Mondrianyone

l know the names of maybe three famous Finnish people, and one of them is Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn. He used to be an answer in crossword puzzles fairly regularly. I knew that none of them were likely to get it, and I was so pleased my brain still had access to the name that I shouted it and pumped my fist in the air. (Which I would not have done if I were on the show.) I'm also pleased to be married to a man who hears his wife scream random Finnish names in another room and just goes on about his business. I called the concertina a celestina, which was really stupid. Love Andrew madly.

Just watched the first episode last night. I don't know any of the actors' names. But why does the one who plays Gil sound like he's from Flatbush when they're all supposed to be from Texas? Which none of them sound like anyway, but he seems particularly ridiculous.

I don't think so. I also remember "whiskey" (the Garbo movie quote) and "satire" (what closes on Saturday night). Both pretty easy if you ask me.

But didn't either of your hearts flutter with a smidgen of love when she said, "What is hoooorn-swaaaawggle?"? I know my dried-up prune of a fast-talking New York heart did. When it comes to contestants with annoying speech oddities, Margaret's way at the end of my line. So far. I'm okay with librarians. I figure as long as they have a job, I have a job. I said bass, even though I thought of trout first. Don't know why I do that as often as I do.

Definitely not. But if you'd written to me at my office, we'd have gotten the letter. Your spelling is actually an improvement on some I saw in those days.

I had other associations with several of those DHs, which made them easier to get. I used to work at 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (it took me longer to learn how to spell the address than learn how to do my job!). And David Halberstam came one day and taught a class I was taking on the history of Vietnam. A couple years ago, Daryl Hall did one of those celebrity home-reno miniseries on HGTV, which I watched, so I have a recent image of him in my mind. (He didn't do much actual work, but he seemed very knowledgeable about antique architecture. And he has an impressive head of hair.) I didn't know there was a Peanuts movie last year, but on the TV specials the adults' voices were always instrumental, so that seemed like a safe guess. I slept through the first twenty minutes or so and woke up to hear myself mumbling "Babalu," which was pretty strange.

If you send me a PM reminding me you want the link, I'll send it to you. I feel a little leery about posting it on the board, since I'm not totally sure if that sort of thing is kosher. Also I worry that the minute I post it, it'll disappear, and people will think I was hallucinating. Patricia Bean would be a scary thing to hallucinate. The video stopped to buffer a couple of times, and I had to refresh it, but it was way better than most. Quality was excellent.

Well, persistence pays off! We've had an average of one new episode a week in our market for what feels like months now, and the situation was desperate enough to send me hunting once again for the legendary Patricia Bean episode online. And what do you know--I found it! You all have not been overstating the greatness. Like a warm bath of looniness . . .

No, Prin, fortunately for the comedy-club crowd, I don't. Jeopardy! just brings out the Henny Youngman in me, for some strange reason. Maybe I'm using humor as an outlet because I didn't qualify for the Prometheus Society. I'll try to dial it back. Oops, I meant to include this link about Dandy the Yankee mascot. I had only a vague memory of it. I think I remember the incident with Lou Piniella chasing the chicken in a rage. Here's the story: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703389004575304961535825960

Who doesn't know how to say "Neanderthal"??? By the way, I apologize to anyone whose profile I snooped into today. It wasn't really me. My cat walked across the keyboard while this board was open, and I don't know how many names she managed to "enter." I reminded her about who curiosity killed, and I don't think she'll do that again.

So that he could go through life telling people he was smart enough but was too modest to join? Maybe he should have joined when he still had the chance. They may not be too impressed with him any longer. I see that Sundance and Etta were a very handsome couple in real life, too.

Thanks, GreekGeek. I didn't see the God-pointing gesture. Ugh. Like God cares who wins Jeopardy! She already has enough to deal with.

No, seriously, I didn't know what you meant. Like literally pointing upward? I didn't see it, but I had my head all bent to the side with Udit, so maybe my perspective was skewed. ;o) Or did you mean it figuratively, referring to his religious profession? Not my thing, but I don't hate it unless it impinges on me personally. I may adopt the phrase for people who are always proselytizing, though. "He's such a sky pointer!" I kind of like that.

What's a sky pointer, Prin? I must've missed it, whatever it is. I liked Udit, but I was starting to get a sympathy crick in my neck from bending my head at the same angle he bent his at. I kept wishing he'd hold it up straight. I thought the FJ question was very badly framed. Probably because I got it wrong.

That was so much fun! (And nice pins, Alex, for 75.) If you're going to tell a seemingly interminable story, that's how to do it . . . John Milton??? That can't be right--Milton John, yes? Anyway, he was a funny guy, much funnier than John Milton. All good stories tonight. Even Alex displayed some comic timing. I hope they do this every April 1 from now on.

We laugh about the fact that Maine always seems to get cut off when they show the national weather map--it's as if New England goes up as far as Boston, and then there's nothing. I was thinking that at least one person would fall into a trap and say Anchorage (which isn't even a capital, but it is really far north). So it was a pleasant surprise that all three of them got Augusta. It's about thirty miles from my house, so obviously I got it. Alex sounded ridiculous saying Annapolis was one of the far north A's. Does he own a map? No lobster for you!

That's funny! I wonder if they cast him because he was a dentist or they had him do some dentistry once they found out he was.

The British are gumming! The British are gumming! I'm so sorry for that. Edited because if you're going to make a painful pun, at least spell things right.

Probably because it's waiting until we have a "Slap This Poster" icon instead. That's what I really deserved. Being wrong about Roget made me go looking for famous people who really were dentists in another life. Amazing what I found, in case anyone is interested: http://www.dentalbuzz.com/2013/01/08/famous-people-you-didnt-know-were-dentists/ Zane Grey was a surprise, as was Miles Davis's father. But my absolute favorite was Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction, who I always loved because something about him reminded me of my father. I'd've been a little nervous letting him drill into my teeth, though.

The only other famous dentist I could think of was Roget of thesaurus fame, and I was pretty sure he wasn't American. And then the "moved west" dime dropped, so it had to be Holliday. Now I feel bad for mocking Claudia for her long story. I like people who can have fun at their own expense. Edited to say: At least I thought he was a dentist. Wikipedia doesn't seem to share that opinion. Never mind.

I'd heard throat singing on the radio, but then I saw a great documentary called Genghis Blues, about a blind American guy who taught himself how to do it from listening to shortwave or something and then traveled to Tuva for a big throat-singing competition. Sounds a little obscure, but it was wonderful. Until some angel on TWOP taught us the correct term, I used to call women with vocal fry "Tuvan throat singers."

I liked Jen, too. But I wondered how she thought the Olympics would've caused damage. I knew Port Arthur because I've always adored Janis Joplin and also because I had a stalker in college who was convinced I was her and that her death had been faked by the government. Which was now hiding me/her in plain sight on a college campus in Manhattan. Then one day he just disappeared. Y2K here as well, although I knew it was wrong. I could've sat around thinking about FJ for ten thousand years and not come up with Mir. It's true, you know what you know and not what you don't.

The middle of nowhere is pretty much it. From NYC to the Maine woods. Sweet old doggy is doing fine today, my friend says. It's very kind of you to ask, Prin. He's going to try out for the Jeopardy! Senior Dog Tournament once he's all better.

I'm willing to believe that's what he said. I didn't watch till almost midnight (I had to drive my friend and her dog, who got quilled by a porcupine--the dog, not the friend--to the emergency vet, fifty miles away, just before J! started), so I might have missed the "breaker" part. But why didn't he take the extra minute to explain the new rule and what the tie-breaker was? A buzzer question, a coin toss, arm wrestling? Perfect opportunity. And they had time for the Neverending Story plus all the soap-opera adjectives. Weird allocation of resources. In my opinion, obviously.

I dozed off during chapter 2 of the new champ's epic College Bowl saga. Woke up again during chapter 5, then back out for the endnotes. Did she ever finish, or did someone yank her offstage with a giant hook? I'm kidding. I was unfortunately awake for the whole story. I got Bambi, though. Unless our station carried some abridged version of tonight's show, Alex didn't really explain the new rule about ties. He said that the previous champ had exactly twice what's-her-name's total and therefore couldn't lose but felt uneasy about a tie and so bet the minimum. Except then he didn't mention anything about why someone would feel uneasy about a tie, and not a word about the tie-breaker question. I don't understand why this rule about play on a TV show, watched by TV watchers, is announced everywhere but on TV. What's the big secret? Edited for sleepiness.