ABay

Thank God the show wasn't pre-empted. I really needed the lift of Cleese and Colbert big furry hats after yesterday.

Same here, on both counts.

I just watched the first episode online. It's probably because I've been watching the Great British Bake Off but I absolutely loathed all of the trying-too-hard contestants. The whole thing, actually--the judges, the competitions, the unfunny host, the stupid FN habit of cutting to close-up confessional clips of the contestants responding tot he judges' reactions. GBBO has completely ruined me for Food Network's bullshit.

I haven't watched last night's episode yet but I wanted to acknowledge how much I've learned from this show because I had to look up things like DTF, two girls one cup, donkey hammer, and so many more. You kids and your crazy slang these days, I tell ya.

MLS 198...something here. Remember DIALOG? Heh. I do miss the serendipity of card catalogs but it is nice to see right away if the book is on the shelf or checked out, not to mention being able to renew online. And databases are fantastic. Cross-referencing in print indexes and abstracts and then having to figure out if your library had the journal the articles were in or if you'd need to use very slow interlibrary loan...so much better now. I kind of wish they'd do a little better at library stuff. Not that I want them to depart from their startlingly accurate portrayal of what we do for a living! I mean, really, if I've recovered one magical crystal skull, I've recovered a thousand. But just the occasional touch that of real life, like we have graduate degrees in the profession, not all libraries are public libraries, we don't all use Dewey...anything. I haven't watched Sunday's episode yet; it's been a rough week and I've saved it as comfort food.

I'd never heard of Mary Phelps Jacobs! I knew Trivial Pursuit's answer was a joke--supposedly they planted several fake answers as a copyright ploy or something--but not who actually invented bras. It stuns me that handkerchiefs were big enough, and strong enough, for anyone because they wouldn't be for me. The other, Gray and Laemmle, I knew about. Edison was an asshole.

If they can bring back the Evil Dead, there's no reason they can't do a Burn Notice spin-off with Sam and Jesse, damn it.

But the "alleged" should go with the person, unless/until the person is convicted, not the event.

Dear college student, It is perfectly fine to ask at public service desk if we have office supplies you can have or use like pens, scissors, envelopes, paper, highlighters, etc. When the answer is no, It is NOT fine to then ask in a huff "well does ANYONE have x? Do ANY of the offices have X?" 1. Go ask them; we're not in charge of their inventory or willingness to hand out supplies. 2. You are not entitled to any of these supplies so drop the 'tude and get your ass to the bookstore like everybody else. 3. You're an adult. Think about embracing the concept of personal responsibility.

Parking is very tight where I work and the lot near my building is full by 9. This is not news to anyone who works here so it is especially rude and inconsiderate to park so that only a mini cooper could squeeze in to the space next to yours. I just ratted on someone who did that, even though the license plate implies that the person has the same name as my grandmother. I hope the car is towed. Jackass.

One of the issues with money belts and the handeebra, as noted, is the awkwardness of access. The other major problem with money belts, at least for me, is the moisture buildup that warps your passport, if you wear the belt next to your body and happen to be a human who sweats. So although I've never had a problem with security while traveling, thank god, I adapted an idea I saw online and put a zippered pocket in the front of a T shirt. As long as I'm traveling when it's cool enough to wear a shirt or sweater over it, it's concealed but easy to access.

This time of year I hear the use of "gift" in place of give or giving or gave. It vexes me. Here's an example adapted from something I read this morning: I usually gift a pillow embroidered with "In defeat, malice. In victory, revenge". I wish someone would gift me something like that. I see no problem with gifting a person an embroidered pillow.

Brendon Walsh is full of shit, or at least obsessed with shit. Every fucking line, same joke. I knew which of the FTW lines was his immediately.

Watching a US cooking show (instructional not competitive) the other day reminded of something on GBBO that always looks weird to me: the bakers dump dry ingredients like flour and sugar from glass containers into a bowl. I realize they're measuring by volume instead of cups and the bowl is probably on a scale, but it still looks odd.

Yeah...With this show's approach to historical accuracy, I'm surprised Giuliano didn't live through the Pazzi attack.

Oh yeah, Once Upon a Time! It was fun when we were discovering who all of the characters were in fairy tales and became steadily less interesting after that until it became nothing more than a Disney commercial. So I stopped watching.

I'm about 10 minutes in--Leo is showing Vlad and NotCaterinaSforza (I will look up her name...) the field he wants to lure the Turks to and his armor has cap sleeves that look like bat wings. It's Vlad's armor so maybe his men wear it and I never noticed (averting my eyes because of gagging issues) but this is cool for 2 reasons: because Vlad=Dracula=bat, but also because Leo's big weapon and the invention that kicked off the series are flying machines. And the whole Icarus thing. Laura Cereta, that's the character's name. ETE: So I've paused in the middle of Riario's big speech to say this: From the beginning f the season, it seems like everyone, especially Laura, kept calling him by his first name--Girolamo. As the season progressed, I started wondering if they were trying to turn him into that other famous Florentine Girolamo, Savanarola.

And other things. There's probably a cookbook.

Thanks, ulkis. Didn't Lorenzo used to have a neck? Maybe it's just the collars but it looks like his shoulders grow out his ears since he got out of prison camp.

Thanks! And ha! Lorenzo finally get rid of the fake beard. Maybe the beard and Leo's wig can have a contest for worst performance by fake hair in a dramatic series. So is this woman in love with Riario supposed to be Caterina Sforza with a different name (which I have tried several times to catch and still haven't, after 5 or so episodes)?

Am I looking at it and not seeing it, or is there no episode thread for episode 9?

Why did I look at the screen when Vlad was clearly about to eat that guy like raclette? Gag. I guess Carlo was the death for the episode. At this point, if they aren't going to shave Lorenzo, I sort of hope they kill him off in one of the last 2.

This is where I ended last night. It's like playing Character Death Bingo this season! Maybe I'll make up a card for the remaining characters just to play along.

It isn't like you have to choose. You can be annoyed by Matt, JOSH!, and Laura, and others equally or to different degrees.

You know, Leo, I bet there's nothing wrong with Riario that sweet, sweet manlove couldn't fix. Let's test that hypothesis.