Mondrianyone

I agree with this 100%. The Brits have been using it forever, and nobody's died of it that I know of. The alternatives all involve contortions that have you making decent sentences into complicated messes--he/she, him or her, changing strong active voice into weak passive voice. People just get a bug up their asses about certain things and don't seem to be able to let go. Beats me! And don't get me started on "hopefully." Frankly, I don't see the problem. ;o)

I'm an editor. Go with the murderers. ;o)

I want to have Deirdre's babies.

I have this one, which I really love. I enjoy standing there and watching the device circle the can. I may need a hobby. I bought mine online, but I see that it's sold on Walmart's site, so it might be sold in the store. The reviews there are so-so, but I've never had a minute's trouble with mine. And I don't think I've needed to change the batteries once in like five years.

Assuming the above isn't a trick question, here's the music. In my business we call it a serial comma, so I guess we'd need an appropriate cereal.

I grew up in a household with a grandmother who spoke Yiddish. The "ch" sound isn't the only digraph used in Yiddish. Think of "schmuck," for example. Or "tsuris" or "putz." They all use the front of the mouth. I think "zhuzh" was related to Romani, but it seems to have more to do with Polari, which was a slanguage created starting in the 1600s by a whole range of marginalized people and notably used by gay men in London. There's a very interesting video interview about it, which I haven't seen all of yet, because I'm supposed to be working. But clearly I'm more interested in some mythical music group. ;o)

Ha! No, shushing her would be a pretty serious handicap for her to overcome in playing the game I really did mean zhuzh. I'm assuming you didn't watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy back in its original incarnation? Carson the fashion guy was always zhuzhing. Zhuzhing something (or someone) is to fuss with it and amp it up and rearrange it to look better. There's no origin info on that link, but my guess would be it comes directly or indirectly from Yiddish. Apple Pi is a great flavor name!

I can play "The Washington Post March" by heart, so we're gonna have to have a Sousa-off for first chair of the trombone section. Other band members may want to invest in earplugs. I did a little experiment with Windows Voice Recorder, demonstrating the difference between a normal voice (okay, normal for me) and vocal fry, but it's not in a format that's accepted in the Drag Files box below. I guess my dulcet tones will remain a mystery. To me they sound like a breakfast cereal. "Nerds love Neutrinos! The cereal that energizes your brain!" That shawl was pretty--I don't know if the very subtle color pattern knitted in was visible unless you have HD--but boy, was she wearing it badly. Someone should take her backstage and zhuzh her a little if she's going to wear it again tomorrow. And then she should go. I think we should add the Sebastian Cabot Memorial Juggling Butlers to our stage extravaganza, in honor of the late Mr. French. Somebody here can juggle, yes?

I wasted years of my life tearing lettuce because I believed the nonsense that metal knives turn lettuce brown. You can Google it--there's zero evidence that it's true. The truth is probably that it's just moisture + time + enzymes in the lettuce trying to heal the cut edges. If there was any truth in it at all, it likely goes back to those carbon steel (not stainless steel) knives that people had, with the rust on the knife transferring to the lettuce. I think you do more damage to the cells in the lettuce leaves by hacking at them with a plastic knife than by slicing them cleanly with a sharp chef's knife. And this is coming from a person who adores gadgets, but even I wouldn't bother with a lettuce knife.

Yep, very obvious where she stole it from. She's so street, that Bethenny. But also with the qualification that Omar was a fictitious character (sadly) and didn't write his own lines. So the credit for Omar's version of the line goes to David Simon and the writing crew on The Wire. Most of whom actually were white guys. It gets complicated sometimes, doesn't it?

For years now I've been saying that Carole is just an all-around poser. She seems to be taking that 100% literally these days. So good to see her perfecting her craaaaft.

The rules of Jeopardy! may limit us to song titles in the form of questions. I'll see if I can clarify that with the judges (*cough*). If not, how about "96 Tears" by Question Mark and the Mysterians? @CarpeDiem54, I was a pretty decent violinist also--I played from age 7 t0 19. So maybe we can step out front and do the Bach Double (Jeopardy!) Concerto. "Melon-choly Baby"?

My best friend in HS played the oboe. Anything but useless. We will not abide talk like that in the PTVJ! Band. I play recorder, too. Sadly, it does not sell. But we are above crass commercial concerns. "I Know There's an Answer" by the Beach Boys? Actually we'll play anything you want us to, @Mindthinkr, as long as you feed us.

Dust it off right now! And if you have a pair of those cymbals you can bang between your knees, I think we can use a percussion section. It was a lame attempt at a Carson joke. Probably why I never go near those. : / My primary instruments were violin and viola, but trombone was my entrée into band. That's where I learned how to make a Windsor knot--we had to wear ties in band. Two flutes, two saxes, a trombone, and a viola. Who are the charter members of the PreviouslyTV Jeopardy! Band, Alex?

When the clue has to do with magnetism, is there really any other logical answer besides iron? And yet . . . I actually played trombone in JHS and HS band, so missing FJ wasn't an option. I told my husband my nickname in HS was "Sackbut." Very annoying that he believed me. We decided we're going to buy our old instruments, a sax for Mr. M'anyone and a trombone for me, and see how well we do. I say we have to put a lot of cushions around us for our debut, because I'm betting we both pass out within the first five minutes. No BMS for Rachel Carson? Bye, David.

It's a cake that you poke holes in after it's been baked--all over the top, with a skewer or something similar--and then you pour a liquid onto it, like a flavored syrup, or something boozy, or pudding or Jell-O--which seeps down into the holes and gives the cake extra moistness and flavor. I know they've made them on the show before, but I think he tends to tune out on low-end stuff like that. Because, he's . . . you know . . . GZZZZZZZ!

Must be some weird browser artifact. Glad it's not just me. I also meant to say that "Butterbean" might be the best name for a southern dog ever. So Lauren gave her dog something really special. But I'm sure he'd rather have her.

You got me on a technicality.

You do know that soylent green is people, right? People = meat. I hate to be the one to have to tell you this. Maybe I should've left it up to Charlton Heston. ;o)

Thanks, biakbiak! I even right-clicked on the photo to choose "View Image," but the only version I could see was cropped at about midriff level on the mom. I'm relieved for Butterbean and my eyesight!

I came here to find out if anyone else was worried about the dog. I'm glad to know I wasn't alone. But I see only one dog in that newspaper photo, the white one, who isn't Butterbean. Does everyone but me see two dogs, not just one? Now I'm worried about myself!

I thought the steak looked good, too. But naturally she managed to offset that by licking her fingers repeatedly while she was helping make the chicken skewers and then touching the cubes of chicken with those same just-licked fingers. I seriously wonder if production has ever talked to her about this kind of thing. They can't manage to not notice all of it. So either she's a totally clueless slob or she's doing it on purpose, like sticking a finger in the eye of people who've had the nerve to criticize her. A finger she took the time to lick first, of course. A saliva moment, if you will. ;o)

Blech. It just dawned on me tonight that as an agnostic, I should never say things like "Please, God, don't let that fool in the middle win." Because then God takes the opportunity to screw with me. So today we lose Anthony Bourdain and gain Austin Lite. This week has been so feces-sucking that it feels entirely appropriate to go for a walk in Pooh Forest. Thanks, John.

A friend who has us over for dinner a lot usually makes some kind of frozen treat to go with dessert. Whenever it's raspberry sorbet (which is often), everyone has to listen to me sing, "She made a raspberry sorbet!" It's amazing we ever get invited back. I can't wait till @Toothbrush weighs in on Alex's take on Lake Pontchartrain. Imagine what he could do with Natchitoches.

When Alex comforted the players that The Beverly Hillbillies and Carroll O'Connor were before their time, I paused the recording and ranted to my husband, "The Civil War is before my time, but it was in all the papers!" So imagine our hysterical laughter when "The Civil War" came up as a category in DJ. Also, he knows Latin and I don't so much, but he assured me that Venandi means hunting (hence venison), so even though I got ornithology, it seemed more logical for the "science" to be falconry. (Wikipedia confirms that it's about both falconry and ornithology.) I was impressed that the new champ got The Pickwick Papers. It might be my favorite Dickens novel, but my sense is that it isn't read that much. Which could be totally off base.