Browncoat

Steve and AL were not even one whole hour behind. The first team left at 9:56, and they left at 10:42.

Oooh, I wanna go where the dragons live! Oh, that was funny -- Corey walking past the Beard. I do so love the camera people.

Gee, Todd, how about figuring out things for yourself?

It is!

Instaget FJ for me tonight -- Ol' Blue Eyes! I'm quite surprised two contestants missed that. I also got the TS of soccer, arm & hammer, Queensland & Northern Territory, and James Watt.

I saw that ad before a movie this afternoon, and I've decided that all the kids watching the women slide down the hill pitch in and help them drag their sleds back up. Edited to ask if anyone knows who the actors are -- two of them look really familiar.

I saw "Wish" this afternoon, and I thought it was a pleasant diversion. I was caught up enough in the story not to figure out how they'd resolve the conflict, which was a plus. The credits are worth staying for, and there is a nice post-credits scene as well.

I said Matlock for FJ, too. I've heard of "Succession", but I had no idea what it was about. I would never have thought of it. I got the TS of Rhode Island, nobble and noble, Mendeleev, and Iran. I've never heard nobble before, either, and got there by adding a b to noble.

Excuse me, Ken, but Virginia is the mother of presidents, with eight, thank you very much. Ahem. I did get FJ, but it was a wild-ass guess, based on West Point=military=Grant. I didn't know where he was born, either. I also got the TS of iguana, US Civil War, 2001:A Space Odyssey, mayapple, and class.

Just got back from seeing this, and it was pretty good. There were a few changes that I wasn't best pleased with, and they simultaneously spent more time on the games and shortchanged them. I mean, it's a long book -- I get that things will be changed or omitted, but I can't help but think I might have done things a little differently. Viola Davis was absolutely perfect and fabulous as Dr. Gaul. She terrified me! Fionnula Flanagan was a great choice as the Grandma'am. And Peter Dinklage made a good Dean Highbottom. Whoever played Maude Ivory was too old. I'm not familiar with Tom Blyth, but he did an okay job -- he's definitely pretty! And I think I'm one of the few people who actually like Rachel Zegler. She was good, although I was a little disappointed in her rainbow dress. I think I hoped it would be brighter. I can recommend it for fans of the series, if only for the brilliance that is Viola Davis.

The mind blown icon to me means OMG, are you serious? And I use the fire as a good thing. For topic, there's a radio commercial for Babbel that makes me crazy. It's the one where the woman says they haven't travelled in years. The way she says "years" grates on my last nerve.

No laughing from me! I didn't have a guess at all. The "betwixt and between" sounded familiar, but I couldn't place that, nor could I identify a boy who was part bird. My brain went to other bird features besides wings -- if I'd managed to get to wings and flying, I might have had a chance.

3/5 this week.

I did not get FJ, but I feel like I should have! It was a "d'oh!" moment when the correct response was revealed. And I only got two TS: 1661, and James Fenimore Cooper. 1661 was a wild-ass guess, just based on the category name. I was gobsmacked that it was correct. As a watcher of The Amazing Race, I got 1991 immediately -- before Ken finished reading the clue, and without getting to go up in a glider.

It does take me a while when I set up a book, for the same reason -- I want it to be just so. My books have all turned out well, and I don't think they look cheap.

I've used Shutterfly to make several books of photos from vacations, and I've been quite pleased with the results. I've found it to be really easy to upload photos, and to arrange them on pages. I don't let Shutterfly do it, though -- I do all the layout myself.

Note to self: Look at ALL the pages in that stack of papers BEFORE you put them in the shred bin. I'm missing one document that I kind of need, and I suspect that's where it went. (I can re-create it, but it's annoying to have to do so.)

If the race hadn't been so close, and if I'd been way in front, I might have missed the year on purpose, just so I could go up in the glider again.

I first thought of Kipling, but discarded it immediately when I remembered "Tyger, tiger burning bright" -- it took me another couple of seconds to remember the author, but I got it in plenty of time to write it down. I also got the TS of Sidney Carton, Christmas tree, Matthew Shepard, and Liffey. I was quite sad that Matthew Shepard was a TS.

It was interesting to me that when Rob and Corey went up that interminable staircase (I get tired just thinking about 1100 steps!), Corey was behind Rob, giving him encouragement, and saying, "You can do it! Are you okay?" and so on. But when Steve and Anna Leigh went up, AL just ran off and left Steve behind, saying only things like, "Come on, Dad!" and "Hurry up, Dad!" Hell, she even yelled at him to hurry up when he was on the zip line!

More steps next week!

So close, and yet so far.

Damn. I hoped they'd get a penalty for using the elevator.

Come on, Morgan and Lena!

What a beautiful bridge. It's Namibia, jackass!