Driad

My schedule lists reruns for all the CBS Thursday shows except Murphy Brown. I hope the CBS site will be working well Friday or I won't be able to watch MB.

Yes to Avery's glasses. Also yes to the oxford comma. Example of not using the Oxford comma: "I dedicate this thesis to my parents, Ayn Rand and God."

R.I.P. Stan Lee. Kaley Cuoco's tribute.

3/5 with one *.

There was a question about the Ice Bucket Challenge. Here is Patrick Stewart's contribution.

What was Mina's costume? Guessing it was a character from a movie that everyone except me has seen.

Why do the blurb writers refer to Howard and Raj by their last names, but the other men -- and all the women -- by their first names? Maybe they think Howard's and Raj's last names are funny, but IMO that is rather insulting.

Early in Morwenna and Ossie's marriage I suggested that she make sure his meals contain lots of delicious but bad-for-you ingredients: butter, meat, salt, whatever was known at the time. That would at least have been a less passive approach.

An asterisk day! For once my neck trouble comes in handy.

No, he doesn't have any of those. Those who do have those may do it whichever way they prefer, as I said earlier.

Hoping all the candidates have prepared two speeches. Except, of course, candidates who really deserve the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing. Link.

Charlemagne is called "Chuck the Prolific" in genealogical circles. He had a lot of children, who were well documented because of his rank. Most people with European ancestry are descendants of his.

As soon as they suspected that the violinist had a possibly dangerous infection, shouldn't they have called in an infectious disease specialist, or at least a doctor who was not a surgeon? I agree with Shaun, toilet paper should go over the top and forward. The only reason to do it the other way is if you have a cat that would unroll it onto the floor. Lea's solution was fair though.

White horses for Ross, black ones for George. To match their subtle hats?

Jason -- here is a one-way ticket to a faraway place where nothing happens that concerns the US. Go work there and be so settled you never want to come home.

Exactly. Fewer votes are cast in local races, so a vote in a local race can matter more than in a national race.

Unless the clue writers pander to the "nothing before our time" contestants with topics such as recent popular music (not my area of expertise).

SpoilerTV used to have them. Not sure if they have them this season, too. They do. Thank you!

4/5 this week. I'm glad I'm a beta, because we don't work so hard.

FJ: I got the correct rivers, and they reminded me that one line of my ancestors lived near the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers. Whenever I think of them, I feel thirsty. (Wine country.)

Strange things can happen with funding. A relative worked at a college where Department "A" had money left at the end of the year, which meant they would get get less the next year, so a clever programmer shifted the money "temporarily" into Department "B"'s account. They figured that time was so short that "B" would not notice, but "B" did notice, and spent the money. The programmer had done such a good job that "A" was not able to prove it was their money.

Alas. Bear (Boker) passed away over the past summer. Sadly true, but the death of an actor does not necessarily mean the death of the character.

This reminded me of the North Pole episodes: https://nypost.com/2018/10/30/antarctica-scientist-stabbed-colleague-for-spoiling-book-endings-report/

Bear from "Person of Interest" may be available, if he is willing to move from NYC.

Same here. I guessed Dyson because of the Dyson sphere. Wrong Dyson, but since Alex did not say BMS, it counts.