Jude's Thursday Dish #46

First matter of business, I've forgiven John. But enough of that, there is a LOT to dish on. It's been a busy Pop Culture Week.

1. ORY MAINE!!!! That would be Patrick Swayze. Again, someone who I totally grew up with died prematurely. It's so strange. My best friends Leslie, Anne-Katherine, and I were OBSESSED with the mini-series "North and South" parts 1 & 2 (part 3 sucked, and Patrick Swayze wasn't in it). This show was his big break. He was 30 when he started it and even though he had appeared as secondary characters in other films, this is what put him on the map and led him to "Dirty Dancing." He played Ory Maine, the Maine character - ha ha. It was just a Civil War soap, but he was actually really good in it. The dialogue could be cheesy "I'm worried about the children, the ones you ain't giving me!" (said by Justin, played by David Carradine -- another person who died too young, but I can't say I'm really sorry about him). There was this sex scene between Leslie Anne Down and Patrick Swayze that by today's standards isn't anything worse than you'd see on a daytime soap. But back then, it was kind of racy (think how "Thornbirds" was when that came out). We SO loved it. Even now we're older, we still talk about it and A-K and I even had a marathon, but FFed through it (each part was 24 hours! long). Leslie and I are discussing another one to memorialize our Ory. There's my favorite Patrick Swayze memory. It really is sad. I love that he was married and devoted to the same woman for like 30 years, which is unheard of in Hollywood. RIP, Patrick.

2. Okay, so yes... Kanye is an idiot. What he did to Taylor Swift was obnoxious and classless. He was obviously drunk or on something. Taylor handled the situation like a real pro for being only 19. BUT, I think the media crucifixion of him is out of control. Honestly, how many times does the guy need to apologize? Don't make a bigger deal out of it than it was. Let those two work it out. This goes back to my earlier post about forced apologies. I swear, let people apologize if they mean it, not because they are guilted into it! He may be truly sorry, but as we know, celebrities/politicians, etc. HAVE to apologize or they are run out on a rail. This is what bugs me about our uber-politically correct society. I'm not saying we should be allowed to run around and behave badly without consequences or apologizing when we've offended, but our society is so L.T.B.O. that there's 0 freedom of speech! Anyway, I'm on a tangent. I will say that I thought it was HILARIOUS that President Obama called him a "jackass" off the record and ABC's Terry Moran Tweeted it. Again, he/ABC was forced to apologize, but I'm just cynical enough to think that ABC was probably thrilled he did it, just for the publicity -- maybe TOLD him to and said, "We'll apologize later." Maybe that's how I should start behaving. Do stupid things and think, "I'll just say sorry later" like when you think, "Oh, I'll sin and repent later!"

3. When I heard Jessica Simpson's little pup got taken by a coyote, I got all teary! Not that I like JS at all, but how awful is that! It's Meryl Streep "the dingo ate my baby" all over again. Since I've totally become one of those "my dog is my baby" people, it really made me sad. I opened my fat mouth yesterday and started telling the story to my S.I.L. Libby (talk about someone who is a "my dog is my baby" person) and Katie overheard me. She burst into tears, ran to her room screaming and slammed the door. She was furious with me for telling her that and cried for 15 minutes. Call child protective services.

4. I promise for all you non-"Gleekers" out there, I won't talk about "Glee" every week. I just have to do a quick follow-up. Last night's episode was great. I feel like it's moving into it's groove. Not so over-the-top (they've established that) and a little less satire. Not saying that won't happen, in the future, but it seems like they are making it a little more real. Fortunately last night, Terry (the wife) wasn't as obnoxious as earlier episodes. I like the complicated quadrangle. Loved seeing Mercedes get to shine. I absolutely love that Will is stuck in the late 80's/early 90's. That's so my generation. He's into disco revival and his songs of choice were "This is how we do it", "Poison" and my 90's guilty pleasure, "I Wanna Sex You Up." The latter just made me smile. The "Acafellas" were hilarious with the addition of the Cougar lover kid and that creepy ex-teacher. Josh Groban has some acting chops. Love Victor Garber. I hope people stick with this show because not every episode can have a "Don't Stop Believin'" moment. However, I understand if people feel it's too sexual. It's definitely not for young teens. Fortunately, last night was a lot tamer than last week. It was on par for primetime TV. But I understand if it's too much for some viewers. There... I promise, that's it for now (maybe).

5. What do they call NBC's comedy line-up now? It's not Must See TV, but Comedy Night Done Right? Anyway, who cares?!!! It's the return of "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation." I gushed about "P&R" in an early post ( was going to link to it, but I don't have the patience right now to find it). If you haven't seen it, you should definitely DVR it and give it a chance. Remember, 5 episode trial before you dump it. I'm looking forward to the "SNL Weekend Update" (I heard Tina Fey might make a Sarah Palin appearance) and I'm going to try out Joel McHale's new comedy "Community." Just bummed that "30 Rock" doesn't start until something like mid-October.

Quick bits:

- The Emmys are on Sunday. I heart them! Can't wait to see "30 Rock" and "Mad Men" sweep all the competition. But, I would love a little surprise. Benry MUST win from "Lost"

- Pictures of Chris Brown doing his community service makes me giggle. What a D.B.

- Not going to support Leno hogging up the 9 p.m. time slot that could go to cool shows.

- I casually pop in to "The Biggest Loser". Didn't it premiere this week? Should I watch?

- Katie and I watched "The Princess Diaries: 2" for the first time last weekend. Chris Pine ("Star Trek" hottie) was in it. Kind of fun to see him before he was famous. And with brown hair.

- Michael Douglas is going to play Liberace in an upcoming movie with Matt Damon as his lover. I'm just not seeing it. MD just doesn't have a lot of range; he's really going to have to sell me on that idea.

- John is devouring "The Lost Symbol" and I'm impatiently waiting for him to finish. Anyone reading it?

That's it for this week!