Loving British TV... but I can't find full episodes of Supersize vs Superskinny!

I was Googling "fat scuba drivers." With the first class (just a classroom intro) looming yesterday evening, my feet were gettin' a bit cold. Luckily, I found lots of good stuff that, summarized, simply reads, "Yes, you can!" I stumbled upon a British TV series called Supersized and Superskinny, which brings together two people of dietary extremes in a bid to help educate both of them about the problems with their extreme diets; either eating too much or eating too little. The Channel 4 web site offers full episodes... but not if you are in the US, apparently. The clips on YouTube are fascinating for a number of reasons.

They've disabled embedding for these clips, but you can see them on YouTube. Or, here's a prime sampling:

Not everyone likes sushi.

Eating something warm is like being hugged from the inside.

This is fascinating to me.

I NEED FULL EPISODES! Especially while bored out of my skull at home on a sick day.

"Mad Men" is killing me!

The first disk of the series came from Netflix; after reading some kudos I had to give it a try. "Just get some REAL cable instead of that ghetto package you've got, why don't you?" said Leah. "But why bother!? I can watch everything two years later on Netflix!"

After just two episodes, it's a giddy pleasure. The string of cultural norms turned tabboos are a riot; while sometimes they are a bit too self conscious, they're enjoyable nonetheless. A favorite was when the kids come running into the kitchen while playing, the girl with a plastic bag from a dry cleaner pulled over her head, sent away without a second look or worry from her mother. Blatant bigotry, criminal sexism, big rotary phones, aprons, snide catty housewives, and 60's deco all around! "Aren't we so lucky to be here? We have it all!"

Our vision of the past is often established with the assumption that it existed in the same yellowed, washed out Polaroid imagery through which we normally view it. To see it brought to life in crisp, sharp 42" plasma clarity is mesmerizing.

Oh, and booze. Lots and lots of booze.

I <3 Gray's Anatomy.

Gray's Anatomy is one of the few shows I can't miss. While it wears thin now and then, the current storyline of Derek's stumble fascinates me for some reason. And while Scot continues his hate of Mer, I found the last scene of this episode to be beautiful, in a very dark way.


It's easy to love someone when everything is good. But you show what you--and your love--are made of when the going gets tough. Writer Jenna Bans' says it best on the writer's blog:

So my Mom – she really loves Grey’s Anatomy. In fact, she calls me after every episode, thrilled and excited to tell me what scenes she loved, what lines made her laugh, whose performance made her cry…Tonight I asked her what she thought and there was a long silence. And then: HE HIT THE RING WITH THE BAT!? I know many of you are equally as shocked, maybe a little horrified, and I’m with you. It was brutal to watch. But here’s what I really want you to take from it – Meredith’s reaction to it all was infused with a maturity and strength that was five seasons in the making. She didn’t crumple to the ground sobbing, she told him to do his worst, because she’s not going anywhere. She knows he’s drunk and angry, she knows he’s lashing out at her because that’s what you do when you’re drunk and angry and filled with self-loathing, you lash out at the last people in the world you should be lashing out at, the people you love and most importantly, she knows Derek doesn’t mean it. She knows he’s at his lowest, professionally, personally…so she’s not gonna bail on him. She’s gonna let him have his little “the world is a better place without me operating in it” tantrum and when the dust settles, Mer’s still gonna be standing there, supporting him. Because that’s what you do in a relationship. That’s what you do in a marriage. For better or for worse, right? So you can choose to see the end of this episode as a MerDer nuclear holocaust, but I really hope you don’t. I hope you can see it as I do – as progress. Twisted progress, yes, but hopeful all the same. For better or for worse, people.