[hate is not a family value]

Lately, it seems that having a reality show is a platform for erm.. controversial opinions.

Look at Dog the Bounty Hunter. The Duck Dynasty guys. You know, I cut them some slack because they were actually  sorry for what they said.

Paula Deen,however, I will never forgive?Why?Because she kept trying to justify what she said.And I don't think she's actually sorry.

What brought this up is that I was reading about these brothers-the Benhams-who got a show on HGTV. HGTV were all excited, new show on the network and all that and they were promoting the fact that this new show was  going to be on HGTV.

*Then* they found out about some of the Benham brothers' beliefs. They are very extreme-very homophobic, for one thing.

I'm going to stop right here and make an observation:Seriously:Have they  never ever watched HGTV? because they would figure out that it's very gay friendly right away, and, therefore, the *opposite* of everything that they believe in.

So now they're saying that they're being "targeted" for having the beliefs that they have. Oh please! People are entitled to their opinion but doing some digging, their father has some opinions-about gays, about abortion, about Muslims-that would qualify as "extreme".

I don't trust anyone who also goes around spouting crap about how what's wrong with the US is related to "agendas".(no matter what side they're on)


They're on a par with the Duggars, who have compared the Holocaust to abortion on more than one occasion. I don't even know where to start about how offensive that is.

I can(and should) do a whole post on companies with conservative values. I used to get really upset about the whole Chick Fil A thing but I've calmed down about that a lot.

[creative writing]

Today's prompt is: Tiffany and Alan meet on a cruise. One of them loves to cook.

OK. confession time.. Tiffany is SO me. I love to cook. I'm basically inserting myself into the story.

Tiffany was making notes whilst she watched the cooking demonstration. Alan noticed that  She noticed him noticing and said "I'm going to try this  when I get home;but change a few things" and went back to taking notes.

At the end, they gave out samples, which were delicious. Tiffany went and sat by the pool for  a while, then she went to get ready for dinner.

That night happened to be formal night so Tiffany dressed up. She went to the dining room and was shown to  a table with several other people who she didn't know.One of who was Alan.

Alan, it turned out, wasn't much of a cook. "I do like to eat though" he said. "The microwave is my best friend.

"I could help you with that..give you some advice on cooking" Tiffany said. "Oh, I would love that!" Alan replied "I can send you a ton of links to Youtube clips on how to cook, too". By the end of dinner, they had exchanged emails and cell phone numbers.

At the end of the cruise, Tiffany and Alan headed back to the airport at the same time. Alan looked over and there was Tiffany. "It was meant to be" Alan thought.

[odds and ends]

*My old gym is empty. I kinda hope someone buys it and puts a ton of money into it..it'd need a LOT of work to fix how..dated it is.Not sure what else would go in there..Oceanside has plenty of gyms,so it would have a LOT of competition, but it's just the right size(and set up) for a gym.

If someone was going to buy it and turn it into a small gym they'd  a) have to fix a lot of the cosmetic issues the place has b) get rid of the tanning bed rooms for more space(storage?offices?) c) Get high quality gym equipment(what they had frequently didn't work/broke down/was too hard to use(when the second owners took over they bought treadmills and bikes that had a learning curve  when it came to using them)

*It is fall. Especially at night. I still have my windows open at night but I have my comforter on me.

*My parents' kitchen remodel is coming along. It slowed down for a bit but now it's going again.

*I've been trying to get used to taking taxis more-and for further distances-home from the doctor or further. I was intimidated by the idea at first,especially when it came to taking a cab from my doctor's office but.. I did and now it's not a big deal.That's HUGE, for me.

*I've been watching the commentaries on the S2 Hannibal Blu Ray. They're SO much fun to watch! so far I've watched the commentaries for Kaiseiki, Sakizuke,Takiwase and Yakimono I have to watch Su-Zakana,Naka-Choko  and Mizumono still.

[tv things]

*Didn't really care for Laurence Fishburne's show Blackish. I might try watching it again On Demand.

*One of my friends was raving about Gotham;I watched it and am now hooked.

*Mysteries Of Laura is still really good-quite a bit less of her kids in this  week's episode.They're good only in small doses.

*Gracepoint, the US remake of Broadchurch, starts this week so I will be writing a review  soon.

*Thursday's episode of Bones confirmed what I suspected. It has jumped the shark(I mentioned the fact  that I thought the season finale last season was convoluted on Twitter and someone said that it's been that way for a while. Whilst there were some good episodes last season, the last half of the season(especially the season finale) left a lot to be desired.

Unfortunately, the producers/show runners don't seem to think that Bones has run its course yet.There's talk that this could be the last season, but the producers  act like there *could* be one more after this. God I hope not.

I wonder, if they make a decision about Bones' fate if they will leave it 'till the last. I remember with House's final season, they announced it in February;which was late; but it gave them enough time to wrap things up.

My other problem with it is that there was a lot that reminded me of S2 of Hannibal. I mean,  it's a tenuous link at best but there were a couple of things  that I noticed. There was also a  major character death which upset a lot of fans.

(Not the first character death on TV this week by the way; a female character on Chicago Fire (who happens to be a lesbian) was killed off. The reaction to it was almost identical to what happened when Beverly was killed off on Hannibal.Except Bryan Fuller did a lot better job explaining the reasons why he did what he did than the show runner of Chicago Fire did.

[S1 Ep 5 Coquilles]

*Will sleepwalking-and he tells the cop that he's only had 2 fingers of whiskey. Riight. LOL. Will goes to Hanni's where he has coffee from Hanni's fancy coffee maker. Hannibal thinks Jack is manipulating  Will(more about that in a  minute!)

*When Jack says "are you awake?" he should've added "And I hope to god that you haven't had any breakfast yet".

*The Blood Eagle is an especially crappy way to die.Especially given that one of the  victims lived for 15 minutes after they were blood eagled.

*Bev sticks her finger in the vomit on the nightstand(ewwww) like it's nobody's buisness.

*Jack and Bella finally have dinner with Hannibal-and we get our first inkling of his super sense of smell. He smells Bella's perfume.. and her cancer.. and she knows this.  I have something in common with Bella-I don't like foie gras.

*They figure out  from the killer's vomit that he has cancer and is on medication for it. There is a theme of mortality running through  this episode, with the killer's cancer, and Bella's.


 And Bella knows Hannibal knows  so  she goes to talk to him and there is this whole great conversation(though it's  very affecting)about how she doesn't want to bother Jack since he's got so many other things going. And when Jack tries to talk to her she..pushing him away isn't quite the right word but it fits. There's also a comment about bargaining which sounds like the stages of grief.

*So again we get another discussion about Jack trying to manipulate Will, which is interesting.Jack tries to manipulate Will but Jack  keeps luring him back.. so in a way,Hannibal's right(as loathe as I am to say that!)

* The alleyway killer.. with  the cut rate surgery....shudder. Will yells at Jack which surprises everyone.

*Beverly is very direct with Will-always was.

*Jack thinks Bella is having an  affair. He was wrong. He was so wrong.(sorry. I had to. :P)

*Will loses time again and winds up on his roof.

*Whilst they're talking to the killer's wife, Jack figures out what is going on with Bella, and busts her she's walking out of her session with Hannibal.

*The killer  blood eagles himself(best not to think about how he did that)

*There's a mirror of Jack's conversation with Bella in his office. Will's like "I'm not going anywhere" and he really  *is* going to sit there until Jack is ready to talk.

Quotable:
My ears rang like the first time I heard my mom use the f word.

Did you just smell me?

[what's in my fridge, and a few other things]

Things that are (almost always) in my fridge:
Snapple
Sparkling water
Orange juice

Cheese
Cold cuts
Yogurt
Milk

In the freezer:
Ice Cream
TV Dinners
Ice

I'm starting to feel like cooking again..the weather has cooled down,especially in the last few days and it's giving me some serious comfort food cravings!

[blog housekeeping]

Hannibal posts are going to be Friday for a while. I'm writing reviews for S1 episodes(not really reviews so much but my thoughts about the episode in question) but when it starts back up next year it'll go back to Saturdays.

Odds and ends is going to become a thing again, I think. I am going to start working some of the things that were regulars at the old blog back in, slowly but surely.

I promise a book post(yes yes, I keep saying that but keep your eyes peeled because there's gonna be one soon...ish.

Cruise Critic posts are going on a bit of a break for now. It's quiet at Cruise Critic just at the moment.

[time for a bedroom redo]

I went to IKEA on Sunday. I wanted to look for a new bed frame for my bedroom at my parents' house(the one I have is fake brass and is tarnished). I did find one,after a lot of looking. They didn't have the frame in stock;had to order it, which is fine with me.

I have a sort of Key West theme to my bedroom so I had had to find something that was kinda plain. I also found a nightstand-in antique white-that I really liked. I found some nice bright colours for my bed-a comforter and duvet cover.

Then we looked around the marketplace and I found a ceramic deer I liked(which is on top of my computer desk) and candles. I always have to buy candles when I go there because they're such a good price!

[weekend report]

Friday: I went to UTC(University Town Center) a local mall. There were a ton of people in line to get the new iPhone.

Saturday:Went to Liberty Station(the old Navy training centre) which they have turned into an area with lots of shops and restaraunts. There are these big open grassy areas as well as courtyards and there is *always* something going on, especially on the weekends, I went to Luna Grill and had a disappointing lunch.

Then, friends of my parents' stopped by and brought some appetisers, all of which were garlic-y(I especially liked the garlic pistachios-those things were *tasty*.)

Sunday: Waffles(as is usual on Sundays at my parents' house) and a trip to IKEA(about which more tomorrow!)

[odds and ends]

*I had to run some errands Tuesday which were near my gym. But..it was hot so I ran my errands, went to the gym and took a taxi home. Normally I only take cabs from the grocery store to my house but I've been wanting to be able to take cabs other places..and now I know I can, so when the weather is too hot,or it's raining, I can take a cab there and back!

*Scotland is still part of the United Kingdom. It was really interesting in the days leading up to the vote to see what people's opinion about it was.

*Hannibal news:
The S2 DVD Blu Ray is out now(yay!)

There were  new Shirt Punch shirts(and yes,I bought one-at the price they have them at it's too good of a deal to resist!)

Filming starts next month and  the new season won't air until April or May which seems SO far away right now but it's gonna be SO worth it!

[S1 Ep4 Oeuf]

Or:We are family.

*Lots and lots of talk about family in this episode. Will's family(well, him and his dad..Will says he never knew his mother..I have a theory-and I think I've said this before-that she took off when Will was fairly young..young enough to not have a memory of her in any case.  Maybe since we're getting Hannibal's backstory in S3, we can get Will's in S4.)

Zeller quickly deduces that Will is an only child, and Beverly talks about Willard Wigan, who she says was also a lonely child.The fact that Will was a lonely(only) child is *that* obvious. Interesting to see the various family dynamics-Beverly comes from a large family,Price is a twin("who wouldn't want two of me?") and Zeller has sisters.

The intinerant childhood couldn't have been easy for Will, and add to that his.. gift.

We get a sense of that with Will's "Sometimes I leave the lights on in my little house and walk across the flat fields.From a distance, the house is like a ship at sea. It's really the only time I feel safe". Will carries a tremendous amount of guilt.About a lot of things.

It's interesting that Will sleeps in the downstairs of his house(I could swear he explained why that is in one of the episodes.Someone can leave a comment to  clarify.)

*Of course, all this talk of family makes sense what with the Case Of The Week involving The Mother(she's never named but I think Bryan Fuller has said that that's her character's name) played by Molly Shannon and her brood who she had turned into her own family.

*This episode has some of the most stomach turning crime scenes  in the whole series(and that's saying a LOT for this show! ) The bizarro Christmas scene especially.

*Elsewhere, we get some Abigail plot this week- "Therapy doesn't work for me".-Gee, who does that sound like.No wonder Will is one of her surrogate dads!

Hannibal serves Alana Beeriam Lass(remember when we thought that Hannibal made beer out of Miriam Lass? In hindsight..) and also doses Abigail with 'shroom tea which(understandably) incurs Alana's wrath.

*We get the obligatory Hannibal dinner scene:"What am I about to put in my mouth? Hannibal: "Rabbit"(cut to a  shot of the "rabbit" running through the woods.) Jack: "He should have ran faster" Hannibal: "Yes he should have". ROFL.

*Hannibal goes to Will's house and sticks himself on one of Will's fishing lure yet manages not to leave any evidence?He *is* wily.

*Molly Shannon's character doesn't seem to notice the interpersonal relationships between her "children". Take CJ making the younger boy Christopher piss his pants with a death stare. The Mother's reaction' "Gee Whiz"-was that an intentional pun? is rather telling.

*There are recurring themes-in the first season they are frequently discussing bite mark patterns-a nod to Red Dragon, of course.

*The theme of family is extended to Abigail- "what do you see?" "family".

*Quotable: "If you don't eat your growing foods you won't get any dessert"

[a new dam ship!]

Koningsdam.That's the new  Holland America ship's name. And it got a rather..interesting reaction. A lot of people don't care for it.

(Just a primer here for those not in the know:The same names have been used for multiple ships, so I think they're on their fourth or fifth Statendam). I'm all for recycling(HA!) but I kinda like that they went with a new name. It is to honour the current King Of The Netherlands(they haven't had a king in a LONG time,so this is a big deal!) I wonder if the King knows he's got a ship named after him now!

Also, they're going slightly larger(larger than Eurodam *and* Niew Amsterdam which are BIG ships!) . But compared to the Royal Caribbean gargantuan ships, it's a pleasure cruiser.  Rock climbing walls and the like are all well and good for some people but they'd look out of place on a HAL ship(That's putting it mildly..)

Confession time tho:I would *totally* go on one of those Royal Caribbean ships.Just the once.To see what it was like. From what I've read, they're NOT  as crowded as you'd think. When we went on our Caribbean cruise, the shuttle from our hotel went to the Royal Caribbean terminal first,and almost everyone, save for my parents and I, got off the shuttle at the Royal Caribbean terminal.We saw the Royal Caribbean ship up close and it is HUGE-though now they have the Quantum of the Seas which is even bigger.

My prediction:the next monster  cruise ship will  be articulated, like a city bus. Or be stretched out with  walkways going from one section of the ship to the other!  Or something that's like a cross between the USS Midway, a mega-ship and the Queen Mary. The crazy thing is, I think it'd be a hit! Have it docked someplace with a port(obvs. even though they're not going anywhere.)-like San Diego-we've got so few cruise ships coming  to our port anymore it wouldn't be that much of an inconvenience.

[the new fall tv season]

I watched two of the new fall shows, Red Band Society and The Mysteries Of Laura last night. I liked both of them, though, interestingly,both have gotten some so-so reviews. This is going to be a spoiler-free review(in case you want to watch both of the shows online or on demand).

Red Band Society is about a bunch of kids who are in a paediatric  hospital, each with their own set of issues to deal with. They adult characters, especially Dave Annable's  character, and Octavia Spencer, who plays Nurse Ratched(but with a heart of gold). I am looking forward to seeing where they go with it.

 The Mysteries Of Laura stars Debra Messing, who I've always been neither here nor there on, if we're being honest. But I quite like her in this show. There are enough twists and turns to keep it interesting(there were two in the first episode-one which I didn't expect-didn't figure it out 'till the  end, and one, involving her husband that was a touch predictable.)

Also, I saw a lot of people complaining about the kids on the show-that they're kinda unnecessary. I disagree. But it would be nice to have them in smaller doses.

Interestingly, both Red Band Society and The Mysteries Of Laura are both based on Spanish TV shows.

I'm not really planning on reviewing many of the new shows..I think I'm going to watch Selfie and Blackish, but that's it. And I'm going to watch the premiere of Bones next week and blog about it-whether it's still worth watching or not. Their season finale last year was terrible. Luckily the Hannibal  season finale aired not long after and it got the bad taste of the Bones finale out of my mouth.

[you know it's hot when...]

I am staying at a hotel. For the second night in a row. I could have a zillion fans and a/c going in my house and it wouldn't cool anything down.Like ever. It's been like this for a couple of days but yesterday and today were,by far the worst days. I don't do well in the heat-I know this about myself. But the heat we've been having is just BAD.

At least for the first few days of it there was a breeze at night and the combination of that and the a/c made it bearable(though I did have to sleep in the living room).But last night(and probably tonight too)...no. Not.Gonna.Freakin' Happen.

It's supposed to be better tomorrow. I hope to god so. You know, our weather hasn't really been that hot this summer(though we did have that heatwave combined with brushfires. in May.That was a lot of fun.[/sarcasm] The problem is is that there have been several Pacific hurricanes(yes we get them-they start out  in Mexico and move-slowly- up the coast..which are so far reaching that we get the effects(heat and humidity) from them for several days before they weaken or move or whatever.

[not surprised..with all the competition in the area?]

I found out that my old gym closed down. *points to subject line*. Apparently it was up for sale and they didn't get any takers. Well, it's not a new building.Whoever bought it would have to go in and do a LOT of work on it.

First Class(my old gym) has been struggling since they were sold the first time a while back-the new owners came in and did a few improvements(which were great) but you know that saying about putting lipstick on a pig? Yeah, that.  It has always had cleanliness issues(even with the former owners) and neither of the owners seemed keen on fixing them. Getting more up-to-date equipment(in both of the owners' cases) was more important than fixing issues with cleanliness in the bathrooms and showers.

Apparently one of the people that works at First Class is going to start another gym-whether that means that they can reopen First Class in the current location or if they have to find someplace else I  don't know.

Part of the problem is that  when the new owners came in they turned First Class into more of a MMA studio(they've always had just a smattering of gym equipment but whenever I went I hardly ever had to wait for an exercise bike.)

The new owners got more away from that(MMA and the like as I said before)  and I think that scared away a lot of the longtime members. Hell, they even got rid of the childcare,which was a BIG reason they were so popular with people in the neighbourhood. The thought was that people really want more MMA studios. Problem is, there is no shortage of them, especially in this area. Or gyms in general.

We're getting a new 24 Hour Fitness in the local mall, and we've got branches of Chuze and Planet Fitness as well.Oh and LA Fitness, where I work out. I was reflecting on the news about First Class and I came to this conclusion:I don't regret joining LA Fitness. Not one bit. :)

[weekend report]

Friday:Went to Beach Break for breakfast..headed down to my parents' house. We had pizza from a local pizza place(with REALLY good veggie pizza) and saw a Noel Coward play(Fallen Angels) at the local theater. I stayed at my parents' Friday night.

Saturday:Had donuts(yum!), went to Peet's and had a dirty chai(chai with a shot of espresso). Then the grocery store and a load of laundry. I had a beermosa(beer and orange juice.)Tasted so good but thanks to the combination of the alcohol and the heat, it made me sleepy.

Sunday:Got a late start to the day.. My brother and niece came up my way and I got to show them my gym(suffice it to say that they were impressed.) Just hung out at home  and went to my brother Steve's house around 5 for a barbecue. I ate too much though :P

Then, when I got home I listened to The Dinner Party Show with Christopher Rice(son of Anne)and Eric Shaw Quinn. I've listened before, when Bryan Fuller was on(and he was on again last night-promoting  High Moon,his TV movie which was supposed to be a series which is on SyFy tonight actually.) But.. he talked about Hannibal a fair deal.. he said that filming starts October 20th and that the S3 airdate won't be 'till April or May of next year. I just have to tell myself that the wait is going to be worth it.

They have a party line where people can call in and ask questions and I recognised several of the people that called in-my fellow Fannibals-my people!

[change for the better]

In the 2 plus years I've been away from Blogger it's changed. Much more functional than it was-sure, not as many choices on some things as LiveJournal(there were so many there it could get overwhelming, if we're being honest!)

And I said that I would stay here, then went to LiveJournal..I''m finding a lot to like/rediscover here..that being said,I'm keeping my LiveJournal-on the off chance that something happens to Blogger/if Blogger is down, check there because it will be my back up blog.

[S1 EP11 Roti]

*Chilton and Hannibal-asshole and assholier.(Indeed-Hannibal in this  episode, after his seizure: "I said it was mild!"

*Will's dreams-the dream with the wave is a a shout out to Peter Weir's The Last Wave.The dream sequences seem to become more intense from episode 7 on.Water is a recurring theme here as well. The antler imagery is pretty prominent here too(Hello, Will's hallucination during Jack's briefing.)

*Gotta love Abel Gideon,divorce expert:"Regarding divorce..it's better to kill them..less paperwork."

*This is one of the more brutal crime scenes.This is also the episode with the Colombian necktie.

*Alana gets all feisty with Chilton.Hey, *somebody* has to,you know?

*Season 2 Chilton is unethical. But he's pretty damn unethical in S1 too.

*It's surprising(and holy shit-he checks himself out of the hospital in the next episode)that Will is even able to walk around-his recovery by the end of S1 is nothing if not miraculous.Sorry, but it's true:P Holy crap, he's nearly dead(has a seizure FFS!) drives to Alana's house and is able to take Abel Gideon(sorry) down, and promptly collapses in the snow.

That seizure, BTW, is one of the scariest things I have ever seen.

The scene with Will in the hospital, where she holds his hands-it's a scene done without any sort of dialogue-it's saying a lot, without saying anything, if that makes any sense.

*This is a Freddie Lounds-centric episode-I think(at this point) Will(and everyone at the FBI for that matter) are still side-eyeing her. (I always expect someone to pop up in the seat behind her in that scene in her car).

She is preternaturally calm when she is  trying to keep Gideon alive which suggests to me she went along semi-willingly(Stockholm Syndrome?)

(Thanks to Hannibal,abandoned observatories will never not be creepy.)

Gideon just walks out of the observatory like "My work here is done".

*We get a Hannibal-Bedelia scene where Bedelia tries to steer Hannibal the right way..but she  looks the other way at a lot of stuff and she may be enabling him/an accomplice.

I'll be interested to see where their relationship goes in S3 given the last part of S2.

[this day will always be difficult for me]

I didn't lose any family on 9/11 but the day made its impression on me. I sill become emotional thinking about that day, 13 years ago. I remember that I woke up, I had fallen asleep on the couch.The TV was on, and I remember sort of half being able to see what was going on. Then I put my glasses on and I saw the whole picture.. and it was terrible.

To this day, a few days before, I tend to get very emotional, very overwhelmed. This morning is a good example. I was woken out of a sound sleep by a train horn that was loud and sustained.Several times. Any other day I'd have been "eh" but today..because of what day it is, I was rattled by it.

I talked about this on Twitter but what I remember the most about what happened right after 9/11-within hours-was how the military  bases shut down. One of my friends, whose dad was in the Navy at the time, tried to get on the Navy base, but by the time that she got there it was closed to all non-essential personel

Hell, even the *malls* closed down. A *lot* of things closed down-we'd no idea what they might attack next,so it was erring on the side of caution.There were no flights for a couple of days(again, that was understandable,though they knew they would have to start getting things back to normal eventually.

To me, going through the security checkpoint is a small price to pay. Yes, people like to bitch about it(especially if they have to fly, for work or whatever.)but it's such a minor thing.

[good eats]

My parents and I went to Tip Top  Meats on Sunday. I've been there for breakfast and for lunch but never for dinner.  My mom ordered meatloaf(she wound up putting a lot of it in a to-go carton), my dad had a sort of smothered pork chop and I had a New York Strip Steak with all the trimmings(including sauerkraut which was amazing..I seriously have never tasted anything like it!) and a beer(I chose a tangerine wheat beer which was REALLY good!)

Oceanside,where I live, is beer central Actually, San Diego in general is known for its beer. But Oceanside has a ton of brew pubs, with more opening every day. I wonder how many of them Oceanside can actually support-sure, Oceanside is a big town and we have a lot of people here for the summer and of course we have the marine base  -and there are people who come to Oceanside for the day(and who can blame them!)

If anything, I would like this area to have some more  variety in restaraunts(we have a restaraunt that serves Peruvian style chicken-something to do with the spices they use on the chicken I believe), because there are plenty of breakfast places, and lunch places(and combinations of both). I can leave most of the taco shops in town(though Anita's, which is within walking distance of my house) is REALLY good-I have never been disappointed by anything that I've had there.

I love Ruby's(and yes, I know it's a chain..I love Johnny Rockets for the same reason though I don't get to hit up a Johhny Rocket's that often, and  I take advantage when I do..)

[what i'm reading,september 2014]

The Magician's Land,Lev Grossman

Siege And Storm, Leigh Bardugo

Florida Roadkill,Tim Dorsey

Tiger Shrimp Tango,Tim Dorsey

[weekend report]

Friday: Went to UTC(mall). Got to see my parents' kitchen remodel. It's all torn up  right now and my parents have moved the kitchen to another part of the house. My niece  stopped by so I got to see her for a little bit.

Saturday: Hung out at Barnes &Noble and watched a lot of TV(I had the TV to myself all night!)

Sunday:Hung out at Barnes &Noble(trying to stay cool-it's been freakin' hot and muggy here). For dinner we went to Tip Top Meats which is a German restaraunt/deli/butchers. Therefore, their menu has lots of meat(pork, chicken, veal,beef) My dad got pork that had a sort of mushroom gravy on it, my mom had meatloaf and I had a New York Strip steak.

Their portions are HUGE, though! Fortunately, Tip Top have lots of to-go boxes  for anyone who wants them(*they* know their portions are huge!) I wound up putting a big chunk of my steak in a to-go box(as well as half of my potato which was also huge-going to have that for either lunch or dinner tonight,I'm not sure.)

[what if i accidentally got my shit together?]

Going to the gym has really gotten me motivated as of late-I really feel like getting things done-making doctor's appointments and that sort of thing.

Of course, I have gotten a lot more organized in my old age-I mean, you're looking at someone who always has her Christmas shopping done plenty early(but I also really don't like going to the mall around Christmas if I can help it.)

I have been hearing a lot of "it looks like you've lost weight" comments lately-and when I had my blood drawn recently, my lab results were really good-that, I attribute  to a)making an effort and b) good genetics.

[S1 EP1 Apertif]

*This  is where it all started-so much of what is familiar-"This Is My Design",the pendulum swing,the nightmare stag...I actually almost quit watching-not sure where they were going with it, but I'm glad that I did.

*The colours here are autumnal-reds,oranges and golds.

*Will's first recreation is extraordinarily gory, but compared to the rest of the episode-and the rest of the series...

*We get several book references but the tapping the phone is  out of the book.

*We're introduced  to Will's classroom enviroment-something that will become familiar over the first season.

*As someone with Asperger's can I just ramble for a minute: I find it interesting that Will is on the spectrum. I think this(and the fact that the person playing Will is  a good actor and good looking) is why I gravitate towards Will as much as I do. Jack pushing Will's glasses up is an incredible invasion of his personal space(people with Aspergers tend to have issues with personal space)

*Most of the cultural references are 70's related(well, Willy Wonka and The Hulk anyways).

*Interesting that Will mentions the girls being very Mall Of America-The Mall Of America is in Bloomington Minnesota, where the Hobbs family(who will feature very prominently in this story by the end of the episode) live.I don't think that's a coincidence.

*Will's recreation of Elise Nichols' death-choking her out-especially disturbing.

*Our first sighting of Team Sassy Science!

*We get Will and his dogs-dogs are one of his coping mechanisms(going back to the Asperger's for just a second).

*Sweaty Will(did he have encephalitis,even now?)

*The segue from 'He's eating them" into Hannibal's eating dinner is unsubtle and unsettling.

*We get a gradual reveal of Garret Jacob Hobbs and of Abigail.

*Alana is much more sympathetic in S1 than she is in S2.

*Poor Hannibal;he has to put up with patients like Franklyn!

*Parallels/callbacks:The scene in the hospital with Hannibal and Will is called back to in Savoureux; the scene with Hannibal and Will having breakfast is called back to in Releves when Hannibal brings Will the silkie chicken soup.

Cassie Boyle's death tableau, with the stag head, is called back to several times, when Will is trying to(starting to?) figure things out.

*Quote Of The Episode: "You're the mongoose I want under the house when the snakes slither by".

*The death of Garrett Jacob Hobbs happens pretty much the same way it happens in the book-though his daughter is not named.Will's killing Garrett Jacob Hobbs is what sent him to the mental hospital(in the book),not getting framed by Hannibal.

[*shakes head* ]

Now  I know that Holland America reads the Cruise Critic boards..a Cruise Critic poster said they called Holland America for clarification about formal nights on their upcoming cruise. In the course of the conversation, they mentioned Cruise Critic and the HAL rep flipped out. I knew they were reading along but apparently more so than I first suspected.

I feel bad for the people that try to point out all of the stuff that goes on there, like LMaxwell and Soccerpapi. HostWalt doesn't like people disagreeing with him, which is why he lets certain  people stay at Cruise Critic and censors other people. Look at Wakepatrol for instance-how many different ways can you say that you think that people are sloppy dressers.

The last few dress code threads have been allowed to go on for pages and pages(and get increasingly 'splodey) before HostWalt closes them. You'd think he'd get the hint-that that 'splodeyness would be a good reason to have a stickied thread just for the dress code? Nope.

[guess who's back?back again]

Yup.. I know I bitched a lot about Blogger before I left and went to LiveJournal but.. I think Blogger is what I need just at the moment.