From the bravotv website:

Alive 2007 is my favorite live mix album of all time: the roar of the crowd, the immaculate recording quality, and Too Long / Steam Machine — even now the album's lost none of its luster. I'm very happy about this news.

While it's obvious that a lot of contestants have no clue what to do with East Asian/Southeast Asian cuisines, flavor profiles, or ingredients, there are also enough who do (plus enough judges who seem at least competently versed) that I wish there were more contestants like Hung, Paul, Leanne (all the way back from…

While "nerd" might be overused in the common vernacular, I felt the reviewer's general point was that the producers decided to use a quickfire that was all about focusing on a specific type of dish and its proper preparation, rather than a quickfire weighed down by an intrusive gimmick; and that this was the…

I'd rather see one of those fishmonger-auctioneers at Judges' Table.

In context, I read it as "I appreciate Top Chef when the show explores the technical side of cooking."  Sushi in particular can be a great showcase for knife skills, seasoning, proportioning, etc.

Stefan and Josh need to watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

Ra Ra Riot gets second place behind The Morning Benders' conversion into POP ETC for the 2012-13 Most Blatant Abandonment Of Nearly Everything That Made This Band Appealing award.

I've never used one, but maybe fish…?  Off the top of my head, I can only think of cases in which contestants used sous-vide in elimination challenges, not quickfires.  No matter what, I imagine you'd be cutting it way too close.

Great write-up.  I agree with your (and a few other commenters') opinion that the episode itself was, as with most of the episodes this season, a structural success.  It's unfortunate that Josie managed to outgame Kristen, but we all know Charybdis is due for a fall eventually.  I'm still hoping for a final four…

That sounds awesome.  I wanted to go to a place similar in design to that in Vegas, but they were closed for the duration.  I did hit up one of Colicchio's Craftsteak outposts, and the ribeye was outstanding.

I feel like he was complimenting her on being able to create a dish that invoked bouillabaisse with only a fraction of the time.  Kind of similar to how the judges are amazed when someone does something like a good braise in minutes instead of hours.

Kristen won with a "play on bouillabaisse" with snapper, smoked butter and creme fraiche, fennel, radish, saffron, vs. CJ's snapper with morel, potato puree with smoked cream, and ratatouille.  The setup was, again, something I would've loved to see in a main episode: the contestants took turns picking their preferred…

I went into a bookstore and read the first ten or so pages.  After being bombarded by italicized phrases that were not part of a character's interior dialogue, I closed the book and put it back.  I might muscle through the entire thing at some point, but not even Robert Jordan's endless fashion mythologizing bothered…

I've only read the first story so far, but nothing in there felt grandfatherly or overly generalized.

In case anyone needs a refresher: http://youtu.be/s0VxGRWPh28

In case anyone needs a refresher: http://youtu.be/s0VxGRWPh28

Televised Malory vs Lucille no-holds-barred whisky-and-vitriol fight: who wins?  We do.

He looks nice, but somewhere inside there is a Don Cheadle Captain Planet Haiwaiian-Filipino superwarrior.

If preparing it (or something like it) at home, you can also just use some chilies in the sauce.  Also, a tiny bit of lime goes a long way.