HAPPY 4 th

Did anyone watch the American Inventor?

The last person on tonight had an awesome invention! It's called the Guardian Angel, and I wish I had thought of it!

It is a christmas tree angel on one end, connected by a high pressure hose. Then on the other end is a wrapped christmas present. If the tree catches fire the heat melts the plug on the bottom of the angel(like a spinkler)then the present releases two gallons of water thru the high pressure line. It will at least smolder the fire enough so that the smoke alarm goes off and gives the family time to get out. If calbrated correctly it could possiblily put the fire out.

As a firefighter I can not imagine how many lives this could save. He showed a training video showing how in less than 30 seconds a Christmas tree fire can be out of control and consuming the room it's in. In that amount of time the toxic gases have already traveled thru a few of the rooms on that floor.

That is so awesome, thanks Peachy!!

I'm rewatching the entire run of Homicide: Life on the Streets on DVD during the evenings. Summer viewing is fine on some nights, but just like the rest of the "regular" viewing year, some nights have slim pickins. I've just hit the middle of season three and desparately need some steamed blue crabs and a mallet.

Detectives Pembleton and Bayliss were the original odd couple. Bayliss, still wet behind the ears, and with newly forming instincts that he hones with each investigation, matures before your eyes. Always haunted by the specter of Adena Watson, his first case and one he never solved. Pembleton the righteous detective, sly in the interview room, quick to pick up on the weakness of his prey, sure to zero in like a laser beam on what will break his foe. He is flashy and cocky, the polar opposite of Goren in style and substance. And he almost always got his man, or woman, too. The character of John Munch, sprang fully realized as a conspiracy theorist, who couldn't quite figure out the other sex, practically in episode one. Yaphet Kotto as Lt. Giardello, a believably Italian African-American with better pronunciation and as much Sicilian verve as the neighborhood grandmothers I grew up with. He was a stern father figure and always fiercely protective of his squad. The tiny moments, the banalities, the quirky almost beyond the camera's view background activity, made this show one of NBC's greatest contributions to television in the 90s. No flashy car chases. No Hollywood stunt casted guest star of the week. Just excellent writing and a phenomenal cast.

If you've never seen Homicide, you owe it to yourself to take a taste. If you can get your hands on the first disk from season one, those three episodes will reel you in and make you very happy you spent some time with these people. Seasons one and two together numbered a lonely thirteen episodes. You'll see a parade of familiar faces who have guested on LOCI as well as SVU and the mother ship. If you're a fan of HBO's Oz, you'll recognize even more. If you're really only inclined to watch the VDO episode, you're missing a rich history and dynamic characters. If you want to view only The Subway, you need season six, disks one and six, so you can see the episode as well as the making of documentary. At the very least, you'll get a good idea of what goes in to turning a story from the writer's inspiration into a television program.

Last year I purchased Season 6 for The Subway episode with VDO, as well as the episode All Is Bright with Kate Erbe. Well, I loved each episode in that collection. Yes, Homicide is a wonderful series that I somehow missed when it aired in the 90's. Maybe I'll start watching it through my Netflix. You say to begin with Season 1, stef?

And thanks for the article about TNT & Without a Trace. Nice to know CI's ratings are still going relatively strong in repeats on cable. My belief is that as long as someone can make money off CI reruns, new episodes of the show will continue to be produced.

Oh, most definitely, begin with season one, Donna. If I had had the brains and the patience, I would have waited until the entire series was released as the full seven plus movie boxed set last Christmas. When the series ended, a made for TV movie that capped the series literally brought back every single character for a final wave goodbye. It was sad and funny and gave the series, and fans, the closure that was needed.

I too was thrilled to see that CI can kick some heiney on cable. I've never watched Without a Trace regularly. Only caught a couple of episodes and was just not drawn in enough to stick with it.

I've said before and genuinely believe that the competition will come from other cable programs when CI returns in the fall. TNT, FX and USA all repeat their programs often enough that a viewer can easily catch up with a missed first run episode of most programs. I'm sure that cable networks also pay more attention to the cumulative effects of those repeat viewers, more than do the "Big Four". I just really hope that FX doesn't pull a dirty switcheroo and move Nip/Tuck to Thursday nights against CI. I don't think the two shows draw from the same fan base, but that show does have some serious ratings numbers.

I can second all that Linda says about Homicide, it was a marvelous series that my Mom and I watched from the first ep. I want to add a shout out to Clark Johnson, who played Detective Lewis, he was always my favourite. I'd watched Mr Johnson for years on Canadian TV, in Night Heat, (a Canadian made and low budgeted police drama that did have some really ahead of it's time storylines, including stalking, terrorism and vigilante justice, if you ever catch it in re-runs it's worth a look) and Hot Shots which was one of those hybrid Canadian made for the US market comedy crime shows in the Moolighting vein.
I loved Homicide. It never got the support L&O did, although the crossovers were partly to draw in the majority of L&O viewers who hadn't given it a try. It was never a show that went for easy answers, and it often left you feeling anything but reassured by the end. 'Three Men and Adena' haunted the entire series. Adena Watkins illustrated the wholly tragic reason d'etre for being a homicide detective, and the toll not getting the killer takes.
Mari

Clark Johnson as Meldrick Lewis had some of the best cases and was my TV crush for a time there. When he lost his partner, the "little salami head" in season three, his reactions during the investigation, the protection he gave Crosetti's daughter, the loss and disconnect he felt, were so real. It was a shot to the gut of anyone who had watched and lived with those characters and doubly so seeing them in rapid succession on DVD. I hated Frank Pembleton for not going to that service. And in that final scene and with tears running down my face, I loved Frank Pembleton for not going to that service.

The cross over episodes with Law and Order need to have their partner L&O episodes included to complete the series for me. I've seen all of those eppys; but, having the full set would make it perfect.

Quick Clark Johnson bit:
He played a small part in "Adventures in Babysitting" as a gang member on the train when Elizabeth Shue's character is trying to get across the city with the kids in tow. That gives him a connection to VDO, who was also in "Adventures" as the unforgettable Thor, he of the bleached blond mullet.

I've ordered Homocide, Season 1, DVD 1 from Netflix. really looking forward to it!

Advice needed. I'm heading into Manhattan next Thursday with my 20 year old daughter. We're going to Central Park, her idea, & just hanging out for the day. I reserved tickets to the NBC Studio Tour at Rockefeller Center & will visit the NBC Experience Store. I hope they have some CI interactive things & items to look at. I can also see where the signing was. If we have time, I wanted to check this out:

Where They Film CI / Chelsea Pier

It looks like a great place. If you go to my link , then click on Home it shows you all these activities.

Who knows who I might catch a glimpse of leaving work? (Yea, right....)

Anyway, anyone else have any suggestions?

DonnaLucy, are you only going into Manhattan for a single day? You might already have enough planned. But if you have time and need to get indoors to cool off, you won't go wrong with a stop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Guggenheim Museum. I also highly recommend a stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge, preferably at dusk, if you can stay that long in the city.

This is funny for a 19 month old to do! My son-in-law taught my grandson, Parker, to spit on bugs!! He thinks that gets rid of them!! That will make you go, hhmm?

I'm reworking parts of my forensic science class this summer and am coming across some pretty amazing websites, including one that has pathologist's reports on Jon Benet Ramsey and Ronald Goldman. If you are interested in reading about how an autopsy is performed, follow this link. Those two reports and others can be found at the bottom of the page.

There is a link to the virtual autopsy in which you can use an interactive cadaver to view medical reports, images of some organs and explanations of 18 cases and try to guess the cause of death of the person. Don't know that I'll actually use this information in my class, but it just fascinates the dickens outta me.

Just for the day. My daughter has work early on Friday. My two boys & my husband aren't going with us, so I'll need to get back. I only live an hour from Manhattan, but its still tough for me to get in there. We might do another day in August before everyone goes back to college.

What a great idea about the museums! We've only been to the Museum of Natural History, so I think we'll do the Met. After that, we'll go down & eat at Chelsea Piers. Keep your fingers crossed!

Hi everybody,

I wanted to stop in and say hi, and apologize for being MIA for such a long time. I think I may have mentioned at one point that I had some neck/back problems. Well, they became bad enough that I was actually home on medical leave for about six weeks. I really didn't use the computer much during this time; mostly laid around, took meds, and went to physical therapy. I'm happy to report that I am 110% better since that time, I'm back to work and back to using the PC again with more frequency.

Having said all that, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank PeachyBC publically for all she has done for our board. We talk regularly, both on the phone and via email, and she knows how grateful I am -- but I want ALL of you to know how grateful I am to her. She has become a great friend and important person in my life. And I'm very proud of her. Her "ramp-up" time was very short! It didn't take long for her to find her own style and voice and become a moderator extraordinaire, and we are very lucky indeed to have her. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, girlfriend!

I'll be by more frequently now, but not as the "main mod." Peachy is every bit my equal now (she always was, but she didn't believe me) so I'll be posting as a board member a little more often. I'm looking forward to Season Seven, and where the writers and actors take the story this year. And Peachy and I will continue to "work" our contacts as best we can, and hopefully make new ones at USA very soon.

Hugs,
rowe

Mod Rowe! It is great to see you back! Wow, you have had some serious recovery to do, and I am so happy and relieved that you are feeling better, because that is the most important thing!
We are really thankful to have Mod Peachy to help us out and keep the board ship shape and Bristol fashion, we would be rudderless without her. (Hmmm, could I possibly be any more nautical.... ) You are right on the money, she is amazing! That doesn't mean we we didn't miss our great, good Mod Rowe any less though! The spam attack we had was a clear reminder how lucky we are to have dedicated and caring Mods, and Supreme Mod Skampy looking out for us. When you see other boards you can appreciate the Mod Squad even more.
Glad to hear the good news, and please take care of yourself! (I'm hopelessly selfish and want to see the Mod Squad in top form, steering, posting and waiting with the rest of us!) Thank you for working so hard for the board we do appreciate it!
Mari

Sorry to hear about your back and neck problems. I can relate; with my back problems I can barely get out of bed some mornings. Glad you're feeling better.

Rowe,
You've left us in able and capable hands. We've missed you, your voice and quirky humor. Peachy has kept us on the straight and narrow in your absence; but, please, you take care of you first. We'll try to be on our best behavior with only the occasional *bonk* upside the head from Miss PeachyBC.
Linda

Woooo Hooooooo

Glad to see you rowe been abit worried about you .
Yes peaches has done a grand job in your absence.

And I'm glad you are back to have fun .cus we missed ya and ya missing all our fun hehe.
and my comedic postings of when will I get that pic .lol I'm just being a brat thats all ..lol
Did peaches tell ya that I wrote Vincent hehe

i had some fun last night Had a trekie night which continues tonight since we have alot .
most of it though in vhs darn it .lmao


And nope didn't actually watch ci last night...

Oh Miss Rowe, so nice to hear from ya!! SO happy that your feeling better. Peachy is a gem and beyond capable of doing more than holding her own. Glad she's convinced of that now!

Have you ever tried getting therapeutic massage when your back or neck start to feel out of wack? It has helped so many of my clients who had severe neck/shoulder/back/pelvic and wrist pain. It may help you keep your back and neck from bothering you so badly again.

Hi ya Mighty Mod!

Wouldn't you know it? Had a super busy day yesterday and wasn't on the board and low and behold you post! I'm awfully glad you're back and posting!! Even talking with you almost daily and emailing back and forth, I've missed your presence here on the board. You are and always will be Mighty Mod to me.

Who knew that helping you out here would result in such a good friendship! THAT has turned out to be a wonderful, unexpected bonus in my life. So, you continue to take care of yourself (that's my daily nag reminder ) BUT commence posting forthwith and Mod'ing! We're a team remember?? I've just helped hold down the fort in your absence.

Hugs,
Peachy

You guys are all so sweet - I thought maybe I'd be greeted with...

...Rowe Who?



LOL! Thanks so much for the good wishes, and I'll definitely be around. Y'all can't get rid of me that easily.

Hmmm, Peachy - We need to come up with fun names for our profile - Board Moderator is so dull.

I'm definitely up for suggestions, gang! Give us a few and we can vote - something to do whilst we wait (and wait and wait) for new CI episodes?

rowe
1/2 of the Mod Squad

How's about Grand Poobah?

You can change your avatar to Pooh Bear, complete with the nose. Although I would miss the current flash light Goren.

I vote for the MOD SQUAD! LOL!!

Well I have a small bit of good news to share, and I hope I don't bore everyone. We, my godson and I, planted a young Baby Blue Spruce tree. At the moment, it's about 20 inches tall. Eventually, it will be over 40 feet tall! Small but quite beautiful as is, and the scent is lovely and stronger than I would have imagined for a baby tree. My godson helped with the whole event; cutting through the grass digging it out, then digging the hole, mixing up the topsoil, coir and some left over perlite, then adding transplant food for trees. He was a great help and he really enjoyed himself. He said when the tree is grown up he wants to show off what it was like as a baby (Because nobody will believe that it was once so small!) so we took photos. If they turn out I'll add one to this post. It's the third tree I have planted for myself, not as part of a reforestation or renewal project, and if anyone is on the fence about it, I would suggest doing it. It is a wonderful feeling. (This little wonder cost $4.99 at Loblaw's Garden Centre, they are having a sale, so any fellow Canucks who'd like to become a tree parent, why not head over there? Just measure the area you would like the tree to go into and take into account how much space the roots need, which you can find on horticultural websites.) I also feel like it is a bit of atonement for my carbon footprint, and a gift for the Earth. Selfishly, I was walking past the garden centre, with too much to carry, and I fell in love with this little tree!
Mari

Congratulations, Mama Mari! The blue spruce in my yard is quite tall and offers shade and a comfortable home to all manner of birds and the enemy (squirrels). Assure your godson that they grow really quickly and soon will be too large to decorate at Christmas if that is part of the interim plan until the new baby grows into the promise of its rootball.

That bit about looking into how large the root system can get is an excellent point. Especially if people are planning to put in ornamental trees. Be careful about how close they are placed to your house. Have an idea of where the sewer pipes run from your house to the city lines. A neighbor nearby put in a charming and beautiful weeping cherry, quite close to their house. It's already cracked through the pipe under their lawn and grown through THAT path of least resistance. Roto Rooter loves, loves, loves their money and are more than happy to snake those pipes any and every time they call. They may just be on speed dial.

Yes. or Cagney & Lacey. The blond one of you, if there is one, could be Cagney. The brunette Lacey. Did I get that right?

Doesn't matter. What matters is that you are feeling better. I went through a back problem years ago when my kids were little. God, its so painful, and frustrating because you can't do anything. You sound like you have been a very good patient, which is smart, so you can get back to normal.

Anyway, it's so great to have you back posting. And we would never forget you. Are you kidding?

Mari, how sweet of you to plant your tree, especially since it was a project you shared with your godson. Now the two of you can watch it grow together. A bond you have with him forever.

This is OT for sure, but I found it interesting.

The real truth
about yawns. Very cool.

Think of the brain as a computer, prone to heat up

By Heidi Dawley
Jul 9, 2007


In the ranks of rudeness, the yawn has long been up there, a sure sign of boredom with whatever happens to be going on, and usually at the worst possible moment, as when the person across the table from you is striving earnestly to make a very important point.

We now know, as we know the earth is not flat and the sun does not rotate around the earth, that the yawn is not a sign of boredom after all, as off-putting as it may be.

We can thank science. It turns out, the real purpose of the yawn is to cool the brain. The yawn opens the mouth and rushes in fresh air for that very purpose. The idea is that the fresh, cooler air will reinvigorate the brain, allowing it to better focus on the matter at hand, scientists tell us.

So in some ways, odd as it may seem, the yawn is an expression of interest, not boredom at all.

“If you are talking with someone and they yawn, there is no need to be offended. Rather than being discourteous it may really be a compliment,” says Gordon Gallup, professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Albany.

Yawning is as natural as scratching our heads. It begins before we are even born, and it’s also common among many animals.

Gallup’s work puts to rest a lot of theories about yawning, among them the association with boredom and sleepiness and that we yawn to replenish low blood oxygen levels.
Gallup’s cooling notion arises from the fact that the brain uses lots of calories to operate, about one-third of our caloric intake, and that kicks off lots of heat. Heat, it turns out, is a problem for brains. Says Gallup: “Brains are like computers. They can only operate efficiently when they are effectively cooled.”

Which is where the yawn comes in. The idea is that when a person’s brain temperature becomes too elevated, it triggers a yawn. As a person yawns, large volumes of cool air pour into the lungs, cooling down the blood in the capillaries. That causes heart rate and blood pressure to increase, and this in turn sends a cool wave to the brain.

Full article at:
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/p...s_Very_cool.asp

Peachy

I also feel yawns are highly contagious, I started to yawn and am yawning while I type this note. I haven't yawned in days....

When I was a little girl my cousin Seth and I planted a tree with Grandma in her back yard. It was only a little sappling at the time, and that was over 20 years ago. The Jacob's Tree(not sure if that's the offical name) is now at least 30 feet tall. It is one of the fond memories that my cousin and I share. Grandma was amazed that it left such an impression on us. We spent so much time at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and I wish that everyone could have the kind of relationship with their grandparents as I have with both sets of mine. They moved over 10 years ago, and since my grandpa has passed on to be with his creator. The tree is still there and when I pass the house and look into the backyard it is a little piece of my childhood that I will treasure and pass on my children should I have any.

This also triggers another memory this one of grandpa. The whole family was at least once a month at Grandma and Granpa's. Every month there was a birthday in the family and all major holidays, we ate at their house on Sunday for dinner after church. If I still ate like that I would have a huge problem!! LOL!! In the summer Grandpa would fire up the grill and he would be SOOO MUCH lighter fluid on there that when he lit it, the flames would soar past the roof of the house. That would be accompanied by Grandma shouting " Auck Daddy!!" He would calmly say, "Well it has to get hot." As a FF now looking back, that's the stuff we preach to people not to do!!!!

Years ago for Earth Day McDonald's would give away free little trees, I wish they would do that again.

I visited the NJ State Police Museum with my forensics class on the suggestion of a state trooper who promised me he was not just towing the company line and trying to boost their visitor numbers. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the history of the State Police and the pride they exhibit in a really tough job. I also felt that I didn't get the chance to see absolutely everything I had wanted to see because I had to be the "adult" while chaperoning 25 teenagers, so I had to go back.

They have on exhibit evidence and testimonial documents from the Lindbergh kidnapping case. You can see the ladder, the baby's sleeper, one of the ransom notes complete with the three interlocking circles and red ink, some of the gold note money from the ransom, the electric chair used in the execution of Hauptmann. It's all very eerie seeing these things that you've read or heard about. They're the real deal, not copies or facsimiles. With special permission, you can see and read the thousands of other documents not on display, they have nearly a million pages.

New Jersey is a tiny state with lots of quirky places to visit and funny people who love to talk when you ask the right kinds of questions. The NJSP Museum is not flashy, vacationy, toss the kids into the back seat kind of summertime fun, but sometimes I like to just sit with the history and absorb some somber.

The links in the description above will take you to the Museum's webpage and their Lindbergh case page.

**************************
Quick addition: Operation Desert Storm commander, General "Stormin'" Norman Schwarzkopf's dad, Col. Herbert Norman himself., founded the NJ State Police. Mari just sent me a PM suggesting I put something into the listing about him. The link to his name takes you to the Wikipedia page about him.

Personal connection, Norman (the Stormin' variety) is a large man. He looked it when you saw him in television interviews. He is gigantic in person. Practically continental in size. And the nicest person you could ever hope to meet.

Looks like ousted NBC bigwig Kevin Reilly has found a new home at FOX.

Excerpt:

Kevin Reilly Officially Joins FOX
NBC vet will be the net's new entertainment president with Liguori becoming entertainment chairman
July 9, 2007


"NBC Entertainment President Kevin ReillyRecently dismissed NBC bigwig Kevin Reilly's move to FOX is now official.

Reilly, who helped develop and nurture shows ranging from "The Shield" to "The Office" to "Friday Night Lights" in his tenures at FX and NBC, will become FOX's new entertainment president.


As part of the network's restructuring, Peter Liguori will shift from entertainment president to entertainment chairman.

"The television industry has changed more in the last five years than in the past 20," says News Corp President and COO Peter Chernin. "We need to be structured in a way that puts us in the best position take advantage of the myriad new opportunities digital technology has afforded the broadcast television business. When Peter Liguori approached me with the idea of re-teaming with Kevin Reilly, I thought it was a bold move to redefine the structure of the network behind a pair of dynamic executives who have a proven track record of advancing the medium."

From 2000 through 2003, Liguori served as FX's president and CEO, while Reilly worked under him as president of entertainment. During that time they helped the cable network, a corporate sibling to FOX, focus its creative energies and brand around new programs like "The Shield" and "Nip/Tuck."

Under the new FOX structure, Reilly will report to Liguori, whose new duties will shift away from programming and toward "developing new models for FOX broadcast content to best leverage the brands across all emerging platforms," according to the network's press release.

"I'm thrilled to be working with my good friend Kevin again. We have complementary strengths, but more importantly, we have fun working together and we enjoy sharing that spirit with the rest of the team," says Liguori. "FOX is television's premier brand and I am excited to take on a role that requires more long-term strategic vision at a time when FOX has the opportunity to become an even bigger force in this quickly evolving media landscape."

Although he developed hits including "Heroes," "My Name Is Earl" and "Deal or No Deal" during his time at NBC, Reilly wasn't able to pull that network out of fourth place among adults 18-49, a key demographic ruled by FOX in recent years. Reilly was relieved of his duties over the Memorial Day weekend, but he didn't wait long to find a new gig..."

Full article at:

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-reillyfo...ap-tv-headlines

PeachyBC

I love all animals but dogs, cats, and yes lizards rank high in my book!

Among the four dogs we have 2 of them are little Jack Russells. Both of them LOVE to go and sniff(by that I mean bury their heads) in the retention basin!! Every night they come back with a dye job, solid black!!! Thankfully the all natural, organic body wash we use does the trick. They come out of the tub so soft, and shinny!!

The bad thing is that it is a real pain in the back, and such a mess in the tub all the time. Plus if they are feeling like being little buggers, they can move to the back of the tub!

Do any of you know of some little tub, or something like it that I could place in the tub to wash them? Keeping them right there and saving me from cleaning the tub everyday?

You might try doing what the professionals do when grooming and use a leash. With a greyhound, the "small tub" I use is the back yard. That dog sprouts extra limbs everytime I try to get him into the bathroom to give him a bath. And every one of those extra legs is braced firmly against the door jamb. If I don't want him in the bathroom he's all over the place in there.

If you have something at the front of the tub to which the leash can be tied that would keep them from moving all around the place. With my basset hound I would just close the shower curtain after his bath and he would shake off most of the water before I lifted the little guy out. Then he would dive around the apartment rubbing himself against the furniture to dry off because he could do a much better job against the couch and rolling around on the rug then I could ever hope to do with a towel!

Thanks Peachy. Lately FOX has a reputation of producing mostly garbage. Kevin Reilly will be expected to develop a few more quality shows to offset that belief. It won't matter too much how they do ratings wise initially.

I like Kevin Reilly. He tried his best to help NBC.
I'm glad to hear that he will be gainfully employed.

Lance, SamBo, Snickers, and Skittles all do that to some extent. Skittles is the littlest boy and he shakes himself, jumps, and skitters around all at the same time trying to get dry! However if you don't allow him to accompany you into the bathroom when your in the shower he gets quite upset!

What goes on over there!? kevin Reilly gets removed from NBC and snapped up by Fox. is he scorned in one place and elevated in another. What does that mean for the person taking his job in NBC, or for the person whose job he took in Fox? Fox is doing better than NBC yet employs the person scapegoated for NBC decline? i cant see the thread here,or the reality. What is the logic following? it must be something but its beyond me!

Hi Flatpack,

IMO, this is just a prime example of how small the talent pool is for this kind of work. It's not uncommon for a person to be fired on one network and hired immediately by another; the limited talent gets recycled. Reilly was with FOX once before. Obviously, FOX was more than happy to take him back.

From what I read, Reilly's problems at NBC had as much to do with personality, power conflicts with Zucker as it did with sagging NBC ratings. Reilly's track record shows he's capable of creating shows that audiences like. My guess is, if Reilly's given his head at FOX, he will make NBC look to their whole card.

PeachyBC

Hello everyone! Just wanted to pop in and say Hi ! Have been busy, but not to busy to watch all the LOCI reruns on NBC , USA , and Bravo! Last night was LOCI heaven on USA! God, I love marathons! We will pay for it tonight, though. LOCI isn't on at all !!! Oh well, DVD players were invented for nights like this! Can't wait for the new episodes!

Hope all of you are well and enjoying the summer. Personally, I hate the heat and humidity, but I know I'm in the minority on this. Give me a good nip in the air, sunny skies, colorful leaves, state fairs showing the bountiful harvest and I am a happy camper! I don't have too long to wait.

Take care. Talk to you soon.

Sincerely,
Sue

I'm waiting for the summer to begin here in the UK! We've had cooler temperatures and what feels like a year's worth of rain in a month. June was the wettest month in 150 years according to the news. Hopefully it'll warm up here soon.

Hallmark Channel are currently showing repeat eps of S3 here, S5 should start airing next month. 'Stray' was the ep airing tonight, love that episode

Thanks Peachy,your thoughts do seem to give an explanation,that there is a "limited talent pool that gets recycled",a sort of jobs for the boys network! This also explains why they are going round and round in circles making no difference at all to what goes on,because they are just recycling and making things safe. No sense of real adventure.

Hey ruby red,the UK really responds favourably to LOCI doesnt it. i like the different music and the fact it seems aligned to programmes like Morse,Frost,Wire in the Blood.So they seem to treat it as a serious drama with structure and character development etc as well as entertainment. I collected some great reviews of critics for season 4 when i was over there.

Hi from Upstate New York where we've been dry as a bone since April but the farmers' rain dance must be working cause we're having a thunder storm tonight. CI Fan Sue, I'm with you on hating the heat and humidity. Fall is my favorite season for the cooler weather, changing leaves, my birthday and the beginning of Season 7!

Hi Flatpack and Ruby Red! Sorry to hear about the rain in the UK. In this age when the world seems so small because of the Internet, you forget how different the weather is for all of us. I had a group of businessmen from London at the Inn where I work last night and I was struck by how formally attired they were compared to the shlubs here. They were all wearing black suits, white shirts and patterned ties. In America, they'd probably be pall bearers in a funeral to dress like that. Wow, is that off topic.

I have a little pet peave, nothing against the British or Australians, but it seems like they're taking jobs away from American actors more and more over here. There's Without a Trace with 2 Australians and 1 English woman all pretending to be American, House pretending to be American, Simon Cowell dissing young Americans, the new Bionic Woman is British and now the Beckhams! Posh Spice has her own reality series on NBC-probably taking the place of LOCI. Do you know of any Americans playing British on your television shows? There, I finally got that off my chest.

Well, here's hoping for 2 months of 75 degree days with an inch of rain each week (while we're sleeping) for all of us. Sounds like Camelot, doesn't it?

When you put it like that JYImag it does sound like a takeover! Nationality is a real burden i think, Ive never felt comfortable with it...all this 19th century obsession with borders and belonging. i like that nomadic idea of slipping over the borders!!!

Anyway,having said that,yesterday we were down on the atlantic seaboard,facing America(!),waves crashing,listening to music wailing out over them. Did you hear it? It was a music festival in Miltown Malbray,going from pub to foreshore listening to groups of musicians. Zoom in to this old man who stood at the door,took his cap off and put it in his tweed jacket pocket before entering the pub,something reverential like entering a church. Its like stepping back in time,that mannerly behaviour. It gets me every time I see that kind of thing,like when Goren is mannerly. Does that get you too?

Anyway one musician starts playing. the pub is very noisy,no one listening. then another musician joins in,then another,the session builds up.It creeps upon you unaware,this sound,the hush,til everyone is listening. Its like having a pressure on your ears under water.Then the sound trails off and everyone wonders what it is that passed that way. magical.

I think i should go hide or something j/k

I have noticed that there are a lot of British actors in top rated shows in the US. I didn't know that Marianne Baptiste (?) from 'Without a Trace' was actually British until i saw an interview with her. A good friend of mine refused to believe Hugh Laurie was British til she heard him on Letterman.

Criminal Intent does have a good following here. In fact, all three L&O's do. Hallmark Channel which has the first dibs to CI on satellite tv do a good job of promoting it and airing eps, Channel 5, which have the terrestrial rights, not so much. Season Five will hopefully air sometime next month if Hallmark follow their regular schedule, C5 next January/Feb-ish (and the opening music differs on both channels which is extremely odd when you're used to the 'regular' music)

I love 'Wire in the Blood' which is based on the Val McDiarmid novels and a new season just started to air here this week. The lead actor, Robson Green, is from my part of the world, in fact he grew up less than five miles from where i live now and when he films, he films in the North East of England, where i live. Tony Hill, his character is similar to Goren in some ways, less intense than Goren but quirky and very watchable. The show itself is very graphic and you do need a strong stomach sometimes (especially the first season of episodes) but he is worth watching. 'Morse' was truly wonderful, a real British institution and it was so terribly sad when they ended and John Thaw's premature passing was a tragedy in itself I used to watch 'Frost' a lot too but not for a while.

The actress who will be playing Jamie Sommers in the new Bionic Woman show used to appear on a well known soap opera (Eastenders). Everyone here has been taken by surprise by this development in her career but good luck to her. Hope she does well.

I've got a dozen men stomping around on my roof tearing off the shingles and pounding on stuff. They started less than an hour ago and have already denuded the shingles. My roof is naked! They put up tarps that let them toss the junk down like it was on a big blue slidingboard, protecting the bushes and whatnot, but they've since come down under the weight. I'm hoping the hydrangeas and irises survive the onslaught unscathed.

The dog needs a therapist. There are people who are swarming all around and not a single one has stopped to bask in his "Mike-ness". No one is rubbing his neck or scratching behind his ears. These are men wholely unappreciative of all things greyhound and he means to teach them a lesson. Maybe if he climbed the ladder......

Hi Sue! Glad to see you posting. Hope you can join us more when the new episodes air. God, it's such a long wait, isn't it?

Had a fun trip into Manhattan yesterday. My daughter wanted to go in, so of course I had to do some CI related things! We went on the NBC Experience Tour. It was great fun. I volunteered to do the weather with a real teleprompter & an actual weather board. It's much harder than it looks! I had everyone laughing, my daughter got a kick out of mom entertaining the crowd. In the store area, she insisted on buying me a Criminal Intent T shirt (it's really nice, very soft & well made).

We went down to Chelsea, just to walk around & see the area. Went into Chelsea Pier, but it's impossible to really see the studios. We did see the Law & Order Way street sign that is posted on the little side street that leads into the garage.I spotted a huge black Escalade idling by the studio, but couldn't see the driver.

Grabbed a bite at the Chelsea Street Diner, a great place for affordable, tasty food with generous portions. Remember reading about it on Jason's blog. I swear, it looks exactly like the diner they shot the breakfast scene in Stress Position. We sat in what looked like one of the the tables they sat in, by the windows.

So much of the area looks familiar, as if it was used for either the mothership or CI. There's a little kiddie park there, that looks almost identical to the park in Privilege. There's also a small vacant lot between two old brick buildings, smack in the middle of a side street, that looks so much like a NYC crime scene, it's not funny. Put a dumpster in the corner and you're set!

Spent the rest of the day in Central Park, so beautiful.

So are you wearing or framing the teashirt,Donna!?

Anywhere near Northumberland Rubyred?

I love greyhounds and deerhounds and wolfhounds, Stefanl. You can give him a scratch from me!!

Wearing it, of course!

BTW, loved your rant about Kevin Reilly. It's all political & personality based - who likes who, who brown noses best with the big cheeses.

NBC had a real talent in Reilly. They knew it, but in the end it was all about personal whims. Serves them right if the network goes further down the tubes.

And NBC bailing out on CI - a big mistake on their part, although I'm happy that USA now has it.

These guys need to take sensivity training on deals with dogs! My four would be having a conniption fit!! Wait, we're cute! Here I am pet me, pet me, PET ME!!!!!

Yes, i'm in Northumberland...only just. But i lived for several years near Morpeth and surrounding areas, where my husband is from. Do you know it? Gorgeous county, i love it, would not want to live anywhere else.