Masterchef (US) - General Discussion

[DoctorK]

17 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

but tack-ohs for tacos always makes me laugh.

That was the one I did not remember😀

 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by DoctorK

[jabRI]

Aussie and Brit cooking shows always throw me off by pronouncing the h in herbs (like the man's name)

[Meowwww]

I’m not a fan of Su because I feel like she is leaning on her hook of Burmese food styles.  I think Anne is being set up to win and I’m ok with that; she’s delightful in her enthusiasm.  
ETA I lived in Massachusetts for a terrible 6 months lol….the accent is true to life there.  

Edited July 23, 2021 by Meowwww

[preeya]

17 hours ago, bluepiano said:

In other news, why does Autumn from Boston have what sounds to me like a very strong "New Yawk" accent? I hear way more Brooklyn than New England every time she speaks. 

I respectfully disagree, she talks Bostonian through & through. No way is her accent New Yawk.

[Yeah No]

8 minutes ago, preeya said:

17 hours ago, bluepiano said:

In other news, why does Autumn from Boston have what sounds to me like a very strong "New Yawk" accent? I hear way more Brooklyn than New England every time she speaks. 

I respectfully disagree, she talks Bostonian through & through. No way is her accent New Yawk.

I agree.  I am a native New Yorker living in New England so I can separate the accents out right away and yes, Autumn's accent is all Boston through and through.  The accents do have some things in common to the untrained ear, though, like the "soft R" at the ends of words.  But the way that soft R is pronounced is often different.  Whereas a Bostonian might say "CAH" for "CAR", a New Yorker might say something more like "CAW" for car, LOL.

[Yeah No]

13 hours ago, fishcakes said:

They were unnecessarily harsh with Joseph. They could have criticized the dish without lecturing him about how it wasn't California cuisine. His dish was apparently terrible, but a pasta dish is closer to California cuisine than chowder, and they praised Autumn for doing something unexpected instead of criticizing her for not doing what they asked. The worst was Joe holding up Joseph's plate -- after four people had been eating off it --  talking about how bad it looked, and then throwing it back on the counter. That said, Joseph did seem to have the worst dish (and that's even compared to Alejandro's, which also looked bad), and probably should have gone home instead of Tay, if they were going to judge on that one dish alone. If they were judging overall performance, then probably Alejandro should have gone. Joseph and Tay are mostly middle-pack, but both have been top 3. Alejandro is consistently at the bottom.

I agree with you, plus it seemed inconsistent of them to go on about how Joseph's dish had nothing to do with California cuisine when Autumn's had even less to do with it because it was a signature dish from a different region altogether.  I don't doubt that her dish was much better than his but at least make it about that and don't be inconsistent with the criticism.  I also get it that they were enamored with the fact that she "made it her own" while Joseph was likely not doing that but if it still came down to his dish sucking and hers not, then make it about that.  And I generally like Autumn too, but any Sicilian gal from Boston that doesn't like seafood makes me shake my head as a half Sicilian from New York myself.  But kudos to her for still being able to cook it nonetheless!

And yes, Tay went home on a technicality, which was sad because it was obvious that his dish was not the worst one up there.  I think it was justice that Alejandro being allergic did not go home but that only made it harder to see Tay eliminated.  When stuff like this happens I sometimes think about an early season where a cook went home but then a few episodes later he was brought back into the competition.  I forget how they justified it now.  I liked Tay and would hope that something like that could be done for him.  Or at least bring him back on another season.

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 hours ago, Meowwww said:

I’m not a fan of Su because I feel like she is leaning on her hook of Burmese food styles.  I think Anne is being set up to win and I’m ok with that; she’s delightful in her enthusiasm.  

She's not any different from any other contestant who leans on their hooks for whatever food styles they have/is in "their wheelhouse" that I've seen over the years.

[Colorado David]

18 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

She's not any different from any other contestant who leans on their hooks for whatever food styles they have/is in "their wheelhouse" that I've seen over the years.

I agree. It's just strange regarding consistency from the judges about being 'loyal' to the ingredients if they are from a specific region, vs creatively using those ingredients in a style from your country.  Joe particularly seems to get really bent when pasta isn't done italian style, UNLESS the noodles are correct for the area (ie Japanese noodles vs italian pasta.)  Would he get all bent outta shape if I made my Texas Pie with penne pasta???

Out of curiosity, why doesn't California have a chowder? They have tons of seafood available. Is it a warm clime vs cold clime thing?

Edited July 23, 2021 by Colorado David

[preeya]

1 hour ago, Colorado David said:

Would he get all bent outta shape if I made my Texas Pie with penne pasta???

How about posting the recipe for "Texas Pie" and we can all become JoeB's. I love pastah in any shape or form with any type of sauce or accompaniment.

[Colorado David]

4 minutes ago, preeya said:

How about posting the recipe for "Texas Pie" and we can all become JoeB's. I love pastah in any shape or form with any type of sauce or accompaniment.

lol:  https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/frito-pie/   

But substitute penne pasta (or any cooked pasta) for the fritos.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, Colorado David said:

Out of curiosity, why doesn't California have a chowder? They have tons of seafood available. Is it a warm clime vs cold clime thing?

I think it's just a regional thing.  Chowder originated in New England and is believed to have been created by the English, French and even Nova Scotian settlers.  So it's a Northeastern cultural delicacy, and the reason the West doesn't have its own version is similar to the reason why the Northeast doesn't really have its own version of Southern dishes like shrimp and grits.

[Meowwww]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

She's not any different from any other contestant who leans on their hooks for whatever food styles they have/is in "their wheelhouse" that I've seen over the years.

That’s true and I hate it when all of them do it lol. 

[bluepiano]

15 hours ago, fishcakes said:

They were unnecessarily harsh with Joseph. They could have criticized the dish without lecturing him about how it wasn't California cuisine. His dish was apparently terrible, but a pasta dish is closer to California cuisine than chowder, and they praised Autumn for doing something unexpected instead of criticizing her for not doing what they asked. The worst was Joe holding up Joseph's plate -- after four people had been eating off it --  talking about how bad it looked, and then throwing it back on the counter. 

I hated Joe throwing the dish across the counter. Suddenly I felt I was watching Hell's Kitchen. (And just when I was staring to not dislike Joe, as I have in the past.)

Autumn and Suu at this point seem to be the teacher's pets.

I thought they made chowder in San Francisco, which has (or did, in the old days) a seafood centric cuisine.

 

4 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by bluepiano

[fishcakes]

13 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

I thought they made chowder in San Francisco, which has (or did, in the old days) a seafood centric cuisine.

I don't think there's a local chowder, but there's cioppino, a fish stew that originated at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. It's a mixture of fish and shellfish in a tomato broth. (From San Francisco, it's well worth the trip up to Bodega Bay just to eat the Crab Cioppino at The Tides Wharf restaurant, and wear the lobster bib because it's a delicious mess.) But even though it's a California dish, it's not California cuisine. California cuisine is a specific food movement that arose, I think, in the 1970s. It's sort of hard to define because it's morphed over the years, but common elements are locally sourced ingredients, farm-to-table, and lighter, fresher dishes where all the individual elements stand out. Heavy soups or stews wouldn't be part of it. I wouldn't have thought Kelsey's risotto would qualify either. Pasta is sort of a question mark for me. A baked ziti, obviously not, but I could see maybe something like a primavera with local produce and an oily instead of creamy sauce maybe.

[illdoc]

17 hours ago, MartyQui said:

Gordon pronounces pasta the way every English person I know pronounces it…

On "The Great British Bake-Off/Baking Show", the bakers had to make "pit-ta". Had to see it to realize they were making "pee-ta" (pita).

[Msample]

1 hour ago, bluepiano said:

I hated Joe throwing the dish across the counter. Suddenly I felt I was watching Hell's Kitchen. (And just when I was staring to not dislike Joe, as I have in the past.)

Autumn and Suu at this point seem to be the teacher's pets.

I thought they made chowder in San Francisco, which has (or did, in the old days) a seafood centric cuisine.

 

 

Speaking of Joe being an asshole:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/dining/mario-batali-sexual-harassment-case-settlement.html

Sure Batali was the perp, but don’t tell me Joe didn’t know .

 

[iwantcookies]

Can’t read it for free

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9818871/Celebrity-chef-Mario-Batali-settles-harassment-probe-600-000.html

 

maybe this is a similar article

1 hour ago, Msample said:

Speaking of Joe being an asshole:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/dining/mario-batali-sexual-harassment-case-settlement.html

Sure Batali was the perp, but don’t tell me Joe didn’t know .

 

 

[bluepiano]

3 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I don't think there's a local chowder, but there's cioppino, a fish stew that originated at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. It's a mixture of fish and shellfish in a tomato broth. (From San Francisco, it's well worth the trip up to Bodega Bay just to eat the Crab Cioppino at The Tides Wharf restaurant, and wear the lobster bib because it's a delicious mess.) But even though it's a California dish, it's not California cuisine. California cuisine is a specific food movement that arose, I think, in the 1970s. It's sort of hard to define because it's morphed over the years, but common elements are locally sourced ingredients, farm-to-table, and lighter, fresher dishes where all the individual elements stand out. 

According to an online search, there is something called "San Francisco chowder," but it's actually a New England chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl, so the incorporation of sourdough bread, very popular in California, is what it makes it "San Francisco." Sounds dubious, but there are apparently some restaurants in SF that have been serving that for decades.

So is "California cuisine" the same as "spa cuisine?" To me, all these new additions to the food lexicon are amorphous and almost meaningless, since they seem to mean different things to different people. Not like classic French or Italian or Spanish cuisines (for example), which were well defined. I guess I'm an old fuddy duddy, because in the very hip city where I live, it's hard to find a classic dish that hasn't been "reinvented" or "deconstructed," and in probably 9 out of 10 cases I'd rather eat the classic. There's a reason they became classics. 

[preeya]

1 hour ago, bluepiano said:

So is "California cuisine" the same as "spa cuisine?" To me, all these new additions to the food lexicon are amorphous and almost meaningless, since they seem to mean different things to different people. Not like classic French or Italian or Spanish cuisines (for example), which were well defined. I guess I'm an old fuddy duddy, because in the very hip city where I live, it's hard to find a classic dish that hasn't been "reinvented" or "deconstructed," and in probably 9 out of 10 cases I'd rather eat the classic. There's a reason they became classics. 

I'm right with you on this, being both an "old fuddy duddy" and preferring classic dishes over deconstructed, reinvented, and fusions.

[preeya]

6 hours ago, Colorado David said:

lol:  https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/frito-pie/   

But substitute penne pasta (or any cooked pasta) for the fritos.

Question: If you make it with the fritos, do they stay crunchy or do they suck in the liquids and become mushy?

[Mrs. Hanson]

On 7/15/2021 at 3:23 AM, mertensia said:

I admit I might shove Wisconsinite down their throat to show them how tedious they are.

As a native Minnesota girl I kinda love you.

I am just watching the July 1 episode now (out of town) but Annai, really?  It is a BAKING competition and you made a no bake dessert.  And it was crappy on top of that.

It was really nice to see Aaron in the top three as he was so crestfallen the week before.

I know some feel it was beaten to death, but no way does someone feed her family at 47 cents a meal.  

Edited July 23, 2021 by Mrs. Hanson

[Colorado David]

10 minutes ago, preeya said:

Question: If you make it with the fritos, do they stay crunchy or do they suck in the liquids and become mushy?

If you put them on top, some of them will stay crunchy. Any placed in the down below ingredients will sog up. But trust me, both are very tasty!

[Colorado David]

16 minutes ago, preeya said:

I'm right with you on this, being both an "old fuddy duddy" and preferring classic dishes over deconstructed, reinvented, and fusions.

This may show my ignorance, but I tend to see California as more vegany-green forward in their recipes (ie trying to make me eat healthy.) While there's nothing wrong in that, I grew up in Dallas, and one thing we learn to eat is beef, tex-mex, and a variety of chilis. Most of which I would not say were healthy in my day (and yeah, we had frito pie probably 3-4 times a month. And don't forget extra sour cream on the side.) This was the days when Coke came in 2 liter glass bottles.

[iwantcookies]

Jonathan’s NYC restaurant is still closed. 

[preeya]

25 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

Jonathan’s NYC restaurant is still closed. 

According to this article it has re-opened.

https://tinyurl.com/yf3pth8y

Edited July 23, 2021 by preeya

[iwantcookies]

According to their own site it’s closed 

http://barbutonyc.com/index.php

 

Not that I ever would even go there 

Whoever won dinner there wonder if they went 

[fishcakes]

2 hours ago, bluepiano said:

So is "California cuisine" the same as "spa cuisine?" To me, all these new additions to the food lexicon are amorphous and almost meaningless, since they seem to mean different things to different people.

I had to Google "spa cuisine." It sounds like there are some similarities, but California is more of a fine dining thing (Alice Waters at Chez Panisse is considered one of the originators.) I don't think of California cuisine as new, though. It's been around for at least 50 years.

[Msample]

1 hour ago, preeya said:

According to this article it has re-opened.

https://tinyurl.com/yf3pth8y

That article is dated Feb 2020 - 18 months ago. 

[bluepiano]

2 hours ago, preeya said:

I'm right with you on this, being both an "old fuddy duddy" and preferring classic dishes over deconstructed, reinvented, and fusions.

I was at a restaurant last week where I swear they came up with recipes by posting lists of ingredients on the wall and throwing darts. I'm no chef, but so much of it seemed random to me. I'm sure it's all "inventive" and "edgy" and over my head. 

When I lived in NYC many years ago I loved going to the old school Italian and Spanish restaurants. But I think that many have a heard time surviving, even pre-Covid.

 

[leighdear]

There's an Abe?  

Did Lexy actually say nobody taught her to cook?  The article linked on the previous page about her talked about her learning from her mom & from her aunt, who went to culinary school & had a catering company.  LIAR!  OMG, SO.MUCH.LYING!  What is WRONG with her?  She's almost pathological! 

Alejandro lives to apologize another day.  I cant help but still like him, though this competition is not for him.  

Another nitpicker here, but military folks shop for groceries at the Commissary and other retail items at the PX or BX.  Post Exchange (PX) for Army bases and Base Exchange (BX) for Air Force bases and NEX for Navy Exchanges.  75% of my life was spent on bases.  

I'm ok with Tay going, he wasn't my fav & didn't dislike him EXCEPT FOR HIS YELING!

[dovegrey]

On 7/22/2021 at 3:44 PM, Grrarrggh said:

 If they kicked off two in a single episode they'd have to  sttttrrrrreeeeettttccchhhh the episodes to be even more boring than they are now. 

I agree about it being boring. I'm having a hard time getting through this season, or even caring about the competitors at this point in the season.

My SO and I re-watched the first four seasons before this one premiered, and I miss (1) a competitor winning a challenge having some gravity beyond "you're unsurprisingly safe from elimination AND waitforit will now have a most amazing ~~reservation~~ to eat somewhere stunning! Wow!"; (2) the team challenges; and (3) even the "dreaded" pressure tests (...can't believe I'm saying that...). The total and complete emphasis on cooking and critiquing one dish for 40+ minutes every single week is awfully boring...and I used to be someone who complained at the TV about challenges rushing through the cooking.

I don't feel like MasterChef was broken or stale enough to warrant this kind of overhaul. If anything, Hells Kitchen could have used the Legends schtick, as, usually, 90% of those "chefs" can't seem to competently cook a basic dish or find their way around a service...and it's boring to watch those chefs mess up the same dishes year after year after year after year after year... Anyway.

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I had to Google "spa cuisine." It sounds like there are some similarities, but California is more of a fine dining thing (Alice Waters at Chez Panisse is considered one of the originators.) I don't think of California cuisine as new, though. It's been around for at least 50 years.

I always thought California cuisine was an outgrowth of "Nouvelle Cuisine" because both had an emphasis on fresh, lightly cooked food and lightened up sauces, and when I googled on both I came up with an amazingly on-point and delightful article from the NYT back in 1984 describing California cuisine as pretty much just that.  I think Wolfgang Puck was also one of the originators.  In this article there is mention of compound butters over heavy sauces as was the norm in classic French cuisine, plus an ethnic fusion element, and a certain freedom from rigid rules which explains somewhat their acceptance of Autumn's chowder, although I admit I'm still having trouble with how that can be seen as an example of California cuisine.  It must have been some kick-ass dish.

[mertensia]

3 hours ago, leighdear said:

There's an Abe?  

Did Lexy actually say nobody taught her to cook?  The article linked on the previous page about her talked about her learning from her mom & from her aunt, who went to culinary school & had a catering company.  LIAR!  OMG, SO.MUCH.LYING!  What is WRONG with her?  She's almost pathological! 

Alejandro lives to apologize another day.  I cant help but still like him, though this competition is not for him.  

Another nitpicker here, but military folks shop for groceries at the Commissary and other retail items at the PX or BX.  Post Exchange (PX) for Army bases and Base Exchange (BX) for Air Force bases and NEX for Navy Exchanges.  75% of my life was spent on bases.  

I'm ok with Tay going, he wasn't my fav & didn't dislike him EXCEPT FOR HIS YELING!

I assume Levi's "no one taught me to cook!" is part of her shtick - possibly producer-pushed.

 

Does Lexi have a big vegetable garden? That could really bring costs down if she does.

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, dovegrey said:

I agree about it being boring. I'm having a hard time getting through this season, or even caring about the competitors at this point in the season.

My SO and I re-watched the first four seasons before this one premiered, and I miss (1) a competitor winning a challenge having some gravity beyond "you're unsurprisingly safe from elimination AND waitforit will now have a most amazing ~~reservation~~ to eat somewhere stunning! Wow!"; (2) the team challenges; and (3) even the "dreaded" pressure tests (...can't believe I'm saying that...). The total and complete emphasis on cooking and critiquing one dish for 40+ minutes every single week is awfully boring...and I used to be someone who complained at the TV about challenges rushing through the cooking.

I don't feel like MasterChef was broken or stale enough to warrant this kind of overhaul. If anything, Hells Kitchen could have used the Legends schtick, as, usually, 90% of those "chefs" can't seem to competently cook a basic dish or find their way around a service...and it's boring to watch those chefs mess up the same dishes year after year after year after year after year... Anyway.

Thank you, this was bothering me so much I was this close to going back to watch old seasons just to remind myself what was better about them, and you've pretty much nailed it.  I am also finding this recent format tedious and boring and don't think this "Legends" idea is helping either.

I can actually see how the "Legends" shtick might work better with HK.  I'm not hating the "Young Guns" season that much, just what have looked like a few arbitrary eliminations so far.  Although that's probably par for the course on any Gordon show.

Just now, mertensia said:

Does Lexi have a big vegetable garden? That could really bring costs down if she does.

True, as would regular visits to a food pantry.

[jewel21]

3 hours ago, leighdear said:

There's an Abe?  

Yes. Yes there is. And he's pretty *sighs dreamily*

[DEL901]

I don’t like it when Gordo and the gang…when they are walking around during cooking, give advice / guidance to some cooks.   It seems a bit unfair of them saving one cook from making a catastrophic mistake, but letting another fail.  

[leighdear]

7 hours ago, mertensia said:

Does Lexi have a big vegetable garden? That could really bring costs down if she does.

I'm gonna say no, not even remotely likely.

Her husband is active-duty military, meaning they move every 2-3 years.  They supposedly just moved from Wisconsin to Texas, based again on that link about her on the previous page. 

And they either live on base in housing, meaning no garden or in rental housing close by which means almost no chance of a garden. 

That $40 budget is a lie, just like so much other producer-pushed "info".  She's been made into a character they want to viewers to root for.  Plus, she ticks all the boxes and can obviously be easily manipulated.

That crap is why I stopped watching these shows.  Not sure why I got sucked back into this one....  

[MartyQui]

I was just thinking about Autumn’s “chowder”…it looked more like pudding to me.  Real chowder is basically the consistency of heavy cream (or even lighter) with clams and potatoes.  And I’m a Bostonian, have the accent, and I have no idea what accent hers is.

[iwantcookies]

Autumn is a caricature of a Boston person.

What had she done to her ears??? Looks painful.

[GHScorpiosRule]

The way Waxman was talking about Abe’s dish, I fully expected him to be in the bottom three. So color me surprised he was in the top three.

I can’t believe that I am missing the pressure tests/challenges from seasons past. Maybe because it’s only 15 this season?

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 7/22/2021 at 8:32 PM, fishcakes said:

The worst was Joe holding up Joseph's plate -- after four people had been eating off it --  talking about how bad it looked, and then throwing it back on the counter.

He's an asshole

[Chicago Redshirt]

16 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I don’t like it when Gordo and the gang…when they are walking around during cooking, give advice / guidance to some cooks.   It seems a bit unfair of them saving one cook from making a catastrophic mistake, but letting another fail.  

It seems like they give everybody they talk to plenty of feedback. It's a question of whether the chefs actually listen to it and are able to pivot. Sometimes people just stick to their guns, and sometimes they make mistakes that either come too late in the process or are just too catastrophic to fix.

I think the problem isn't from a fairness perspective but a boredom perspective. Now for most chefs, there's the following scenes:

1. Chef running around to get ingredients and actually cooking

2. Talk with judges about what they are making

3. Talking head about what the judges said about what they are making

4. Talk amongst the judges about what the chef is making and the strengths/weaknesses of the approach

5. Judging of the top and bottom people

6. At least one additional talking head about how it's good to be in the top or scary to be in the bottom

It kind of sucks most of the drama out of it to have all these steps before the actual decisions are rendered.

[DougJones]

Man did I feel bad for Tay. I think he should’ve stayed but judges should’ve conveyed “you’re safe now but if you miss something like that again, you’re done, even if someone else serves feces on a plate “. I think that would’ve scared him straight and made him really check for that stuff going forward. 

and LOL @ waxman saying his restaurant has 2000 people on his wait list. Ooooooooo.  As someone close to NY, I’ll just stick to the local nice restaurants that are still expensive, but not stupidly expensive for what is MAYBE a marginally better meal 

Edited July 25, 2021 by DougJones

[Colorado David]

25 minutes ago, DougJones said:

and LOL @ waxman saying his restaurant has 2000 people on his wait list. Ooooooooo.  As someone close to NY, I’ll just stick to the local nice restaurants that are still expensive, but not stupidly expensive for what is MAYBE a marginally better meal 

I as a patron do not do lines or waiting lists, eff that noise. Time is way more precious than 'fancy'.

[jabRI]

18 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I can’t believe that I am missing the pressure tests/challenges from seasons past. Maybe because it’s only 15 this season?

I agree, the episodes just drag on with one dish to cook. And I don't find them very challenging either.. make a pasta dish, make a fish dish...

[Yeah No]

On 7/24/2021 at 7:54 AM, DEL901 said:

I don’t like it when Gordo and the gang…when they are walking around during cooking, give advice / guidance to some cooks.   It seems a bit unfair of them saving one cook from making a catastrophic mistake, but letting another fail.  

That's the stuff they show us.  I figure there's a lot of advice that ends up on the cutting room floor.

On 7/24/2021 at 9:18 AM, iwantcookies said:

Autumn is a caricature of a Boston person.

What had she done to her ears??? Looks painful.

That's like saying Buddy Valastro is a caricature of a Jersey guy.  Well, they both are caricatures, but they're still real!  Her ears are a result of ear stretching or lobe gauging.  I thought that was a fad that had passed.

[AZChristian]

Unpopular opinion - I'm enjoying this season more because of the coaching and demonstrating from the judges.

I still don't need to see Joe B being incredibly rude.  These are amateurs.

[Colorado David]

Joe B  being an asshat I think is for tv, his mom is lovely and I can't see her raising an asshat.  😁

[Spunkygal]

44 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Unpopular opinion - I'm enjoying this season more because of the coaching and demonstrating from the judges.

I still don't need to see Joe B being incredibly rude.  These are amateurs.

Fixed it for you.

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Colorado David said:

Joe B  being an asshat I think is for tv, his mom is lovely and I can't see her raising an asshat.  😁

Sadly, even lovely mothers can have asshats for sons.

(I thought I posted this earlier, but don't see it.  Mods:  If I'm violating a rule, please let me know.)