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Small Talk: "I'll Take Non-Show Chat For $400, Alex."

Lisin

By Lisin
in Jeopardy!

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Prevailing Wind
Prevailing Wind

In case you're interested, my Bosco's cancer came back with a vengeance and Dr. E. helped him cross the bridge this morning.

saber5055
saber5055

The most amazing Christmas miracle just happened. Being bored and considering going to bed early to listen to the radio, I thought WTH, I'll scan the tv channels for the heck of it, it's been a while.

Prevailing Wind
Prevailing Wind

BOSCO'S FINE!!  We won't know just what the lumps were until the lab does their thing - in about two weeks. But Dr. E. got it all and he's all stapled up, with a drain, hoping to come home today.  YAY

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

Thanks to @Prevailing Wind:

On 4/27/2024 at 8:51 PM, Prevailing Wind said:

In the early evening, sometimes afternoon, I change my computer clock to reflect a time zone that's past midnight and then play tomorrow's games. It doesn't work for the Globle games, but the NYT and Wordledaily games are playable with an altered clock.

This is my Father's Day Wordle Words Limerick for Sunday, June 16!
Hence the spoiler tag:

Spoiler

𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭𝟲, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰
Wordle 1,093 4/6

⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜UNITY  50 ᴡʟ
🟨⬜🟩🟨🟨REIGN    3
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟨WRING   1
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩GRIND

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤

UNITYng around the dining room table
To feast grandpa’s REIGN while they are still able.
      Hands clapping and bells wRINGing,
      With Happy Father’s Day singing, 
Then he GRINDs coffee and turns on the cable.📺

 

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

(edited)
5 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Is Jon the one who was on Colbert the other day?

5 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Jon Lovett, yes. It was hilarious when his cohosts gave him a quiz about the news he missed when he was out of communication, and a lot of the multiple choice questions stumped him. Or horrifying. Maybe both. 

 

“6/18/2024 Podcasters Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor; Lake Street Dive performs.

“Credits: Jon Favreau (Guest), Jon Lovett (Guest), Tommy Vietor (Guest), Stephen Colbert (Host)”

Edited by shapeshifter
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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

(edited)

Dragging the Trebek tribute stamp post over here where it won't get lost in so many pages:

On 6/21/2024 at 9:14 PM, ProudMary said:

Here's the USPS link, for anyone who'd like to pre-order Alex Trebek stamps. The release date is 7/22.

https://store.usps.com/store/product/alex-trebek-stamps-S_485304

I just ordered a sheet.
I was getting low on stamps, but wasn't in a hurry because I don't mail much anymore.
At least these Forever stamps ordered now are a nickel less each than they will be in another month. 

I'm not thrilled with the design, so just one sheet. 
I wonder why Alex's image is not on them? 
Lots of times a series of stamps will not all be the same, so they could have had half with the words and half with his image. 

Is it a cost of production thing? Because I'm sure some wealthier fans would have kicked in. 

Maybe they couldn't get permission to use his image, but still wondering why?
I have no legal knowledge in this area.

I'm sure plenty of portrait artists would have volunteered to provide one. 
Maybe that was the plan but the USPS totally blew it in selecting the artist and nixed the result? 
Or maybe the USPS decider has terrible taste in art and just didn't appreciate what could have been a great portrait tribute?
Or there was nobody to effectively convert the art to postage stamp size?

I hope we at least find out why they went with this non-figurative design.
 

Edited by shapeshifter
extraneous apostrophe
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illdoc

illdoc

 

45 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

thought you had to be dead ten years to be featured on a stamp. But maybe that's changed.

From USPS.com: https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_109.htm

TLDR version: The Postal Service is dropping a rule that currently requires an individual to have been deceased at least five years before being honored on a stamp. Under the new guidelines, living or recently deceased individuals will be eligible for commemoration on postage stamps.      Sep 26, 2011

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30 Helens

30 Helens

3 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think it used to be 20 years. I wonder why they dropped the rule. There aren't enough long dead people to honor? They sel mor to collectors if the people are recently deceased?

My guess would be along these lines. The longer a person has been gone, the more their fans may have moved on. The freshest memories are the most economically viable.

On 6/22/2024 at 6:06 PM, shapeshifter said:

Lot's of times a series of stamps will not all be the same, so they could have had half with the words and half with his image. 

I agree with this, as I posted in the season thread. I think the clue idea was clever, and it's unlike any other stamp they've done, so I get why that was appealing. But I think true Alex fans would want to see his face (and not just in a sidebar). I think they could have accommodated both, without necessarily splitting the stamp run. Stamps are large enough that they could have had his face in the corner with a clue box behind it.

As for the price of stamps... it's crazy to me that they are 70+ cents now, since I can remember when they were around 20 cents. On the other hand, it's always been crazy to me that you can put a piece of mail in a box and have it hand-delivered to a specified location thousands of miles away, for less than a dollar. They can raise the price of stamps all they want and I won't complain.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

(edited)
40 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

But I think true Alex fans would want to see his face (and not just in a sidebar). I think they could have accommodated both, without necessarily splitting the stamp run.

I had a theory that they're going to do another run with his portrait and make more money that way, but it was starting to sound like a conspiracy theory in my brain, and, even if they do, it might've just been that the portrait wasn't ready yet, etc. etc.

 

40 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

As for the price of stamps... it's crazy to me that they are 70+ cents now, since I can remember when they were around 20 cents. On the other hand, it's always been crazy to me that you can put a piece of mail in a box and have it hand-delivered to a specified location thousands of miles away, for less than a dollar. They can raise the price of stamps all they want and I won't complain.

Well, youngsters, I remember sending mail when it was 4¢ for a letter. 
I sent letters to my boyfriend in training and Vietnam in 1969-70 when it was 6¢ per stamp, but technically that would be equal to 51¢ each today: usinflationcalculator.com

ETA: 
Has Jeopardy! ever had a category that required knowledge of the value of the U.S. dollar (or cost of a loaf of bread or a postage stamp) over time? 

Edited by shapeshifter
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possibilities

possibilities

They frequently do stamp issues with multiple images, and there's nothing saying they had to release if before the art was ready (and how hard is it to get the art, anyway? they got it for the side bar, after all), so I think this is a deliberate choice on their part. I don't understand it, but I think they decided to do it this way because they wanted to.

My grandfather collected stamps, so I've been in the habit of noticing them for the past 55+ years (I'm 58) and this is a very unusual way to do something like this. They always have a picture of the person on the stamp itself, when they are commemorating a person! I guess if they see it as commemorating the show, that could be the excuse, but it isn't being sold that way. It's clearly being sold as a comemorative for HIM.

You can see the current stamps available at usps.com

 

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

Here's a gift link to the WaPo's July 4th "Can you pass a U.S. citizenship test? Take our civics quiz" article/quiz. 
It is much easier than playing Jeopardy!, so if you're here after a bit of "celebrating," have at it!
I don't know how it compares with a real citizenship test, but I suspect it is much easier than that too: 

https://wapo.st/3zvCS75

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SoMuchTV

SoMuchTV

On 7/3/2024 at 10:43 AM, possibilities said:

I decided to look up the "miscellany" pronunciation:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/miscellany#google_vignette

Apparently I somehow picked up the UK pronunciation. Not sure how that appeened! I did have an elementary school teacher who was British, but I don't recall her saying that particular word. 

US and UK pronunciations are both given at the link.

 

2 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

Ran into another head-scratcher pronunciation today; I'll take this to Small Talk.

I was just listening to a short story read on a podcast, where the reader described a breakup as "amicable".  Pronounced a-MICK-able.  I always thought it was AM-icable but now I'm questioning everything.

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dgpolo

dgpolo

4 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I was just listening to a short story read on a podcast, where the reader described a breakup as "amicable".  Pronounced a-MICK-able.  I always thought it was AM-icable but now I'm questioning everything.

When I was young, around 3rd or 4th grade, my mom had given me a set of Nancy Drew books to read. In one of them I came across the word -abyss- which I'd never come across before. In my head I pronounced it as I would abbess (Ab-bis). I guessed at the meaning from the circumstances in the book and went on my merry way. Much, much later, late teens-early 20s, I heard the word pronounce -uh BYS- and in an almost literal light bulb moment realized that this was the word I had read all that time ago and this was how it was pronounced.

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Clanstarling

Clanstarling

21 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Here's a gift link to the WaPo's July 4th "Can you pass a U.S. citizenship test? Take our civics quiz" article/quiz. 
It is much easier than playing Jeopardy!, so if you're here after a bit of "celebrating," have at it!
I don't know how it compares with a real citizenship test, but I suspect it is much easier than that too: 

https://wapo.st/3zvCS75

Missed one (I don't keep track of how many representatives there are...)

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

The Alex postage stamps were officially issued today:
https://store.usps.com/store/product/alex-trebek-stamps-S_485304

I wonder if his family didn't want his face on them because stamps get "canceled" which involves marking them with ink stripes with a lot of aggressive pressure?

Kind of like how my Mom (who died a month before Alex) didn't want her ashes scattered in the ocean because she was afraid of the water.

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zoey1996

zoey1996

I didn't have time for the museum, so we stopped there on our way back. We stayed at the Best Western Carousel hotel both ways; I'd recommend.

The museum was quite interesting, telling about the history of the carousel, how it came to Burlington, etc. The operator of the carousel also cites some of its history, how the building was used for hay feed storage during the Depression, and how it came to be properly restored. 

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Ancaster

Ancaster

On 6/23/2024 at 11:11 AM, illdoc said:

 

From USPS.com: https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2011/pr11_109.htm

TLDR version: The Postal Service is dropping a rule that currently requires an individual to have been deceased at least five years before being honored on a stamp. Under the new guidelines, living or recently deceased individuals will be eligible for commemoration on postage stamps.      Sep 26, 2011

TLRD?

SoMuchTV

SoMuchTV

(edited)
8 minutes ago, Trey said:

TL;DR Too long; didn't read. 

So the TLDR version is the essence or the main point of something.

I had to look it up.  Always good to learn something new - it might be an answer on Jeopardy! one day😀

I thought it was familiar, and sure enough:

image.png

(I actually thought it was more recent than that!)

Edited by SoMuchTV
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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:
On 9/2/2024 at 1:25 PM, Ancaster said:

Am I the only one who finds this somewhat creepy?

I kind of do, though I'm not sure why...

1 hour ago, Shrek said:

I think it might be because the dog looks so real & is also not what you would expect to see there whereas you expect the horses to be there.

Maybe because the dog is as big as the horses, and also, in the photo, since the dog is closest, it appears even bigger.

 

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

(edited)

Folks in the Wordle Review Comments were fascinated by this bit of trivia, including one who remarked:

Quote

This is the type of information I love when people share here, and in other places. I'm now going to file it away in my brain, forget where I got it, but in the future I'm going to share it generously with others in the characteristic way that often makes me a popular guest at parties.

— which made me think that it might be a Jeopardy! clue (if it has not been already). Since it references today's Wordle solution, I'm spoiler tagging it:

Quote

Interesting fact about BRASS. In World War II the United States produced prodigious amounts of brass shells, from rifle bullets on up to the heaviest artillery and Naval gunnery. In 1944 they had a very efficient recycling of spent casings back to the United States from which to make new shells. The project worked so well that by 1945 the US ended up with an embarrassment of riches: too much brass. The metal had to go somewhere, so once the armament quota was fulfilled the leftover brass went to manufacture the US one cent piece. Previously, cents had been made from bronze, a mix of copper, tin and zinc. But for 1945 and 1946 all cents were made from recycled brass shell casings, with additional copper added to maintain the cents' customary color. In 1947 the Mint returned to the original bronze formula for making cents.

https://www.nytimes.com/shared/comment/41q5f2?rsrc=cshare&smid=url-share

 

Edited by shapeshifter
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