This week's movies

Here's the post that I intended to write yesterday, but didn't because of the rabid mosquitoes in the Minnesota northwoods.

Quick notes on the movies that I've watched this past week:

Talladega Nights wasn't as funny as it could have been. I think that for the most part, Will Ferrell wasn't the funny one in the movie--it was everyone around him that made me laugh. I especially liked the kids, Walker and Texas Ranger, and how they reformed under "Granny Law." They were humorously disturbing when they were foul-mouthed, but absolutely hysterical when they were doing tai chi with their grandmother.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Happy Feet was pretty bad, to be honest. Its biggest problem is that it couldn't decide what it wanted to be. A musical? A movie to inspire environmentalism? A movie about being yourself, no matter what the cost? It bounced from one to the other, leaving gaps where you thought, "But I thought this movie was about..." I also wasn't really impressed with the music. While the songs in the Disney movies usually forward the plot, the songs in Happy Feet were pop songs, often jumbled together. They didn't do a whole lot for me. The exile scene was also really very heavy, and came across sounding preachy. But I did really like the little Latino penguins; they made me laugh quite a bit, as did the humans dancing at the end.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Pan's Labyrinth is the best movie that I've seen in a long time. The special effects were integrated seamlessly into the movie, the lighting shifted in amazing ways, based on what was happening (I really want to go back and watch it more closely to see exactly how this is done), and the juxtaposition of a fantasy story against the horrors of war was an incredibly poignant way to highlight the different worldviews of the different characters. Ivana Baquero, who plays Ofelia, does a fabulous job, but the movie is so incredible because each of the main characters creates a person that is believable, and, even at times for the Captain, sympathetic. I absolutely loved it and think it is a great contribution to the genre of fantasy literature and film.

Rating: 5+ stars out of 5

Love Actually came out a while ago, but I recently rewatched it. Yes, it fits into the genre of chick flick, but the interwoven story lines makes it a more interesting movie than most. I really enjoy movies where seemingly separate plots somehow come together, or are at least peripherally connected. I also think that the movie does a pretty good job of showing many aspects of love--including love with the possibility of betrayal and love of someone who has died--in a more honest way than many romantic comedies.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

And as a side note...I'm a little crabby with Netflix right now, to be honest. I loved their service when it first came out. We took a break from our subscription to play World of Warcraft, and we just recently renewed it. But now that all the disks aren't brand new, I've been noticing a LOT more performance issues on the DVDs we've rented. Since we renewed our subscription (about 2 weeks), I've had 2 movies that hang up so badly I can't understand the dialogue, and one of them even needed to skip the chapter before the movie would continue playing. I know that I can send the movie back and get a different copy, but that doesn't do anything for me when I want to see the last 15 minutes of Love Actually right now.

/sigh. Here's hoping Netflix works harder in the future to screen movies that are becoming unplayable.

Worst. Idea. Ever.

Well, today I was going to post about movies that I've seen in the past week, but since I nearly didn't survive yesterday to blog another day, you're going to hear about that instead :)

My husband and I have been looking on and off at buying some undeveloped land, partly as an investment, partly for the possibility of building a cabin on it, partly for hunting and fishing. We're not looking too seriously, but every month or two, our real estate agent will send over a packet of possibilities. We generally look through them, decide they're too expensive/not what we're looking for/too far away/etc., but every once in a while, one strikes our interest and we visit it.

Mistake #1: Visiting a possible land purchase yesterday, on the spur of the moment.

In and of itself, this isn't really a mistake. We had a free evening, the land was only about an hour away, and we wanted to visit it sooner rather than later. The mistake was that we did it without really thinking too much about what we would find when we got there, or what we should wear.

Mistake #2: Not turning back when we saw that it was raining intermittently.

This is probably the biggest mistake we made. We wanted to take a few pictures of the land for reference purposes, and rain makes that nearly impossible. Land that's wet and soggy is also a lot less fun to tramp through. When we had to pull over to the side of the road because it was raining so hard that we couldn't see, that probably should have been a sign to turn around and go home. But we kept on.

Mistake #3: Not running for our lives when we were swarmed by mosquitoes the instant we stepped out of the car.

At this point, I'm sure you're thinking, "Well, it can't have been that bad." It was that bad. It was probably worse than you're imagining, unless you've lived in a state that claims the mosquito as the state bird. We got out of the car to get the camera and our shoes from the trunk and were instantly covered in 10 mosquitoes each. We sort of stood there, in shock, for about 30 seconds, not really willing to open the hatchback and let all these bugs into the car. We frantically opened our doors, jumped in, and struggled to slap all of the pesky things that had followed us back into the car. It was unbelievable. In the 30 seconds I had been outside, not only had I managed to kill 5 mosquitoes, but I somehow had picked up a wood tick as well.

At this point, it was really a lose/lose situation, so anything we chose to do wasn't going to be great. We could drive home, and not even see the land we'd come to see, or we could venture on and have a lousy time of it.

We chose the latter. And we had a very lousy time. The land was heavily wooded, but there was a light track into the trees that had been made by a car. We decided to head in there, saying to ourselves that we'd walk fast, but not run.

Ha. Yeah, right. We started walking, and after about a minute, were running about as fast as we could in the mud and wet leaves. We followed the track in to find the pond that had been in the land description. Part of the idea of the trip was to see if there was anything in the pond that we could fish for, but by the time we got to the pond, we were both so surrounded by mosquitoes that stopping for more than 5 seconds to snap a quick picture would have been suicide.

You see, they were following us. The ones from the edge of the woods were joined by those further in, until it seemed that every freaking mosquito on that plot of land had us surrounded. "Give us your blood!" they demanded. And since we'd already killed several of their friends, they weren't about to show us any mercy.

Which is why, after only 5 minutes in our potential northwoods paradise, we fled back to the safety of the car, my husband desperately trying to keep the camera dry and me trying to avoid the rain-drop laden branches that he was (unintentionally, I hope) letting spring back in my face.

Somehow, in the midst of the chaos, we got three fairly decent pictures, including this one:

And we did learn this important lesson: If we buy this land, spending time there during the summer, particularly when it's damp, is the worst idea ever. And if not the absolute worst idea, it's at least as bad as all the fashion choices of the late 80s and early 90s, such as the tall-bangs craze, Zubaz, and rolling the bottoms of your jeans.

My weekend

Well, this weekend my husband and I drove to Sheboygan, Wisconsin for my cousin's wedding. Gratz to D & L on your marriage! May you be blessed with many wonderful years together.

My husband took some pretty cool pictures at the reception, some of which could even be labeled "artsy." :) Here's my favorite:


Other thoughts from the weekend....

• Before we left, I thought gas prices in Minnesota were awful. Then, we went to Wisconsin, where it's at least 30 cents more per gallon. Nothing like traveling to Wisconsin to make gas in Minnesota feel cheap, even at over $3 a gallon.
• We drove through a lot of Wisconsin farmland, which I think is quite beautiful. We had a fun time picking out different animals we saw as we drove--cows, horses, llamas, elk, buffalo, turkeys, chickens, goats, sheep, donkeys, deer, and geese. The more we saw, the more I thought, "You know, maybe it would be fun to own a farm. It could be relaxing, I'd be outside a lot, we'd be more self-sufficient than we are now, I could own cool things like goats, horses, and chickens..." Wait, what? I'm the girl who hates watering plants and who has managed to kill almost every plant I've ever owned. I think driving through Wisconsin farmland must make me suffer from the same delusions that Bing Crosby's character did in the movie Holiday Inn.
• And finally, on Monday, we went on the annual Memorial Day Fishing Expedition. I'm not a gung-ho fisherperson, but I like the lures (they're cool colors and they sparkle...I wouldn't last 2 seconds as a fish) and being out on the lake is fun. I caught zero fish. /sigh

Anyways, happy summer!

My letter to President Bush

I will be out of town this weekend, and not able to post every day, so I thought I'd put up a post that I thought deserved more than just one day in the #1 spot.

As I mentioned before, after reading Al Franken's book Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them, I was pretty angry. So angry, in fact, that I wrote a letter to President Bush. I know the odds of anything happening because of it are slim, but I figure that he won't know how outraged people are at his behavior unless we tell him.

And I have to say, writing the letter was pretty cathartic. I'm kind of interested to see how Bush will respond, if he responds at all. I'll definitely let you know if I hear anything back.

If you get angry at my letter, I'd encourage you to voice your opinions--all I'd ask is that you keep your comments on the level of policy, as I tried to do in my letter. Comments that involve name-calling or foul language will be deleted.

Here's the letter:

Dear President Bush,

My name is_______________. I am a 26-year-old graduate student and teacher, and for the last six and a half years, I have watched as you've taken an economically strong, well-respected country and turned us into a pariah with a shaky fiscal future. I would like to take this letter as an opportunity to explain several of the reasons that your actions anger me and why that needs to change.

I am angry because your irresponsible financial policies show no thought for the future. Your deficit spending and tax cuts for people who have more money than they know what to do with are not only a useless way of encouraging economic growth, but they are also creating an enormous national debt that will seriously affect me and others in my generation in areas such as foreign trade and Social Security. You are undermining the future of the country you claim to love.

I am angry that you lied to the American public about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. According to the latest casualty count, as reported by The Guardian on May 13, 2007, 3391 people in the US military have died because of this war based on your lies. This is unacceptable.

I am angry because of the way you mishandled counterterrorism efforts. You ignored Richard Clarke's recommendations before 9/11--recommendations that could have prevented this tragedy. When you're searching for the cause of the World Trade Center disaster, Mr. President, you need look no further than yourself.

I am angry because of the way you desecrate the environment. Mr. President, I share your faith in Jesus Christ. I believe God gave us this world as a gift that we need to care for, not exploit. Genesis 2:15 says that God gave Adam the Garden of Eden "to work it and take care of it" (NIV). You are not doing a good job of taking care of the earth God gave us. By pulling out of the Kyoto Treaty, and by making the Clean Air and Water Acts less strict, you are encouraging big businesses to treat our natural resources as their own private property. Your responsibility to the American public, and to God, is to protect the natural resources we have, and you are not fulfilling that responsibility.

I am angry because of the disingenuous ways you treat the American family. You act as is life is the most sacred thing, yet by cutting funding for education and by refusing to reform the health care system, you deny many children the chance at a decent life once they are born. You claim that the family is the foundation of our country, but by cutting welfare and other support programs, you force many parents to choose between earning money and spending time with their families. Mr. President, your policies are not protecting the American family--they are destroying it.

I am not the only one who is angry. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll from the end of April shows that only 32% of the country approves of what you're doing. A Newsweek poll from May has that number even lower--at 28%! Mr. President, over two-thirds of the country thinks that you are NOT doing your job well. This means it is time for you to change what you are doing.

And this brings me to why I am most angry--you just don't care. You show no regard for the millions and millions of people who think you should do things differently, and you continue thinking that you know what's best. You don't. According to the Washington Post as early as June 8, 2005, nearly 75% of US citizens thought the casualties in Iraq were unacceptable. Over half felt that the war had NOT made the US safer. Yet you continued funding the war. Now, almost two years later, you're still not listening. On May 2 of this year, the House and Senate sent you a bill that would pull US troops out of Iraq, yet you ignored them and all of their constituents and vetoed that bill. This lack of accountability is simply unacceptable.

There is time to undo some of the damage you have done. In your last year and a half as president, start listening to the people of the United States. Start listening to the members of Congress. Start listening to other world leaders, such as those at the United Nations. Swallow your pride and ask for advice and help in getting out of the many messes--economic, military, and environmental, to name a few--that you have gotten this country into. To "stay the course," as you put it, will mean disaster.

Please don't send me a letter thanking me for my concern, or even worse, for my support. I don't support you. And I'm not concerned--I'm angry. I don't want to hear more rhetoric about the great things you're doing for the United States. I want to see actions that show you really mean it.

An angry citizen

The Kite Runner

My mother-in-law lent me this book a long time ago after her book club read it, and I had just never gotten around to reading it. Now, since I have a lot more spare time since I'm not playing World of Warcraft anymore, I've been catching up on my reading. Borrowed books are first on the list to be read.

And I have to say, this book completely sucked me in. I started it one afternoon at about 3, and I finished it before I went to bed. (I read fiction really fast.) I really couldn't put it down, except for once, where I was so shaken by what had just happened that I needed a break.

The Kite Runner is narrated by Amir, a young man who grew up in a well-to-do family in Kabul, Afghanistan, and who now lives in California. He tells the story of his life, focusing primarily on his relationships with his father and Hassan, a lower-class, lower-caste servant who grew up with him in his father's home.

I'm not going to tell any more of the plot, other than to say that it grabs you and doesn't let you go until the end. But for those of you who choose to read it, I'd recommend trying to get away from it once it a while. Force yourself to take breaks. Because The Kite Runner, in addition to telling the story of Amir, also tells the story of Afghanistan, and that story includes very real people and events, including the Taliban and ethnic cleansing. This historical backdrop to Amir's story gives the novel a feeling of reality that makes the fictional events hard to shake, which makes for a very intense reading experience.

Yahoo!

One of the things that my husband and I do to waste time at work is check out the most popular pictures of the day at Yahoo. Further time is often wasted by messaging back and forth, discussing our favorite pictures. "Did you see the one of the giant monkey?" "No! Let me go check....Wow, that is awesome!"

I know, I know. It's not meaningful, soul-searching discussions about existentialism or French film theory, but it's fun. And it sure beats doing actual work.

So I thought I'd share some of this fun with you all. Here are some of the highlights from yesterday's most popular pictures:

This one of Egyptian tortoise hatchlings at the Rome zoo was easily our favorite. Turtles in general are awesome, and tiny turtles are even better.I was mildly interested in the Darth Vader balloon at the hot air balloon festival in Belgium, although my husband was less impressed. Instead, he looked at a picture of a gross fish with some nasty virus from New York (the fish, not the virus), which I won't show because it's gross (duh). Click here if you like that sort of thing.
The picture of the dog nursing the tiger cubs was one of our favorites several days ago...apparently several people thought it was cool too, since it still ranks in the most emailed photos.

And finally, we also really enjoyed the picture of the boars scavenging for food in a parking lot in a suburb in Poland. I think we most enjoyed the tiny boars that you can see in the picture.

If you're interested in joining in the fun, head to Yahoo! and click on the "popular" link under the list of major news stories. Let me know what your favorites are!

Jerry Seinfeld, Giant Bug?

It has been interesting to see what the former Seinfeld actors have done after the end of that show. For the most part, they haven't done much that's been successful. Jason Alexander--George--tried starring in a show called Bob Patterson, where he plays a motivational speaker. Michael Richards--Kramer--starred in The Michael Richards Show which only lasted one season, and then, when returning to stand-up comedy, received some pretty bad publicity about racist remarks he made. Julia Louis-Dreyfus--Elaine--has been more successful. Her first attempt post-Seinfeld, Watching Ellie, didn't do well, but her latest sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine, has been met with both critical success and good ratings.

Jerry has kept a slightly lower profile, as he hasn't starred in a television show since the end of Seinfeld. He has done a few commercials, a few guest appearances on talk shows, and mostly, returned to doing stand-up.

It appears that lower profile is about to change. Jerry has written and is voicing the main character in the animated Bee Movie, a story of a bee who finds out that humans have been stealing honey from bees and decides to take legal action. It's seems like a good enough idea, although slightly unoriginal at this point--A Bug's Life (which had Julia Louis-Dreyfuss doing one of the voices, incidentally), Antz, and The Ant Bully have all done the "animated bug movie" already, and for the most part, done a good job. It will be interesting to see whether Seinfeld's Bee Movie will bring anything innovative to the mix.

I do however, seriously question Jerry Seinfeld's choice of promotional strategy for the movie. At the Cannes Film Festival, Jerry descended from the top of a building to the street dressed in a giant bee costume. Look at the expression on his face. He's thinking, "Boy do I feel stupid." And the thing is, he's right. He looks like a giant balloon on Thanksgiving in the Macy's parade. When I see this picture, I don't want to go see his movie; I wonder who his publicist is and why he still has a job.

Some comedians might be able to pull something like this off--comedians who are more happy-go-lucky or more into physical comedy. Jim Carrey, for example, strikes me as someone that could get away with doing something like this without looking like an idiot.

The thing is, Seinfeld seems to know that he looked stupid. Before he jumped, he said, "You know, one thing I hate is any kind of movie promotion that smacks of desperation in any way." Obviously, he's aware that what he's doing looks dumb. The question then becomes, "Why did he still do it?"

At any rate, I think Jerry Seinfeld should work harder to live by this rule of thumb: If it's something George or Kramer would think is a good idea, don't do it.

It's time for a change

Normally, I try to keep this blog fairly light-hearted, sometimes even silly. I know there's enough in the news every day that's depressing, and I would rather be a bright spot in someone's day than a downer. But a friend of mine recently brought this story to my attention and asked me to blog about it, and given the importance of the subject, I was happy to oblige.

Last month, a Kurdish teenage woman named Dua Khalil was beaten to death in what is often called an "honor killing." According to CNN, Khalil's religion is Yahzdi, and she was in the company of a Sunni Muslim man. Her relatives thought she may have married this man, or converted--either of which is against Yahzdi teaching--and because of this, they beat her to death.

To me, the most horrifying part of the story is what comes next. There were several people there who were merely watching, and who filmed the entire attack and murder on their cell phones. You can see the video on the CNN site; I'll be honest--I didn't watch it, and I have no desire to.

When hearing this story, it's easy to think, "But that's not our culture. We don't do that in the United States. I would never do anything like that." And yes, it is likely that most of us will never participate in an honor killing in our lives. But what about the statistics that 1 out of every 6 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime? Violence against women--particularly sexual violence--does happen in the United States, and all too often, it is unreported and unpunished.

And what about the other aspect of the story--the standing by and watching it, even viewing it as entertainment? It's harder to brush that off, particularly when there are movies out there like Captivity, starring Elisha Cuthbert, which puts forth her gruesome torture as entertainment, meant for the American public's viewing pleasure. In this case, how is the group of men who filmed Khalil's murder different from those who filmed Captivity? While one is fact and one is fiction, it's a very thin line between the two, particularly when both demonstrate the same mindset that viewing the torture of those weaker and different from you can be entertainment.

So I'm asking those of you who read this to work for a change. Violence against women was the impetus for writing, but this certainly extends to violence against others who are persecuted because they are different, whether because of their sexuality, religion, race, or other quality that sets them apart. Start small--challenge those who degrade or mock, even in fun, those who are different. Choose to not see movies that glorify sexual violence, and don't be afraid to say why you're not going. What you say does make a difference--protests to the MPAA got a series of graphic ads for Captivity pulled off billboards. Even small actions like these can help challenge the mindset that the torture, persecution and mockery of those who are different is an acceptable part of life.

Don't be the one who sits there, watching, filming, and condoning, while Dua Khalil is beaten to death. It's time for a change.

Ron the Roomba

A few weeks ago I blogged about Woot! and how my husband and I have purchased two things in two weeks. We recently escaped buying a TV, but that's neither here nor there. One of the things that we did buy from Woot! was a Roomba.

Now, my husband has wanted one of these things for a really long time. Our house has a central vac, and we have an upright as well, and any time I would haul out either of these, he would say, "Don't you wish we had a Roomba?"

I was skeptical for a long time. I wasn't convinced that a Roomba would be able to do a good job, and it seemed like a lot of money.

I think the beginning of the end came when we got our two parakeets--Turbo (the green one) and Bailey (the blue one). These birds shed feathers like you wouldn't believe. And they get seed hulls all over the place. Even if you keep them in their cage, the mess they make gets blown around because feathers and seed hulls are light. So, even though we're not messy people, I would have had to vacuum every 3 or 4 days to keep the house looking neat.

And of course, I didn't do it. I was lazy and thought that "hey, since no one's coming over, I don't need to vacuum." But then someone would come by, and I'd be embarrassed because the house was dirty. So, when my husband called from work and said, "There's a Roomba on Woot! Want to get it?", I said yes.

We got a great deal on it; we got the Roomba Scheduler for $145 (including shipping), and it normally retails for around $300 from a place like Sears. That was probably the biggest selling point for me--even if it totally sucked (or didn't suck, I guess), we wouldn't have wasted that much money.

It came with a docking base/charger, two virtual walls, and a remote control/scheduler. The virtual walls allow you to split up rooms into smaller sections, or to block off parts of a room where there's lots of crap on the floor. The scheduler allows you to program set times for the Roomba to run, and the virtual walls will even turn on if you program them in.

I haven't used the scheduling feature of the Roomba yet, but overall, I'm really happy with it. It's not the best vacuum ever--to be honest, it misses a lot of the feathers on the floor because it blows them away instead of sucking them up. But I'd say it gets about 50% of the feathers, and even more than that of other dirt. And it gives your room the "just vacuumed" look, so that anyone who comes in will think that you did just vacuum and that any feathers on the floor happened in the last 10 minutes. Which, given my two birds, is entirely possible.

And even more importantly, Ron (yes, we named our Roomba) vacuums our main level--the dining room and living room--about twice a week. That's about 8 times more often than I vacuumed before. So even if there are still a few feathers on the ground, the house looks exponentially better. He's pretty self-sufficient, too--he has these great wheels that raise him up if he gets stuck on something, and then he just turns around and goes the other way. I have no qualms about leaving the house to go grocery shopping while leaving Ron running.

Plus, he's fun to watch. Will Ron get the dirt by the front door this time around? Will he get stuck in the corner by the fireplace? How long will it take him to make it back to his charger?

You could spend as much time watching him as you would vacuuming....

Season finales, take 2

Ok, I watched 2 season finales last night--The Office and Scrubs.

I was kind of disappointed, to be honest. I was expecting bigger cliffhangers, or at least ones that weren't expected. And I expected Jim and Pam to get together, and I expected something to happen with Elliot and J.D. Don't get me wrong. I'm happy that both those things happened, but I could see it coming. I always like a good surprise in the season finale, especially when it's as hyped and secretive as much as The Office's finale was.

The rest of this post is mostly about The Office, since I don't watch Scrubs consistently enough to feel like I can comment on the relative greatness of the episode. Sorry, Scrubs fans.

Back to the lack of surprises. There were two things that surprised me in The Office finale--Jan getting fired and Ryan getting the job at corporate. So maybe what I meant is that I wanted something more dramatic to happen with Pam and Jim.

I was also kind of disappointed by the general lack of funniness in the episode tonight. There was a lot of drama, but nothing that made me really laugh out loud. There was one thing, but I forget it now. Dwight, who's usually good for a laugh, wasn't really up to par. Andy was irritating. Michael was awkward (without really being funny), Jan was dramatic, and Karen was an unpleasant word that rhymes with snitch. Yes, I know there are those of you who like her, but I don't like what she said about Pam, I don't like how she's so demanding of Jim, and I don't like how she just sort of left Jim at corporate to go do her own thing, without really sounding sincere in her support of him. I was also irritated that Oscar made fun of Pam for her speech last week, when he was one of the people who criticized her for not being courageous/honest in the first place. Stupid Oscar. And, as long as I'm being picky, I don't like Jim's new haircut. I think he was cuter the other way. (Yes, I know that's superficial. I don't care.)

Also, am I the only one who thinks that Jan is pregnant? Let's see...she has bigger boobs, mood swings, and she wants to stay home and wear stretch pants. She explained away the first two (surgery and medication), but what if it's a cover-up? The last thing is what really made me wonder if something more is going on with Jan than she's letting on.

But, to end on a happy note, the look on Pam's face when Jim came in at the end was almost worth the whole season of seeing her upset every time Jim and Karen interacted. And I appreciated how her note to Jim mirrored Tim's note to Dawn in the original British series. It gives me hope that this reunion is for keeps. To use a word from the TwoP forums, Squeee!

Can't wait til next season :)

Al Franken Tells it Like it Is

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm an Al Franken fan. I think it's mostly because he's planning on running for U.S. Senate from Minnesota against Norm Coleman. Now, I'm in favor of anyone left-of-center winning a U.S. Senate or House seat in Minnesota, because it will help balance out that horrible abomination that is Michelle Bachmann.

Lucky for us Minnesotans, like Michelle Bachmann, Al Franken is in direct communication with God.

In fact, according to Al's book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, God told him to write about how Al Gore had really won the election, how Bush had idiotically squandered the nation and world's goodwill after 9/11, and how it was making God mad.

Here's how the conversation between Al and God went:

"Look, God, I'm flattered, but if think you got the wrong guy. The kind of book you're talking about would require months of research."
And God said, "Let there be Google. And let there be LexisNexis."
"Very funny, God. I use Google all the time."
"Yes, I know," God said. "For hot Asian teens."
"You must be thinking of my son, Joe."
"Al? I'm omniscient."

Looks like God (and Al, for that matter) have a pretty good sense of humor. That sense of humor is what makes Franken's book a pretty good read. Like many things written about politics, from people on either side of the aisle, the constant reminder of how strict bipartisanship is screwing over America is a little depressing. And, if you happen to be a huge fan of Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly fan, this probably isn't the book for you. Some of the information--about Fox News, or about Cheney and Halliburton, for example--has been repeated in other sources, such as Michael Moore's documentaries.

That said, is is quite funny. I was sitting and reading it on the couch, giggling to myself. My husband would say, "What now?" and I'd read the funny bits out loud to him (he'd already read it). This book would not be a good bus book for me, since the people sitting next to me would think I'm nuts. (For the record, other bad bus books are The Education of Little Tree because it made me cry while I was reading it on the bus and Lolita because I'm pretty sure everyone around me thought I was some sort of pervert. I'm not.)

The other good thing about this book is that it inspired in me a healthy sense of outrage. It's pretty easy to sit on your couch, watch TV, and forget much of the crap the Bush administration has pulled. Reading Franken's book reminded me of a lot of that stuff--and not just stuff that would enrage liberals (like the claims about the 2000 election being rigged), but stuff that should enrage everyone, like the US pulling out of the Kyoto treaty and the enormous increase in the national debt. Books like this, even though they are biased a certain way, are an important part of a democracy because they make their readers feel something--either rage against the author, or rage against what he's writing--and that spurs them to get involved. Stay tuned to see how I've channeled my anger...

At any rate, this week's quote comes from Franken's book. Go ahead, read it. Get it? No? Read it again.....there you go :)

Hehehehe.

Goodbye Gilmore Girls!

Well, it's over. The last of the coffee has been drunk, the last of the hyper-fast dialogue has been rattled off, and some very well-paid fashion consultants need to look for new jobs.

The Gilmore Girls series finale was last night, and in short, it went gracefully.

The episode was all about saying goodbye, and although at times, the connection between Rory's goodbye and the show's goodbye was hammered home a little hard, it offered the closure that I needed...for the most part.

Some minor irritations with the episode:

• Some of the material felt recycled from the Ballrooms and Biscotti episode at the beginning of season 4. Sometimes repeated material gives a show continuity; sometimes it's boring. I felt that the discussion of going to the post office tended towards boring.
• I wish that they had done more to acknowledge how Rory and Lane's relationship had changed over the years. From what we've seen, they've drifted apart. It showed in the looks on their faces, I felt, but some discussion of it would have given their conversation more honesty.
• I missed Paris--would it have been too much for Rory to call her and let her know she got a job? And while I thought it was good that they didn't bring Logan back--a reunion between him and Rory would have been too sugar-sweet--I would think that Rory would have been going through a much visibly tougher time of it.
• And my biggest peeve with the episode--the Luke/Lorelai reunion felt forced, and I have NO idea why the camera panned up the way it did, so that we only got the 2 second kiss that we saw in the promo. I have a hard time believing that Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson hate each other so much that they can't hang in there for 15 more seconds to give the viewers legitimate hope that Lorelai and Luke will live happily ever after, instead of this "well, I think they're back together" thing I'm feeling right now.

All that aside, however, I think most of the episode was well-done, even if it didn't carry the same emotional weight that Lorelai's karaoke moment two weeks ago did. Here's what I enjoyed the most:

• Rory's job. I think schlepping it on a bus for next to no pay for a political campaign sounds like a really legitimate first job for a journalist. (I have no experience with this, so I'm completely blowing hot air, but whatever.) She's not working for a big paper, she's working for an online journal, which in the day and age of bloggers covering national conventions seems a very credible job for a brand-new journalism grad. Plus, it's a job I would like :) I think following Obama's campaign around would kick ass.
• The moments with Richard and Emily, particularly when Richard tells Lorelai that the party is a tribute to her, too, not just to Rory. And I am SO glad that Lorelai has finally grown up and started down the path of developing a real relationship with her parents--I was thrilled when she said she'd be there for Friday night dinner.
  
• I thought it was cool that Christiane Amanpour showed up at the inn. And her whole interaction with Rory was wonderful--Rory was giddy, but not stupidly so, and Amanpour was gracious. It helped to bring Rory's dreams and aspirations full-circle.
• I loved the interactions between Rory and Lorelai in the episode. They really brought home how much these two women mean to each other, and how hard it will be for them to really be apart. Lorelai coming into Rory's room to watch her sleep was heartbreaking. Although I didn't cry during the episode, when Rory said, "Mom, you've given me everything I need," I came close.
• But the thing, perhaps, that I most appreciated was the final shot. I had a brief moment of panic when I thought the shot of the tent in the square might be it, and then felt utter relief when I didn't see the credits. The shot of Lorelai and Rory in Luke's diner, with Luke in the background, set up the exact same way as the scene from the end of the pilot episode (picture on right) that has been in the intro sequence for seven years--that sums up the show so perfectly and I loved it.

Thank you, Gilmore Girls, for 7 wonderful seasons. I'm sad to see you go.

In Wisconsin, Favre is King

Well, here's proof that in Wisconsin, there are things more important than politics.

What things, you ask? The Packers. And Brett Favre.

To Wisconsonites (or cheeseheads, as we call ourselves) this is no surprise. Particularly those who live in Green Bay. Heck, there, the Packers are more important than God. Churches schedule services around Packer games. The time that a Packer game fell on Christmas Eve was a little more problematic, but that was Christmas Eve, for pete's sake.

Republican Senator Sam Brownback, however, apparently had not done his homework when giving a speech at the Republican Party Convention in Lake Geneva on May 11th. The presidential hopeful compared a nation having solid families to a football team having a strong offensive line. He said, "This is your line in football. If you don't have a line, how many passes can Peyton Manning complete? Greatest quarterback, maybe, in NFL history."

Peyton who? Silly Sam. This is Wisconsin! Only one football team matters here, and that's the team led by Saint Favre. If he ran for President, Wisconsin would go 100% green and gold, rather than red or blue.

This statement by a Republican presidential hopeful didn't go over well with the crowd of Republicans. That's right. Political affiliation--whatever. Football loyalty--that's what matters.

(For those of you who are wondering if this post is tongue-in-cheek, it is. Mostly.)

Brownback, who's from Kansas, realized his mistake, and tried to backpedal, offering up Bart Starr as the next potential greatest quarterback of all time. Still no good. Better, but not great.

He gives in, and uses Favre as his example, asking how many passes he'd complete without a line. Several energetic fans yelled, "All of them!" And, if you've watched Favre when he's on, you know that when he's running around, out of the pocket, he's unstoppable. Doesn't do much for Brownback's analogy, though.

Brownback realized this, and gave up: "I'm not sure how I recover from this. My point is we've got to rebuild the family. I'll get off this."

Good plan, Sam. Next time, do a little more research on your demographic.

Then again, if Favre gets traded like he's asked for, expect that love and adoration to turn to intense feelings of betrayal. Hell hath no fury like a Packer fan scorned, or so they say.

C'mon Favre--Moss?! I know you want to win, but it's just not worth the aggravation.

And they say American music is crap....

The 2007 Eurovision Song Contest took place this weekend, with Serbia winning with their entry--Marija Šerifović singing "Molitva" (see the Video of the Week). I like the song fine. It doesn't really grab me like I would expect the winning song to, but it was nice enough. I think what impressed me the most is how Marija looks--she doesn't have the body or hairstyle of a Britney, for example, but she was still selected as Serbia's representative to the contest.

To be honest, my favorite song in the top 10 was Bulgaria's entry: "Water" performed by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov. Here's their entry video:



The song, which placed 5th, draws on traditional Bulgarian folklore, while incorporating innovative percussion elements. Even so, it has the strong dance beat and techno tonality (if there is such a thing) that I expect of stereotypical European music. I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised to hear this song playing in the background of a club in Germany in an Alias episode. That doesn't mean it's bad, just that it's slightly predictable.

But the entry that REALLY blows my mind is the entry from the Ukraine. When watching this video, keep in mind that this got SECOND PLACE:



W.T.F. If you check out the lyrics for the song, it makes close to zero sense. Most of the chorus is saying the numbers 7, 1, 2, and 3 in German. Oooh, killer song. And don't even get me started on that guy's outfit. It's like the worst of Cher and Madonna combined.

I'm really not intending to knock European music, but I have to admit that I was surprised when I saw these videos. I hadn't paid attention to the contest in past years, but I expected the best songs from each European country to be much more innovative and, well, better. Perhaps it's because I've always associated Europe with culture, fashion, and the cutting edge of trendiness. I guess it makes me feel kind of smug. Yes, Europeans, you have cooler buildings, an unbelievable wealth of historically significant artists and musicians, better social welfare programs, thinner bodies, better public transportation, better wine, beer, and cheese, and you can all speak multiple languages, but hey--at least the best of our new music doesn't totally blow.

As much as I hate to admit it, it almost makes me want to watch American Idol. At least they don't wear tin foil hats.

Penultimate episodes from the past week

Next week, two of my favorite shows are having their season finale, and in fact, for the Gilmore Girls, it will be the series finale. I'm mildly sad about that, mostly because I'm not sure the writers had the chance to wrap everything up the way they wanted to (or the way Amy Sherman-Palladino had envisioned from the show's beginning) since from what I can tell, the news of it being canceled came after the finale two episodes were filmed.

Since there's not a whole lot I can do to change that, I'll just enjoy these final episodes.

For Gilmore Girls, I enjoyed the episode. I loved Logan's proposal, to be honest, and thought it was incredibly sweet and romantic. I think it showed a lot of courage on Rory's part to say no--going with him would be the safe thing to do, but she didn't want that. She wanted to jump on her own, which to me, shows that she's grown up a lot. Don't get me wrong--I really wished that she'd said yes, because I like Logan and Rory as a couple, but I can appreciate the aspect of Rory's character that the writers are trying to show. I think part of me is also holding out a little hope that Logan will reverse his silly "all-or-nothing" position and show up for the finale.

I also found Luke a little frustrating this episode. Sure, Lorelai told Miss Patty and Babette that her song meant nothing, but what did he expect her to say? Did he expect her to declare her endless love for him--even more than she already did--all over town before she even talked to him about it? The "it meant nothing" schtick is pretty standard to say when you're not sure how the other one feels. Anyways, judging from the preview for next week, it ends up being moot, but still, I wish Luke had been slightly more understanding, and given Lorelai the necklace.

Now, as far as The Office goes, I simply loved it.

For me, honestly, the highlight of the episode was the sumo wrestling suits. I simply did not see that coming. And it totally cracked me up. Stanley completely charging Jim, Dwight in general, and of course, Andy ending up floating in the pond--it was all hilarious. I especially liked the way the camera guys found him, and then just left him there. I wonder if he'll be back next week. *crosses fingers*

And of course, Pam's adrenaline-inspired confession was wonderful. I was reading the NBC message boards about the episode, and someone called it "selfish." I couldn't disagree more. She wasn't giving anyone an ultimatum, and she wasn't demanding that anyone change. She didn't call for Jim to break up with Karen and come back to her. All she was doing was saying how she felt, and leaving it up to each individual as to how they would respond. Needless to say, the look on Jim's face gave me a lot of hope that the fun dynamic that I really loved between him and Pam--romance completely aside--is on the way back.

I also thought it was great how everyone on the bus was totally into singing. Cracked me up :)

Next week should be interesting! Stay tuned!

Before they were famous...

I like M*A*S*H. I think it comes from my parents watching it after I would go to bed--the allure of something "grown-up" was pretty strong. Later, when I was in college, my dad got the first few seasons on DVD, and so I was able to start from the beginning. I remember when Colonel Blake's plane goes down at the end of season 3--I was completely shocked and honestly, a little depressed. My dad said that when the episode originally aired, the ending had leaked out, and everyone already knew about it, but that my viewing of it probably captured the intended emotional impact more effectively.

Anyways, I've been watching reruns on TVLand, and tonight I saw the episode "The Tooth Shall Set You Free" from season 10. As I was watching, one of the wounded soldiers looked familiar. I realized it was Lawrence Fishburn, aka Morpheus from The Matrix!

And that got me thinking about other now-famous actors and actresses that I've seen on M*A*S*H. I'm sure that lots of the guest stars were famous when they starred on the show, but the ones that interest me are the ones that I can recognize :) Here are some of my favorites:

• Ron Howard, famous for Happy Days and any number of movies he's directed, starred as kid who enlisted underage in the season 1 episode "Sometimes you hear the bullet"
• Patrick Swayze, star of Ghost and Dirty Dancing, starred in the season 9 episode "Blood Brothers"
• Leslie Nielsen, whom I know from the Naked Gun movies, starred as an overzealous officer in the season 1 episode "The Ringbanger"
• Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks' wife, starred as a nurse in the season 9 episode "Blood and Guts"
• Shelley Long, who played Diane Chambers on Cheers, starred as a nurse in the season 8 episode "Bottle Fatigue"
• Pat Morita, who was Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid movies, starred as Captain Sam Park in two season 2 episodes
• Gail Edwards, who played Danny Tanner's love interest Vicky, starred as a USO girl who falls for Hawkeye in the season 10 double episode "That's Show Biz"

And finally, my favorite guest star and all-time favorite M*A*S*H episode:

• Blythe Danner, who stars as the one nurse Hawkeye has never gotten over--Carlye Breslin. This episode--"The More I See You"--is from season 4, and always make me sad that Hawkeye values his work so much that he's not able to let go and be in love. Danner is a fabulous actress, and is quite convincing as the perfect match for Hawkeye, if he could only let someone else into his life.

Current events....

Two stories in the news yesterday caught my attention...well, three, actually. I was pretty impressed with Queen Elizabeth II poking fun at W., so she gets the Quote of the Week slot.

The first one is pretty awful, actually. Two vegans were sentenced to life in prison for starving their infant son to death. According to the AP story, they fed their son a diet of mostly soy milk and apple juice, which led to him losing weight. When he died, he was 3 1/2 pounds. I have no idea how these parents couldn't have noticed that something was wrong, as they claim, but that's not why I'm writing about this. The question inspired by this story is this:

Does human milk--that is, breast milk--count as an animal product that would go against the commitment to be vegan?

It seems to me that if the mother had just breast-fed the baby, this entire tragedy could have been avoided. But I would be interested in knowing if the couple chose not to breast-feed the baby because of their vegan diet. And would it make a difference that the mother was willingly giving her milk, as opposed to cows or goats who have little say in the matter?

The other story that caught my interest is much less depressing. Three Lithuanian students broke into a zoo and climbed a 10-foot wall into the giraffe enclosure, where the giraffe "flew into a rage" and beat the crap out of them. Well, not really. One of the students got a broken collarbone and a broken nose, but the other two were ok.

Yes, they were drunk.

I think this introduces an interesting possibility--attack giraffes! Keep them at the entrance to your home, and they'll not only keep your trees trimmed, but they'll ward off intruders! I've taken the liberty of drawing up a prototype:
Cool, huh?

Btw...good luck to S. on your final final of the semester!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

It's pretty much a given that anything as successful as the Harry Potter books will have movies made out of them. And, for books 1 and 2, those movies are pretty good. The books are simple and straightforward enough that most of the important plot points can be included without the movie getting out of control.

The third movie--Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban--was pretty good, for the most part, and did a really good job of capturing the darker mood of the book. I harbor a slight grudge against the movie, mostly because it left out the part of the book that always brings tears to my eyes (the part where Dumbledore tells Harry, "Prongs rode again last night."), but overall, the movie stays very true to the book.

Movie number four--Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire--was faced with the enormous challenge of fitting so many different events into one book. The Quidditch World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament, and Voldemort's return being the three biggest ones. Add to this the extreme shifts in the book from excitement and youthful exuberance to sheer terror and overwhelming responsibility, and you have a near-impossible movie to make. And to be honest, it showed. Many of the individual scenes were done quite well with very cool special effects, but the movie lacked continuity and flow. I felt as if I were watching several different stories that had all stumbled into the same theater and couldn't find anything in common except their characters all have wands.

Given these problems in the fourth movie, I was a little concerned about movie number 5--Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. That book is as long as Goblet of Fire, and it seems that since a little bit gets left out every movie, having things make sense in the later movies is going to be difficult.

But, after viewing the trailer for the movie, I have hope:



The trailer presents a movie that is consistently dark, even during scenes like Harry and Cho's kiss. Lots of swirling smoke, lots of darkness around the edges of scenes, lots of half-lit characters' faces. And, especially for this movie, I think that if director David Yates is able to capture the edginess and near-constant feeling of imminent death--which the trailer suggests that he will--it will convey the overall message of the book.

The other thing that gave me hope as I viewed the trailer was that I realized that I remember the books much better than I remember the movies. I honestly don't remember the specific details that were left out of Goblet of Fire. Yes, there are certainly people who have never read the books and just see the movies, but the majority of the rabid Harry Potter fans are ones who have devoured the books and reread them multiple times. The details of the books will stick with them, and give the movie series continuity, even if certain details get left out of individual movies. Not something that movie makes can usually rely on, but in this case, particularly given the huge number of details in the books, it can work as a handy shortcut for more manageable movies.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is released nationwide on July 13, 2007.

My favorite casserole

This is a recipe that my mom made when I was growing up, and I love it. It came from the Betty Crocker cookbook, and is one of my favorites to make now that I have my own kitchen. My husband's brother goes deer hunting, and ground venison is a great, lean substitute for ground beef. Ground turkey works well, also.

Hamburger-Cheese Bake, aka Poor Man's Lasagna

1 pound ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 c. uncooked medium noodles (I use egg noodles)
1 c. small curd cottage cheese
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sour cream
1/3 cup sliced green onion
1/4 c. chopped green pepper (I leave these out...I don't like green peppers in casseroles very much)
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, cook meat and onion till meat is lightly browned and onion is tender. Stir in tomato sauce, sugar, salt, garlic salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, green onion, and green pepper.

Spread half the noodles in an 11x7 inch baking pan; top with a little of the meat sauce. Cover with cheese mixture. Add remaining noodles and meat sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

Beef Jerky that Makes you Stupid

Jack Link's Beef Jerky has this new series of commercial on TV that show guys (and in 1, a guy and a girl) finding Sasquatch in the woods and pranking him. My husband and I both think these ads are pretty funny, and have actually laughed out loud at them on a number of occasions, even for repeat commercials.

There are 4 of these ads; I've only seen 2 of them on television, but all 4 are available on the Jack Link's website. (Click the "See the Commercials" link at the bottom)

Brief description of the ads:

In the first one, 3 guys light a bag on fire and leave it outside of Sasquatch's cave. They yell "ding-dong!" and run away. Sasquatch stomps out the fire, chases after the guys who are trying to row away in a boat, and throws a giant rock into their boat.

In the second one, two guys in a truck see Sasquatch walking along the side of the road. They offer him a ride, then pull away; they apologize, offer him a ride again, and pull away again. Sasquatch gets angry, and pulls one guy out of the truck through the windshield.

In the third ad, two guys are using their watch to shine light in Sasquatch's face while he's trying to catch fish. He gets mad, chases them, and smacks one of the guys in the face with a fish.

And in the last ad, a guy and a girl (presumably his girlfriend) see Sasquatch playing with a bird or butterfly. The guy takes out a joy buzzer, gets Sasquatch to shake his hand, and shocks Sasquatch. Sasquatch gets mad, and rips the guy's arm off while the girl runs away.

Now, these ads can be read as promoting pretty exclusionary attitudes towards those who are different. But the thing that I think is strangest about the ads is the way that the content of the ad doesn't match the slogan. The slogan is "Feed your Wild Side." And it's true, all the guys in the ads are eating Jack Link's Beef Jerky. But Sasquatch is the wild one in the ads, not the guys. And he never gets to eat any of the beef jerky.

Actually, it seems that eating Jack Link's robs the guys in the ads of any sort of common sense that they may have had. Not only do they think that messing with a large, bear-like creature is a good idea, but the consequences of their actions are always bad, and sometimes pretty awful.

Perhaps a more appropriate slogan would be "Feed your Stupid Side." Though that probably wouldn't sell as well.

David Mitchell

There are many kinds of authors in the world, but there are two in particular that I'm going to focus on today: authors who write brilliant books (and may or may not know it) and authors who write brilliant books, know it, and let you know that that they know it.

David Mitchell is the second kind of author. He can create wonderful characters, suggest complicated meaning, and twine plot lines together remarkably smoothly. The problem comes when he thinks that he readers won't catch this, and so feels the need to tell them how brilliant he is.

Quite frankly, that pisses me off. I hate it when authors underestimate me and feel that it's necessary to spell out the meaning of their books. In Mitchell's second novel Number9Dream, one of the big themes is the meaning of the protagonist's life and what his identity is. I get it. And I definitely get it without Mitchell sitting his protagonist--Eiji Miyake--down with one of his friends to discuss the meaning of life. I enjoyed the characters, I found the plot interesting, but I was turned off because I felt talked down to.

What's most frustrating about this is that by pulling stunts like this, Mitchell undermines his own brilliance. Truly wonderful authors are able to convey their main themes and ideas without staging elaborate, artificial conversations about these themes.

Mitchell's third novel Cloud Atlas, pulls a similar stunt, but with the structure of the book. The book is a series of stories, organized like nesting dolls. Each of the stories has something in it that connects it to the previous story, such as the protagonist of story 2 is reading the diary of story 1. It's clever, and interesting, and makes you want to see how the stories all connect together. But in one of the stories, the protagonist is a composer who's writing a piece with a structure like the novel. At some point, the composer makes the comment that this structure is either brilliant or a cheap gimmick. Now, any author who will put something that self-referential into his novel must be darn sure that it's brilliant, otherwise he'll risk looking really stupid. And while I certainly don't hesitate to call an author brilliant, an author calling himself brilliant is irritating. And cocky. And again, it sells me short. Mitchell is unsure that I'll recognize his brilliance, so he makes sure to tell me.

Mitchell's first novel, Ghostwritten, avoids these problems for the most part, and as a result, I actually really liked it. Like Cloud Atlas, it weaves seemingly unconnected plots and characters together, but does it in such a subtle way that initially, it could be missed. And throughout the novel, Mitchell hints at a greater meaning, particularly in the "Mongolia" section, but does so without coming out and directly addressing the theme that he wants us to notice. I also liked the characters a lot--there's a sassy physicist that I just loved (Hey P., I think you'd get a kick out of her too...she uses data from CERN). And I disliked one of the main characters, not because she wasn't well-written, but because she was written so well that I could picture her exactly and knew I wouldn't like her. Overall, I really liked the novel.

Mitchell has a fourth novel out that I haven't read yet called Black Swan Green that I really hope tends more towards the organic, unconstructed feeling (while still being extremely structured and constructed) of Ghostwritten than his later work. That's where Mitchell's talent really shines through, unobstructed by his own commentary.

But then again, maybe I've completely misread these novels and David Mitchell is simply too brilliant for me to even understand.

But I doubt it. :)

Hand-holding Otters

By now, many of you have probably seen this video of two otters at the zoo floating around holding hands...or, rather...paws.



Apparently, this video is the most watched video on YouTube in the past few weeks, as well as the most watched animal video ever. Great. They're cute.

But the real kicker: some news anchor on MSNBC is reporting on this story, and says something to the effect of "looks like these people have too much time on their hands."

Wait. What now? She's criticizing those people who watch the video in their free time when she's actually taking time out of the news broadcast to talk about this? That's a good one. She spends almost a minute talking about the otters--the original video is less than 2 minutes long. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

How about this, Ms. Too-Good-for-YouTube Reporter? You go and report on meaningful stories in an in-depth, nuanced way, and then, and only then, can you criticize what I watch. Until then, it's back to YouTube!

(By the way...I've finally figured out how to embed video! Hooray for me! And yes, I know I'm slow.)

I Will Always Love You...

I haven't watched the Gilmore Girls very much this season...as with most TV shows, I got into it late, and mostly just watch reruns while riding the exercise bike. It didn't help that this semester, I had to teach right when GG was on. And to be honest, I enjoy the show, but I belong to the group that thinks it's gone on long enough and that Luke and Lorelai need to just get together, already.

I'm also not the hugest fan of Lorelai. I think she tends towards self-centeredness, and I'm consistently frustrated by the way she treats her parents. Yes, I know you and your parents want different things. Everyone is different from their parents. That doesn't give you license to treat them so poorly. But I do want to see her happy, and I think that the person that will make her happy is Luke.

Anyways, last night, class got out early, and I was able to make it home in time to watch. And I'm really glad I did.

Why? Because Lorelai sang "I Will Always Love You" to Luke with such emotion that everyone in the karaoke bar noticed what was happening (except Zach) and I ended up in tears. The forum posters at TWOP agree with me--Lauren Graham did a phenomenal job of making Lorelai go from singing a goodbye song to Rory to singing a love song to Luke. And Luke's reaction clinched it--he still loves her too. Also, April bailing on the boat trip sets up the possibility of Lorelai going with Luke for a 6-week trip up the coast. He's already booked the hotels like she recommended, and made reservations at the restaurant she loves. My prediction is a season finale with Luke and Lorelai sailing off together.

AND! Logan is going to propose! I have to say, I'm excited. I know, I know...he's not universally loved as the best guy for Rory, but I think he is. He's a challenge to her, which I think is good in any relationship. I'm a little concerned, though, by the teaser for next week...the look on Rory's face when Logan proposes isn't exactly elated. I really hope she doesn't say no. I do hope that Rory gets a job that she loves out in San Francisco...I would hate to have her move there just to follow Logan, while sitting around being bored/feeling sorry for herself.

Also, what's the deal with Miss Patty? She looks awful. No matter what the lighting, her skin had a gray pallor and her eyes looked hollow. I hope that Liz Torres is ok.

Here's hoping for a season (series?) finale that brings my two favorite GG couples back together.

Requested recipes

Here are two recipes some of you have requested...

For Aunt B., Melted Rosemary Brie on Apple Wedges
This recipe originally came from Bon Appetit

2 large Granny Smith or Fuji apples, cored, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 10-ounce piece Brie, rind trimmed, cheese cut into thin slices
chopped fresh rosemary

Arrange apples on baking sheet. Top each with slice of Brie. Sprinkle with rosemary and freshly ground black pepper. (Can be made 1 hour ahead. Cover; let stand at room temperature.)

Preheat broiler. Broil apples uncovered until cheese melts, moving sheet for even cooking, about 1 minute. Transfer to platter; serve hot.

For M. & K., Never-Fail Pie Crust
This recipe is courtesy of Grandma P., and honestly, it lives up to its name. It's only been difficult for me once, and I think that was my fault. I use a Kitchenaid to make it, which makes it very fast and easy.

4 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 c. Crisco
2/3 c. butter
1 tsp. salt

1 egg
1 T. vinegar
1/2 c. cold water

Mix flour, Crisco, butter, sugar, and salt until small pea-sized clumps form.

Add egg and vinegar. Add water until the dough pulls away as a ball.

May be kept in fridge for at least 1 week until used or frozen for a month or two. Makes 4 single crusts.