I’ve been watching too much TV this winter/spring. It’s like Covid all over again. All I can say is, I’ve been bored, and dispirited, and the remote is right there. However, I did find one series worth recommending, and that’s “Beef,” season two.
The first was OK, promising but ultimately disappointing. The premise is a season-long exploration of a disagreement, a beef, between two parties, and the way failing to let things go only makes everything worse. Season one started with a road-rage incident and I can’t even remember how it ended, mainly because I lost interest at some point.
But this season is sharper, the beef more amorphous, its ripples generational and socioeconomic. The conflict is between two couples, one Gen Z and the others millennial/young X. The two young people are trying to get ahead in the world, blame “late-stage capitalism” and other boogiemen, and settle on blackmailing the older ones as a way to do it. And did I mention the older couple (Josh and Lindsay) are the managers of a posh California country club, and the younger one (Austin and Ashley) is its bev-cart driver and part-time personal trainer? In other words, the “power” couple are basically serfs of the club members, and the other are below them, so it’s a two-bald-men-fighting-over-a-comb thing.
The club members talk about “buy-borrow-die” investments and PJs (private jets), $40,000 plastic-surgery getaway weekends, while simultaneously treating Josh and Lindsay as both pals and serfs, a truly evil combination that never allows anyone to feel comfortable. (Anyone other than the club members.) Austin and Ashley, besides being young, are dumb and clueless to boot. After an initial extortion attempt gets them a promotion for Ashley, she rhapsodizes over a $45,000 salary “and health insurance” as the holy grail. “Set for life,” she says. (Not a spoiler: It isn’t. She doesn’t understand how deductibles work.)
Both couples are, at base, awful. The elders are insecure, unsatisfied, bitter, aging and just starting to realize this is likely the end of the line, advancement-wise. The youngers are equally insecure (they’re always telling each other how much they love the other party), ignorant of how the world works and so phone-addicted they seem to have turned their entire lives over to ChatGPT. Which is not telling them how the world works.
The series does suffer from Netflix Bloat, a little. And the conclusion is unsatisfying. But it’s such a fun trip along the way, I can’t fault it too much.
OK, then, on to the bloggage:
In all the static about MAHA, RFK Jr. and “eat real food,” one fact seems to be getting lost, i.e., no one can really define what “ultraprocessed” means, when it comes to food. I follow Jessica Knurick on the socials, and she came up with a definition that probably works as well as any: Corn, eaten straight off the cob is unprocessed. Corn, stripped from the cob and frozen, minimally processed. Canned corn, processed. Corn chips, ultraprocessed. But she’s the only one who’s said this, so god knows what Bobby K will come up with. This is interesting:
But behind the scenes, officials said, the process of defining ultraprocessed foods is still very much up in the air. Agencies are struggling to agree, and it is unclear when a definition will be released.
… Under one classification widely used among the scientific community, essentially any foods or drinks made with ingredients you wouldn’t find in a home kitchen are defined as ultraprocessed. If regulators adopt that sort of definition, nearly three-quarters of foods sold in the United States could be deemed ultraprocessed.
The food industry is arguing against a strict definition that would label chicken nuggets, strawberry yogurt and whole-grain tortillas as ultraprocessed.
Based on that definition, deli turkey could be categorized the same as a snack cake, the National Turkey Federation wrote in a comment letter to regulators last fall. It said that certain food additives and processing steps were critical to keep turkey fresh and that those “benefits are especially important for lower-income households, where access to nutrient-dense, high-quality protein can otherwise be limited.”
Exactly. I don’t think most of us would like to see something like breakfast cereal defined as PRACTICALLY POISON, but it’s to be expected when ideologues get their mitts on policy.
This might be paywalled, depending on how many New York magazine pieces you’ve read recently, but I read this Friday morning and thought I’d found my new best friend:
The only time that wine importer Victor O. Schwartz was in the same room with Donald Trump was during a lunch in the 1990s at Jean-Georges, the high-end French restaurant on the ground floor of the Trump International Hotel. Schwartz overheard a nearby table of ABC staffers — the network’s old headquarters was around the corner — ragging on the local mogul who had just left behind a mess of bankrupt casinos in Atlantic City. “A bunch of people were trash-talking him and making fun of his hair,” Schwartz says. “And then he walked by, and, of course, they’re all glad-handing him.” The moment stuck with Schwartz. “I mean, he was a laughingstock in New York, he really was,” he says. And yet when Trump entered, all mocking turned to flattery. “It’s the hypocrisy of that world.”
As a 67-year-old on the Upper West Side, Schwartz is fairly representative of the boomer class living in the city. He likes the Grateful Dead and Lucinda Williams and hates what Donald Trump has done to this country. “We were a dependable military partner, a dependable economic power. We were a country of laws, all those kinds of things,” he says. “All of that? Just with these tariffs — out the window.”
This is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that overturned the tariff policy, fyi.
OK, then. That’s enough for today. Let’s hit the week like a tackling dummy and get some stuff DONE, dammit.
jcburns said on May 3, 2026 at 3:53 pm
Too much TV!? As someone who literally earned everything from television, I must object. Mustn’t I?
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Deborah said on May 3, 2026 at 4:38 pm
I might try Beef, I need a good distraction. Can I start with season 2 or do I need to start from the beginning? I don’t know if I want to invest that much time into it, especially if S1 wasn’t that great.
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Julie Robinson said on May 3, 2026 at 5:16 pm
Will Beef make me laugh? I’m looking for a Colbert replacement.
I’m sad about all the Spirit employees who lost their jobs. Everyone liked to dump on them, but I flew them a few times and had pleasant experiences. We booked them for a trip next month for a wedding, because they had direct flights from Orlando to Kansas City. Our only option was to spend twice as much on Southwest, so I gritted my teeth and paid it. A friend’s daughter is getting married and we love her, but I’m starting to feel like a curmudgeon about weddings. This one will cost us upward of $2500 for…well, Kansas City.
You can bet I’m checking my credit card every day for the automatic refund Spirit promised. Here’s hoping I don’t have to do a chargeback.
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Mark P said on May 3, 2026 at 5:34 pm
“Ultraprocessed”. JFC what a bunch of idiots. I guess someone told those morons that when you cook a roadkill raccoon it’s processed as soon as you heat it. So they had to come up with another bugaboo. Fucking idiots.
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DavidC said on May 3, 2026 at 5:39 pm
The notion that food today is markedly worse than it was when “America was healthy” is nonsense. Their notion that America was healthy in the 50s or 60s is equal nonsense. The lowest death rate is the US was in 2009 at 7.9/thousand. It’s been trending up since then and now it’s 9.3/thousand. Same as the lowest rate in the 50s/60s which was in 1961. So what happened since 2009? The pandemic caused a spike for 2020 to 2022. But mostly I presume it was Fentanyl (thanks Sackler family) and vaccine refusal (thanks RFK Jr., Joe Rogan bros, and wellness mommies). Food was crap in the 60s and most of us here know that because we were there.
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ROGirl said on May 3, 2026 at 5:43 pm
I bailed on the first episode of season 1 pretty quickly, couldn’t imagine sitting through 10 whole episodes of it. I’d rather watch a Roadrunner cartoon.
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nancy said on May 3, 2026 at 6:21 pm
Deborah, every season is self-contained, so yes, it stands alone
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Brandon said on May 3, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Speaking of raccoons … https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/31/travel/raccoon-meat-products-germany-scli-intl
A butcher in northeast Germany has come up with what he believes is an innovative solution to the country’s growing raccoon problem: turning them into sausages and other meat products.
Michael Reiss, a hunter who set up a butcher’s shop in Kade, about 90 kilometers (60 miles) west of Berlin, in 2022, told CNN Wednesday that he developed the idea after trying to think of a standout product to take to the Green Week international food fair.
He realized that raccoons who are killed as pests are simply thrown in the bin, and decided to ask local officials if they could instead be processed and turned into food.
After receiving the green light, Reiss started making his “raccoon balls,” meatballs made from raccoon meat, which he said turned out to be a hit at the fair and with customers at his shop, which is called Wildererhütte.
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Deborah said on May 3, 2026 at 9:01 pm
I think raccoon meat was a thing in the south a while back, so not surprising that it might return as an edible.
I went ahead today and watched the first episode of S1 of Beef, and now I’m going to skip to the first episode of S2. I think the premise of the whole thing is interesting, I’ll see if it works for me with the storyline and the actors.
Less than a week now before I go to NM, and that’s making me anxious thinking of all I have to do before I leave. I’m looking forward to being there even though the beginning of spring here in Chicago has been very satisfying. I have lots of ideas about gardening in Santa Fe, which has turned out to be quite a gratifying activity.
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Gretchen said on May 4, 2026 at 1:32 am
I enjoyed the first few episodes of Beef Season 1 but it seemed tedious after awhile. I’ll try Season 2. I’m adrift now that The Pitt is over.
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alex said on May 4, 2026 at 8:30 am
We just returned from a reunion weekend in Chicago with a bunch of old friends. Attended an annual Kentucky Derby party which we hadn’t been to in several years. Took in a historic home tour at the Indiana Dunes.
If Trump was the laughingstock of New York before his presidency, Rudy Giuliani succeeded and perhaps even bested him in that role, but now it sounds as if Rudy’s clown act has reached its final curtain. And while I’m feeling schadenfreude about it, this is tempered by my disappointment that the grim reaper has once again 86’d the wrong guy.
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basset said on May 4, 2026 at 9:38 am
No Kentucky Derby parties for us, no parties of any kind, our usual. “Beef” sounds like it’d require too much thought and attention… we’ve been watching the game warden shows on Animal Planet and air crash reconstructions on Smithsonian.
Three days out on the knee reconstruction, all the various gear has arrived… more than likely I’ll go home on surgery day and PT will begin the next.
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Jeff Gill said on May 4, 2026 at 9:54 am
Our best to you, basset, and healing mercies all the way through. Sounds like it’s time.
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4dbirds said on May 4, 2026 at 10:15 am
I watch entirely too much TV. I like YouTube where I think I know every of every unit of every country in WWII along with their commanders and their missions. I also watch episodes on the Medici family and the Hapsburgs. Don’t get me started on Robs Words, an etymologist who entertains me on everything English language. I watch several learn German channels to include a German poker channel because I find the main player/spokesman charming. Lately on Apple, I’m watching Friends and Neighbors, and Widows Bay. Oh, and I also watch Dr. Mike.
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ROGirl said on May 4, 2026 at 10:38 am
Another good Apple series is Pluribus, created by Vince Gilligan. Rhea Seahorn plays the main character.
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basset said on May 4, 2026 at 10:45 am
Thanks for the support, Jeff… as I may have mentioned here before, I was relieved to find that this is mainly a resurfacing and adjusting of load-bearing parts. Up till just recently, I thought they’d just saw through the leg bones and stick a whole new joint in there.
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Julie Robinson said on May 4, 2026 at 2:05 pm
basset, I’m adding my good wishes for a smooth surgery and recovery. Take the pain meds on schedule to stay ahead of it, use the ice packs, and do the therapy. A friend had a hip replaced last week, was home by early afternoon, and started therapy the next day. She’s already ditched her walker.
Sounds like Guiliani was on a ventilator but is off now. Pneumonia. Trying hard not to say something nasty.
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Dorothy said on May 4, 2026 at 3:33 pm
Sliding quickly into the comments to crow about the Washington Post winning the top Pulitzer Prize today for Public Service! The smack talk about the Post is frequent here, so I’m going to shout about this because my daughter and her colleagues are working so hard to be the best they can be under trying circumstances.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/05/04/post-pulitzer-prize-public-service/
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Scout said on May 4, 2026 at 5:30 pm
Dorothy, lately it does seem that the WaPo and the NYT are taking their 4th Estate responsibilities more seriously. It must be hard to do the job when you work for a bootlicker like Bezos. So, really big congrats to your daughter and her colleagues.
My son-in-law was a higher-up in programming at CBS in LA. In December they laid him and many others off. Since he still had a year left on his contract he is spending this year figuring out his next industry move while still being paid his full salary and benefits. It is common knowledge that CBS is in big trouble, especially the news division under Bari Weiss.
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Deborah said on May 4, 2026 at 10:16 pm
it’s really too bad how many good people at WaPo got fired or were forced to quit, Dorothy. Your daughter is lucky she didn’t have to deal with that.
Speaking of the Bezos’s, It will be interesting to see the get ups at the Met Gala, looking for that online this evening.
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Brandon said on May 4, 2026 at 11:11 pm
Looks served that no one asked for*. https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-most-heinous-looks-at-the-bezos-sponsored-met-gala/#user-comments
(*Includes a rare misstep by Doja Cat.)
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Jeff Gill said on May 5, 2026 at 6:49 am
Congrats, Dorothy! A Pulitzer is always worth celebrating.
I skipped the Met Gala this year. Went to Kiwanis instead.
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ROGirl said on May 5, 2026 at 8:13 am
What’s wrong, you didn’t have a spare hundred grand for a ticket?
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alex said on May 5, 2026 at 10:54 am
Cardi B looks like she shat out her own intestines and turned them inside out.
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susan said on May 5, 2026 at 11:05 am
Ann Telnaes said, “Maybe Jeff Bezos should buy a fashion house…instead of owning a newspaper, since he doesn’t support a free press.”
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Jakash said on May 5, 2026 at 1:34 pm
We really hesitate to commit to TV series anymore, since they can go on and on, often with diminishing returns. But I’d recommend the most recent one we watched, “The Lowdown” on Hulu / Disney+.
The creator is Sterlin Harjo, who did “Reservation Dogs,” to much acclaim. The reason we watched, though is that Ethan Hawke is the star and it’s quite an interesting role for him. He’s a self-described “truthstorian” journalist with a mess of a life and it’s a kinda neo-noir taking place in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A little more violence than I’d prefer, but not to the extent of a lot of stuff these days.
“The actor plays a ‘truthstorian’ trying to uncover how a powerful man’s death came about. Brace yourself for a hugely funny, all-American wild goose chase!”
It also features an excellent supporting cast, including Keith David, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kyle MacLachlan, Tim Blake Nelson, Tracy Letts and cameos by Peter Dinklage and Graham Greene. Anyway, we liked it pretty well.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/26/the-lowdown-review-ethan-hawke-disney-plus
The 2 ultra-processed foods that bug me are quality deli turkey breast and potato chips. They just don’t seem as bad as a lot of junk that’s out there. Good potato chips consist of actual potatoes that are sliced thin, cooked in oil and salted. That’s it. 3 ingredients that you have in your kitchen and that are easily recognizable. These days, you can even get them cooked in avocado or olive oil if you happen to be on the “seed oil is poison” bandwagon. They’re not health food, obviously, but I just don’t see why they’d be terrible in moderation.
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Sherri said on May 5, 2026 at 1:56 pm
So Brain Worm Bobby is coming for SSRIs now. Please, nobody tell him about SNRIs, because that’s what keeps me marginally sane.
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Dexter Friend said on May 5, 2026 at 2:24 pm
I heard scratching yesterday…a raccoon was in my garage. How did it get in? Anyway, it left already.
My insurance company sent me a notice about being sure to send in the final repair bill for my hail-damaged siding. I called, telling them the people never even came back with the quote they promised. They low-balled me by sending me just 1/4 of the money I need to get the damage repaired. It’s frustrating.
This morning I watched a video, the history of Greyhound Bus Lines. So many continuously changing business models. Watch some videos of peoples’ tales of riding The Dog today…screaming drivers, drivers stranding passengers when their relief never shows…bus breakdowns…horrorshow!
I have taken long Greyhound bus rides, twice to Winston-Salem to begin the baseball season when I played, and it was pleasant enough. The first, I was 18 in 1968. I hadn’t even thought to bring water, let alone any food. An obese lady and her obese son boarded somewhere, carrying a huge roaster pan full of fried chicken. As they daintily ate the chicken, I was dying with hunger, and I really had to discipline myself to not beg for a drumstick.
And then, 2 summers riding an old Greyhound, painted red, our team bus, all over the South and up to Chicago into Wisconsin even.
I could not stand the aggravation of a Greyhound ride today. It looks like pure hell in the YouTubes.
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Colleen said on May 5, 2026 at 2:32 pm
Brainworm Bobby can have my SSRIs over my dead body. Which it will be if I don’t have them…
Wait…is this the thing he wants to send us to “wellness camps” for?
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Deborah said on May 5, 2026 at 3:31 pm
My first and only Greyhound bus ride was when I was 14, along with my sister who had recently turned 16, on our way from Miami to Kansas city to spend the summer there with our aunt and grandfather after our mother died. We were unaccompanied and it was around the time of civil rights unrest in the south. We went right through Selma and Montgomery, AL. There were freedom riders who sang on that bus some of the way, it was quite illuminating for us two teens riding alone. The bus wasn’t horrible but not comfortable in the wee hours, and it was a long ride. I don’t think parents today would put their teen daughters on a bus for a trip like that but I’m glad I got to do it, when I look back on it now I’m amazed that I got to do that right in the middle of all of it. We couldn’t afford to fly and there wasn’t a train that I can imagine so the bus was our only option because our dad had to work. He did pick us up at the end of the summer and we road tripped it back. I think later my dad realized it was a risk and we never did it again.
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Julie Robinson said on May 5, 2026 at 4:03 pm
Welp, tomorrow I’m taking the Greyhound of the skies, Frontier, up to NYC for a little girls’ trip. Pretty sure they take full claim on that now that Spirit is gone.
I’d rather put the money towards shows than airplane comfort. It’s only a couple of hours.
Much to my surprise the Spirit refund came through today.
This morning a woman called the church looking for someone who had been at a rental event there in January. She’s sure this woman wants to give her son a ride on Friday. Pastors are truly expected to move mountains.
And yet, as the conversation went on, I heard her accent, possibly eastern European, and felt her desperation. She has to work, and her son, a violin player, needs transportation. Maybe immigrants have to be a little pushier, especially concerning their childrens’ futures. So darned if I didn’t take down her info, look up the woman who rented for the master class, and send it to her. I wouldn’t have given the caller her info, and this way she can decide for herself.
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alex said on May 5, 2026 at 10:14 pm
So the Indiana primary results are coming in, and these are being closely watched because Trump is backing a bunch of primary challengers to state GOP incumbents who crossed him when they refused to further gerrymander the state this year to eliminate any remaining blue seats.
So far one has been defeated by a Trumpanzee. Travis Holdman, a doddering old fart, was beaten by a young and handsome challenger named Blake Feichter, whose name conjures sort of a mashup of fecal and sphincter, but never mind. It remains to be seen how the rest of this plays out.
I could fucking kill my stupid brother. He’s about the biggest progressive in my entire circle of acquaintances but he’s also a relative newbie to the state. He chose a Republican ballot to vote for the “lesser of two evils” in a race where there’s no such thing. He voted for Liz Brown, a Trump endorsee and election denier, making the assumption that because her challenger accused her of being a “liberal” in a bunch of ads that there must be some truth to it and that he was the Trump endorsee. When I told my brother the facts he was devastated.
This is shit you really have to follow if you want to know what’s going on and if someone like my brother can be tricked, you can imagine how many other well-meaning progressives just voted against their own interests today. Do not vote Republican. Ever. Period. Full stop.
ON EDIT: The NYT now reports that at least five of seven Trump-backed challengers have won their races.
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