The Riches: Reckless Gardening

Last episode, I found out two things about the Malloys and their life as the Riches: 1) Wayne is going to have to do more than BS if he's going to survive as a Panco lawyer, and 2) life as a buffer is more trouble than anyone expected it to be. This episode, I saw the noose starting to tighten around the Malloys, as more and more pieces of the Traveller life are seeping into their Eden Falls existence. And, unfortunately for Di Di, those pieces are flying around and smacking her square in the face.

Di Di is certainly becoming the most level-headed of the family, isn't she? At first, I thought it would be Cael, because I thought he had the smarts to protect his family from getting caught. But, of course, a girl got in the way. But it seems pretty unfair that because Cael managed to get tailed by Ginny that Di Di has to pay for it by being "engaged" to Ken the dipweed.

I mean, even if Travellers haven't done a lot of book learning, most of them have the requisite street smarts to be able to scam and scheme their way through life. Ken can't even staple papers together. The only thing he's good at is stealing, and he's still way too obvious when he does that. But Di Di, as much as she wants Ken out of her life, knew that if he was caught with the pot Cael's buddies planted on him, he'd be way too stupid to keep his mouth shut. He already spent the entire day at Panco saying "Wayne" and "Mr. Malloy" instead of "Doug" and "Mr. Rich." Aubrey's already suspicious; I'm sure Ken's day of "aprenticin'" hasn't helped.

It was strange that Wayne was a surprisingly competent lawyer. It's almost as if he's getting the hang of the job (with Aubrey's help, of course). But it did seem like he not only knew the facts and law behind the alligator attack case, but had the wherewithal to dig up just enough dirt on the victim, Hartley Underwood, to get her and her lawyer to back off. Panetta's threats probably helped, and Wayne's Traveller experience can help him in some aspects of lawyering, but knowing about how to lie can only get even the best lawyers so far.

Gregg Henry (Hugh Panetta) is pretty adept at playing an asshole, there's no doubt about that. Hugh Panetta is about as slimy as it gets, and it felt good to see Dahlia dig her fingernails into his scrotum. But only he can use her desire to get clean against her. It's amazing how powerful blackmail is. Just ask Di Di. But somewhere within that assholish personality is a sympathetic figure. Heck, he was able to get Wayne to admit that his mother left him. I'm guessing she was the non-Traveller side of Wayne's family, but I guess I'll find out more about that soon.

Let's talk about Dale for a second. Wow. Sociopath doesn't even begin to describe him. The man will literally kill his own father just to get a chance to lead the clan. I don't think I knew until now that his father wanted to have Wayne lead the family after he died, and I wonder if anyone informed him that Wayne stole all his money and skipped out. But even Ken can see that Dale is pure molten evil, and unfit to lead the clan. Heck, even Dale probably realized it, which is why he took his father out for that "walk."

Somehow, thanks to Dahlia, Di Di didn't get a permanent record. It was good to see both Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver play to their strengths this week: a drunk Wayne is a funny Wayne, especially when he's trying to be a police sketch artist or when he locks Ken in the trunk, and I would like to see Dahlia sing more often, so I can hear Driver's wonderful voice.

It was a pretty entertaining episode. However, I think it should have had a little more tension, and Wayne's suddenly competent lawyering didn't sit right with me. But it's undeniable that this show has smart writing and an emotional underpinning that makes all of the Malloy's shenanigans more palatable.

Soup of the Week & CSI: Lab Rats

Nothing warms my body (even though it is 90+ degrees outside) like a bowl of corn chowder. This is a very easy & quick recipe that is very good.

Corny Potato Chowder

4 bacon strips, diced

Chopped onion

1 can (15 oz) whole potatoes, drained and diced

2 cups milk

1 can cream-style corn

Garlic Salt

Pepper

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon and onion until bacon is almost crisp; drain. Add potatoes, saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the milk, corn, garlic salt, and pepper. Simmer, uncovered,. until heated through.

CSI: Lab Rats

I've got to be honest. What a cool idea to finally feature all the lab techs in an episode. Not so much. This ended up just being a fancy way to roll out a clip show as a refresher to anyone who wanted to brush up on the history of the Miniature Killer. With no actual story, the episode was packed with scenes from the previous Miniature Killer murders. So while everyone else got wrapped up in other nondescript cases, Hodges and the rest of the techs weaved a narrative I've already heard.

I suppose this episode fuels the fire for people who suspect Hodges to be the killer. If there's one thing I've learned from CSI, it's that killers often like to inject themselves into their own cases. I'm not sold on him yet. He seems genuine and he also made a good point -- he's always working, so when would he have had time to pull all this off?

The ending offered us the only new bit of information as Hodges finally discovered a connection between all four of the miniature replicas: bleach. Izzy Delancey had a bottle in the trash. The chicken plant had an industrial sized barrel of it. The dead therapist's apartment had some in the flower vases. And finally, the little old lady was clipping coupons for it.

Other stuff:

Doc Robbins and Grissom chasing that rat around was hilarious.

Grissom is praising Hodges now for his discovery, but what happens when he finds out that Hodges and Wendy called the phone number in the file?

Sara still seems to be very set on making sure no one at the office knows about her and Grissom's relationship. It's got to come out at some point though, right?

Archie calling Hodges a "glory whore" was probably the highlight of the episode.

Bleach?!? That's it? It took a whole episode to get to that? It's too bad because this could have been so much better had they given the lab techs something big to uncover. The rest of this season had better be good, because this was just a ton of filler.

Croatia's Sparkling Dalmatian Coast

My Croatia Adventure with the Phi Mu Foundation was a wonderful trip and I do agree that this is "the Mediterranean, as it once was". Twenty-eight travelers met in Chicago on May 10 to head towards this unknown part of the world for the next 10 days.

Croatia is an up and coming country. It has been labeled as having a sleepy and industrializing economy, which usually turns people away from the country. But why in your travels would you skip a country where the Adriatic water is about 77 degrees all year around. The towns along the coast look like they have not changed in 50 years.Besides the beautiful beaches, which contain more pebbles than sand, it is the lifestyle that brings tourists to the Dalmatian Coast. The cities are non commercialized and most of the people live in medieval seaside cities or traditional island villages.

Since we had only about nine days to get to know Croatia's 200-mile long Dalmatian Coast, we focused on the southern half from ancient Split south to medieval Dubrovnik, a stretch particularly noted for warm waters, consistent sailing winds, and scores of beautifully wooded islands. We started our explorations by sailing aboard a chartered boat (the Aloha) from Split. Sailing offers the opportunity to experience the beauty of the Adriatic Sea up close, including otherwise inaccessible island coves and villages.

Highlights of my trip included:

Hvar stood like a medieval maiden crowned with its castle-fort, its walls trailing like locks of hair down to the 13th-century town. Scores of fishing boats bobbed in the harbor as families and couples strolled along its marble promenade.

St. Stepjan's four-story bell tower beckoned us toward the central town square rimmed with cafes. We walked through the ancient town wall gate and got lost in the maze of cobbled alleyways that climbed up towards the castle. Three-and four-story stone houses towered above, many with inviting first floor shops or restaurants. Each lane brought new architectural surprises: sculptured porticos, ancient wooden doors, and bridges spanning the alleyways. We had entered a time warp to the middle ages.

Maestral? Bora? Scirocco? I didn't understand the terms until I experienced one these sailing phenomena firsthand. The Adriatic's maestral northwest thermal winds blow most summer afternoons. The gusty northeast bora winds raging down from Croatia's mountaintops affected a couple days of our sailing making for some rough seas. The light southern winds are called scirocco.

The week's sailing was accompanied by anchorages in beautiful fishing village coves: Mljet Island's harbors and Korcula Island's harbor town come to the top of my mind. After a day's sail we'd hike and sightsee or swim and lounge. A major highlight on Mljet Island was a hike & ferry ride around its salt-water lake, Veliko Jerzero, where we spent an hour swimming and cooling off, and a 12th-century Benedictine monastery islet.

Another of the week's highlights was to medieval Korcula. The walled and towered pedestrian village dating to the 1400s encompassed a small hilly north-facing peninsula with both western and eastern harbors. The crowning attraction was St. Mark's Cathedral at the central square. A network of twenty crosshatched alleys emanated outward from the single street that divided the village. One of my best meals was enjoyed at a seaside restaurant on a beautiful evening.

As for sailing, what could be better than the Aloha, a 101 foot three deck boat cutting through the Adriatic at 20 knots with a dining/bar area and outdoor lounges. Each cabin, although small, had its own shower and air conditioning. The dining area even had a DVD player, which we enjoyed watching old 50's TV shows a couple of evenings.

Dubrovnik

There couldn't have been a better place to celebrate my birthday (May 15) than the walled town that's been coined the Adriatic's "Crown Jewel." We entered Dubrovnik through one of its grand gates. This eastern end expanded into Luza square bordered by entrancing Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque structures such as the clock tower, Sponza Palace, St. Blaise's Church, the Rector's Palace, and Cathedral of Assumption of the Virgin. I was bowled over by the wide marbled pedestrian boulevard and the spouting 15th-century Onofrio Fountain that had fresh spring water spouting out of the mouths of the sculpture.

We did not hike the town's incredible walls since it was extremely hot that afternoon. However, there was no overlooking the warring history when I first saw the huge walls measuring up to 60 feet thick and 80 feet high. First built in the 1200s as protection against the Venetians and other marauders, the walls and towers were enhanced in the 1400s against the Turks and again in the 1600s against the Austro-Hungarians.

The Heart of Dalmatia - Split

Split, the second largest city in Croatia, boasted a beautiful palm-lined harbor and a treasured old town dating back to Roman times. The emperor Diocletian built a huge retirement palace here around 300 AD. The Roman walls, imperial quarters, and mausoleum survived to this day, intermingled with medieval homes, alleyways, and churches juxtaposed with the original Roman structures. It's no wonder that UNESCO has named the palace a World Heritage Site. I most admired the Peristyle's marbled Roman imperial entrance court and its bordering 12th-century St. Dominus Cathedral built with Romanesque columns, alters, and sculptures within the octagonal structure of Diocletian's mausoleum.

We visited many other memorable places - Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes, Mostar in Bosnia/Herzegovina, the Island of Sipan, Tisno, and Sibenik during our 10 day journey.

I invite you to visit my photos on YouTube by clicking here: Pam's Croatian Adventure

The Office: Safety Training

I'm back to visiting an old friend - The Office. There were so many good TV shows this past season, that I just didn't have time to watch everything. But now that most shows are in reruns, I'm catching up on some of my favorites that I have neglected.

Moments of greatness in the Safety Training episode:

1) The blue collar/white collar dynamic that was the core of this episode. Sometimes Michael doesn't feel like a real person. Though you could argue that him jumping off the roof pushes him into that annoying cartoon character that he sometimes becomes, I thought that the impetus for his actions came from a very real place. I'm sure Michael is not the only fellow who feels uncomfortable whenever they are around "manly men".

1a) The build up to the jump and the eventual talk down ("You're Braveheart") never felt forced. Side note: did Creed discover the castle when he was peeing outside??

2) The betting. Even Cheers didn't have an ensemble this big and rich and defined. Each vignette existed solely because of what we knew about the characters; no awkward exposition was necessary. The high point was Kelly talking to Ryan while people just went up and placed money on his desk. Brilliant.

3) Shun. Unshun.

4) Stanley and the watermelon. Imus, take note, this is how clever racial humor is done. I'm not sure if one look at the end of an episode is enough to win someone an Emmy, but Leslie David Baker needs to be considered for it, doesn't he?

I think this episode proves that there needs to be a term for the opposite of "jumping the shark." If we use "jump the shark" to indicate a moment when a show peaks and can only get worse from that point forward, we need something for when a show defines its greatness and starts moving towards its place in television pantheon. I'd like to submit "jumping the castle" as a candidate for this term.

My Name Is Earl: Harassed a Reporter

Ahh, is there anything as satisfying as a good quip from Crabman: "You can edit film to make people think all kinds of things. Like the moon landing. That was all done with puppets in my uncle's garage."

Earl is back from hiatus, and it's returned to form. Earl gets to cross two items off his list, and you get a little peek into what makes Earl and Randy tick.

When Earl wakes up at 4AM and sees a reporter talking to herself on the news, he recalls that she's on his list. Randy and Earl had made a reputation for themselves during their bad old days by doing ridiculous stunts in the background when reporter Nicole Moses was out on a story.

One interesting sidenote here is that we see Catalina laughing at their antics in a flashback. Does this mean she recognized them right away when she met them, or had she forgotten about the "Brazos Locos?"

In order to make up for ruining Nicole's career, Earl agrees to be in her feel-good story about someone who's reformed his ways. But for the umpteenth time in this series, it becomes clear that no matter how much time Randy spends helping Earl, it's Earl's list and nobody pays much attention to Randy.

Joy offers him some advice and tells him that he needs to strike out on his own in the world and get away from under Earl's shadow. And in his typical Randy way, he takes her advice literally. If he was bad when Earl was bad, and turned good when Earl did, then he needs to be the opposite of Earl. And that means getting a sombrero and writing a list of anyone he's ever been nice to and screwing with them.

Personally, I think this concept had promise. It would have been nice to see this carry over for a few episodes. But alas, Randy only does one bad thing in this episode -- and it's apparently enough to make karma notice him. Funny how that works out when you're a fictional character in a sitcom where the writers try to wrap things up in a half hour.

The last few episodes have been sorely missing the precious moments that Earl and Randy share in bed. This episode started out with a tender bed moment, as Earl worried whether Randy had died in his sleep, and ended with another, as Randy helped Earl out with a toothache.

All told, a pretty heartwarming story about two brothers. Much better than the one Nicole Moses made up out of thin air. Okay, not that thin. The truth is, Randy is a bit simple. As she points out, it's not like NASA was knocking on his door. But I don't think anyone who meets Randy would think he was disabled. They'd just think he still holds a childlike sense of wonder, which is generally a good thing.

This episode left me with one real question. Why does everybody in town seem to watch the evening news? And on the same channel?

Lost: One of Us

"One of Us" has added yet another layer to Juliet's past and to her current motives. She's a tough one to read, with those "Who, me?" innocent eyes. I also got to watch what was, hopefully, the last Lost beach reunion scene. How many reunions have there been this season, honestly?

Juliet's flashback picked up right where "Not in Portland" left off, giving me a clear idea of how she got to the island, and a less-than-clear idea of what kept her there.

The Flashback

The flashback caught up with Juliet outside Mittelos Bioscience's private, high-security airport. Mittelos was still all about secrecy, taking Juliet's vitals before the trip and drugging her.

At the time of her departure, Juliet was still under the impression that she would return in six months. She was also willing to make the mysterious journey without knowing any of the details, and in spite of Mittelos' super-private status. Juliet's conversation with Alpert was very telling. A person would have to be a little shady to take a job under such suspicious circumstances, "special" or not.

One of the flashback's biggest revelations was the island's pregnancy problem. Pregnancy is fatal to women on the island, which will certainly be a major issue for Sun in upcoming episodes. The Others were conducting research on this issue, and Juliet had guessed that "it" happens at conception.

After asking Ben to let her leave the island to continue her work, Juliet was given some bad news. Rachel's cancer was back, and Ben promised that Jacob would cure Juliet's sister. This was, of course, on the condition that Juliet stayed on the island. These people are good.

I also learned that Juliet has incredible taste in men, after a nice little bedroom scene with Goodwin. I am not sure what purpose this detail serves, or how it fits in with Juliet's supposed "history" with Ben. Not that I mind more scenes with Brett Cullen; I'm just posing a question or two.

Juliet's discovery of Ben's tumor freaked out both her and Ben. The real source of Ben's fear was not discussed (it has to be more than just a fear of death), but Juliet was worried that Ben lied to her about Rachel's recovery. She made a second, desperate request to go home, which Ben denied.

In order to defend himself, Ben took Juliet to the Flame station's communications center (operated by Mikhail) to prove that Rachel was alive. Meanwhile, Mikhail was busy watching news coverage of the 815 crash, and doing research on the passengers.

The biggest revelation of the episode: Juliet is still with the Others, and all of her actions in "Left Behind" were part of a larger plan. Juliet's role in Claire's illness and recovery was also set up by the Others. And set your island calendars; Ben plans on meeting up with Juliet in one week, Lost time!

The Beach

Poor, unfortunate Claire was made ill by the Others in order to help Juliet "save the day" and gain the crash survivors' trust. Apparently Claire still has some implant inside of her that the Others can manipulate. If Sayid and Sawyer are any indication, Juliet will have to do a lot more than cure Claire to win everyone over.

Sayid was awesome, as usual, and did not take his eyes off Juliet for a second. He'll have to find another way to separate Juliet from Jack if he wants to get any answers out of her.

How much do I hate Jack and his Other-trusting ways? His rationale for trusting Juliet was absolutely ridiculous. At this point, I'm not sure who's dumber: Jack, for trusting Juliet, or everyone else for trusting Jack. At least Sun and Jin didn't jump on the bandwagon. Sun even translated Jin's snarky comment for Juliet, which was the funniest part of the whole episode.

I'm still trying to figure out how much of Juliet's story to believe. She claimed that Ethan took blood samples, and that the Others used Claire as a "control" case for their fertility research. The kidnapping was, apparently, not part of the plan. The second part of the story is definitely true, since Tom's conversation with Ethan in Claire's flashback already revealed this.

Ultimately, Juliet "cured" Claire's illness, and won over...who, exactly? It didn't look like she was invited to join the ping pong league after that. There has to be more to her plan, and it seems to involve the return of Ben and the Others. I'm glad that Juliet turned out to be more than just a banished Other, but I would love to learn how she became such a manipulative schemer. I suppose that's for another episode.

Final questions/thoughts:

Hurley let it slip to Juliet that Charlie was the one who killed Ethan. Will this put Charlie in danger?

Was Ben completely lying about Rachel's cancer returning? It could have been another way to keep Juliet on the island, like the video of a now-healthy Rachel and Julian.

Sawyer may not be able to use nicknames, but he did manage to call Ben a "bug-eyed bastard." Lovely.

After the plane crash scene, Ben mentioned that the Others might find more mothers on the plane. What will they do to Sun once they find out about her pregnancy?

Dinner & A DVD: The Good Girl

It's grilling season in Michigan. This marinade was for seafood, but it's wonderful with chicken too. It adds mild lemon zing and keeps the meat moist and tender.

Moist Lemon Chicken

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup lemon juice

Dried minced onion

Dried parsley flakes

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

Dill seed

Salt

Curry powder

Pepper

Chicken (I used boneless chicken breasts)

In a large resealable bag, combine the first 10 ingredients. Add chicken and turn to coat. Drain, discarding marinade. Grill chicken until juices run clear, turning several times.

Featured Attraction: The Good Girl

'The Good Girl' is a sad comedy starring Jennifer Aniston as Justine. She works at Retail Rodeo where she is very unhappy. When she comes home she finds her husband Phil (John C. Reilly) stoned on the couch with his best friend Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson) night after night.

It is not very strange she is attracted to Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) the new kid who comes to work at Retail Rodeo. He is even more depressed than she is, he reads The Catcher in the Rye and has named himself after that book. What she doesn't know is that he is also a deeply troubled young man. She finds that out soon enough as his part of the relationship becomes overly possessive, and the secret relationship begins to become public.

A thing that surprised me was the great acting. John C. Reilly,('Gangs of New York', 'Chicago' 'The Hours', 'Talladega Nights'), is great as the husband, Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) terrific as the disturbed kid and most of all Jennifer Aniston is superb as Justine. Here she is everything but Rachel from 'Friends' and that is a very good thing. She is really acting and it is one of her best performances.

The sad story is very good as well and there is some fine comedy, especially with another worker at Retail Rodeo named Cheryl (Zooey Deschanel). She insults customers all the time and says the strangest things; the customers hardly notice. Mike White, from School of Rock & Nacho Libre fame, was the writer of this movie and also had a funny role as a religious security guard.

Funny, sad and very good is what 'The Good Girl' is in the end.