Bastet

I loved Eric Christmas in that movie, and in several other things. I was so happy to see him pop up in an episode of The X-Files (my favorite show at the time) and Seinfeld. I didn't know his name, but I remembered him so fondly from All of Me (I love him leading the horse away at the end). Did anyone else watch Stealing Home, the late '80s film with Mark Harmon and Jodie Foster, told significantly in flashback (through William McNamara and Jonathan Silverman), as he struggles to figure out the right thing to do with her ashes? I love that film, but I sometimes wonder if my mother is the only other person in the world who's watched it. "You had sex with my prom date."

Yeah, I was out after that whole Jim/Sam nonsense. But, up until then, it definitely fit this category for me. I don't believe in any of the things that formed the foundation of the series, but I set that aside because it was a pleasant way to spend an hour -- the characters were all nice, well-intentioned people without being sickly sweet, and unraveling the spirit's story made for a nice mystery. Reba is the first show that came to mind upon seeing the thread title. While I think Reba McEntire has a great singing voice, I think she's a fairly bad actor, and the only other cast member I recognized was Christopher Rich, from his annoying role on Murphy Brown. So the cast didn't draw me in, and the basic plot summary sure didn't -- woman's teenaged daughter gets knocked up at the same time as her husband's mistress, so the teens get married and have a baby and the husband divorces the wife and marries the mistress. They all live on top of each other, and wacky hijinks ensue. But I wound up watching it (in syndication) while home sick, and laughed my ass off, so I started recording it after I was well. I only like the first four seasons, but I like them so much I bought them on DVD. Barbara Jean and Van, the two characters I probably would have liked least on paper, turned out to be my favorites. The show could definitely be hokey, and the retooling after season one was much needed, but it was a funny show, and did a nice job finding humor in the particular difficulties faced by blended families. The various relationships being so well done is what surprised me most of all.

Hee! How was the wedding? You mean the part where the groom passed out or the dog bit the drummer? Did you catch the bouquet? Maybe. If someone else wants to put one up, feel free. I'm happy to do it, but won't be around much this weekend, so the game will move faster with someone else's puzzle.

Here's a shorter and easier (I think!) one: What is the name of the high school in Syzygy, and what is the in-joke behind that name?

E

When Becky comes home from work griping while Dan is reading the paper, from which he never looks up: God, I hate my life! Tough day, honey? My job sucks, my boss is a big dumb jerk. Too bad, dear. And I can't quit because there's never any money around here for anything I want. Sorry, sweetheart. And if you expect me to clean up this rat hole, you're nuts! I'm taking a bath and going to bed. 'Night, Rosie.

Both things annoy me, too. And let me add that I loathe the term "Resting Bitch Face."

If All of Me is a forgotten film, I will weep. Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin at the top of their game, with a terrific supporting cast. Friends and I quote from it often.

I have my door open, so I'm sure my neighbors are wondering why someone was yelling "Waterford!" this evening. I agree the "double" category was far too easy, and I also thought FJ was too easy for a FJ clue; my poetry knowledge is limited, but L of G immediately gave me Leaves of Grass, and even I know who wrote that one. I made the same boneheaded move, forgetting the category. The grand jury clue was not specific, but with skiddo in there, too, I don't really think it had to be; 23 is not the only number that fits the grand jury part of the clue, but it's the only number that fits both parts.

Okay, then. The title that has always cracked me up most is from Thailand: The Secret Folders of Mysterious Cases. I'm also partial to Israel's "Files in the Dark." Here are some others: -The Secret Folders (Finland) -At the Borders of Reality/Almost Unreal (France and southern Belgium) -Strictly Confidential (Denmark) -Secret Files (Estonia, Portugal, Turkey) -Mysteries (Iceland) -Secret Material (Russia) -Absolutely Secret/Top Secret (Ukraine)

T

I am a fount of useless information. So ... anyone?

That line always makes me do a double-take, and it's a good thing Scully adds in that the footage of the killer leaving the victims' rooms shows a man sometimes and a woman others, because at first when it's just "We're so confused, because these are sex crimes but we have both male and female victims, so what gender is our perp?" I'm saying to the TV, "Um, have you ever heard of bisexuality?" Anyway ... A

Sometimes I make it with a sauce like that (basil or parsley, depending on which plant is overgrowing more), and sometimes I use a creamy sauce and Parmiggiano-reggiano. For the latter style, there's a Cooking Light recipe that is pretty close to what I do. ALenore, I'd love to see what recipe you're using to see if it contains something I want to add next time I get a hankering.

I love Oh Heavenly Dog. That came up in conversation last year, and my friend promptly ordered the DVD so we could watch it again for the first time in decades. We enjoyed it every bit as much. Another Chevy Chase film I love that I don't hear mentioned much is Funny Farm. I'm a sucker for moving and housing misadventures (it must go back to watching Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House umpteen times as a kid), and things can't really get too outlandish for me on that front.

--t -- -t'- t---, th-n th-- --y -- - w-l--g- --h--------. H-'- th- -lt---t- --- ---n-t. H- -- -h-? Y--'-- --t ---t--- -- --th -----. --th - --n -n- - w---n -n th- h-t-l ------ty --n-t--. - -n-w. Th-- -- - ----l-. -- Wh-t -- --- -----l- -- t-- --ll--? -n--t----n-t- h---ht, w---ht, ---. -n----- --t --t----ly -tt---t---. Bill Scully Sr: T, L, Y, H, N, W Bill Scully Jr:

Jack Carson is in so many great films. Last night I was still hungry after dinner and wanted something to nosh on, so I made up a small batch of the rosemary roasted cashews. I think I could eat those daily.

I got to Abba quickly, but it took me a bit to settle on the right song. White Wedding and Candle in the Wind seemed pretty embarrassing guesses to me. I'm surprised smelt was a triple stumper, given the category name spotted the first and last letter. Less so with Stardust, as the smelt clue gave two chances to come up with it. A picture of Howard Dean was bad enough, but highlighting Tehran on a map sent me 'round the bend. I think of dipstick as meaning a moron, not a jerk. I had never heard of Church's Fried Chicken, and apparently did not read as much Dr. Seuss as I thought I did. I also completely blanked on Ballard's name.

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--t -- -t'- t---, t--- t--- --- -- - --l---- -----------. --'- t-- -lt---t- --- -----t. -- -- ---? ---'-- --t ---t--- -- --t- -----. --t- - --- --- - ----- -- t-- --t-l ------t- ----t--. - ----. T--- -- - ----l-. -- ---t -- --- -----l- -- t-- --ll--? ----t------t- -----t, -----t, ---. ------- --t --t----l- -tt---t---. Bill Scully Sr: T, L Bill Scully Jr:

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Blood! Okay, I knew it was one of those boring ones. I'll give myself a 2.5 for knowing all but the episode name on that one ... even though that title was all that was required, heh. Next up: XF was shown all over the world, and in some countries it was given a title that translated to something other than "The X-Files". Of those alternate titles, there are about 10 that are significantly different (the rest are just slightly changed, like The X Cases, The Secret X-Files, The X-Files plus a subtitle, etc.) You don’t have to identify the country, and you only have to give the English translation, but name any three of those.

I missed last night's episode, so just got caught up via the archive, and am surprised by some of the TS. I'm surprised no one knew CDF stood for Children's Defense Fund, but what really surprised me was that no one could come up with Montana for a large, cold, western state. Less so that no one could work out Gaza as a city located on a strip given the context of the clue. The King David TS also surprised me. They put up a picture of Janis Joplin in the postage stamp clue?! That sort of nonsense will never stop annoying me. I'm a native Californian, so I know a lot of our cities. But I didn't know Hoover had gone to Stanford, and there are schools named for him all over the place (including one less than a mile from me), so I didn't associate him with any particular city -- thus, for FJ, I was just randomly tossing out two-word cities as the Hoover part of the clue was useless to me. Palo Alto was one of them, but I never settled on one as my guess before just going ahead and looking at the answer.

I watched bits and pieces of the episode on breaks from something else. The only one I knew was Amy Roloff, but I think the Roloffs are shitty people, so I wasn't rooting for her. The episode seemed okay as far as how they interacted with each other, but the baskets were ridiculously easy. Which, as said above, wouldn't be so bad if these people weren't selling cookbooks.

I'm fond of the fact they used a condom to create their asparagus protrusion out of victims' necks.