Judge Judy

At 6pm every night, the television goes on and Judge Judy dispenses wisdom and rules and rules and rules for what seems like hours.

In order to avoid yet another girlfriend-loaned-money-to-their-baby-daddy-but-now-he-has-a-new-girlfriend-and-she-wants-the-money-back segments, or the older-man-who bailed-out-the-young-user-babe-who’s-looking-for-payback piece, I have tried various distractions. It can’t be anything that takes me too far away from the action to where unable to understand my partner’s comments on the cases. But I need something to keep at least half my mind away from the darker side of the human soul. Knitting makes me tense. And reading takes too much concentration. One idea that worked for a while was to draw a quick sketch of the defendants and plaintiffs. It was entertaining for about 3 notebooks worth of conflicts. Then I made up names and thoughts for the faces I’d drawn.
I’ve moved on to gentle Sudoku. It’s easy to pick up and put down so that I can say, “We’ve seen this one” and my partner responds, “I don’t care. We’re watching it again.”

Nurse Jackie

Oh yes. Edie Falco is back and luminous as a no-nonsense nurse with an attitude on a new Showtime series "Nurse Jackie." She's the scrappy nurse that will save your life while practicing her own form of justice. It's funny and dark and worth every second of your time.

The doctors are cartoonish, but hey, this is from the nurse's POV. My sister is a nurse and, while nurses aren't all saints, some doctors are baffoons.

My favorite line is when Jackie is talking to a barely out of the womb yappy intern: "Let me ask you something? Shut up. I like quiet and mean. those are my people." Priceless.

http://www.sho.com/site/nursejackie/home.do

Big Love

The New York Times Magazine has a piece on "Big Love" today.  If you haven't seen the show, give it a whirl.  TV is the best place to see women tearing up the screen and Bill Hendrick's three wives don't disappoint.  Nor does Bill's mother, his sister-in-law, his recently deceased sister-in-law, his compound mother-in-law, Barb's sister and mother, the almost fourth wife.  It's rich in acting, character and story.

Flat as a Board

There's a shift that took place without any of us noticing. Every tv starlet and movie actress is with boobage (with the exception of Debra Messing who had a bigger ass than she did breasts so was considered flat chested, that is until she had a baby and she's probably full figured by now).

Watch the '80s nighttime soap opera Falcon Crest and every woman on the show is flat as a board. I mean no curves of any kind. That's what skinny girls look like. Stick with me, the Bio channel (we know it's Biography, and changing the moniker to Bio isn't going to attract the 18-35 year olds who, according to the suits, see the word "biography" and their minds turn off) is showing episodes of the mid-1980s sitcom Kate & Allie. Jane Curtin and Susan Saint James have nothin'. There as flat as their teenage daughters. My friend, B, says it's the hormones in the chicken, milk and cows we grew up eating. Are vegetarians the only women left with pale complexions and tiny tits? What happened in the last 20 years? Discuss.