Carol the Dabbler

I don't understand what sort of movie (TV show?) this is intended to be. Does it depict Tolkien's life (or a portion thereof)? Or is it about Middle Earth?

Why of course -- how very scientific of you!

Blender works far better for me. (Mashing, or even pushing through a strainer, leaves somewhat larger particles that clog the syringe.) And you gotta add a little water, of course.

Spelling errors, or at least uses of wrong homonyms (e.g., confusion of to, too, and two), are becoming all too common in even the best of publications. I once saw the phrase "give them free reign" (rather than "rein") in Harvard Magazine, of all places!

Well, that's Daily Mail for you. I have the impression that only the photographers actually go out in the field, and then the "reporters" kinda make up stuff to go with the pictures.

I was just about to make a similar suggestion -- until you said it for me. Yeah, the last few times I've actually had any interest in that hoopla, there was so much time dedicated to gratuitous "entertainment" that the actual award presentations seemed an afterthought. News flash to the Academy: People watch the show to see their favorite stars, and to see who won. So announce the candidates, show us clips from each, announce the winners, and let them (or their representative)* say thank you. Then maybe let the MC crack a couple brief jokes, and on to the next category. But the Academy does seem to know that already, which is presumably why they save the "best" awards till last, lest viewers just see which show won, then turn off the tv and go to bed. So why do they persist in boring us between awards? Are they thoughtfully allowing time for a refrigerator raid or a bathroom break? * I noticed a few years ago that they seem to have done away with the option of letting the award be accepted by an absent artist's representative. Now the Academy accepts it on the artist's behalf, which is not only meaningless, it prevents us from seeing someone who actually cares about the win have a say -- and/or read a carefully-prepared statement from a winner who's busy filming elsewhere. Bleh.

Yeah, I think whoever devised those has it in for Anderson. Like John and Greg, he's only incompetent by comparison to Sherlock. He's a scientist, so I'd guess that he writes with very small angular letters. I think Sally's signature would look more business-like -- that flamboyant "S" seems a bit out of place. I like the rest (especially Molly's ), but what the heck is Sebastian Moran doing here?

Lemme guess -- it's snowing up your way. If by "romance books" you mean what's sold in the bookstore aisle marked "Romance," it finally dawned on me a few years back that those are basically porn, the women's equivalent to Playboy magazine. So I would assume (haven't worked up the courage to check) that there are quite a few mild rape fantasies, BDSM, and the like -- the sort of stuff that's titillating to read about in the safety of one's own privacy, even though the reader would be utterly terrified if it actually happened to her. As for the rom-coms, that's just Sturgeon's Law in action again: 90% of everything is crap.

I had heard the verb (from a movie title, right?), but wasn't sure what it meant, plus had never heard it used as an adjective, so I was definitely not sure what you meant. They sound like a lovely couple!

Gas-lighty?

And I suspect that attitude is unlikely to change any time soon, due to the current (last I heard) low birth rate. Over here, we keep building more schools, while over there, schools are being closed for lack of young people. Thanks for your detailed confirmation of my impression.

I've seen only a few clips of the show, and I'm certainly no expert on Japanese culture either, but I have read a certain amount about Japan, plus a friend of mine now lives there. As I understand it, Japanese people in general (and women in particular) appear extremely non-assertive to Westerners, because they do not state things forcefully, they sort of (by our standards) beat around the bush. Another Japanese person will understand what they're getting at, because they were raised the same way, but if there's a Westerner is at the other end of the conversation, they may be totally frustrated, like "Why can't I get a straight answer from this guy?" It's kind of like the difference between men and women in Western culture, where a woman is embarrassing herself by (she thinks) throwing herself at a man that she's attracted to, and meanwhile he doesn't even notice, even if he's also attracted to her. So it may actually be the Sherlock character who's unusual, by being more forceful than the Japanese norm, while Wato-san is more of a normal Japanese woman -- kind of like the contrast between the traditional Holmes and Watson, really.

You guys just don't appreciate a finely-tuned wit.

All I can say for sure is that I've seen DVDs of Orange is the New Black for sale on Amazon. So I assume they do release at least some of their exclusives, eventually. Aw, shucks!

Sure, I'll let you know what I think of it. But several other members have done so already: Definitely looking forward to it, in a possibly-masochistic sort of way.