Quantity does not mean quality this week. There were a few books that I had on the bubble of not continuing with and this week they popped. None of them are actively bad but more just not good enough to continue getting on a monthly basis. So bye to Black Panther and Hulk at the very least. There was stuff I enjoyed so let's focus on that.
I don't talk about Hack/Slash much and I really enjoyed issue #24. I've often described another book, 'The Walking Dead', as a zombie book that never ends. 'Hack/Slash' is a slasher film that never ends. Two individuals hunt down slashers, serial killers with weird style that tend to come back from the dead to kill again. It's more complicated than that when you get into it, but that's the core. The artist for this issue has a more cartoony style than normal for the book but it grew on me as the book went on. This issue starts to explain some side characters and builds the background for how the slashers are able to do what they do. Very cool!
Muppet Robin Hood continues to exceed my expectations. All sorts of Muppet guest appearances (Mahna Mahna!) as well as a great twist (King Richard is off on tour, he's in a band with the Mayhem!) keep this very entertaining. Movies like this would be great fun but, until then, I'll take the comics.
Must dash.
07 August 2009
06 August 2009
Anyway
You know those days where you wake up and don't feel motivated to do anything? That was today. I did some stuff that was productive but it wasn't easy to get going. I'm still there at the moment. Tired, a little grumpy but the grumpy is fading, and just not motivated enough to do the weekly comic reviews yet. Gotta save up some energy for Saturday and the Comic-Con. Erin Gray's going to be there again and I'll have to avoid her. Last time was silly. I turned into an eight-year old again. I got her autograph, shook her hand, told her she was really pretty, and ran away. Ridiculous. I wasn't lying about the pretty though.
I should go to sleep but I bet I won't.
I should go to sleep but I bet I won't.
05 August 2009
Doctor Who + theme park ride (would) = happy Steve
My brain's been in theme park mode of late (and for good reason, but we won't go into that at the moment). For whatever reason, I started pondering what a Doctor Who ride could be like. This is what I have so far.
While the ride entrance would have to declare it as a Who ride, the queue area wouldn't specifically reference this. You're meant to be a passenger in a hovercar or something along those lines. Perhaps you're touring New Earth? Yes, that'll work, especially after the Macra have been dealt with. That could be a selling point of the tour, 'Macra free since whenever'.
You board your somewhat enclosed car, get comfy in the seat, start your ride, only to have the display screen in the car highjacked. Instead of the tour information it was showing, we see the Doctor, in the TARDIS! With no offense meant to the new fella, we don't know what he'll be like so we'll imagine this is the David Tennant Doctor. Why are we there? We're all in grave danger! As he flips switches on the console, planning to help us, the Doctor's highjacked feed to the screen is highjacked... by the Daleks! They're here to take over New Earth, and they're right behind us!
The car accelerates a bit as we fly 'through' the cities of New Earth, dodging Daleks and their fire, both as projections and physical items in the room. The ship gets hit by Dalek fire! We're crashing! The ship's screens go dark!
But there's a noise, not of our engines failing, but of the tearing of reality! The TARDIS materializes in front of us (really just a lighting effect in a darkened room) and the doors quickly open for us to fly inside. We're in the upper area of the console room. By the console, the Doctor (animatronic) waves at us, saying that everything should be alright. Maybe. As we fly from the console room set, the TARDIS is hit by Dalek fire, sending us spinning through time and space!
We travel back through scenes representing some of the Doctor's past adventures (aided by as much original audio as can be used), supposedly out of control. The Ninth Doctor and Rose face off against the Nestene Consciousness. The Eighth Doctor escapes on a police motorcycle. The Seventh Doctor hangs from the edge of a icy cavern by his umbrella. The Sixth Doctor faces off against the Cyber Controller in the bowels of Telos. The Fifth Doctor argues with Silurians. The Fourth Doctor stands in the midst of the Nerva Beacon, expressing his fascination with the human race. The Third Doctor rumbles with an Ogron. The Second Doctor pounds on the door of the Ice Warriors' airlock, desperate to escape as they observe him. The First Doctor is almost monochrome as he says good-bye to Susan and, perhaps us as everything grows dark again...
...but there's the sound of the TARDIS again...
The lights come back on in our craft. The screen displays a happy Doctor (Tennant again) who explains that all has been sorted out. And the Daleks? Well, we don't need to worry about them for the moment, we should just enjoy our trip.
The craft docks and the after-ride area is full of actual props from the show's history, at least until we get to the gift shop with the t-shirts and toys and books and comics and things.
Actually, I rather enjoyed that. I think I'll go again. Hope there's no line...
While the ride entrance would have to declare it as a Who ride, the queue area wouldn't specifically reference this. You're meant to be a passenger in a hovercar or something along those lines. Perhaps you're touring New Earth? Yes, that'll work, especially after the Macra have been dealt with. That could be a selling point of the tour, 'Macra free since whenever'.
You board your somewhat enclosed car, get comfy in the seat, start your ride, only to have the display screen in the car highjacked. Instead of the tour information it was showing, we see the Doctor, in the TARDIS! With no offense meant to the new fella, we don't know what he'll be like so we'll imagine this is the David Tennant Doctor. Why are we there? We're all in grave danger! As he flips switches on the console, planning to help us, the Doctor's highjacked feed to the screen is highjacked... by the Daleks! They're here to take over New Earth, and they're right behind us!
The car accelerates a bit as we fly 'through' the cities of New Earth, dodging Daleks and their fire, both as projections and physical items in the room. The ship gets hit by Dalek fire! We're crashing! The ship's screens go dark!
But there's a noise, not of our engines failing, but of the tearing of reality! The TARDIS materializes in front of us (really just a lighting effect in a darkened room) and the doors quickly open for us to fly inside. We're in the upper area of the console room. By the console, the Doctor (animatronic) waves at us, saying that everything should be alright. Maybe. As we fly from the console room set, the TARDIS is hit by Dalek fire, sending us spinning through time and space!
We travel back through scenes representing some of the Doctor's past adventures (aided by as much original audio as can be used), supposedly out of control. The Ninth Doctor and Rose face off against the Nestene Consciousness. The Eighth Doctor escapes on a police motorcycle. The Seventh Doctor hangs from the edge of a icy cavern by his umbrella. The Sixth Doctor faces off against the Cyber Controller in the bowels of Telos. The Fifth Doctor argues with Silurians. The Fourth Doctor stands in the midst of the Nerva Beacon, expressing his fascination with the human race. The Third Doctor rumbles with an Ogron. The Second Doctor pounds on the door of the Ice Warriors' airlock, desperate to escape as they observe him. The First Doctor is almost monochrome as he says good-bye to Susan and, perhaps us as everything grows dark again...
...but there's the sound of the TARDIS again...
The lights come back on in our craft. The screen displays a happy Doctor (Tennant again) who explains that all has been sorted out. And the Daleks? Well, we don't need to worry about them for the moment, we should just enjoy our trip.
The craft docks and the after-ride area is full of actual props from the show's history, at least until we get to the gift shop with the t-shirts and toys and books and comics and things.
Actually, I rather enjoyed that. I think I'll go again. Hope there's no line...
04 August 2009
Adventures in Mid-Wisconsin
I had set today aside for questing. In talking to some of my buddies of late, I'd identified some items of interest that they had and decided to use some of my time to try finding them. I did some planning, located some stores to visit, located the cities to go to, and set my expectations realistically. The chances that I'd actually find one of my target items was small. I had to expect that possibility.
The trip started out a bit rough. I walked into a bug on my way to the car. I found out I had something on my car when it fell off. I meant to stop in West Bend but took the wrong direction at the fork in the freeway and kinda missed it. Minor detail. I'd planned to go onto Fond Du Lac after West Bend so I just went to Fondy instead.
When I got to Fondy, I exited the freeway an exit too soon and got lost. Not lost-lost, just 'huh, I don't recognize this part of town' lost. I don't go to Fondy much. I spent the next hour or so exploring. This was eating into my time. I had plans for the evening so I couldn't spend all day out and about. I was spending too much time exploring. I started working my way back to where I'd exited the freeway, considering getting back on the freeway and heading out of town.
There was a Thrift shop and I visited that. Found a few CDs from local bands for my collection and a Disney Parks tin. After all the exploring, actually doing some shopping made me feel better. I'd actually done something. Since this store was on the corner of Main Street, I followed that into 'downtown'.
Downtown Fond Du Lac looks like the downtown of most of the other smaller cities I've visited in the Midwest. It's not too big, it's attractive in a vaguely out-of-date sort of way, and there's construction going on. I drove through it, noted a couple of interesting looking stores, and continued looking for the mall and chain stores for which I was searching. After a bit more exploring, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, I found everything and realized my earlier error.
I walked the mall. They have a Waldenbooks with a comic book spinner rack. It made my heart leap to see it. Many of my early comic purchases were made from something similar. The mall also had a toy store, sorry, a farm collectibles store. I didn't realize I was that deep into farm land. I moved on.
The regular chain stores held nothing. There's a department store chain that doesn't appear in the Milwaukee area that I visited. That paid off with a GI Joe vehicle that, upon checking, proved to be of interest. There was some clearance Indiana Jones figures that I picked up as well due to the price. I didn't want them but had a feeling I'd know someone that would.
At this point it was well into the afternoon and I should have eaten but I headed back to Main Street and the Downtown area. There were a couple antique stores and a bookstore all within a half-block of each other. I got a handful of books, one I believe is the source material for the movie 'Witchfinder General', from the first store at a very reasonable price and had a nice chit-chat with the lady that ran the place. The other antique store had some interesting things but nothing that clicked for the price they wanted. The bookstore wasn't a second-hand shop as I expected so I was a bit disappointed. Nice place, just not what I expected. They had comics too and that also pleased me.
I returned to the mall because they had a Hardees in the parking lot and it was near the freeway. I had a Frisco Burger for the first time in forever, love those!, and some Bacon Ranch fries. They're normal fries with ranch sauce and bacon bits on them. Good stuff.
Full, content, and feeling that it had been a good afternoon after all, I hopped on the freeway and headed home. Maybe West Bend tomorrow. It's not all that far.
The trip started out a bit rough. I walked into a bug on my way to the car. I found out I had something on my car when it fell off. I meant to stop in West Bend but took the wrong direction at the fork in the freeway and kinda missed it. Minor detail. I'd planned to go onto Fond Du Lac after West Bend so I just went to Fondy instead.
When I got to Fondy, I exited the freeway an exit too soon and got lost. Not lost-lost, just 'huh, I don't recognize this part of town' lost. I don't go to Fondy much. I spent the next hour or so exploring. This was eating into my time. I had plans for the evening so I couldn't spend all day out and about. I was spending too much time exploring. I started working my way back to where I'd exited the freeway, considering getting back on the freeway and heading out of town.
There was a Thrift shop and I visited that. Found a few CDs from local bands for my collection and a Disney Parks tin. After all the exploring, actually doing some shopping made me feel better. I'd actually done something. Since this store was on the corner of Main Street, I followed that into 'downtown'.
Downtown Fond Du Lac looks like the downtown of most of the other smaller cities I've visited in the Midwest. It's not too big, it's attractive in a vaguely out-of-date sort of way, and there's construction going on. I drove through it, noted a couple of interesting looking stores, and continued looking for the mall and chain stores for which I was searching. After a bit more exploring, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, I found everything and realized my earlier error.
I walked the mall. They have a Waldenbooks with a comic book spinner rack. It made my heart leap to see it. Many of my early comic purchases were made from something similar. The mall also had a toy store, sorry, a farm collectibles store. I didn't realize I was that deep into farm land. I moved on.
The regular chain stores held nothing. There's a department store chain that doesn't appear in the Milwaukee area that I visited. That paid off with a GI Joe vehicle that, upon checking, proved to be of interest. There was some clearance Indiana Jones figures that I picked up as well due to the price. I didn't want them but had a feeling I'd know someone that would.
At this point it was well into the afternoon and I should have eaten but I headed back to Main Street and the Downtown area. There were a couple antique stores and a bookstore all within a half-block of each other. I got a handful of books, one I believe is the source material for the movie 'Witchfinder General', from the first store at a very reasonable price and had a nice chit-chat with the lady that ran the place. The other antique store had some interesting things but nothing that clicked for the price they wanted. The bookstore wasn't a second-hand shop as I expected so I was a bit disappointed. Nice place, just not what I expected. They had comics too and that also pleased me.
I returned to the mall because they had a Hardees in the parking lot and it was near the freeway. I had a Frisco Burger for the first time in forever, love those!, and some Bacon Ranch fries. They're normal fries with ranch sauce and bacon bits on them. Good stuff.
Full, content, and feeling that it had been a good afternoon after all, I hopped on the freeway and headed home. Maybe West Bend tomorrow. It's not all that far.
03 August 2009
Hell's Kitchen Episode Three
I'm going to try and make this one shorter. Episode Two's entry seemed a bit too much recap and less comment orientated. If you like the longer version, let me know. I really don't want to make this the 'week of Ramsey' but writing notes on the Hell's Kitchen season is something I've meant to do for awhile. I'd get most of the way through a season, and go 'I should be writing notes' because I can never remember how my opinions change through the season. It's an experiment. Aren't they fun?
For the record I'm currently drinking a 250th anniversary Guinness at the moment. It's like a normal Guinness but with a lighter aftertaste and it's all sorts of fizzy, like Dr. Pepper level fizzy. Not bad but not all that different from the normal Guinness as far as I can tell at the moment.
- Last episode's promo promised the end of the 'fight' with Joseph as well as firefighters and alarms and medics. Panic in the Hell's Kitchen...
- Even with the normal 'last episode' recap, this episode starts with the end of the last, showing the entire build-up of the Joseph/Chef Ramsey conflict. Which I like. Moments after Joseph gets in Chef's face, a couple of bouncers or something come up to block him. Joseph gets in his face, continuing to swear at Chef and call him names in an attempt to provoke him, but Chef Ramsey doesn't flinch. Clearly disappointed, Chef Ramsey tells him to leave and Joseph does after flipping them all over and continuing to swear. Outside, Joseph notes that he doesn't need some 'limey bastard' telling him what to do and that anyone that would hire him would be proud to have him work for them. He comes across as completely crazy. Normally he may be a 'normally' intense guy, just focused, and decided to go on the offensive with Chef Ramsey to see what would happen or to look like a bigger man. I don't understand the logic but it didn't make him look good. It made him look like a lunatic. I wouldn't want to hire him based on that.
- That doesn't count as the elimination? Kevin is directed to provide the information Joseph wouldn't give and he quickly does so. Lovely, Tennille, Tony, and Andy are pulled forward to defend themselves. Tony gets eliminated. He had some problems but had a lot of heart. Robert gets immediately bounced to the Blue Team to balance out the two guys that just left. Fair enough. Chef Ramsey seems distracted by Joseph's insanity and, really, who can blame him? It's the hot topic of the dorm when everyone returns. That and the girls hugging Robert as they say 'bye' to him.
- Fire trucks arrive at 2AM, after they've barely slept. It's a fire drill! And challenge time! The firefighters can prep and have teamwork, unlike the Teams. The first Team to feed their side of firefighters win! Wow. This season has started out pretty crazy and active. They have three pasta dishes that can be ordered so it's not just like cranking out a bunch of spaghetti.
- 20 minutes in and not even garlic bread as gotten out. Really? Heck, I can make garlic bread. How long does it take to toast bread? I understand that they're tired and it's gotta be throwing them off. Still, the first few episodes of a season are just clearing houses. All the pretenders are cleared out. Occasionally you get a strong person that gets hurt and knocked out but it's mostly people failing on simple things. Lovely is working bread for the Red Team, they finally stop trusting her and check her bread. It's fine and gets sent out. Lovely doesn't show any signs of lasting. Andy's having the same problem on the Blue Side and we go to commercial with no Blue bread.
- Red Team are now hustling. The Blue Guys end up pulling the garlic bread from Andy and going like the Red did. Once that's done they immediately start catching up. The pasta challenge becomes a heck of a race with minimum failures and issues. The Teams do really well and the Red Team squeaks out a win by a few seconds. Robert bemoans that he doesn't care what Team he's on but the Teams he's been on have lost so far.
- Reward: Spa day with a helicopter ride.
- Punishment: Cleaning firefighters equipment and trucks before cleaning the restaurant.
- Van yells cheerfully to the girls as they leave. He's just a loud, goofy guy I guess.
- Dave tweaks his wrist cleaning the fire truck but only reveals that in Interview. Kevin twists his ankles walking back into the restaurant, apparently slipping on some water from the engine cleaning. At this point, Dave reveals his injury as well. They go to the hospital to get checked out. Holy heck. Suddenly the Blue Team is all fragile. Commercial.
Brief time-out as I replace the empty Guinness that was mostly gone when I started. Now I'm drinking a New Glarus Black Wheat that foamed over a bit when I opened it. Bother.
- The injured return not long after the girls return from the spa. Dave's got a mild fracture and a torn ligament. Kevin stretched a ligament in one foot and severely sprained the other. Both are planning to stick around. Hardcore.
- During the pre-opening pep talk, Chef Ramsey declares one member of each team will be a waiter tonight. As soon as he says 'Blue Team', Dave raises his hand to volunteer, not wanting to be a cause to slow down his team despite the fact that he says he's fine. No one volunteers on the Red side and Lovely is chosen.
- Van's on apps tonight. He's loud, no surprise, but communicating. He gets complimented on his food but chastised for his shouting. He's happy to be starting the night off right. Tennille is on fish and quickly shows she doesn't know what she's doing there. Suzanne does try to help her but gets nowhere. Chef Ramsey has to step in to straighten Tennille out. In the first episode she didn't look bad but has not shown any strength since. I don't believe she'll last at this point. Robert makes the mistake of asking Andy for help with some scallops. Andy messes them up. Chef Ramsey yells at Robert because Robert delivered them and Robert accepts the blame. It's interesting seeing the Robert/Chef Ramsey relationship this season. On one hand, Robert has to be treated like the rest, as a newcomer. On the other hand, Chef Ramsey has a higher expectation from him because he's already seen what Robert can do. Robert insisting that he has Chef's back is pretty wild.
- Tennille starts messing up the scallops completely. Suzanne actually seems nice as she's explaining what Tennille's doing wrong but Tennille expresses her dislike in Interview, noting that Suzanne likes to hear herself talk. She may not be wrong but what Suzanne was telling her was constructive. Tennille ignoring her is not helping anybody. She ends up spilling some of the excess oil she was using and starts a fire. She also gets annoyed because people keep checking for updates from her and just won't let her cook. While I understand her point of view, the sometimes just needing a moment to realign your thoughts, I've watched this show enough to know that you need to communicate in the kitchen. They can't just let her sit when they're waiting on her timing. She's messing the Red Team up at the moment. After Chef Ramsey calmly puts out her little fire, he tells her to take control of the situation and she does, relaxing and putting out quality food. Due to her issues, the Red Team is behind.
- Out in the restaurant, Lovely is not helping by messing up tickets. She gets sent to find a special bottle of wine and this takes her 45 minutes. Amanda messes up her lamb order and the Red Team's momentum begins to stall, even with Ariel trying to straighten them out. On the Blue side, Kevin, with his two bum ankles, is cooking up a storm. The Blue team gets a big lead but Robert forgets to start a salmon order for their last table. This gives the Red Team a chance to rally and they do, barely beating the Blue Team, just like they did in the challenge. Good grief! I like Robert and was sad to see him go last season because he seemed like he had skills and was a good guy but he's been very unfocused so far during service.
- Despite both Teams finishing, Chef Ramsey's not thrilled. He checks the customer comment cards for feedback. Despite finishing first, the Red Team's 'above average' percentage is 81. Blue gets 83 and wins. Ariel is deemed 'Best of the Worst' and has to chose the two to go up. Tennille pleads her case, that she did rally. Amanda compares herself to Lovely 'Is she better than me?'
- Nominees for elimination: Lovely and Tennille. Ariel expresses her reasons very well. Lovely lacks experience. Tennille has potential but is a current weakness to the team. She doesn't say they suck or anything like that. In a way, it's complimentary. Both nominees defend themselves well. Tennille notes her problem during service and how she came back from it, declaring herself strong. She does blame her team for her problem, that she feels they weren't supporting her, and that's not good. Lovely admits her lack of experience and owns up to the 45 minutes she was gone, but points out her customers were satisfied and she always maintains her composure.
- Chef Ramsey thanks them both before honestly pointing out he doesn't think either will win. Lovely is returned to the Team. Tennille is told to wake up before being returned to the Team. Due to Joseph taking himself out of the competition, he counts as tonight's elimination, a gift as it were. He has one more serious thing to say to everyone: 'I ain't nobody's [female dog]!' There's a laugh to end the show but the voiceover promises troubles for tomorrow...
- Teaser: Failure to communicate. Robert gets ticked and is shown toe-to-toe with Kevin. He's also shown breaking things and yelling that he almost died for this last season. Dave's injury is worse than he thought and he may have to quit the competition. It ends with cries for a medic. I love these teasers. They are so 'what the heck!' sorts of well done. The next episode is tomorrow. Goody!
I probably won't watch it until Wednesday so tomorrow we'll have to have something different to talk about. Good thing, right?
For the record I'm currently drinking a 250th anniversary Guinness at the moment. It's like a normal Guinness but with a lighter aftertaste and it's all sorts of fizzy, like Dr. Pepper level fizzy. Not bad but not all that different from the normal Guinness as far as I can tell at the moment.
- Last episode's promo promised the end of the 'fight' with Joseph as well as firefighters and alarms and medics. Panic in the Hell's Kitchen...
- Even with the normal 'last episode' recap, this episode starts with the end of the last, showing the entire build-up of the Joseph/Chef Ramsey conflict. Which I like. Moments after Joseph gets in Chef's face, a couple of bouncers or something come up to block him. Joseph gets in his face, continuing to swear at Chef and call him names in an attempt to provoke him, but Chef Ramsey doesn't flinch. Clearly disappointed, Chef Ramsey tells him to leave and Joseph does after flipping them all over and continuing to swear. Outside, Joseph notes that he doesn't need some 'limey bastard' telling him what to do and that anyone that would hire him would be proud to have him work for them. He comes across as completely crazy. Normally he may be a 'normally' intense guy, just focused, and decided to go on the offensive with Chef Ramsey to see what would happen or to look like a bigger man. I don't understand the logic but it didn't make him look good. It made him look like a lunatic. I wouldn't want to hire him based on that.
- That doesn't count as the elimination? Kevin is directed to provide the information Joseph wouldn't give and he quickly does so. Lovely, Tennille, Tony, and Andy are pulled forward to defend themselves. Tony gets eliminated. He had some problems but had a lot of heart. Robert gets immediately bounced to the Blue Team to balance out the two guys that just left. Fair enough. Chef Ramsey seems distracted by Joseph's insanity and, really, who can blame him? It's the hot topic of the dorm when everyone returns. That and the girls hugging Robert as they say 'bye' to him.
- Fire trucks arrive at 2AM, after they've barely slept. It's a fire drill! And challenge time! The firefighters can prep and have teamwork, unlike the Teams. The first Team to feed their side of firefighters win! Wow. This season has started out pretty crazy and active. They have three pasta dishes that can be ordered so it's not just like cranking out a bunch of spaghetti.
- 20 minutes in and not even garlic bread as gotten out. Really? Heck, I can make garlic bread. How long does it take to toast bread? I understand that they're tired and it's gotta be throwing them off. Still, the first few episodes of a season are just clearing houses. All the pretenders are cleared out. Occasionally you get a strong person that gets hurt and knocked out but it's mostly people failing on simple things. Lovely is working bread for the Red Team, they finally stop trusting her and check her bread. It's fine and gets sent out. Lovely doesn't show any signs of lasting. Andy's having the same problem on the Blue Side and we go to commercial with no Blue bread.
- Red Team are now hustling. The Blue Guys end up pulling the garlic bread from Andy and going like the Red did. Once that's done they immediately start catching up. The pasta challenge becomes a heck of a race with minimum failures and issues. The Teams do really well and the Red Team squeaks out a win by a few seconds. Robert bemoans that he doesn't care what Team he's on but the Teams he's been on have lost so far.
- Reward: Spa day with a helicopter ride.
- Punishment: Cleaning firefighters equipment and trucks before cleaning the restaurant.
- Van yells cheerfully to the girls as they leave. He's just a loud, goofy guy I guess.
- Dave tweaks his wrist cleaning the fire truck but only reveals that in Interview. Kevin twists his ankles walking back into the restaurant, apparently slipping on some water from the engine cleaning. At this point, Dave reveals his injury as well. They go to the hospital to get checked out. Holy heck. Suddenly the Blue Team is all fragile. Commercial.
Brief time-out as I replace the empty Guinness that was mostly gone when I started. Now I'm drinking a New Glarus Black Wheat that foamed over a bit when I opened it. Bother.
- The injured return not long after the girls return from the spa. Dave's got a mild fracture and a torn ligament. Kevin stretched a ligament in one foot and severely sprained the other. Both are planning to stick around. Hardcore.
- During the pre-opening pep talk, Chef Ramsey declares one member of each team will be a waiter tonight. As soon as he says 'Blue Team', Dave raises his hand to volunteer, not wanting to be a cause to slow down his team despite the fact that he says he's fine. No one volunteers on the Red side and Lovely is chosen.
- Van's on apps tonight. He's loud, no surprise, but communicating. He gets complimented on his food but chastised for his shouting. He's happy to be starting the night off right. Tennille is on fish and quickly shows she doesn't know what she's doing there. Suzanne does try to help her but gets nowhere. Chef Ramsey has to step in to straighten Tennille out. In the first episode she didn't look bad but has not shown any strength since. I don't believe she'll last at this point. Robert makes the mistake of asking Andy for help with some scallops. Andy messes them up. Chef Ramsey yells at Robert because Robert delivered them and Robert accepts the blame. It's interesting seeing the Robert/Chef Ramsey relationship this season. On one hand, Robert has to be treated like the rest, as a newcomer. On the other hand, Chef Ramsey has a higher expectation from him because he's already seen what Robert can do. Robert insisting that he has Chef's back is pretty wild.
- Tennille starts messing up the scallops completely. Suzanne actually seems nice as she's explaining what Tennille's doing wrong but Tennille expresses her dislike in Interview, noting that Suzanne likes to hear herself talk. She may not be wrong but what Suzanne was telling her was constructive. Tennille ignoring her is not helping anybody. She ends up spilling some of the excess oil she was using and starts a fire. She also gets annoyed because people keep checking for updates from her and just won't let her cook. While I understand her point of view, the sometimes just needing a moment to realign your thoughts, I've watched this show enough to know that you need to communicate in the kitchen. They can't just let her sit when they're waiting on her timing. She's messing the Red Team up at the moment. After Chef Ramsey calmly puts out her little fire, he tells her to take control of the situation and she does, relaxing and putting out quality food. Due to her issues, the Red Team is behind.
- Out in the restaurant, Lovely is not helping by messing up tickets. She gets sent to find a special bottle of wine and this takes her 45 minutes. Amanda messes up her lamb order and the Red Team's momentum begins to stall, even with Ariel trying to straighten them out. On the Blue side, Kevin, with his two bum ankles, is cooking up a storm. The Blue team gets a big lead but Robert forgets to start a salmon order for their last table. This gives the Red Team a chance to rally and they do, barely beating the Blue Team, just like they did in the challenge. Good grief! I like Robert and was sad to see him go last season because he seemed like he had skills and was a good guy but he's been very unfocused so far during service.
- Despite both Teams finishing, Chef Ramsey's not thrilled. He checks the customer comment cards for feedback. Despite finishing first, the Red Team's 'above average' percentage is 81. Blue gets 83 and wins. Ariel is deemed 'Best of the Worst' and has to chose the two to go up. Tennille pleads her case, that she did rally. Amanda compares herself to Lovely 'Is she better than me?'
- Nominees for elimination: Lovely and Tennille. Ariel expresses her reasons very well. Lovely lacks experience. Tennille has potential but is a current weakness to the team. She doesn't say they suck or anything like that. In a way, it's complimentary. Both nominees defend themselves well. Tennille notes her problem during service and how she came back from it, declaring herself strong. She does blame her team for her problem, that she feels they weren't supporting her, and that's not good. Lovely admits her lack of experience and owns up to the 45 minutes she was gone, but points out her customers were satisfied and she always maintains her composure.
- Chef Ramsey thanks them both before honestly pointing out he doesn't think either will win. Lovely is returned to the Team. Tennille is told to wake up before being returned to the Team. Due to Joseph taking himself out of the competition, he counts as tonight's elimination, a gift as it were. He has one more serious thing to say to everyone: 'I ain't nobody's [female dog]!' There's a laugh to end the show but the voiceover promises troubles for tomorrow...
- Teaser: Failure to communicate. Robert gets ticked and is shown toe-to-toe with Kevin. He's also shown breaking things and yelling that he almost died for this last season. Dave's injury is worse than he thought and he may have to quit the competition. It ends with cries for a medic. I love these teasers. They are so 'what the heck!' sorts of well done. The next episode is tomorrow. Goody!
I probably won't watch it until Wednesday so tomorrow we'll have to have something different to talk about. Good thing, right?
02 August 2009
Hell's Kitchen Episode Two
The plan for this episode is for me to jot down some comments as I watch it. Let's see how this goes.
- Robert immediately comes in to the Red Team and starts imparting things he learned during last season. Huge advantage. Dave from the Blue Team is shown agreeing with me.
- Challenge: clean as many shrimp as you can in ten minutes. One thing about a challenge like this is that Chef Ramsey always shows the Teams what he wants from them, provides an example for them to follow. Good call. Joseph, who seems to have a chip on his shoulder in general, poo-poos this as entry level work. Well, duh. It's day two. The Teams stunk up the joint last night and he wants to see what everyone can do with something 'basic'. It briefly rains ice and shrimp from the ceiling as Chef Ramsey calls for the shrimp tub to be filled up more. Geez!
- Lovely (yes, that's her name) is told to sit out the challenge to even up the teams. She rather lamely cheers on her team. Interviews from both Teams say that the other Team didn't look like they knew what they were doing. Ha! That's comedy gold right there.
- Last night's leader, Tennille, only manages one shrimp done correctly. Robert gets four and blames his mistakes on his pudgy fingers. The rest of the Team does excellently and the Red Team's total is 44. Blue Team starts strong but Joseph gets a relatively low completion at 5 and Dave does poorly. With only Jim left for the Blue Team, the score is 44 to 43. His first one connects but hits a bad run after that. We go to commercial with it tied.
- Jim's last shrimp is acceptable and they win again.
- Punishment: prepping the shrimp and lemon for the next service.
- Reward: Newport Beach, seafood lunch, and dessert on a mega-yacht.
- In an effort to show she's still providing value to the Team after her failure, Tennille tries to take charge. Of course, she ends up pissing off the rest of the team.
- Joseph gets lippy at lunch, noting that he's not here to get out and have lunch, he's here to win. Interview clip has him noting that talk gets you nowhere and he's not here to chit-chat. Interview with Dave has him noting that Joseph is way too intense and I tend to agree. There is a difference between planning and just talking. There's also something to be said about learning things regarding your Team and Employer, Chef Ramsey in this case, and if he doesn't get that's what's going on during some of this, then he might be WAY too tightly wound.
- After the Blue Team returns from their reward, final prep begins for service. Once again Robert is shown dispensing what he learned from last Season and gently takes control. He gets thanks. There's a feeling that the Red Team might rally around him.
- On the Blue Team, Tony has issues cutting grapefruit. First Kevin tries to help him out, and may or may not have helped due to the way Tony took the advice. Then Chef Ramsey sees that something's not right and gives him some hell. This ticks Tony off, not because of what Chef said, but because Kevin doesn't admit to being part of the process and Tony won't rat him out.
- Scampi at tableside tonight to spice things up. Van, a fish cook from Texas, is selected to represent the Blue Team. Interview notes that he has no front of house experience but has charisma! Charisma! So he should be fine. I kinda like Van. He seems like a Good Ol' Boy with skill. It also seems like he can be a bit obnoxious, like how he's reacted after winning challenges. I'm not sure if that's him being an ass or if he's so enthusiastic that he acts/speaks before really thinking about what he's doing. Tennille gets picked from the Red Team and she's much less enthusiastic.
- Tony still can't cut a grapefruit properly (over a bowl!) and gets called over as we go to commercial.
- Tony gets yelled at, he apologizes, and all is well for the moment.
- In interview, Joseph declares that they will act as a team and he is ready! If memory serves, he's an ex-Marine, could this be why he's so intense?
- Robert has everyone on the Red Team put their hands together and calls for communication and teamwork.
- Tennille's not sure how to approach the customers: sexy voice, 'white' voice, but she's gonna do it! Funny! She goes for funny instead 'Did you know they were supposed to be celebrity impersonators? I'm supposed to be Whoopie Goldberg.' Ha!
- Tony is on fish station. Enthusiasm for cooking fish! But he fires up an order of scallops as soon as he hears it, not when it's time and it goes to waste. Not good. Meanwhile, Lovely tries to cook scallops without turning on a burner and then tries to blame her teammate Tek for it. Funny, one of the things they laughed at upon entering Hell's Kitchen was a reminder to always cook with the stove on. Two episodes in and someone's already forgotten. Ha!
- Tony's refired scallops aren't cooked properly. Kevin goes over and provides him with guidance. This works.
- Robert starts messing up on appetizers. Not a good start for the big fella.
- JP tries to give Van some advice but gets blown off. Then Van goes to a Red Team table and gets yelled at for it. JP puts their conflict down to a communications issue: they might both be speaking English, but Van's from Texas. Once he's turned away from them, Gordon can't help but grin.
- Apps start cranking out of the Red Kitchen but Tennille undercooks a Scampi order while trying to catch up. This sets the Red Team back.
- Van's doing good with his Scampi but spills an order. He attempts to refire but the pan has apparently gotten hot and he boogies back to the Kitchen to get a different, clean pan. JP catches him running and tells him not to run. Van kinda blows him off again and JP gets PISSED. As we go to commercial, JP is hollering at Van and Van's just trying to get past him.
- Chef Ramsey pulls them into the back and gives them some Hell. Both of them need to settle down and do their jobs. Van needs to listen to JP and JP needs to respect Van. They settle down and head back to work. JP gets the last word. Once the door opens, Van hustles out and JP goes 'Ladies first.' Ha! You don't mess with JP!
- Tennille comes in to report that she's behind by six tables. Chef Ramsey is not happy. Points for communicating I suppose but, to Chef's point, it makes her look like she can't cook. Blue Team is cranking out orders while the Red Team falls beneath. Andy has an issue cooking a chicken order. After cutting it, he realizes it's not done and tries to save it. Chef don't go for that and there's yelling. Red Team has chicken related issues as well.
- Tony gets confused and Kevin takes over his fish station. On the Red side, Lovely burns her fish. Then Kevin undercooks fish. Suddenly it feels like the entire Blue Team is cooking fish. Yelling gets them nowhere. Red Team burns their chicken. Both sides are stalled. Chef Ramsey gets ticked, pulls both Teams together, and says he's going to do something he's never done as we go to commercial. Of course.
- Chef Ramsey is peeved. Since they can't seem to cook anything, he orders them to make shrimp cocktails so that the customers will get something to eat. After finishing that, the Teams get yelled at again before the Kitchens are shut down. Neither Team has won. Both Teams are ordered to pick two names for possible elimination.
- As the Team discussions begin, Tennille tries to defend herself, that she did a good job. Tony accepts blame and volunteers to go on the chopping block. Interview has Tony mad at Andy for not doing the same. When Dave suggests Andy on the meat station be their other candidate, he gets defensive. In fairness to Andy, we saw him mess up all of one chicken. Lovely tries to defend her fish but Suzanne holds her to her errors. Suzanne seems good at that, kinda just on the wrong side of politely truthful. Lovely's opinion seems to be that at least she burnt it, as opposed to serving raw, undercooked fish and shrimp. Suzanne also holds Sabrina to account for her raw chicken. Jim suggests that Van's behavior with JP would qualify him for elimination and Van snaps, suggesting he should hit Jim. Whoa, temper much? And commercial.
- Van walks off with nothing other than verbal violence. The Blue Team is not happy with the way he acted and it factors in their decision.
- Nominees for elimination: Red Team: Tennille and Lovely. When Joseph gets asked to identify his Team's nominees, he goes "They know who they are." Holy crap, what is wrong with this guy? Blue Team: Tony and Andy. Chef Ramsey asked for 'first and why', Joseph gives him the guys names, no explanation. Chef calls him stupid and repeats the question slowly. Ut oh. Joseph sets his jaw for a moment, then identifies Tony and explains that he knows why, they all sat down together as men to discuss it. Chef remains confused. Joseph will NOT provide a reason for the nominees, just repeating what little he's already said. Chef Ramsey steps up to the line and makes things clear. Once Chef Ramsey steps back into position, he wonders aloud as to why this was so complicated, why the song and dance. Joseph snaps, noting that he's 'not no [female dog]' repeatedly. Some of the others in the line try to calm him done but he shuts them up. Joseph ends up ripping off his jacket and encouraging Chef Ramsey to step outside to the parking lot as he's not afraid of him.
- To be Continued- ?!? What the!
You know, I really didn't want to watch Episode Three yet tonight...
- Robert immediately comes in to the Red Team and starts imparting things he learned during last season. Huge advantage. Dave from the Blue Team is shown agreeing with me.
- Challenge: clean as many shrimp as you can in ten minutes. One thing about a challenge like this is that Chef Ramsey always shows the Teams what he wants from them, provides an example for them to follow. Good call. Joseph, who seems to have a chip on his shoulder in general, poo-poos this as entry level work. Well, duh. It's day two. The Teams stunk up the joint last night and he wants to see what everyone can do with something 'basic'. It briefly rains ice and shrimp from the ceiling as Chef Ramsey calls for the shrimp tub to be filled up more. Geez!
- Lovely (yes, that's her name) is told to sit out the challenge to even up the teams. She rather lamely cheers on her team. Interviews from both Teams say that the other Team didn't look like they knew what they were doing. Ha! That's comedy gold right there.
- Last night's leader, Tennille, only manages one shrimp done correctly. Robert gets four and blames his mistakes on his pudgy fingers. The rest of the Team does excellently and the Red Team's total is 44. Blue Team starts strong but Joseph gets a relatively low completion at 5 and Dave does poorly. With only Jim left for the Blue Team, the score is 44 to 43. His first one connects but hits a bad run after that. We go to commercial with it tied.
- Jim's last shrimp is acceptable and they win again.
- Punishment: prepping the shrimp and lemon for the next service.
- Reward: Newport Beach, seafood lunch, and dessert on a mega-yacht.
- In an effort to show she's still providing value to the Team after her failure, Tennille tries to take charge. Of course, she ends up pissing off the rest of the team.
- Joseph gets lippy at lunch, noting that he's not here to get out and have lunch, he's here to win. Interview clip has him noting that talk gets you nowhere and he's not here to chit-chat. Interview with Dave has him noting that Joseph is way too intense and I tend to agree. There is a difference between planning and just talking. There's also something to be said about learning things regarding your Team and Employer, Chef Ramsey in this case, and if he doesn't get that's what's going on during some of this, then he might be WAY too tightly wound.
- After the Blue Team returns from their reward, final prep begins for service. Once again Robert is shown dispensing what he learned from last Season and gently takes control. He gets thanks. There's a feeling that the Red Team might rally around him.
- On the Blue Team, Tony has issues cutting grapefruit. First Kevin tries to help him out, and may or may not have helped due to the way Tony took the advice. Then Chef Ramsey sees that something's not right and gives him some hell. This ticks Tony off, not because of what Chef said, but because Kevin doesn't admit to being part of the process and Tony won't rat him out.
- Scampi at tableside tonight to spice things up. Van, a fish cook from Texas, is selected to represent the Blue Team. Interview notes that he has no front of house experience but has charisma! Charisma! So he should be fine. I kinda like Van. He seems like a Good Ol' Boy with skill. It also seems like he can be a bit obnoxious, like how he's reacted after winning challenges. I'm not sure if that's him being an ass or if he's so enthusiastic that he acts/speaks before really thinking about what he's doing. Tennille gets picked from the Red Team and she's much less enthusiastic.
- Tony still can't cut a grapefruit properly (over a bowl!) and gets called over as we go to commercial.
- Tony gets yelled at, he apologizes, and all is well for the moment.
- In interview, Joseph declares that they will act as a team and he is ready! If memory serves, he's an ex-Marine, could this be why he's so intense?
- Robert has everyone on the Red Team put their hands together and calls for communication and teamwork.
- Tennille's not sure how to approach the customers: sexy voice, 'white' voice, but she's gonna do it! Funny! She goes for funny instead 'Did you know they were supposed to be celebrity impersonators? I'm supposed to be Whoopie Goldberg.' Ha!
- Tony is on fish station. Enthusiasm for cooking fish! But he fires up an order of scallops as soon as he hears it, not when it's time and it goes to waste. Not good. Meanwhile, Lovely tries to cook scallops without turning on a burner and then tries to blame her teammate Tek for it. Funny, one of the things they laughed at upon entering Hell's Kitchen was a reminder to always cook with the stove on. Two episodes in and someone's already forgotten. Ha!
- Tony's refired scallops aren't cooked properly. Kevin goes over and provides him with guidance. This works.
- Robert starts messing up on appetizers. Not a good start for the big fella.
- JP tries to give Van some advice but gets blown off. Then Van goes to a Red Team table and gets yelled at for it. JP puts their conflict down to a communications issue: they might both be speaking English, but Van's from Texas. Once he's turned away from them, Gordon can't help but grin.
- Apps start cranking out of the Red Kitchen but Tennille undercooks a Scampi order while trying to catch up. This sets the Red Team back.
- Van's doing good with his Scampi but spills an order. He attempts to refire but the pan has apparently gotten hot and he boogies back to the Kitchen to get a different, clean pan. JP catches him running and tells him not to run. Van kinda blows him off again and JP gets PISSED. As we go to commercial, JP is hollering at Van and Van's just trying to get past him.
- Chef Ramsey pulls them into the back and gives them some Hell. Both of them need to settle down and do their jobs. Van needs to listen to JP and JP needs to respect Van. They settle down and head back to work. JP gets the last word. Once the door opens, Van hustles out and JP goes 'Ladies first.' Ha! You don't mess with JP!
- Tennille comes in to report that she's behind by six tables. Chef Ramsey is not happy. Points for communicating I suppose but, to Chef's point, it makes her look like she can't cook. Blue Team is cranking out orders while the Red Team falls beneath. Andy has an issue cooking a chicken order. After cutting it, he realizes it's not done and tries to save it. Chef don't go for that and there's yelling. Red Team has chicken related issues as well.
- Tony gets confused and Kevin takes over his fish station. On the Red side, Lovely burns her fish. Then Kevin undercooks fish. Suddenly it feels like the entire Blue Team is cooking fish. Yelling gets them nowhere. Red Team burns their chicken. Both sides are stalled. Chef Ramsey gets ticked, pulls both Teams together, and says he's going to do something he's never done as we go to commercial. Of course.
- Chef Ramsey is peeved. Since they can't seem to cook anything, he orders them to make shrimp cocktails so that the customers will get something to eat. After finishing that, the Teams get yelled at again before the Kitchens are shut down. Neither Team has won. Both Teams are ordered to pick two names for possible elimination.
- As the Team discussions begin, Tennille tries to defend herself, that she did a good job. Tony accepts blame and volunteers to go on the chopping block. Interview has Tony mad at Andy for not doing the same. When Dave suggests Andy on the meat station be their other candidate, he gets defensive. In fairness to Andy, we saw him mess up all of one chicken. Lovely tries to defend her fish but Suzanne holds her to her errors. Suzanne seems good at that, kinda just on the wrong side of politely truthful. Lovely's opinion seems to be that at least she burnt it, as opposed to serving raw, undercooked fish and shrimp. Suzanne also holds Sabrina to account for her raw chicken. Jim suggests that Van's behavior with JP would qualify him for elimination and Van snaps, suggesting he should hit Jim. Whoa, temper much? And commercial.
- Van walks off with nothing other than verbal violence. The Blue Team is not happy with the way he acted and it factors in their decision.
- Nominees for elimination: Red Team: Tennille and Lovely. When Joseph gets asked to identify his Team's nominees, he goes "They know who they are." Holy crap, what is wrong with this guy? Blue Team: Tony and Andy. Chef Ramsey asked for 'first and why', Joseph gives him the guys names, no explanation. Chef calls him stupid and repeats the question slowly. Ut oh. Joseph sets his jaw for a moment, then identifies Tony and explains that he knows why, they all sat down together as men to discuss it. Chef remains confused. Joseph will NOT provide a reason for the nominees, just repeating what little he's already said. Chef Ramsey steps up to the line and makes things clear. Once Chef Ramsey steps back into position, he wonders aloud as to why this was so complicated, why the song and dance. Joseph snaps, noting that he's 'not no [female dog]' repeatedly. Some of the others in the line try to calm him done but he shuts them up. Joseph ends up ripping off his jacket and encouraging Chef Ramsey to step outside to the parking lot as he's not afraid of him.
- To be Continued- ?!? What the!
You know, I really didn't want to watch Episode Three yet tonight...
Catching Up on Hell's Kitchen
The new season of Hell's Kitchen started a couple weeks ago and I let the episodes build up on the DVR which is odd as I tend to be fascinated by the show. I'm halfway through the two-hour premiere (what would normally be the end of the first episode) and some thoughts are bumping through my head.
- I'm always pleased to see that things change a little between the seasons. The introduction of the new chefs to the kitchen by video messages from past chefs was a nice piece of continuity and a good laugh. The intro of Chef Ramsey was appropriately creepy in comparison.
- Signature dishes were a challenge this year. Interesting. This is a way for Chef Ramsey to get a feel for the chefs but for the viewers as well. A few chefs got rushed over and I didn't like that for that very reason; they can't stick out in my mind as well.
- Liked Chef Ramsey's curious tone as he tasted Van's dish. He seemed to be saying 'I never thought of that; what a good idea.'
- Heather, Season Two's winner, is back as the Red Team's Sous Chef. Nice. Am forced to wonder why though. Vacation? Just for fun? Her restaurant go under?
- Really expected the guys partying to cost them on the first service, and it did, but not as much as I expected. Not sure if this means that they're the stronger team in general or not.
- Maybe not as we get a Blue Team Chef kicked out before the end of service. Good thing last season's Robert was around to fill his place...
- Opening night's service is generally horrible. This year is no different. The Blue Team gets some orders filled. I don't believe the Red Team gets any food out at all. Very bad.
- Melinda gets sent home. She was a pretty lady but seemed a bit too... ladylike for this show. She did also seem lost and that's what cost her.
- Switcheroo already as Robert gets sent to the Red Team. Having been through most of a Season already may give him an advantage, a big advantage, and I'm not just saying that because he's a big boy.
- Teaser for the next episode makes it look full of fighting, throwing fists fighting maybe. We'll see.
- Chefs that impressed me (for what little that's worth): Red Team: Tennille Blue Team: Van, Jim, Dave. After one episode it's difficult to see who the 'sleepers' are, the people with talent that don't make a big splash one way or the other, but they're often great chefs that have a good chance at winning.
More as I watch Episode 2.
- I'm always pleased to see that things change a little between the seasons. The introduction of the new chefs to the kitchen by video messages from past chefs was a nice piece of continuity and a good laugh. The intro of Chef Ramsey was appropriately creepy in comparison.
- Signature dishes were a challenge this year. Interesting. This is a way for Chef Ramsey to get a feel for the chefs but for the viewers as well. A few chefs got rushed over and I didn't like that for that very reason; they can't stick out in my mind as well.
- Liked Chef Ramsey's curious tone as he tasted Van's dish. He seemed to be saying 'I never thought of that; what a good idea.'
- Heather, Season Two's winner, is back as the Red Team's Sous Chef. Nice. Am forced to wonder why though. Vacation? Just for fun? Her restaurant go under?
- Really expected the guys partying to cost them on the first service, and it did, but not as much as I expected. Not sure if this means that they're the stronger team in general or not.
- Maybe not as we get a Blue Team Chef kicked out before the end of service. Good thing last season's Robert was around to fill his place...
- Opening night's service is generally horrible. This year is no different. The Blue Team gets some orders filled. I don't believe the Red Team gets any food out at all. Very bad.
- Melinda gets sent home. She was a pretty lady but seemed a bit too... ladylike for this show. She did also seem lost and that's what cost her.
- Switcheroo already as Robert gets sent to the Red Team. Having been through most of a Season already may give him an advantage, a big advantage, and I'm not just saying that because he's a big boy.
- Teaser for the next episode makes it look full of fighting, throwing fists fighting maybe. We'll see.
- Chefs that impressed me (for what little that's worth): Red Team: Tennille Blue Team: Van, Jim, Dave. After one episode it's difficult to see who the 'sleepers' are, the people with talent that don't make a big splash one way or the other, but they're often great chefs that have a good chance at winning.
More as I watch Episode 2.
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