Good thing

Another sign you should always go along with your first hunch.

At the end of last night’s 90210 , Brenda blurted out Kelly’s baby’s daddy and it’s *Dylan.* I dunno, that’s who I initially thought, but they did throw me off at the beginning with the do-gooder. I guess Dylan is as capable of doing good deeds as Brandon was. Although now as an adult I like Dylan’s character more than Brandon’s (I guess that’s what happens when you grow up), I liked Kelly & Brandon together more than Kelly & Dylan.

It really doesn’t matter, though, this is all fiction, but I guess it was fun thinking about all this fluffy stuff again.

In other very unrelated news, I need to buy a watch. I haven’t worn a watch in *years,* and in recent years I use my cell phone to check the time. But I guess now that I’m working downtown, having a watch will be more convenient for when I’m walking to or from the train or walking around during my 30 minute lunch. That way I won’t have to be digging in my purse looking for my cell.

So, I need a trip to Ross this weekend for a watch, khaki colored pant and maybe another large purse.

I will sign off with an ad for Jem watches (1987):

Bet is off!

In reference to the new 90210:
My bet on Kelly’s baby’s daddy was wrong! She was just talking to a new love interest about the baby’s daddy and it sounds more like it’s Brandon’s. She said he’s a do-gooder and travels all over doing charity work.

So…last week we heard that she was talking to Brandon in Belize. So, maybe I’ll put my money on Brandon now instead of Dylan.

I’m so tired from work today, it’s nice thinking of ditzy things like this.

Oh, and Kelly & Brenda were chatting and Donna has a new baby. As much as Tori Spelling annoys me, I liked Donna on Beverly Hills 90210 and I would have liked to see her on this new 90210. I still think it’d be great if they brought a few of the guys back for cameos too….if Brandon’s the baby daddy I’m guessing we’ll be seeing Jason Priestley.

And BTW, the adopted black son of the new family just got a job at The Pit. I guess that’s like Brandon working at the Peach Pit?

Thoughts on the new 90210

Over the weekend I finally got around to watching the first 2 episodes of the new 90210 and I really didn’t think it was totally horrible. It started with a premise slightly similar to the old 90210….a family moving to Beverly Hills from a hick area (this time from Kansas). In the new one, though, the family coming into town has an adopted black brother. I guess that’s supposed to be the token of “diversity” in this show? And Becky (Lori Loughlin) of Full House fame plays the mom in that family. It feels more “high school”-y than the original 90210 and the kids are much more risque and have much different types of problems, which both signs of our times more than anything. The old Beverly Hills 90210 feels so campy compared to the new 90210.

Anyway, putting aside that, some of the more “fun” parts for me? You get to see Erin Silver as a teenager. Geeky still-fans of the original 90210 may remember Erin Silver as the half-sister of both David Silver and Kelly Taylor. Also in the first episode you got a brief glimpse of Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez on a TV, who, if you recall is the daughter of Andrea Zuckerman and Jesse Vasquez (who did get divorced eventually).

Also from the old show, you get to see Nat working at the new fangled Peach Pit (which is now called The Pit). He comments in the first episode, “Whatever happened to just plain old coffee?” Hehe. I used to love Nat and am glad to see him back here. In the second episode you see Kelly Taylor’s mom again and it seems she’s fallen back into alcohol abuse and now is causing problems in Erin’s life. And here I thought Mrs. Taylor had finally gotten herself together by the end of Beverly Hills 90210. Erin Silver actually seems like a pretty cool character, not surprising since I really did like David Silver all through the first series and kinda liked Kelly Taylor during most of the first series. She comes from good blood. 🙂

As for the two big returns, of course there’s the big return of Shannen Doherty as Brenda. Apparently she was only slated for four episodes, but this report in the AP says Doherty’s ‘90210’ adventure might continue. I really hope so. Shannen did looked pretty ragged and really looks like she aged more than Jennie Garth, but I was really happy to see Brenda back and I know there are lots of Brenda fans out there still (including me!).

And of course there’s the return of Jennie Garth as Kelly Taylor. I wasn’t a huge fan of Kelly Taylor on Beverly Hills 90210, but she did have some interesting storylines during the series run. So, it’s nice seeing her here again and it’s interesting seeing what she’s up to now. One of the big questions in the entertainment gossip world now is, Who’s her 4 year old son’s daddy?. Because she says in the 2nd episode it was someone she dated in high school that she hadn’t seen for awhile and had a one night thing with. So, is the daddy Dylan? Steve? Brandon? The child has golden blonde hair so, maybe Steve’s genes would help produce that. But he seemed to have become boring and settled down with Janet (though I did like Janet). So, I’m not so sure about the Steve possibility. As for Brandon, when she had a dinner date with Brenda at The Pit, Nat asked Brenda how Brandon was and she said he’s doing something in Belize now and Kelly said that he called her in the middle of the night from there (actually, isn’t Belize only a few hours different time-zone-wise than California? Anyway…). So, maybe Brandon, but I’d really see Brandon as a guy that would be more present in the child’s life and they’re making it sound like this father is a deadbeat. Which leads me to Dylan. My money is on Dylan being the baby’s daddy. So, I guess we’ll see, but if I were a betting woman I’d put most of it on Dylan and maybe a little on Brandon.

Before I end this, I did catch one of my favorite old Beverly Hills 90210 episodes today. It was the episode where Scott accidentally kills himself. Great episode and handled the subject of an unexpected death really well. I think everyone that watched the old 90210 enjoyed that episode. In it, they’re making up a time capsule that will be opened 50 years later. One thing they throw in there is a floppy disk and Andrea says something like, “I’ll bet this will be an artifact of history 50 years from now.” Heh. Try 15 years later and it’s an artifact.

Anyway, I will leave with a clip from the Scott episode:

Boo Palin!

In case you were under a rock today, Palin went to Alaska today.

Not all Alaskans are in love with Sarah Palin (duh!). From today’s Huffington Post:
“Alaskan Women Reject Palin” Rally.

Some clips:

After shaking it off with a good double shot of espresso, and a brisk walk back to my car, it was time to head to the Alaska Women Reject Palin rally. It was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage. Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.

It’s a good thing I wasn’t tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody’s trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.

Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators), which would make this the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.

So, if you’ve been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin’s rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and go to Mudflats to enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around (links are appreciated) to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska, who know her best, have things to say.

I will leave with a music video someone made of the rally:

Maybe, Maybe Not

I was pointed to this funny article in The Onion…this sounds like people I’ve known too.


Woman Always Really Excited To Be In Whatever Relationship Status She’s Currently In

KINGSPORT, TN—Just six months after claiming she was ecstatic about moving in with her boyfriend, and a mere eight weeks after announcing that she “couldn’t be happier” with their decision to take a brief time apart, administrative assistant Ann Castlen, 26, told friends Monday that she was absolutely thrilled to be single.

“Free at last!” Castlen said, nearly a year to the day after she informed several coworkers that she was emotionally ready to settle down and have children. “It’s like this giant weight has been lifted off me and I can finally breathe. I’m just going to enjoy this time alone and do all those things I was dying to do when I was bogged down with [ex-boyfriend] Brandon [Weiter].”

According to friends, Castlen has expressed nearly identical feelings of elation upon returning to the dating scene, entering the initial phase of monogamous courtship, getting back together with an ex-boyfriend, developing a crush on a coworker, going on a series of blind dates, trying an open relationship, trying a long- distance relationship, and meeting a guy in a bar and having a passionate fling that she doesn’t expect to go anywhere.

“When Ann was dating Brandon, she would never stop gushing about how sweet he is, and how he ‘might be the one,'” said Castlen’s friend and former college roommate Bridget Mauresco. “I thought she’d be crushed when they broke up. But the next day, she’s going on and on about how ‘amazing’ it is to be able to stay out late without having to call somebody to check in.”

“I haven’t seen Ann this happy since she and Brandon promised to give their relationship one more shot two weeks ago,” Mauresco added.

The newly single Castlen said she is delighted to finally have the chance to achieve several personal goals that she had no time to concentrate on while in a relationship, such as painting her apartment, catching up on the past three seasons of Project Runway, and training to run a marathon. According to Castlen, she plans to embrace the “me time” offered by singledom until she is ready to date again, at which point she will become overjoyed by the exhilarating feeling of a blossoming romance and repeatedly claim that she “deserves to be spoiled” by a nice guy for a while.

“I’m so happy right now!” said Castlen, who uttered these same exact words after Weiter first said ‘I love you’ to her, during the period in which she and Weiter underwent a brief split and were seeing other people, and when she had to choose between two boys who had crushes on her at sixth-grade summer camp.

Despite reporting no significant changes in living situation, availability of free time, job security, financial independence, or self-confidence since last Wednesday—when she told friends she was relieved to have finally escaped the bar scene—Castlen said she is now at the “best point in [her] life” to be single, and has already called her friend Mara Delung to arrange a night out to meet available men at Snooker’s Pub.

“Last time I talked to Ann, she tried to set me up with one of her boyfriend’s friends so I could ‘have some stability in my life,'” Delung said. “Then she calls me yesterday and asks if speed dating is still a thing. Apparently, she’s always wanted to try it but just couldn’t when she was stuck with Brandon.”

Added Delung, “Weren’t they buying a house together?”

Having such an optimistic outlook on her love life is not uncommon for Castlen, who since reaching dating age has undergone more than 23 changes in relationship status, ranging from long-term abstinence to a brief but intense affair with a married man. The 26-year-old has also celebrated three serious relationships that lasted the perfect length of time, five just-what-she-needed dumpings, two hookups with ex-boyfriends that “gave her closure,” and an abruptly canceled engagement that Castlen said she couldn’t have planned better herself.

“I’m glad Ann’s finally doing what makes her happy,” ex-boyfriend Sam Lorz said. “She’s a great girl, and she deserves to be single, or dating, or taking time off from dating, or getting married—if that’s what she wants.”

Lorz went on to say that, in the coming months, he may try to once again begin a relationship with Castlen, as their on-again, off-again casual flings “always seem to cheer her up.”

I will leave with the opening theme of the Mary Tyler Moore Show:

SNL: Clinton/Palin Parody

In case you didn’t see this, this is a great clip. And *great* choice getting Tina Fey to play Palin.:

And here’s a non-SNL parody of Sarah Palin I found via a link on Margaret Cho’s fan page on Facebook. If you follow the poster’s profile you can find a series of parodies of Palin. Very funny stuff.

Mmm…Oatmeal scotchies

After finally finishing my errands today, I came home and baked a batch of my favorite cookies, oatmeal scotchies. Here’s a picture of the finished product.:

I put some extra stuff into my usual recipe to kick them up a notch (I *hate* Emeril, but I do like that little phrase). I threw in a sprinkle of cardamom, some cloves, some nutmeg and a little bit of orange peel.

They’re always so good to nibble on when we have a rainy day like this.

I will leave with a few old Quaker Oats ads:

from the 1950s with the Nelson Family

Popeye pushing Quaker Oats:

Wilford Brimley

Scrubs on TV Land

I love Scrubs and still consider it one of my favorite shows, even if NBC has always treated it like such crap that now it’s being aired on ABC for this next season.

Anyway, as much as I love Scrubs, I was weirdly bothered that they’re showing reruns on TV Land. Besides the fact they rerun it on Comedy Channel ad nauseum, I’ve always thought of TV Land as a channel that airs shows older than Scrubs. Shows like I Love Lucy, Leave It To Beaver and All In The Family. They’ve been showing Cosby Show lately too and for me that feels like they’re pushing it with the newness too. I liked how it was before when TV Land was for shows that aired before 1980 and Nick At Night had the newer shows like Roseanne, Cosby and Home Improvement. I guess as we’re nearing 2010 (yikes!) the bar between TV Land and Nick At Night might need to be raised. I still think, though, that Scrubs doesn’t belong on either channel quite yet. And while I’m at shows belonging, when did the George Lopez Show become classic enough to belong on Nick At Nite at all? I think Nick At Nite should do less George Lopez Show and more Family Matters.

Of course, there are so many shows I wish they would eventually show on either channel….off the top of my head, The Wonder Years, ALF, Taxi and maybe even Maude. And even though I own all the Mary Tyler Moore Show DVDs that are available (only up to season 4, dammit!), it’d be nice if they aired that too so maybe a new generation of folks could get into it.

Anyway, that’s my tired ranting for today. I will leave with a little clip from the Chuckles The Clown Bites The Dust episode of Mary Tyler Moore Show.

New Member of the MOD Squad

By MOD Squad, I am referring to the Merchants of Death in the film Thank You for Smoking. In the film, lobbyists for the alcohol, tobacco and firearms industry meet together weekly for lunch and support. It’s a great film and if you haven’t seen it, go out and see it.

While watching Lifetime and ABC Family lately, I keep seeing these ads from the Corn Refiners Association saying that high fructose corn syrup isn’t quite so bad. They refer viewers to their website, Sweet Surprise which basically “debunks myths” about high fructose corn syrup.

These ads are creepy, really, and the people behind them would be a great fit in the MOD Squad. While looking for good info on HFCS for this blog, I came upon a few good articles that are worth looking at:

High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Not So Sweet for the Planet

“The environmental footprint of HFCS is deep and wide,” writes Pollan, a prominent critic of industrial agriculture. “Look no farther than the dead zone in the Gulf [of Mexico], an area the size of New Jersey where virtually nothing will live because it has been starved of oxygen by the fertilizer runoff coming down the Mississippi from the Corn Belt. Then there is the atrazine in the water in farm country — a nasty herbicide that, at concentrations as little as 0.1 part per billion, has been shown to turn male frogs into hermaphrodites.”

Milling and chemically altering corn to form high-fructose corn syrup also is energy-intensive. That’s not to say that corn is evil and other foods aren’t; all crops require energy to grow and transport. What makes corn a target is that federal subsidies — and tariffs on imported sugar — keep prices low, paving the way for widespread use of high-fructose corn syrup and, in the process, keeping the American palate accustomed to the sweetness it provides.


SF Gate: Sugar coated – We’re drowning in high fructose corn syrup. Do the risks go beyond our waistline?

Loading high fructose corn syrup into increasingly larger portions of soda and processed food has packed more calories into us and more money into food processing companies, say nutritionists and food activists. But some health experts argue that the issue is bigger than mere calories. The theory goes like this: The body processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the bloodstream.

The end result is that our bodies are essentially tricked into wanting to eat more and at the same time, we are storing more fat.


In case you haven’t seen the ads here are the two that keep airing:

And here’s a clip of Thank You For Smoking. At about 6 minutes into this clip they have the Merchants of Death.

More Palin Scariness

This article was pointed out to me today, so I’m passing the article along. Scary, scary stuff.

Palin’s Wasilla To Rape Victims: Bring Your Checkbook
A little excerpt from the article:

In 2000, then-Governor Tony Knowles signed a bill in Alaska that ensured law enforcement around the state would pay for the processing of “Rape Kits” – forensics evidence collected in rape cases. Seemed common sense enough. Knowles noted, correctly, that we don’t charge robbery victims the cost of dusting for prints, so why would be charge rape victims the cost of gathering evidence to apprehend their assailant?

Except one little town objected, and had previously refused to foot the bill to solve rape cases – Wasilla, under Mayor Sarah Palin.

Reported the local paper, The Frontiersman, at the time:

While the Alaska State Troopers and most municipal police agencies have covered the cost of exams, which cost between $300 to $1,200 apiece, the Wasilla police department does charge the victims of sexual assault for the tests.

Now, look, maybe this was long-standing policy, instituted far before Palin took office in Wasilla. Maybe she had been appointing people who would overturn this policy. Uh, no. After taking office, Palin fired the police chief, Irl Stambaugh (which made her a subject of a recall effort) and replaced him with Charlie Fannon. Fannon’s view of paying to solve rape cases?

Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon does not agree with the new legislation, saying the law will require the city and communities to come up with more funds to cover the costs of the forensic exams.

So, for four years – from 1996, when Palin took office to 2000 when this law was passed – Palin didn’t seem to have a problem with charging rape victims to solve their own crime. And if she did, she certainly didn’t communicate that to her hand-picked Police Chief, who didn’t have a problem with it.

I guess that’s one way to be a “Maverick.”

Read the rest at the link above.

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