ProudMary

These two (Malkin/Smith) are awful; so phony.

Red Carpet livestream starts at 6:30 ET/3:30 PT

Juice Newton and her cover version of that particular song rubs me the wrong way, even 40+ years later. I'll take this to the small talk thread...

Continuing my post from the FJ Contest Thread. I have been a huge fan of Dave Edmunds since the mid-'70s, both as a solo act and as a member of Rockpile, his band with Nick Lowe. In the late '70s, solo albums by both Edmunds and Lowe were actually Rockpile albums because the band was the same for both artists. Dueling record deals made it difficult to market the band as Rockpile until 1980. I'll let Wikipedia tell the full story below as to my dislike for Juice Newton, particularly because Dave felt that he had to stop performing it live. (Luckily, I did get to see him perform it live in 1979 and 1980.) I'm sharing Dave's 1979 original version of "Queen of Hearts" here, so you can hear that Newton, in her version TWO YEARS LATER virtually stole the arrangement. If you're going to do a cover version, that's one thing, but at least make it your own. Don't plagiarize the arrangement. 😠

I lost several posts on recent MLB trades and signings in this thread to Friday's update here. 😔 I don't have time right now to do all of them again, but I did want to link the info from Baseball Hall of Fame Tracker, which gives a bit of insight into the direction the HOF votes are heading. It's updated regularly as more writers share their ballots. Baseball Hall of Fame Vote Tracker

Week 17: 4/5*

Grandma Elsie in While You Were Sleeping. She was hilarious!

For me, the wildest part of the episode was the "Who's Your Cousin?" segment, when Derek Jeter turned out to be Ciara's distant cousin. As a long-time NY Yankees' fan, subjected for a couple of decades to the New York Post's continual "Page Six" coverage of the parade of beautiful, famous women Jeter was dating, the first thing that ran through my mind was, "Wait, weren't they together at one point?" 😄 While that was NOT the case, the two did meet at the 2015 ESPY Awards and there were photos, which I probably saw at the time. Ciara Reacts to Learning She’s Related to Derek Jeter on ‘Finding Your Roots’

I wonder if we'll get a full week of "Landmarks" FJs. 🤔

I think "naked as a jay bird" is no longer in common use. I got it instantly because I remember my Grandma using the idiom and I'm a Baby Boomer! I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone much under 60 who's familiar with the term. I wasn't very surprised that it was a TS for the contestants.

MLB In Memorium 2023

What a great New Year's surprise! Once again the gifs are amazingly spot on. I really don't know how you do it. It's just not possible for you--even a collective you--to be familiar enough with all the winning shows to be able to discover a perfect gif. It's moderator magic! Just one missing item: In the category "We Heart Bad Boys: Favorite Villain," only the winner is listed, not the runner-up. The category appears in Winners: Part III. Thank you for all the hard work and Happy New Year! 🥳 🎉

From The Jeopardy! Fan: Jeopardy! UK Game Recap – Monday, January 1, 2024 "Today on ITV at 5:45 PM GMT features the first episode in a 20-episode series of Jeopardy games on ITV, hosted by Stephen Fry." 5:45 pm GMT is 12:45 pm Eastern, so it's airing as I'm typing this. The Jeopardy! Fan is updating live during commercial breaks, just as it does with US Jeopardy! at the link above.

I had not commented on Tom Wilkinson's passing, as I would have been echoing my thoughts on many of the same great films that have already been mentioned here, but I'd like to share an exchange I had with my Millennial son this afternoon, who tends to like very different films than I do. Occasionally, our preferences will intersect, but not that often. He was scrolling through his phone and suddenly said, "Oh, this is four days old, but Tom Wilkinson died." Me: "How do you know Tom Wilkinson?" Son: "Uh Batman, Mom." The scenes quickly passed through my mind. I had completely forgotten that Wilkinson had played Carmine Falcone in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and did a great job in that villainous role. The man certainly had range!

I don't know if everyone's tolerance for "In Memorium" compilations is reaching the limit, but this one from today's CBS Sunday Morning is particularly good. All video clips, with some quite extended ones for the likes of Norman Lear, Jimmy Buffett, Tony Bennett, Matthew Perry, Tina Turner and several others including Tommy Smothers, who has been missing from most of these as they were prepared before he passed away last week. (Video length: 18:54)

@shapeshifter Excellent article. Thank you for sharing it.

Here is Time Magazine's 2023 "In Memorium" compilation. (Length 8:30) I think it's very well done. Presented in chronological order by month, it includes two photos--in a few cases, a short video clip--of each subject, generally one of their younger self and one of more recent vintage.

Truthfully, I'm not a huge fan of Chimichurri, but I wanted to stretch the Brazilian theme beyond just the beef. Alternate steak sauces are a great idea! Of course, I'll have to leave room for the beef as I'm definitely chowing down on the Margherita pizza you're bringing. 😉

Week 16: 3/5 (W, Th, F) Between the Wall Street bull and the superior Brazilian, the week screams BEEF to me. I'll bring some Brazilian steak with Chimichurri sauce to the table. (I'll keep the sauce on the side for those who experience the soapy taste from cilantro.) Happy New Year to all my fellow Jeopardy! fans! 🎉

This sounds good. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll be watching next Sunday.

Me too, for '60s and '70s cars; heavy on GMs, in my case. Yes, I caught the out-of-time Skylark immediately, even though it was only on-screen for a short moment. It surprised me. I'm glad to hear others noticed it too.

Just my opinion: I'd vote for Adrian Beltre, Helton and Wagner. While I'm sure Carlos Beltran will ultimately be elected, I hope the writers let him wait a few years. Manny and A-Rod are outsiders because they cheated via PEDs. Fine, but Beltran should pay some price for his part in the Astros cheating scandal.

I just watched the ceremony. As info, it's streaming on Paramount Plus. Add me to the list of those who were disappointed by Ariana DuBose's performance. Poor ending to a very good show. I'm also not a fan of Michael Buble. His version of "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" was OK, I guess. Thank heavens for Ben Platt's well done rendition of "Nights on Broadway." 👏 Overall, I think Barry Gibb's segment was the weakest of the night, which was sad because his tribute was the main reason I tuned in. Cynthia Erivo's "Alfie" was magnificent. I also was delighted to see The Spinners for "Then Came You", although I wasn't familiar with the woman who sang Dionne's lead. ("Country Diva" Mikey ???) She did a nice job with the song though. I loved the entire Billy Crystal segment, including Bob Costas on Billy's love for the NY Yankees. ⚾ DeNiro was great! Every piece of the Crystal tribute hit the mark. Bravo Tituss Burgess! I thought Queen Latifah's segment should also have included additional nods to her acting career. She's a fantastic Oscar and Emmy nominated actress, but all they mentioned was The Equalizer? 🤷‍♀️

From The Hollywood Reporter, an interview with Ken Jennings. Ken Jennings on Mayim Bialik’s Exit and His Own ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Host Approach