Department Of Moiself Could Do Much Better. So, I Did.
The 26 across clue for the New York Times Saturday crossword puzzle was “a bad look.” Neither MH nor I thought it was a good match for the answer to 26 across, which turned out to be, “the eye.”
Say what?
According to a study I just made up, everybody knows that a bad look is not the eye, it’s the evil eye, or the stink eye, et al. We both agreed that the phrase the eye is rarely used, but when it is, it may be neutral as in, that person‘s giving you the eye, as in, they’re checking you out, perhaps in a curious or flattering way (because they find you interesting or attractive)…but it isn’t necessarily “bad.”
The Saturday NYT crosswords are the most difficult of the week, often incorporating obscure clues and/or answers. Thus, I was proud of moiself for coming up with what I thought would be the perfect Saturday (difficult/obscure) crossword clue, if you want the answer to be, the eye.
Clue: “___ ___ of Laura Mars” (if she only had one). [1]
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Department Of Siri (Or Whatever Is Listening) Doesn’t Like How I Enunciate
…a phenomenon for which I am mostly grateful, in that it often provides moiself (and my fortunate/unfortunate textees) with cheap entertainment.
Category: Best Mistranslation Of The Year. [2]
Dateline: Saturday, late morning. Moiself has been exchanging texts with friend LH, whom I invited to Sunday dinner and with whom I’ve been discussing menu possibilities:
What was spoken/dictated, by moiself:
“…you’re a yes for dinner?”
What was translated as a text:
“…your ass for dinner?”
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Department Of And The Oscar Goes To…
The afore-mentioned mistranslation blooper is, so far, runner up for Best Mistranslated Text Ever. First place goes to a text of mine from of years past. Setting: MH and I were on a crowded light rail train. I received a text from friend JWW, asking if she could come over to our house to collect some plants MH had promised her, for her yard. I dictated my answer, letting her know that we were not at home, and that I was texting from the Max train, as we were on our way to Portland.
What was spoken, by moiself:
“…we’re on our way to attend the Portland Folk Festival.”
What was translated:
“…we’re on our way to attend the Portland Fuck Festival.”
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Department Of A Book To Distract From Politics
After reading Patrick Stewart’s recent memoir, Making It So, I’ve been thinking about moiself’s favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, after Stewart named his. [3] As of this moment, they are, in dyslexic alphabetical order (with commentary by guest commentator, moiself )
* The Inner Light
(an entire life lived in 20 minutes – even sci fi legend Ursula Le Guin was impressed [4] )
* Yesterday’s Enterprise
( introducing arguably [5] the bravest fictional captain ever: Rachel Garrett)
* The Best of Both Worlds, Parts 1 & 2
(featuring the creepiest, most unnerving of enemies, The Borg)
* The Face of the Enemy
( Kidnapped Troi walks a razor’s edge to help resistance fighters )
* The Offspring
( Data “loves” and loses a child of his own creation)
* The Host
(Dr. Crusher loves and loses a person of a symbiotic species)
* Reunion
(More love and loss: Klingon politics; Worf and his valiant ex-with-a-secret)
* I, Borg
(Geordi makes me hate the Borg a little bit less….[6] )
* Lower Decks
(A welcome focus on junior officers; a noble sacrifice from one of them)
* Sarek
(The aging diplomat battles dementia with Picard’s mind-meld help )
* Unification Parts 1 & 2
(Has ST legend Spock gone rogue trying to help Romulan dissidents?)
* Data’s Day
( A Vulcan Ambassador/spy; Data learns to tap dance)
* Manhunt
(Lwaxana Troi chews scenery and saves a peace conference from terrorists)
* Starship Mine
(aka “Die Hard Picard,” but Data’s attempts at small talk steal the show)
* Ensign Ro
(The “difficult” Bajoran terrorist with a poignant backstory)
* Cost of Living
(Flamboyancy hiding her loneliness, Lwaxana Troi mentors Worf’s son)
Featuring one of Worf’s best lines, re the experience of taking a mud bath [7]
* * *
Freethinkers’ Thought Of The Week [8]
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Parting Shot: I love it when/I hate it when…
I love it when moiself watches a show I’ve seen a bajillion times before, and at a particularly poignant moment, even though I know *exactly* what’s ahead, I still cannot stop myself from crying.
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May you never serve…uh, you know what…for Sunday dinner;
May you send the NY Times crossword editor your own “better” clues;
May you enjoy a good cry from your own favorite poignant TV episode;
…and may the hijinks ensue.
Thanks for stopping by. Au Vendredi!
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[1] Taken from the title of the 1978 Faye Dunaway movie, The Eyes Of Laura Mars.
[2] Hey, the year ain’t over yet.
[3] No surprise to ST fans, it was The Inner Light.
[4] Le Guin praised the series, and that Hugo Award-winning episode in particular, in her 1994 essay for TV Guide.
[5] As in, if you were to argue with me about it, which would be a waste of time but hey, it’s your life.
[6] But they still should have taken the opportunity to destroy/weaken the collective, IMO.
[7] “You’re just supposed to *sit* here?!”
[8] “free-think-er n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists. No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth.” Definition courtesy of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, ffrf.org
