Bastet

Discovery is still the parent company of Animal Planet, it's just that Discovery was bought by AT&T. And now, if it clears the regulatory hurdles, Discovery will be combined with a spun off WarnerMedia into a new stand-alone company, Warner Bros. Discovery. This show is back in production; they began shooting again in October. I have not looked up whether any of the other Animal Planet shows that rotate through the Saturday time slot (e.g. The Vet Life, Dr. Jeff) are in production again as well.

I just looked it up, and, yeah, wow, those are long nails. But I don't think it would be particularly hard to accomplish tasks with them; the only time I wonder about that is with the super-long nails that are curved.

Since he's a "problem solver", and there's another guy in the background working on the engine of another bus, I figured he's a mechanic, fixing the overheating bus, but he's not dressed like a mechanic, and it's an odd shot to have him walking out like "mission accomplished" when the bus is filled with smoke. Showing that dude in the background would have made a lot more sense.

I can't with such people; unless you're running a group home, that's ridiculous. I know at a certain budget, people are just going to go disproportionately big regardless of circumstances, but this sounds like a typical upper middle class couple (two professional incomes, a budget under a million) looking for a house for them and their future family - she's pregnant with one, maybe they'll have another? So, ultimately, four people, two of them kids, in 4300 square feet, including five bedrooms and five bathrooms? Hey, you do you, but come on with "this is what we need" about an oversized home.

Nice challenge by Pam; she actually got four more right than Amy and both only got one wrong - it was her game until Amy hit on and got right the Texas DD. This was the first game of Amy's since her first that she didn't have a lock heading into FJ. But, while I enjoyed the challenge, especially by another woman, I'm glad Amy emerged victorious; I'm enjoying her run. (On a shallow note, I loved what Pam was wearing, both the color and the cut.) "Chicken skin" for goose bumps cracked me up, and also taught me something after reading here; I had no idea that was an actual condition (I don't think Amy did, either, by her shrug - I think she was just trying to parse the clue, and "fowl" led her to chicken). I got everything in the first round other than two each in sweet reads and movie characters, but in DJ I only ran science. To the surprise of absolutely no one, I missed all but one in mythology. I also nearly blew another weak subject, missing three in the civil war category. Other than that, I missed two in TV, and one each in the other two. (I would have run women, except I couldn't remember Katie Ledecky's last name in time [after initially thinking of Amanda Beard, so I was kind of doomed on that clue].) I didn't get FJ; I've never heard of the organization, but once it was revealed I looked again at the category and "partner" in the German word and thought, "Well, that makes sense." [Something] International had me thinking Heifer International and Amnesty International, but obviously neither of those fit with "these" or made any other sense with the clue. So I didn't have a guess, and wouldn't have even with more time.

I finished up work early and just turned on "All In" during the scene where they're searching the Dietz home, and it amused me again how great the set decoration is; that family is all about amassing wealth and keeping up appearances, but they are totally basic so have spent their money on utterly generic wall art, furniture, and other décor. It is so perfectly done! It took me several viewings to pick up on it, and now I grin every time. Spending time on the little things counts, and I appreciate it. Just like the scene I saw last night in "Pick Your Poison", when Sykes is talking to the teacher in her classroom. Near the end of their conversation, the bell rings, so when Amy opens the door to leave, there are kids streaming down the hallway. There is absolutely no plot necessity to set that scene during a period break, but movement creates visual interest and the bell/kids are further set dressing to make that location feel like a classroom, so they spent the money to hire extras and the time to herd them back into place for each take.

I haven't seen them yet, thankfully; I have a Lexus and am very happy with it, but every December I'm embarrassed to be associated with them thanks to those stupid big red bows.

I didn't watch that show, but I remember reading she was on it; that explained why suddenly more people recognized her music when I had it on. I played the hell out of her song "Maryland" back in the day:

I think the people who knew her back in the day have a complicated set of feelings for her now, and I think the new producers and writers largely don't give a shit; she sold her intellectual property, and thus became a non-issue to the spinoff since before it even began. But I do think Roseanne Barr and Roseanne Conner are intertwined enough they are a little hesitant to mention the latter too much for fear of evoking thoughts of the former. But I still hold out hope that when Louise returns from tour and moves in, we'll finally get a realistic reaction from the kids.

Yeah, pretty much every storyline in season four was like new to me, as I remembered virtually none of it. I finished the series last night, and as much as the first half and then some of season four bugged me, I really liked the final stretch of episodes. Often, when shows wrap things up for all their characters in the end, I hate it for feeling forced and twee. But I generally liked it here. Justin's coming out was great (the dance at the wedding was one of the few things I remembered), and I love the smile on Marc's face when Justin finally told him. Justin kept coming to him, and Marc would get all prepared for the big reveal, and it would turn out to be something else. When Justin was finally ready, Michael Urie's body language and facial expressions were spot on. While I'm a little surprised Hilda wants to live in the city rather than getting a house in Queens, I like that them moving gives Ignacio a chance to finally shine, truly being happy for both his daughters instead if selfishly wanting one or both to stay. The detente between Claire and Wilhelmina is wonderful, and I love that Wilhe finally gets promoted to Editor-in-Chief. She and Claire will always trade barbs, but they're through scheming against each other. Amanda got a lovely storyline, too, with finally leaving reception behind and striking out as a stylist, and then her dad finding her. And, of course, Betty. I don't buy that the London publisher would be so blown away by her blog and her honesty in the interview that he'd offer her that good a job at his new magazine, but I'll go with it, because it has to be something that big for her moving abroad to make sense. I love that it's the perfect kind of publication for her, and she's getting to showcase the kinds of stories she always wanted to tell. I also like that she's learned how to style herself, but didn't undergo some radical change that suddenly had everyone seeing her in a whole new light; it was an organic evolution. I was appalled to have Gio turn up for one last lecture, and initially I was annoyed by the return of Henry, too, but I would up liking that. They had a nice good-bye before, but she was headed off to be with Matt then. Now she's single, Henry is moving back to NY, and she realizes that even with the opportunity there again, it's still not right; they had their time, and it's past. I love when she looks at the picture of them and says, "We were so different." The Daniel thing. Two watches now, and I still don't see any romantic or sexual vibe in their relationship; to me, it's wishful thinking on Claire's part. But I appreciate that Daniel doesn't declare his love, he just lets her go, hands in his own resignation, waits a while, and then turns up in London saying he might stick around for a while and asks to take her to dinner. Their relationship can go any which way, and at least if they do date, it's him coming to her, re-arranging his life to fit into hers.

That's one of my favorite episodes since it's so real and ugly. Kyra was always the child most affected by the divorce - Cheyenne was older and focusing on her other huge life change, Jake was young enough to more readily accept his family is now spread out across two homes and didn't truly understand infidelity, but Kyra was old enough to fully grasp what her dad did and at a particularly vulnerable age to be hit by those two seismic shifts in her home - Brock out, Van and a baby in. She's mature and independent beyond her years, while Cheyenne and Van - despite being parents themselves - are stunted, so she gets treated like another adult in that house. Now that Brock lives around the corner in a house, not across town in a condo, and she's used to Barbra Jean, she can easily go live there and be the kid she is. So when she gets screwed again, it all comes together. And Reba knows Kyra is getting screwed again, but using the money on Cheyenne's tuition instead of Kyra's trip is something she feels she has to do (if Cheyenne lost her status as a full-time student, Elizabeth would lose her eligibility for the school's daycare, and if that happened Cheyenne couldn't afford to keep going to school - while self-induced, the repercussions of that would just be way too big and long-lasting compared to Kyra not getting this opportunity). She's disgusted with Cheyenne and herself, wondering if she's made things too easy for Cheyenne, but she's backed into a decision. Which Kyra understands. She's not even particularly angry, which is my favorite part; she's resigned. She makes her decision not out of resentment or spite, but out of acceptance and opportunity. Reba is at her ugliest in her treatment of both Kyra and Brock in response to that decision (acting like they both betrayed her, when all that happened is her teen daughter for very obvious reasons chose to move around the corner with her dad). Shameful, and she's never held accountable for it (a recurring problem in this series; everyone else's flaws are readily acknowledged, while Reba's are generally waved off). Those episodes piss me off. But the one where Kyra tells Reba she understands, and then tells Brock she wants to live with him, that one I love.

I've never tasted any of the diet shakes, but way back when I was taking care of my grandpa I used to give him an Ensure sometimes when I couldn't get him to eat lunch, and I tasted a couple of those flavors. Blech. He seemed to drink the most of the strawberry flavor, so after realizing how shitty they were, I'd pour one of those into the blender with some strawberries to enhance the flavor, and he'd do even better.

Thank you, @ams1001; yep, I'd indeed have correctly guessed iguana if the clue picture looked anything like that.

I'll be watching football tonight, so not until tomorrow night will I see the show for the first time in a week, but at least today I took the time to read the archive. For most of the clues where I couldn't see the photo, I either didn't need it or feel secure I'd have known it had I been able to see it, but for one I just have to guess that I'd have recognized it (the iguana). The Stanley Kowalski TS surprised me; I have to think it was just that none could remember his name in time, not that none of them knew Stella = A Streetcar Named Desire = Stanley Kowalski. The Rome fire TS was also surprising. I got everything in the first round other than one each in helping the planet, hats, and 19something. In DJ, I didn't run anything. But I wasn't terrible in anything, either, only missing one each in most (yes, I even knew all but one of the Jesus clues) and two each in words & phrases and COs. And FJ was an instaget (to the extent I momentarily second-guessed myself, thinking a FJ couldn't be that obvious), so I'm off to a good start this week.

They put the first episode up on YouTube like with NY, so I just watched it. The difference between David's reaction and everyone else's to watching footage of "the blanket incident" is staggering, even as it doesn't really surprise me based on him coming in there talking about how "they" have explaining to do and he wants an apology from everyone. He has firmly cast himself as the victim for so long, he's completely impervious to the facts of the situation. Everyone else, watching with eyes that have had nearly 30 years more experience and in a society that has finally started to talk about these issues a little more honestly, is somber and uncomfortable, understanding the magnitude of what happened then and what it is to sit and revisit it now. Irene feels remorse over what she didn't do, Jon is embarrassed at having been part of it, and then here's David still characterizing it as everyone was having a good time. Tami even flat-out states what every adult should know, which is that laughter is sometimes used (especially in women) to cover discomfort, awkwardness, and not knowing what to do in a situation, and then gets far more personal than she should have to, explaining some background that contributed to her reaction AND OFFERS HIM A PASS since he didn't know that her body dysmorphia would make being exposed all that much worse. But he's still on his worn 27-year-old script and insists it was funny because she was laughing. She explains again why she was laughing, and his reaction is to insist everyone watch it again so he can sit there and laugh like he's watching the funniest movie of all time. My gods, when Tami sits there with more cool than I could have maintained and grants that he could have thought it was this while she felt it was that - "we were 20-something years old; one situation, two different perspectives" - but they are sitting here now at 50 years old and she has told him what she felt at the time and how she feels now, that it was not and is not funny, and he's sitting there laughing? I am just infuriated and exhausted on her behalf and as a woman; there are few things more aggravating and disheartening than clearly explaining what happened to you to a man who experiences it differently, and having him deny your lived experience right to your face. "It's not/it wasn't like that" when you have just painstakingly explained that it is/was like that for you, and why, is maddening; your reality is completely dismissed, as if you never spoke it.

I have five episodes to go, and it has been a slog getting through season four. No wonder it was the last. The Daniel's in a cult and Nico is scamming Wilhelmina storylines were ridiculous and went on forever (and, holy cow, the new Nico is one of the worst actors I have ever endured). Then they finally ended and I still had several more to get through before horrible Matt finally went away. I cannot believe the show wanted me to think it was a good thing for them to get back together. After what he did?! No one's personal storylines are doing it for me so far this season, the only thing keeping my interest is Betty at work. I like that she doesn't take Mode by storm as a junior editor; sometimes she does well, sometimes she screws up. I vaguely remember it ends with her accepting a job offer in London, which seems rather far-fetched, but we'll see.

Yeah, with DVD-Rs having gone the way of the dodo, they're expensive. I still have two VCRs (from back when I used to dub from tape to tape in addition to recording programming) and a DVD-R (when I started programming onto disc rather than tape, and to transfer a bunch of stuff from VHS to DVD [a project I am still only about halfway through because I keep ignoring it]). There's room for them in my entertainment center, so it's not a problem to hang onto them for now, even though I only need one VCR - but, then, you just know the one I kept would croak after all this time and I'd wish I had the other one. A friend has exponentially more VHS to transfer to DVD than I do, so she has two extra DVD-Rs in a closet just in case, since they're difficult to come by and expensive. I think she has extra VCRs in there, too. I'm not willing to go that far, but I get it. I did get rid of my LP, cassette, and laser disc players over the years, and eventually I'll be done with the VCR, too. But DVD/Blu-ray I'll probably still have when I croak. Yes, I stream, in the same way I watch TV, but when it comes to something I want to have for re-watching, I want a physical copy. I don't have a DVR, because I don't record very much; I'm not going to pay my satellite company a monthly fee for a function I only occasionally use (and to have only a digital copy), so I record to disc.

"Hisamitsu". It's the name of the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Salonpas (as the name is sung at the end, it also appears on screen). Or, what Peaches said just before me.

My mom got a new car a couple of years ago and my friend got one this year; both have CD players. They are getting harder to find, even as an option, and you get a single disc player rather than the 6-disc changer you used to. My car is an '09, so not only do I still have a CD changer, I still have a cassette player. 🙂 I haven't had anything in the house that plays cassettes in a long time, and I replaced most of my tapes with CDs long ago, but I still keep some favorite old mix tapes in the car.

I sure don't. I'm used to putting up with Oklahoma coaches I don't like personally since I'm just a peripheral fan due to family ties, but to have one of these dudes at USC? I'm going to have to dig more into Riley to decide how I feel about this. And I thought Stoops was a great coach whose flaws - namely, that his teams consistently looked past lesser opponents and thus sometimes got caught with their pants down when they should have won - got underplayed in all the hoopla.

To have it available to watch anywhere, not just at home, and for as long as the DVD lasts, not until the DVR craps out and all saved programming is lost (I've yet to have a DVD or Blu-Ray wear out, even on the stuff I watch over and over, but at least half the people I know with DVRs have lost all their stuff, since it's like a hard drive with no back-up). And to have to the special features (episode commentary, "making of" features, deleted scenes, gag reels, etc.) that come with many DVD/Blu-Ray releases but aren't aired. It just depends on what you want.

I don't think he looked pretty bad there, I think he looked 91. Like others have said, you can't be shocked when a 91-year-old dies, but he's such a longstanding influential presence I did indeed gasp when I read the news (especially since he was still out and about until the end); as the LA Times obituary read, "No one can feign shock when a nonagenarian shuffles off his mortal coil, but the magnitude of Sondheim’s death feels seismic." I'm not generally a fan of movie musicals (I can use one hand to name those I love, and those I like could be condensed to the second hand if need be), but I love stage musicals. And he revolutionized the genre in a way that made it appeal to me in a way it never had before. This is enormous. I knew virtually nothing about him outside his work until reading his obits, so it's not a "personal" loss like I on rare occasions feel with celebrities I don't know yet respond to in terms of their work, activism, and what I know of their personal life, and I'm not sad in that way. But I am ... something. Something I can't really describe, but it's whatever happens when a tremendous artist dies -- leaving behind works that will live on - and influence other works that will live on - in perpetuity, a legacy few achieve, but also causing a sense of loss that the artist himself no longer exists.

With my previous two cats, I could keep them with me by saying, "No. Come back here," if they jumped up on a wall like they were going to leave the backyard; they'd jump back down. And they generally didn't even get the urge to leave the yard in the first place other than when I went back inside for a bit (I was keeping an eye on them through the window, but they didn't know that); when I was working in the yard, sitting on the patio reading, etc. they just stayed on their own. (My current cat is indoor only; she's too skittish to be trusted unleashed, and she doesn't like having a harness on, so no safe outside time is possible without a catio, and she doesn't show hardly any interest in going outside, so there's no need for me to build one. She suns herself just fine in front of windows/doors, and we have extensive run and jump play time every evening.) My parents' cat, who turned up as a tomcat around three years old after having clearly been living outdoors (he was used to people, but not to ceiling fans, dishwashers, TVs, etc.) and who has to, even 10+ years later, be given some outside time or he'll go stir crazy, will mostly stay in their yard (which is large, and the upper part of which is a hill that's fun for him to play wilderness explorer in), and when he does go visit a neighbor, if my parents (or me, when I'm cat-sitting) call his name, he'll be back within a few minutes. He wasn't as reliable in his youth (no surprise, given how his first years were spent), but for years now it has been great; if you look out and he's left the yard, you walk out the sliding door to the backyard and call "Bandit!" and then walk out the front door to the porch and do the same. He doesn't go far enough in any direction not to hear one or both of those calls, and pretty soon you'll hear his "I'm coming" meow as he returns from his rounds. But many cats won't stay put, and will not come when called if they're not in the mood to, so for them supervision isn't adequate protection, and they do need to be leashed or in an enclosure. Chester, my parents' late cat, was like that, and he had no street smarts plus was small enough an owl could have carried him. So it was just too big a risk to let him in the yard with no physical control over him, lest he decide to roam elsewhere (usually just next door, which was no problem, but sometimes across the street, which was unacceptable, so, yeah - too big a risk), but he loved being out with his bro, so they took him out on a long leash and let him wander around that way. Then he'd rest on the patio a while before going back inside; that short jaunt satisfied him and he didn't ask again until the next day.

Wow, that was the best Bedlam game in a while. Good for Oklahoma State! I have a lot of family in Oklahoma, some of whom went to OU, some of whom went to State, and many of whom didn't go to college anywhere, but root for OU as Oklahoma's professional team. So there's a lot of family rivalry going on this time each year; my loyalties are most with the State people, so I root for the Pokes. I'm unsettled by the OU (whom I'll root for the rest of the season, since the Oklahoma teams are the only ones in the conference I like) move to the SEC, but since it is happening, now I wish it was happening next season; for this to be the "Buh-bye; don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out" final game, at home, would have been even sweeter for the Cowboys.

Thank you, Michigan. I don't give a shit about you 364 days of the year, but when you can knock off the thoroughly obnoxious entity that is Ohio State, I love you. Auburn, I really wanted you to do me a solid as well; I don't care about you or Alabama, except when the breathing, talking turd that is Nick Saban is coach - I want him to lose all the games. An Auburn victory would have been especially glorious, since they were such underdogs. Oh, well. How ridiculous the possession (of a catch) requirements are was on full display again right now in the Bedlam game; Oklahoma State should have had a TD on a great play. They got one a couple of plays later, but I feel sorry for the receiver.