Bastet

Oh no! I'll have to hope if I come across one of his new commercials, it's when I'm at my parents' house; I find him annoying, but he sends my mom into fits of Someone actually thought this was a good idea?! rage whenever one of his commercials comes on, so at least that's entertaining.

There's no need to give the "less than a minute" warning if the clues are being answered so swiftly they're easily going to finish the board before time for the round is called. So we haven't heard it as often lately, but, as noted, it was given in the last two games, where they were cutting it close on time and, in fact, left one clue uncovered in each game.

I'm awaiting the inevitable picture of the cats on that bed and Cosmo on the floor next to it.

It is a nice time-saving signal, though -- anyone who uses "woke" or "social justice warrior" as an insult immediately tells me whatever they have to say isn't worth another moment of my time.

I don't even know what they're about, so no kicking here! Okay, just looked it up on IMDb: Yeah, I'm going to pass on that.

I wonder if that has ever been a clue in one of their state songs categories.

Yes. What it isn't is celebrity news (those photos were published by The Daily Mail, a scumbag rag). Even if she hadn't retired from acting long ago, "Someone is a lot bigger now than she was 20 years ago" is just never news.

That's good. That's all I require of my friends if I'm going to help them fix something - that I'm teaching them, not doing it for them. I'm showing them how, so they can do it on their own next time. If they don't want to learn how, just want someone to do it, then they need to hire someone (unless they're in a tough financial situation at the time, in which case I will happily do them that favor).

Kitten tummy! I love pudgy kitten tummies. She'll stretch out. 🙂 You'll get there. My "nephew" was an 8.5 when my friend adopted him, and it didn't take too long (it was 13 years ago, so I don't remember, but months, not years) to get him down to a 5.5. (That was a loss of eight pounds - he needed to lose a whole second cat of body weight to get to the right size!)

Neil Young's stances have been, as Jacob Rosenberg (Mother Jones) said, "as imperfect, weird, and fascinating as his music", and an open letter to Spotify he published and quickly removed has been overblown in the media, yes. But drawing attention to the blatantly false and just as dangerous misinformation spread by Joe Rogan, and the platforms that provide him a means to disseminate these lies, is a good thing. That part isn't complicated at all.

I'm going to bore those who've heard me say this before, but since you're new to the topic I'm going to do it again: Don't focus on weight when determining whether a cat is overweight, but on body shape. (This is particularly important when you're dealing with a breed who's inherently larger than all the cats you're used to!) Don't worry about the scale, just look at the cat. When viewed from above, you want to see a waist. When viewed from the side, you want to see a little abdominal tuck. And when petting, you want to easily feel (but not see) the ribs. If that's not the case, and the cat needs to slim down, reduce caloric intake by 20% (don't buy diet food, just feed less of a higher-quality food). If you still have a kitten, who's going to grow into a big girl, don't go crazy feeding her, of course, but understand she's indeed going to be a big girl, and that she'll keep growing longer than your previous cats, not reaching full size until four-five instead of two. Don't worry about it right now unless she's off the charts. Just keep this in mind as the body composition you're aiming for when she reaches full size (personally, I think six is fine, not overweight, just the point at which to keep watch so that if the cat crosses into overweight, a calorie adjustment is called for):

That one's a lot, yes, but for me the worst is the one with Kaleb from a couple of years ago, where the director put him in such an over-the-top role it came across like an SNL parody of such commercials, and has put me off the poor kid's presence ever since. It was the "It really is the best part of my day" gesture (done no favors by the outfit) that sent me over the edge at the end of this one, and, while I don't remember in what context she brought it up, I do remember a full ten minutes of my weekly pandemic phone call with a friend being devoted to how much we couldn't stand this overdone spot: Like I said, glad he's going well and hope that keeps on, but a big no to watching his commercials ever since thanks to flashbacks to this spectacle. These kids' stories are compelling enough; these forced aw, look how adorable embellishments just distract.

I did not have a good first round; I only ran fashion (which is not a category I'd have expected to run), and missed three in Europe. I was fine in the others, missing one or two. In DJ, I only ran road trip (that was a fun category). I missed three in prophets, but just two in line and one each in the rest - that's a good DJ for me. FJ came to me very quickly, so after a rough start this wound up being a good game to end my J! week.

No (other than Bailey, the Turkish Angora [who showed up in my parents' yard as a dumped stray], we've only ever had mutts in my family), but a friend's sister - who lives in Maine, incidentally - has one. Other than his size he's mostly a typical cat, on the smart end of the spectrum, and the kitten stage lasted a long time - he's still pretty mischievous at 10+. But very affectionate, too, so they can't stay annoyed at the shit he gets up to. As I understand it, a Maine Coon who is exhibiting every possible breed characteristic there is will need extra attention - they want to be with you a lot, they want to play a lot, they want to explore a lot, they want to cuddle a lot, etc. They're a lot. 🙂

Hmm. I finished the first season and thought, yes, definitely I want to continue on with this, but seven episodes into season two I am starting to hate some of these people. I thought first season Kristina was written well, but now she's an utter cartoon, every horrible TV stereotype of the controlling SAHM (and, in the case of teaching Haddie to drive, fucking psychotic). And first season Sarah was a believable mess, and now she turns into an idiot any time a man passes within five feet of her. It's like the writers all came down with a terminal case of misogyny over the hiatus. At least things are finally getting interesting over at Julia and Joel's; he was written as ridiculously perfect, so now that he's working again and they're having to figure out how to coordinate schedules, there's some realism. I hope we continue to see Jasmine's family, because apparently everyone else who married a Braverman is an orphaned only child, so it's no problem within any of these marriages how much time is spent at Braverman family dinners and events, because there's no other family to be factored in. On a shallow note, I never thought Bonnie Bedelia was particularly attractive back in the day, but, damn, she's beautiful in this.

@Cloud9Shopper I'm sorry to hear you didn't get the job. I'd take some time to be bummed about that, but when you're ready to apply for the next one, just concentrate on the fact you got that far in the process in a competitive field in which you are only at the trying to break into point. That is an accomplishment, and a sign you're on the right track. Keep at it.

I know it's hard for you to judge, since they've visited so infrequently, but are you afraid there's going to be a huge difference between how long they're going to come out for and how much time you're going to want to spend with them? Like they'd come for two weeks and you just want to spend some time together over a long weekend? Or do you think it will be more like they'll come out for a week? Because that should be pretty manageable - assuming they're in a hotel, of course! - for you to just schedule a few get-togethers, and mix it up (have them over for dinner once, go out to dinner once, do some kid-friendly sightseeing, etc.) so it's not just you sitting around enduring them.

I've never had McDonald's chicken nuggets. I've never had anything from McDonald's other than the fries and one burger (I don't remember which one) I ordered in high school and threw in the trash because it was that bad. (And I love burgers; the only other one I've ever declared inedible was hospital food.) I do not understand that place's popularity at all. This was a weird first round - the whole deal is trying to exactly replicate the fast food dish, but here they're challenged to make it totally differently yet taste the same; it's like a hybrid of the first and second rounds. LOL at Kristen nailing the fries by using frozen and adding sugar. Also LOL at her saying she tried to go vegan once, ate nothing but potato chips, and quit. And at everyone's reaction to the vegannaise. "That's literally worse than semen." I'm not into vegan food, because I don't like food masquerading as something else and dislike many of the plant-based proteins (e.g. I hate every single bean I have ever encountered), but the food in the second round looked interesting as always. That round seemed to go by more quickly than last season, with less explanation of what they made, but that may just be a misperception. I'm glad this show's back. Since they like having comedians on, I'd love to see Kathleen Madigan in an episode; she's one of the funniest people on the planet, and has the palate of a toddler (well, of a toddler who loves beer and booze), so she has several favorite fast foods.

Carrie didn't think Dr. Livingstone's first name was Stanley, she incorrectly gave the title of the film - Stanley and Livingstone - instead of the name of the doctor; another contestant not honing in on that all-important "this" and missing what the clue calls for: "As the 'Stanley', Henry Stanley, in part of a 1939 movie title, Spencer Tracy explores Sub-Saharan Africa seeking this doctor".

Now I'm craving saag paneer. I figured Rhone was going to be a one and done. I love his reaction to looking at the clip of his face after winning. I can't believe the gondola and Pearl Buck TS! They ask about The Good Earth a lot on this show, and Venice + transportation = gondola is not tricky. I'm also a bit surprised no one came up with Livingstone after Carrie screwed up her answer, I figured someone would get crab claws after the BMS prompt, and I was a little sad no one got Bette Midler from the "divine" hint in the clue. But those two - wow. Not that I had a great game, either. I only ran three categories the entire game, and had several where I only got two clues correct. And I had absolutely no idea for FJ (and would never have come up with it). Nice job by Carrie in DJ after a rocky start. But all those TS were painful after Amy's great run.

The Bears have hired Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as their new head coach.

Maybe, since they're face down on the floor, they're high off all the chemicals new flooring off gasses.

They did the same thing in another "name that country" FJ clue where it wouldn't have been accurate had they not specified they were going by the English names, but I don't remember what the clue was.

You've probably come across "Heart of Gold" at some point:

There isn't one: