Fergus Noodle

 ..   hubby has been having nose bleeds on and off for a few months ..  they haven't lasted long and he wasn't worried about them .....
well ... on Thursday he woke up with a bleeding nose and it wouldn't stop ..  it just keep dribbling ....   he Checked with his doctor and was told to go to hospital ....  
...there they packed his nose and then when it still didn't stop they put a balloon up his nostrel.....

 he sent me this photo ...   NO .... I didn't go with him ...he likes to do hospital things on his own ...  

so ... meet the Elephant man ....
.. his words ... not mine ... xxxxx

... he is coming home today ..    the specialist said the bleeding was happening because he had the moisture intake on his C-pap machine too dry ...   he has to increase the moisture content .. and keep the inside of his nose moist ...  
 .. so glad it wasn't a more serious problem ...  



Mum had a flu shot on Friday 31st March ..  and the needle piercing her skin caused a bleed under her skin ... similar to bruising ....   hasn't happened before ...   but Mum is on blood thinners ( so is Hubby ) ....  and sometimes these things happen ....

 Here's Mum's arm ...  
.. this was on Sat 1st April ... it has since spread up to her shoulder and down to her wrist ..... no photos because it looks horrible ....
 there's not much they can do for it , just some light pressure bandaging and a support sling ..... Mum's Warfarin was stopped for a few days and is now having it re-introduced ....
 ...poor Mum ..   ......



.. on to happier things ...   xxxxx

 our Choko vine has turned into a monster and is taking over the side of the house .....

... getting some nice chokos ..  hubby said he won't trim it or pull it off the house until it stops fruiting ...      \o/ .....

...we went to visit my friend Merle's grand -twins  the other day ...  they are gorgeous ......

.... and starting to teethe ....   what fun ..   xxxxxxx


..  I'm having a pleasant time with my Christmas decorations .....
... I figured if I made 6 a week I might have enough to give everyone on my list a set of 6 for Christmas .....   xxx   only time will tell  ...


Our weather here in Sydney Australia has finally turned into Autumn.....  it's so lovely ...  
... cool crisp mornings and warm days ...   perfect ..

I hope Spring is showing her face for everyone in the top half of the world ...    xxxxxx

 Have a great day ......    Barb ... xxxxxxxx

Once you understand how easy and common it is for thieves to attach “skimming” devices to ATMs and other machines that accept debit and credit cards, it’s difficult not to closely inspect and even tug on the machines before using them. Several readers who are in the habit of doing just that recently shared images of skimmers they discovered after gently pulling on various parts of a cash machine they were about to use.

Viewed from less than two feet away, this ATM looks reasonably safe to use, right?

But something fishy comes into view when we change our perspective slightly. Can you spot what doesn’t belong here?

Congratulations if you noticed the tiny pinhole in the upper right corner of the phony black bezel that was affixed over top of the cash dispenser slot. That fake bezel overlay contained a tiny pinhole camera angled toward the PIN pad to record time-stamped videos of people entering their PINs:

How about the card acceptance slot? Looks legit (if a tad shinier than the rest of the ATM), right?

What happens if we apply a tiny bit of pressure to the anti-skimming green bezel where customers are expected to insert their ATM cards? Look at that! The cheap plastic bezel that skimmer thieves placed on top of the real card acceptance slot starts to pull away. Also, you can see some homemade electronics that are not very well hidden at the mouth of the bezel.

ATM card skimmers contain tiny bits of electronics that record payment card data from the magnetic stripe on the backs of cards inserted into a hacked ATM. Most commonly (as in this case), a card skimmer is paired with a pinhole spy camera hidden above or beside the PIN pad to record time-stamped video of cardholders entering their PINs. Taken together, the stolen data allows thieves to fabricate new cards and use PINs to withdraw cash from victim accounts.

Card skimmers designed to look like the green anti-skimming devices found on many ATMs are some of the most common cash machine skimming devices in use today, probably because they are relatively cheap to manufacture en masse and there are many fraudsters peddling these in the cybercrime underground.

Typically, the fake anti-skimmer bezels like the one pictured above are made of hard plastic. However, the reader who shared these images said this bezel card skimming device was made of a semi-flexible, vinyl-like plastic material.

“I immediately went in and notified the manager who shut down the machine,” the reader said in an email to KrebsOnSecurity. “All the tellers were busy so he asked me to stand by the ATM and stop people from trying to use it while he called his security team. In the three minutes I was standing there a young woman came up and started to dip her card in the slot even thought the screen was black. I stopped her and told her and pointed out what was going. She was thankful.”

Normally, these bezel skimmers look more like the hard plastic one that came off of this ATM at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Texas in February, after a customer yanked on the ATM’s card acceptance slot:

Many people believe that skimmers are mainly a problem in the United States, where most ATMs still do not require more secure chip-based cards that are far more expensive and difficult for thieves to clone. However, it’s precisely because most U.S. ATMs lack this security requirement that skimming remains so prevalent in Europe.

Mainly for reasons of backward compatibility to accommodate American tourists, many European ATMs allow non-chip-based cards to be inserted into the cash machine. What’s more, many chip-based cards issued by American and European banks alike still have cardholder data encoded on a magnetic stripe in addition to the chip.

When thieves skim ATMs in Europe, they generally sell the stolen card and PIN data to fraudsters on the other side of the pond. Those fraudsters in turn will encode the card data onto counterfeit cards and withdraw cash at ATMs here in the United States.

Interestingly, even after most U.S. banks put in place chip-capable ATMs, the magnetic stripe will still be needed because it’s an integral part of the way ATMs work: Most ATMs in use today require a magnetic stripe for the card to be accepted into the machine. The main reason for this is to ensure that customers are putting the card into the slot correctly, as embossed letters and numbers running across odd spots in the card reader can take their toll on the machines over time.

Below is part of a skimming device that a reader recently pulled off of a compromised ATM in Dusseldorf, Germany. This component actually cracked off of the hard plastic fake anti-skimming bezel that was placed by a fraudster over top of the card acceptance device of an NCR cash machine there.

Here’s the plastic overlay that the piece pictured in the reader’s hand above broke away from:

It’s fine to tug on parts of an ATM before using it (heck, I’ve been known to do this even for machines I have no intention of using), but just know that doing so doesn’t guarantee that you will detect a cleverly hidden skimmer.

As I’ve noted in countless skimmer stories here, the simplest way to protect yourself from ATM skimming is to cover your hand when entering your PIN. That’s because most skimmers rely on hidden cameras to steal the victim’s PIN. As easy as this is, you’d be amazed at how many people fail to take this basic precaution.

Yes, there is still a chance that thieves could use a PIN-pad overlay device to capture your PIN, but in my experience these are far less common than hidden cameras (and quite a bit more costly for thieves who aren’t making their own skimmers).

Also, if you visit an ATM that looks strange, tampered with, or out of place, try to find another cash machine. Use only machines in public, well-lit areas, and avoid ATMs in secluded spots. Finally, don’t neglect your own physical security while at the cash machine: As common as these skimmers are, you’re probably more likely to get mugged withdrawing cash from an ATM than you are to find a skimmer attached to it.

Did you enjoy this post? Are you fascinated by skimming devices? Check out my series, All About Skimmers.

Passed Over

by ETHAN PETERSON

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
creator Amy Sherman-Palladino
Amazon Studios

Until she takes the stage Midge (Rachel Brosnahan, House of Cards) is unlike any character we have ever seen before on television. Her outward face, delicately applied during the early morning while her husband believes her to be asleep, is that of a Manhattan housewife whose parents (Marin Hinkle, Tony Shalhoub) live floors above her in the same building. Her two children consist of a young boy named Ethan who may be autistic and a baby with a massive head. Her husband Joel (Michael Zegen) depends on her completely, and so when he announces he is leaving, we are not the least bit surprised.

Midge measures her calves and thighs, and claims she goes through this intense process on a weekly basis for ten years. When she cooks, it is with a hat that a woman twenty years older would be far more comfortable in. In other words, she is not really comfortable with herself at all.

We saw far more of truly ethnic portrayals of Jews in decades past. Most were contrived by Woody Allen, who did the work of the ADL in showing that traditional stereotypes about the characters of Jewish people were sometimes true, sometimes false. The ways in which they were true were charming personality quirks which allowed them to survive the difficulties if their lives as American immigrants, Allen explained, and the ways in which they were false painted Jewish-Americans as hard-working, patriotic citizens in therapy for the rest of their lives.

Midge Maisel is also somewhat religious – she refuses to eat nuts in the early morning of Yom Kippur, for example. It will be intriguing to see if she leaves her religion behind as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel goes to series, since almost every white person we see on the small screen has zero relationship with religion of any kind. Amy Sherman-Palladino's father was Jewish, and to some extent her ways of speaking have always been rooted in the cultural and environmental proximity that forced Jews to adapt by talking quite a bit.

It is strange that the women Sherman-Palladino writes so well for rarely struggle with poverty. But then, few shows on television deal with this theme in general. There was a time in the past where Rory and Lorelai were really living hand-to-mouth, and I will never forget the astonishing episode when Lorelai's mother viewed the place her daughter and granddaughter were living all that time. Lorelai made it, however, and hopefully The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will show us what it takes a single mother to survive on her own.

Sherman-Palladino has never received sufficient credit for the amount of visual perfection she achieves in her hour-long dramas. Gilmore Girls had a wonderful camera and the small Connecticut town of Star's Hollow where Rory turned into such a tragic figure was particularly evocative. On her short-lived masterpiece Bunheads, she gave us the porcelain charm of California, although we were unfortunate to spend so little time there. Given the task of creating New York in the late 1950s, Sherman-Palladino spares no expense in detailed stormfronts and meticulously wrought apartments. She never forces her characters to inhabit anything less than a fully realized world.

After her husband peaces out, Midge takes up a stand-up career of her own. She is not completely terrible, but it is still hard to watch stand-up routines written for other people. Even being forced to view her husband stealing wretched Bob Newhart bits feels like an excruciating waste of time.

It would be better not to have to watch her perform at all, since her life off-stage is so much more exciting than what she explains of herself when she is on it. Her struggle relating to her children seems a mere proxy for her inability to directly address the world at large in something other than a costume. We completely understand why her husband left her, and we are surprised that he even made it this far. What kind of person toasts herself at her own wedding? We are wanting desperately to find out.

Ethan Peterson is the reviews editor of This Recording.

Have a hankering for Nonya food? Or just curious to try one of the only places in Sydney that has a dedicated Nonya menu? Peranakan Place on Parramatta Road in Auburn serves up authentic nonya cuisine, a mix of Singapore, Malaysian, Thai and Indonesian flavours not often seen in Australia.

You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten Arabian bread fresh from the tandoor oven. We’re talking a round of piping hot fluffiness that’s softer than a baby’s cheek. They’re bigger than a dinner plate and only a dollar each at Afghan & Arab Bakery, one of the latest additions to Lakemba’s Haldon Street. Arabic bread $1 each Join the queue of families grabbing bags of bread to take home or get it

The suburb of Harris Park in Sydney's West is home to Little India, a neighbourhood where Indian businesses thrive and cater for their local clientele. Restaurants are located in converted houses and serve up incredibly tasty Indian food at very reasonable prices. It is also the location where we decide to do a little movable feast!

Orange is a terrible place without anything to do. I'm clearly joking and the former sentence is a complete lie because Orange is one of most vibrant and thriving regional cities in Australia. There is so much to do there, especially for the avid foodie. From helicopter wine trails to feasting in apple orchards, luxurious accommodation, Italian pop up dinners and sublime food here are 10 amazing things to do in Orange (and some suggestions for F.O.O.D. Week!).

Dear Reader have you ever heard of Soylent? If you move in certain circles you may have while others remain blissfully unaware of it. Soylent is a food obsession particularly among techies. Designed to be the solution to freeing up time, controlling calories and improving allover health it has a strong following. But what exactly is it and how does it taste?

Inspired by a caramelsied mango tart at a restaurant, this mango and lime tart is sheer heaven. If you love buttery filo pastry and caramelised sweet mango slices and tropical hits of lime zest then this right side up tarte tatin will be a dream come true! Plus, it's actually not very hard at all!

//Getting close to feeling like RP'ing on Moka again, but for now, go check out my new OC RP blog please ^^

Takamiyu

Flashback Friday.

Electric clothes dryers are among the most energy-greedy appliances in the home, accounting for between 6% and 15% percent of home energy use. In contrast, drying clothes outside is both environmentally friendly and free. Yet, according to the New York Times, many homeowners associations insist that they are “…an eyesore, not unlike storing junk cars in driveways, and a marker of poverty that lowers property values.” In the documentary Drying for Freedom, laundry activists claim that bans on clotheslines affect 50 million households, requiring people to buy electric clothes dryers or hang their clothes inside their home.

Homeowners associations require many things intended to increase the “curb appeal” and property value of homes.  Many of these things specifically function to make the home and yard appear decorative instead of functional. Rules prohibit visible vegetable gardens, parking cars in the driveway overnight, allowing your cat outside (lest they poop), and failing to clean oil stains left by leaky vehicles.  They turn driveways, curbs, front yards, and porches into communal space designed to advertise the luxury of having non-functional spaces.  They say, in effect, “This is a lovely neighborhood where we can afford to curate flowers instead of vegetables and preserve pristine concrete by taking our cars to Jiffy Lube.”

All of this supposedly protects home values by preserving the notion that the neighborhood includes only middle- and upper-class people who can afford to avoid (dirty) work by consuming services.  Not being able to afford to dry your clothes electrically apparently appears, well, trashy.

Drying for Freedom is trying to interrupt this narrative, but instead of fighting the classist reasoning behind the clothesline bans, they are trying a different social movement strategy: re-framing. They are suggesting that using clotheslines isn’t a sign of poverty, but one of good global citizenship and, thus, a sign of responsible living. It seems to be working, too. As of 2016, 19 states ban clothesline bans, which is a start. Laundry activists hope the trend will go nation-wide, and then global, and that someday drying one’s clothes in a dryer will be the “trashy” thing to do.

Trailer :

Originally posted in 2010.

Lisa Wade, PhD is a professor at Occidental College. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture, and a textbook about gender. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

(View original at https://thesocietypages.org/socimages)

This viral note by a fourth grader offering a secret invite to a club for “female empowerment,” left me cheering at my desk this week. The baby feminist power brought hope at a fitting time, after the International Women’s Strike, and was a needed reminder of the power of including children in our protests and conversations.

Given the opportunity, they too can organize change. So here are four ways we can encourage the kids in our lives to feel empowered and discover their own radical feminist voices.

1. TEACH THEM THE CORRECT LANGUAGE Using euphemisms or simplifying our language when answering questions does children a disservice, especially when it comes to their sexual health.  Research shows that teaching kids words like vulva, vagina, and penis (rather than “private parts” or “bathing suit areas”) could help kids learn about consent and communicate boundaries (pretty intuitive right?). This is not to say that our job as adults is to throw terms and information at children before they’re ready—rather we owe kids honest answers to the questions they’re capable of voicing.

We also need to be giving kids language to talk about the systems they’re inheriting. These systems will affect them long before they learn about them in school, and it’s important we start the conversations early. It’s important to teach children about socioeconomic class and help them understand the value of money. We should be teaching children about privilege, and actually using the word privilege. And we should teach kids about race, and use the word racism.

2. OFFER RESOURCES  Obviously educating kids about big things on your own, even with the help of a partner or school system, is a tough task. So here are some awesome resources for helping children learn about feminism, themselves, and the world:

• Feminist children’s books
• Kid friendly movies with feminist role models
• “A Mighty Girl” and their awesome selection of empowering clothes
• Cool young feminist toys

Leave your favorite empowering resources, books, links, etc. in the comments!

3. LEAD BY EXAMPLE Bring kids to protests, meetings, marches, and conversations. Give them a seat at the table, ask their opinions, and then really listen to their answers. This practice comes with caveats—it is as much a child’s right to attend a protest, as it is their right to ask to go home early. The point is that if we allow an opportunity for discussion, we empower our kids to know their voices matter.  In my work with kids, I often remind myself to model the behavior I want to see with the adults I work with. I try and discuss topics openly, practice active listening, and let others know when I am feeling strongly about something. I use words like “angry” or “hurt” in an effort to show that vulnerability is a form of strength, and to stress the importance of communication.

4. LET THEM LEAD Lastly, look to the kids. If you’re going to a protest together, ask them what they want their signs to say. Let them take the signs they’ve made, even if they can’t write. If they want to start a club for female empowerment, help them organize a time and then stay silent while they lead. It is easy to lose hope, and to assume our job is to protect kids from the hurt happening in the world. But children are smart, and capable, and powerful. Perhaps the real work is instead in teaching children they are strong enough to protect themselves.

Header image via Twitter

Looking for a cheap feed that'll suit the vegetarians, meat eaters and carb avoiders in your life? Jasmin1 ticks every box. Deliciously. No wonder this Lebanese restaurant has been a longtime favourite with locals, as well as those happy to travel for good food. You'll find a mix of families, couples and large groups of friends gathered here, for breakfast, lunch or an early dinner. The

Chocolates with melting passionfruit centres made of fresh cream and passionfruit? Making your own chocolate for a Valentines Day present isn't as intimidating as you would think!

Sweltering in the heat? Cool off with this simplest lychee ice cream that is made of 3 ingredients and doesn't need an ice cream maker (although you can use one if you want!). Stay cool in this heat my lovelies!

Ahhh poke. It's the perfect summer food and it's no coincidence that our friends in Hawaii invented this wonderfully fresh dish. Cubes of sashimi grade fish are tossed with a delicious soy and sesame seed sauce with limu or ogo seaweed. These additions bring out the flavour of the fish and the luscious texture and yet it is surprisingly simple. But given its simple makeup, we found that the poke in Sydney varies wildly.

In a city seemingly obsessed with restaurant openings and closings, it can be a welcome change to revisit the classic stayers. Bathers' Pavilion still has one hat, boasts one of the prettiest beachfront views, and head chef and owner Serge Dansereau can regularly be found on the pass. The modern Australian menu includes touches of French influence (a nod to Dansereau's French Canadian

princess-misana:

mokas:

princess-misana:

“Uhm… Yeah. Apparently. So what?”

Moka sighed. This is just like the first time with Tsukune. 

She stood up and brushed the grass off herself. “First things first. Are you a human?”

“Uhm… No. But I’m very similar to one! Why do you ask?”

“Because if you are a human, you will die in this school,” Moka said bluntly. “This school is one for monsters. Real monsters, the kind that humans talk about when reflecting on their nightmares.” She looked the girl over. “If you are weak, you will also die. This is the survival of the fittest.”

This fine looking dog greats at the front door.
My daughter in law.
The son with the newest member of the family, Goatie.
A pineapple plant, never seen one before.
The cat house where all the other cats live.
The gym not sure if it gets used much never by me.
the side yard, thats bamboo in the background and that marks the edge of their land
The house
My son and daughter in law looking very relaxed on the back deck.
The pool.

And the back yard.



We  went to visit a cousin who I hadn't seen for about 45 years good to catch up with all the family business .

Afternoon tea yummy cakes.

The first day I was there it was very humid strange light too felt like it was going to rain all day it did that night.




But the next day it was much better not as hot or humid,  here is Goatie eating carrot treats.
He is a real cutie



Had enough I think

Trying out his new harness

Can't stop eating
Went for a swim
Water was lovely and warm

Cooking dinner alway good to visit and other people cook, I like it anyway.








We went out for dinner the next day, I took this picture of Brisbane by night, it's not far to the city centre about 45mts by car about 1hour by bus, nothing like Sydney traffic much nicer.
My son took this one his is much better
So he took a few more




Dinner was very yummy I might add but didn't take a picture it was a posh place and we had a whispering waiter, I couldn't hear what he was saying but the other two were very amused by him they had trouble hearing him too.
The second last day we took Goatie for a walk down the back of the property it's the wild area, just bush.

You need a stick to wipe down the spider webs and frighten away snakes but didn't see any of those.




Goatie like to romp around and run free he also eats anything he can
You come out of the wild area into the back yard this is the back of the house from the edge of the lawn.

And the cat house
Lots of gums

This is their Jade or money tree it's doing well, mine died.
Goatie has patches to graze on



Goaties home it really a chicken yard but he is using it at the moment, there are foxes around here so always put away when no one is at home for safety.
Well it's goodbye from QLD I'm now back in Sydney.

You can get a blessing from the pope
A letter from the Queen
                                                 and this one is from the prime minister.

These were the place mats various things of interest from her lifetime
Did you know listerine was once used as a aftershave lotion, I didn't......
The front page of the daily telegraph on the day Mavis was born.

And her flowers she asked we all bring a artifical flower to make a display and give a donation to the stroke foundation instead of gifts.
Her cake was quite something made by her great grand daughter.

Here we are, The Bingo girls as Mavis called us, as we have been going for some time now.
Here is a much better picture of Mavis with her grand daughter.
She is looking good for 100.

Hand made, home made pesto is the most exquisite of creations. Do try it. I first made it long ago, when I took a cooking class with Bill Grainger of the famous Bills Restaurants in Sydney, and author of many Sydney-style cookbooks. He made pesto by hand in the class. At home, Bill didn’t keep … Continue reading "Hand Made Pesto | Zeffirino Pesto"

 Uncle Joe and his  nephew

 and this is Aunty May with her neice


Just chilling after christmas dinner








 We are sitting up waiting for our dinner bibs on and all.
 we are still waiting

 Dozing in the great outdoors
 A good brush after the bath
 Fluffy and smelling good.

 Angus is sitting in the sun till he is at least half dry.


All dressed up but will not stop kicking the legs
Kidney the guard cat

 They drove me home today so I showed my grand daughter the garden she likes ceiling,
but a roof of moving tree leaves was something new to her.

 The amazement in her eyes was wonderful
 and she is such a cutie


 Watching the leaves
Watching me.

You know what? In hot weather I love a lassi, particularly a fruit lassi, for breakfast. Indian in origin, fruit lassi drinks mix yoghurt with fruit, spices and jaggery or sugar. Today, there were peaches on the kitchen bench, strawberries in the fridge and basil in the garden. A beautiful breakfast was born in the … Continue reading "Strawberry and Peach Lassi with Basil"

I had all but given up on my $25 or less per person restaurant section but then along came The Mandoo. Located on The Boulevarde in Strathfield this small Korean restaurant sells just two things: ENORMOUS dumplings and noodles.

Feel like escaping the rat race, if only for a day and going for a drive out in the country for some fresh air? Lochiel House in Kurrajong is a gorgeous 1825 cottage that calls itself a cafe but the food is definitely more restaurant style and quality and worth a trip in itself.

A milk tart or melktert in Afrikaans is as the name suggests, a tart whose main ingredient is a milk based custard. With its Dutch spice origins, the tart is sprinkled with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar on top. It smells as good when it is baking that the only tough thing is waiting until the next day to eat it!

Yale Was Not A Good Choice

by ETHAN PETERSON

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
creators Daniel Palladino and Amy Sherman-Palladino
Netflix

That last season of Gilmore Girls, when Amy Sherman-Palladino was no longer working on the show, was quite depressing. Nothing, however, could be as sad as the condition these women find themselves in when Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life begins. Lorelai was the brightest light in a cute but sometimes grim New England town. Now she looks completely bored by the place she selected to raise her daughter so long ago. Even the most mediocre people seek appropriately-sized challenges for themselves, but Lorelai doesn't want kids, or a new job, or anything more from her boyfriend than to lie next to her as she watches the Hallmark Channel. An inspirational mother and hotelier has given up.

Things are even worse for Rory Gilmore. She has not found one man of any persistent intelligence. It is far more believable that Rory would be stuck in an endless loop, given that the only male figure she had to look up to during her childhood was barely ever there at all. Her relationships with men conform to the only way of interacting she knows: babbling endlessly to her mother. Some men like a woman who talks a lot, but most do not like to be talked to like the girl's mother.

Rory's Yale boyfriend Logan was always a problematic and underwritten character. His wealthy father made a point of putting Rory down, and she weirdly accepted this determination. Somehow, it seemed to enhance her view of the man's son. Logan lives in London, and when Rory is there she stays in his apartment. He promises not to discuss the other women he is schtupping, and she is cautious about prying too much in his drawers and closets. When we learn he is not really serious about Rory, it is expected and reflects even more poorly on her judgment.

Emily, the girls' mother and grandmother, is the only one who time has altered at all. The role played by Edward Herrmann of Lorelai's awful, distant father was one of the best characters on the show. It seems strange to eulogize his passing given that he was pretty much a monster to Lorelai and nothing like the loving father he should have been. We witness a long funeral scene with sweeping music, and various other lawyers talking about what an irreverent piece of shit Richard was. In the wake of the death, Emily lives in a massive house with an entire Portuguese family who has presumed on her grief.

Minority characters are always completely subservient to the white ones in Palladino-Sherman's writing, and Rory's friend Lane never got half the scenes she deserved during the run of the original show. She has had two children with her husband, but we never even get to learn the names of the boys or speculate on the kind of relationship Rory might have with them. Kids have changed everyone I know, but they don't seem to alter Lane or Rory's other friend Paris, who ironically runs a fertility clinic.

Everyone on Gilmore Girls look none the worse for wear, unless you probe deeper. Lauren Graham in particular is still a vibrant and beautiful woman; even though Luke still has a certain mercurial charm, it feels like she has not completely found the right man. Alexis Bledel enters middle age even more self-possessed; it seems a mystery that she cannot find a man who complements her. They really should have cast her real life husband on this joint, and maybe they still will.

One running joke has Rory ignoring a boy with no self-respect, who believes he is dating her and getting to know her family, named Paul. It is cruel in the way that jokes on Gilmore Girls always were. One character would make fun of another, and this seemingly offhand jibe would represent some deeper unhappiness, and the immensity of the problem would balloon when you least expected it. Sherman-Palladino excelled at writing scenes like this, which ostensibly started as one thing but because something completely different through the flow of his signature patter.

We are supposed to believe that Rory has seen some of the world: the parts that her mother was never able to. At one point, Rory romanticizes a vagabond life, and we realize how much she needs this valuable perspective, a journey that would allow her to see what kind of man she could love who would love her back. Instead by the end of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, she is tied down exactly like her mother. God this show made me want to cry.

Ethan Peterson is the reviews editor of This Recording.

the-midnight-blues:

I gotta go, my date is here