Actually working as a writer is cutting into my blogging. The world is a cruel, cruel place and let no one tell you different.
Standard FYI clause: I generally wait about 2 hours after Ta-Nehisi would typically open a thread (roughly noon, EST, back when such a thing was typical…!), and if none is forthcoming, I put one up here.
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012Hi! Gucci, Lhuiller today. Plus Tunes for Tuesday and a Voice Recap:
http://anibundel.wordpress.com
koolaide
/ December 18, 2012(the far too obvious fixed result of the last NIC left an even more bitter taste in my mouth than a dish where the chef was a bit heavy handed w/ saffron)
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012Look, Marcel wasn’t there to win–it would have been weird and uncomfortable if one of the extras who had never been on NIC before that they pulled from Top Chef to pad out the cast made it to the end. They had to axe him. The fact that he made it as far as he did shows the show under-estimated him.
And Marcel got what he came for–lasting long enough to be a recognizable face and to redeem his reputation from that disastrous season on Top Chef. He already tried to have a reality cooking show on Bravo–it tanked, because they aren’t a food network, and they tried to ride on that rep which I think really isn’t who he is. I would expect him to parlay this into perhaps into doing some time as a judge next to other NIC alums like Aaron Sanchez first to gauge interest and then maybe his own show on Cooking Channel, whose B-list line up needs help like whoa.
As for who is left, i am rooting to see Chef Nate bounced. HARD.
koolaide
/ December 18, 2012I don’t necessarily disagree w/ what you say re: Marcel. And I do think he was under estimated and/or they missed the ‘better’ chance to eliminate him based on his work. I think as a tv personality, Marcel is more like a character actor or excellent supporting actor that can’t quite (at this point in his development/career) be the staring, central focus.
But I’m not talking about the specific challenge but more the obviousness of the ‘fix’ in the last show is (imo) a Problem. And not winning viewer-likeability points for Chef Alex. The sous chef for GZ potential conflict of interest in judging you mentioned at the beginning is rearing its head more than I thought it would. You were totally right there.
koolaide
/ December 18, 2012(wanted an edit but…)
What I mean to say is that I agree w/ you that he wasn’t to win for many reasons but they screwed up and the “solution” (imo) was a clumsy & obvious “the fix is in” that (again, imo) could bite the brand in the butt in the end.
Kate Cox (@KCoxDC)
/ December 18, 2012Today I have been, roughly, the least productive lump of flesh and biggest waste of oxygen that ever lived. Though at least at 1:15 I finally got into the shower.
I am not good at today. I really am not.
caoil
/ December 18, 2012Tiny goals! Tiny goals!
-play with cat
-do two lunges (one on each side)
-make an excellent sandwich
-…
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012I will be at starbucks at approximately 5-10 after 3pm to coffee up. If you, you know, happen to be there, and want a hug.
Kate Cox (@KCoxDC)
/ December 18, 2012Alas! I have to go run errands down by Bailey’s Crossroads. That’s what finally got me in the shower, haha.
I suppose I should turn off this SVU marathon and go run those errands now.
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012Ewww, bailey’s crossroads. (Sorry, I think Route 7 along there is possibly one of the worst arteries ever in the history of things.)
Are you going to the Mall That Target Swallowed?
Kate Cox (@KCoxDC)
/ December 18, 2012To the shopping centers. I need to hit the Marshall’s and possibly a few of the other shops across the way.
aaron singer
/ December 18, 2012In those respects, I do not miss NoVa. Bailey’s Crossroads was a precursor to the bigger nightmares of Seven’s Corners, and further out, Tyson’s.
That said, I used to live in Del Ray and my best friend lived in Shirlington. I miss hanging out around there. When I had to shop for things Potomac Yard wasn’t too bad.
emilylhauser
/ December 18, 2012If it is any consolation (and having been there, I rather doubt that it is), I know this place where you sit, unwashed and ineffectual, and I terrorist fist-jab you in solidarity over not being good at the day. It is a place well known to me, and in my experience, it ends, but one has to pass through it first. It’s all very Zen in that sense, in a rather stabby way.
And I applaud you for now being washed. That is an item that can be checked off your to-do list and any such items are to be lauded!
Kate Cox (@KCoxDC)
/ December 18, 2012*fist bump*
I did take a shower, and run my errands (except for the errand I frogot; I am a writer of very little brain, today), and signed and scanned and sent back the contract that I needed to send for Nifty Freelance Gig, so at least today isn’t a total loss. Tomorrow, I’ll start my draft of the thing I am now contractually obligated to do.
Jordan Devereaux
/ December 18, 2012Yesterday was Mixology Monday! This month’s theme was ‘Humbug’, so everyone put on their crotchety hats to make anti-seasonal drinks.
My own creation was an attempt to put as many bitter ingredients together as possible (Campari actually made it too sweet). Despite my best efforts, it was actually pretty tasty.
http://cocktailchem.blogspot.com/2012/12/mixology-monday-lxviii-humbug.html
caoil
/ December 18, 2012Today is a Terrible Day*, so any cat, dog, ferret, gurgly baby pictures you have will be appreciated.
*It snowed here (for Vancouver values of “snow”) and coworker still isn’t here, so I’ve been attempting to answer calls (relating to our jump to Office 2010) I don’t know the right responses to for the past 3+ hours and do all the incoming work simultaneously. Feel a bit like setting everything on fire at this point.
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012Purrbot Loves You:
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A-WzWjJCEAAkk3S.jpg:large
caoil
/ December 18, 2012That is a very cute face. I suppose I should warn everyone that if I ever meet you & any of your pets, it’ll be like this…
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012SirEats is doing his best punctuation impression:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A-X6cWZCIAA9PGz.jpg:large
JHarper2
/ December 18, 2012Were your feline companions chosen solely for their photogenic qualities? Or were other qualities important at the auditions.
Suggested new reality show: Anibundel’s Next Top Cat. America Votes Now.
caoil
/ December 18, 2012Top Cat in a Top Hat? Because that’d be cute.
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012Actually no. HisCat came with him.
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A-Kw64mCMAMBsde.jpg:large
Marshmallow and Purrbot were about to be dropped off at a shelter to be killed because their lousy semi-abusive owner found them inconvenient to her new lifestyle, and I couldn’t bare to watch.
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A-KwLv3CAAIZROq.jpg:large
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A-KxBGOCQAE4CIZ.jpg:large
SirEats and Trouble’s pregnant mom was found under a friend’s porch deck, and she fostered them, plus their other brother (there were three in the litter.) We didn’t feel like we could take all three, but we took the two littler ones since we had a new three story house and figured we had room.
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A-KweYbCYAAwx6m.jpg:large
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A-KwveUCAAI4roq.jpg:large
The fact that I take lots of pictures and select the best ones is because I’m anal retentive.
caoil
/ December 18, 20121: cute. 2: cute. 3: cute. 4: cute. 5: unsurprisingly, cute.
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012I am an idiot. I didn’t think of my pics as links.
Of course there were five, and now my comment is awaiting moderation.
emilylhauser
/ December 18, 2012And now it is freeeeee!
Kate Cox (@KCoxDC)
/ December 18, 2012Having met the Purrbot, I can assure you that she is tiny and soft and adorable. And purrs readily.
(Although I think yon mister Guybrush might actually have a louder purr. He’s also a big, boisterous, in-your-face boy of a cat where miss purrbot is more refined.)
caoil
/ December 18, 2012Cats. <3
I was going to say, but I like the big, noisy-purred cats better…but that's not entirely true.
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012I’d like to take more pictures of my dog, but he keeps sticking his nose in the camera. This is from a couple of months ago: http://flic.kr/p/d8SR7G
caoil
/ December 18, 2012Heee, cute doggie! Also I really like nose pictures. We end up with a lot of them when taking pics of new cats at the shelter.
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012We’re trying to get some reindog pictures. “Stay” is still an iffy proposition for him, though, so it’s mostly been a case of getting everything just about right and …. squirrel!
And then the antlers come off and we have to start over.
caoil
/ December 18, 2012Kasi was never even that patient. You’d put them on and back away about a foot, and the paws would be up already trying to drag whatever-it-was off her head. I think one of the pics we ended up using actually had the antlers on the floor, and she’s sniffing them – versus Mishka who was still sitting, smiling, with antlers in place.
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012Orion, our old dog, would wear the antlers, and even sat still, on a snowy day, in front of the holly tree in our yard, so I could take pictures. I’m hoping Duke will get there but more practice is needed, I think,
koolaide
/ December 18, 2012The ever useful calmingmanatee.com
taylor16
/ December 18, 2012My puppy Taylor (who is now almost ten years old – sob!) has a stick for you…
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/4461/scan00014m.jpg
caoil
/ December 18, 2012Probably the sticks have gotten bigger over the years too. Though it’s always amusing when puppies try to grab something that is wayyyy too big for them to carry.
taylor16
/ December 18, 2012She’s now too cool for sticks. She kind of acts like a moody teenager now – she wants to play with you, but only on her terms. And she will stay out in the yard sniffing as long as SHE wants to, Mom’s instructions be damned!
She’s still so cute, though. That photo is from the first day we ever brought her home…
David L
/ December 18, 2012A meteorological heads-up for the middle of the country: The various computer weather models are coming into agreement on a huge winter storm next week. Heavy snow in a band from Albuquerque (Monday) to Amarillo (Tuesday) to Kansas City (Wed/Thu) to Detroit (Fri); as much as two feet in spots.
dave in texas
/ December 18, 2012Great, I’m driving to Amarillo in a couple of days. Of course, one of the beauties of Texas Panhandle weather is that rarely stays the same for very long. You can get a foot of snow, and then a week later it’s gone and you can play golf again.
It’s kind of weird that it’s coming on Christmas, though. I don’t ever remember a white Christmas when I was growing up, but over the last 10 years or so, there have been several, including one about 5-6 years ago with nearly two feet of snow.
David L
/ December 18, 2012I’m headed to Kansas City with the family. My mother is insistent that if it looks like the roads are going to be bad for our planned Friday morning departure, we’ll leave earlier. Except that the current forecasts seem to show that the worst begins Tuesday night and keeps right on through Thursday night, when the real cold air moves in. Storm total of 18-24″ and a subzero start to Friday, if one model is to be believed.
aaron singer
/ December 18, 2012We might get anywhere from a dusting to 9 inches here in Chicago, depending on how far south the front dips, the winds blowing down Lake Michigan causing lake effect snow, and where one is in the Chicagoland area.
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012I have 1 hat and 1 mitten to finish knitting before next Tuesday. This should not be difficult except I seem to be terrible at everything this week. I spent two hours knitting last night and feel like I made absolutely no progress on the hat.
Plus there’s that artificial irrational deadline at work and it’s all just making me tired. Could someone else please make Christmas happen for me?
caoil
/ December 18, 2012I’m sorry to have jinxed you re: having difficulty finishing things and/or messing them up.
:-/
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012I don’t think it was you that jinxed me. I was not supposed to have to make the hat, but Nephew the Elder outgrew the hat I made him last year. It was going really well until I got to the end of the cabled portion (it has owl cables because N the E is crazy about birds) and now I need to make it about 2 inches longer before I start the decreases for the top and it just isn’t getting longer.
It might be the blue yarn. Last time I had a hat do this, it was two years ago, and I made a blue hat for Nephew the Younger. Stupid thing took for.ev.er. to finish.
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012I STILL HAVEN’T STARTED.
I am procrastination failure embodied
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012It sounds like you’ve been successful at procrastinating, though?
… no, I guess that probably isn’t a consolation.
dave in texas
/ December 18, 2012Just so y’all know, Sunday was my 20th annual 39th birthday. The decrepitude is accelerating…
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012Happy Birthday!
efgoldman
/ December 18, 2012The decrepitude is accelerating…
Talk to me when you’re eligible for SS and Medicare.
koolaide
/ December 18, 2012Happy new year to you.
emilylhauser
/ December 18, 2012The party for your 39th annual should be EPIC!
(Happy birthday!)
caoil
/ December 18, 2012HIPY PAPY BTHETHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY
-Owl
Darth Thulhu
/ December 19, 2012Happy 20th 39th Festivity of Uterine Egress.
anibundel
/ December 18, 2012Gods my mother is a miser.
if i told her the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, i’ll be asking to get slapped.
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012Just once … just fecking once … I would like to come home from work on a Tuesday and find my husband has fried a couple of chops and mashed a few potatoes and not decided to get “creative” with dinner.
*stares at the half-cooked apple-and-parsnip thing*
caoil
/ December 18, 2012…Order in? I suspect that’ll have to be *my* plan for today…g/f will not have picked up anything to make, and kitchen shelves are pretty sparsely populated right now.
Nora Munro
/ December 18, 2012See, the deal here at Casa Munro-Viking is that Tuesday is “his” day to cook. And he likes to cook and sometimes he even has good ideas (apples and parsnips COULD work) but he’s lacking when it comes to execution. Telling him that requires greater delicacy than I can manage on a Tuesday evening.
Next week is Christmas, so I’m saved there, and then NYD I have off and will make the Hoppin’ John. But I might start sneaking a sandwich from Subway or something home in my briefcase if this keeps up.
caoil
/ December 18, 2012…extra ‘easy recipes’ cookbook in the kitchen?
Stephen "Yolly" Yolland
/ December 18, 2012WTF??????!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k68DXCmJ7Jk?feature=player_embedded&w=640&h=360%5D