Driad

Castle mentioned that he got into the victim's financial records partly by finding out her mother's maiden name. In case not everyone knows this, when you're opening an account and the bank asks for your mother's maiden name, all they really want is a name or word that you will remember.

I wonder if the "creator" of the Sheldon character knew about Paul Erdos. Erdos was a brilliant mathematician and rather eccentric. He had no home and would often appear unannounced at another mathematician's house saying "my brain is open" meaning he wanted to collaborate on some math. The host not only had to get up any time Erdos was ready to work, but also had to do Erdos's laundry. Mathematicians were willing to put up with him because collaborating on papers with him was good for their careers. Sheldon seems less extreme by comparison. http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/erdos/

Malcolm Gladwell did a TED talk about David and Goliath, and why David was not such an underdog after all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziGD7vQOwl8

Do the NCIS and NCIS:NO writers talk? I wish they could arrange not to show episodes with very similar themes on the same night.

Apu's citizenship test: Proctor: All right, here’s your last question. What was the cause of the Civil War? Apu: Actually, there were numerous causes. Aside from the obvious schism between the abolitionists and the anti-abolitionists, there were economic factors, both domestic and inter– Proctor: Wait, wait… just say slavery. Apu: Slavery it is, sir.

IIRC, Leonard than said something like "Not the kind with access to drugs."

What was the exact wording of the FJ clue? I thought it asked who invented the word "robot," which would be Karel Capek in "R.U.R," but that was much earlier than the year in the clue (1947?).

And the way Penny sometimes sabotages Sheldon's knocking: Sheldon: *knock knock knock* Penny: "Who do you love?" Sheldon: "Penny?"

The "Alex Haley" names were discussed on TwoP during the first season of the show, but AFAIK the origins of the names have not been mentioned on the show.

When Finch discovered that Shaw was gone, why didn't he ask Bear to find her?

In the promo, with my bad eyes and worse TV, I thought the child in danger might be Ralph. Didn't want yet another "one of our own is in danger" so I was relieved that it was a different kid.

The PI development makes me wish the NYPD had required Castle to take training in self defense at least. Hoping he doesn't need Beckett et al to rescue him. Also "PI" keeps looking like "Pi" to my tired eyes. Hoping Pi will never be seen or mentioned again.

The pilot, March 9, 2009. "A woman's body is found covered in petals." From IMDB: "Murder mystery author Richard 'Rick' Castle publishes the book in which he kills off his bestseller series' hero, Derek Storm. On that very day, NYPD detective Kate Beckett questions him about two murders in the exact style of his novels, on a lawyer Fisk viz. social worker Alyson Tisdale. He's professionally flattered to have a copycat. Her boss, captain Roy Montgomery, accepts his help as case consultant and teams them up, the mayor being a fan puts him de facto in charge. More copy killing follows. The police simplistically arrest his fan Kyle Cabot, the first common link. Castle and his author friends decide he must keep investigating, on the assumption it's a motive cover-up, which he does brilliantly, as even Beckett must grudgingly admit." Why did you watch the pilot and what did you think? I watched because I'm a Firefly fan and occasional writer. Castle was charming and competent, too much "bad boy" but I figured they would dial that down. Beckett was good, no nonsense and not flirty. (I'm not a shipper.) I hoped to see the poker playing authors more.

Any wagers on what she makes him? As long as she doesn't knit him a yellow sweater ...

How does Henry qualify as a medical examiner? Does he go through medical school every few decades?

I enjoyed this one although they did hit one of my pet peeves: not showing that the "pianist" is really playing the piano. It didn't bother me much because probably none of these actors play well enough, so they had to cut from an actor's face to a real pianist's hands. I really get annoyed, though, when they do it to an actor who really does play well, and probably did play the music, such as Hugh Laurie. At the 100th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1981) one speaker was a musician who had been with the BSO more than 50 years and had known some of the original musicians. He said he asked one of the original musicians whether they had played any modern music in the early years. The answer: "Oh yes, we played Debussy and even Brahms."

Antenna? Friend with better reception? Fox puts eps on line after about a week. Good luck!

I haven't seen a Morse episode in years, but didn't he often get involved with women who were either victims or criminals? If so, these women could have had ulterior motives.

Can someone please explain what they were doing with Clyde?

CeCe Moore's article about the DNA-focused season finale. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/blog/season-wrap-finally-dna-takes-center-stage/

Crossovers -- I prefer not to see them either, partly because so many are a show I watch plus a show I don't watch. But fanfiction writers can do crossovers and anything else. There may be some good fics around. Someone might want to start a fanfic thread to point out fics that are worth a look.

C.J. Cregg: They sent me two turkeys. The more photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten. President Josiah Bartlet: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.

TV writers seem to think it's cute to have people cooking and/or eating in labs, but having worked in labs I find it annoying. (1) There are poisonous materials in the lab that might accidentally drift into the food, even if the cook uses brand new glassware. (2) Labs like this are subject to surprise inspections from several government agencies; if an inspector found even a gum wrapper in the trash in my lab we could have lost our radiation license.

They almost fooled me into thinking the dead guy's brother was the culprit, because he said dead brother *was* a workaholic. In TV crime dramas, innocent bereaved people use the present tense. But he was too early in the episode, the first person they talked to, so he wasn't guilty after all. Maybe I have seen too many TV crime dramas. Gates's little glasses pushed down on her nose looked uncomfortable. If she needs glasses only for close work she should get half frames. Yay, Old Haunt! Wish we had seen it.

Tomorrow's episode, the season finale, will focus on DNA. http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2014/11/dont-miss-special-dna-themed-episode-of.html