Marry Me (If she won't, I will.)

Guys, I found a new actor/character to love.  Shall I share?  First, remember that I’m a fan of the holiday fare that dominates the TV this time of year.  I’ve copped to that weakness and the knowledge that most – nay, usually all – of those shows are sub-par, at best.  There, that’s out of the way.  Now let me convince you that this movie, these actors, and in particular, this one actor should not be included in the mix.  Yes, it premiered this weekend at the height of the season, but it wasn’t really about Christmas at all.  No reference to Christmas magic or a knowing, twinkly-eyed Santa or mischievous, well-meaning elves.  So you can relax.

The movie to which I refer is that two-night, 4-hour special Marry Me, starring Lucy Liu.  First let me give the star her due.  I sincerely hope that you didn’t see the promos for this special and assume that Lucy had slid off the A List.  Frankly, I think that’s a misconception these days.  Lots of serious stars are dipping their toes into television.  In fact, it’s upping the ante for those who consider it their sole or primary medium of entertainment.  Think Glenn Close in Damages (or pretty much anyone on that series).  Or James Franco in that stint on General Hospital.  Or what about Timothy Olyphant starring in Justified (Don’t you dare disparage Timothy, Justified or this example, or you and I will be having a serious conversation.)?  My point is that Lucy picked a solid script and a likeable character and, complemented by the other lead (my new crush), was able to build her resume rather than besmirch it.

Let’s get down to the premise of this entertaining story.  Lucy plays a single-something social worker from a wealthy family (she was adopted from within the same system for whom she now works) who wants the fairytale.  I should say that this initially concerned me.  Et tu, Lucy?  BUT she doesn’t play the role with the standard always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride angst.  Nor does she exude self-pity.  She is strong, she is confident, she loves her job, she’s stylish, she doesn’t sell out or sell herself short, she says what’s on her mind and doesn’t let her suspicions fester... I like her.  Plus, she showed some serious navigational skills on the suddenly choppy waters of her social life.  A lesser actress would have allowed the character to drown.

I should probably explain the entire story, because it really is cute without being cloying, but it will just pull me away from my target subject:  Steven Pasquale.  I don’t care about spoilers, so get used to it or get out.  But you should know that Steven’s character, Luke Maynard, is “the one”.  Both for Lucy Liu’s Rae as well as for me.  Talk about bringing the woo.  He always knew what to say – from sweet to clever to romantic to (most importantly) sarcastic.  He called Rae on her crap… which wasn’t a lot, but normally that stuff gets drawn out, creating unnecessary strife in order to accommodate a bad plot.  Plus, I’m a sucker for a guy with a sense of humor and this guy had me smiling a lot.  He was funny in a subtle way, the kind of funny that slides down smoothly and creates a warm feeling in your belly.  And Rae appreciated this about him too, which made me like her even better.

I guess what it comes down to is that Lucy and Steven made their characters believable.  They responded to each other like real people.  Their issues were legitimate.  Their fights understandable.  Further, I actually appreciated their fights because I understood both sides.

As for Mr. Steven Pasquale, how have I possibly overlooked this gem?  Apparently he is a regular on Rescue Me, a show I have never watched and now regret.  Have any of you seen him in anything else?  Was he just as amazing?  I know his character can’t be the same every time.  I’m not an idiot.  But I can’t imagine he’d be able to play Luke Maynard so successfully if he didn’t at least share some of his essential traits.  I mean, it’s easy for a passably good actor to play someone mean or angry or stupid or smarmy or conceited.  Isn’t it?  But to play awesome?  To carry off those snappy lines and spot on reactions?  I just feel like you have to understand it to be successful at it.  If you don’t share at least some of that style personally, how can you fake it?  Because if you could fake it, then for goodness sake, fake it all the time man!  

Ok, that’s enough of my preaching.  I guess you can assume (especially since I’m telling you straight) that I’ll be keeping my eye open for anything new with Steven Pasquale.  Fingers crossed, he’ll do a buddy movie with Scott Caan.  And maybe Mark Wahlberg.  Oh my.  I’m swooning already.

Cheers! - The Friendly Toast

Lord Bessie and I both had the day off today, and nothing spells relaxation or celebrates an open schedule like a late, leisurely breakfast.  We’ve been dying and trying to eat at The Friendly Toast in Cambridge for well over two years now, so we’d created a fair amount of hype for this place all on our own.  That is to say, we could very well have ruined it for ourselves, but instead it slipped into our preconceptions as if they were a well-worn shoe.

First the décor.  It’s fun and eclectic and looks like Mad Men threw up all over it… in a good way.  The seating style is standard diner, but the colors are vibrant and the wall coverings, inspired.  Most of the artwork are vintage 50s style ads.  You know the ones I’m talking about.  They’ve usually got a bootleg June Cleaver hocking some homemaker’s “must-have” or animated products beckoning you with their cheesy cartoon smiles.  Perfect accents for the hip vibe they’re cultivating without much effort.

But let’s get to the food – I know you’re curious.  The breakfast menu is extensive and varied and the descriptions had us reading in circles.  Pumpkin pancakes with Raisinettes?  Drunkard’s French Toast with Grand Marnier and raspberry sauce?  Hansel-&-Gretel gingerbread waffles with pomegranate molasses?  You see where this is going.  And I’m not even at the egg dishes – which outnumber the sweet stuff about 3 to 1.

In any case, Lord Bessie opted for the Green Eggs and Ham which consisted of two poached eggs with Virginia baked ham on anadama toast, topped with a light herb sauce and accompanied by homefries.  (Oh, that anadama bread is apparently a New England classic made with cornmeal and molasses.  I was unaware of this even though I was born and bred in Massachusetts.  Was there a mass conspiracy to keep this from me?)  I ordered the Egg-in-a-Hole which was described as two slices of crispy, buttery bread (the aforesaid anadama) with an egg in the middle and the same homefries.

First things first – these meals were YUGE.  (The “Y” makes it sound bigger.)  Not to worry, we were equal to the challenge, but let’s just say neither of us ate again until dinner, and then only because we were conditioned to do so.  That anadama craziness is amazing.  I love the sweetness to it, but also the slices were about 2” thick, hearty and airy all at once.  And, if you’re a yolk fan like me, you’ll appreciate how the egg wasn’t too overcooked allowing some of that sticky, yellow goodness to ooze out over the bread.  My only teeny, tiny criticism might involve the homefries.  I liked the light spicy flavor and the thin scalloped slices, but I would’ve welcomed a smidgen of crispiness.  All in all, though, a truly exceptional meal.  In retrospect, I can’t imagine I didn’t have enough room in my stomach, but try as I might, I was eventually forced to orphan a few treasured pieces to my plate.

If you like breakfast food even a little, you gotta go to this place.  I recommend waiting for an off day – not the weekend, not the summer, not even a quasi-state-centric holiday.  Make it truly random or else you’ll be rebuffed by the long lines and jostling crowds as I was this summer.  For my part, I’m already thinking about my next visit and my strategic edible voyage down their menu.  I’d return just for those last three bites of anadama bread.  Friendly Toast indeed.

Strega in Review

The popular stand by in the North End has a sister at Fan Pier.  A fancy-shmancy sister who wears her ethnicity like a little black dress, something familiar and comfortable but that always shows off your best assets.  The thick accents are legit, to be sure, and they truly add to the special atmosphere a night on the town deserves.

So why then the ode to the Italian-American stereotype?  In the main dining room, along the top of one of the walls are about eight flat screens continuously running famous Hollywood productions such as The Godfather movies and The Sopranos.  Silently, but distracting just the same.  I happened to be facing that wall, so I may have been especially affected by their presence.  I was also facing two gigantic mosaics of the faces of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, muted colors but… disturbing.  Again, given the efforts they made to seemingly employ only waiters and bus boys fresh off the gondola, it’s as if they’ve foiled their own best effort at establishing a legitimate slice of Old Italia. 

And yet, that’s about my only criticism. 

Let’s start with our waiter, Alberto.  He was unaffected, naturally charming and utterly competent.  What a sweetheart.  Although honestly, toss me a few “bellisima”s, compliment my choices, and you’re pretty much guaranteed your 20%.  We were early due to train schedules and guests coming into the city (that’s a big deal for you suburban types, I know), so we received lots of attention at the outset.  The crowd skewed older, so Lord Bessie also snagged some undivided attention passing through the bar.  In the interest of full disclosure, she had on her funky Juicy boots with the big gold buckles on the heel.  They’re hypnotizing.

Eventually, we weren’t the only guests in the main dining room, but to his credit, Alberto’s attention was unflagging.  He shared a few stories from his childhood and hometown about “porchetta” and the amazing sandwiches from his youth that he mistakenly agreed to try at 9 am and that ended up repeating on him all day.  It sounds a tad gross in review, but somehow when told with that Latin lilt, and punctuated by his warm brown eyes, it was all really endearing.

Anyway, that’s what Lord Bessie got – Thursday’s special, the Porchetta.  This is a pork loin stuffed with fontina and Italian ham.  She almost licked the plate clean and was the only one without a doggie bag, so you do the math.  I got the Parpadelle Funghi Selvatici which was a homemade pasta served with wild mushrooms and black truffle in cream sauce.  It.  Was.  Heavenly.  I had had a late lunch, so I couldn’t finish it, but I gotta tell ya, I just had the rest of it for dinner tonight and it was still heavenly.  It was perfectly balanced – the sauce not too thick, but delightfully buttery and it clung to the pasta so every bite was the perfect flavor combination.  My two other friends got the Pollo Romana and a Salmon special. All I can say about them is that they were enjoyed and lauded, but frankly I only had eyes for my own plate.

So, honestly, if you were hoping for a full review, all I’ve got for you is my mushroom dish and the appetizer Lord Bessie and I shared.  That was also terrific.  It was a plate of paper thin slices of fresh prosciutto with tomatoes and cream cheese-filled buffalo mozzarella.  Who comes up with these things?  Cheese filled with cheese.  Inspired.  We were all pretty full by the end of dinner, so we didn’t really do justice to the dessert menu.  However, I can vouch for the coffee… but there’s not a lot to say about it.  Rich.  Hot.  I sucked it down.  Done.

Anyhoo, it was a fun night, which is always partially due to the company you keep, but also Strega has a pleasant atmosphere, attentive and conscientious staff and a variety of tasty food with fun foreign names over which your tongue will trip and stumble.  Not only do I recommend it, but I’ll be back.  The giant floating heads of aging Mafioso types notwithstanding.

Hawaii Five-O Reboot

Years ago, before TVs were in every room of the house, before TiVO and DVR, even before the remote was invented, there was a lot of jockeying for the right to choose which show would be watched in a household.  In a family of six kids where I was one of the “babies”, my rights were relatively nonexistent.  This meant I became more familiar with certain shows than I would’ve otherwise chosen.

For instance, one of my older sisters (not Lord Bessie) was a huge fan of Hawaii Five-O, and when you’re a kid, a five year age difference really means something… such as, she got dibs and I watched Hawaii Five-O.  So, when rumors of this remake started surfacing, I admit I was intrigued.  (The previews of a shirtless Alex O’Loughlin didn’t hurt either.)

Anyway, I’m a few episodes in, and I’m thinking I like it.  Granted, part of the reason I’ve been watching it is because none of my other favorites are on at the same time.  Well, that’s why I gave it a chance anyway.  But the reason I keep watching it is yes, partly due to the lovely Alex O., but also I am an increasingly bigger fan of Scott Caan every time I see him.

I remember thinking during Ocean’s 11 (and its we-exist-only-as-way-for-a-bunch-of-gorgeous-friends-to-hang-out sequels) that he and Casey Affleck were the best part of that movie.  Their chemistry and comic timing were priceless.  Even so, it’s not as if I began hunting down every movie of his or kept an ear open for future projects.  Now I’m hoping I didn’t miss out, because once again I’m impressed.  His delivery on H5O is spot on.

If you haven’t caught an episode yet, I encourage it.  To prepare you, you should know that Alex’s Steve McGarrett is almost too good to be true.  He’s a former Navy SEAL (of course), tough as nails, plenty of MacGyver-style analyses when needed, connections to improbable resources and a six pack and tattooed biceps to carry it all home.  He’s beautiful.  If he lacks anything, it’s possibly a sense of humor.  Not that he doesn’t have one, but in most cases he plays the straight man to Scott’s Danny “Danno” Williams.  And boy, does that man know how to serve up the sarcasm.  It makes me all quivery inside.  I can’t help it; I’m a sucker for the wise guy. 

Danno also keeps Steve from being too full of himself or taking himself too seriously.  But serving as a reality check is only a slice of his role.  He too is a smart detective with great instincts, and that keeps him from just being a glorified sidekick.  Plus, he’s got a bit of his own arc going on.  The writers have carved out an interesting back story for him, taking him from the streets of New Jersey all the way to Hawaii to be near his daughter, who lives with his ex-wife.  His fatherly instincts show a softer side that complements the easy confidence he wears on his oft-rolled up sleeve.  I find this combination very appealing.

The direction for his character seems wide open.  I may or may not even foresee a possible connection for him with Kono (played by a Battlestar Galactica alum I don’t know), the rookie cop and native Hawaiian.  Usually there’s at least one hook up within a group like this, right?  I’m saying that only to point out that it makes sense to me that she’d choose him, even over Steve, and even though she may be half a head taller than he is.  Rounding out the cast is Daniel Dae Kim (as Chin Ho Kelly), lately of Lost fame.  I’m easily short-changing him with this passing regard, but knowing he’s part of the 5-O team can only serve to impress you, right?

Whether or not I’ve made a compelling case, trust me on this one.  It’s by no means perfect (yet), but there’s nothing annoying me to the point of distraction… especially in light of the engaging characters, solid acting and guaranteed eye candy.  Yes, it’s still basically a cop show, but the exotic feel of the locale mixes it up a little bit.  So there you go:  perfect speciMAN Alex O’Loughlin, wise-cracking Scott Caan, and a bunch of pretty beaches and rainforests.  Plus, you’ve got TiVO, you lucky dogs, so no excuses. 

Holiday Movie Season

Lord Bessie and I get caught up in it every year.  We love/hate it.  I mean, we really do love it, but all the while we acknowledge the lameness of it.  Usually, we have to wait until after Thanksgiving to make room on our TiVO, but as with everything else during the holiday season, it looks as though the movie schedule is also getting bumped up.  I’m delighted by this, of course.  I also can’t explain it, because it really doesn’t mesh with the demands I place on my favorite shows or the big screen.  These movies are almost guaranteed to be sub-par at best, but it just doesn’t matter.  We go into it expecting a cheese-fest, and Hallmark (or Lifetime or The Family Channel) delivers every time.  Somehow, this particular brand of TV movie escapes the wrath I save for other Hollywood efforts.  And those lowered expectations really make room for mindless enjoyment. 

Anyway, tonight was our first for the year:  A Family Thanksgiving, starring 80s star, Daphne Zuniga.  Or as I like to call her – The Sigh Master.  I don’t mean to suggest she’s completely without talent, but she relies verrrrry heavily on a range of sighing to express nearly every emotion, from frustration to relief to delight to exhaustion (is that an emotion?).  Even Lord Bessie was counting them… which took a lot of self-imposed pressure off me.

The story line itself has been done.  I get the impression originality is pretty pricey.  But again, this doesn’t play into the entertainment factor.  It can actually be part of the fun to identify the slight differences to a familiar plot.  This particular story you’ll recognize as a poor man’s version of A Family Man, a big screen production starring Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni.    More recently, there was an amusing Hallmark take on it, starring another 80s favorite, Nancy McKeon (aka. Jo from Facts of Life).  The big differentiator between these two flicks, of course, is that THIS movie takes place over Thanksgiving and not Christmas.  It takes a trained eye, folks, a trained eye.

Admittedly, Daphne is no Nic Cage.  (I’m pretty sure he didn’t sigh once in his version.)  But she sure does know how to look lost and confused when the script calls for it.  There was a lot of pressure on her too.  Those of you who aren’t familiar with this genre must realize that the star is required to be in every scene.  This means lots of variation on looks of frustration, several quirks of the brow, and a host of bumbling over the simplest of tasks that a committed and independent career woman thrust into the role of a wife and mother would never be able to master.  Brilliant stuff.

Inevitably, the central character comes to the realization that her life wasn’t fulfilling after all.  All of these successful years she’s actually been stifling a warm, engaging, child-bearing inner self that would make her life complete.  (That’s much more annoying in typed format.)  So… when she is finally returned to the real world – always reluctantly – it is imperative that she turn her back on her current path and immediately pursue the man of her dreams, revealed to her in the alternate reality.  See what you’ve been missing??

I could’ve used a little bit more humor in this version.  Jo set the bar pretty high in her adaptation.  Daphne, on the other hand, was a little slow on the draw, leaving the bulk of the humor to the two fantasy world children.  They were cute.  Especially the little girl playing the three(ish) year old.  It’s possible they just ad-libbed her parts (in which case – bravo!), but she really stole all of her scenes.  The little boy wasn’t so bad either.  The husband, while tall, dark and handsome to be sure, was a bit of a lump.  His wife ostensibly underwent this huge personality change, becoming demanding and incompetent and insulting and unappreciative, but he just let it all happen, nary a word in protest.

So you can see why I loved it so much.  Come this time next year, I’ll be anticipating the first commercial announcing its multi-night repeat run.  Because that’s what these movies are all about people – predictable, exaggerated, fantastical fun starring former child stars who’ve found a comfortable perch on the padded pedestal you gave them.  Sighhhh.  Give me a break ok?  Let me keep them there.

Bones - The Bones That Weren't

I like this show.  I really do.  But… that doesn’t mean I’m without critique.  (Now or ever really.)  What keeps me watching is the high quality of acting and the creative storylines – all good stuff.  The characters totally pull off the scientific jargon and even the likely exaggerated extrapolations. 

It’s just that I find that Temperance Brennan (aka. Bones) could not possibly be a sustainable friend in real life.  Not even close.  These people who love and admire her so much, who are completely devoted to her, would have kicked her to the curb a long, long time ago.  [Aside:  Do people still say “kicked to the curb”?  It feels outdated suddenly.  Pretend it’s vintage so I can remain hip and relevant. Thanks.]  She has zero social skills, very little tact, a limited sense of humor and an unchecked ego that’s always teetering on the edge of obnoxious, saved only by her obvious skills and attributes.  Does this sound like someone you’d choose for a friend?

Given her brilliance and her strong powers of observation, her obtuseness seems a bit overdone.  Really overdone actually.  I mean, she’s had 30 something years to figure out how to relate to the rest of the world, the perceived little people, but it’s virtually impossible for her to apply any learned behaviors.  I just don’t think that fits.  She must know how much more effective she’d be if she would simply adhere to even the slightest bit of convention, but it’s like she physically Can’t Do It.  This would have been ok at the start of the series, but the character hasn’t shown any growth whatsoever.  Actually, in recent episodes it almost seems as though she’s regressed, and it’s very annoying.

Since part of her character eccentricities include weirdness about love, she and Agent Booth aren’t yet ready to become a couple.  And while the end game obviously has them riding off into the sunset, in the meantime Booth has to find temporary solace somewhere.  Which leads me to a concern I began to foster during last night’s episode.  He is waaaaaaaay too gaga over his new journalist girlfriend.  Don’t get me wrong.  Bones doesn’t deserve him yet, and he really deserves a little happiness in the meantime, but NOT at the expense of Booth’s manly manliness.

He’s totally whipped over this chick!  Again, uncharacteristically so.  The culmination of this realization struck during a particular scene when the gf was leaving their apartment for the day.  After he delayed her with the lovey dovey about 20 times, she was about to walk out the door and he said – ack – “I’ll miss you.”  Doe eyes and everything.  What have they done to Booth?!?!?  Are they turning him into a pansy??  It was so upsetting for me.  I fully expected the gf to look at him in mild alarm/disgust, but nope, she just smiled coyly/charmingly/destructively.  I add “destructively” because she let him get away with that crap.

Fine, fine, I’ll relax.  I just wanted to make my point.  I can’t imagine anyone will be happy with a mamby pamby Booth.  And by “anyone”, I mean me.  I want him to remain aloof and unaffected.  I want him to be strong and intense and, yes, obviously in love with someone who’s not Bones (because she does not deserve him yet), but not like this.

Let’s just hope it’s a one-off.  They may simply be over-emphasizing this relationship to drive Bones crazy, and I do approve of that strategy.  Fingers crossed, Booth will be back to his familiar commanding ways next episode.  Because in the end, I truly do want Bones and Booth together, her ridiculous ways notwithstanding.  But I won’t believe it’s legit unless it’s the “real” Booth.  Bones wouldn’t fall for anything less… and neither would I.

Facebook Observed

A "friend" of mine made a dramatic announcement on her Facebook status yesterday that she was cleaning house.  And by that I mean, contemplating a mass delete of anyone who apparently annoyed her with their individual posts and could therefore look forward to being blocked by her in the very near future.  I find this fascinating.

Why the grand announcement first of all?  I suspect to add a little salt to the imagined wound that these future former friends will suffer when they suddenly realize they were part of the targeted to-be-banned crowd.  Or, maybe to flex her muscles a little bit.  "Look at how I wield my power!  Giving and withdrawing my favor as I see fit!"  Ka BAM!  (That's her lightning rod striking the block button.  And of course she's standing on a cloud, wearing a toga.)

Am I the only one catching a whiff of hubris here?  (If you're not sure, it usually smells a little bit like BO covered by a layer of cheap perfume.)  Given the timing of this decision - on the heels of another blue v. red Election Day - she quite obviously just didn't like the other team expressing their opinions when they conflicted with her own extremely defined, very strong, completely closed opinions.  And really, how dare they?!

Don't get me wrong.  She has every right to add, delete, block, and promote whatever she darn well pleases on her own profile page.  But, well, so does everyone else.  In fact, I'm sure the banned group was already well aware of the fact that they were not aligned politically with her.  So for her to think they'll learn something from this imagined slight is a bit crazy, right?  Because honestly, I do think she harbors a secret belief that they'll be pushed to reevaluate their political stance after this move.

This actually points me toward a whole host of other mysterious behaviours unique to social networking, but I'm only on the mini soapbox today and can't handle that volume.  I may not even have mentioned this incident if this particular person didn't follow up her announcement with an update this morning.  She was "worn out" (yes, she actually said this) by the process of deleting 55 friends.  It does sound exhausting.  Or maybe I'm just imbuing her with my own eye rolling induced weariness.

I think Facebook opens doors into flesh and blood relationships that we never intended to open.  We make judgments based on posts, votes, likes/dislikes, grammar (although, dare I say, this one is justified)... that in turn drive wedges or forge connections that may not have occurred otherwise.

I'm not leaving you with some great moral lesson I've learned, because well, as my Dad used to say, "How will you learn if I just tell you the answer?"  There's good and bad to the inherent exposure Facebook provides.  I just think that it may be a healthy reality check to self-examine before we make grand gestures for our unique little worlds to see. 

Life Unexpected...

[Aside:  I posted a clip of this post as my Facebook status and found out that one of my friends is a “close acquaintance” with the writer/producer of the show.  She says she’s having trouble getting into it too… thankthegoodlord.  Close one.]

… ly awkward.  Does anyone else watch this show?  It drives me crazy.  It doesn’t drive Lord Bessie quite as crazy, so I *let* her watch it with the provision that I be allowed to mock it the entire time.  It’s honestly almost too great a task.  I’m pretty sure everyone on that show has diarrhea of the mouth.  Stop talking!!  Almost every scene involves someone saying something either inappropriate or unnecessary and most definitely something they’ll regret.  I’m at full cringe alert the entire time.

On top of that, I find nothing appealing about Kate, the former teenage mother cum 30-something radio personality.  (This is somewhat upsetting since I was a huge fan of Shiri Appleby in Roswell.)  Kate, on the other hand, is completely annoying.  I’ve taken to counting her “you know”s and “ok”s in every scene, but I don’t know what point I’m proving except that it’s too much.  If she were my friend, I would’ve mimicked her into silence or change or possibly divorce proceedings.  Plus, what’s the deal with her sentence structure?

Normal sentence:  Lux and I need to keep working on trusting each other.

Kate’s sentence:  Lux and I, we need to keep working on trusting each other.  (Usually there’s either a “you know” or an “ok”, or both, somewhere in there as well.)

It’s like she’s making introductions before she says what she wants to say.  (Worse, it seems to be catching, because the other characters have also occasionally taken to this style of speaking.)

As a whole, I would possibly be able to overlook these annoying grammatical crutches – which is huge for me – except that she has nothing else to recommend her.  She can’t decide between her practically-perfect-in-every-way boyfriend/fiancé/husband and her liquid brown-eyed, tall drink of water baby daddy, Baze, so she just tortures them both... thereby torturing me.  She has practically no natural instincts but rather reacts to everything, uncensored.  This then results in unnecessary high drama and her predictable apology.  (I’m throwing up in my mouth right now.  She is currently ONCE AGAIN sharing her intimate personal issues with the wrong person.)

Meanwhile, the daughter Lux who is understandably more mature than her peers (and parents) due to her sad formative years spent in the foster care system, is forced to be the voice of reason in nearly every crisis.  But hey, let’s not forget she’s still a kid.  Just now, her English teacher admitted he can’t stop thinking about her and suggested they strip to their underwear so he can teach her to swim.   This while the rest of the group – students, teachers, her PARENTS, etc. – are merely a stone’s throw away eating dinner around a campfire.  We’re meant to be rooting for them I suspect, but all I can think is, “Dude.  She’s a child.  Resist!”  Inevitably, as they succumbed to temptation and kissed, they suddenly noticed someone lurking in the woods.  Shocker.  Didn’t see that coming at all.

As for Baze, well, he’s a doll but he’s also a man whore.  The guy just can’t keep it in his pants.  Worse, until recently, every woman that got caught in his crosshairs had some connection to Kate – relative, in-law, boss, what-have-you.  Are there no other women in the world?  He’s a friggin’ bartender for crying out loud.  Well, it looks like he’s finally broken that trend anyway.  Now he’s moved on to his boss.  Yeeeeah… no problems there.

My friend with the connections to the show suggested that maybe she was just too old for the WB.  A valid point.  It may simply be time for me to pass the baton and let the next generation grow tired of these standard formulas.  Simultaneously, I’ve managed to grab the baton from the generation before me obliging me to mock them incessantly.  Looks like I’m equal to the task.