Thursday, April 10, 2008

Meetings, Dancing, Top Chef's Latent Sexism

First, let's welcome Dona to the blog Dona's blog is at, http://mrgreenjeans.blogspot.com/.

Second, The meeting at the Chehalem Springs Assisted Living Center went very well. The people there were so nice. They showed us the room Mom will be in and it is a beautiful one bedroom apartment looking out towards a golf course. Her home in King City is on a golf course so this might make the transition easier if she decides to stay there for good. Mom felt good about the meeting, at least that is what she told me. Lately the caregiver is telling me what Mom has been saying to her and it really hasn't matched what Mom has been saying to me. To me Mom has been positive about the move, to the caregiver Mom has been really negative about the move. I really don't know if it is Mom not coming clean or the caregiver being worried about losing her job so that she is directing Mom towards not liking it. It is hard to really know what is the truth when three different stories are invovled. I'm going to look at it as Mom telling me the truth because that is the most positive.

Third, Dancing With The Stars was great this week. I love the Waltz and several of the couples danced the waltz. Others danced the Paso Doble which really isn't one of my favorites. Although I thought the judges overscored everyone the dancing was still very high quality and I ranked them as follows: 1. Shannon. I gave her points for not being able to practice with Derek this week and to switch from Jonathan's training to Derek just isn't that easy. She pulled it off. 2. Kristi. She needs to loosen up. She has technical down, now she needs to get life down. 3. Jason. He really has it harder than most because of his height and how much taller than he is than Edyta. Hard to have good posture when you have to stoop over to hold your partner. 4. Mario. 5. Marlee. She did miss a couple of steps but still a beautiful dance. 6. Marissa. Great comeback. 7. Pricella. 8. Adam. Elimated was Adam and I was extremely happy to see him go.

Fourth, Watched Top Chef last night and it hit me like a ton of bricks why I am not enjoying the show this year. It isn't the unlikable contestants it is the latent sexism of head judge Tom Colicchio. Zoi should not have been eliminated last night, Spike should have been. I recorded the show like I always do and then replayed it a couple of times and replayed in slow motion once. You can see how sexist Tom really is by they way he speaks differently to the men and women and by his body movements and how he stands when he is with one sex or another. Tom is an old time cook from the time when there was a lot of discrimination against women in the cooking industry, when all the top restaurants would only hire men as chefs. I'm afraid he still has a lot of those old tapes. My guess is this season's winner will come down to being between Richard and Stephanie and Tom's vote will go to the man when Stephanie really deserves to win. If that happens this will be my last season of watching Top Chef.

Finally. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LADY VOLS IN WINNING THE NCCAA WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP!! WAY TO ROOT YOUR TEAM ON THE VICTORY MARY Z!

18 comments:

Pat said...

I think you're right to keep thinking your mom is being positive about the move. And I might also suspect the caregiver's motives. If you stay positive, it will help mom stay that way, too.

I was also glad to see Carolla eliminate from "Dancing". I'll have to watch "Top Chef" more carefully, as I haven't noticed any sexist leanings from Colicchio. Interesting new layer to watch for.

Mary Z said...

I'm glad your visit with your mom went well. You'll just have to assume that she's being positive about it.

No doubt, the Lady Vols are great! And we'll be looking forward to seeing them in the WNBA. Thanks for your cheers, too.

William J. said...

I'm going to stay as positive as I can and hope mom will follow suit. I went over and cooked the two them dinner last night. Mom seemed happy but stressed when the caregiver brough up certain subjects, like religion.

As to Top Chef I was raised by a strong woman and had nothing but strong women relatives so I'm probably more aware of sexism than the average man. I also know the secret code of men, lol. Tom's sexism isn't obvious, but it is there, imho.

Bill

William J. said...

Mary Z

I noticed that all five Lady Vol starters were drafter by the WNBA, three in the first sixteen picks.

According to the article I read the Vols have some talented freshman coming in next year but the general consensus was that U of Conn would start the season rated number 1.

Bill

Mary Z said...

Re UConn - they went into the tournament ranked #1, but ended up #4. Oh, well....

Pat said...

"The secret code of men"??? Oboy, a lot of us would like lessons in that one!

William J. said...

Mary Z

The article's point was that Stanford and The Lady Vols were graduating most of their players while U Con had several returning players. I hope the Vols will win again next year!

Bill

William J. said...

Pat

It is a secret code and I would lose man points if I have lessons in the secret code of men.

Bill

Pat said...

Points, schmoints. If I ever get anything on you, I shall blackmail you for the Secret Code.

William J. said...

Pat

You probably already have some things on me you just don't know it.

As to the man points I don't have many more to lose, I've squandered several by asking for directions once.

Bill

Lady DR said...

Am delighted to see the writing is going well and you're enjoying it. Equally happy to hear you're impressed with Chehalem Springs and your mother seems to be positive about it. Like others, I'd take the caregiver's comments with a grain of salt. She has a vested interest in your mother's decisions about this, so to speak.

Pat's better experienced in this, but I wouldn't be surprised if our mom's attitude and enthusiasm go up and down from now until move-in day. Change is hard for all of us and often gets harder as we grow older. I see it with my own mom. One day her apartment is good and people are nice, the next the apartment is the pits (too small, whatever) and people are gossips. Same thing with opinions on doctors, health care and decisions about taking trips or local activities. It's frustrating. I try to remember that if I don't like her attitude or opinion today, it'll likely change tomorrow or the next day (wry s)

William J. said...

D.R.

It is so nice to see you here! I am enjoying the writing and am finally done revieiwing all the research and am getting ready to do the serious writing now.

I 100 per cent agree with you about mom's attitude going up and down until she moves there for May. I think it will even go up and down after she moves there. That just is a senior citizen thing.

Bill

SymplyAmused said...

I don't watch either reality show but do like your updates as they are pretty thorough.

I'm glad the visit seemed to go well with your Mom and hope she is being positive about it. If you feel it is a good choice, then I'm sure it is. I hope her caregiver isn't over-stressing her with her points of view and that is making your Mother anxious.

Thanks for the blog note! (blushing)

William J. said...

Symply

Hi there, thanks for the nice compliment. I don't really watch that much TV but Dancing With Stars just interests me as does Top Chef.

Mom seems to being very positve when I am around her. We did have an incident a couple of days ago where we almost lost her. But that was solved and she is doing great.

Bill

dona said...

Bill, Thanks for welcoming me and now that I have that first awkward comment out of the way, you might not be able to get rid of me(just ask symply) :)
I agree with both your takes on Top Chef and Dancing and am glad you like the same shows as I do so I can check on here in case I missed anything and I too am glad to see Adam go.

William J. said...

Dona

No way would I want to get rid of you, your comments are going to add to the blog, I have no doubt in my mind.

I was surprised to see how many people were sad to see Adam go. I really like men that treat their partners with respect and Adam just didn't.

Bill

lisa said...

somehow my post got on your April 13 post..So here it is again: Hey Bill! You forgot the hunky Cristian De La Fuente in your recap.....He and Cheryl were MUY CALIENTE....:D

William J. said...

Hi Lisa

Welcome back!

Sorry I forgot Cristian, I just don't pay much attention to men.
When they are dancing with well dressed women.

Bill