Bastet

Totally unfamiliar with embroidery, for some reason my brain's first thought was perhaps a French knot was a pastry. Yeah, I don't know - why wouldn't I figure a knot was a knot? But, hey, looking it up taught me something new.

Poor Steve had a horrible game, so I was tickled to see his "I had fun" answer for FJ. Despite a third-place showing for her valiant effort at a comeback win, I hope Ruth enjoyed it just as much. I was a little surprised no one deduced graveyard from the text of the clue about shipwrecks (I didn't figure it out in time, either). Same with the school clue (that one I guessed right away). I performed below my average in the first round; I only ran teams, missing three in riddles, two in shirts, and one each in the rest. And DJ was a mess; I didn't run a single category, missing three in groups and two each in all the rest. Thank goodness FJ was an instaget so I could end on a high note.

Elizabeth? Someone Elizabeth told who then passed it on even if she didn't reach out directly - Carter? Benton? Carol, via one of the nurses? News of a death tends to spread easier than any other major development, because even people who don't normally keep in touch much if at all anymore will tend to trigger/be part of a communication web specifically about this biggest of big things. Mark died in Hawaii and the funeral was back in Chicago, so this wasn't a turn-around of just a couple of days. There was plenty of time to notify those the family would like invited to the funeral and for word to spread to a larger circle, so that someone like "Jester" (Michael Ironside's character Dr. Swift) is there many years later. Actor availabilty (asked, wanting to appear, willing to work for scale for a day) is what determined who showed up; there's no plausible real-life scenario in which Doug is just MIA without a reason. Faced with Clooney declining to appear, the writers had to either ignore Doug's absence or toss in a line explaining why he couldn't come. They probably chose poorly, although if they'd scripted a reason he couldn't make the trip, they'd probably still be getting shit for it not being a good enough excuse.

It was an archive game for me just now, and I'd had several drinks, so I wasn't sure how this was going to go. I didn't know a single clue in Have a Few Laughs, but other than that I only missed one in August (maybe the photo would have lead me to guess icebreaker, but I doubt it) in the first round. In DJ, I ran ish, math (which I find rather impressive tipsy), and fruits & vegetables (giving myself credit for the clues I'm confident I would have recognized had I been able to see the pictures). I missed three in Shakespeare, two in albums, and one in China, and got FJ, so a great game for me. The apricot TS was a doozy. I'm kind of surprised no one knew "Invisible Touch" = Genesis, but without seeing the ages of the contestants, it's entirely possible I shouldn't be. The Communist clue belonged in a Teen Tournament, and in the first round, not DJ. I'm all for giving Matt credit for cockadoodle; with all these ridiculous portmanteaus from people who refuse to proudly acknowledge their dog as a mutt, if the answer makes sense from the two actual breeds, it's as good as any other that also fits.

Extroverts vs. introverts reminds me of morning people vs night owls -- where someone is from the socially preferred group (extroverts and morning people), their privilege means they don't ever have to consider how things are different for their opposites if they don't want to, and many never bother. But introverts and night owls (I am both) have to consider the way our opposites feel and operate. So things like "You're so quiet" and "Why are you still sleeping?" are deemed totally acceptable to say, and thus commonplace, but very few people run around saying things like "You talk a lot" and "Why are you in bed already?"

Ugh, yes. There are a couple I make for my parents when they're recuperating and will save a serving of for myself, but generally when I see a casserole, I take a pass -- too much salty cream of something, with a bunch of stuff thrown together and cooked for too long (I like all my food minimally cooked - vegetables crisp, meat to minimum safe internal temperature, pasta al dente). These jello concoctions make me think of ambrosia salad. My mom makes that for herself occasionally (no one else will touch it), and my grasp of the simple fact taste is subjective goes right out the window - my mind cannot process that someone eats that glop. It looks like it has been regurgitated, and the combination of ingredients is revolting.

I loved that song as a high school kid, and, truth be told, I just re-watched the video and enjoyed every second of it once again. I love the juxtaposition of the "kids" having a healthy sexual relationship while the parents have separate twin beds within the same room (separate bedrooms, fine - people snore, toss & turn, etc. and sex and sleeping are two very different activities with very different needs - but the twin beds in the same room read as people who think sex is for procreation, so when that's done it's done, and anything else is "dirty"). I love even more the message at the end, that if the parents had just gotten over themselves and acknowledged sex is a part of life - rather than pretending it magically would have been fine if all other circumstances were the same but the "kids" had stupidly signed on the dotted line for marriage but, because they're dating instead, it's a horror and they must be forbidden from ever seeing each other - no one would have run off together. Way to screw up your daughter's life far more than you thought she was doing by, gasp, fucking her age-appropriate boyfriend. Goodness. I didn't even go through this myself, yet I'm somehow still fired up about it. Go ahead, Bon Jovi.

Same here, but I was rooting for Silpa after the interviews, as I love that she's going to donate her winnings to a bail fund. On a shallow note, she has gorgeous hair. The Anonymous TS surprised me a bit, as did Denmark - that one just because I figure flags are among the things most people preparing to compete on J! study, so I was surprised none of the three knew it, especially when it was narrowed down to a Scandinavian country. I missed three in kid books and one in dog movies, but otherwise ran the first round. In DJ, I only ran nations. I missed three of the prophets (another damn bible category, of course) and three of the TV roles, plus two in glass and one each in body parts and music. So only ten, which is good for me in DJ. FJ was an instaget, so it was a good game overall.

Sure they did. They just weren't listened to on any meaningful level across society (so their objections did not result in content creators refraining from writing such things); now, while we still have plenty of people who react with dismissal or denial, we have greater awareness of why certain words and phrases are offensive and thus better understanding that they should no longer be used. Art is both reflecting and shaping life by incorporating these changes.

One. There's a rehearsal the day before, but taping day is five games. So did Joe Buck. Maybe not as many hours, as Rodgers has always been particularly meticulous in that way, but Buck talked about watching old episodes specifically to prepare, as opposed to just watching as a fan like he's always done.

While I loved it, Schitt's Creek - which I recently binged in its entirety - required some suspension of disbelief. One instance of which was Alexis, in her mid-to-late 20s (I don't remember exactly when in the show's timeline it happened, since I plowed through so quickly), literally going back to high school instead of getting her GED (or Canadian equivalent) as an alternative to the HS diploma she'd left behind long ago.

Being, or being influenced by, someone who regards those arbitrary "best by" dates as "expiration" dates is a part of why we in the U.S. waste nearly 40 million tons of edible food per year despite dozens of millions of people here going hungry. I'm overall amused by the "ant/aunt problem" commercial, but there's nothing funny about that one aspect of it given the real-world consequences of falsely rejecting food as "expired" - meaning unsafe to consume - based on a date rather than its actual condition.

I don't know if either of you are used to him as a sports broadcaster or if this was your introduction to him, but these both perfectly describe what's annoying about him - especially the way he latches on to a player/team for the day (or more) as if they're a wonder not normally seen in nature and proceeds to do the play-by-play like he's their proud pa instead of a paid observer. But he doesn't stop me watching NFL games when he's in the booth, and he won't stop me watching this week's J! games. I find him annoying in a way I can stand, and I think he, like almost all the guest hosts, did fine tonight. (From the little I've seen of his interviews about it, he prepped well. He's just Joe Buck; few are excited by his presence, but most can roll with it to enjoy the game, whether that be football, baseball, or Jeopardy. Thus, his career.) His chosen charity sounds good, but doesn't have a very good rating from the major charity evaluation site, so I will have to look into that more - at first glance, it may just be too local for a proper evaluation. Buck has apparently been a supporter for 20 years, and the mission statement is solid, so I hope this is a good use of J! money (like everything thus far other than possibly Dr. Oz's charity that has the same snake oil whiff of everything with which he's affiliated).

I read the archive because I didn't think I'd be able to watch tonight, but it turns out I can (and will, in order to see if Joe Buck annoys me more, less, or the same as he does in NFL games). The ribs TS was surprising, and I was surprised no one guessed lottery tickets. I missed all but one in literature (maybe being able to see the visual aid in the Calendar clue would have helped me, but I doubt it, since it was a TS). Other than that, I just missed one each in M and TV in the first round. Well, maybe - I'll decide once I can see the porcelain clue, because I feel like I would recognize porcelain, so gave myself credit, but none of them did, so maybe not from that specific picture. In DJ, I - to the surprise of no one - missed all but one in the mythology category, but the one I did get, Herculesions, made me laugh. Other than that, I just missed two each in grab bag and historic names and one in movies. I didn't get FJ, though. Yeah, that's why it was an instaget for me - quads end at the knees, and the kneecap is called the patella.

Riley hates when I sneeze, which, I get it - it disturbs her. Here she is using my body for a bed as is her natural right, and suddenly it jerks and emits a loud noise. My late cat Maddie did as well, which I found rather funny, because she was quite prone to sneezing herself. Of course, her sneezes were much more delicate. I discovered the other night that Melrose, the cat I'm boarding for a neighbor, hates sneezing as well - she jumped down off the bar and gave me a dirty look. Sheesh. But I've never had one do the there's a bird outside and I can't get to it through this damn window chatter at me in response. That's amusing!

I used to be able to handle an occasional week-long visit when I was young, but I got to the point where anything longer than a weekend and I'm putting a guest up in a hotel rather than inviting them to stay with me. I just can't handle that much togetherness, especially when it's disturbing the routine and sanctuary of my own home. I'm an introvert, so it's exhausting. Thankfully, I've never had to deal with frequent guests - any family members visiting from out of town stay with my parents, and most of my non-local friends aren't people I'm close enough with for visits; with the few that are, sometimes I visit them, sometimes they visit me, and sometimes we meet up elsewhere for a vacation.

As always, the CU commentary speaks the truth and the Sirius list is just out there in some alternate universe (one in which I'm glad I don't live). What one of them said about #55 applies to so many in the top 100: "It’s like they forgot the '9' before [the ranking]." Of these ten, the only one I think they possibly got about right is "Crazy", but my knee-jerk reaction was that it was criminally undervalued, because seeing songs that don't even belong in the top 500 - or on the list at all - in the 50s makes any great song feel like it's ranked too low. So I have to recalibrate and decide where it should be on a legitimate list of the top 1000 of all time. Like one of the CU writers said, "This seems pretty correct if you consider it in a vacuum. But that’s hard when so much of this list needs to be jettisoned into the empty vacuum of deep space."

It has always worked for me. I've never given out candy on Halloween (I only went trick-or-treating twice, as I thought it was dumb, so I have no qualms about not participating on this side of things), and all I do is turn off the porch light - I've never had anyone ignore that and come to the door.

I'm talking about where payday is a day of the week, not a date (e.g. every other Friday, not the 1st of every month). I thought she referenced a Friday payday in the commercial, but it has - thankfully - been so long since I've seen it, maybe I invented that based on discussion here.

As Julia Sugarbaker (Designing Women) explained in the fabulous "There's no need for introductions, Ray Don, we know who you are" dismissal:

Exactly. The employer electronically sends out the payroll's direct deposits on day X per their policy, and then banks make it available somewhere between then and payday per their policy. So if your company posts direct deposits on Wednesday, Bank A doesn't make them available until payday, Bank B makes them available Wednesday, and you switch, you get that first paycheck with Bank B two days earlier than you would have - that one time, there are five days instead of a week/12 days instead of two weeks/whatever in between checks (assuming in the first place direct deposit takes effect quickly upon switching your information from Bank A to Bank B). But your next deposit and all the ones after that come one week (or two weeks, or whatever your company's schedule is) later.

I only made it through a few minutes of the film, but I have to co-sign this on general principle. If you want someone to accompany you down the aisle at your wedding, shouldn't it be someone who plays a major role in your life - the parent(s) who actually raised you, your best friend, a close sibling, your spouse-to-be, etc.? Not some dude who contributed genetic material but just met you two days ago, just because he happens to be the male parent.

That one bugs me because they refer to acronyms but the commercial mostly features initialisms, not acronyms. Just say abbreviations, Geico.

Jane Withers died yesterday, surrounded by family, at 95. Not bad at all. Pushed into show biz at a very young age by her parents, Withers was a prolific child/teen star in the '30s and '40s - she was the fantastically awful foil to Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes, played numerous rambunctious "tomboy" roles, and gained fans such as FDR - taking a break to churn out a bunch of kids before returning to the silver screen in Giant (the 1956 Elizabeth Taylor/James Dean film) after meeting George Stevens while she, hoping to also become a director, was studying at USC's film school. She transitioned to TV - and the long-running series of Josephine the Plumber commercials for Comet - and later took up voice acting in her 70s. She was also a philanthropist, focused on organizations benefiting women and girls.

Do we need to speculate -- wasn't it confirmed long ago the actors were asked to appear (like Eric LaSalle, Michael Ironside, and whoever else showed up) but declined, feeling the characters' presence would be distracting? (I find their absence far more distracting. I think a scene where someone is catching up with them, hearing about their spawn, jobs, etc. would indeed have been distracting; the actors chose to leave, the characters are gone, best wishes to them and the show has moved on, etc. But just being shown in a pan shot like the other returnees? Not distracting. Clearly not being part of the assembled mourners? Distracting.) The writers knew Doug and Carol, especially Doug, would have been there under the circumstances, and thus asked the actors, who declined. Unless I am completely misremembering, that actor availability, not character circumstances, is why they weren't.