djs111

Couchie and Couchie's Mom, I am sending good thoughts and hopes and prayers your way.

Fear, I get the impression that she get kudos for the meat because so many contestants have messed it up over the years - and by the time you find out the turkey breast, for example, is not right, it is too late to do anything. Richard's warmed fatty practically uncooked pork belly dish he made for the finale last year looked revolting, and I think the judges remarked it should have been crispy. I think they are happy they don't have to eat revolting meat :-) That being said, no one, IMO, has made anything spectacular this year. I thought it was odd the salad won, but then, it was not chefs who judged.

I am feeling VERY sad about Boston Legal being dropped - I was hoping that awesome two hour finale was a season finale. Damnation! Well, at least I can fall asleep earlier. I kept waiting for Denny and Alan to kiss - and I am sure they planned it that way. Oh well, it will be re-run forever or at least for a few years. It is likely my fault it got cancelled - I only started watching last year by accident - at one time there were so many law-type shows that I just avoided them altogether. And I can take only so much (how much? not much!) Calista You-are-only-jellus-because-I-am-skeletal-and-you-are-FAT Flockhart. I watched Shatner interview Jimmy Kimmel on Shatner's new show on the Biography Channel. Jimmy seems like such an artless sweetie, and he just seems like someone who would be great fun to hang out with. Who is jen(something) Jameson? Shatner interviewed her and she was ridiculous - makeup and comments both. Yuck. Oh well - at least I have a villain to root against - Stepan - in Top Chef. Yes I know it is edited, etc., that's why I feel free to faux-dislike a contestant. Only a month until Burn Notice is back. Weird, I think Jeffrey Donovan is perfect and hot and loose and funny in that show - but he always seems too intense or something in movies.

Heeee......people who have known me for a while can attest to the fact that the Clelly has been making me pukle for years and years and years. Although I feel fairly certain that somewhere, on some hidden, out-of-the-way board, there are Clellies declaring that the whole shebang is just another ruse to throw people off, and that Parker is really Kelly's baby, and that poochy tummy of Kelly's was there for a reason................ It does seem kind of amusing to me to see pictures of Clay and Reed examined minutely for evidence FOR a relationship and then AGAINST a relationship. Reminds me of boobgate. Pictures are such a moment in time - who knows what happened 5 seconds before or five seconds after? I just like the pretty pictures! I think my favorite is the one posted here yesterday - the dark bangs, the black velvety jacket, the black shirt. Yum.

I have not seen any grimly determined stuff here - not much trying to prove they are a couple, not much trying to prove they are not. I am creeped out by hearing a lot of people asking Reed to be their friend on Facebook! Gov of Illinois - I had read somewhere a while back that Obama was going to move DNC headquarters to Chicago, I all I could think was no, you need to keep them a lot closer to your jobsite. Dunno if it was true or anything. Mayor Daly was rumored to have helped JFK's election out a little. I cannot believe anyone cares even a smidge about Oprah's weight, that is so weird that it is a news item. official announcement - anything I say on the Reed situation is an IIT thing - although it IS true he has beautiful eyes.

Bwah!!!! That is the one pairing that made me pukle! And retch! That was actually my burnt puppy, back in the day. Different strokes for everyone! Anyway, all I have seen is light-hearted. Damn, that Reed has gorgeous eyes!

Couchie, I am right there with ya............

Heeeee.....just remember, the instruction manuals may all be in Japanese, and it may be hard to return stuff! :-) I am so jellus!!!! The stores there tend to be made up of stacks of small levels, not one big space, so you just keep climbing stairs to see what is on the next floor. I love all the wacko japanese alarm clocks, if/when I ever get back, I will come home with some pretty odd stuff - clocks that look like spiked chickens or whatever.

Yeah, Kandre, my impression of the Thanksgiving hair is that it was just how his hair happened to look, especially after wearing a hoodie. Not Official Appearance Hair. And yes, I think talking about Parker's surgery might be informative to other people with babies. Can't wait to hear about the questions and answers this afternoon!

Lotus, thank you!!!! for that radio thingy!!!! It is perfect background for working. Also kind of crystallized something for me - I care about voice, then song, but genre not that important - given that there are some genres that I just don't care for at all. My first song pick was Still Got the Blues, by Gary Moore. I love that song, and that album, immoderately. This was followed by Clarence Brown, another blues song - and I realised I don't want to listen to a bunch of different artists in the same genre. I want to listen to Gary Moore. I gotta try Chris Isaak soon, I wonder who they will follow him with - he is a genre unto himself, IMO. This is fun! I can't get interested in negative stuff about Clay's appearance and appearances, because it is not interesting to read or whatever. Not germane to my life, or fandom, or something like that. On the other hand, I guess the vacuum created when KCE peeps got bored has been filled; Nature does abhor a vacuum! Heeeee.....one stop shopping now, no need to see what Sucks or KCE is saying!! :-O I got the feeling Rosie pulled the plug, that she was disappointed and her feelings got hurt. She really should just ask Cher or Carol Burnett or even the Smothers Brothers for advice - all of them had brilliant variety shows, in their own ways. Hosts who are singers and/or dancers - great! But if you are not, just stand back and let the talent do their thing, and give the talent enough room and time to shine. I loved Alec Baldwin and Jane Krakowski, and loved just seeing Clay. She set a very odd tone, IMO, with the politics and gay jokes, that is not what a family variety show is for, and she will never be as brilliantly biting as, say, the Smothers Brothers. It is like she is trying to score points, not like she is trying to be funny. JMO and all that. I would have to say that I would rather watch Rosie again than watch smarmy old Barbara Wawa interview anybody, including Clay - she creeps me out, she is just Maury Povich with a higher profile.

Actually, that is quite childish - but whatevah! Heeeee......I wasn't going for not-so-subtle stuff - one would have to assume they are the focal point of the board or something to feel that way :-) Anyways, I always react the same way to harshness and unpleasantness, no matter who it is. Boards are like that. Get used to it.

I watched the show until Ne-yo started singing, then went back to work.....yeah, she was trying too hard and there was too much politics. I thought Jane Krakowski and Alec Baldwin were GREAT!!!! - looked to me like they were trying to calm Rosie down, she was a bundle of nerves, and IMO needs to understand that a family-friendly variety show doesn't mean just HER family and friends, a lot of the stuff was more like a later-at-night talk show. Liza startled me, because I had just watched one of those complete-history-of-Judy-Garland shows the other day, and she looked so much like her mother it was striking. I almost was afraid it was one of those singing with Bing or Nat moments! :-O But Liza seemed infectiously happy, and also looked like she just wanted to sit Rosie down and make her more comfortable, Rosie seemed (to me) kinda terrified. Clay was adorable. And yes, to me, cracking jokes on yourself is vastly different than being made fun of. I can see why you felt bashed, people do take things personally on a fan board. Why, some here ALWAYS assume every post with a differing opinion is meant just for them! :-O Anyway, why worry about the opinion of someone who hadn't, ya know, even watched the show? Totally irrelevant opinion! I skip 'em or just disregard them, it's easy! As a liberal non-homophobic Democrat, I had to agree with a lot that guy said. The jokes and politics talk were jarring, to me. I was hoping for more of a Carol Burnett type of thing. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! It has been such a bad year for me that I am thankful I am here - with a LOT of help from my friends! I feel like watching Elton John's I'm Still Standing video! (It made my top ten video list - which only has about 6 or 7 on it!)

never mind, just having a bad day!

I have always loved Wanda. Her stand-up routines are hysterical, especially on politics. Plus she is perfect on Old Christine. Her show where she was a reporter was funny, too. The sarcastic voice in my head sounds exactly like Wanda.

Just for you -plus I love this video! It is kind of fuzzy, the original is much sharper and in focus. Madonna Vogue

All Americans can say is You better stop that right now! Or I will vote against you in three or four years!!!!!! If I remember!!!!! But I usually vote along party lines, so maybe not!!!! But, watch it!!!!!!! That's why Congress gets to be ineffective and or crooked for years, they only need to concentrate on raising money and getting reelected. Or covering up. There is a lot of complicity there, usually it is called "working together". We need term limits, seriously. These people keep on truckin' no matter who is president. For better or for worse, though, we have no "vote of confidence" or any other mechanism to rid ourselves of dishonest or useless government at any level. Just criminal proceedings - IF someone can press charges against persons with almost unlimited power - or impeachment. Which IMO is useless and toothless, it is the government pretending to police itself, but has only been used as a political weapon. This is how we got to hear Pelosi saying to impeach Bush and Cheney was too much trouble. Hence Clinton got reamed for, basically, lying about a BJ, but shrub lied and broke all kinds of laws with absolute impunity. Vote people out? Ted Stevens got convicted of a felony. And he still ran for office, and as far as I can tell he is merely being told he should not try to go back to DC if he wins! In fact, this is mostly just being seen as a lucky break for Palin, as she can now appoint herself in his place and get to DC without having to run for office. She is "qualified" now, just think of all the states she has visited (or flown over) and people she has had photo opportunities with! And she was on SNL!!!! What a resume! This, from the Washington Post yesterday, is a perfect example - And ineffectiveness or whatever? Can only be addressed every few years, during which the congressperson can deal with impunity. The whole system reeks - like the money spent on running for office. If McCain had gotten so much money privately that he could afford to not be bound by the strictures of public money, and then reversed his word on that subject, there would have been howls of no fair from Democrats, IMO. That system is broken, and yes I believe the presidency can be bought, just saying it was for a good cause doesn't change that. Other countries have more rules about this, ours just rewards big money, no matter how it is gotten, and the media. The FDA no longer works for the people, they just prosecuted someone for testing all of their cattle for mad cow disease, and advertising as such - because it gave them an unfair advantage over other producers.. I could understand this if all the other beef producers sued, but the FDA???? WTF???? And, mind you, it is perfectly OK to market beef as organically pesticide and drug free, you just can't say you tested it ALL for a killer disease. AND many other countries do not import American beef because of ineffective and random testing. The FDA says testing all the cattle will drive the cost up by 10 cents a pound. Big deal. And also, those meat producers don't test anything but healthy-looking cattle. But, the FDA protects profits, not people. They get appointed or whatever, at the top, can't even vote them out. I do not consider getting 52% or 53% of the total vote any sort of mandate any more than I considered that Bush had a mandate, nor do I see the "uniter" thing at all, I see getting new people to vote, though. I see congress afraid to vote no because of possible increased public scrutiny, not because they want to do the right thing. Should be interesting to see what actually happens now! Hmmmm....I think I had better just be done with politics for a few years! It ALL seems hypocritical to me! I will just be in a dark bar somewhere, with Ron.

It kind of implies that Clay will be at the final show......didnn't think he would be.

I believe when push came to shove, Hillary supporters could not bear to vote Republican. I still can't believe people would actually vote to prolong the last eight republican years for another 4. Yes, for a lot of voters it was the candidates, but for a lot of voters it was the Party. It amazed me how many did not consider the party when looking at damage done already. If McCain had won I don't think Cheney would have even moved out of his office. Just give Palin a little cottage where she could see the White House from her porch.

Oh, hey, I would take the money and run! I would consider it my bailout.

KAndre, I am not one who is disappointed that a Democrat is in!!!!!! But interesting question about what it would take to make people think Obama is a workable president - really, does it matter? So many people hated Bush, and hated what he did, hell, the bailout was just a few weeks ago, and many people hated THAT - and it makes not one teensy tiny bit of difference to what goes on in Washington. Not an iota or a jot. What people think of a president once he is in office only counts every four years, really.

KAndre said: aaaaack! I am horribly sorry you feel that way or took it that way. What I meant is that in the context of being a candidate for the president of the U.S., race or gender doesn't interest me one bit as any sort of qualification or whatever. That's all I meant. I understand that those things mean a lot to others. What I am trying, I guess lamely, to say, is that I did not consider race or gender when thinking of what I want in a president. I didn't think Hillary was going to be any standard bearer for women everywhere, I just thought she would be a great president. I would have been just as fine with Bill. I actually hated the cracks in the glass ceiling stuff. Hated it. I want to be PAST it. I really disengaged fairly early on, when the campaigning got ugly all over the media. I am still shocked that people made fun of her ankles. In any event, I am not one to even walk across the street for a rally, no matter who it is, I am not even functional in a crowd, I withdraw to almost a catatonic state. I don't get it. I was always the one in those stupid team build scenarios who would tell my boss Oh Hell no, I am not trekking across the desert with you guys, just leave me a plastic sheet to collect water in, and keep your grubby paws off my compact mirror, and I will wait right here in the wreckage. Just leave a pointer made with rocks in the direction you guys set off in, so I can direct my rescuers that way, and I'll stay here in this nice cozy wrecked airplane. (Consider that spoken just like Wanda Sykes would say it, I had Wanda's attitude before Wanda was born, I think). Fervent crowds have always scared the crap out of me. No matter what or who they are for. I will be glad when this is all over with. Clayzorback, my issues with your post were that I felt it was wrong to use Faye's name, and also that stuff like that does not take into account that some people may not like Obama, but just think the Republicans have run the country into the ground for the last eight years, and cannot imagine letting them keep doing so for another four years. It is not just the candidate, it is the PARTY that determined my vote. No matter what people say about Obama, I consider the Republicans have ruined the country, that MccCain is a hot-headed mess, and that Sarah Palin is not any more intellectually able to run the country than my 13 YO grandson. To vote for them on the basis of my feelings about Obama would be cutting off my nose to spite my face. Oh, the few Acorn employees who made up people have been turned in, and it is not like they made up actual VOTES. So what if a lot of new voters got signed up? Are they not supposed to be able to vote? The shit about telling students they can't vote, about telling Democrats they can wait until tomorrow - that is the usual Republican bullshit.

I have never had a supporter tell me anything much except that he is wonderful and charismatic and represents change. This is the three people who have come to the door, plus the gist of some political threads (more than just this and the CH, honest) - and my cousin, who works for the campaign. I am quite frankly uncomfortable with some of the adulation and with glowing stuff, I am just worried about the country and the economy. I honestly figure most of the speeches and planks and whatnot on both sides are just campaign talk, not to be counted on. Learned that lesson from Hillary's (excellent) health plan. Besides, the times I did point out that Obama had changed his stance on some things, I was quickly told well he just needs to say whatever so he can get the nomination and then get elected. As did the other guy, of course. So in the end, I just voted Democrat because the only way I would vote Republican is if Bill was running for Prez on that ticket :-O, because that would mean they are gone! Or that Gore had personally reversed global warming and hell had frozen over. FWIW, perhaps it is my advanced age, but I never thought of Obama as "A Black Man", or of Hillary as "A Woman", they are/were just candidates. I didn't care about the other stuff, so the rhapsodizing over the meaningfulness of either of them being elected kinda zoomed right past me, I saw them as Democrats. Maybe it is from working in IT all my life, where, once women could actually work in that field, all that mattered was if you could do the job, unless you were personally a dumbass or whatever. Will be quite sincerely interested in seeing exactly what comprises "change", no monkey! (tm TwoP). playbiller, thanks for that Ford anecdote. The nation is going in quite the opposite direction, thinking quarterly, and now no one can afford to buy the cars. Bwahahahaha! 46% down! So they will take tax handouts, fire more people, and as gravy, raise the price of the cars - all so stocks can continue to rise. I think I can explain what will happen to my grandson. I know many people agonise over their 401K - but honestly, the only way for them to keep growing is to keep cutting people and costs, or grow new jobs and technologies, which has not happened. Heeee...playbiller, I didn't say brilliant, maybe, um, wordy and pissed off!

On a less serious note, Boston Legal was a hoot last night. Spader and Shatner had made a vow to not discuss who they were voting for, then Shatner said he was voting for McCain. Spader asked for two reasons. 1. Salmon. Denny Crane (Shatner) said if McCain won, all the intelligent people would move to Canada and they would figure out out to save the salmon. 2. Sex. Denny said if McCain won, intelligent women would be depressed and thus easier to get into bed. Later they had a hilarious (to me!) shootout with paintball guns. At the end of the show, they showed the whole cast voting, then at the traditional ending, sitting in those foam chairs, smoking cigars, and looking out over Boston from a balcony, Denny admits he voted for Obama. (Here's where to buy those chairs ....design within reach ) I do need to google and see if the FDA really did sue a rancher who advertised that they checked each and every cow for Mad Cow disease, because it gave them an unfair advantage. It would not surprise me to find out that most of the government works for special interest groups. Oh, yep - here is our profit-driven government in all its tawdry glory.... testing every cow for mad cow would cost too much! the hell with the consumers, it is the meatpackers who are important! I tried watching the SNL thing, but I think they have just rerun the same stuff so many times, so recently, that it was boring.

I was reading an interview with a very wealthy Republican businesswoman yesterday - she said that business needs even more of a handout to have incentive to keep jobs here, and to shore up the ones who extended bad credit. And in my very personal experience, business here in the Tampa Bay area, huge businesses, are taking the tax breaks and handouts and then proudly announcing to the media and stockholders that they are shipping jobs out of the country. Verizon. JP Morgan Chase. Corporations like that. And then the news this morning is that car sales are down 45%, Detroit needs a handout. If Republicans don't understand that people without jobs, and people who are afraid they will LOSE their jobs - and people who are denied credit because of job situations - just cannot spend money - then I hope they all fail and we all start over. I have not seen any corporations give a flying fuck about America, just their profit margin, and they are evidently too stupid to see what is happening. They have been using money to make money, with no real product. And it is a kind of pyramid sceme - a big Ponzi, with the inevitable breakdown when no one is left to buy. I don't begrudge jobs to other countries per se, but for Verizon to whine about sales and Detroit to whine about sales and to see businesses fail because of poor sales - people in India spend money in India. Of course they do. Now, if the whole world is taking American jobs and then investing in American spending habits and debt load and consumerism, then boo-fricking-hoo. The whole armada sinks. They deserve it. Doesn't matter if the Repubs make a figurehead change. Nothing changes, because they don't actually see America as a separate country except when they need a handout. The corporations and wall street are countries unto themselves, there is no other allegiance. And it is not gonna work in the long run, the sheep have run out of fleece. Of course, I think the elected government is more of a figurehead dog and pony show, they did that to themselves, the country has become less important than getting reelected. There should be term limits for all offices. Or else let Bill come back. :-) I do think it was a bit of a mistake for most Obama campaign rhetoric to be mostly about how wonderful Obama is, because for those who just don't get that, it is/was more of a oh hell no, not another four years of the same failed shit. I understand that a lot of early voters came in, voted for Obama, and then left without voting for anything else. That is not the way to change the tide. And a mistake for republican shit-stirrers to not understand that a lot of people are voting against the republican last eight years, not necessarily for Obama. I see the RNC has filed a suit about misuse of funds for Obama's trip to Hawaii. I do think it was ill-considered for Obama to use campaign funds and plane for that, if there was even a doubt about it. And he consulted with lawyers about it, so there must have been a question in his mind. It doesn't matter in the least if the people who donated don't care, if they went after Palin for using official transportation for her kids, they should have kept their own noses very very clean.

Actually, while I am certainly not an Obama fan, I consider what the Republicans have done in the last eight years cold, calculated, disastrous, cynical, and so on and on and on. Why vote to extend the rape of Americans? And Palin seems an ignorant witch, even though we are assured that has been cast out of her. A doddering vitriolic old man and an ignoramus. Fronting the same party that has been in power. Nope. I don't who runs against them, I cannot bring myself to vote for them. I would have voted for ANYBODY who ran as a Democrat. That, perhaps, is what McCain supporters who spread stuff about Obama are missing - even if everything you spread is true, he is quite astoundingly the lesser of two evils, to many of us. I don't know why you found it necessary to mention Faye, but I have trouble believing she would support a party that considers her son as somehow evil. In any event, that seems kind of suspect at best. If Clay himself were to support McCain, I would just be saddened, it would not make one iota of difference to me. I believe I am quite on record here and at the CH regarding my dislike for Obama - but my dislike of the Republican party and deeds literally knows no bounds. Eight more years of wars and joblessness and corporate thievery? Nope. Most of that letter is old stuff. Yes, McCain crashed three planes altogether, and spent time in prison camps. NO ONE took the early out, or very few, McCain was not alone in refusing. And I do not see how that experience qualifies him to be president. I want my country back, too, and someone who has spent years agreeing with the current regime is not likely to get it back. McCain has been toadying for years and years. He voted along with Bush over 90% of the time - so I fail to see how he would "bring the country back" - he helped ruin it.