Another quick t.v. update

I know, two posts about t.v. in a row.  Three if you count the SNL video clip.  But sometimes you gotta go with what you got!

Did any of you see the finale/cliff hanger of The Big C?

I really hate to ruin it for you in case you haven't.  So consider this your

***SPOILER ALERT***


What on earth are they doing to us?  Last season they killed off Marlene.  This season they have let Rebecca miscarry with a whole big funeral hullabaloo afterwards, then Lee died.  Oh, and I really liked Lee.  What's not to like?  Gorgeous, witty, hilariously funny, very centered and a bit of a wine snob.  He was perfect!

Just dying of cancer.  And so they killed him off.

So I am rocking along thinking everyone else on this season is safe.  They have already had the prerequisite death scene(s).  And I actually didn't even think of it as the season finale when I was watching it.  Which means I was completely caught off guard for what happened at the end.

Cathy is running a marathon in Lee's name.  In St. Paul.  On New Year's Eve.  It's colder than cold and she is suffering and just not doing well.  Her cute oncologist and her son are there cheering for her.  And then Sean shows up.  And they see her coming to the finish line.  They are all clapping and cheering and waving her on.

She looks up and sees this and then sees Marlene near them.  (she has seen Marlene many times over the course of this season so nothing new there)

But then Lee walks up next to Marlene.  Awww. It was so touching to see her two best dead friends there together.

Finally, her husband (played by the imcomparable Oliver Platt) gets there (he has been over at the insurance company arguing with them over not covering all of her bills.  Seems that he hasn't done very well getting them to honor their obligations what with yelling at the claims lady and calling her a C*nt, so he decides to go bust in on their New Year's Eve party).  So he gets there and is standing next to the son, the brother, and the handsome doctor.  She waves and says "You all made it!"  To which Adam, the son, says "Except for dad.  Where is he?"

Cathy is all confused.  Why does Adam think his dad isn't there?  He's right there!  Can't he see him?  And she looks over at the two dead friends that she knows no one else can see, and looks at Paul.

And realizes no one else sees him either.

Holy Shit!

That face says it all.  Paul thinks he has just arrived to watch her finish.  Paul thinks he is still alive. Paul is just about to realize that he didn't make it out of the insurance office.  And that Cathy is the only one who can see him.

I think Marlene and Lee see him but I couldn't tell if Paul had seen them yet.  Or if he could.

O.M.G. people!  I swear to you I had tears streaming down my face through out this whole scene.

This is Cathy's face as she is seeing all the men in her life there cheering her on.  Just before the big realization oozes over her.

This could not be a more moving and emotional season 2 finale.  I am sitting there crying and Sparky looks at me and says, "I am sure he's not dead.  They are probably going to be able to revive him."

Isn't that sweet?  He didn't want me to be sad for the next year till Season 3 starts up.  But even I am not gullible enough to think they could pull that one off.

This is a fantastic show.  And even if they kill off one of my favorite actors, with this show, they keep bringing back in the dead folks, so I won't cry too much.

Watch and Laugh, you know you want to!

I usually don't even watch SNL any more, but this was hilarious.  Especially the bit about Dr. Phil.

Enjoy!

T.V. and other stuff

It's the new fall T.V. season and the finales of all the summer shows.  Thank the good Lord that Big Brother is over!  I don't even care that the loud obnoxious Rachel won.  She was a better choice than the other two lame-os.

Here is my take on what is going on right now:

Biggest Loser - Two new trainers and Bob have teams divided by age.  The young group chose the new guy that looks like a cross between Taye Diggs (yum) and the Old Spice dude (look at your man, now look at me).  I don't know if I could work out and stay focused while looking at him.  The middle (40-ish) group won the first challenge and got Bob.  The old farts who practically strolled and sauntered instead of running, jogging, or even trying got stuck with Anna Kournikova. (and I know I just mangled spelling her name, but whatever. I will look up the correct spelling later)

I love Bob.  But I have to say I miss Jillian yelling at everyone and being all up in their faces.  She gets the job done.  I haven't picked out a favorite contestant yet.  There's one young guy named Ramon that I like a lot and some other guy that if I am not looking at the screen and just listening, he sounds just like John Goodman.  The older team lost the first weigh-in and it was between 2 of the ladies as to who was going home.  Now it was easy to see that the one lady with the bad knees who only lost 4 FREAKING POUNDS was going to be chosen because other people were losing 27 - 32 pounds and she only lost 4 FREAKING POUNDS!  But then this other whiney lady stepped in and started berating her and just bitched her up one side and down the other for crying and trying to garner support with emotions.

You don't need much more information to guess who got sent packing.  They would rather keep Ol' Weak Knees around for another week than some Whiney-Ass Mean Bitch.  It was another case of "don't let the door knob hit ya!"

Survivor - I am so happy Survivor is back!  I kinda wish we could have Boston Rob on every season.  He really makes for great television.  But we can't.  So this season we have Ozzie back!!  Yay!  I love that Ozzie.  For those of you who don't watch Survivor and haven't yet enjoyed Ozzie, check this out.

They also brought back that moron, Coach the Dragonslayer.  This guy is such a tool it makes my head hurt to even think about him.

So they put the returning Ozzie and Coach each on the two different teams.  And guess who Coach's new best little running buddy is?  Evil Russell's nephew!  And o.m.g.!!!  What a total d-bag the nephew is!

Get this, he is pissed at this chick Micaela for being really well-built and strong and running around in almost nothing (like every other person on this island) and "tempting" him.  And he is married and doesn't need her evil distractions around.  So he is trying to rally the troops to get her voted out.  What an asshole.  He is clearly just a little troll like his uncle.

No real clear favorites here yet either.  We shall see as the personalities develop and come shining through.

This season True Blood has just about Jumped the Shark.  Every episode we watch and just say "Really?  That's where they want to go with this?"

First season was vampires.  Then shape-shifter Sam.  Then werewolves. Then whatever it was that MaryAnn was. And now we have were-panthers, all sorts of witchcraft, and faeries.  It's getting to be just a little much to keep up with.

And they totally messed with Erik's character.  This season's Erik is such a pussy.  Last season's Erik would kick this season's Erik's ass.

Bill (who I never liked) is just an ass. Sooki is an idiot.  Jason is dumber than a box of hair.  There is some wonderful comic relief with that Bellfleur clan.

Arlene the red-headed waitress was getting on to her rotten kids at the diner.  They were all dressed up for Halloween and she told them "Now y'all better straighten up or I am going to make you go trick or treat at the trailer park!  Do you WANT to get empty Coors cans and food stamps?"

Ha!  Now THAT was hilarious!

The Big C - is some of the best writing and acting on t.v. Laura Linney, Oliver Platt and company deserve big kudos for this show.  It is really wonderful.

Sons of Anarchy - Holy Moly!  This season started out with a bang.  A whole lot of bangs, actually.  All the boys are out of prison and ready to get back to business.  But wait!  There's a new sheriff in town.  And he's black!  And he hates them!  And he is secretly working with the FBI!  And he didn't let them even drive through town without letting them know he is in charge.  Ooooh.  This is a great show.

Sunny's back!!!  Yes indeedy, It's Always Sunny in Philly is back!  This is such a great show.  I can't say enough good things about it.  A little tidbit I came across in an article on home birth is that Dee, played by Kaitlin Olson is married to Rob McElhenney (who plays Mac on the show) in real life, and they did indeed have a baby this year.  At home, all safe and sound with no complications.  Hooray for home birth!  Hooray for Dee and Mac being married in real life!

Oooh!  Here is what prompted this particular post to be about t.v. There is a new show coming out (no release date yet) called Celebrity Wife Swap. Like the regular Wife Swap wasn't shitty enough.  You will NEVER in a million years guess who are the first two "Celebrities" who are swapping wives!!!

Ted I-am-not-gay Haggard and Gary Nutjob Busey

Can you even believe that?  I will let you know as soon as I see that this trainwreck is airing.


And in other news:

I heard back from Con-Agra who owns the parent company who owns Ro-Tel.  Con-Agra sees nothing wrong with BPA leaching into our food and is continuing in their practice to do this.  They are now going to do it without my support.

I looked online at the Hatch products website and found an actual phone number to call and speak with an actual person!  (gasp)  Here's how that went:

Me: dialing, listening to the ring

Them:  Hatch  (that was it.  Not, hello you have reached Hatch products, what can we do for you?)

Me: yes, I would like to not necessarily complain, but voice a consumer opionion.

Them:  Okay.

Me: Who would I need to speak with?

Them: Oh, you can tell me and I will relay the information.

Me:  Okay.  Here's the deal.  I love your products, especially the Green Chile Enchilada Sauce, but I am learning more and more about the BPA coating inside the cans and I won't be buying your products any more until that changes.

Them:  Oh.  I don't really know anything about that.  But I will tell someone about it.

A few more minutes of this same thing and I hung up.  What you will notice is:

A. It was really refreshing to have a phone number listed on the website to speak to real people.
B. That a real live person picked up the phone and didn't appear to be outsourced to Bangladesh.
C. That she NEVER ONCE asked me for my name, number, address or any follow-up information.
D. She seemed really unprepared to do this job.

That's it for today.  Enjoy your Thursday and one last thing, I am still looking for a home for the teensy little Mama Kitty.  She gets her tubes tied on Sunday morning and all her shots and will be ready to go to a loving home.

I have tried so many names out on her and none of them stick.  I think maybe it is because I know she isn't my cat and my name for her isn't supposed to really be her name.  The other cats have learned to peacefully co-exist with her, but they aren't warming up to her.  She really has no one to play with or snuggle with.  It makes me sad for her.

Doing the Can Can

Recently I made a King Ranch Chicken Casserole which I love, but haven't made in a very long time. Partially due to the fact that it requires 5,233,739 cans to open.

Have I ever told you how much I hate a recipe that is really just "open 10 cans out of your pantry and mix together" type recipes?  This is why I hate, loathe, and despise that horrid Sandra Lee "Semi Homemade" travesty of a cooking show.  That is NOT a cooking show!!  That is a "let's justify being lazy" show.

Anyhoo, I was making King Ranch Chicken and opening up the  5,233,739 cans.  And what did I spy inside these cans?

Some of them have that crappy BPA plastic coating and some do not.  Those companies that do are going to be getting letters from me complaining, and those that do NOT will be getting Attaboy letters from me.

Do y'all know about the BPA stuff?  It stands for Bisphenol A, a chemical which can mimic human estrogen and which is linked to breast cancer and early puberty in women.  You know how over the last 15 years or so people have been blaming the meat and dairy industries for all the hormones causing 9 year old girls to start puberty?  Well, the canned food people need to shoulder their part of the blame on this one.


What I am saying is this BPA is bad news.  We don't need it.


Let me show you my cans.

There are all sorts of brands of cans I used there, but the two that stand out as being bad in that they are lined with the dreaded BPA are two of my favorite canned products.


Ro-Tel tomatoes & chiles and also Hatch brand Green Chile Enchilada Sauce.


It is a sad day when I have to tell these two companies that if they don't change their process of adding white plastic lining to the inside of their cans, I can't buy from them again.  But there it is.


Does anyone know and can anyone effectively explain to me why on earth anyone thought we needed this?  Why do we need to take perfectly good metal cans and paint carcinogenic cancer on the inside of them?  Do my tomatoes care if they are in white or shiney silver metal?  Does my body care if my tomatoes come with extra carcinogens for free?  Why yes, it does!


I will let you know if and when I hear back from Ro-Tel and Hatch.  In the meantime, check your cans.  Do you use many canned products?  If so, how many of them have the BPA lining?  Do you care?  Do you care enough to write companies and demand change?  Or do you care enough to find an alternative that is packaged in a safer manner?

TLC can bite me. And they need to change their name!

*Warning, ranting ahead.  Read at your own risk*

You know how at the end of Real Time each week, Bill Maher reads his list of New Rules?

I LOVE THAT!  I WANT TO DO THAT, TOO!

Today's new rule:

TLC (which stands for The Learning Channel) must change their name.  If they have to keep TLC  as their call letters, then I propose the following:

Totally Lame Channel


or possibly

Tabloid Leering Cameras


Seriously!  What gives?  This channel started out as The Learning Channel and had some decent programming back in the day.  Watching it now?  Will cause brain rot.  It's totally voyeuristic crap.

Does anyone care about Michelle & Jim Bob and their herd?

How about all those shows about little people?

Toddlers & Tiaras?  (which I heard described as the training grounds to get on MTV's 16 & Pregnant)

What about the miriad of Say Yes to the Dress shows?  Learn anything from that show?

Or the highly educational Sister Wives?

Ooohh!  What about those Extreme Couponing weirdos?

I am sorry but, this whole damn network has gone straight in the toilet.  They should be ashamed of what they put out in the name of Learning.

And that is my rant for the day.

p.s. It is also National Talk Like a Pirate Day!  So get your Pirate name and wear a patch and say "Aaarrgh" in front of all your sentences.  Have fun out there!

Way to make me feel really OLD!

Okay, I was reading the news online as I tend to do.  And there was an article about Sinead O'Connor.  Remember her?  Irish chick famous for shaving her head and having a really haunting voice.

Also, for tearing up a picture of the Pope on SNL.  But for me it was always about her look and her voice.  I mean, who has EYES like her?  They are so deep and always seem so full of pain.

For reals.  Look at those eyes.  She was something else, wasn't she?


Seems that she has become a nutbar.  A nutbar that loves to tweet.  What is it with twitter?  I have tried and tried to get the hang of it, and it just doesn't come naturally or easily to me.

Unlike to Sinead.  She just tweets and tweets about things I would never expect to find on twitter.  Like "Oh, I am miserable and can't wait to die and go to heaven.  Someone please send me some info on how to suicide without it being obvious to my kids that is what I did".

Like her kids will never be shown this stuff that she put out in the world?  And it got scary enough that people were calling the cops and stuff to go check on her.

Now I know it was years and years ago that the above pictures were taken but I still always picture her like that.  So when I was reading the article and there was a picture of some older, fat lady with a Patsy Cline hairdo, it took me a couple of minutes to make the connection.

SINEAD O'CONNOR IS OLD, LIKE ME!

SHE IS OVERWEIGHT, LIKE ME!

Holy shitballs!  I am old and overweight, too.  o.m.g.

Why does it take seeing someone else and making the connection back to yourself instead of figuring it out when you look in the mirror daily?

You want to see the Sinead picture?  You know you do.

Are you as shocked as I was?  It's hard to reconcile today's Sinead with the one from 20 years ago.

And that's not fair, is it?  Why on earth would I hold her to a higher standard of upkeep than I did my own self?  If it's hard on me to maintain the look, the figure, etc. of 20 years ago, imagine how much harder it must be with the pressures of being in the public eye.

So, today I am saying a little prayer that Sinead finds some peace and serenity and quits tweeting bullshit.

Apologies

Good morning to all!  It is actually a great morning, as it *might* even rain on us!  So cross your fingers, eyes, arms, legs, whatever you like to cross that it really happens.

I have been having a really hard time blogging lately and I am not sure why.  Sometimes I want to tell you things I have learned, but I feel like I might come across as preachy, so I don't.  And other times I think I might be funny and witty, but I read it and it sounds pithy and smart-assy.  So I have been censoring myself A LOT.

I guess what I need to do is to figure out exactly what I want to share and just say it as honestly as I can from my heart and not worry about what others think.  And yet I DO worry about what other people think. Who knows why!  I know all the sayings:  "What other people think of you is none of your business", "If you knew how infrequently people think of you, you would be surprised", and all that stuff.  And yet, I guess I do care.  Apparently I care enough that it is inhibiting my posting.

I would love to just put my thoughts down and if for example, my mom or my kids read this, that they would not be offended or feel like I have violated their privacy.  It's really hard to tell your story without also including a bit of someone else's.  You know the whole "no man is an island" thing.  So I guess I am going to go out on a limb and just say things from my heart and hope that no one is upset or offended. If they are, well, that might just be their issue, and not mine.  Here goes!

Here are some truths as I see them:

1. I am amazed when I run in to someone I haven't seen in years and they say things like "Oh, you are just the same as you were way back when!"  Really?  I don't feel the same.  I know that I have lived a lot of different experiences over the last THIRTY YEARS, and surely they have affected me?  I don't think I am the same person I was even just a few years ago.  Too many things happen and life is not constant. I just don't think it is possible to stay the same.  And not only that, why on earth would I want to be the same person I was at 19 or 20?  or even 40?

2. Recognizing Truth #1 above, it seems weird that #2 for me is that I don't deal well with change.  I like things to be the same.  I like the constancy, the comfort of knowing that things and places will be what they were in the past.  Maybe it's just the consistency of knowing a particular place will always be a landmark in my memory?  Or that a certain food or scent that brings back a flood of memories?  How awful would it be if after a lifetime of memories around holiday time with certain foods that suddenly the recipe was changed and you can't get the original ever again?  That would suck for sure!  But this doesn't hold true for me with people.  I do want my kids and nephews and nieces to grow and mature and change and experience life.  Does this make sense?

3. For every new thing you acquire in your life it seems you have to let go of something else.  This holds true whether it is a tangible item or an idea or a dream or a belief.  Every time I have moved to a new place it is exciting to get to go to a new place, find a new home and all the new and wonderful things that place has to offer.  But what goes along with that is the loss of the former place, no more getting to have that old routine, no more getting to see those friends on a regular basis, never eating at that favorite around-the-corner-restaurant.  Moving to new and exciting places was a wonderful adventure, but the sacrifice was not being nearby to our families and watching the nieces and nephews grow up.

When my kids were babies I had the usual Mom Dreams in my head of what wide-open futures were available to them.  And as life happens to us, some of those dreams get cut off and new dreams and realities take their place.  This doesn't mean that I am disappointed in the new possibilities, but I do need to be allowed to grieve a bit for the loss of the dream.

My kids should know that I am always on their side, in their camp, and always fiercely proud of them for the people they have grown up to be, and are still growing into.  Whatever path they choose will be the right one for them.

4. It is my truth that I have learned more from my kids and my nieces and nephews (the next generation down) than I will ever impart to them.  It surprised me to learn and acknowledge this.

5. The more I grow and age and learn, the more I know that I need to just shut up.  Everything I do can be done with less words and more action. Or more of just being there, and being quiet.

That's my 5 truths for the day.  I hope you weren't bored to tears or to sleep with this list.

As always, I love to hear from you.  Post away!

Seriously Random Stuff

Another of those posts that kind of follow my thought pattern.

1.  Do you ever watch t.v. and see a commercial that is either so hilarious or so horrible you immediately think, "Holy shit, I have to remember to blog about THAT!"??

Well, I do that all the time.  And by the time I get to youtube and go to look it up so I can share it with you, I can't remember what it was.  It's gone.  Poof!

2. We are still looking for a home for the little Mama Kitty who is the cutest, sweetest, most precious little teeny kitty you ever saw.  If you are at all interested in providing a loving home for this girl, let me know.

And before you ask, no.  She can not stay here. Angus MacPhee absolutely hates her and would make her life a living hell.  Angus is a dick.

3. My across-the-street neighbor was robbed yesterday morning.  In broad daylight.  While he AND his yard worker were both around.  It was a completely bizarre incident.  And 4 years ago when Ernest T. Bass was dropped off here I tried and tried to get my neighbor to take him.  And if he had, well, I don't think that idiot thieving thief would have made it into the garage.  Ernest T. is quite loud and protective of his property.

4. The Texas wildfires are popping up all over the place.  The area just east of us that is on fire is said to be the size of Connecticut.

5. Did I ever mention here that I am growing out my hair color and going all natural?  Well, I am.  Since menopause is totally kicking my memory's ass six ways to Sunday, I decided that I need to lessen my brain's exposure to chemicals.  Also, I am super annoyed with seeing people in their 70s trotting around with jet black hair.  And I didn't want to be one of them.

So I decided to embrace my silver hairs and let them grow in and let's just see what we shall see!  So far, people are very complimentary of the new color.  I never know if they really mean it or are just taking pity on the poor old gray haired lady.

6. This is the first year that we have kept the round card table up in the living room all year.  We put it up at Christmas time to do jigsaw puzzles near the Christmas tree.  And this year?  It has just stayed up and we have continued doing puzzle after puzzle.  It has to stay in that room because we can close it off away from the cats.

7. Remember the little crocheted bottle cap trivets I was making?  I got 3 more done before I ran out of bottle caps.  So that is 3 Christmas gifts done.  I need to get a source for clean, unsmashed bottle caps.  Any ideas?

8. Our garden is completely dead.  Nothing survived this horrendous drought and 4 months of 100+ temps.   I am worried about our massive oak trees.  I could give two figs for the damn stupid grass, but my trees?  That's another story.

9.  Normally, I have good book recommendations for you, but not now.  Lately, all I have been reading is about food, healthy diets, good food for your body and for the environment.  And you know what?  Some of these things contradict each other!  It's confusing.  I can't decide whether to try out The Diet That Seems Easiest To Work With or The One That Seems Best For the Earth and Hardest For Me.

It's a bit daunting and overwhelming, all this information.

10. And finally!  My last thought for the day.  Well, my last thought to share here, not necessarily the last thought I will have the whole DAY!

Life is good.  It can be as complicated as you want, or as easy and simple as you want.  It's all in how you look at it.

I have a friend who I play Mah Jongg with who has a needlepoint sampler on her wall that says something like "The difference between Stumbling Blocks and Stepping Stones, is in how you use them".  And that's kind of what I have been thinking.  The situation is what it is regardless of how you feel about it.  You can choose to have negative feelings about something but that doesn't make the facts negative, does it?  Facts are facts.  A situation is what it is whether you choose to love it or hate it.  Which set of feelings will get you through the day?