Top Chef: I think they cut the ass-checking on my copy of TC because it wasn't there! Sad day.

The thing is, even though Otto bowed out, which I thought was unnecessary though very honorable of him, Marisa should have gotten sent home anyhow. With Otto taking responsibility, particularly in that extreme way, it would have been both perfect and priceless to have Tom turn to Marisa and say, "We wanted to see if he would take responsibilty. It was your dish that lost your team the competition. Pack your knives and go." It would have been entirely fitting after the playground bullshit she did this episode.

I mean, if the challenge is to work as a team, and you're instrumental in destabilizing that team--to the extent of *not looking Otto in the eye* when you're working with him--your ass should be grass. It feels like Angela from Project Runway all over again.

They shouldn't have let Otto go home, frankly. If they were true to their word, they should have thanked him for owning up--even though it didn't require owning up because it was totally an offhand comment! no one would have noticed the damn lychees otherwise!--but said that it wasn't necessary for him to bow out because they knew who they were sending home.

That's what I was hoping would happen, too, SA. But alas, not.

Pfft. Those aren't giant ants.

These are giant ants.

TC: Whenever somebody owns up and takes responsibility for something on one of these shows they get sent home. I don't know why -- but it happens over and over again.

Yeah. But because of budget, the concern about the lychees was a valid one. It just should have been dealt with right then. "Oh, didn't we pay? Check the receipt, we're standing outside of the shop right now."

Also, what did you think about the rice? Was it really only one person's fault there? Because you really ought to be able to freaking cook rice, especially if you're doing an Asian food dish.

And Ming Tsai is hot, ass-checking or no ass-checking.

la la la not clicking la la la

The Top Chef whitefont is taunting me. We haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

If you find quantum mechanics and black holes fun, you might like this. Otherwise, your head might explode. Or it might not. Or mabye both.

If a Buffista reads something about quantum physics on an unknown web page, is his or her head exploded, or unexploded? Can we ever really know, without going to their house/place of business to check, and if we do, does the act of checking fundamentally affect his or her head's state of cohesiveness?

Re: Top Chef:

I agree with all y'all. And on Chef Colicchio's blog, he more or less stated that Otto's sacrifice saved Marisa's ass. It was complete playground bullshit, and Marisa should have gone, anyway.

Also, it's made clear in Chef Tom's blog that Otto made the entire team aware of the extra case of lychees, and a group decision was made to NOT use them, so it wasn't going to be an unfair advantage anyway.

I also got the strong impression that Chef Tom forcing Otto to take the case back to the store was as much a punishment to Marisa, to show her what her petty behavior was doing to the team, as it was a punishment for Otto for letting them all drive away with it. I doubt she got it, but I'm betting that was a good chunk of Chef Tom's reasoning.

I think the rice was a valid complaint -- knowing how to cook rice is BASIC, people! -- but since it wasn't the entire dish, and the pork was so good, it wasn't going to be the sent-home offense.

sarameg, give me my sleep back please.