Has it been a month?+Top Chef Finales

Geez, this blogging thing is harder than I thought. I can't believe it's been a whole month since I blogged before.

The outcome of Top Chef is what I feared at the beginning, but it was a more fun ride than the original episode hinted at. For a while I thought it was going to be the Tre v. Hung show all the way and that the season would be boring for that reason. Hung sank from view and Tre, alas, got cut earlier than anyone anticipated.

The season did get tedious at times, but I quite frankly think it was because they had so many d@#$% chefs that it was hard to keep track and hard to get to know them.

The most refreshing thing about this season: no clear-cut villains and almost everyone was a professional instead of the juvenile delinquent high school clique mob mentality we saw last season.

And I loved, loved, loved the fact that I had no problems with any of the top three winning. Yeah, Hung is an arrogant ass and too snobby for words, but there's still something cuddly about him. Maybe it's because he so obviously (especially in this eppy) adores what he is doing. The joy seeped from his pores. It's an avocation, not just a job.

I was rather rooting for my girl Casey, but alas, she went the way of Sasha Cohen and a million other over-hyped Olympic athletes who choke when the world is watching.

And Dale, who couldn't like Dale, the Mr. Dial-a-Quote? He was such a midwesterner, beyond the wry observations. Plus he definitely liked to play on the edge and take risks -- who couldn't root for that?

And I also cheer Bravo for the setup of having celebrity sous-chefs. That was a clever twist. You also got the sense that none of the secondary sous-chefs who came in the following day would sabotage their chef, also a refreshing change from both previous seasons.

My one concern: it seems a little unfair to have the final competition at such a high altitude. Yes, they should have prepared and planned for it. But what about physical reactions? Dallas is a pretty flat place, like my home state of Florida. It isn't easy and I wondered if part of Casey's discombobulation was due to altitude dizziness?

And always, please focus more on the food!