greys anatomy

2011-11-20T04:50:00.001-08:00

Debora Cahn on "Unaccompanied Minor"...

Original Airdate: 5-19-11

It’s the finale. The FINALE! Shonda asked me to write the finale! How great is that???

Not great.

Last year, she wrote the finale herself. She pulled a machine gun out of her mental arsenal and mowed down half the cast. Derek. Alex. A bunch of cast members whose names we no longer remember. Why? Because they’re dead. She killed them. A couple years ago she asked me if I would write the Private Practice finale. I said no. She said, “You get to kill off a beloved cast member.” I said, “I’m in.” The year before, I’d written the Grey’s finale. Cakewalk. Why? George got hit by a bus. Oh, and Izzie, coding on the table as the final voice over rolls. Nothing’s easier for a writer than killing beloved cast members. It’s dramatic. It’s emotional. It’s like a lollipop, covered in a martini that doesn’t give you a hangover, covered in a bright sunshiny day that isn’t giving you skin cancer because of the magic. You know what you can’t do the year after your boss kills off a bunch of people in the finale? Kill off anyone. You can’t do anything the year after a mass murder. There’s no topping a mass murder. So we decided not to. No flood. No fire. No smallpox outbreak. No Lexie gets caught in a well while saving conjoined twin babies. No seven patients all snarled together after driving their hang-gliders into the electrical wires. No 15 simultaneous organ transplants. No surgery at all. You’ll notice, we never went into the OR in this episode. We never watched anyone have a meaningful conversation in a surgical mask. Nobody coded. Nobody charged anything to 200 and yelled CLEAR.

So what’s left, when you take away carnage, and the death of our loved ones?

Emotional devastation.

Sorry. It’s all we had left.

Seriously, it’s an interesting challenge, when you’ve started writing a show that’s focused on the lives of young single people, and then you get them into relationships, and some of the relationships manage to stand the test of time, and they eventually tie the knot, in a church, or on a post-it… suddenly you’ve got a show about married people. How did that happen? We were all having such a good time. And now this. Meredith and Cristina, of all people. Married. They grew up, our little girls. But of course, they didn’t. As some of us learned in recent years, just because you’re married, and shacked up, and the waiter in the restaurant calls you “ma’am” (what the f*@# is that about?) it doesn’t mean you’ve figured out how to be a partner. There’s an awful vertigo that sets in when women who were raised to be strong, and independent, and decisive, learn that they’re no longer supposed to make their decisions alone. They’re supposed to consult someone else. Hear their opinion. Consider it. And sometimes bend to it. It’s a nightmare. We were raised to do the opposite. Generations of our foremothers fought tooth and nail, so we could make our own decisions. And we’re still supposed to consult someone else? What the hell? And so Cristina. Making a terrible decision. Alone. The decision itself is a problem, obviously, but that wasn’t our focus, cause we’d all seen that one on Lifetime. Our focus washow she was making the decision. Where Owen was in the decision. What did it tell us about her marriage. Her partnership. Her ability to include someone else in her life, even at this most devastating time. Ultimately, she couldn’t. We can all slot ourselves into predictable spots on the political spectrum, but none of the bumper stickers prepare us for deciding with someone else. Everything that makes Cristina a great surgeon makes her a terrible partner. And that just sucks.

Meredith. Different hair color. Same story. She made a unilateral decision. She had to – he never would have understood. He sees the world in black and white, and she… well, with that last name and everything… So she made a decision. And she made it alone. And then when it all hit the fan, she still believed if she contained the information, she’d contain the damage, so she didn’t tell him what was going on. And so he disappears. At an extremely inconvenient time. It’s all her worst fears realized. She’s got a baby she never thought she was capable of mothering. And she’s alone. But that’s the world she created.

Our mothers worked hard. They were tough. They were clear. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. They taught us how to be strong, and independent, and decisive. They taught us how to be alone.

I was going to end the blog there, but that’s so miserably depressing, I can’t do it. We’re not all going to die alone. Season 8 spoiler – they don’t all die alone. But they struggle, like we all do. It’s a new set of problems.

Wow. Still depressing. Sorry. Have a great summer!

May 20, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (306)

Zoanne Clack on "I Will Survive"...

Original Airdate: 5-12-11

Doh! What is Alex doing? Mer is his trusted friend, his confidante… she’s his landlord for godssakes! You don’t just, well, tell on her! But that’s exactly what he does. He’s tired of women tromping all over him, tired of always getting leftovers (wasn’t sure if tromping was really a word but I looked it up and it is). He’s gonna take what’s his for a change. Let’s go through his relationships, shall we? When we first met him, he was a total jerk to Mer. Despite that, despite being foul, she let him in to her inner sanctum, sometimes admitting things to him that she wouldn’t admit to most people. And he returned the favor. It is/was a true friendship, without the turmoil of love and physical wanting invading it. So let’s move on from that one. There was Nurse Olivia, and there was syphilis… wait, those were one in the same. Then there was Izzie who was kind of the love of his life. The first time their relationship fizzled because he took a backseat to Denny, a freakin’ dying patient. And even then he was there to pick up the pieces for her. The second time he actually married her, kind of hastily, but he would’ve done anything for her. He’d opened his heart to her. This time, she was the freakin’ dying patient. And what happened? She left him. She, the dying one, left him, the strong one. The man who was in love with her. And would’ve done whatever needed to be done to keep her safe and comfortable. But she left him anyway. Boom. Another one bites the dust. And in between? Jane Doe/Ava/Rebecca? Remember her? All bashed up from the wreckage, Alex gave her an identity, gave her hope, gave himself hope, only to realize she had a husband underneath it all, and she picked her old life. He opened his heart to her again when she came back, but no matter how much love he gave her, it could not prevail over he mental illness. He had to let go. The constant heartache has got to gnaw on a person. And this time? This time Lucy dealt the backbreaker. He was vulnerable and open with yet another woman and he got the rug pulled from beneath his feet. Open heart? Meet foot. He can’t just sit around and let his potential chances get ruined. Yes he loves Meredith Grey as a friend, truly and deeply. But is he going to let his heart prevail this time? Is he going to risk keeping it open by keeping her secret only for it to be stomped on yet again and potentially miss getting Chief Resident because of it? In his head, he’s yelling at Meredith, he’s getting what’s due him, he’s not going down without a fight. In his head. But then there was the drinking. And the defenses went down. And the inhibitions were released. Along with the filters. The things in his head came out through his mouth and… oops. What just happened?

What happened was people got their feelings hurt. Over and over in this episode. Henry for instance. I happen to love little Henry. And his love for Teddy. He spent the whole episode trying to be a better man, trying to be someone worthy of her love, only to get his little heart stepped on at the end. But like a man, he stepped up to the plate, didn’t whine to get her back or pout, just asked for a divorce instead of a relationship. I think it might’ve been the saddest moment of the show for me, when Teddy walked away and stood there, unable to watch her go.

It’s almost more sad than Jackson nobly stepping off the Chief’s study to make sure the clinical trial had a chance to be considered for a Harper-Avery. He realized there would be a conflict of interest if he stayed on, he couldn’t let that happen. This is a chance for real groundbreaking research to be recognized, and Jackson wasn’t going to stand in the way. And besides, he’s got Lexie to fill the void… right?

And Mer/Der? They’ve got Baby Zola to fill their void. They’ve been struggling and struggling to have a baby but so far? Nothing. Then there’s this orphan. This adorable, sweet, beautiful little orphan. Mer’s scared, and deep inside Der is, too, but they’re willing to forego their doubts to give this baby a home. And if anyone read Shonda’s blog on the musical, you’ll know that Patrick Dempsey is the McDreamy BabyWhisperer. Couldn’t have been truer. It was so hard to get scenes with that baby crying because she was just a happy, happy baby (they’re twins actually, and they were both very, very happy – all the time), but when PDemp aka Derek Shepherd aka McDreamy was on the scene, fuhgetaboudit. Smiling, happy, laughing baby is what we got. Not that we’re complaining.

I think my favorite part of the episode was Callie sniffing Sofia’s little head and wanting to eat Sofia’s little foot before she gave her up to go work. Couldn’t have been cuter.

I guess I should also say, Welcome Back, Cristina Yang. She was Cristina with a vengeance today, wouldn’t you say? She took charge and made things happen, but I’m pretty proud of April for standing up to her – over and over. She’s coming into her own also. Good for her.

And just a little medical note since I’m the doc on board: yes, abdominal pregnancies can happen. Extremely, extremely rare, but not impossible. And yes, they can go undetected, even with an ultrasound. And the tree? Real case from Russia. It may have happened only once that we can find (with a tree), but it happened in Russia, and it happened at Seattle Grace. So technically, that’s twice, right? And sickle cell was the motivation for the theme of adaptation. I find it fascinating that Sickle Cell trait developed as an adaptation to protect people from malaria. You can follow maps of malaria and maps of Sickle Cell and they fall together perfectly. We know what gene mutated, how it adapted, what it does, yet we are still working hard to make it stop. Having the trait can help, but having the disease can be deadly. They’re working hard to make it a thing of the past though.

Okay, had to do just a little medical. It’s out of my system.

May 12, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (177)

Stacy McKee on "White Wedding"...

Original Airdate: 5-5-11

The day we filmed Callie and Arizona’s wedding was an amazingly beautiful day. Beautiful for so many reasons.

First, after a week of forecasters predicting rain rain rain-- the day was sunny. And breezy (which was fine for those of us bundled up under coats and hoodies watching from the side. Not so fine for, say, our cast members dressed in strapless gowns and floaty formal wear.) Still – things were beautiful.

We were shooting outdoors (already a bonus, since usually we’re on stage, in hospital rooms) at Descanso Gardens (if you are ever in the area, you should visit. Largest camellia forest in Southern California!) – There were roses and cherry blossom trees and lilacs everywhere – a feast for the senses.

There were a lot of reporters conducting interviews the day we filmed the ceremony, talking to Sara, Jessica, Chandra (she directed the episode!) – and even me. We were all so aglow with this beautiful setting, with these beautiful brides, with this beautiful wedding –- that it stopped me cold when the first question one of the reporters asked me was:

“So, a lesbian wedding. Are you worried at all about making such a bold statement?”

I had absolutely no idea how to begin answering that question.

Was I worried? Are you kidding me? NO. I wasn’t worried -- About what? About a wedding between two characters we’ve watched fall in love over the course of several seasons? Nothing bold about that. If anything, it’s right out of Romance Storytelling 101 – They meet, they fall in love, they hit a few road blocks, one of them almost dies – all of which makes it so much sweeter when these two characters can finally ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Not exactly re-inventing the wheel here, people. But, I guess, to some people, it is.

So I’ll say to you what I said to that reporter. This is not a bold statement. This is a love story.

Callie and Arizona have been our biggest, most sweeping romance all season. Our other couples are already married, already divorced, or all full of angst and longing and dirty sex... But Callie and Arizona? They are romance. Sweet, epic, fairy tale romance. Pure and simple.

It just makes sense that after everything they’ve been through this season – living together, breaking up, coming back together, starting a family, life and near death -- their story would culminate in a wedding. A big, beautiful wedding.

The fact that Callie and Arizona are both women is, frankly, irrelevant.

(Although, if you’re like me and you love weddings, then the fact that they are both women is actually a bonus ‘cause -- hello. Two stunning wedding dresses, people. TWO. WEDDING. DRESSES. Heaven.)

It goes right back to what Bailey says to Callie in the episode. These are two people willing to stand up and commit themselves to one another, forever. In good times and bad. For the rest of their lives. THAT is the bold statement, legal or not.

Bolder, to me, is the fact that Meredith and Derek actually make their marriage legal.

We’ve also been on a journey with Meredith this season. She and Derek have tried and tried and tried to start a family. When Meredith broke down in the elevator a couple of episodes ago, Derek reassured her. He promised her that they would have a baby. Somehow, someday – it would happen.

And today, it has. Or, at least, they hope it has. As Derek says, he and Meredith have been trying so hard to start a family – and this baby needs one. If making their Post-It vows legal will make it easier for them to adopt baby Zola, then they are willing to do what it takes.

(And, by the way, can we just pause for a moment to appreciate how ridiculously ADORABLE Derek looks holding that ridiculously ADORABLE baby? I mean, come on!!!)

The thing I love about Meredith and Derek’s wedding, coupled with Callie and Arizona’s wedding, is that the two ceremonies could not be more different. One is all magic and romance. The other is all business and efficiency. And yet, both weddings are absolutely perfect for each of the couples. Beautiful for so many reasons.

But there’s more than just wedding-mania happening in this episode. There’s Alex, calling Meredith out on compromising the clinical trial. What’s great about that story is that both Alex AND Meredith are right.

Mer did an ethically questionable thing, but for all the right reasons. We were rooting for her when she did it. She made sure Adele got the drug. She risked everything to help someone she cared about.

And Alex is right, too. It IS illegal to mess with a clinical trial, no matter how small or insignificant the action might seem. By altering even one variable in the trial, Meredith has invalidated it. Which has major consequences, not just for herself, but for Derek, the hospital, even the other patients who are participating in the trial.

Meredith was right. And Alex is right. So whose side should we be on?

Then, there’s Cristina, who continues to be frozen out by Teddy. –Recently, in preparation for next season, we had a series of surgeons come in to the writers’ room to talk to us about their experiences. We asked one of them, a very prominent surgeon in his field, what he would have done if his resident went over his head the way Cristina went over Teddy’s head in the musical episode.

Without hesitating, he said: “Oh, she’d be gone. I’d have fired her on the spot.”

So, there are two things I love. One – that Teddy is not vindictive here. She is not being petty; she’s not over-reacting. She is genuinely concerned about Cristina’s tendency towards reckless behavior – and Teddy is trying to teach Cristina something. She’s trying to teach her caution.

But secondly, Cristina is still Cristina – she’s ridiculously smart, ridiculously talented, and very hard to teach. Cristina has blinders on. It’s basically impossible for her to see things any way but her own. And from Cristina’s perspective, she was right. Her repair is what ultimately saved Callie, so Teddy should just accept that, set her bruised ego aside, and quit shutting Cristina out of surgeries.

Again, two characters who – in their own ways – are both right. Love it.

And finally, I just have to say – there are few things I have ever enjoyed more than the Father/ Daughter dance sequence at the end of this episode. Seeing Callie’s dad come back to dance with her at her wedding. Seeing Derek swaying back and forth with baby Zola… Maybe it’s from watching my own husband with our little girl, or maybe it’s because my dad was still alive for a dance at my own wedding… But something about that final sequence gets me every time I watch the episode. And trust me, I’ve watched it a LOT of times by now. I just find it really, really beautiful.

For so many reasons.

May 05, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (125)

William Harper on "It's a Long Way Back"...

Original Airdate: 4-28-11

This episode spanned almost three months. From the time Shonda conceived the Musical Event (and the car crash that set it in motion), we knew we wanted the episode that followed to cover a long period of time, so we could realistically show Callie’s journey from the awful image of her bleeding on the hood of that car, to her triumphant exit from the hospital with her new family. Also, to let tiny, tiny, tiny Sofia grow to a healthy weight. So three months it was.

I was excited and a little daunted. Episodes that span long periods of time are tricky, it’s harder to sustain suspense across a commercial break, harder to keep track of time, harder to keep momentum going… On the other hand, a long time span allows you to tell a character’s story in a different way, play characters’ changes more gradually -- you get to watch them grow. (Especially if you’re watching a fragile little premature baby – micropreemies, they’re called -- grow into a crazy-adorable, healthy 12-week-old.) And though this episode was about recovery, as Meredith points out, “recovery” is a misnomer. Instead of “coming back” from a trauma, more often than not, you find it has changed you forever.

So this episode was about change and growth as much as anything. And, honestly, after I wrote it and we shot it, as I watched it, what I couldn’t stop thinking about was how much these Seattle Grace doctors have changed and grown in the seven years we’ve known them. They’ve come a long, long way.

First of all, Callie. Doctors do make the worst patients, in my experience, that’s true. They take shortcuts, they cut time off their recovery, they don’t take the advice – or the meds -- they prescribe for others. So Callie’s pushing herself too far too fast. I would expect nothing less from Callie when we first met her. The Callie who first flirted with George, the bone-busting, badass orthopod of season two, would not have had the time nor the patience for these injuries. But, the Callie we know now has a different drive to get well. She’s known love and loss, been married and divorced, acknowledged a whole new part of herself and fought for it to be recognized by her family, and she’s found true love. She’s grown up. Responsible. And she’s a mother now. She’s not trying to rush her own recovery -- she’s rushing to be there for her little girl. I maintain she is still and will always be a badass, but now that she has a child, her motivations have changed in ways she’s not even aware of yet.

The idea of being pregnant and happy one second, then waking up, being told you’d delivered your baby, that she’s clinging to life, and not be able to see, to touch, smell, or talk to that baby for days on end, is an agonizing prospect. Sara played that desperation beautifully. Her selflessness fuels everything she does in the episode.

And Alex. “Evil Spawn is now Mother Theresa,” Cristina says. I don’t think he’s all the way there yet, but yeah, Alex does make maybe the biggest transformation in the episode. And it’s part of a slow, slow transformation he’s been making over seven seasons. One thing I always liked about Alex – and I mean as a fan, watching the show -- was how gradually we’ve learned about him over the years. His history came out in a hint here and a half a line there… until finally, we know his drug addict father, his crazy mother, that there’s a whole litany of crap that made him angry and guarded and… evil. And that armor has been slowly chipped away at. Here, his motivation for starting this African Surgery program is vintage Karev: it’s an act of desperate self-preservation. Stark doesn’t believe he can do it. His fellow residents don’t either. Really, even Alex doesn’t believe he can do it. Weeks later, when we find him putting the plan together, we know he’s just trying to position himself to become Chief Resident. It’s only in the final “chapter” of this three-month story that we realize something inside him, something he won’t even admit to himself, is driving him to make this happen for these kids. Even if it means his own financial ruin. What Alex has revealed so slowly over all these seasons is that there’s a good guy in there, rising up through a lifetime of brutal crap and getting closer and closer to the surface. For me, it’s there in that smile on his face as he helps those little kids into off the medical transport at the end. It’s surprisingly open, fulfilled…happy. And it’s a long way from the perpetual scowl he wore in season one.

And Meredith. When I watch the scene where Adele mistakes Mer for her mother, (And Loretta Devine’s perfectly heartbreaking performance in it) and we see on Meredith’s face as she realizes the damage her mother did to this woman and her marriage, the scene I kept remembering was when Mer found the Chief at Ellis’s nursing home in Season Two. From that moment she and Richard have shared this uneasy connection – one she has fought so stubbornly against. Now, she seems ready to put the past behind her and to acknowledge that she is tied to Richard, tied to what happens to him, and Adele as well. She takes responsibility for her mother, and performs an act of generosity that has the strong possibility of blowing up in her face. She acts rashly, but she’s always had this impulse. She’s the girl who sticks her hand in a bomb-filled chest cavity before thinking. But where she and the Chief are concerned, I think it’s a sign of serious growth.

When Shonda promotes an assistant to writer, she often says proudly, “Look, the babies are all growing up now.” Looking at this episode, I realized how much her Seattle babies are growing up, too. Growing up, taking responsibility, making adult decisions, using their educations. The interns who struggled to figure out how to tube a patient are now sure-handedly performing surgeries, helping rewrite medical history with clinical trials. And Shonda raised them right -- no matter how dark and twisty they’re lives have been, they seem to be coming through it. They’re growing into good people. Flawed, and rash, maybe…but good.

And don’t get me wrong, they’re not done growing, not by a long shot. They’ve still got a lot of choices to make, a lot to learn, for a long while to come. And especially for the rest of this season: Callie and Arizona have mentioned wedding bells and you won’t be disappointed. And as for Meredith, well, rash actions have consequences, no matter what the intentions behind them. So as we move toward the end of season seven, I hope you like roller coasters. It’s going to be a wild ride.

April 28, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (182)

Shonda Rhimes on "Song Beneath The Song"...

Original Airdate: 3-31-11

HOW AND WHY WE DID THIS:

So, on about the third day of filming the pilot episode of Grey’s Anatomy (way back before it was even called Grey’s Anatomy, back when it was called The Untitled Shonda Rhimes Pilot), I turned to exec producer Betsy Beers and said, “I can’t wait to do a musical episode of this show.” See, I have this wild obsession with musicals and an unhealthy love of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical and also, I’m a geek. Which is why I said it.

“I can’t wait to do a musical episode of this show,” I said.

And Betsy, who is wise and funny and wry, just nodded. “Okay,” she said. And we went back to watching Patrick Dempsey pretend to do brain surgery.

One hundred forty-four episodes and seven and a half years later, we began filming the Grey’s Anatomy Music Event.

Explaining what the heck took us so long is too complicated to go into here. There are a lot of reasons – I was busy telling other awesome stories at Seattle Grace, I got a second show (what up, Private Practice peeps!), I was raising my tiny human, my musical talent involves oboe-playing and nothing else, the network thought it was the dumbest idea they’d ever heard of and refused to do it.

And, oh yeah, one other thing: I had no idea how we would do it.

So I forgot about my musical episode dreams.

Then a thing happened in Season Four of the show. The Writers Guild of America went on strike. Which meant that, instead of writing my TV show inside my studio office, I carried a picket sign up and down the street in front of my studio office. It also meant that I got worried. About the crews who work hard on TV shows and movies. I got worried about how they would pay their bills. And so a bunch of us at Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy got together and decided to throw a benefit concert to raise money for the crews.

I stood backstage at this concert and I listened to members of both of my casts sing (Audra McDonald, folks, she has four Tony Awards and the chick can BLOW -- buy a ticket and hear the woman sing sometime). Sara Ramirez closed the benefit. And when she opened her mouth, she brought the house down. I know people say that – brought the house down. It’s a thing people say. But Sara Ramirez (who has a Tony of her own) BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN. She’s a superhero. Singing is her super power.

Now, most of us have a super power. Dempsey has that twinkle in his eye. Also, he can juggle. And babies, all babies, every baby in the world, ALL BABIES love him. It’s amazing how much babies love him. They just stop crying when he’s around and stare at him and smile. It’s awe-inspiring. The man commands the hearts and souls of babies. He’s a baby-mesmerizer. If I ever have another baby, I am going to bring her to work and hand her to Patrick and walk away for hours at a time. She will be the happiest baby in the world. I’m telling you, every baby in the world seems to get that he’s McDreamy. Super. Freaking. Power.

But I digress. Anyway, most of us have super powers. But not a lot of us have super powers that involve opening our mouths and having God come out. I’m not a big God person but that’s really the only way to describe what happens when Sara sings. God, or whatever you want to call the magic of the universe, comes out.

You know who else has that super power? Chyler Leigh. And she didn’t even know she had it. Also Kevin McKidd. Who knew he had it but is all Scottish and humble and didn’t reveal it. Also Justin Chambers. Who is just so cool that it makes sense that he has it. Also Chandra Wilson. Who has it but gets nervous when she has to sing. Also-

You see my point. Our bench is deep.

(It is also deep on Private Practice, scary deep, shockingly, brilliantly deep, but I’m talking about Grey’s here so I’ll save that for when I meet you and you ask me about it.)

Anyway, it was Season Four and we hadn’t met Kevin McKidd yet and I still hadn’t come up with an idea for a musical episode and I still only play the oboe and the network was still saying no. But it made me think about it again. It made all the writers sit around and say, “We wish we could do a musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy.”

Two more seasons went by and…nothing.

Then at the very beginning of Season 7, I said to the writers that Callie should get pregnant with Mark Sloan’s baby and that it should be complicated and horrible and really upset Arizona. And suddenly, I knew what the musical episode should be about.

So I started begging people. I begged the studio people. I begged the network people. I took these people to dinner and begged. I jumped out at these people in bathrooms and begged. And they all smiled politely but what they were clearly really thinking was, “This woman is an idiot.”

So I did the only thing I could think of. I got Tony Phelan (one of our writers, as you know, but also a great big musical theatre geek like me only he has real musical theatre talent) to help me. I also got Chandra and Sara and Kevin to help me. And then I dragged all of the studio and network executives in to work on a Saturday. Sandra Oh showed up to be our cheerleader. There was an amazing band. And in front of the studio and network execs (who are all very nice and very smart but clearly thought I might be a Grade A Idiot), we threw a great big concert. I pitched my idea and Chandra and Kevin and Sara sang. And God came out of their mouths. And the studio and the network stopped thinking I was an idiot and they said yes.

Seven and a half years. One hundred and forty-four episodes.

We started rehearsals a full four months before we filmed – unheard of for our show. We usually prep a show for eight days. Sara Ramirez was the one who gave me the idea that we should sing the songs our show had made famous. Tony Phelan was the one who directed the episode. The entire writing staff helped me make the script make sense. Bossy McBossy Rob Corn never once complained about how overbudget we were. The crew went all in, leaping off this crazy cliff of music with us. And every single member of the cast got excited and came together like the family they are to do this right.

Even Pompeo. Who is funny and kind and who has never once hesitated to do any of the crazy things I write for Meredith to do but who was also a little worried I might have turned into an idiot. She came up to me after the table read for the episode and said, “This is amazing. I want to sing more!”

And when I walked on stage and watched the episode being filmed, I felt like it was worth every minute of begging to get it done. I hope you think so too.

“I can’t wait to do a musical episode of this show,” I said way back then. And Betsy nodded.

And now we have done it.

On Monday (yes, just this past Monday) I stood on the mixing stage, watching the final playback of the musical episode on a giant movie screen (and boy, how I wish you could see it with surround sound on a movie screen), and then I went to Betsy and I said, “I can’t wait to do another musical episode of this show. I want to see Ellen Pompeo sing Rilo Kiley.” And Betsy nodded.

So now I have another dream to dream. I kind of like to think that dreaming is my super power. That or oboe playing. But nobody likes it when I play the oboe so, you know, I’m gonna go with dreaming.

Thank you so much for watching. I mean it. My gratitude is large and my appreciation is limitless.

March 31, 2011 | Permalink | Comments (848)

Florida Mom Complains After Hooters Waitress Speaks at Son’s School Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/20/florida-mom-complains-after-hooters-waitress-speaks-at-sons-school

2011-11-20T04:31:00.001-08:00

Florida Mom Complains After Hooters Waitress Speaks at Son’s School

Published November 20, 2011

| NewsCore

CLEARWATER, Fla. – A Florida mother complained to her son's school after a Hooters waitress was invited to speak to the students there about her job, The St. Petersburg Times reported Saturday.

Brittany Morgan, 23, addressed students Thursday at the Calvin A. Hunsinger School for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities in Clearwater, Fla.

She reportedly wore a sweater and sweatpants rather than her Hooters uniform, and discussed tipping, looking presentable at work and Hooters' charity work.

Ashley Dominicci, whose son is in sixth grade at the school, said the presentation sent "the wrong message" to kids.

"I feel like we're telling [the students] that you're the bad kids, and this is all you'll be in life," she explained.

In her complaint to school principal Stephanie Bessette, Dominicci referenced a recent incident in which former porn star Sasha Grey was invited to read to students at a California elementary school, prompting complaints from some parents.

"I'm not knocking waitresses. They're very hard-working," Dominicci said. "My point is, these kids should have higher goals."

Bessette said in an email response to Dominicci that some women work as waitresses to pay for college, and teachers often work service jobs to supplement their incomes.

"Working as a waiter or waitress in order to achieve higher goals should be commended," she wrote.

Morgan was invited to the school as part of The Great American Teach-In, an annual event during which adults talk to students about their careers and hobbies.

Other speakers at this year's event included a Toyota employee, a machinist and three Calvin A. Hunsinger School teachers.

Am I Normal? Your Top 6 Sex Questions Answered

2011-11-20T04:20:00.001-08:00

Chatting about orgasms, lagging libidos, or STDs can be intimidating. So we stepped in and did the asking. Our experts insights may reassure you, surprise you, and even inspire you to turn up the heat on your sessions in the sack.

1. I had unsafe sex. Now I’m terrified I have an STD

You have good reason to be concerned: Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with 19 million new cases occurring each year. Unfortunately, infections aren’t detectable in your body immediately, so you’ll have to wait an anxious week or so before you can see your doctor to get screened for chlamydia and gonorrhea, says New York City gynecologist Carol Livoti, M.D.—and then another three to seven days for the results. “A course of antibiotics will nix these bacterial infections,” says Livoti. “But if left untreated, they can cause long-term damage and harm your fertility.” You should also schedule a follow-up appointment in three months to get a blood test for hepatitis, syphilis, and HIV. “These take longer to show up in your system,” she explains. There is one thing to address right away, however: Unless you’re on the Pill or using an IUD, you should take the morning-after pill (available over the counter) ASAP to avoid an unwanted pregnancy. “You can start Plan B up to 72 hours after unprotected sex,” says Livoti, “but it’s most effective early.” And for the future, stock up on condoms so you always have some in your purse and bedside table.

2. I’m 30, and I’ve never had sex.

You’re definitely in a small minority: According to the National Survey of Family Growth, only one in 53 women ages 30 to 34 is still a virgin. “But there’s nothing wrong with waiting, especially if you’re abstaining for religious reasons or until you find the right person,” says Tammy Nelson, author of Getting the Sex You Want. If you would like to be sexually active and aren’t, however, that’s a different story. “As women get older, many begin to panic and feel out of step with their peers if they haven’t done the deed yet,” says Nelson. “If you feel anxious about your situation, consider seeing a therapist to find out what might be holding you back. It could be fear of intimacy, low self-esteem, or an issue from your childhood.” Working through these roadblocks can help you gain more confidence, along with the pleasure and emotional connect
3. I’m not as interested in having sex as my boyfriend is.

“It’s normal for one person in a relationship to want sex more than the other at times,” says Nelson. And women’s desire is more emotionally driven than men’s, she adds, “so stress from work or personal issues can take a toll.” That’s one reason why 9 percent of women ages 18 to 44 confess to having a low libido at any given time, say researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital. But if your sex

4. It hurts when I have sex!

Join the club: As many as 60 percent of women have experienced pain during intercourse, according to a study in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. “In most cases, a lack of lubrication is to blame,” says Livoti. Birth control pills, antihistamines, and other meds can all contribute to vaginal dryness, but often there’s no medical reason. And it can happen at any age. “Plus, the friction during sex can use up your natural lubrication,” adds Debby Herbenick, Ph.D., a research scientist at Indiana University and author of Because It Feels Good. Keep a tube of lube by your bed—water-based is best because it’s not messy, is compatible with latex and silicone, and it’s readily available. But if the discomfort persists after a few romps, or if tenderness is accompanied by a fever or bleeding, it’s important to consult your gynecologist. “Irritation at the vaginal opening could signal a pelvic, bladder, or urinary tract infection that needs medication,” says Livoti. “And pain caused by deep thrusting might be the result of an ovarian cyst.” drive has gone missing for months, the cause might be physical. “Many medications, such as antidepressants, birth control pills, and antihistamines, can have sexual side effects,” says Nelson. You may want to switch to another type of drug. If you’re not on an Rx, check your hormone levels, which can be altered by diabetes, hypertension, and other problems; using an estrogen or testosterone cream may help. Once your doctor has identified or ruled out causes, work on raising your drive naturally. Exercising and eating right can help by improving body image and upping your energy—and so can simply going for it. “Sex boosts hormones that promote desire,” says Nelson. “It’s the best aphrodisiac out there.”

ion that comes fromsex.
5. I’m not into oral sex.
There are two typical reasons why women don’t like receiving oral, says New York City sex coach Amy Levine: Their partner isn’t skilled, or they’re selfconscious that they don’t smell or taste okay. For the first issue, point your guy in the right direction by saying, “I love it when you…” For the second, showering is a quick fix. In terms of giving oral, Nelson notes that while some women say they find it demeaning, “many feel the opposite: Pleasuring their partner gives them a sense of power.” However, remember that you can contract an STD like herpes or HPV from oral sex, so have an honest talk with your partner first.

6. I’ve never had an orgasm.

Ten percent of women are in your shoes, according to Rachel Needle, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Marital and Sexual Health of South Florida. “Letting yourself go can be scary,” says Needle. “And the more you stress out about it, the harder it is to focus on climaxing.” But it’s really worth the effort: Not only do they feel good, research suggests that orgasms can reduce stress, alleviate pain and symptoms of PMS, and may even help you live longer. There’s no universal map to “getting there” because everyone is different; learning about your body is key. “Masturbating is the best way to do this,” says Levine. “Once you’ve orgasmed on your own, you’ll be better able to guide your partner.” Often intercourse alone isn’t enough stimulation, adds Nelson, so experiment by using your hands and trying various positions. Don’t fret about how long it takes—anywhere from seven to 30 minutes is normal. Just lie back and enjoy.

Ohio Woman Faces Jail Time For Feeding Squirrels Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/20/ohio-woman-faces-jail-time-for-feeding-squirrels/#ixzz1eFOUUdpB

2011-11-20T04:17:00.001-08:00

KETTERING, Ohio – An Ohio woman could serve jail time for feeding squirrels on her neighbors' property.

WDTN-TV reported Annick Richardson of Kettering, Ohio, will appear in court in December for a pretrial hearing on two counts of criminal trespassing. If convicted, she could serve up to 60 days in jail and pay a fine. She was appointed a public defender Friday.

Neighbors said Richardson went onto their property to leave peanuts for local squirrels. The animals, drawn to the nuts, then ruined gardens, chewed through car wires and clogged air conditioners with peanuts, the report said.

"She won't stop," Don DuBon complained. "She won't listen to police. She won't listen to the animal control officer."

One woman said she had to move because her grandson has a severe allergy to peanuts.

"It's the parents' or guardians' responsibility to make sure the child is not going to pick up anything and it's my responsibility not to put any on her side," Richardson said.

She admitted that her squirrel feeding was "excessive" and said in the future that she would "feed them mainly on my property, but I will have a few exceptions."

McDonald's, Target Drop Egg Supplier Over Animal Cruelty Charges

2011-11-20T04:14:00.001-08:00

MINNEAPOLIS – McDonald's and Target dropped one of the nation's largest egg suppliers after an animal rights group released an undercover video of the egg producer's farms in three states.

McDonald's Corp. said Friday it had dropped Sparboe Farms as a supplier after a video by the group Mercy for Animals showed cases of animal cruelty at five facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. Target Corp. soon followed, saying it would pull eggs from the Litchfield, Minn.-based company off its shelves.

"Having been made aware of the unacceptable conditions in the company's egg laying facilities, effective immediately, Target will discontinue its business relationship with Sparboe Farms," Minneapolis-based Target said in a statement late Friday.

Sparboe produces 300 million eggs a year, in regular, liquid, frozen and dried form, and ships them to restaurants and stores across the country. The company's Vincent, Iowa, plant had billed itself as the sole fresh egg supplier to every McDonald's west of the Mississippi River.

McDonald's officials say Sparboe was a "significant" supplier and that it was unclear when, or if, the company would work with the Golden Arches again. Sparboe's Iowa facility produced 2 million eggs a day, seven days a week.

That changed Friday when images shot by Mercy for Animals showed a worker swinging a bird around by its feet, hens packed into cramped cages, male chicks being tossed into plastic bags to suffocate and workers cutting off the tips of chicks' beaks.

"The behavior on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable. McDonald's wants to assure our customers that we demand humane treatment of animals by our suppliers," Bob Langert, McDonald's vice president for sustainability, said in a statement.

The nation's largest retailer -- Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. -- also bought Sparboe eggs and has been demanding that suppliers treat their chickens humanely for years. Wal-Mart said it stopped working with Sparboe six weeks ago and that its decision had "nothing to do with animal welfare concerns," said Dianna Gee, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. She declined to discuss why Sparboe was dropped.

McDonald's and other fast-food chains and grocery stores have been studying how chickens are caged and cared for in its egg farms. The Humane Society has persuaded several national food outlets, including Burger King, Costco Wholesale, Denny's and Wendy's/Arby's Group, to buy at least some of their eggs from producers that allow hens to roam.

McDonald's and Target's moves also followed a warning letter to Sparboe Farms dated Wednesday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that said inspectors found "serious violations" at five Sparboe facilities of federal regulations meant to prevent salmonella. The warning said eggs from those facilities "have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health."

McDonald's eggs were safe because they were cooked thoroughly, and none of its operations will be affected by Sparboe, company spokeswoman Lisa McComb said Saturday. About 27 million Americans eat at McDonald's each day.

Sparboe Companies LLC said Saturday it would create a task force to review the company's food safety and animal care.

Beth Sparboe Schnell, Sparboe Farms' president and owner, said the company was "shocked and deeply disturbed" by the video and that an internal investigation identified four employees "who were complicit in this disturbing activity." They were fired this month.

She also reassured customers that there is "absolutely no food safety concern or any recall of any Sparboe Farms products. Sparboe Farms egg and egg products are safe to eat."

Sparboe also said it has made management changes, taken corrective actions sought by the FDA, and begun retraining all barn workers in proper animal care procedures.

McDonald's said the suspension of its business dealings with Sparboe was not temporary but refused to say that it would never work with Sparboe again.

"We're not going to turn around in a month and work with them again," McComb said. "But we would never say never."

In the case of one U.S. fishery that did not use "sustainable methods" in its farming, McDonald's ended its business relationship for eight years before the company "completely turned around its practices," McComb said.

Sparboe describes itself as the fifth-largest shell egg producer and marketer in the United States, operating seven processing plants supported by 33 egg-laying and pullet production sites in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. The company says it serves retail, wholesale and foodservice customers in 26 states.

Sparboe spokesman Lyle Orwig said Friday the company has a "zero tolerance policy" for any animal abuse or cruelty. He said all employees are trained by a veterinarian and work with a crew leader who also has been trained.

"If he (the crew leader) sees anything, he would automatically correct it if he sees someone doing something wrong," Orwig said.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's said the "most alarming actions on video" didn't happen at Sparboe's facility in Vincent, Iowa, which supplied its restaurants, but they violated the standards the company sets for its suppliers. McDonald's also insisted the food it serves is safe.

McDonald's said it got Sparboe eggs via Cargill Inc., which said it was suspending Sparboe as a supplier.

"We will not tolerate mistreatment of animals anywhere in our supply chain," Chris Roberts, president of Cargill Kitchen Solutions, said in a statement. He also said the issues the FDA raised "warrant additional review by Cargill."

Tim Loesch, a spokesman for Wayzata-based Cargill, declined to say how many eggs Sparboe supplied it or how much the company was paid. Orwig said it was too soon to tell what effect the loss of McDonald's business would be.

"Right now our focus is making sure that we are compliant with everything and get to the bottom of how it could have happened," Orwig said.

Mercy for Animals isn't satisfied with McDonald's decision to stop accepting eggs from Sparboe, said Matt Rice, the group's director of operations.

"These are company-wide, policy-level abuses," Rice said. "There's a culture of cruelty and neglect at McDonald and its suppliers."

McDonald's said it is participating in a three-year study that compares traditional versus cage-free hen housing systems, but Rice said the company continues to get most of its eggs from hens in battery cages that hold a lot of birds in cramped conditions.

"McDonald's is simply sidestepping the issue now. It's time McDonald's requires all of its suppliers to un-cage hens and finally give these animals the basic freedom to spread their wings, to walk and engage in other natural behaviors," he said, noting that McDonald's has already switched to cage-free eggs in Europe.

Mercy for Animals conducted its investigation from May 23 to Aug. 1, Rice said. The group got its people hired at the farms and sent them in wired with hidden cameras, he said. They "documented daily abuses that would shock and horrify most Americans yet are largely considered standard and acceptable to the egg industry," he added.

Orwig, the Sparboe spokesman, said the undercover taping was troubling because company employees sign a code of conduct that they will report any abuses immediately to a supervisor. In this case, he said, there were no reports.

The video was first aired Friday on ABC's Good Morning America.

Best and Worst TV Shows of the 2010-2011

2011-11-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

2010-11 TV Scorecard: The Best and Worst Shows and Networks

↓ 12 user comments
by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor
May 3, 2011

Building an empire

He certainly won over the critics

As it did the year before with Treme, pay cable juggernaut HBO had the best-reviewed new program in the 2010-11 season: the Martin Scorsese-producedBoardwalk Empire 88. The Prohibition-era drama was created by Sopranos writer Terence Winter, and is the highest-scoring first-year series since 2005.

Boardwalk Empire wasn't the only great show launched this season; five first-year programs met or exceeded a Metascore of 81 (which we generally use as a minimum cutoff for "great" reviews), compared to just three such programs in 2009-10. But those great shows were all on cable; broadcast television's best-reviewed new show (Fox's The Chicago Code) earned only a 75, as we will see in a moment.

For the second consecutive year, thanks in part to The Chicago Code, Fox received the most acclaim for its new shows out of the five broadcast networks, which combined to launch 43 new series in 2010-11, five more than the season before and nine more than in 2008-09. The five networks averaged a Metascore of 56.0 for those first-year programs, an improvement over last year's 54.8. And though Fox was the only network with an average Metascore in a range indicating good reviews, the networks combined to launch 16 positively reviewed shows in 2010-11, up from just 11 the season before.

However, these "good" shows still didn't make a huge impression, and there was no major critical success for the broadcast networks this season on the level of last year's Modern Family. In fact, this season's 16 new shows with positive reviews (i.e., with a Metascore of 61or higher) averaged a score of just 66.0; last season's 11 well-reviewed new shows averaged a more impressive 71.6. So while there was more to like in 2010-11, there was little to love, at least on broadcast television.

We'll look more closely at individual shows and networks in a moment; first, here is how the new shows launched by the five broadcast networks compared in 2010-11.

Broadcast Network Quality Comparison (New Shows Only), 2010-11 Season
% Good	Average Metascore	Score Change vs. 2009-10 Season
63%	63.0	↑4.2
30%	56.0	↓0.8
44%	55.0	↓0.5
33%	54.0	↑5.7
23%	51.0	↓1.3

Averages and rankings do not include summer shows. Each dot represents a new show with positive (), mixed (), or negative () reviews from critics. A few reality shows () did not have enough reviews for us to calculate a Metascore.

The 2010-11 season's best and worst new shows

Boardwalk Empire and The Walking Dead were the only two overlaps on the critic and user high score lists, but all five selections on each list share one thing in common: they are all cable shows. Our users' second-favorite show of the year, Terriers, did indeed draw a cult following during its first-year FX run, and counted a number of critics as fans. That wasn't enough to save the low-rated dramedy from cancellation, however. There's no danger of that happening to user favorite Game of Thrones, though; the show has already been renewed for a second season.

Best Reviews from Top TV Critics
#1		#2		#3		#4		#5

Boardwalk EmpireHBO		The Killing AMC		Luther BBC America		The Walking Dead AMC		Law & Order: UK BBC America
30 critics:	88	29 critics:	84	11 critics:	82	25 critics:	82	7 critics:	81

Best Reviews from Metacritic.com Users
#1		#2		#3		#4		#5

Game of Thrones HBO		Terriers FX		The Walking Dead AMC		Boardwalk EmpireHBO		The Borgias Showtime
130 users:	9.0	73 users:	8.6	293 users:	8.5	157 users:	8.4	16 users:	8.2

Only one scripted series made our users' worst list: NBC's short-lived Outlaw, which also rated very poorly with TV critics. Note that many minor cable shows (especially in the reality genre) don't receive enough reviews for us to calculate a Metascore, so it's not especially surprising to see that the three lowest-scoring programs aired on broadcast television. Interestingly, of those three, the very lowest-scoring new show of the year -- the William Shatner sitcom $#*! My Dad Says, based on the popular Twitter feed -- is the only one that hasn't (yet) been canceled.

Worst Reviews from Top TV Critics
#1		#2		#3		#4		#5

$#*! My Dad SaysCBS		Outlaw NBC		The Paul Reiser Show NBC		The Hasselhoffs A&E		The Real Housewives of Miami Bravo
26 critics:	28	23 critics:	36	22 critics:	38	9 critics:	39	7 critics:	41

Worst Reviews from Metacritic.com Users
#1		#2		#3		#4		#5

Sarah Palin's Alaska TLC		Bridalplasty E!		The Real Housewives of Miami Bravo		Gigolos Showtime		Outlaw NBC
17 users:	1.2	8 users:	1.3	7 users:	1.9	9 users:	2.8	14 users:	3.4

American television series with seven or more reviews and debuting between August 2010 and April 2011 were eligible for the above lists. Shows are scored and ranked based on reviews published at the time of the original first season debut; returning series are excluded from these lists. The Metascore is a weighted average of scores from top professional critics, on a scale from 0 (bad) to 100 (good). Although scores have been rounded to the nearest whole number, shows are ranked prior to rounding. User scores represent an average of scores assigned by Metacritic.com site visitors on a scale from 0 (bad) to 10 (good). All scores as of April 29, 2011.

The season's best new network and cable shows

By a fraction of a point, the Shawn Ryan-produced police drama The Chicago Code earned the best reviews of any new broadcast show this season, edging out fellow Fox newcomerRaising Hope. However, in the 2009-10 season, three new network series scored higher than those shows' 75, and seven of the top ten programs scored 70 or above, compared to just four this season.

Best Reviewed New Network Television Series, 2010-11 Season
	Show (Network)	Genre	Netflix	Metascore	Users
1	The Chicago Code (Fox)	Drama	+Queue	75	6.5
2	Raising Hope (Fox)	Comedy	+Queue	75	7.6
3	Lone Star (Fox)	Drama		73	7.3
4	Blue Bloods (CBS)	Drama	+Queue	70	7.7
5	The Event (NBC)	Drama/Action	+Queue	67	6.2
6	Nikita (CW)	Drama/Action	+Queue	66	6.9
7	Hawaii Five-0 (CBS)	Drama/Action	+Queue	65	7.0
8	The Defenders (CBS)	Drama	+Queue	65	7.4
9	No Ordinary Family (ABC)	Drama/Action	+Queue	65	6.3
10	Better With You (ABC)	Comedy	+Queue	64	6.5

The news was better for cable shows this year, with five shows scoring 81 or higher (better than last year's total of two) and another two just missing out, at 79. Not all of these shows were hits, however; both of the FX programs on the list were canceled at the conclusion of their seasons, and the reality show Teach: Tony Danza (certainly not a program we were expecting to see here) was rushed off the air after bombing in the ratings.

Best Reviewed New Cable Television Series, 2010-11 Season
	Show (Network)	Genre	Netflix	Metascore	Users
1	Boardwalk Empire (HBO)	Drama	+Queue	88	8.4
2	The Killing (AMC)	Drama	+Queue	84	8.1
3	Luther (BBC America)	Drama	+Queue	82	7.9
4	The Walking Dead (AMC)	Drama/Sci-Fi	+Queue	82	8.5
5	Law & Order: UK (BBC America)	Drama	+Queue	81	7.0
6	Game of Thrones (HBO)	Fantasy/Action	+Queue	79	9.0
7	Lights Out (FX)	Drama	+Queue	79	8.1
8	Terriers (FX)	Drama/Comedy	+Queue	75	8.6
9	Episodes (Showtime)	Comedy	+Queue	73	6.9
10	Teach: Tony Danza (A&E)	Reality		72	n/a

Though HBO continues to dominate in the movies and specials department, it was PBS that scored biggest with a pair of miniseries imported from the UK: the Masterpiece Classic dramaDownton Abbey, and Sherlock, a modern-day take on Arthur Conan Doyle's detective stories from Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. Each one is getting a sequel.

Best Reviewed Movies, Miniseries, or Specials, 2010-11 Season
	Title (Network)	Type	Netflix	Metascore	Users
1	Downton Abbey (PBS)	Miniseries	+Queue	92	8.6
2	Sherlock (PBS)	Miniseries	+Queue	85	9.1
3	Wartorn: 1861-2010 (HBO)	Movie	+Queue	82	n/a
4	Circus (PBS)	Miniseries	+Queue	81	4.5
5	Thurgood (HBO)	Special		78	n/a
6	Great Migrations (Nat Geo)	Miniseries	+Queue	77	n/a
7	Baseball: The Tenth Inning (PBS)	Miniseries	+Queue	76	8.8
8	Public Speaking (HBO)	Movie	+Queue	75	7.8
9	Wishful Drinking (HBO)	Special		75	n/a
10	Cinema Verite (HBO)	Movie		74

10 Worst and Best Foods

2011-11-19T17:48:00.001-08:00

1. Artery Crust

Judging by the label, Marie Callender’s (16.5 oz) Chicken Pot Pie has "only" 520 calories, 11 grams of saturated fat, and 800 mg of sodium. But look again. Those numbers are for only half a pie. Eat the entire pie, as most people probably do, and you’re talking 1,040 calories, 22 grams of saturated fat (more than a day’s worth), and 1,600 mg of sodium (an entire day’s worth).

2. Triple Bypass

Can’t decide what to pick from a restaurant menu? No worries. Now you can order not just one entrée, but two… or three... all at once.Olive Garden’s Tour of Italy – Homemade Lasagna, Lightly Breaded Chicken Parmigiana, and Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo – comes with 1,450 calories, 33 grams of saturated fat, and 3,830 milligrams of sodium. Add a breadstick (150 calories and 400 mg of sodium) and a plate of Garden-Fresh Salad with dressing (350 calories and 1,930 mg of sodium) and you’ll consume almost 2,000 calories (an entire day’s worth) and 6,160 mg

3. Salt's On!

On average, a cup ofCampbell’s Condensed soup has 760 mg of sodium. That’s half a day’s worth … assuming you eat only one of the 2½ servings that the label says the can makes. Campbell’s Healthy Request and Select Harvest, Progresso Reduced Sodium, and Healthy Choice slash the sodium to the 400s. Look for lower sodium lines in the 100s to 300s by Amy’s, Imagine Foods, Pacific Natural Foods, and Tabatchnick.

4. Tortilla Terror

Interested in a Chipotle Chicken Burrito (tortilla, rice, pinto beans, cheese, chicken, sour cream, and salsa)? Think of its 970 calories, and 18 grams of saturated fat as three 6-inch Subway BLT Classic Subs! Skipping the cheese or sour cream cuts the saturated fat to 6 grams, but you still end up with 750 calories and more than a day’s worth of sodium. Yikes!

5. Factory Reject

People don’t expect light desserts at The Cheesecake Factory. But the Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake kicks things up a notch. If it weren’t served on its side, this one would stand over six inches tall. And upright or not, the slab of cake still weighs in at three-quarters of a pound. What do you get for all that heft? Just 1,760 calories and 2½ days’ worth of saturated fat (50 grams), mostly from chocolate, sugar, cream, white flour, and butter.

6. Burial Grands

No one thinks of cinnamon rolls as health food. But each Pillsbury Grands! Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll with Icing has 310 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat plus 2½ grams of trans fat (more than a day’s worth) and 5 teaspoons of sugar. Companies are dumping their partially hydrogenated oils left and right, yet Pillsbury still makes most of its rolls and biscuits with the stuff.

7. Transgression

“Excellent source of ALA Omega 3,” declares the Land O’Lakes Margarine box. Who knew that Land O’Lakes stick margarine was so heart healthy? It isn’t. Each tablespoon of the spread has 2½ grams of trans fat (more than an entire day’s limit) and 2 grams of saturated fat. And beware of other trans-filled sticks by Blue Bonnet, Parkay, Country Crock, and Fleischmann’s. At least those brands don’t imply that a bit of ALA outweighs the harm caused by the margarine’s trans and saturated fat. Shopping tip: Look for tub margarines – most have little or no trans fat.

8. Starbucks on Steroids

The Starbucks Venti (20 oz) White Chocolate Mocha with 2% milk and whipped cream is more than a mere cup of coffee. It’s worse than a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Few people have room in their diets for the 580 calories and 15 grams of saturated fat that this hefty beverage supplies. But you can lose 130 calories and almost two-thirds of the bad fat if you order it with nonfat milk and no whipped cream.

9. Extreme Ice Cream

An average halfcup serving ofHäagen-Dazs ice creamsqueezes half-a-day’s saturated fat and a third-of-a-day’s cholesterol into your artery walls and makes a nearly 300-calorie down-payment on your next set of fat cells – if you can stop at a petite half-cup!

10. Stone Cold

Cold Stone Creamery’s Oh Fudge! shake(chocolate ice cream, milk, and fudge syrup) starts at 1,250 calories for the “Like It” (16 oz) size. That’s more than a large (32 oz) McDonald’s McCafe Chocolate Triple Thick Shake. The “Love It” (20 oz) has 1,660 calories and the “Gotta Have It” (24 oz) reaches 1,920 calories (just about an entire day's worth) and 69 grams of saturated fat (3½ days’ worth). That's the saturated fat content of two 16 oz T-bone steaks plus a buttered baked potato, all blended into a handy 24 oz cup.

1. Sweet Potatoes

A nutritional All-Star — one of the best vegetables you can eat. They're loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Bake and then mix in some unsweetened applesauce or crushed pineapple for extra moisture and sweetness.

2. Mangoes

Just one cup of mango supplies 100% of a day’s vitamin C, one-third of a day’s vitamin A, a decent dose of blood-pressure-lowering potassium, and 3 grams of fiber. Bonus: mango is one of the fruits least likely to have pesticide residues.

3. Unsweetened Greek Yogurt

Non-fat, plain Greek yogurt has a pleasant tartness that’s a perfect foil for the natural sweetness of berries, bananas, or your favorite breakfast cereal. It’s strained, so even the fat-free versions are thick and creamy. And the lost liquid means that the yogurt that’s left has twice the protein of ordinary yogurt – about 17 grams in 6 ounces of plain Greek yogurt.

4. Broccoli

It has lots of vitamin C, carotenoids, vitamin K and folic acid. Steam it just enough so that it's still firm and add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a spritz of lemon juice.

5. Wild Salmon

The omega-3 fats in fatty fish like salmon can help reduce the risk of sudden-death heart attacks. And wild-caught salmon has less PCB contaminants than farmed salmon.

6. Crispbreads

Whole-grain rye crackers, like Wasa, Kavli, and Ryvita — usually called crispbreads — are loaded with fiber and often fat-free. Drizzle with a little honey and sprinkle with cinnamon to satisfy your sweet tooth.

7. Garbanzo Beans

All beans are good beans. They’re rich in protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. But garbanzos stand out because they’re so versatile. Just drain, rinse, and toss a handful on your green salad; throw them into vegetable stews, curries, and soups; mix them with brown rice, whole wheat couscous, bulgur, or other whole grains.

8. Watermelon

Watermelon is a heavyweight in the nutrient department. A standard serving (about 2 cups) has one-third of a day’s vitamins A and C, a nice shot of potassium, and a healthy dose of lycopene for only 80 fat-free, salt-free calories. And when they’re in season, watermelons are often locally grown, which means they may have a smaller carbon footprint than some other fruits.

9. Butternut Squash

Steam a sliced squash or buy peeled, diced butternut squash at the supermarket that’s ready to go into the oven, a stir-fry, or a soup. It’s an easy way to get lots of vitamins A and C and fiber.

10. Leafy Greens

Don’t miss out on powerhouse greens like kale, collards, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, and Swiss chard. These stand-out leafy greens are jam-packed with vitamins A, C, and K, folate, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, lutein, and fiber. Serve with a splash of lemon juice or red wine vinegar.

Akademi Fantasia Travel

2011-11-19T17:43:00.001-08:00

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Casey Anthony Updates

2011-11-19T17:29:00.001-08:00

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2 Escape Fiery Polk County Plane Crash

A pilot and a child are able to escape a plane that crashes and catches fire in southern Polk County early Saturday, investigators say. More

Casey Anthony

Casey was accused of killing her daughter, Caylee Anthony, but was found not guilty of first-degree murder. Casey was released from jail on July 17, 2011.

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Legal Experts Share Thoughts On Ashton Book

Jeff Deen Believes Ashton Pandering To Community Outrage

POSTED: 3:25 pm EST November 15, 2011
UPDATED: 5:41 pm EST November 15, 2011

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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Some legal experts offered sharp criticism Tuesday over some of the information in former prosecutor Jeff Ashton's book about the Casey Anthony trial.

Throughout "Imperfect Justice," Ashton paints a portrait of a sometimes psychotic Casey Anthony, a smarmy lead attorney in Jose Baez and a shockingly disinterested jury that didn't believe Anthony should be punished at all.

"We couldn't provide the jury with sort of clear evidence on a silver platter of exactly how Caylee died. What we thought we had done though was to exclude everything but homicide," Ashton wrote.

"I just think he's pandering to this community's outrage over a verdict," defense attorney Jeff Deen said.

Deen said Ashton is wrong to blame the jury after the state failed to show how, when and where the victim, Caylee Anthony, was killed.

Deen also questioned a key statement in the book made by Ashton.

"I think I would have been happier if the death penalty had not been reintroduced into the case … even though I think on some level Casey may have deserved it," Ashton wrote.

In Deen's view, Ashton simply used the death penalty as a wedge to try to get Anthony to plead guilty to a crime the prosecution couldn't prove.

"People want the death penalty. I think there is a place for it, but when it is used as a tactic like this, that's the problem," Deen said.

Ashton potentially pushes legal limits with information about George and Cindy Anthony. He recalls that Casey Anthony told two psychologists -- whose testimony remains sealed -- that she was molested by her father as a child, and that her father may have killed Caylee.

"Obviously, the want to see what is said about them," Anthony family attorney Mark Lippman said. "If a response is necessary, they will certainly make one."

Baez released a statement Tuesday evening on Ashton's book.

"Having read several of the comments Mr. Ashton makes in his new book, I am both surprised and somewhat disappointed he has chosen to attack me on a personal level. Without going into specific detail, I will say only that many of his accusations are absolutely false. I take my responsibilities to the court very seriously, and I have been careful to always conduct myself in a professional manner. This was an extraordinarily complicated case, and so much of what happened behind the scenes has not yet been made public. When I decide to tell my story, you can be certain I will not be personally attacking Mr. Ashton," Baez said in a statement.

Casey Anthony remains on probation and faces a bill of more than $200,000 to reimburse Florida taxpayers for the cost of the search for Caylee Anthony.

Seif al-Islam

2011-11-19T17:27:00.001-08:00

apparent Seif al-Islam was captured by revolutionary fighters in the southern desert Saturday just over a month after his father was killed, setting off joyous celebrations across Libya and closing the door on the possibility that the fugitive son could stoke further insurrection.

Seif al-Islam — who has undergone a transformation from a voice of reform in an eccentric and reviled regime to one of Interpol's most-wanted — now faces the prospect of trial before an international or Libyan court to answer for the alleged crimes of his late father's four-decade rule over the oil-rich North African nation.

Thunderous celebratory gunfire shook the Libyan capital of Tripoli and other cities after Libyan officials said Seif al-Islam, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, had been detained wearing traditional Tuareg clothing about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of the town of Obari in an area that borders Niger, Mali and Algeria.

A photograph was widely circulated showing the 39-year-old son, who had been the last wanted Gadhafi family member to remain at large, in custody, sitting by a bed and holding up three bandaged fingers as a guard looks on. Osama Juwaid, a spokesman for the fighters from Zintan who made the arrest, said it was an old injury caused by a NATO airstrike and the detainee was otherwise in good health.

"I am hopeful that the capture of Gadhafi's son is the beginning of a chapter of transparency and democracy and freedom," Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib at a news conference in the western mountain town of Zintan, where Seif al-Islam was taken after his capture.

It was unclear what would happen next, with the international community urging Libyan authorities to ensure he is treated humanely and to cooperate with the ICC on bringing him to trial.

The emergence of Seif al-Islam as the only Gadhafi in custody to face justice posed a major test of the interim government's commitment to human rights and the rule of law. The murky circumstances surrounding the deaths of the reviled Libya leader and another son Muatassim on Oct. 20, and the decision to lay their bodies out for public viewing drew widespread criticism.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo told The Associated Press that he will travel to Libya next week for talks with the country's transitional government on where the trial will take place. Ocampo said that while national governments have the first right to try their own citizens for war crimes, his primary goal was to make sure Seif al-Islam receives a fair trial.

"The good news is that Seif al-Islam is arrested, he is alive, and now he will face justice," Ocampo said in an interview in The Hague. "Where and how, we will discuss it."

Seif al-Islam's capture leaves only former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi wanted by the ICC, which indicted the two men along with Gadhafi in June for unleashing a campaign of murder and torture to suppress the uprising that broke out in mid-February. Protests inspired by the so-called Arab Spring sweeping the region soon escalated into a civil war, with NATO launching airstrikes under a U.N.-mandate to protect civilians.

Other photos and video clips showed Seif al-Islam wearing glasses and a beard, clothed in brown robes and a turban in the style of ethnic Tuaregs, a nomadic community that spans the desert border area of Niger, Mali, Libya, Algeria and Chad and long fought for his father's regime. In some, he was bundled onto an airplane that apparently carried him to Zintan, 85 miles (150 kilometers) southwest of Tripoli.

Libya's transitional government has struggled to consolidate control over the country and form a new government and build many institutions from scratch after months of violence and the refusal of several armed factions to lay down their weapons or join the national forces. International rights groups also have documented widespread prisoner abuse mainly aimed at former Gadhafi supporters, casting doubt on reconciliation efforts as the country tries to forge a democracy.

French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, who played an active role in his country's early stance on the side of the rebels who rose up against Gadhafi, alleged that Seif al-Islam was at least as much to blame for past atrocities against Libyans as his father.

"His arrest is a real important moment. It's the real end of this war," Levy said during an interview in London, adding his voice to calls for Seif al-Islam to be judged by an international court.

In Washington, the U.S. State Department said Seif al-Islam should be held accountable for his actions but urged the Libyans to treat all prisoners in full accordance with international standards.

"His capture and trial would be another step away from a 40-year dark chapter in Libyan history and help move the Libyan people toward the peaceful and democratic future they deserve," the State Department said.

It was a dramatic turnabout for Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, who is the oldest of seven children of Moammar and Safiya Gadhafi. He had one older half brother, Mohammed.

The British-educated son, who speaks fluent English, spent years touting himself as a liberalizing reformer in the autocratic regime, and he helped broker the agreement that saw Moammar Gadhafi renounce his weapons of mass destruction program and begin his journey back into the international fold after decades of isolation.

But Seif al-Islam staunchly backed his father in his brutal crackdown on rebels in the regime's final days, warning of "rivers of blood" if demonstrators refused to accept government offers of reform.

He went underground after Tripoli fell to revolutionary forces in late August and was widely reported to have been hiding in the besieged town of Bani Walid, issuing audio recordings to try to rally support for his father, but he escaped before it fell to revolutionary forces.

"This is the day of victory, this is the day of liberation, finally the son of the tyrant has been captured," said Mohammed Ali, an engineer, as he celebrated on Tripoli's Martyrs' Square, formerly called Green Square when it was the site often used by Gadhafi for fiery speeches. "Now we are free, now we are free, God is Great."

Revolutionary forces from the Zintan brigade said the arrest was made after midnight by fighters originally in the area to help with border protection when they got a tip that Seif al-Islam would try to flee the country.

Ahmad Ammar Abdullah al-Zintani, who was at the scene, said a group of 15 fighters armed with pistols, heavy machine guns and a rocket-grenade launcher took up positions on two hills overlooking the road at 10 p.m. Friday, then moved to surround two cars entering the area below about three hours later.

"Seif was in the second car. When the first car came forward we surrounded them and they didn't resist. And then the second car came up they tried to escape from the right and they got stuck in the sand, and Seif came out with three others," al-Zintani said.

He also said Seif al-Islam's thumb, index and middle finger on his right hand had been injured in a NATO airstrike and wrapped in a cloth since they couldn't be treated medically.

"We found out that he was trying to go to Niger hoping he could take over Libya again," al-Zintani said, echoing fears that Gadhafi's son could foment violence if he had remained in hiding.

Others said Seif al-Islam looked tired when he was caught.

"He was suffering from malnutrition and anemic because he had lived in the desert for a while. He was being protected by the al-Megarha tribe, which has been split in half over the revolution," Badawi Mohammed said. Members of the al-Megarha tribe include Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Bashir al-Tlayeb, who first announced the capture at a press conference in Tripoli, also claimed Seif al-Islam was caught with two aides who were trying to smuggle him into Niger, but the NTC's justice minister, Mohammed al-Alagi, said the detention was closer to the Algerian border and the convoy's destination was not known.

Seif al-Islam was being held in Zintan but would be transported to Tripoli soon, according to al-Alagi.

Libya's Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam said the NTC had not taken an official position yet, but in his personal view, Seif al-Islam "is an outlaw and should be tried in front of the Libyan Court, by Libyan people and by Libyan justice."

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague called the arrest an important step forward as Libya tries to put its past behind it.

"I welcome the Libyan authorities' commitment to ensure his detention and trial meet international standards," Hague said. "His arrest will allow the Libyan people to move on to the challenge of rebuilding their country."

___

Al-Shalchi was reporting from Cairo. Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Meera Selva in London also contributed to this report.

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