djs111

Clay sounds wonderful, especially that glorious lower register. This is, honestly, the first time I have really enjoyed this song! I listened to the Canadian Tenors sing Hallelujah on Lala - they do a wonderful job, but this song really requires a voice like, oh, say, Leonard Cohen's voice :-) - a more rough voice suits it better. Although it was v. entertaining to hear a clear smooth perfectly sung and enunciated "She tied you to a kitchen chair". :-O I luv clack.

The real issue, or maybe just realization that some cannot accept, is that this sort of thing happens in heterosexual relationships all. the.time. All civil ceremonies, marriages, whatever, are entered into with that "for life" thingy, regardless of the genitalia involved.

From playbiller: for people in Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee....... Free 3 pound bag of honey crisp apples

This is the 6th season. I was kidding about them showing all the seasons and shows at once - but they do love those reruns. They will for sure run all of season six. It looks like you can watch full episodes of the other seasons at many places on the net. And the TwoP recaps are a hoot, as are the TVGasm recaps. Yeah, Bravo runs a lot of Project Runway reruns. Maybe that is why Heidi is bitchy this year on Lifetime - maybe she does not get residuals. I like the reruns of both shows, because the contestants are talented, for the most part, and I see stuff I missed, or stuff that got snarked on at TwoP and TVGasm, and I missed the first time.

Hey, it could happen! Um, I just happened to see a pic of Padma and Nigella in beds, receiving breakfast trays, and everything sort of sprang from that. They really should let me write for them, or at least script a parody. I am really looking forward to the reunion dinner and the next challenge - now that I have read the spoilers. :-) I wonder if they will have a little slide-show of great moments - like Dale bitching about Lisa winning a trip for two to Italy - "She won with BACON?????!!!!!" I love that stuff.

Yes, this week is just the reunion dinner, Bravo will show as many previous Top Chef episodes as they can cram in, then the reunion dinner is on at 10 pm and repeated at 11 pm EST. And that show will be repeated 2054 times after that, at odd intervals. Then, next week, they will show all the episodes from the beginning of Top Chef Season One, and then the next competition episode, which is called Strip Around the World. I am hoping they are referring to a cut of beef, or perhaps gambling and fun cities around the globe, because I don't really want to see everybody strip. Maybe a couple of them. I'll get back to you on that. Spoiler alert!!!!!! Okay - the challenge is the chefs making breakfast in bed for Padma and Nigella Lawson, who are shown in bed in a hotel room - separate beds, stop that! - or else someone has taken HGTV home staging advice too literally and made their bedroom look like an actual hotel. Or maybe it is an homage to the Dick Van Dyke Show, I dunno. Oooh, maybe the cheftestants will open kitchen cabinets and walnuts will spill out!!! And they will have to use walnuts in dishes that they have to cook at the North Pole, with nothing but a Bunsen Burner and a fish hook! No, wait, that gives the Brothers V. the advantage. But I digress. Sorry! After they have eaten and judged the breakfasts, Padma and Nigella both strip, while Tom and Toby judge them. Bravo is not going to let any of the expertise the judges have acquired in Las Vegas go to waste. There is a minor squabble at the end of the show when the producers tell Padma and Nigella that they were only supposed to strip the beds; the producers don't know why Tom told them to take their clothes off, but it was such great TV they left it in. They repeat the breakfast, bed, strip routine in four other fine hotels around the world, and the chef who has the most winning breakfasts wins a toaster and a dumpster full of little tiny hotel room toiletries that the judges have been stashing in their suitcases for years. Bravo is trying to save money - the judges all flew around the world first class, but the cheftestants had to ride in the cargo hold. On the first leg, they let the cheftestants up into the passenger area so they could cook the little tiny snacks and such, and work off their airfare, but then they refused to go back down and it got ugly. Okay - the results: (Bear in mind that all the cheftestants huddled, and after they shoved Robin out, they decided that "strip" meant "bacon", because Tom Loves Bacon!!!!) Robin is not sent home, she made the crispiest bacon by mistake - she was talking about how the others didn't shove her far enough away, and, hobbling back, she heard the bacon strategy! - and she forgot to check on it. Jen makes perfect bacon and duck sausage (from scratch) and organic free-range chicken eggs over easy with croissants (also made from scratch) and lingonberry jam (she picked the berries in the hotel garden), and a perfectly emulsified Bearnaise sauce, but cries and begs to go home so she can get her hair conditioned. The Voltaggio brothers turn on each other with blowtorches, dry ice, and a liquid nitrogen gun, it is not pretty, but is v. entertaining. They freeze AND char each others' dishes. Since that was what they were going to do anyway, no one notices, but hey! no one likes bacon-chocolate-cauliflower ganache to begin with. Eli starts to make bacon and eggs Benedict, but then he over-thinks his dish and decides to make an asparagus-banana-mushroom-smoked kale omelet. Which guarantees his loss. Kevin wins with a repeat of his Bacon Jam and a perfectly cooked mushroom omelet with Gruyere, with home-fried potatoes and leeks on the side (waves to Mike Isabella!). This causes one of the V. brothers to spontaneously combust; that's the surprise departure. But they still make Eli leave because, as Gail says, that omelet sucked. The winner of the strip contest (Nigella or Padma) then has to judge striptease acts performed by Tom and Toby and all the losing chefs. From the previews, it looks like neither woman wants to do that, but hey, they signed a contract. Tough noogies. The winner of that competition gets free counselling, as does the judge. And anyone who can prove they were watching on TV. Oh, and I guess I may as well spill this - at the reunion dinner, the lights suddenly go out!!!! When power is restored, Marcel is bald, Hung has made the entire meal into foam - and I won't spoil the rest of it!

Here is what Tom says about the bottom three..... The reunion show looks v. interesting. Evidently Mike I. figured no matter how bad his dish was, they would never send him home before Robin. Snerk.

I read somewhere that Jen was sick, and since they actually shoot the whole season in a straight shot, no off days, until the finals, she has not got a chance to rest. I highly recommend reading Tom Colicchio's blog over at Bravo - he says they have no idea what goes on in the kitchen or anywhere else, while they are filming the shows, and that Mike I went because he had the worst-tasting dish. The leeks were not cooked very well, no one liked it. Jen's dish was praised, it was just not very much food. Robin's dish was good-tasting and cooked well, just didn't all go together. Tom also says don't get all impressed with the V. brothers' techniques, they concentrate too much on blowtorches and not on taste and/or seasoning at times. I love Kevin, and am still hoping for Jen to perk up. If it comes down to the V brothers I prolly won't watch because I won't care. I have a feeling Jen won't make it to the finals, because it looks like from the previews someone surprising goes home. Everyone has the flu or something here. Dang.

Oh, Top Chef is very entertaining - the judges AND the cheftestants. Next Iron Chef is sort of grim or something, plus it just seems like a Chopped with more chefs. Although those folks will be expected to cook on camera, on cue - and within time limits. (waves to Fear....) I watch reruns of Top Chef too, and the blogs on the Bravo site, especially Tom C's blog, are always enlightening and give a lot of behind the scenes info. TwoP forum for this is entertaining - they were sure Padma spent the first few seasons being high or something. Everybody loves Gail, and everybody hated Toby and loves when that travel channel guy is a judge - he does not mince words (haha, get it? Mince! sorry.)

Yep. And that is why I tend to dislike the jerks, no matter how well they cook. I don't feel sorry for Robin any more than I would for anyone else who seems rudely shunned. I kinda thought Jen might go, but Tom C. explained the whole thing in his blog - one of Jen's dishes was actually really good, and Laurene was not good at FOH, plus she made the mistake - and this mistake will always get ya - she told Tom she would not serve her dish or any dish, that was not looking good. On the other hand, it was Kevin who did not cook the lamb properly, he should not have sent it out, either. I was not surprised about the money sharing, it was a team effort, and I thought turning the money down was done quite rudely. If the show comes down to just the two brothers, I won't watch because I just find them annoying, Ghost Hunters is on, so I can watch that, I hate missing it. I am still looking forward to seeing Mike I. sent home. I figure Robin is next, though, then Eli, then Mike I., and then hopefully Jen will get some confidence back and step up her game. I really like Kevin, and I was surprised he couldn't cook that lamb, and sent it out so raw, it was like he figured hey it was not his dish. I do realise everything is edited, but those words we see come out of mouths are still a bit hurtful and rude. Heh, imagine a show with Mike I. and that beeyotch Irina from Project Runway. Exactly my feeling. And he was really quite quick to step in and take credit when Tom or Padma said everybody liked your dish, that was pretty tacky.

I won't spoil the show, because I know the west coast has not seen Restaurant Wars yet - but I don't care how well they cook, the Voltaggio brothers are beginning to act like asses and rude control freaks. Good for Robin for at least rolling her eyes at something, and for turning out a much-praised dish, and one of the brothers was extremely ungracious and petty at the end - to his own brother. I am tired of them. And Mike I is an egotistical jerk. Eli was a lot less of a jerk. Maybe he gave his jerk-cooties to Mike I. I prolly could have guessed who was going home before the show even started, but I still think someone was v. lucky to have squeaked through to next week; I was surprised.

Because (checks calendar) - it is time for some of the fans to start picking out the songs/eras/styles/etc. that better not be on Clay's next CD. From here on out, even if Clay is caught humming along to ANYTHING, some fans will speak out against that song immediately and forcefully, to let him know that it should NOT be on that next CD. Or damn the song with faint praise, or trivialize it with imagined meaning to Clay, while carefully explaining how very very wrong it is. Spectator sport now, really! :-O I would be surprised if some are not trying to ferret out recording studio or arranger or band info - but that usually gets disseminated through back channels for a while, if anything is discovered.

OMG!!!! 22 grams of carbs!!!!!! It sounds good, though. I only eat that many carbs if I have thrown all caution to the wind and scarf down fresh french bread with brie and/or pate. But then I drink red wine with that - red wine magically erases all bad thingies in food. I learned that in Holland, where they have brie and pate sammiches on the menu. They throw in some lettuce and tomato and call it a health sandwich. Awesome country. Okay, I think Shark Tank is on right before Dragon's Den, on Tuesday....usually I try and work until 9 for Dragon's Den, now I have to stop at 8, is all. So.....two hours of very interesting TV.

Damn. I always forget to watch that, and I love it!!!!!! If you get BBCA, Dragon's Den is the same concept, I lurve that, too!

treenuts said: Heh, not rough for me, because I am only on the Clay boards for Clay and don't really give a shit about the negative stuff. I wouldn't hang out with that sort of thing in real life, why would I care about it or want to read it on the boards? At least one thing is clear after all these years, I can predict who is gonna find fault and skip over that stuff. Gets kind of amusing, which is the only saving semi-grace. Heeee.....I am not so generous with hugs, either. :-) I do wish people who only live to criticize would fall in love with Adam or someone else, though! I would love to thank those who provided recaps and pictures, I appreciate them very very much.

Don't know if whole episodes are available yet, they do tend to rerun a lot. and they usually show at least the last episode right before a new one. Next week is Restaurant War!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! I love that, it shows how the chefs work together.

Bye-bye Ash. :-) The other two at the bottom may have had - looked to me - worse dishes, but Ash never really delivered, he mostly talked about what he coulda shoulda cooked.

I love Wanda. Thank goodness she is a regular cast member on Old Christine. She is on Curb Your Enthusiasm, too, but her character seems too shrill. But still v. funny. Wanda is funnier with just a look than most comedians can dream of being with an entire monologue. Imo, etc., etc.

Couchie, I would love to be a movie reviewer, but I don't know how many people like vaguely sarcastic movie reviews. I love to go for the laugh. Heeee.....I could write reviews and make them topics in a large database! Or maybe start a blog. Anyway, Zombieland is a hoot, and Bill Murray makes a hysterically funny appearance - Bill: I saw Eddie Van Halen at the Hollywood Bowl last night Woody: - Wow! How was he? Bill: He's a zombie The delivery is superb and perfection. You gotta be there, though. Treenuts, when I can afford the ticket (and the gas, nowadays) I take my grandson to the $5-before-noon showings. (He lives with me, he is 14.) We have a great time, we don't buy anything to eat or drink, we love the trailers as much as the feature films. We are pretty eclectic, but mostly see stuff a 14 year-old wants to see - which can surprise me, we saw The Proposal because Jacob was SURE he would get to see Sandra Bullock nekkid. I have found that if I just go to be entertained for a couple of hours, and have fun with Jacob, it takes away a lot of the worry about whether a movie is "good" or "bad" - besides, for almost ALL trailers we tell each other "That looks good!!!! Let's see that!!!!" Oh, BTW, we saw Surrogates, and it was kinda meh except Bruce Willis looks very strange with a full head of hair, and not nearly as sexy as when he is all balding and scruffy. Heeee......Scrooge - Jim Carrey and other people connected with the film talk non-stop about how different this movie is from all the other Scrooge movies (Bah! They will never ever top Scrooged. Never! Bill Murray rules!) - and go on and on about how true they are to the actual story. Then there is a clip of Scrooge hurtling through space clutching something vaguely rocket-like. Jim Carrey plays Scrooge and all the various Ghosts, though, so they have saved on salaries if the movie bombs.

We saw Zombieland. Bwahahahahahha! Don't go if you hate mindless violence and smart-ass sarcasm and/or dead-pan humor. Woody Harrelson was hilarious, although I am never sure if he is actually acting. I hope I can manage to see John Cusack's 2012 at the IMAX theater. I was wondering why they didn't wait until it was closer to 2012, but then hey! maybe the Mayans are right!

playbiller told me about this joke - I have not laughed so hard in quite a while: There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't.

Adam Mehhh. Guess it's always gonna be like that. On the bright side, at least mom's got good taste! Heeee...I was looking at the next day's strip, so I was puzzled, but I think no diss was intended at all!

No surprises with the bottom three or who went home, but that was a toss-up. Should I feel bad because until there are a lot less cheftestants, my main entertainment is watching Michael Isabella not make the top three?

keeping faith said: . Yup. Yep. If they would put all my shows on that one night it would be nice - Big Bang, Old Christine, looks like Community is gonna be good. I think we are opining on 30 Rock becoss Clay was on it!

I thought Community was a hoot. I'll be watching that. I tried watching Glee, but it is too self-aware and is almost like watching a show on stage, everything seems too broad, too loud, too much like vaudeville in a way. I still love CSI Miami (this year it seems they are using downtown Tampa for their opening shot, sort of a WTF?), and since I was late to the party, not watching it until syndication, I don't remember seeing Jimmy Smits or Janine Turner, but I think the present cast is perfect. I love NCIS, but have watched it so much in syndication that I have no feel for any sort of continuity, so I mostly skip it in primetime. Modern Family looks hilarious, I got signed up for the previews somehow. Big Bang is just as funny, I still luv it. Heresy - Jim Parsons was not robbed of the Emmy, he is hysterical, but kinda one-note. I was happy to see Jon Cryer win, his show is also a favorite of mine. Emmys - NPH is about 80% as funny as he thinks he is. The show was good, but lots of flat jokes. And why does Justin Timberlake show up at these things? It was jarring, and had no relation to actual television. IMO, etc. And that writer from Mad Men was just tacky, making fun of thanking someone for a kidney (I was glad to see Ken Howard win something! Kristin Chenoweth (sp.) was so cute - asking for a job. Jon Stewart gave a very touching thanks last night to his staff, they have won seven years in a row, and deserve it richly. I am watching Community because I love John Oliver - he is on The Daily Show staff. The rest of my faves are more in the reality show genre, and not on network TV.