glomph

"At least it was a fruit pie."

I know a church that installed an alarm system and put up more secure outside doors at their parsonage. One night as their cute young pastor and his bride slept, someone broke into the house and took a few things. The person entered through the laundry room, perhaps knowing that would be the easiest (and quietest) way in. What was never mentioned publicly was that the only missing items were the pastor's dirty undies. Those who knew, quietly assumed that the thief was a young man in the congregation who was apparently infatuated with the pastor. No one wanted to make a stink about it (so to speak), but that scenario was reassuring that the couple had been in no real danger. Still, the security updates made sense given how easy it had been to break in. Eventually, the presumed burglar moved in with a male partner and is rather openly gay, and so the supposition seems plausible. Whatever turns you on.

I saw it in IMAX 3-D. I agree with most of the above comments. Also, there were great previews of coming IMAX 3-D features, such as the one about fixing Hubble.

The French don't admit that what is spoken in Canada is French or admit to understanding it. In Paris I started watching a movie on TV. It was in French but also had French subtitles, which I thought odd, but appreciated, since I could make it out better having both. There wasn't tons of dialogue anyway, as it was about auto racing. I noted that the only discrepancy between what I read and what I heard was in the "cuss" words. The spoken ones were English, but were in French in the subtitles, e.g. "merde." I eventually figured out that the film's setting was Canada, and decided that the subtitles were for those who didn't want to admit to understanding Canadian French.

Am7 Dm7 Gsus7 CM7 F9 BbM7 A I just kept that one, and thought it was a pretty good resolution.

I still listen to Astrud Gilberto sometimes, mostly in English with some Portuguese.

English horn serpent DX-7 celesta and others according to my mood and, of course . . . "Dobro means good in any language."

Pardon?

According to Time magazine, it is "The Decade from Hell." I've also heard it called "the Naughties."

Is it too cynical to suggest that possessing two of those is above average?

On my first trip to England, I couldn't get over how friendly everybody was. I never seemed to encounter a stranger. It certainly ran against my stereotype of British reserve. People weren't shy with their opinions. One guy was still bitter that the US had rebuilt Germany but left much of London in shambles. (This was just 31 years after WW II.) But he was very friendly to Americans as individuals. Of course maybe it's just me, being such a great person and all. I mean no one was ever rude to me in Paris when I was there, And in Eastern Europe, people would just walk up and start speaking German to me (no matter what the native language was there).

"Blame Canada"!

Close. His name was Alastair Sim. His Scrooge is my all-time favorite, but I'd suggest the 1930's version, too. I watched White Christmas on TV this year, and it reminded me that I liked Holiday Inn somewhat more. I'm not a fan of It's a Wonderful Life for some reason. It was sort of fun to watch it the year of the Savings and Loan Scandal, I admit. The original Miracle on 34th Street was pretty good. It holds up better if I don't watch it every year. I tried watching the modern remake and gagged. I saw Home Alone again on TV this year. I knew I had liked it, but it was better than I had remembered. It certainly pushes a lot of emotional buttons successfully. I liked most of the movies mentioned in this thread, but I don't think I could do a real top-5 list. It would vary too much with my mood and the particular year (such as whether I've seen a given movie too many times in recent years). But I'll mention a couple that I don't believe have been mentioned. On Christmas Eve I watched Auntie Mame (the non-musical version with Rosalind Russell, not the awful film version of Mame with Lucille Ball). It's of course not a Christmas movie as such, but Christmas plays an important part. Next week I plan to read Uncle Mame, the biography of Patrick Dennis, who wrote the novel. His life sounds interesting (how he dealt with his sexuality and also his choosing to become a butler after a wildly successful writing career--including being Ray Croc's butler). [Nuclear physics warning: Don't put your copies of Mame and Auntie Mame anywhere near each other. One of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is Trading Places. I used to watch it every year, but am skipping this one. BTW, most years for New Years I watch When Harry Met Sally. I don't know if I'll get to it this year. I have too much going on on New Year's Eve, but may see it on the 1st. The concert from Vienna takes precedent that day. In the 1980s there always seemed to be a Marx Brothers' marathon on one station or another starting on New Year's Eve, so that is a continuing association in my mind. No matter how late I'd get home, I watch at least some of a Marx Brothers film before I went to bed. Some years I still do that, though now it may be an instant view over Netflix.

Your point about Jesus' association with prostitutes (as well as other kinds of outcasts) is well taken, as are the others points. But nothing in the Bible suggests that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, however. Pope Gregory did that in a sermon centuries later, and some popular literature has carried that notion on into modern times. There are at least 4 or 5 Marys in the Gospels, and they were obviously not all the same person. Also, there are a couple of stories about Jesus' feet being anointed, and they don't necessarily imply the same event. Also, don't confuse "the other Mary" of Matthew 28 with Olive, the Other Reindeer. In terms of this thread, your positives could also be considered negatives. They can bring to mind how Christianity as practiced often has little to do with the teachings or example of Jesus.

Your original agreement no doubt had a clause that they could change the terms any time they wish with adequate notice, which they gave you. It is deceptive (because it was not a fixed rate, in the sense of never changing), and it may not be good business--they're counting on most people not to read the notice, but it as almost surely legal. It sounds like you took the best course of action. They were making a killing off of the ancillary fees, and these services were unlikely to be worth the cost to you. I once got a notice of change of terms for a Master Card account that I'd had for almost 30 years. Not much changed except that they added a right to impose a $10 fee for canceling the card. I called customer service immediately and said that I wanted to cancel the card while I could do so for free. The representative said that they never really would charge that fee, so I kept the card. I got the impression that I was nowhere near the first call of its kind they had dealt with.

While not called Boxing Day here in the US, we used to have "after-Christmas" sales, and still do to an extent. In a rough economy they often start before Christmas, though. If you announced a Boxing Day sale here, people might expect to buy a George Foreman grill, I guess. And there used to be January White Sales, things like bed linens and towels. I never knew the connection with January. They atrophied down to a week or two rather than all month.

You need to do your duty as the cat's mom and teach him to hunt.

A gay boy and a stray dog. But it is sad.

When I was a kid, Mother made lots of cookies, and one day she decided to make two batches of the same recipe, but out of curiosity to use butter in one batch and margarine in the other. She knew which was which, but I didn't, so it was not a rigorous double-blind scientific experiment and was never published in a scholarly journal. I could tell the difference between the two, and preferred the cookies made with butter. I still liked the other cookies, however, and would gladly eat any of them. I knew an elderly lady who made wonderful poundcakes, perhaps the best I've ever eaten. She used 1/2 butter and 1/2 Crisco for the shortening.

Some guy in SC sued the people who produced "The Dukes of Hazard" because he said they based it on his life story. Sorry I don't have any link to that, though.

Over time, then, the number of planets that can pick up "I Love Lucy" broadcasts increases as the signal becomes more diffused. That probably graphs into some sort of simple curve.

I think we're supposed to assume that Ryan is gay. He certainly fits enough stereotypes, and in case you had any doubt, they dress him in pink. I didn't read quite that much into the baseball/don't dance number, and I didn't see an implied hookup with Chad, but I didn't watch the movie that closely when it was on TV. It's not as obvious as "My robe, Antoninus. My taste includes both snails and oysters."

I'll go along with many of the ones mentioned so far, particularly "Oklahoma," and the video more especially than just the song. I have an Allison Kraus CD full of songs about breaking up, and I get teary from the cumulative effect, not so much from any one song. I think the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is rather poignant when you think about a gay context while you listen. Try it some time. The thread reminds me of the old joke about what happens when you listen to a country song backward.

That's unusual? It seems to describe my teens and twenties pretty well. I thought we all started off like that, and most straight guys started getting over it by 17. I do wrap gifts equally badly for all occasions, though.

I can't say that any of the stories on this site changed my life, but I've spent a significant part of the last few years fretting over when Dom would post another chapter and a significant part of the last 2 weeks reading the 197 chapters (so far) of "Billy Chase." I was not going to start reading it, because there were so many chapters, but I got a little curious and tried reading the first chapter.