And The Winner Is… WTF?!?!
I’ll talk more about the Top Chef finale later, but this is what happened last night. I stayed home, defaulting on my Mudhoney ticket, so that I could watch the finale in real-time. As the show came back from commercial to announce the winner of Top Chef my satellite receiver (loaded with Beta software) rebooted! I. Was. Furious! I ran down to the basement and turned on another tv and managed to hear the winner speak, but never really saw the justification for the decision. How frustrating!
Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.
I talk because I feel, and I talk to you because I want you to know how I feel.
My statements are requests.
My questions are statements.
My trivia is an invitation to be friends.
My gossip is a plea: Please see me as incapable of that. Please respect me.
My arguments insist: I want you to show respect for me by agreeing with me. This is the way / say it is.
And my criticism informs you: You hurt my feelings a minute ago.
To all who have helped me — Thanks.
Things Not To Do On Marta
After waiting out the majority of lightning yesterday I accepted a short ride to the Marta station nearest the office. As I entered the train car I noticed something odd — young (late teen), white, girls and guys of the OTP/Country variety. Obviously they weren’t returning home from work, nor did they act as regular Marta riders.
After some time I saw that one of the guys, who was wearing blue jean overalls with one strap undone, was drinking a Bud Light from a can. I’ll avoid the obvious “tasteless beer” joke and instead focus on the fact that not only is drinking of any sort verboten on Marta, this state has something called “open container laws” and if you can’t separate yourself from your alcohol you should at least be smart enough to put it in a nondescript container. The police officer who either was on the train already, or had been somehow summoned felt the same way. At the next station the drinks were discarded, and I got off a few stops later before I could see if the officer also wound up citing or arresting the guy.
On a brighter Marta note, I ran into D.D.D.Dave on the train yesterday. Actually, he saw me and said hello. Unfortunately this is usually the case as even after telling you the story above I can be rather oblivious to my surroundings whilst riding Marta.
ITP Flickr Pic
Things may be starting to look up.
Yesterday I sent out dire vibes, much like that of a siren warning of impending tornadoes. While I cannot divulge the (one of the) source(s) of my dismay, I think that things may not be as bad as I feared.
RealiTV Update: Top Chef — The Finale
Bravo to Bravo for not making us sit through insufferable recaps where we “remember” all the chefs who were asked to pack up their knives and leave, and then watch the Final Three toss knives into one of those Will It Blend? blenders to symbolize their demise.
No, with the exception of excessive product placement, Bravo takes the high road when it comes to Top Chef. We start the show watching last week’s whine from Lisa about not getting congratulated, then King Richard’s “Congratulations, you won the fucking Bronze Medal.”, and then into the competition.
For the final competition the chefs have to create their own tasting menu consisting of four courses…. including a dessert. They will have two sessions to conceptualize and then execute their plan. To help them they get a sous-chef. Will their sous-chefs be castaways from episodes gone by again? Nope, this time they get Heavy Hitters. It’s at this time that I shed some of my foodie cred by admitting that I only recognize one of the Heavy Hitters and that is Eric Ripert. Two of the Final Three will get to pick which Heavy Hitter with whom they will work. We then find out that Richard and Stephanie have each won four Elimination Challenges (and I believe Lisa won zero) so a tie-breaking knife-pull is in order. Chivalry is not dead as Richard suggests that Stephanie pull first, she get #1 and therefore picks. As I would, because he was the only one I recognized, she goes for Ripert.
With Heavy Hitters assigned it’s game on and the preparation begins. At night’s end we are led to believe that Richard is in the shit (even though he show Ripert a technique that Ripert had never seen before), Stephanie is worried about her dessert, and Lisa is calm, cool, collected, and as annoying as ever.
When the next day arrived the patented Top Chef Curveball is thrown when Chef Tom informs the chefs that their Heavy Hitters have retired and that each chef is on his/her own from here on out. With food now prepared it’s time for judgment! It’s clear that King Richard has dropped the ball. While his food got nods for creativity, it wasn’t the spot-on meal we’ve come to expect. Frighteningly Lisa’s meal got a lot of praise, and for a moment I shuddered to think that she was going to win it all. Stephanie produced some hits and misses. Bravo got their last chance at making money by going to commercial, the chefs returned for the announcement of the winner, and then my fucking tv screen went black!
From what I have seen and heard, Stephanie has become the first woman to be deemed “Top Chef.” I am happy for her because she appeared to earn it. As I’ve watched this competition I do fear for her future however. It appears that she’s packed on a bit of weight… I hope that she realizes this soon and maintains a healthy weight. I don’t know if second and third place were announced. Congratulations Richard, you won either a fucking silver or fucking bronze medal!
And so ends another season of Top Chef.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – cautiously optimistic
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing I’m From Barcelona — “We’re From Barcelona”
Website Of The Day – My name is Paulie and I am a geek. There, I said it. Now I must admit that I got hooked on watching TWiT Live TV with Leo Laporte last night.
Exercise (b)Log – nothing (although I am getting some mileage walking to/from Marta stations)
Monthly Foot Mileage – 5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 38 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – Marta
Monthly Marta Rides – 13
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 72 (72)
Books To Read To Earn Kindle – 5
June Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride no fewer than 100 road miles
3) Ride Marta no fewer than twenty times (ten round-trips)
4) Read at least one book
5) Make my bed every day
6) Eat out at a bar/restaurant no more than twice in one week
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I assume it is an accident that have of the page is now BOLD and italic?
If you keep in mind that your lows are not really all that low, and your highs are not all that high, you’ll find life a little easier… I guess that makes me a realist.
-FP
Formatting is screwed. That’s what I get for not previewing today. Off to fix…..
Lovely… just what I expect to see.
-FP
So, Martha & Paulie – did you get wet on the ride/walk home yesterday?
It had stopped raining, but since it still looked ugly I took a ride to the Marta station. When I got to my final destination the road was all but dry.
It doesn’t appear that East Atlanta will ever get rain again. That’s what I get for mowing my lawn.
Like the picture today! Off to your Flickr site to hear the story behind it….
think I will go to the Shearwater show after all…good seeing you singlehandedly lowering the smog factor in atlanta…j/k.
“gots to move man, can’t breathe man, we gots to breathe the same air man”
as bugs bunny would say “what a maroon”
No, I pretty much stayed dry. There was lightening here when I left and I had few sprinkles as I hit downtown but not enough to keep me off the road. I even rode a little extra just to make it an even amount of miles (that drives Brad nuts).
I wanted to ride again today but I have to go by Robin’s and pick up all the stuff that was left at her place after the hash.
I think I’ll try to ride two days a week, too bad we are on different trains (I assume).
Martha, you rode extra to get an “even amount” of miles.. I don’t get it.
I had hopes yesterday that the day spa and dude ranch would get some rain, but I don’t think we got much if any.
-FP
Martha, I get it! Then again, it’s because I hate odd numbers.
FP, ITP, I think we’re hogging all the rain up here. We get bits of storms every night. Sorry about that. I’ll change the direction on my ceiling fan when I get home; see if I can’t blow some of this moisture down south to y’all.
We did get plenty of rain here in Marietta, I need to go check the tomatoes to be sure they are growing up in the cages, instead of out………
oooh, yes! Go check Barb! Take care of them bad boys. I am eagerly awaiting the day when you call and say, “meet me for lunch, I have oodles of tomatoes to give you – we have too many to know what to do with.”
of course, with the recent tomato scare, you could probably sell a good many of those babies now too!
Whew, I went to a meeting and things exploded!
Give us our fair share of rain!!!!!
To all Mariettans, I will be making a Flickr group appearance at Tasty China next Tuesday night.
@Dave: When you said you were moving I assumed you meant locally. Are you leaving town? I’ll see you tomorrow at the Shearwater show, that is one I will not skip!
@Martha: I assume we get on at different stations. Did you say you got on at Garnett yesterday? I jump on the East/West line and change at Five Points.
Oooh! What time, Paulie? Can I “crash?” Barb, let’s crash!!!
Do you have enough OTP anti-hive medication, Paulie? Bring that and, apparently, your umbrella.
Spicy numbing beef is a natural anti-hive medication. I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to crash, it’s a public restaurant after all.
Stacy – we could sit at a different table and be stalkers……. Allan may want to come along too.
And yes, you can have some tomatoes, though now I may need to make you pay for them, since you gave me the idea and all.
Well if you are serious stalkers you should know details. Here is the email I received via Flickr
Tasty China.
Tuesday.
June 17
7:00 pm dinner
6:00 pm drinks before hand at the bar of the hotel right by tasty China.
(Crowne Plaza Marietta – 1775 PARKWAY PLACE Marietta, GA 30067 – its parking lot is adjacent to Tasty China’s parking lot)
So it is written baby, so it shall be!
Location: 585 Franklin Rd SE, Marietta, GA 30067
I was guessing that you take the North Springs train…I have to ride the one to Chamblee. I don’t want to deal with changing trains with the bike. S1 is only a couple of miles further than anything on the East West line.
One on my tomato pictures from last year was used in an (online) article about the current food scare. As far as I know Georgia has not seen any problems, so eat away.
I hope this year is better than last year’s crop. I got nothing, it was just too hot. I’ve already lost one plant this year but two others already have little green ones growing.
Yes, Tasty China has no liquor license. I think I will bring my own bottle if we decide to stalk. Stacy, let’s talk on tuesday to see if we are still available.
“it’s a public restaurant” — well, pffft! :p you sure know how to make a girl feel welcomed, paulie dear.
The dinner meeting is not of my creation, I was sent an email. These dinners are usually open to all, but since I am not the originator I cannot guarantee anything. Therefore, it being a public restaurant means that if there is no room, or you all don’t feel comfortable around the group, you can always grab another table. If I was the originator then I would have asked how many seats I should save. So. There!
@Martha: I understand the desire not change trains. My ultimate goal is the North Springs train, but like today I will take a Doraville train and change to North Springs further up the track.
no, I’m staying in town…don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.
that guy standing next to us yesterday creeped me the hell out.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy. When I got off the train at Candler Park someone from the car we were in got out and ran up one car and got into it. I guess we weren’t the only ones bothered by him.