, Kleinfeld's has probably found their niche and are exploiting it to the max. Before I started watching this show, I had no idea that there were women who wanted to be 'sexy' in their wedding dress or who thought that showing max cleavage or butt crack or midriff was a fashionable option.

Vera Wang has her own bridal store in Manhattan, so there's not much incentive to sell her stuff to Kleinfeld's where her gowns would be lost in a sea of tacky Pnina's. She only does business high end bridal retailers which is not Kleinfeld's rep. Kleinfeld's has the name recognition, even moreso with the show, to make it such a destination for dress shopping that they can mark their stuff up higher than other stores. The Manhattan location, as well as the number of attentive salespeople and the amazing Vera and the gang in alterations don't come cheap, either. Kleinfeld's is well known for having some of the highest retail prices around. Back in the days of TWOP, several posters who had shopped Kleinfeld's said they tried on gowns there that they ultimately purchased elsewhere for a fraction of what Kleinfeld's was asking for the same dress. That's one of the reasons they don't allow pictures to be taken of the dresses during an appointment. As it is, on the show, fairly often, we see a bride pick a dress and then waver when it's time to say 'yes'. Instead, she says she will come back the next day or whatever and then we get a voiceover telling us she never returned. I suspect that many of those women went to Kleinfeld's for the attention and service (and the TV show) and always knew they would buy their dream dress elsewhere at a lower price once they found one they wanted.

At this point, I'd be happy if they jumped ahead a decade or more and had the Virgin Queen drop by the castle where she has her cousin imprisoned for a visit and a chat. Maybe they can have tea and talk about their various paramours. They really need to drop the anachronistic religious tolerance they've bestowed on Mary. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever both in terms of her reign as Queen of France, let alone her later years as Elizabeth's rival for the throne of England. I guess its supposed to make her more likeable to the viewers, but what it does is make it hard for the casual viewer to understand the actual stakes in the religious wars of the times. If the monarchs and the rest of the ruling class were so darned ecumenical and accepting of variations of Christian belief, it completely destroys the context for their struggles.

It was a GPS tracking device. Since Kalinda wasn't going to give him the info he wanted, he was clearly going to take the FBI agent out of the picture. Makes it much easier to set up a tragic 'accident' if they know where she is. Kalinda had no choice but to take it from him and will no doubt be made to pay a price when his guys aren't able to trail the agent. I suppose its possible he just wants to know when she's out of her apartment so he can have his guys break in and search her computer or whatever for clues as to what she has on him; but I think its more likely he wants her gone. We've seen he isn't so much interested in longterm results and doesn't much care who he kills. Even if another agent is assigned, it will give him some breathing space, some time, which is all a guy in his line of work can hope to get. He knows the law knows who he is and what he does, its a matter of time until they catch him. His game is to be sure they don't catch him this time. Not usually. I've participated in marketing for various products and what they usually do is present several scenarios and ask for ratings for each one. Or they show a single commercial, ask for feedback and then modify based on the feedback and show a revised version in the same session. Finn was married at the time of the shooting and did mention his wife when Alicia came to the hospital. At some point earlier this season, there was a throwaway line about him having marital problems, but it was very brief and not very specific as to what was happening. Bad editing strikes again, I suspect a scene to clarify his marital status was cut. As it is, he is newly separated or divorced while Alicia has recently lost a former love who was still very important to her while playing wifey in a sham marriage. Neither is in the right place for a serious romance and it will suck, IMO, if TPTB go there. Far more reasonable if they both maintain their distance at this point.

As far as Amber taking the kids to Alcatraz, Adam and Kristina have two cars, don't they? Presumably they travelled to Sacramento together, why wouldn't they have handed Amber the keys to their remaining car and told her to use it since it was a)safer and more reliable, b) already had a carseat installed, c) her stroller was in the trunk and d) they'd filled it with gas so she wouldn't have to spend any of her limited funds to haul their kids around? No logic there. It also made no sense for anyone to think that a trip to Alcatraz was a logical outing for Amber and the two kids. Nora is unlikely to enjoy the tour there which involves using headphones and hearing about the history of the building and those who worked and lived there. In addition she's small enough to need at least one nap a day; that trip was going to take up most of the day. We already know what a worthless, selfish jerk Max is. No way was he going to help with Nora or understand if the trip got cut short because Nora got too tired or Amber got seasick. Having done the tour myself a few years back, it involves quit a bit of walking. Not the ideal trip for a pregnant woman and a toddler, especially when accompanied by Max who sees himself as the center of the universe. Dropping Max at the movies and taking Nora to a local park to ride on a swing for an hour or two makes far more sense in this situation.

It also lead to logistical problems where Phil was still checking in racers at the pit stop while the first place team was rushing off to the next destination. I believe Colin and Christie, who were amazing at finding the best flights, managed to get to Paris almost a day ahead of everyone else and hours and hours before production thought they could possibly arrive. Most of the production team was still at the last location and had to scurry to catch up to them to set up the leg. I think that is also why they no longer have so many options for navigation too. Colin, while certainly one of the most intense competitors every, was also one of the smartest. He knew how to play the game.

Maybe Amber has some sort of pregnancy related complication and they're waiting to see a specialist? Drew looks concerned enough. Of course, Amber doesn't look like she's sobbing uncontrollably as she is wont to do, so probably not.

Exactly. Even if they're not in a media mecca like LA or NYC, it is perfectly possible for a small recording facility to survive. I live in a Midwestern city and have a young relative who is a freelance sound engineer. A lot of his work comes from a local recording studio which has survived for decades by not only being the best facility for local acts to record (and having a rep for being hip and trendy) but also because they actively pursue voiceover business for local and regional commercials for both radio and TV. They are also open to hiring out for local musical groups (high school show choirs, marching bands, etc) who want to record a CD themselves to sell at performances and games. Adam and Crosby did do one thing right in that they didn't hire a bunch of folks and end up with huge payroll costs, but it seems like the show is trying to tell us that their only hope is to record the next big act and that's just not the case. As far as Amber and her raise, I guess she might have a rather inflated sense of her own worth considering her rapid rise through the ranks when working on a political campaign. The fact that her aunt hired her for the job and she ended up bedding the candidate were her main accomplishments in obtaining a job for which she wasn't really qualified seems to have escaped her. Same thing here; she seems to expect maximum reward for minimal production. One good idea in a year does not a productive or creative employee make. Considering how little business they've had for the past few months, she would've had plenty of time for brainstorming and trying to find new business for the studio but it seems like she's spent most of her time crying, chasing after Ryan and window shopping at high end baby boutiques.

I think that we were supposed to interpret this as both Adam and Crosby being worried about their ability to make a living and that, due to their anxieties about the impending failure of their business, they were rethinking their choices and wondering if things would've been different if they'd taken different paths in life. Adam was the responsible one, going to college and majoring in business to be sure he was employable. Meanwhile, Crosby was the free spirit, working in music because he loved it without thinking about job security. Yet, they both ended up in the financial quagmire that is their business. They were both projecting their own 'road not taken' fantasies onto Drew. As for Amber, I don't know how she gets off implying that she is somehow just as important to the business as her 2 uncles. Aside from her boyfriend roughing up the talent, we've seen she is one to drop everything on a whim to visit her baby daddy or shop for baby stuff or whatever. Considering she's the only employee, it's no wonder they're on the verge of disaster. It doesn't appear that anyone is doing the day to day work at that place. Who answers the phone while she's off crying, Crosby is aimlessly riding his bike and Adam is running cooking classes at Snowflake Academy? I also don't recall Amber pitching in any cash to buy the business in the first place or signing for the loans they must've taken out to finance the purchase and initial expenses. No matter how many great ideas she has, she is still just an employee, not a partner and doesn't deserve to be treated like she is an equal with her uncles. She is paid to get those ideas as it is apparently part of her job description. It's actually kinda hard for me to care whether they lose the business or not; none of them seems to have invested the sort of time that is needed to get a fledgling business off the ground; especially in an artistic area where the client pool is so shallow. Why they are not looking into renting the studio for TV work, voiceovers, vanity recordings or anything else that might pay a bill or two is a mystery to me. They seem to only want 'artists' who fit their own esthetic. Beggars can't be choosers. Even if Jabar was in the dark about their financial woes, I cannot believe any kid his age would think his parents would drop everything to fly across country to an amusement park on a moment's notice for his birthday. He's old enough to realize that special trips like that are not spur of the moment and that it would require some time to make the arrangements. Even when they were both working, Jasmine was a dancer and Crosby a recording engineer who looked to be freelance. I doubt they've ever been so secure financially that Jabar would've even thought it possible that they could take a trip like that without a lot of planning and saving. Or that they'd do it during the school year. As far as Christina's school and what they're making, isn't it a charter school? Doesn't that mean they receive funding from the local Board of Education and nobody pays tuition? Therefore, doesn't Christina earn about as much as a typical public elementary school principal? She really hasn't had a paying job since Nora was born has she?. Meanwhile, it's been quite a while since Adam had the shoe gig which probably paid pretty well, but that money has got to be long gone.. They've got a daughter now spending a semester in Europe while attending a pricey private college. Since when would these folks not have to be aware of how much they are spending and live on a fairly strict budget? That being said, this was the best episode so far this season. I liked the scene with Crosby and Jasmine a lot. I don't know how it happened, but Jasmine has become the only character on this show who is fairly consistently likable.

True, but those other women are not: 1) repeatedly giving birth to child after child despite not loving non-infant children, 2) virtually forcing their older children to do all of the child rearing once the tiny baby is no longer an infant or 3) accepting awards and accolades for great parenting as if it is their due, despite almost completely opting out of parenting once the kid is done breastfeeding. In other words; most women who don't like non-infants limit their families so as not to have more non-infants than they can handle, raise those non-infant kids themselves anyway and don't expect praise and glory for doing it. That's what makes Michelle such a target.

Tim Allen's character on Home Improvement had one in an episode that was actually somewhat supportive of the notion that a real man takes responsibility for the size of his family.

Amber is well into adulthood. She was raised by a single mother and we know that money was always an issue during her childhood, to the point that her mother had to take her kids and move in with her parents during Amber's teens. Amber herself has been out in the work world (albeit with a job handed to her by family) and has had her own place for a while. She lives in a very expensive city, she knows that having a child is going to be difficult financially. I would also disagree that she has limited resources. For one thing, she does come from a large and supportive family, all of whom live nearby and will undoubtedly make sure her she and her child have all the necessities as well as plenty of emotional support and love. For that matter, considering their previous generosity to family, Amber could probably move in with her grandparents if need be. She's got far more going for her than many, if not most, single mothers these days (I'm an OB/GYN practicing in a big city, you'd be amazed how many young women spend more time picking out their new smart phone than they do considering the impact a child would have on their lives). We've already seen that Amber is at least pondering the situation. The whole open heart surgery discussion was so ridiculous. Zeek and Camille speak to the doctor who tells them that the only thing that will happen if Zeek doesn't have surgery is he will continue to have random fainting spells. No discussion of the progression of the disease and what that would be like including the very important information that his quality of life will be drastically reduced. My aunt had a diseased heart valve that started with random spells of lightheadedness and eventually progressed to the point where she couldn't climb stairs because she was too short of breath. She loved to bake, but eventually had to stop doing that because carrying a 5 lb bag of flour from the pantry to the kitchen was too much. She gladly underwent surgery in hopes of restoring some quality to her life again. Had the doctor actually discussed the situation realistically and told Zeek that he was soon going to be unable to work on his cars or in the garden and instead would be housebound and on continuous oxygen up until his premature death; the 5% risk of surgery wouldn't seem so daunting. A friend's father refused a valve replacement, and, as his doctor warned, he went into intractable heart failure which eventually killed him. Spending the last months of your life struggling for air, feeling like you're suffocating is not the way most people want to go. I realize the show needed to downplay the risks of no surgery in order to make it look like Zeek's reasoning wasn't totally ridiculous, but it was just so illogical to pretend that the only consequence was continued random fainting spells. And, yeah, it was entirely stupid for a couple, one of whom has a serious heart condition, would purchase a house on a hill in San Francisco with multiple staircases. Even if they were in perfect health, Zeek and Camille are both in their 70's, why would they want such a big place with so many obstacles to accessibility? We haven't gotten an explanation from the show and it makes no sense at all. Surely if they wanted to move to the city, there were options far more suitable to their stage in life than that rambling home. Of course, it does give them plenty of space for Amber and the baby when the time comes.

There's been another Carey around since before they started the new firm. He was with them at LG and went with them to FA when they left. The other lawyer working with Alicia on the depo is the other Carey (spelled with an e). He has also had some dealings with Bishop which is why there was speculation here last week that perhaps the cops arrested Cary but really were after Carey. The 'same name' thing has been brought up several times over the past couple seasons.

When it comes to miscarriage, there are several issues. Yes, fewer than half of all fertilized eggs result in a birth. However, many of those fertilized eggs never implant and the woman never knows she was pregnant in the first place. Maybe her period is a little heavier than usual, maybe it's a day or two late; most women's cycles are not so regular that they'd think much about a cycle being 29 or 30 days instead of their usual 28. We've actually become more aware of how often these very early losses happen due to infertility treatments such as in vitro where a pregnancy test is often run before the period is missed. A significant number of women will have a 'chemical pregnancy' (ie a positive blood test) and then her period will come and the test will be negative. Back in the days before we had such sensitive tests and before every woman did her own pregnancy testing at home, we thought that pregnancy loss was a lot less than it actually is. Somewhere between half and two thirds of all fertilized eggs do not result in a viable pregnancy. As far as the risks of miscarriage once a woman knows she is pregnant and the time for her period is well past; that's around 20%. However, once an ultrasound has shown a baby with a heartbeat in the uterus, the risk of miscarriage drops to around 2%. This occurs about six weeks after the last menstrual period. These days, most doctors and midwives do a first trimester ultrasound because it not only helps us predict what will happen but also because it is an excellent way to determine how many babies are in there and to zero in on a very accurate due date. If Jill had an ultrasound, which Lord knows the Duggars seem to love to do, she would know that there was a baby with a heartbeat and that there's a 98% chance she won't miscarry. I'd like to think she learned that while training as a midwife, but probably not. *Board Certified OB/GYN in practice more than 28 years.

You're forgetting the Famewhore Factor. I think a lot of these folks just think they're the bees' knees and cannot wait to get on TV. If she'd called ahead, or done some research and had photos with the manufacturer and styles that she was interested in seeing, she might've found out Laurie's doesn't carry much 'hah-lo' and she would've lost her chance to be on TV. What really grinds my gears is all these chicks who come on this show proclaiming that they have amazing fashion sensibilities and cannot possibly wear a run of the mill dress insisting on something different and cutting edge. Invariably, they then proceed to show that their definition of 'fashionista' is actually bad taste. Not the same thing at all. Then, they end up choosing the same dang dress that half the brides on these shows pick in every episode. The twit who bought the designer gown because she was so high fashion and unique and then proceeded to cut the underskirt into a micro mini with a tulle overlay is another great example of style gone wrong. That's not fashion forward, that's tacky. If 'hah lo' really has such incredible style requirements, she'd be hiring a seamstress to make a gown to her specifications. She doesn't want unique, she wants attention-getting. Big difference. The other ridiculous notion that so many of these self important dolts seem to possess is that the guests at their wedding are all simply dying to see what she will wear and that her dress will be the focus of everyone's attention at the event. Not so much. I like fashion as much as the next gal (hell, I watch these shows) and have attended hundreds of weddings, and, yet, I cannot remember much at all about the dresses except that every bride looked lovely because they were brides. I couldn't tell you who spent $200 at David's sale rack and who spent 10 grand after the fact. The only dress I even recall in any detail was that of a friend who wore her mother's 1950's wedding dress with virtually no alterations because 1) she had no money and 2) she didn't care about the dress, she cared about her mom who was thrilled. It mainly stood out because it wasn't the typical strapless mermaid style everyone else has worn for the past 20 years or so. I do remember the ceremonies, the reception halls, the food, the music and mostly, the company; all of which are far, far more important than a dress, IMO.