Grandma Betty's Pumpkin Pie

Grandma Betty's Pumpkin Pie

1 C. pumpkin

1 1/4 C. white sugar

1 TBS. flour

2 eggs

1 teas. cinnamon

1/4 teas. ginger

1/4 teas. cloves

1/8 teas. salt

1 1/2 C. milk

Pre-heat oven at 425 Fahrenheit.

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat eggs slightly; add milk, the sifted dry ingredients and the pumpkin. Beat until smooth. Pour into pastry-lined 9 inch pie pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes at 425 F. or until a knife inserted into the filling about 1 1/2 inches from the edge comes out clean. Center may still look soft but it will continue to cook after removal from the oven.

Criminal Minds: The Longest Night -- Season 6

We want to be able to look at people like Billy Flynn and see only the monster. And maybe there are some people in whom only the monster exists. But right at the beginning of "The Longest Night" we're given a glimpse of the desire at the heart of this killer, and it isn't some sick fantasy. Instead, it's a cry for a life that never was and never would be.

Tim Curry adeptly portrayed a very creepy Billy Flynn. Unfortunately, the girl playing Ellie Spicer upstaged him in creepiness though I suspect that wasn't the intent of the role. Also, it felt like the show spent way too much time trying to highlight the UnSub's creepiness rather than moving the story along.

The young actress playing Ellie Spicer? Well, she can cry on cue; other than that, I didn't find her even a little bit believable unless she was supposed to come across like an UnSub in the making.


I did enjoy the team moments of the show despite Morgan's atrocious behavior towards several of them, especially towards Garcia and Hotch. And watching JJ work her way through the bureaucratic nightmare to access the Emergency Broadcast System was bittersweet; they highlighted the importance and essential nature of her job several seasons too late. Yes, various members of the team would mention this from time to time. But we rarely actually saw it portrayed in the shows.


Which brings us to JJ's big moment in this episode--her broadcast to Flynn. I'm human. I thoroughly enjoyed the verbal ass-kicking she gave to Flynn. But at the same time I cringed at her blatant and highly public dismissal of the instructions Hotch gave her. Hotch told her what to say for a reason. To ignore it willfully like that put Ellie's life in danger. Yes, Flynn let Ellie go, but it could easily have ended differently. Hotch should have at the very least reprimanded her for her actions.

JJ's tirade brings up an important point, though; the very real consequences of our treatment of others.The "Prince of Darkness" only existed because of the abuse Billy Flynn sustained at the hands of his mother and her clients. That others have sustained the same level of abuse and not become sociopaths does not lessen the culpability of the abusers. If anything, it highlights the extraordinary strength and courage of those who manage not to continue the cycle of brutality and degradation.

The Unusuals & Southland: A Tale of Two Shows

Like many others, I was hooked from the first few minutes of The Unusuals. But at the same time I had this nagging feeling that my joy wouldn't last; not because the show was bound to disappoint, but rather that its network, ABC, would not have the patience to let its fandom grow. I had the strong sense that ABC had gotten spoiled with several instant mega-hits. Any new show that didn't immediately draw a following in the millions didn't stand a chance. And sure enough, just like the show it had replaced, The Unusuals never made it past its tenth show.

Now in the realm of entertainment, this is old news. So why am I bringing it up now? I am faced with the bizarre synchronicity of reveling in my recently acquired DVD of The Unusuals at the same time as I take my first plunge into the show, Southland. While completely different in most respects beyond the commonality of being cop shows, there is yet, at least for me, a similarity in feel between the two shows. I cannot pinpoint what this is, other than they hook me in the same way. But beyond this I am struck by the similarities in the shows' histories, and the glaring critical difference. Both are cop shows that aired on a broadcast network (The Unusuals--ABC; Southland--NBC) in April, 2009, both had a loyal following that was insufficient in numbers to keep their respective networks happy, and both shows wound up canceled. The vital difference? Southland was picked up by TNT. Its third season will be starting in January, 2011.

And now, as I am watching the first season of one show and the only season of the other, I can't help but wonder what might have been if The Unusuals had been picked up by a cable channel like TNT. Would I be enjoying or looking forward to its third season? It seems to me that TNT has greater patience for a growing show, greater willingness to let a show find its feet so that it might one day fly. Whether or not The Unusuals' quirkiness might have found a better fit on a cable network, we will now never know. Like many shows before and since, it exists only in the few episodes created before cancellation. And in our what might have beens.

Television and the Disposability of Women

Mid-summer I got hit with stunning news regarding one of my favorite TV shows, Criminal Minds. The contract for AJ Cook (JJ Jarau) was not renewed and the screen time for Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss) was being cut back. Few people hearing this news considered it accidental that they were both women. It would seem that CBS is quite comfortable with the main portrayal of women on their shows is as victims, broken and discarded.

The fans were outraged, CBS was inundated with calls, emails and letters, but nothing changed. On September 28, fans said goodbye to JJ.

Through the turmoil surrounding the news, I couldn't help but notice a trend. Most fans had a character/actor they would leave the show over if that person ever left, but it was always one of the male characters. So in the end, the women of Criminal Minds are as disposable to the fans as they were to CBS.

Criminal Minds fans do not seem to be unique in this. I have heard the same thing from fans of other shows. "I'll quit watching if so-and-so leaves." More often than not, the so-and-so turns out to be male.

How can we expect the networks to value female cast members when we, the fans, don't? There's a reason why non-chick flick shows centered on women don't tend to survive, why most of the victims in crime shows are women when in real life most homicide victims are men, and why the strong, interesting roles for men vastly outnumber similar roles for women. It's easy to accuse the networks of sexism, but face it, they're simply giving the viewers what they want. Until we start valuing portrayals of strong women, until we start wanting to see women as something other than the detritus of violence, television networks will continue to treat women as disposable.

Long Absence

On May 16, 2007, my father died. Needless to say, I stopped writing for a while. When I did start up again, it was to start a political blog. But now something else has me fired up so here I am.

Easter

Three of us stood at the back of the sanctuary, waiting. The first service had seemed incomplete...insufficient. A key element was missing, so we waited for the opening hymn of the second service.

The sounds of brass, tympani, and voices flowed through the sanctuary and washed over me. Yes! This was what I needed. This was Easter. Christ is risen!

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Charles Wesley

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

"Ours the cross, the grave, the skies..." This is Easter.

Good Friday

We held a Tenebrae service at our church. In the service we remember the seven last words of Jesus, with the reading of Scripture, a short meditation, and a choral presentation. At the beginning of the service, eight candles were lit on the altar, one for each of the Words, and the eighth representing Jesus. After each meditation, the speaker goes to the altar and extinguishes a candle. At the end, the Christ candle is extinguished and everyone leaves in silence.

This year I was praying the Rosary during the moments of silence. At the end of the service I had the last Mystery of Sorrow left, which is the Crucifixion. As I sat in the darkness reflecting on this Mystery, I started weeping. It wasn't any particular thought. No profound awareness. Just the weeping as I finished praying. Then the tears ended, and I left the sanctuary in silence.

Maundy Thursday

Usually at this time I would be on my way to church for our Maundy Thursday service, but I am home-bound this year (somewhat under the weather and keeping a depressed beagle company). Following the service, several of us would get dropped off at the EDSA shrine to join the pilgrimage to Antipolo. Every year on Maundy Thursday there is a pilgrimage (the "Alay Lakad") from the Church of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo to the Antipolo Cathedral. Watching this mass movement of people is amazing enough, but becoming part of this throng...absolutely incredible! I feel sorry for the people standing on the sidelines handing out tracts. They really ought to take a chance and plunge in. The walk is fun, exhilarating, deeply spiritual, ever-changing community. Your feet might hurt, your body might be weary, but an energy flows through you from all the people around you. You are caught up in something larger than yourself.

I've participated in the "Alay Lakad" several times, and each time creates a special place in which I am privileged to walk.