[Nothing I can do..a total eclipse of the..moon]

I love lunar eclipses. Actually, I love 'em...just don't love that the vast majority of them are at asscrack thirty in the morning,LOL. The last two I got to see,which were a thrill-the most recent one I woke up in the middle of the night and something was compelling me to go outside and look up and I did-and was not disappointed!

So there's *another* lunar eclipse early Saturday morning, at(you guessed it)asscrack thirty.I'm going to camp outside,I've got a tent and an airbed and some warm blankets(though the weather's been pretty mild here which is a good thing.)

There are some interesting coincidences too(which freak people out-more about that in a minute!).The eclipse coincides with/is around the same time as Good Friday,Passover, *and* Easter. That's kinda neat to have all the holidays right in a row-I don't think that happens all that often given that they're all moveable feasts(to say nothing of Lent.)

This freaks some people out. I really don't understand how people equate the eclipses-or "blood moons" as some sort of bad thing. Because all of the blood moons are on Jewish Feast days and this has some sort of significance,I guess? Not really sure how people came to these conclusions and I'm too busy/have better things to do with my life than Google all of the particulars.

Imma get a bit controversial right now, so if you are easily offended, quit reading:

I think there are a LOT of people that take the Bible VERY literally.They are-I'm sorry-incapable of rational thought.

(In the movie The Seventh Sign, one of the characters asks a minister about the signs that foretell the end of the world(he has seen the moon turn  blood red-which was,without doubt, a lunar eclipse.) The minister tells him,basically,that there is a rational explanation for everything that's going on-which is true enough.)

There's other things that can cause red moons, like smoke and dust in the air.The moon is also a darker colour when it is low on the horizon, as when it is rising or setting.For people to see it as some sort of ominous portent is, in my opinion, ridiculous.

Wow..this turned into waaay more of a soapbox that I wanted it to but I thought it should be said.

[Feeling like my old self again!]

I  really am making an effort to get back to the gym, and eat healthy..whilst I was dealing with my recent health issues I didn't much feel like exercising and I sure as hell didn't eat healthy. Matter of fact, I are REALLY badly.

Gotta tell you: I went to the gym yesterday-not for very long, but I then wound up doing a bunch of walking(I had to walk to a grocery store which was a way up a hill and then I have to cross a huge intersection after which there's a *little* more walking.And then on my way back I was right where the bus stop was, so it was *all* good! When the weather's nice,the way it was on Sunday, I didn't mind a little extra walking.

One of the things that I like about my gym is that they don't have the a/c blasting like a lot of places do.20 minutes on the exercise bike, and I'm working up a sweat! My favourite things at the gym(in no particular order): Exercise bike, weights and treadmill.

Plus,they have a pool there,which was one of the things that made me want to become a member, except I've only used it once!

[random as random gets]

*Health update:No nosebleeds for 2 weeks as of tomorrow(YESS!) and..I went to the gym today for the first time in quite a while.

*I got air conditioning in my house and I LOVE it. I would have been perfectly OK with just having a window fan but my dad went with air conditioning.

*My parents are in Las Vegas-they're seeing Elton John at Caesar's Palace.Wish I was with them!(I've actually seen Elton live-not at Caesar's sadly,LOL-one of the best shows I've ever seen.)

*Call The Midwife is back!Just finished watching the first episode of the new season-lots of new characters..and there is some seriously interesting character development(as well as several new characters!)

[there's bad ideas and then there's worse ideas]

*LOLing  at the "ideas for HAL(Holland America) to make more money thread" on Cruise Critic. Some of the suggestions:

Have lodging on Half Moon Cay(nope.That place is bare bones.Plus, they'd have to rebuild every time it got damaged by a hurricane(which has happened)

Charge for reservations in the MDR(Main Dining Room)

*There was also a thread about summer cruises(during the months when there are hurricanes.) There were a few people that said they would but most thought it was a bad idea.

I know HAL *did*offer Caribbean cruises in the summertime but they stopped because they were having to reroute and the like.

There was a faux outrage(especially on the HAL boards,but on the rest of Cruise Critic too which is funny because it wasn't even a HAL ship) a few years ago when a Royal Caribbean cruise ship had to leave San Juan Puerto Rico early in order to avoid a hurricane, leaving a large number of passengers behind. You would have thought they committed a federal crime.

I get why people were upset, but it really WAS disproportionate to the actual situation. What you have to understand is that when you cruise during hurricane season, you're assuming a lot of risks.And being left, or having the number of ports changed or eliminated altogether is not out of the realm of possibility.

So what I am wondering is what would happen if Holland America were to handle a similar situation the same way as Royal Caribbean?Would people have the same faux outrage, or would they just handwave it away?(I don't doubt that some of Holland America's biggest cheerleaders(people who support the cruise line and defend any(and I do many ANY sort of criticism of their beloved cruise line *eyeroll* ) would probably do a lot of excusing. I seem to remember Royal Caribbean being singled out for especially harsh treatment for the way that they handled the San Juan situation on other areas of the Cruise Critic site.

[blog housekeeping]

I literally can't wait to review ep. 7(Sorbet) so I'm skipping over ep. 6(Entree)-for now anyways.

The plan(as it is right now) is to still have   reviews of S3 episodes on Friday(since it'll be on Thursdays of course)

[S1 Ep5:Coquilles]

*Will sleepwalking-that had to hurt. The Nightmare Stag is like "whatcha doin', Will?"

*Winston(who is the most loyal of all of Will's dogs, IMO)

*The cop is skeptical that Will hasn't had that much to drink.

*Will goes to Hannibal's(Hannibal and his fancy schmancy coffee(tea?) maker.

*Will aggressive?Nah, he's a lamb(a silent lamb?)

*The Angelmaker sees his victims with their heads on fire.

*What Jack is really saying when they're about to walk in the hotel room:"I REALLY hope you didn't have any breakfast".

*The "angels". OMFG.

*Blood eagle-an especially shitty way to die.

*Bev sticks her finger in that vomit like a boss.

*Jack and Bella have dinner at Hannibal's-we get the explaination of why she's called Bella.

*Hannibal smells Bella's perfume-and her cancer.Hannibal is like one of those cancer-sniffing dogs.Jack(at that point) has no idea.

*The woman of the couple who became angels lived for 15 minutes after she was blood eagled. Jesus.

*The killer has a brain tumour.

*Bella knows that Hannibal knows that she has cancer.Bella doesn't want Jack to see her at her worst/burden him with her "indignity" when things get bad.

*Hannibal is trying to alienate Will.Bastard.

*It's understandable, with the way that Bella's acting,that he would think that  something was fishy/she was cheating on him.

*The next Angel Maker victim  is found hanging in an alley-without his testicles. Yikes.

*Will snaps at Jack. Again, Bev is an astute observer of Will.

*Will can't sleep,and then he wakes up on his room with his dogs barking at him!

*Hannibal smells Will-tells Will to switch his aftershave "It smells like something with a ship on the bottle". Hannibal, again: "Are you having headaches?" Will "Yes." "Might want to change your aftershave". Ouch. LOL.

*The Angel Maker's wife is talking about her husband and Jack realises-it's exactly like what's been going on with Bella.

*Angel Maker is hanging up in a barn(best not to think  too much about how he got there-see also:Trou Normand)

*Will tells Jack it's getting harder and harder to look and that maybe he should get a job working in a boatyard(in Red Dragon-the book-after he quits the FBI he moves to Florida and gets a job working in a boat yard.)

*Jack shows up at Bella's session with Hannibal and  is waiting for her when her appointment is over.

*Jack says he's not going anywhere, and this is echoed in the next(final) scene in his office with Will(presumably Will knows).


Episode insight:

The theme of this episode is mortality. Both Bella's and The Angel Maker's.

There are differences in how they deal with it;the Angel Maker deals with it by making angels to watch over him. Clearly, he is sicker than anyone knows.He may have ignored his symptoms,thinking it wasn't a big deal.

There's a common thread in that neither of them want(ed) things to get too bad.

Bella(in the books anyhow) has cancer for some time, and then gets worse and does. It's not clear how long she's had cancer.In Red Dragon Jack offers to have Bella stay with Molly,Will's wife.

Bella confides in Hannibal, she doesn't want to bother Hannibal, what with everything he has to deal with.Obviously, Book!Jack and Book!Bella deal with it, and he takes care of her until she dies,

Surprisingly, Jack isn't resentful of Hannibal for being the one that Bella confdes in-even *he* understands that there is such a thing as doctor-patient confidentiality.However, at the end of the episode we see him deep in thought in his office,processing everything that's happened.

Will offers to listen to Jack-basically,Will is Jack's Hannibal, if that makes any sense?

The other thing going on in this episode is Will losing time.

He knows something is going on but isn't quite sure why.At one point the Angel Maker sees him with his head on fire(could this be a precursor to the encephalitis? However, he does see his first victims with their heads on fire too so maybe it *is* significant.)

Hannibal suspects something;that is why he smells Will, to see if he smells anything.Of course a few episodes later he describes Will's smell as a "fevered  sweetness".


Quotes:

Abandonment requires expectation.-Will

My ears rang like the first time I heard my mom use the f word. -Bev

There's no point being mad at cancer for being cancer.-Bella

[I'm not even a parent but this hits close to home]

I don't understand the whole "C sections are the worst thing EVAR!!" mentality that some people have, and why anyone who has a C-section(especially if it's *medically* necessary-particularly if it's medically necessary and not just because the doctor is in a hurry) is less of a mother because of it.

Lemme tell you a story:

17 years ago tomorrow, my sister-in-law went into labor(prematurely) with her first baby, my nephew Spencer. It turned out that he was breech, and had to be born via  C-section.Apart from being a preemie, and a few health issues because of that, which were minor, he was fine.

*Sometimes* they can flip the baby but it's painful, and also, it doesn't always work.

Yeah, I feel strongly about this.

(I kinda feel the same way about home birth-it's definitely taking a risk, and it's not for everyone. I did a report on home birth for health class when I was in high school.)

My conclusion: I wouldn't do it myself, but I understood why people would choose it.

[He's a legacy![/Animal House]]

My oldest nephew is going away to college next year-he has already been accepted to two colleges-and is waiting to hear from a few more. There are a lot of things to consider..the two colleges he han already been accepted to would be easy as far as coming home for the holidays(one is in Kansas-Kansas State- and the other is in Missouri.)

He's still got some time, but my nephew Spencer(who will be 17 on Friday) is starting to think about where he wants to go to college. They've already been to NAU(Northern Arizona University, where my nephew Jax also applied which would be a bit further from home, but it's where my brother Henry and his wife went. On the other hand, Kansas State has a lot of history with our family, as several family members, including my grandfather and uncle went there(when my brother and wife  went to check it out they bought K State shirts for my cousin Hank's twins-there was a picture of them on Facebook wearing the shirts which was really cool-not even a year old yet(they turn 1 next month) and they'e already getting pressure about where they should go to college(I kid, I kid!)

When my niece was thinking about where she should go to college, she went to a lot of different colleges-ultimately she wound up going to USD(The University Of San Diego), which is expensive, but you're getting a really good education(am I biased because my niece went there?Probably. LOL)

[Hannibal news!]

*The first episode is going to take place over 4 different time periods. This I am really excited about. I don't know if it will be in the first episode, but I am looking forwards to seeing Zachary Quinto as Bedelia's patient. I think perhaps that episode might do a lot of jumping around in time, to answer  the questions that we have about Bedelia and Hannibal running off together.

*Episode 8(the time jump episode-the second time jump episode-)is called The Great Red Dragon. So they're not sticking with the food titles for the whole season.

*I have/had a lot of skepticism about 2 time jumps-I think they can be overused-and I think there are a lot ot TV show writers that do it too much-I don't think this is the case with Hannibal. Two time jumps and, it would seem, quite a few flashbacks.

I think that since, inititally, we're getting a year time jump ,it makes sense to have flashbacks,especially given the way  Season 2 ended(Fannibals,after Mizumono was over: "Wait, what?!?") Also, we're getting flashbacks in episode 4(which follows on from what happened after Mizumono ended) which is good,I'm glad we're going to see the direct fallout from what happened. It's a bit of a cheat otherwise.

[Haven't memed in a long time!]

1 movie: Star Wars.

1 Book: A couple of books immediately came right to mind, but I'd have to say Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I've re-read it a bunch of times.

1 Song: The Reflex by Duran Duran

1 Meal:I'd have to say the rehearsal dinner at my cousin's wedding.They had bread pudding(which I don't normally like) but they had the most amazing whiskey sauce. that they served with it. It's almost 6 years later and I still remember it fondly(yeah, it was THAT good!) I  had bread pudding for dessert at Thanksgiving last year which had butterscotch chips on top(not something I normally like)but it was SO good!

[just..wtf]

I  really could do without some of the snippy comments that people on the Cruise Critic Holland America boards make. Bitching on the Sailaway threads because the Holland America ships are not leaving first?Really? Well, if there are a lot of ships in port(which it sounded like there were, today) then there is a certain order that the ships have to leave in. Not sure why people would take things like that so personally, but.. ok.

The other thing that mystifies me is the Dive In(right outside of the Lido on most of the ships.) Not anything special(hot dogs, hamburgers, etc.) but the way that a lot of people rave about their food you would think it's haute cuisine.And it's not. There are(thankfully) plenty of people saying "what's so special about this?"

I feel that way about the pillow chocolates the stewards leave every night. Quite frankly, they are not any great shakes( I think they're waxy crap. Holland America could do a whole lot better when it comes to chocolate, if we're being honest. Princess had REALLY good pillow chocolates-they were a lot better than Holland America's!)

Sometimes I wonder about the tastebuds of people that cruise on Holland America-I have heard more than one person say that they don't like the desserts. REALLY?!? I have yet to be disappointed by a dessert on Holland America-that is one area that cruise lines excel.

(It could be that these people  limit themselves to sugar-free desserts.Somehow I doubt, it, though.) The sugar-free stuff I stay away from;if I am gonna have dessert I want to enjoy it;plus the sugar free stuff is hard on my stomach.)

Trying to think of what dessert it would be possible for the chef on a cruise ship to screw up and I can't really think of anything!

[Still digging Dig]

In this week's episode, we found out a little bit more about each element of the story;Jason Isaac's character's daughter was

[S1 Ep4:Oeuf]

*Hannibal and Will therapy session.

*The maggoty food-makes me throw up in my mouth a bit!

*Will's recreation "If you don't eat your growing foods you won't get any dessert!" and the extreme closeup of Will's eye.

*Hannibal feeds people sausage(!) to Will's dog. Hannibal sticks his finger on one of Will's lured and..nothing.

*Abigail doesn't need therapy/doesn't think it works for her(in denial?).She talks about wanting to go home..and she gets her wish..sort of..later on in the episode.

*During S1 we all thought the beer Alana was drinking was Beeriam Lass.We had no idea!

*I love the conversation about siblings(Price is a twin!) and how Zeller works out that Will is an only child

*Which is brought up in Will's session with Hannibal, who asks about Will's mother. "low hanging fruit on the tree"-is Will's dad still alive?Is he close to any of his family(I'll expand a bit on that in my episode insight!)

*"What am I about to eat?" "Rabbit" "He should have hopped faster" "Yes he should have and the cut to the guy running in the woods makes me laugh every.time.

*Will and his doggies!

*Another reference to bite marks-a reference to Dolarhyde, surely.

*The bastardised Christmas crime scene(I can't hear that song without thinking of Hannibal!)

*The Mother(played by Molly Shannon-I don't think she has an actual name-she's just "The Mother".

*Bev was  always able to get through to Will in ways everyone else couldn't.

*Kid pissing his pants-CJ has quite the death stare. "Gee whiz"-is that an intentional pun?

*Will bought a gift for Abigail but is feeling weird about it. Will Graham smash! GRR!

*Abigail wants to spend the night at Hannibal's but Hannibal's like "Nope.Gotta follow the rules".

*Abigail wants to work for the FBI..Yeahhh, that ain't happening.

*Hannibal gives Abigail mushroom tea and she is tripping BALLS. Hannibal  qualifies it because it's under his supervision, and it's at his house *and* he knows Alana is going to be pissed but he doesn't GAF.

*Christopher shows up at his parents' house. Everything gets a bit crazy, and Bev is able to take down The Mother. Christopher says that he wasn't going to do anything but he was going to have to tell his side of the story anyhow.

*Yep, Alana is PISSED at Hannibal.

*Abigail sees family-her mom and dad, who are dead.That's the shroom tea talking, no doubt.

*Jack wonders if he and Bella can still have kids.She says it's too late.At this point, he doesn't know that she has cancer(that's the next episode!)

*Sleepy Will! :)


Episode insight:

This episode is all about family. Or a version of it that Molly Shannon's character has created.That A story makes up the bulk up the episode,but family is brought up in other wats-Abigail wanting a family in lieu of her own(who are dead.)

It also come up when Team Sassy Science are discussing the case in the BAU morgue.It's a small but insightful insight(redundant?) into Team Sassy Science.

Last but not least, we have Will, exploring his family issues in a session with Hannibal.For someone who doesn't like the idea of family, he is VERY invested in this case.

As I said earlier, what is the deal with Will's family?Is his dad still alive?Did his mother leave?If she did, it was when he was quite young because he says that he didn't know her.

Will says that he doesn't like the idea of family;however someone keeps sending him Old Spice.I've heard theories that it's a family member(Cousin?Aunt?) sending it to him every Christmas. Since he and his dad moved around so much,it's doubtful that he spent a lot of time with extended family-unless he and his dad were on their way to a nearby city.


Quotes:

Sometimes at night I leave the lights on in my little house and walk across the flat fields.When I look back from a distance,the house is like a boat on the sea.-Will

Passion's good-keeps the heart pumping.-Hannibal

That's some lazy psychiatry, Dr. Lecter.-Will

Shockingly rude.-Alana

[Panca]

A couple of days ago, my parents and I went to Panca, which is near where I live in Oceanside.It's in a small space-where Beach Break-which moved several doors down-used to be.

My mom and I ordered the chicken, which  comes with a choice of a side(my mom had the rice and I had fries) and my dad had a sandwich  also with rice. You get a salad too, which has this really good dressing on it.

The chicken was SO good, very flavourful and VERY moist.They have a rotisserie so I'm guessing that what  doesn't get sold as 1/2 and 1/4 chickens get turned into sandwiches and salads. And pretty reasonable,pricewise.

[San Diego places]

Yesterday we went down to the Natural History Museum to see the exhibit on King Tut(If you're in San Diego or are going to be in San Diego) it's well worth the price of admission.)Plus,the Natural History museum excells in a lot of areas. If you're not familiar with the area(we had a couple of people in our group-it was me, my mom and dad, my brother and my niece and 2 of my nephews(one of whom was taking the day off school.)

Normally,I would have a problem with that(I'm a big believer in getting a good education!),but since it was educational, I was cool with it!

I love going down to Balboa Park-there were a lot of people down there even though it was a Tuesday afternoon. I noticed that there were people up in the bell tower(they just opened up the bell tower which is right next door to the Museum Of Man.(you have to book your tickets to go up in the bell tower ahead of time which I get-they don't want a bunch of people up there-google it and you'll see why!)

There are so many great museums(my favourites, in no particular order: Fleet Space Center, Museum Of Art, and the Natural History museum.)


Also, there's the Old Globe theater-which is actually 3 theaters, one of which is a open-air theater.That's where they do Shakespeare plays in the summertime(I always go to one of the Shakespeare plays-I alternate-one year I go to a tragedy and the next I'll go to a comedy.)

There's lots of open spaces in the park-the park is right next to a bunch of canyons-it would be easy to start hiking in one of the more remote areas and get lost.

My dad and I always park across the Cabrillo bridge(again, google it!) when we go to the Old Globe and walk it. On summer nights, it's really nice, and they have these lights strung up on the bridge(except a lot of them are always burnt out,lol)

[This is what's up!]

What I'm reading:
My Promised Land, a history of Israel. Decided to read something that was NON fiction for once. I am branching out-I have been reading a lot more fantasy books-a genre I usually don't read but have read several fantasy books recently that I really enjoyed so there you go!

What I'm listening to:
Well, I just got Pandora for my iPhone, so I've been discovering all the music there is on there(I love it,though the ads are annoying;I'm too cheap to pay for the ad-free version)

What I'm learning:
All about nosebleeds. I have been having recurring nosebleeds and FINALLY got in to see the doctor today. It ended with me having to have my nose cauterised. Was it uncomfortable?Yes. But if it helps I will be happy.

Fortunately, I had a really good doctor-he was a rock star, seriously.Explained what was going on, and was very sympathetic-having your nose cauterised is NOT fun(speaking from personal experience here!).

[Really digging Dig]

The USA series Dig, which stars Jason Isaacs, is a couple of episodes in, and  I am enjoying it immensely.It's The Da Vinci Code with  a  big helping of end of the world stuff. It's way more entertaining than I'm selling it as. I don't usually do spoilers but imma put some spoilery thoughts behind a cut(spoilers, obviously..)

[S1 Ep3:Potage]

*Flashback to Abigail and her dad in the woods. Abigail skinning the deer is more disturbing to me than a LOT of things on this show.Odd how that is, isn't it?

*Abigail wakes up out of her coma.

*Alana shows up at Will's house and Will is in his skivvies(Alana doesn't have a problem with it;she has brothers, LOL)

*Jack wants Will to go and see Abigail. Everyone else thinks it's a shitty idea.

*For someone who just came out of a coma, Abigail is doing amazingly well-and after having her throat slashed no less!

*She's also in denial..she can't really face up to what's going on..

*Hannibal sits in on Will's lecture on the Ripper copycat-oh,the irony!

*Freddie gets to Abigail and is shit talking Will. Will comes in in the middle of this and is(understandably) like "GTFO"(Later on Freddie tries to apologise and gets shut down.Freddie, not to be outdone, puts her own spin on it and posts it on Tattle Crime.)

*Freddie meets with Nick Boyle  to tell him Abigail is out of her coma and basically sets Nick Boyle on Abigail Hobbs. Nick definitely wants revenge,but it's a grey area if he would actually do anything or not(more about that in a minute!)

*Abigail, Alana,Will and Hannibal go back to the Hobbs house. Abigail's "You be the man on the phone" line gives me chills.Every.Time.

*Abigail reveals that her dad used every part of the deer and would do it at his cabin in the woods.

*Abigail's friend Marissa Schurr shows up,as does Nick Boyle, who is there to start trouble. Abigail throws a rock at him and he leaves. Hannibal sees the rock and hides it.

*They go out to Garret Jacob Hobbs' cabin and find the body of Marissa Schurr, who was hung up and possibly bled.

*Hannibal makes it seem as if Nick Boyle was involved-he wasn't.He is, understandably, upset about his sister's death-not enough to kill,though.Framing people is something Hannibal is good at. :P

*Freddie tells them Nick Boyle has been lurking around Abigail's old house. Abigail discovers that no part of her father's victims was going yo waste. Literally.

*Nick Boyle confronts Abigail;Abigail kills him(nope. No way that is self-defense.) If Alana had seen it the jig would have been up so what does he do?knocks Alana out with his stealth ninja cannibal powers.

*Abigail knows that Hannibal was the person that called her parents' house that day;and that he is the Ripper..and he knows that she was an accomplice to her dad's crimes.

Episode insight:

Abigail wakes up;and has to deal with her current situation. She talks about selling her parents' home;it's a lot more complicated than that.

Freddie wants to get in there and try to get to Abigail before Will and Hannibal do.

So she goes to Nick Boyle,the brother of Cassie Boyle(the "field kabuki" victim and tells him that Abigail is out of her coma.

He has plenty of motives(MOTIVES!), and if something had happened to Abigail a few episodes later he would have been at the top of the suspect list. But Abigail winds up killing him.. and it is pretty obvious that it's NOT self defense-but Abigail  didn't know what he was going to do.Nick Boyle was.. searches for a word and settles on "unpredictable".

Interesting that everyone(save for Jack who definitely pushes the issue of Will seeing her) is against Will being the one who talks to Abigail.

Quotes:

Dogs keep a promise a person can't.-Alana

[Adding it to my list of must-see cooking/food movies]

My parents and I watched The Hundred Foot Journey tonight. I really liked it..of course, I love Indian food(of which there was a lot in this movie-it all looked SO delicious!).I also liked the story a lot-a Indian family shows up in an French village and people aren't quite sure what to think of them(and of the food-not like it's a big city like,say, Paris).But people LOVE their food(there are various bumps in the road along the way, though..I normally don't mind giving out spoilers but if I am reccomending a movie or TV show to someone I try to keep it relatively spoiler free.)

Also?It's got Helen Mirren,IMO Helen Mirren can do no wrong.I love her in everything I've seen her in.

It's one of my new favourite cooking movies, right up there with Julie and Julia(what I liked about Julie and Julia was that they made Julie a lot nicer in the movie..in the book she's not a very likeable person but the book is so well written you can look past it.

The other really good food movie is Mostly Martha.It's a German movie(which got a American remake called No Reservations-not to be confused with the Anthony Bourdain book and show.)

[Finally getting around to talking about Broadchurch]

S2 of Broadchurch is starting off pretty good, IMO(it's helping pass the time 'till Hannibal   come back  in June.)

The story picks up more or less where we left off.  I'm curious about Claire..just every aspect of her life..(sorry,I can't say much more..don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the episode yet.)

Lots of new characters;I  want to know more about Claire.. and the two barristers, played by Charlotte Rampling and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. We know that Charlotte Rampling's character used to be Marianne Jean-Baptiste's character's boss.. some time ago. Interested in hearing the back story there because there obviously is a lot more than the one comment she made.

Joe's trial is going to loom large in this season(and I happened to read a spoiler, which I will NOT repeat..but it did make me wonder where they are going to go with S3.). Several plot threads will be mixed in,which is good..Hoping it doesn't seem too shoehorned in there.

[still dealing with health issues]

Today...JFC. I was at Target(attempting to) pick up a prescription and then grabbing a quick lunch and then to my psychologist's office. Weeeeel it didn't exactly play out that way.

First,I go to Target and they don't have my prescription.(Turns out that they were waiting on my doctor's signature.But I didn't know that. I was not happy,to say the least.)

Well, I walk away,grousing under my breath the whole way and HOLY SHIT I got a nosebleed. I went in the bathroom and my nose was bleeding bad.Not the worst one I've ever had,but it scared the Target employee who was in the bathroom with me. She(and several concerned people) kept asking if I was OK/needed to call a paramedic. I appreciate that they were coming from a place of concern but after the first few times I was like "I'm fine, I'm seeing a doctor soon"(which I am..originally I was going to have to wait 2 weeks,but now I'm going next Wednesday.I'll take what I can get to be quite honest,but I just want to know what is going on.

The lady at Target seemed VERY skeptical when I said that it was because of dry weather. I don't know any different(and don't have any reason to think that it might be something else.) I try really hard to not catastrophize, but it's really difficult  when you look up nosebleeds on WebMD, and granted, most of the causes  of nosebleeds are NABD but  they can also be a symptom of more serious things!(I'm sticking with the dry weather explaination )

When I went to the emergency room, a couple of weeks ago, the ER doc told me that  anterior nosebleeds are the most common type of nosebleed and whilst it might seem like it's a lot, in point of fact not that much.Also he showed me how to pinch my nose to stop the bleeding.

The unpredicability of when I am going to get a nosebleed is one of the reasons that I want to see a doctor, like yesterday :P And I still have to go back to Target tomorrow to get my prescriptions..that is going to be fun. I know imma be "Bad nosebleed lady" now.

[A Hannibal meme..slightly adapted por mi]

1)What was the first episode you saw and what was your impression of it? Apertif.And, as I have said before, I almost quit watching after the first few minutes!Glad I stuck with it!

2)Your favourite episode:Sorbet.

3)Your least favourite episode:It's not like I hate it..but Trou Normand.

4)A disappointment? Hassun.

5)Funniest quote from an episode: "USE THE LADIES' ROOM!!"

6)Your favourite character:Will.

7)Show/Movie or book:All of them.

8)Post or describe a scene that makes you happy:The opera scene in Sorbet.

9)Post or describe a scene that makes you sad:Mizumono.You know what scene I'm talking about.

10)Favourite quote: "Killing must feel good to God too.He does it all the time, and are we not made in His image?"

11)Your favourite "murder" :The field kabuki in the pilot.

[the day got away from me]

That's why no blog yesterday! But I did have a fun day yesterday so there's that.

*I went to a Purim carnival at a local(to my parents' house) temple.  It was fun to just walk around and check it all out.

*My health issues are still foremost on my mind..I am going to try and get in to see a doctor earlier than the 26th(when my appointment is).I managed to get in..2 days earlier than my original appointment!

*We have an airdate for S3! June 4th! I was on the bus when I heard the news. That means it'll be wrapping up just in time for the fall TV season.Wish Hannibal was on during the fall but I personally think that it being on during the summer gives it more of a chance as far as ratings go.

[not quite drama central again..getting there though..]

*Bashing large groups who book cruises is the new thing.People don't like being "inconvenienced" by the groups when they take over the Crow's Nest or what have you.

Apparently PCC(Personal Cruise Consultants) have not been telling people when there is a large group on their cruise. Squeaky wheel gets the grease..that sort of information is easy to find-you can even find it on Cruise Critic. So I call a little bit of bullshit on that.  Try to go with the flow a little more.

Yes, you wanted a set dining time but the big group is messing with that.Adjust.The world will not end if you have Anytime Dining for *one* cruise.

*More reports of issues on various ships.The Rotterdam is looking very worn,according to several people who have cruised on her recently.And there are the usual problems with A/C, non-functioning toilets, etc.The same old same old.

Of course the HAL cheerleaders try to handwave it away.Fortunately there are always a few voices of reason who point out how  ridiculousthe comments about non-working toilets are are met with "bring a Ziploc bag"/"Use the public toilets".

I don't even know what to say about the first comment. I wish I could say I was joking about that but I'm not.

As for the second..that's completely impractical, *and* sometimes the public toilets  onboard the ship don't work either.  Add to that the average age of a HAL cruiser..and all the..health problems that come with that. I noticed that they sell Depends on HAL cruises.So HAL knows perfectly well that their customer base skews older.

[S1 Ep2:Amuse Bouche]

*Will at the shooting range and he imagines he's shooting Garret Jacob Hobbs.

*Will and Jack at Hobbs' cabin in the woods. *shudder*. Lots of deer/antler imagery. We get another reference to the Evil Minds museum.

*There's a brief scene of Abigail(we see more of her later on in the episode even though she is still in a coma.

*Freddie didn't cover all her tracks; they find her hair in Hobbs' cabin(they must not keep Hobbs' cabin very secure. Either that or she bribed someone to get in there.I wouldn't put it past her.

*Will doesn't like the attention from his students-they applaud when he walks in his class;

*There's a girl who is about to ask him a question after class is over;I think(though I'm not sure/it's been a while that that is supposed to be a nod to Clarice who they don't have the rights to.If she doesn't have a name, they can't really get in any trouble for it.

*Will has to get the all-clear from Hannibal(really?he's the only psychiatrist in Baltimore?)

*Kids in the woods think they found pot.They wish.No,they found a mushroom farm made of human bodies.A bunch of fungis(and gals-and no,I am not sorry.Not in the least. This is one of the ickiest crime scenes in the entire series(and that's saying a lot given what show we're talking about!)

*Freddie shows up(of course) and fibs about her cred in order to find out what's going on.The cop calls her out on it later.

*Will does his recreations and, as it turns out, one of the fungis is alive.Only just.He dies on the way to the hospital.

*Will confides in Hannibal-things he would probably not tell Jack(or anyone else for that matter.)

*Freddie  tells a huge lie-to Hannibal-posing as a potential patient-and Hannibal sees right through it. I'm really surprised that Hannibal didn't kill and eat Freddie right then and there, to be honest.

*Dinner at Hannibal's- "Pork" with Cumberland sauce.

*Jack has lost one of his "ponies"-watching this now, knowing that Miriam was alive the whole time..it's  weird.

*The BAU figure out that all of the victims had been sent into diabetic ketoacidosis. This leads them to a grocery store and to Eldon Stammets, the killer of the week. They find his car, with one of his victims in the trunk. He escapes(but not for long.)

*Hannibal sees the story Freddie wrote and he is not happy. The FBI show up at her hotel and tell her they know she was at Hobbs' cabin. Apparently she has been trying to get information  from Zeller too-before he leaves he says "You used  me". 

*Will is at the hospital with Abigail.We get a "is he dreaming/is he not dreaming?" scene. He wakes up  to Alana reading Flannery O'Connor to Abigail. Alana is a fan.

*The cop is waiting for Freddie as she leaves her hotel-he knows that she doesn't always get her info legitly(is legitly even a word? oh well.) and gets shot by Stammets who wants to know where Will is. So now Will is in danger, and so is Abigail.Freddie told him what he wanted to know.

*The hospital Abigail is in has the worst security;Stammets is able to walk in there, no problem, and kidnap Abigail.Fortunately Will is able to catch up with Stammets(and shoot him; it wouldn't have ended well if he hadn't but Will just winged him.)

Episode Insight:

A great deal of this episode is Will dealing with the aftermath of shooting Garret Jacob Hobbs;he's clearly uncomfortable with people..searches for a word and settles on "congratulating" him for it. He's also uncomfortable with the idea of therapy, as evidenced by the  beginning of this episode.

This episode also establishes how unethical Freddie can be-the lengths she'll go to to get a story, It'll be interesting to see what the dynamic with her and Will(and the rest of the FBI for that matter) is gonna be during S3?

Quotes:

Killing must feel good to God too.He does it all the time, and are we not made in His image?-Hannibal

[Blog housekeeping]

Haven't had one of these in a while!

I've been thinking about writing about fandoms again..the good and the bad, you know?

I've had my iPhone for 2(almost 3) months so I think a report about how I'm doing with that is probably due one of these days  :)

Might get back to doing  my weekend reports  on Monday again-kinda like writing those but don't feel especially motivated when it tends to be the same thing every weekend.

Five things may make a comeback-the problem being that some weeks when I did that with regularity,I struggled to find 5 things. Maybe it's a sign?

I've got another TV post coming in a few days-I just watched the first episode of the second season of Broadchurch..I'll save my thoughts for the actual post,though. :)

[News/meta post!]

There was more casting news-Zachary Quinto is playing Bedelia's patient-the one who swallowed his tongue-o I'm guessing  that is going to be a flashback of some sort.

Surprised that TVLine didn't get the exclusive-usually they do-but it was Entertainment Weekly this time.

I have a feeling that flashbacks are going to be a big part  of S3-we're getting the flashbacks to the aftermath of the finale in episode 4, and there is also going to be a flashback with Abel Gideon, among others.

Now, I haven't really said how I feel about the 2 time jumps in one season. At first I didn't get that it was a way to move the story along(I', not a big fan of time jumps and a lot of the time I think they're done out of writer laziness more than anything else.

That's not the case here.If they really *are* trying to fit all of Red Dragon into S3,then yeah, it makes sense. I'm hoping that they vary from the book quite a bit-in terms of Will's scar, as an example.

Given that Chilton is going to have a scar that is reminscent of Ed Harris in A History Of Violence, it seems like.searches  for a word and settles on "doubling up".They could have Will get the scar, but  have it be fixable to where you could hardly tell.

I know a lot of people want to see the Will/Molly wedding but as I said before..they want to move the story along.I mean,I get it.There are people who want to see Will have 2 seconds of happiness before everything goes to shit again. I understand that, too.

What will be interesting is the relationship between Will and his stepson Walter(Will in the book, Josh/Kevin in the films).In the book, their relationship is fairly antagonistic.I feel like if something were to happen to Molly, there would be a custody battle between himself and Walter's grandparents.

In the books, Willy/Walter's grandparents do not like Will very much.Willy is their only connection to their late son, which is fine,but they *really* can't begrudge Molly her happiness with someone new? A lot of that probably has to do with not wanting Willy/Walter to forget  about his real dad. I seriously do not think Will or Molly would let that happen.

[Last Man on Earth/Broadchurch S2]

Finally watched the first 2 episodes of Last Man On Earth today..I LOVED it. Admittedly, when I heard the premise for the show,I was like "yeah..no thanks" because the apocalyptic thing has been overdone

But this, this I liked. Will Forte plays the titular Last Man(though, as he finds out, he's not the last person on earth..he meets Carol-well, discovers her existence-just as he's about to kill himself. She gets on his last nerve, but they need each other,for what it's worth.

I have this strange feeling that there may be more survivors than we're being lead to believe. We saw  a flashback, but it wasn't clear how long ago it was meant to be-I'm hoping we'll get a flashback to before everything went to shit(the apocalypse was caused by a pandemic of some sort)

Apparently the ratings weren't the best. Fox(among other networks)want a hit show desperately.
Problem is,they greenlight all these shows, get them filmed, and..they're crap.And it's a whole lot of recycled ideas. Remakes of shows(Hannibal gets a pass because it's actually GOOD-and that's not just me saying that because I'm a Fannibal. Ok, maybe a little :P

In other news, Season 2 of Broadchurch starts tomorrow on BBC America.I am very curious to see where they go with plotlines this season, given that the reveal of Olivia Colman's character's husband(got that?) being the killer was a gut punch. Matter of fact, I would say it is as much of a gut punch as Hannibal's S2 finale.

[What I'm reading March 2015]

Just finished Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs. I've decided that I like the Bones books a whole lot more than I do the TV show(I like the show fine;but the season finale last year was just a hot mess. I've liked quite a few episodes this season,I must say..)

Before that, I read The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. It takes place before the Civil War. The abolitionist John Brown becomes the guardian of a young slave boy named Henry.He thinks that Henry is a little girl,because when they meet,Henry is wearing a sack. Henry tries to correct him but gives up after a few times.

The book is based on fact(the raid on Harper's Ferry, though as with a lot of things,McBride takes quite a few liberties with history. John Brown's family *are* in this book, as are Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman(who John Brown calls "General".)

One aspect of the book that may bother people is usage of words that would have been common in John Brown's day. Yes, it's jarring. For the most part,The Good Lord Bird avoids the horrors of slavery.

There are three sections to the book- Free Deeds(Kansas), Slave Deeds(Missouri) and Legend(Virginia) The first two are shorter and are fairly quick reads;the third is much longer and covers  the lead up to the raid at Harper's Ferry.

Well worth reading if you have any sort of interest in history(which I do-it's hard to find *good* historical fiction.)

[choose your own subject line!]

*Still out of sorts. I had to go to a baby shower the other day, as I mentioned the other day, and I had to put on a happy face which was hard for me :(

*In happier news: 1) I got the new issue of Essential Homme magazine with Hugh Dancy on the cover. I  saw it at Barnes &Noble and was standing in the magazine section flipping my shit-I'm sure people wondered what my deal was!

(Of course I took a picture of the cover and tweeted it. I am such a dork!)

2)There is a sequel to the movie Hope And Glory-Queen and Country- which I can't wait to see!

*Friends of my parents' just got back from a Holland America cruise and they said it was kinda "meh". I know exactly how they feel. Wait,maybe I should qualify that just a little:

I like Holland America. I really enjoyed my last cruise on a Holland America ship.But I really liked our first Princess cruise. I liked it a LOT.

Unlike a lot of the people on Cruise Critic's Holland America boards, I do *not* feel like I have to be "brand loyal" and that I am "cheating" on Holland America by trying another cruise line.

Something is going on with Holland America,though:There have been a lot more posts about things(both major and minor)that have gone wrong on Holland America cruises. I am amazed at how things like malfunctioning toilets and a/c can be handwaved away as being "part of being on a cruise ship". I have much more to say about this but will save it for another post ;)