A Fundamental Truth

I blame other people for not posting on their blogs more than I accept responsibility for not posting on my blog.

Thoughts on tonight's episode of Monk

I love Monk. I've loved Monk for a good long while now. It's a great, fresh, funny show.

Not that I haven't had my fair share of criticisms for Monk. I mean, lately, I've found it pretty easy to pick out the murderer, the method and the motive early on ('cause come on, who didn't know this was going to be about the diamond the first time Julie popped up to mention it?), but I do still enjoy watching the process.

So tonight, after weeks and weeks of withdrawal, we get the Christmas episode of Monk! I love USA. I love that Monk comes on with new episodes when I'm stuck with reruns for all my other shows. (For the record, I love Psych, too. Way to go, USA!)

Monk tends to make me feel awkward during episodes. I mean, seriously, why couldn't Monk have legitimately won that basketball trophy? He deserved a damn trophy! Oh, and when Monk got to play with Willie Nelson, but he couldn't play the instrument 'cause someone else had used it? So not fair! But I digress. These are thoughts on tonight's episode.

1. I love Larry Miller. LOVE him. And I love that Larry Miller is reguesting on this episode. But, seriously? Even when you are innocent, you don't want Larry Miller as your lawyer. BAD idea. And Captain Stottlemeyer, I am surprised at you, calling Larry Miller to be Monk's lawyer when you really must've known how incompetent he must be.

2. Leland Stottlemeyer, I am surprised at you again for even appearing to doubt Monk's side of the story! How many times have you doubted Monk, have you thought that he was having some sort of episode, only to be shown, in the end, that Monk was right? It always reminds me of that episode of Simon and Simon (and dear Lord, I LOVE Simon and Simon, why does no one rerun that show anymore?) where Jamison Parker (I mean AJ) was on vacation and saw a murder and no one believed him. I mean, even Rick thought that he imagined it. Jessica has had that happen to her a few times too, and even Doogie Howser had it happen to him on an episode of Murder, She Wrote! Um, anyway, my point is, whatever Monk says, is kosher with me.

3. The interview was live? Really? I find that VERY hard to believe.

5. Okay, so the old woman gets attacked by a thug, knocks him down with her canvas bag (I am always prepared to do that) and sprays the shit out of him with her pepper spray. And then Santa comes up and she's all "oh, thank goodness, he has a knife!" like she's suddenly a big victim? I'd be all "back the fuck away, Santa! I'm on a roll!"

6. San Francisco is so fickle. How many times has Monk saved YOUR ass, SF?!?!

7. Just on a side note, 'cause I was actually thinking about this in the shower today, but I like Natalie more than Sharona. I liked Sharona a lot, and when she left, I was really dreading what was going to happen. And at first look, Natalie parallels Sharona a lot, single mom, one kid, etc. But maybe they really wanted a single mom as his assistant. And Natalie's awesome. And Julie is totally more awesome than Benji was (sorry Benji.) But yeah, I find myself liking Natalie more than Sharona.

8. Ooo, Monk just figured it out! (I totally caught the one walkie talkie thing when Disher first mentioned it, too.) I LOVE it when Monk figures it out! Even if I have already figured it out. Not that I'm bragging, it's just that I've watched a lot of Murder, She Wrote in my day. A LOT. I know the signs.)

9. "I'm feeling something."
"It's joy, you're feeling some joy!"
"I don't like it."

Aww, but at the end of the day, Monk makes me smile.

Ooo, and not only do I now get to watch the Christmas episode of Psych, but I get the promise of new episodes of Monk in January!!

Merrrrrrrry Christmas!

I will buy a Jeep

Yesterday, my friend Tom showed me this Jeep commercial on Youtube.



I am what Beth calls "an advertisers dream" because I believe in rewarding good advertisement. After all, that's what their job is, and I believe rewarding a job well done. Of course, I've always wanted a Jeep anyway, so it's no stretch for me to say that if I could, I'd buy a Jeep right now. And since I don't have the means to buy a Jeep right now, it's kind of a moot point anyway. But it's a darn cute commercial! Good job, Jeep advertising people!

News of the Day

Say It Ain't So!
According to the CDC, there's been a salmonella outbreak caused by Banquet POT PIES. I'm fairly certain that this is one of the signs of the apocalypse. Some of you may be aware of my love for pot pies, chicken in particular. Come on, the food even has it's own theme song.


Jimmy Pardo has a great stand up routine about pot pies, in which he confirms that "chicken" is the correct answer. He might love pot pies as much as I do. Go listen to it now. Make sure you wait a minute for the page to load. Go on, I'll wait.

Brilliant, wasn't it?! God Bless that Jimmy Pardo.

Luckily I've always been a Swanson girl. In fact, I've got one in my freezer right now!

Justice Wins Again
An Indiana court awarded worker's comp to a stripper who injured herself pole dancing. That's just awesome. I mean, logically looking at it, it's nothing spectacular. A woman injuring herself at work in the course of duty should get worker's comp. But it involves a stripper, which makes it just plain awesome.

Manna from heaven

I usually reserve the term "manna from heaven" for cheese related items, but something new passed between my lips today. Something sweet, something crunchy, something chocolatey... Normally I'm not such a big fan of chocolate, either. I mean, it's alright, and I've even been known to crave it once in a while (particularly during That Time,) but I've been known to pass on chocolate on many an occasion. But The Powers That Know What I Like have taken my favorite That Time chocolate crave - the Nestle Crunch bar, and added WAFERS (and I DO love wafers!) and creme, and now we have...

The Nestle Crunch Crisp Bar!

I am telling you, people, if you like chocolate or Nestle crunch or wafers, then this is the bar for you! In fact, even if you're just so-so on chocolate, this is still the bar for you! The really great thing that Nestle has done here is make the chocolate coating on the bar not too thick. I don't like thick chocolate coating. But the coating is nice and thin on the sides and bottom, and a little thicker on top, but that's only because of the puffed rice for the crunch bar part! And then a few thin layers of wafer with a few thin layers of creme sandwiched in between. I mean, it's perfect. Which probably means it will be discontinued soon.

I should totally get paid for this. Nestle, feel free to send me some Crunch Crisp bars as compensation.

Wine Review: Rojo Mojo Shiraz

I had a glass of the Rojo Mojo Shiraz at Riddle's the other week, and was pleasantly surprised at how light it was. I was even more pleasantly surprised to see it for $8 at my neighborhood Schnucks. I highly recommend this wine as an "everyday red." It's particularly nice during these days where it might be a bit cooler, but it's not full fall weather yet, so if you want red wine, you need a summer red. It's a beautiful crimson color, and the nose is not overwhelming. The official tasting notes say the nose is "intensely stewed cherry and blackberry fruit characters followed by tobacco, cinnamon, black pepper and cloves." The fruit is definitely there, and I get a hint of the tobacco, but I don't particularly like peppery reds, and I didn't sense any here. The palate notes say "A full bodied expansive wine providing a big fruit blast with firm yet friendly tannins," but I feel that's over blowing it a bit. I feel it's more medium bodied, for a red, and it doesn't "blast" fruit as much as infuses your mouth with a flow of dark fruit. Blackberry, cherry, and I want to say the slightest hint of pomegranate, and I do again get a hint of tobacco, but it's not spicy. It's got a soft finish, with just the memory of the first taste lingering on your tongue, whispering sweet nothings to your taste buds. The tannins are definitely friendly, and it's very slightly dry. I definitely agree with the "pleasant and satisfying finish" in the notes. A quick Google search will reveal that it scores highly and is repeatedly recommended as a "refrigerator wine" and a bargain buy.

Rojo Mojo is grown in the Villarobledo region in La Mancha in Spain by a fourth generation family winery and was harvested the week before my birthday in 2005. Grape yield was 30% smaller than the previous year, leading to a higher quality wine for this vintage. It's 100% shiraz and aged 100% in stainless steel.

I recommend pairing it with cheese.

Cheers!

One of the many reasons I love Murder, She Wrote

Uncle Jesse from the Dukes of Hazzard is playing Megan Mullally's (Karen from Will & Grace) grandfather.

I swan, I could watch this show all day.

Oh, wait, I do. :-)