Bastet

I just want to confirm: The M Vault is gone for good, then, no back-up to be uploaded to this new server or any other sort of technological thing I know nothing about? It seems that way from the initial response, but since there was no additional reply and there are threads disappearing and reappearing all over the place during re-indexing, I want to make sure it can't be restored so, if necessary, I can mourn the loss of over 5,000 posts about one of my favorite shows and move on.

Yeah, he left out the "the." I don’t watch many cartoons, but even I raised an eyebrow at that one. I can’t believe square root was a TS! The contestant who missed the Captain Blood DD must be kicking herself, because it's so easy based on the clue -- they spot you captain and just ask you to know what sanguine references -- but if you don't know the book (as I didn't), you might think that's so easy it would be a dumb-ass guess and start trying to think of other words for captain instead, or do like she did and figure it was Captain [Something]blood.

Present and accounted for. In fact, I have been known to randomly say "fender bender" aloud in a mock helium voice since that commercial came out. I refrain from including the hand gesture, but that's as mature as I get.

It's a Heartache -- get a woman with a cool voice to sing it, and that song is instantly fantastic. I like Juice Newton's version best, but Bonnie Tyler's original is a very close second, and I quite like Lorrie Morgan's, and Trick Pony's, too. Jill Johnson's version, I don't love the music, but I do love her voice on it. I like Ronnie Spector, and her version is fine, but it isn't a favorite because she doesn't have the growl the others have and this song needs it.

I'm sure it was proposed as a title because of the double meaning -- complications being associated with medical conditions, which works for a hospital drama, but also with relationships, and I think it's one of those shows where everyone is entangled with everyone else, having sex at work, etc.

Tess of the D’Ubervilles was a very surprising TS; whether they’d ever read it or not, I figure Thomas Hardy plus “title girl” would lead the average contestant right to it. The vegetarians & vegans category belonged in the first round. FJ was quite close to an instaget, even though I’ve never seen an episode; “complications” led me immediately to a hospital drama, and while I didn’t know for sure if Grey's Anatomy was still on, or what network it's on, it was the only current long-running show in that genre I could think of, so I was confident in the guess. What a big win for the new champ.

Germany has no border - sea or land - with Norway. Across the Baltic from Germany is Sweden and Denmark (with which it also has a land border, which is why the clue specified maritime-only). If the island parts of Denmark didn't exist, there would be a little section of eastern Norway that would be across the Baltic from Germany; maybe that's what you're thinking of? Looking at a map of the maritime boundaries for that area, it looks like the part where Germany's meets the UK's is pretty small.

I know, that's the other of the two maritime boundary-only countries. The clue gave that one, and asked for the other one, which is Sweden.

It shares a land border with Denmark as well, and no border with Norway.

Yep: "Germany has land borders with 9 countries and only maritime boundaries with 2 countries, the U.K. and this one across the Baltic"

There's now a thread for AAF discussion.

I'm still curious as to whether she was a network suggestion or an idea of James Duff's, because she's so out of step with the franchise. It features people old enough to have accumulated the experience necessary to be in charge of the big cases, who dress professionally, and who aren't ogled by the camera/other characters. Then Rios comes along like something out of another show, a typical DA Barbie in inappropriate clothing and who would never, ever have been assigned the Stroh case or even half the Major Crimes cases she handles yet inexplicably is suddenly attached to their cases. It's not the sort of thing Duff or the TNT executives at the time were prone to, so I have no idea why she exists as she does. That there's an antagonist, I understand, because Pope isn't in this series and Taylor became far less underhanded once he got the Asst. Chief position. But why she's dressed like the stereotypical hot young thing and written to flail about in the morgue, at crime scenes, and even when looking at crime scene photos like a melodramatic teenager instead of a DDA when this franchise is usually so much better with female characters has always baffled me. From interviews with producers, it sounds like the audience hated her a little more than they intended (but what the hell did they expect when she introduces herself by calling Rusty a "whorephan" and goes on to be disrespectful to everyone, especially Sanchez?!), and that's why the writing for her changed. Too little, too late for me; she doesn't even begin to ruin the show for me, but I never like her, and I'm very happy Andrea Hobbs became the go-to prosecutor. Oh, it seems to me to be both - she's disgusted with him on general principle because he's an abuser (Sharon and Amy are both written as having no time for such jerks), and she uses his issues with women standing up to him to rile him up into showing his true colors. The "guys like you" needling she employs is similar to Sharon goading the abuser in season five's Heart Failure into coming at her so they have something - assaulting a police officer - to hold him on and buy them some time. I've watched all the episodes maybe half a dozen times by now (well, all of them in seasons one through five; season six, only twice in its entirety -- yep, still bitter, probably eternally), and this time around I'm still noticing something new every few episodes! That's a sure indication of a good show; the actors are so great, there are so many layers, including all sort of little things going on in the background it takes me a while to notice, and the writing is so sharp that I get caught up in the big picture and don't notice little inconsistencies until I'm a few viewings in.

C is for Cool, the creepy little ogre in Roseanne’s fairy tale; the princess decided to have sex with him, before the queen talked her out of it, and the queen, the princess, and the ignorant old king lived happily ever after in a totally sex-free world, while Cool died a hideous death when something very sharp and heavy and medieval fell upon his head

Yes, the song choice is stupid because that's not the type of "running around" it referred to, but these days I suspect there are a whole lot of people who won't make the (dis)connection. I'm more disturbed by the family dynamics. Based on her presentation, she's a nurse. And whatever her husband is, he wears a tie to go to work. So we have not only the usual sexism in that she's the half of this marriage/parenting relationship that is running around doing the household's errands, but also classism. At least he doesn't text "What are you making for dinner?" but even his "Thoughts about dinner?" sucks because he's either already home or on his way home before her; take the initiative. Obviously the commercial needs to wind up with Applebee's to-go, so "I'm making X for dinner" is out of the question, but why not something like "I just got in and it's pretty slim pickings in the fridge, so I ordered Applebee's and got everyone's favorites. Since it's on your way home, can you drop by and pick it up? BTW, dance party at home; we can't wait to see you"? That would fit the upbeat theme they're going for without the troubling implications.

FYI, someone in the most-recent Top Chef episode thread had this happen to her post(s) yesterday, too (I noticed the font issues when reading, and she also posted about it in that thread, saying it looked normal when she typed it, but once it posted, it came out with different-sized fonts). I may have seen it in another forum after that, but can't be sure.

If that feature isn't returned (or in the interim if it will be), is there another way to quote something from one thread in another one with attribution, or will we just have to cut and paste (in which case it will just show up as "Quote" instead of having the X time ago, So and So said info on the left and the little icon that lets people click back to the original post on the right)?

Seconding the request for the return of this feature when you get to the fine-tuning phase.

Z is for Zit Magazine and its list of 10 Most Vicious Teens, which will feature Becky for sneaking out of a date with Chip to make out with Johnny Swanko

I considered that, too, especially since it's more common for a cat (my numerous experiences with strays turning up, apparently seeing the "Need a home? Pop up here looking pathetic" sign hovering over our house) than a dog to just show up in a yard, but it seemed the potential adopters were local to the Assumption Parish location, rather than the city, so fencing is different and it's more possible for a dog to turn up in one's yard (and, regardless, they may have meant front yard, which is how we wound up with a pit mix for a month or so back when I was a teen while we worked to find a good home for her separation anxiety). They've also usually been candid yet diplomatic when potential adoptions didn't work out on this show, so that also leads me toward believing the story, but Tia's demeanor during the phone call may indeed have spoken to something beyond disappointment (whether it was captured in the moment, which I doubt, given the lack of the adopters' side of the conversation, or a reenactment in which she was asked to replicate her reaction upon receiving the actual call). So that possibility remains. But with her having been adopted in the interim, there was no "let's showcase her sad story in the hopes of getting her a home" motivation for picking her as one of those among the many stories shot to air. It could go either way. And, either way, it's good -- Catera either dodged a bullet with folks who wanted to be on TV more than they wanted a dog and then found a good home, or she found a good home AND one of the many stray dogs in Louisiana wandered into the right yard and also has a good home -- so I'll focus on that and hope it's the latter.

Ugh; Rios. She’s such a dark cloud over what is nevertheless one of my favorite seasons; at least I can take great recurring joy in how much Sharon hates her and how often she dismisses her. “One of the nice things about me, DDA Rios, is that when I’m really unhappy about something, people never have to ask.” Hee. Yep, season two started in syndication tonight, and I love what an asshole the director is in Final Cut; he’s awful, and those poor kids of his are painful to contemplate, but on the whole it’s entertaining to watch because they’re having such fun presenting a horrible character entertainment industry character, and I love when they do that. Like when they give him the press release to review and he holds his hand out for Julio to give him a pen without so much as glancing in Julio's direction. I also find it hilarious that not only does he have an obvious physical type, his wives/mistresses all have names like Brittany, Gretchen, and Ashley. Sharon’s reactions to him throughout are great, and I especially like “You’re their father?” when he asks what his kids are doing there after their mom was booked for killing their stepmom. My complaint with the case is the deal they make; Ashley killed the first wife, too, but they easily trade that away for a confession to the murder of the pregnant third wife, because that gets them a (first-degree) double homicide they can use as leverage to get her to plead to two second-degree charges and be done. So they prioritized a fetus over a person and, in so doing, kept a homicide on the books as a suicide, leaving the victim's family to continue believing she killed herself. And Brittany was pregnant at the time, too, but they have less evidence, so they just let it slide. It has always irked me. But I like the episode otherwise. In addition to Sharon’s smirking, snippy, snotty attitude towards Rios (an aspect of Sharon we don’t see as much of in this show as we did The Closer since the squad and Rusty both came to accept her about halfway through season one), there’s great humor in Andy's attempts to get healthy in a hurry for his upcoming physical – not to mention Provenza's reactions to his shenanigans. Plus my irrational affection for Sharon poking Julio in the chest with the clipboard; she does stuff like that, and I love it every time. I also get a good smile out of her look of pride when Amy comes up with Celebrity Threat Division on the fly. Plus we get the introduction of Provenza's printer change jar. I love that this random little thing at the beginning of season two continues for the rest of the series – from this point on, we see the gang depositing their coins, often quite amusingly in the background. It’s a wonderful little touch, and so very Provenza, that he'd use the money from something he hates - the trophy proclaiming him the last person from his academy class still on the job - to buy something for the squad, but turn around and implement his "pension enhancement fund" by charging for the wireless password and per page (with a friends and family discount for the latter, which we later see not only the FBI, but Taylor, is ineligible for, heh). On the flip side emotionally, Sharon has to get Rusty to change his tune in 24 hours, but knows she can’t tell him if he doesn’t he’ll be kicked back to DCFS and placed elsewhere because threatening his stability would lead to the worst outcome, and she navigates that Rios/Taylor/Rusty minefield like the master she is so that Rusty agrees to sit down with Emma without ever knowing his home was on the line. Also, her "pleading the Fifth" conversation with Rusty is probably the best example of a recurring theme revealed over the first couple of seasons by numerous little things showing that Rusty is simultaneously smart and under-educated; he learns quickly, but he’s behind kids of his age and intelligence because his mom moved him around so much (resulting in him attending numerous different schools), didn’t provide any education at home, and ultimately abandoned him to fend for himself on the streets. And Rusty not wanting Sharon or Provenza to be there when he answers Rios’s questions is heartbreakingly sweet; they know the gist, and no details could change how they feel about him because he was a victim, but he’s afraid it will and doesn't want them hearing it. It’s similarly touching in False Pretenses that he’s upset about being under something close to house arrest because of the threatening letter, but instead of flying into a petulant rage like he would have done just a short time ago, he accepts it, because it means he gets to stay with Sharon. Their relationship is so sweet (and entertaining, like when he says it sounds like he has a choice and she responds, “That would be misleading”), and I love that it also continues to give her a great professional argument to keep Taylor on her side when Emma wants him out of Sharon’s house – keeping Rusty with Sharon ensures he’ll be around to testify, while putting him back into the system likely means he’ll bolt, and then what of the Stroh case. And I really love, “He doesn’t need to understand; he needs to stay safe.” There’s some funny stuff in this one, too – Andy’s continued attempts to cram for his physical (“ginkgo balboa” and the fact he got suckered into this cleanse by a “cute girl at the health food store”), the gossip site guy, Mike choosing Mr. Clean as his Dude Ranch username and running his hand over his bald head as he announces it, Amy looking to Sharon for approval on her “maybe [victim] forgot his safe word” joke, Taylor’s “buh-bye” to Emma straight out of the SNL flight attendant skit, Mike and Andy’s faces when the gossip site guy shows them the bare chest photo from Dude Ranch, and Taylor’s reaction when he realizes Sharon manipulated him into issuing a false press release. Of course, we also get more Emma, including the expansion of her squeamish reaction to crime scene photos in her first episode with the beginning of her ridiculous “comes to the crime scene and freaks out” routine and the introduction of Julio’s crush on her. Blech; but, as always, everyone else’s reactions to her are fun. And the case is good. I love Amy’s reaction to Janet’s abusive husband, including at the end when Provenza says he cried his eyes out upon learning his wife is dead and she has absolutely no shits to give about that guy. (And I like that, in the interrogation scene, they maintain continuity that there is water on both him and the table as the scene goes on after Provenza tosses water in his face.) And I like the unveiling of the killer’s story, that his robbery routine started completely due to circumstances, taking a watch from a sleeping guy who probably to this day doesn’t know it’s missing. But then he started pinning and handcuffing guys while he stole their stuff (and how did they all get uncuffed, or dial the phone to summon a friend to help them?), and ultimately he kills two people, staging that double homicide to look like a murder/suicide. I think this case is also is the introduction to the curly-haired PD Jennings, and I like him.

Good for Streets noticing there was now a crated dog on the porch of that trailer he passed by on the way to work, setting in motion Domino’s rescue. I’m so glad Domino is with VRC, rather than a shelter, as they’ll take the time to assess his triggers and evaluate how to help him trust people other than Streets. And he has Streets, which is a sweet bond. I don’t watch the Dog Bowl (or the new Cat Bowl) more than a snippet here and there – and on mute because the music and announcing drive me nuts – but I love that they exist. The existence of the Puppy and Kitten Bowls is great, too, but the adults have an even harder time getting adopted, so I’m really glad there are now programs to showcase them. Poor Whitney being the only one not to get adopted last year! I’m glad everyone got adoption applications this time, and hope it works out for everyone. Like Tia, I understand the adopters taking in the stray that just showed up (growing up, that's how we got almost all our cats; people dumped them, and they turned up in our yard), but while I’m happy for that dog I’m bummed for Catera, who had a home, was returned, and then was within moments of having a home again. I was happy to see the update, and hope the third time is the charm and she is indeed in her forever home while the stray is happily snuggled into hers/his with the adopters.

That would be funny. Josh?, without the Who is, was just annoying. That said, I'm a bit surprised he's the first to have appended a question mark to his name. Or has that happened before?

I don't know a lot about Brandi Carlile, but I saw her perform at Lilith Fair (2010) and really enjoyed her set. After reading that article, I think she's a kick-ass feminist I need to learn more about. I love Tanya Tucker's voice, so I will definitely get the album (and I love the concept behind titling it While I'm Living), and I don't remember specifics but remember thinking she was a hoot on her reality show, so I'll probably check out the documentary, too.

That is bad news, indeed. Gone forever, then, I assume? Damn; I checked Internet Archive and the Wayback Machine didn't archive the M vault during the time it existed.

I understood that everything I had selected as my Followed Content - whether a forum or topic - would automatically be part of my Home Page upon the update, but the vaulted forums I followed do not show up (the single-thread topics that replaced them do, but I followed both -- [vaulted] forum and [new] topic). When I go to Followed Content and select Manage Forums I Follow, they're there, but how do I add them to my Home Page? Or is that not possible, since nothing new will ever be added, and to access them when I want to look something up, I just use that Followed Content > Manage Forums path? Also, if a vaulted forum does not show up now, is that a bug? I know it said search results and (I think) activity streams may be delayed while things repopulate, but does that also apply to missing forums? Because the vaulted Major Crimes forum does not show up in my Followed Content, and when I click on the link to it (http://forums.previously.tv/forum/530-major-crimes-v/) via the single-topic thread that replaced it, I get an error message: Sorry, there is a problem/We could not locate the item you are trying to view./Error code: 2F176/1