Top Gear - Our New TV Obsession

A few weeks ago we realized we could Tivo the phenomenal British car show Top Gear. We can't get enough of it, this is good, we have a lot of catching up to do. Sometimes we watch two, hour-long episodes a night. The show is immensely entertaining, but you probably all knew this. And in parts very funny. The skirt hasn't laughed this hard at a television show since the first time she saw MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge.) We are sure Bob's folks are the only other two people in the world who have never watched Top Gear, so we are saving some of the best shows to watch after Thanksgiving dinner. What are your favorite Top Gear moments?

Justified - FANTASTIC!!

Have you been watching Justified? The show debuted in March and was (the finale aired last night) certainly the best thing on tv this spring. We watched the entire series. Better git yurself caught up before season 2. I read somewhere you can order the DVD's on Amazon.

P.S. We loved the show's theme music too. Check out the "bang and twang" of artist Rench and rapper T.O.N.E-z in a collaboration they call Gangstagrass.

This guy calls it a musical cross-pollination. It's way cool.

Pineapple and No Pine Nuts Pie

Episode 7 of Man Men inspired The skirt to make a Pineapple Pie. Sal & Kitty supposedly made a pineapple and pine nut pie for their Sunday dinner with Ken Cosgrove. Looking through my collection of 1960 cookbooks did not yield a single recipe with pineapple and pine nuts, so I settled for this recipe from the 1967 Federation of Women's Club Cookbook. It should have baked longer. Oh well, put a cherry on top and serve it with flair.

Betty Draper's Station Wagon - Is it a Colony Park?

Did anyone notice if Betty Draper was driving a Mercury Colony Park station wagon in the season opener of Mad Men last week? A quick web search shows others have been inquiring as well. The Mad Men web site blog writes they (the makers) were not sure exactly what it was, but they knew the same car had been used in the movie "Far From Heaven." We'll have to rent the movie. Here's ours.

Isn't it a beaut?The 1962 Mercury Colony Park.

The John Adams Mini-Series - Watch It

We've been working our way through HBO's John Adams. Last week the show received a record 23 Emmy nominations. It deserves it. We are caught up in it. We talk about it from time to time throughout the day and The Skirt goes on line every chance she gets to flush out more details of the time period. Thank God for these courageous men and women. It is a television show every U.S. citizen should watch. Historians point out there are a few of inaccuracies, but nothing major.

The Factory - The Best Thing On TV Right Now

We are TiVoing Spike's new show, the Factory? It's shockingly funny, like those early episodes of "The Office." The main cast and guest actors are true pros and possessed with an awe-inspiring skill at improvisation. It's done in this leading edge TV format which people may or may not like anymore, a format like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" with these male fantasy asides. But it's the dialog that enthralls The Skirt. Women if you want to really know how the male mind works and what makes him laugh watch this show and learn. Pay special attention to the break room banter. This is the authentic male perspective. Here's what a paid TV critic wrote about it. Give it a try this Sunday, please. TV executives are trigger happy with their cancel orders and it could be gone before it hits its stride.