You're crazy: Grand Central Market was the place to be ten years ago, now it's crowded and expensive. I used to live around the corner. Grumble grumble.

Another thing that didn't really read in the televised version: that audience was wild for Valentina. Every time she walked on stage (even for reshoots), she practically got a standing ovation. People shouting her name while the contestants were lining up, etc. Remember at that point that congeniality hadn't been…

She put on a great show, but the audience was roaring for Sasha's performance (not just the reveals, but everything), even though they filmed both wins, none of us went home with any doubt about who won. Look, I love Peppermint to death and would have spammed her for the Congeniality vote if I could have. I'd have…

So were the audience Q&As, so they cut those completely! It's always cool to see a really long show with all kinds of saggy spots cut into a sleek hour of television that makes it look much more polished than it is live.

Jesus, even watching this on television sent my heart rate up (such a stellar conclusion to a lackluster season), but my favorite bit is what they didn't show: during the taping, they tried taking questions from the "audience" during the Q&A, as they have in past seasons finales - i.e., former contestants read out…

Well, when they ran the tape of Perry during Sasha's Q&A, they hadn't actually gotten Perry to record it yet, so they had a stand-in say "Hi, I'm Katy Perry and I really like your work." I'm not joking. Sasha (and everyone) was thoroughly confused, and RuPaul basically had to nudge her to give a happy reaction. Heh.

I think she slipped on the stem itself, from the rose Sasha tears apart at the beginning of the routine. But yeah, she definitely and noticeably slipped.

Highlights:

I wish I could relive the sense of joy when that scene first unfolded in the movie theater.

Mazzy Star, "Fade Into You." Hate that they're a one-hit wonder because I love Hope Sandoval's woozy voice so much and they've made so much good music over the years. If you can choose the music playing in the background when you die, I'd want her voice sending me off to sleep.

That acoustic "Laminated Cat" is lovely, though I do kinda like the muddy ending on the original.

I absolutely read that in Norm MacDonald's voice.

Thanks!

This version's about 2,200-2,300 total. Most of Water Margin reads like self-contained anecdotes: we get to know a lot of the bandits individually as they make their way to the marshes, and they don't fully unite until midway through volume 4. Since a lot of it came down via folklore, there's occasional…

I haven't, but it's on the list. I finished Story of the Stone (Dream of the Red Chamber) earlier this year in the Hawkes/Minford translation, and it was one of the best reading experiences I've ever had, so I decided to keep working my way through the four classic novels. For Journey to the West I was eyeing the Yu…

I'm happy more people will see it, whatever the reason. When the movie made it stateside they were practically begging people to see it - literally, in some cases (William Friedkin hosted a screening at the Vista to gin up interest, telling everyone to go home and spread the word, in a quixotic attempt to get a proper…

fwiw, Hollywood the industry is majority white, but not most of the areas the film takes place in: Hollywood itself is about 40% white, Silverlake 34%, downtown 16%, etc. (with the caveat that those are more recent numbers.) Certainly, directors shouldn't have to match their cast to the numbers like it's a…

Yeah, Kindred wrecked me completely. I picked up her short stories in the hope that lightning would strike again, but I didn't really care for them. Hoping to pick up one of her series soon, though.

Skylight has my favorite selection of any local bookstore out here. I wish I could smoosh together the best parts of Skylight, The Iliad, and The Last Bookstore into one ideal place, but I like all three for different reasons.

Very much in the minority, because I liked Authority best. I know this is not a widespread opinion.