Bastet

I think I'm going to grill burgers. I'm definitely going to make a caprese salad with the last of the tomatoes.

The only time I'll cheer a Washington victory is when they beat the Cowboys, so I was glad the Rams game ended in time to switch to those final seconds and let me cackle. If only the Bears had pulled off their comeback giving the Patriots a loss as well, it would have been a good football day all around.

They really are. I'm mostly just listening to the game while I organize some files on the computer, but every time I turn to look at the TV, I groan at those uniforms.

So, it turns out USC's transition year is going to be as bad as I thought, after all. Um, yay me?

The point is that an American History category (which, of course, would be populated with clues about white men) in DJ would have clues about the sort of things one learns about in college or by independent reading, things at the typical challenge level for DJ-round questions. Whenever they do an African-American History category, though, they tend to fill it with clues out of a Social Studies textbook. Like that's all a contestant should be expected to know of African-American history, which is insulting when compared with what they're expected to know of white history, both American and European. They do it with Women's History categories, too, and those awful Women Artists/Women Authors categories, where you can pre-call at least two of the answers because they repeatedly ask only about a narrow selection of women. You can keep dismissing it as all boiling down to EIYKI all you want, but that won't make it true; common knowledge has levels - for every fact, there's an age and/or education level at which the majority of people surveyed will know it. Happening to know something the average person with a post-graduate degree knows and saying, "That's too easy for J!/I can't believe no one got that" is one thing, which is why it hardly ever happens. Seeing something known by the average high school graduate appear as a high-valued clue or go unanswered on this, the brainiac of quiz shows, and commenting on that discrepancy between what was expected and what happened is a completely different ballgame.

When Maddie died, it was the first time I'd been cat-less due to death since I was a child. It is indeed extra hard when you can't comfort yourself by curling up with other cats. My heart goes out to you. I'm so glad it happened to work out for your friend to be there with you, and not just any friend but the one who was with you when Shana came into your life. But I know how lonely, empty, and just plain wrong it feels at home now, and am thinking of you. There's no "should" here, because there's no timeline you're obligated to follow. Do with the stuff what you will when you will; don't make yourself do anything right now. With Maddie, I did it the same day. And then I felt like shit, as if I'd erased her. Which, of course, was not at all what it was about; seeing the stuff was making me cry even more, so I put it away (some stuff I kept for future cats, some I donated). That's what was right for me, in that moment. What's right for you in this moment is not to physically deal with the cats' things. When that changes, you'll handle it then. One moment at a time, @tiftgirl. All you have to do right now is keep breathing and put one foot in front of the other. These early days in the grief process are simply excruciating, and there's no getting around that. Curl up in a ball, yell, cry, sit bewildered - do it all as it comes, and do it on your schedule. We'll be here. I'm very sorry for your loss.

I looked her up when I first noticed her mixed in with them, to see if that was the case, and there's no information to that effect. That's the kind of trivia that would make its way out there. And she only watched, didn't play. Plus, she looks too young. The actor (Patricia Wilson) may have just wanted to hang out for at least part of the day of shooting the game. Oh, I can see her - especially in the emotion of that moment, having just had the ribbon cut - just being about the fact that day wound up changing everything about her life for the better. He's not worth her having continued to think about the way he treated her! But for her to not just recognize him but already know who he is, call him "Honey," and kiss him on the cheek suggests an existing friendship of sorts rather than someone she saw a few more times over the years the league existed when he brought some new scouts to the team. That's the part that doesn't work for me. I'd like it a lot better if present-day Marla was a surprise to him that day. (And there's no way that guy changed enough anyone would want him in her life - when you're that big an asshole to every single person you encounter at that age, you're just a congenital asshole and will be for life. Stillwell had plenty of time to change. Mr. Capadino was already who he is.) Speaking of Stillwell, the other thing I always think about at the end is how sucky Evelyn's life probably was. Her husband likely didn't change, either, so after the league folded, she probably worked a series of crappy jobs (at which she was patronized, certainly, and harassed, probably) to support the family, staying married to the jerk because divorce just wasn't proper then, and all she really had that made her happy was her son and memories of the best time of her life. I wish she'd lived to be part of the Hall of Fame reunion. Stillwell's bittersweet smile when he gets his picture taken by the cutout of his mom is the perfect visual of how I feel about Evelyn's story.

I only saw this episode in a couple of chunks, but I loved it. I am a huge proponent of TNR as the most-humane and -effective way of handling community/feral cats, so I like anything that spotlights such work. It was nice to see youngsters taking part and articulating why. And good on Halo for donating all that food; unfortunately, its dry food (what was donated) is, like almost all dry food options, higher in carbs than is ideal, but it's one of the handful of dry food manufacturers that uses high-quality ingredients, and it also has a decent phosphorus content, which is important for cats with chronic kidney disease. The cost difference, and ability to leave dry food out in conditions not conducive to leaving out canned/raw food, makes it far easier to feed a colony dry food, and these cats would be better off with bags of Meow Mix than fending for themselves, so to get a supply of Halo is quite the bonus. This was thus an uplifting episode, and I look forward to seeing it in full via repeat.

I only watched during breaks in football, so I'll have to tune in to the repeat later to get the full picture, but I was sometimes a little slow in flipping back and halftime was well timed, so I got all the storylines. Poor Buckaroo! I knew he was doomed, and I'm glad he at least died surrounded by caring people, but damn. I empathize with Tia not being able to get out of her head on this one, imagining what he went through. I do that a lot and it's tough. It always gets to me hearing something like Hoolie being so honored at being trusted with something totally mundane, because they've never had anyone treat them with even that basic level of respect before. If he sticks with Earl, he'll be alright. I like how the VRC crew often reacts to modest homes/yards with, “Wow, this is so nice!” sentiments. They're sure not living high off the hog; all these years of "fame" and TV show money, and it's still all about the animals. These people are aces. Julliard is perfect for her family. Did they say how old she was? They were shown swimmer puppy Hannah (which means this story was shot a while ago), as the perfect way of saying "your 'I want a puppy' desire and your 'we want a mellow cuddlebug' goal are not compatible," and then the second dog was two, but I don't recall hearing Julliard's age.

It's so weird. It would have been better for her to see him in front the pictures, recognize him and say, "Mr. Capadino," then while he's looking at her trying to figure out who she is, she points to a tryout day picture of her and says, "That's the day you changed my life." And as he's realizing it's the young woman he treated like shit standing before him confident and attractive, she zings him a little - nothing Mae or Doris like, still Marla, but something that ribs him - and walks on. He turns to watch her walk away, and we get that same shot of him with the cigar in his mouth in front of the picture of his younger self with the cigar.

It's either Marla or someone with the same hairdo, earrings, body shape, and voice.

It was either after season five or during season six, IIRC - they had a lot of notice. So not as far back as this, and the groundwork is laid even before this. They could have always had in mind that, whenever the show ended, it would end that way. Or they decided that much later on, realizing they'd set it up very well. Whenever the decision was made, I give them credit for how nicely Brenda's arc played out over the course of the series. Yes! I was so nervous for it, because usually when they write a woman as leaving the job I've just spent years watching her love, it's for some reason that makes no sense for the character and pisses me off. This worked.

Mine too. I wish "reply all" had a feature where when you clicked on it, a box popped up asking, "Are you sure? Does everyone who received the original email really need to read what you're about to write?" and you couldn't actually reply to all until you clicked on that. People would probably just mindlessly click through, but maybe it would cut down the replies a little.

Elysian Fields is good on its own –Tom Skerritt! – but also in hindsight, especially opening with Brenda’s Stroh nightmare, since what Olin became by his obsession with Greeson – which so frustrates and disgusts her in a cop - is what Brenda later almost became due to her Stroh obsession before finally pulling herself back from that step in the end. It’s also interesting to have the “You need to make time for your mother” thing at the forefront in this one, since that becomes such a huge deal at the same time her Stroh obsession comes to a head. I don’t know if Brenda’s final storyline was conceived far enough in advance to make this episode well-laid foreshadowing or just something that is later retroactively integrated well into a storyline, but it’s chock full of stuff that plays out later. The timing - as someone who watched after it was all over - has always intrigued me, because they set up the "brought in to counteract all the 'we can't get a confession legally so we'll beat it out/plant evidence/otherwise shit on the law' shenanigans, and indeed cleaned up in many ways, yet developed a disturbing habit of arranging extra-judicial executions when she couldn't" departure early on and kept at it. Andy’s “You’re welcome” at provoking that woman to punch him so they could hold her made me laugh; great line delivery. Also, “You just want to see me get slapped again”/”The thought never crossed my mind.” It is horrible, but “The Make-A-Wish Foundation refused to do it for me” makes me laugh.

If you don't mind sharing, I'm curious where you're located. Regional pronunciations make these categories problematic, but - unlike a few other clues where I'd heard the word pronounced either both with and without the L to some degree or never heard it pronounced with the L being truly silent - salve is one where I've never heard it pronounced with the L at all present. And I'm a fair a bit of a traveler, so I'd love to satisfy my curiosity if you're willing.

Of course Julio follows Intrigue’s skeevy hook-up plan and thinks all this is funny. So gross. Tonight was my first time watching Tapped Out since watching (many times) the Major Crimes episode with “Dick Tracy,” and I was hoping my love for that episode would make me like this one more now. I like Pope – who was always so pissed off at Flynn and Provenza’s antics – getting caught up right alongside them in one of their bumbles, and seriously love “He did this to eight women and he only got shot once?!” but I don’t like playing Baird’s mental illness for laughs and there is just too much of such an over-the-top character. In MC, they were much more respectful in their treatment of the illness and Baird wasn’t quite as cartoonish and wasn’t remotely so damn loud. So I was hoping that memory would soften my reaction to this one, but it doesn’t. I still laugh loud and long at the non-Baird scenes, but I also still can’t stand his scenes. I skipped the first half of Strike Three to watch Jeopardy! so I'll catch the later airing of that one to watch it in full; it's when I really started falling in love with Sharon Raydor. Especially this, when Brenda spouts the usual BS about officers' uses of force being investigated making them think twice about defending themselves and that hesitation leading to more cops being killed and asks Sharon if she's ever considered what her principles cost: Sharon: Seventy million dollars. That was the settlement in the Rampart case. One hundred. That's how many convictions were overturned due to renegade policing and lack of oversight in one division alone, not to mention the loss of trust the LAPD needs to remain effective. Bless! I also like the ending of that scene: Brenda: There has to be a better way. Sharon: Well, until then, you've got me. Also, "Pretending not to see things is how I wound up here in the first place. Does anyone really think I want to go in there. Anyone?" Followed by, "Is that 'eat me' as in I want to talk or 'eat me' as in I'm unwilling to cooperate?" I also like Mikki Mendoza taking out the Nazi with her fake baby. And I really like how she has no time for Julio's shit.

FJ was easy for me, perhaps by virtue of knowing nothing about the sport other than it's big guys in butt floss outfits -- it had to be an Asian form of wrestling, and that was the only one I knew. After several games in a row with no surprising TS for me, my eyes bugged a little at shoulder pads going unanswered. That was one of those clues with several hints within it, and the ‘80s shoulder pads seem infamous enough I expected at least one of the three to know it. I also got brief shining moment, foot, pesos, Jewel, and Guns N’ Roses, but those didn’t surprise me as TS (okay, maybe GnR a little bit). The Harriet Tubman clue was too simple for a DD in DJ. Same with the great migration. And, holy hell, separate but not equal. It’s offensive to fill an African American history category, in DJ no less, with Teen Tournament-level clues. The contestants didn’t get at first that they only needed to name the organ, not the organ and the injury, and that was irrationally bugging me. I liked their laughter at the Dalai Lama and Mr. Rogers aren’t likely to break out in a fight clue, though. Talisker is one of my favorite single-malt scotches, so I poured a glass during the commercial break between rounds thanks to the clue. I wish I’d already had some for the painful flashbacks the Sarah Palin clue gave me. They’d have uncovered the last clue in the first round if Alex hadn’t added so much superfluous commentary throughout that entire final category, even though they were already at less than a minute when they started it. Grrr.

@tiftgirl, when the time comes, know that while the vet may be the only person physically there with you, the thoughts of everyone here will be embracing you in comfort and strength.

It was only one of three examples of why one might find a TS surprising, so it doesn't need to. Right, but "I know it" is not often the basis of posters being surprised none of the contestants did; instead, it's usually (either explicitly or by context) rooted in things like the examples I listed.

That wasn't me, that was me quoting another post, but it stands for "it's easy if you know it."

It's not about thinking everyone should know what they know, or even that among any random sampling of three people, at least one of them should know it, it's simply being surprised that among three people who qualified for and then further studied to appear on this specific quiz show, a particular clue went unanswered. That may be because it seems common enough knowledge that you'd expect at least one of three people of that caliber to be among those who know it, because one contestant's incorrect guess really ought to have given it away to one of the other two, because there were enough clues within the clue that it's surprising none of the three could reason their way to it even if they didn't know the specific fact at hand, etc.

Because it's 4:00 a.m.? She hated it the first time around, when she and Corky had to fill in. And now she's older when this is her daily schedule. (Which also older Corky is no longer perky about.) She gets that it's the nature of the new job and thus does it, but with grumbling; she's not surprised by it, she's just "holy crap, this is painfully early" about it as are most people who work a more typical schedule for a long time and then have to adjust to one that begins well before dawn.

Two episodes in a row with no assistant? Boo. But other than that, I liked it. Not loved it; it still just doesn’t have the sharpness of the original series. I don't even think I'd like it if it was a new show. But enjoyed it, based on the combination of old and new, yes, and I’m good with that. I love Ed Shannon basically doing the sieg heil salute as he declares “this is our country and we’re taking it back.” Preach away, show, preach away. Murphy: “We’re here to report the news, not become the news.” Floor manager: “And we’re clear. Well, I’ve enjoyed working with all you people.” And then Murphy’s takedown: - “Fact? I’m surprised you could even say that word without bursting into flame.” - “The swarthy crowd.” - “The only crime I see is the way you murder the truth.” - “Don’t you Giuliani me.” - “I just got that what’s going on underneath all that clothing is an old white guy who’s scared of losing his place at the table. You and your friends are all dinosaurs, this is your last chance to prevent progress. You will end up an exhibit in a museum [country club diorama – gin and tonic on one hand and putter in another, ha].” - In response to being called “a woman way past her prime”: “Of all the things you’ve ever said, that was the most predictable.” Would that this was only on TV. And of course someone recorded it and goes viral. “Thank God there were no smartphones when I was drinking.” Murphy and Avery continue to be wonderful; I can’t get over the chemistry between the actors from jump. “You’re on in a very tough time slot. You’re up against, well, me.” And them bonding over 4:00 in the afternoon being bedtime. Plus the dance mix. I love that she keeps on her behind-the-desk pants with her upper outfit and heels. And, “Occasionally, I go rogue. Well, more than occasionally.” I also love Phyllis’s allusion to Cagney & Lacey. And then, of course, JIM! Phyllis as the new Doris? (I love Miles’s “What is happening?”) I need a "Slugger" and “Oh, good lord.” (At least I finally got an “Oh, God” from Miles.) But his false equivalency objection was enough for now. “You don’t have to give equal time to someone who claims Tom Hanks is running a shadow government.”

The "Rose" thing makes me think of when Dan went to get a tattoo of her name, but backed out halfway through because it hurt, so it was "Rose" rather than "Roseanne." He tried to play it off as intentional, but she pointed out he never calls her that. He offered to go back and have it made "Rosey," saying he can handle adding a "Y." No one else called her Rose, either ("It's not my name, it's Mrs. Kennedy's name"), so I think the only way to explain it is as a thing just for the grandkids.

Jessica pronounced the L in balm and caulk, which cracked me up, as that’s how I pronounce them, too – the L is lightly there, but it’s not silent like the other words – and it seemed she was thinking, “Um, I know this is the word based on the clue, but it doesn’t fit the category, so I'll go ahead and ring in but I'm confused.” I feel you, Jessica. So I felt bad for her wrong answer on what seemed like an easy FJ to me, since I knew it despite knowing almost nothing else about Peter Pan other than Tinkerbell. The other contestant who got it wrong, meh; I don’t normally pay much attention to contestants’ appearance, but a bow tie AND suspenders, oh my -- two of my least-favorite accessories on one person and I'll go ahead and be shallow. The “Ap” Biology/”A.P.” Biology pronunciation discrepancy was driving me nuts. WTF with accepting Drop Four for Connect Four? I even did a Google search during the commercial break to see if there’s some regional alternate name, but nothing came up. I wonder what they found in order to reverse their ruling. And an even bigger WTF to accepting just a last name in a category about first and last names with the initials A.P.? N for knight (“they don’t know how to spell” – hee) and Battle of Thermopylae were the only TS that also stumped me, but it was another night where I wasn’t surprised to see any of them go unanswered. The DJ round had several clues I found quite overvalued, such as KGB, Benedict Arnold, and C for speed of light.