Natalie Tootie

Discovery HD has started showing episodes of Life, a show from the makers of Planet Earth. It's a great show to watch and it's narrated by Oprah Winfrey who I love although I miss Sigourney Weaver a little.

I'm sure there must be some sort of technical Emmy for lighting, and I think Parenthood should go after it. I think it was very creative to use the lighter fluid barbecue flares as both a visual warmth and a representation of family tradition. This episode was all about things passed down through the family, from barbecues to paper animals to, bizarrely, masturbation

Lately I've been watching Hoarders. It's the most bizarre show because I think it's the first show I've ever seen that really shows what mental illness is. Literally, these people are crazy. A woman had this pumpkin that was rotting in her living room. When they took it out, she said goodbye to it and told it what a wonderful pumpkin it was. Then, she reached into the rot to get some of the seeds because since it was such a good pumpkin she felt she should try to grow some.

When you first start watching Kirstie Alley's Big Life what you think is that this is the most contrived manufactured reality show ever. From the paparazzi they hired to pretend to be interested in Kirstie to the bad dialog everything about this show is a bit off. Every scene with a conversation is like a bad scene from The Hills. What stands out is the character of Jim the handyman.

This Parenthood outdoor dinner scene has awesome lighting. I think it is an homage to the Brother & Sisters promotional materials from last year that featured a similar outdoor well-lit dinner scene. However, the Brothers & Sisters scene never actually appeared in the TV show. Parenthood is clearly the new Brothers & Sisters and I really like both shows.

The Zojirushi NP-HBC10 over-achieving rice cooker. This picture was taken the second time I used my new Zojirushi NP-HBC10 Rice Cooker. I was making GABA brown rice to use in Kody’s food. For GABA brown rice the rice cooker heats the water to 104 degrees for 2 hours before cooking the rice. This makes the [...]