Sunday, February 22, 2009

More Names

More names for my future Name Sampler arrived yesterday - woohoo. Thank you, Katie and Nichi! I love how much diversity in colors and styles this quilt is going to have.

While I had the camera out, managed to catch Pokey and Habibi enjoying life in the cat tree. I have no idea what caught their attention - but they were both looking at something.

I watched the second episode of Dollhouse. What a relief - that was much better. Okay the main storyline wasn't that exciting, but I loved seeing the relationship between Echo and her handler; not to mention Alpha, and the creepy head of security (who definitely needs to get his ass kicked), and Echo remembering things she probably shouldn't. Woohoo, here we go.

Who else is watching Top Chef? I was so excited to be rid of Leah, who seemingly advanced way beyond her talents. But Fabio? Say it isn't so. He was a hoot, I would much rather have lost Stefan. I'm definitely pulling for Carla - hootie hoo!!!

Hell's Kitchen is amusing, but definitely not as good as Top Chef. What precisely was the point of making the chefs eat raw organ meat? Sorry, I can understand a lot of the other abuse goes a long way to getting these guys to pull together as a team and follow orders precisely and quickly, but that? Unnecessary and not entertaining.

12 comments:

Millie said...

I'm with you about Top Chef. I've been watching since Season One, and I agree that Leah should have left much sooner. I loved Fabio and can't stand Stefan. I hope he gets his @** kicked. And it's great to see Carla do well. She's a hoot.

Andee said...

I didn't realize it was raw...just thought they couldn't stomach it in general. I agree with you...cutting up all that meat was punishment enough!

Kristin L said...

Yup, I'm watching Top Chef too. I thought Jaime's heart was much more into the challenges than Leah's and was sad to see her go before Miss Pouty. I'm excited to see Carla picking up steam -- she's got a great attitude! Agreed that I'll miss Fabio's adorable accent, but Stefan has performed consistently well, so I'm willing to put up with his attitude. Maybe I just have a soft spot for European men. ;-)

Beena said...

On Top Chef, I wanted fellow Floridian Jeff to win. But at least he got a second chance...and how often does that happen??? And to have Emeril give him a compliment, he can be glad for that!

julieQ said...

I really like the block with the black background...yum!

Sandy's Quilter's Block said...

Your kitties are staring at something. Maybe you have a ghost?
I love your fabrics in Saturday's post. Just gorgeous. Any plans for them yet?

Sassenach said...

I think Jeff won that quickfire on the merits of his cooking -- I think he lost because the producers did not want to lose both Europeans. It says in the fine print at the end of the show that judging decisions are made in consultation with the producers -- in other words, the judging isn't purely about food. I don't think the issue comes up often, but I definitely think it did in this case. The judges had ZERO negative to say about Jeff's menu, but even Carla got some (mild) criticism.

The other thing that may have come into play is that Jeff was less consistent in his performance during the season than the other chefs. He admits himself that he gets too many ideas running around in his head sometimes and that it interferes with his performance (and, boy, can I sympthasize with that). Stefan's performance was a one-off; Fabio's downfall is that he stuck too closely to his Italian cooking traditions (what a "downfall" to have).

I guess I'm in the minority about Carla -- I think that I could only take her in small doses. I'm irritated by her personality, but I have gained an appreciation for her cooking.

As for Hell's Kitchen, I enjoy watching Chef Ramsey but the concept is wearing thin on me. Casting of people like Lacey, who are clearly unqualified for the position that they're competing for, seems like a cheap way of garnering "entertainment" value -- more Survivor than Top Chef. I loved it -- loved it, loved it, loved it -- when Colleen told Ramsey that she also teaches manners. As I said, I do enjoy watching Ramsey, but it's nice to see someone who refuses to take his guff when he crosses the line from the professional to the personal attack.

And now, seeing how much I've written about a couple of TV shows, I realize that I need to go get a life.....

Sassenach said...

Yes, I really do need to get a life, but coming back to the subject of Stefan and the question of whether he cares enough:

Stefan prides himself on his ability to remain calm under pressure. He demonstrated the value of that earlier in the season when, instead of panicking over a disaster, he turned lemons into lemonade (or some such thing) and the judges loved the dish.

The more Stefan cares, the more he clamps down and outwardly appears to be unconcerned. Should he have taken those smoke breaks? He probably needed the time to mentally regroup -- but it reflected poorly on him. A better tactic would have been to state that he was going to the restroom or running an errand, and then find a quiet place to realign his thoughts.

Laurel said...

I love Top Chef, too. And I can't wait for someone to kick Stefan's butt. I'm not sure it should be Carla, however. I wish Jamie was still in it....

I like Hell's Kitchen, but I have to send my 9 year old out of the room because of Ramsey's language.

On either show, I know that these people can cook circles around me. I wish I had the time/tallent to do 25% of what they can do.

That being said, I'm thinking that none of them problably quilt, so maybe its an even swap.

Laurel

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AnnieO said...

I've only been following sporadically, but Fabio's restaurant is in my county and the local paper has been following his Top Chef appearance, of course. It was said that he plans to open a restaurant in my city's downtown (40 miles from his other restaurant) but Fabio "politely declined" to say where or when. It would be great to try out when it happens!

Tanya said...

My cats want a cat tree like Habibi and Pokey have!