true blood finale - pam rules, sookie drools

although this episode was seriously lacking some yummy alcide eye-candy, it certainly made up for it in "holy crap!" moments.

i bet if alcide could have found an excuse to take off his shirt, sookie would've said "yes, yes, yes!" to his proposition.

noel crane is on true blood?  awesome sauce!  this is what happens when you don't have time to read spoilers or ausiello - you get to be surprised every once in a while.  truth be told, i've always thought noel was kinda lame, always pining after felicity when felicity was clearly in love with ben...especially since noel already had a girlfriend!  but since then i just love seeing scott foley pop up in the least expected places.  fun!  but if creepy ghost rene was telling the truth, seems like he spells trouble for arlene.

pam and eric had the best lines tonight (as usual) and marnie gets an honorable mention.
eric: hi nan and...gay storm troopers.
pam:  i'm so over sookie and her precious fairy vagina and her unbelievably stupid name!
marnie:  oh, this f*ckin' sucks!  (but at least she gets to rock that awesome leather jacket for all eternity)

how does marnie not see holly pouring a huge ass circle of salt?  it's a good thing sookie fairy-lighted marnie just outside of the circle.  can you imagine if she was stuck inside the circle with them?  whoopsie!

i don't like that zapping/screen skip thing they do when spirits appear and disappear.  it reminds of the stupid video from the ring that people kept watching.  blah. ick.

holy crap, sam gets attacked by wolves!  really?  did he not think a wolf or two might show up at his doorstep?  i mean, it's not like he was involved with the death of their pack leader or anything.  how does a skeevy, unattractive, weak guy like marcus become pack leader?  i would never follow that coward.

holy crap, reverend newlin is a vamp!  uh oh jason, it's really too bad you screwed his wife.  it's ok, jess will return to save him, right?  right???  oh wait she never drank jason's blood!  she won't know when jason's in danger!  rut ro jason - just don't invite him in.

holy crap, tara gets her head blown to bits!  so did they just run out of story for tara?  couldn't they have let one good thing happen to her?  she had such a tough four seasons and now she's dead.  that's ok, now that lafayette is a medium any of the dead characters can come back to visit whenever they like.  i really think it's time that sookie find a new place to live, don't you?  her kitchen as seen way too many brain bits and to top it off, she can't control which vampires are allowed in her house since she is not technically the owner.  not good.

holy crap, russell edgington has escaped!  holy crap!  the next thing you know they'll be resurrecting franklin.  double holy creepy crap!  so who dug him out?  bertha* speculated that it was possibly pam and in her current state, i might believe she'd do it.  but what does alcide know about russell being buried there?

dawson or pacey?  edward or jacob?  angel or spike???  in a total st. elmo's fire leslie hunter move, sookie chooses herself.  *yawn*  i'm with pam on this one, i'm afraid.  it was fine for dopey eric to fawn all over sookie when he couldn't remember his badass days but now that he's back in his leather wardrobe it just seems so out of character for him to be so soft.  it's a good thing that we have all these other cliffhanger moments to look forward to next season!

what was the deal with the fairy/andy encounter?  why introduce that but never follow up on it?

what happened to jesus' super brujo mojo?  did it go with marnie or is lafayette now demon-head?  oh yeah - and jesus is dead!

TOT (totally off topic) but i was so bummed to see daniel negreanu's 2011 WSOP main event run come to an end tonight.  and i agree with him, we do watch to hear the table talk but thanks to idiot jamie gold, that's been taken away.

is it me or is tyrion lannister a hottie?

ok so i know i'm showing up late to this game.  admittedly, i have a (bad) habit of letting tv shows pile up on my DVR because i can't find time to watch them.  usually if i don't watch them right away it's because i really don't care for the show but have already invested the time to get to know the characters so i force myself to continue, afraid i may miss that one episode that everyone is buzzing about (yes i'm talking to you big love, hawaii 5-0, and glee).  it makes it really tough to blog about tv and still be relevant when you're talking about it 10 weeks later.

but there were a few reasons why i didn't watch game of thrones right away:

1.  i didn't know if i was going to like it.  the series premiere with the white walkers really freaked me out.  if i never see another white walker again, it'll be too soon.  i was assured by friends that they did not play a big role and that i should keep watching.

2.  no time. have i mentioned that already?  i don't know how i think i'll even have time to blog.  and the fall tv season is about to descend upon me and i am SO not ready!  need to do some preventative maintenance with the DVR!   i'm at 85% capacity and that's just not going to cut it.  delete, delete, delete.

3.  i started watching the episodes and became so involved and completely enthralled that i stopped after episode 8 because i was afraid if i watched it all, i wouldn't have any more new game of thrones to watch until next spring.  so i saved the last two episodes until...i have no idea when.  apparently i picked a hell of place to stop.  !!!

as i'm typing this, i am watching adam richman on man vs. food eat half a cow in 5 minutes.  i could SO go for a brisket right now.

***WARNING - MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD***
so to my detriment, my refusal to watch the last two episodes led my friend bertha* to accidentally spoil the BIG EVENT that takes places in episode 9 - baelor.  she thought i had watched it all and mentioned it while discussing which characters might die on true blood.  *sigh*  i mean really - who knew that was going to happen?!?!?!  i'm speaking to the non-book readers, of course.  honestly i don't know how i would've have reacted if i hadn't been warned.  i probably would've thrown something, hopefully something soft and not aimed at anyone.  then i probably would have forced my husband to watch every episode from the beginning so he could share in my outrage/disbelief.

ned stark?  really?  how could you?  sean bean can't catch a break, can he?  first boromir, now eddard?  :( all around.

the books:  i'm loving this series so naturally, i've decided that i should read the books.  but now that i've started, i'm wondering if i should continue past book one?  will it take away from my enjoyment of the HBO series?  they've been pretty true to the books so far so i'm sure if i keep reading, it will reveal what happens next.

dany has dragons!  i was always rooting for dany for some reason but now that the crazy lannisters have taken over the throne, i'm rooting for her more than ever.

incest:  ok, in reading the book, it seems that incest is a pretty common thing, especially in the interest of keeping bloodlines pure.  even dany says that she had expected to marry her brother (ew.  and EW.)  so why is the cersei-jamie relationship such a shocker?  is it because it means that joffrey not the rightful heir?  why does robert deserve the "honor" any more than joff?  not that i like joff, and he's already  proven to be a pretty crap-tastic king.  but ok, i get it - this creates the conflict and drives the storyline.

sansa:  it's nice to see her finally grow a pair.  i hope she finds a way to really stick it to prince children of the corn.  hope that her insider position will serve a purpose.  btw, am i the only who did not think joffrey was remotely attractive?  he definitely has that "i'm inbred" look going on.

favorite scene:  by far, one of my favorite scenes is the verbal (and physical) beat down that joffrey gets from his uncle imp.  how awesome is tyrion and peter dinklage?  i hope he wins that emmy because it is so well deserved.  although i'd be almost as happy if alan cumming took it for his role on the good wife!  as mentioned previously i definitely find tyrion appealing and truthfully, it's wigging me out a little bit.



so many questions and such a loooooooooong time until the next installment.  will they find uncle benjen kenobi?  and if they do, will he alive or blue-eyed?  will theon greyjoy develop any redeeming qualities?  will arya survive the march north?  so glad that robert's bastard is there to help her.  will they develop a (b)romance?  will creepy little, snot-nosed robin finally wean himself off the teat?  what will arya say when she finds out her mom sold her out for a trip over a bridge?  is joffrey in for more bitch slapping now that tyrion will be acting as hand of the king?  (oh please say yes!)  will the rest of the khalasar come running back now that dany has new pets?  when will the stark children finally reunite?

see, this is the reason i really shouldn't read the second book.  hm.  i can't imagine if i had read the books when they were published and then had to wait SEVEN YEARS for the next installment.

if you've watched, please comment. if you haven't watched, you totally should...so you can come back and then comment!

True blood - all alcide, all the time

so i watched this episode last night and the only thing i can recall is naked alcide!!  i rewound that scene AT LEAST twice.  after that, i stopped counting.  um, ok so the writers this season have been VERY generous with the gratuitous eye candy.  yowza!  i didn't think they could show much more than they did back in episode 4 when alcide was undressing to shift into his wolf form (see below!)  - to which my friend bertha* commented "i was wondering how many of his pubes they were going to show before the camera finally cut away!" - but apparently i was wrong.  have i mentioned that there's a good chance that alcide (at least the actor that plays him) is related to my husband?  i sooooo totally going to the next family reunion!   (love you, poo!)



speaking of alcide (and when am i not?), so if he's such a stand-up guy, why does he keep lying to the girlfriend?  he so obviously hearts sookie.  no wonder debbie's pissed.

is it possible that alcide doesn't know sam merlotte?  don't all men who love(d) sookie know each other? i was sure he'd recognize him when he showed up at marcus' but nope.

in dire situations, why doesn't sookie think to use her "gift" more often?  like, why not continue to "listen" to debbie for a while until you're REALLY sure of her motives?  why did she have to wait for tara to throw her an obvious hint before she even thought to read her mind?  i would've been listening in before i even attempted the break in - what a dodo!

other notable scenes:

jason's comment "when you guys role-play does lafayette ever turn into a woman named mavis?" and terry's advice "i'm going with echelon formation..."  jesus' reaction to both of those idiots was priceless.

mavis grabs lafayette's junk! mavis seemed more surprised that she was a dude than she was at the news that boys can now have boyfriends.  didn't she notice that lafayette was a boy before she jumped into his body??


i'm so glad the creepy doll storyline is over (or is it?).  does this also mean the end of arlene thinking rene is going to come back to get her through mikey?  i hope so.  i don't like mamas being afraid of their babies...that whole "baby not yours" thing was pretty creepy.  and then the spontaneous house fire - could that have all been caused by mavis???  oh no, i'm getting the sinking feeling that we're not out of the woods yet.  frak.

jason's "parrot-phrasing" to jessica.  LOL!  i love when they remind us that jason can be an idiot sometimes.  but i can't believe what went down in the bed of jason's pick-up truck!  i mean, it is jason after all  and it would be so out of character for him not to be making sexy time with someone.  but this is his best friend in the whole world hoyt's ex!  jason was doing so well at behaving...that aside, couldn't they have picked some place less public?  hoyt's gonna be maaad.

what else did i miss?  plenty i'm sure.  feel free to send me a reminder in the comments section!

*names changed to protect those who may be surprised to find themselves in my blog

MasterChef finale: wanna be a jerk? go to hell's kitchen.

some chefs this season really just irked me.  some were bordering on crazy (christine), some you just couldn't help but love (ben starr), some were just hard to watch (esther, could you close your mouth already?), but there were select few that i just wanted to tell to shut.  the hell. up.

suzy:  i didn't mind her at first.  i kept reading comments about how cocky she was and comments from the other contestants.  maybe it was because the comments were coming from max and for me, max was public enemy #1 (more - but not much more - on him later).  i actually felt kinda bad for her when christian (grrrrr) kept saying "suzy, you're gonna losey".  but what i couldn't stand was when she blamed others because she failed to perform.  OMG, adrien made her cook with pork belly, how dare he do that to her "thanks a lot adrien, wah wah wah."  what finally did it for me was at the semifinals when she lamented that "it makes me really pissed off because that could have been my spot.  jennifer took my spot" - whatever, delusional lady! nobody took anything, you squandered it.  stop making engineers look bad.

christian:  this guy just never let up.  it really takes a lot of energy and effort to be THAT arrogant.  ok i get that most professional chefs are extremely arrogant and usually they are not people...people.  but dude, you're not a pro!  you cook at home!  get over yourself.  and why always trash talking the girl?  she's won 3 mystery boxes, does she need a michelin star before you'll acknowledge that she can make a good risotto?  he never accepted any criticism, he never gave any of the other chefs any credit, and he was incapable of learning anything during this experience.  what a complete waste.  and as his final dish, he made meat and potatoes yet criticized adrien for "making rice again".  maybe if he had focused more energy on his own dish and he might have had a chance at the finals.  

max:  i could not wait for this turd to go home - thankfully it happened early.  what a snob!  if you read his masterchef bio online,  he says the first dish he ever made was filet mignon with white truffle macaroni (while others said eggs, grilled cheese, applesauce, etc).  oh, gag.  that's not pretentious at all.

i just didn't understand the excessive need to put other people down this season...particularly by these three.  why not just let your food speak for itself?  OK, OK, i get it.  sound bites guarantee you more face time.  AND i'm sure the producers are asking the "right" questions so as draw out these nasty comments but give it a rest already!  they'd better be careful or else they'll end up going down the trashy road with hell's kitchen.

whew!  i feel much better now i got that off my chest.  so what else was noteworthy about this season?

did they have a masterchef makeover episode that i missed?  what's with all the new hollywood hair going on?  i missed an episode while on vacation so if that did take place, someone please let me know.

flour-gate:  so if you were jennifer, would YOU have lent christian the flour?  here's a better question - if the tables were turned, would christian have helped jennifer?  i'm thinking...no.  you know, when i watch top chef, i see a lot of helping going on because these chefs always want to win based on the their food.  but i also think that had christian not behaved like such an ass, then people would be willing to help him.  i found a small part of myself kinda hoping that jennifer would not be the nice guy, and keep all her flour to herself.  in fact, instead of using the excuse that she needed all her flour and "did not have a square to spare" i wished she had called him to the carpet.  would he have helped her in her time of need?  and i'm sure he would have lied just to get his flour.

i SOOOOOOOO wanted to eat that mushroom ravioli with the egg and the mushroom ragout.  "there's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy!"

adrien's family member called him "chocolate boy" - hahahahahahaha!

what's with the final two kitchen?  do they seriously have to share that teeny tiny circular kitchen space?  if i had to prepare an appetizer, an entree and a dessert in TWO HOURS, i certainly wouldn't want to have to be worrying about bumping asses with someone else every 5 minutes.   where are the ovens??  those things need at least 4 feet of clearance!

*SPOILER ALERT!* - but let's be honest, if you haven't  watched or know the ending by now then you're more behind than i am in posting this...post.

so jennifer is this season's big winner.  shocked?  even my husband was like "i can't believe the girl won" (apparently he was so unimpressed with her that he couldn't bother to learn her name.  i mean, i can see how it can be a difficult name for him to remember because you know, it's not his wife's name or anything).   why is everyone so down on this girl?  is she so undeserving?  i think she performed just as well and as consistently as adrien.   i thought she showed a lot of technique and skill that seems improbable for the "home" chef.  hats off to you girl!  thanks for making me hungry (again).

totally off topic (TOT) - i'm reading a book now called "the immortal life of henrietta lacks" by rebecca skloot and am both amazed and appalled by the story.  i'm really enjoying it but i'm hoping the i won't be disappointed at the end like i have been with the last couple books i've read.  i think this one is a keeper though - check it out!