Iron Chef episode with Kobe in the octopus battle (one of the better episodes, despite my dislike of Chef “My Hat Is 3 Feet Tall” Kobe): during tasting, token fluffhead actress blurts “This really reminds me of my childhood”. Uh, what? Ridiculously fresh octopus, marinated in sparkling wine, mixed with prawns, wrapped in shredded potatoes, boiled, deep fried, and dotted with balsamic vinegar reduction flavored with dried octopus and herbs - that’s your childhood comfort food?

Yup, I’ve been watching an ungodly amount of television; been draggy with a mild flu all week so I’ve been unsociable at best. I’m hopelessly behind on catching up with Tivo’d shows - and the hard disk upgrade from several months ago means I probably never will catch up. However the seeming lack of anything original and good in terms of new television programming this year may prove me wrong.

10:18 PM: I’ve just flipped to channel 98 - Univision - and there’s a guy in a giant yellow chicken suit, surrounded by what look like refugees from the Village People, being interviewed by some lady dressed in the most revealing shirt I’ve ever seen on “network” TV. And I thought there was nothing on.

11:02 PM: Worst-Case Scenario: “What if you had to outrun an avalanche on a garbage bag?”

11:04 PM: Commercial for “Stan’s Adult Super Store - one of White Center’s best kept secrets!” - according to someone who is presumably the proud proprietor: a manic middle-aged dude with a buzz cut, inexplicably dressed in a kilt and clutching bagpipes while extolling the virtues of sex toys. Really, I’m not making this up, and no, I’m not watching any odd stations, this is TBS..

11:18 PM: John Cleese lending his voice to a commercial for a Little Tikes plastic preschool mailbox thing. How utterly sad.