[A ghostly side note: Soldier boy Miller played a Lucifer-like character in the final two episodes of Joan of Arcadia. Coincidence?] I do find it strangely poetic, ... that a character who shows up on a show about God to play something kind of satanic winds up in the very last two episodes of that show, and then appears in the show that replaces that show on its exact time and night the following season. |
[A year ago, the Redskins were 3-5 and trying to unearth a modicum of offensive success, lacking a deep game all season long. As they were then, they are competitive in virtually every game but have found a way to win close games in Gibbs's second year back.] It's a huge difference, ... It's a completely different attitude. Last year I think we were all down and we didn't want to be around here too much. |
[And in this new era of corporate accountability, operating executives have to understand exactly what their business risks are. Which means that risk managers have to be equipped to tell them -- preferably in English.] People have asked me, 'Do you really think company directors will understand our credit rating?' ... My answer is, If a risk manager can't explain it, then that's not a good risk manager. |
[As revealing as anything in Fowler's autobiography is the claim that his financial advisor, George Scott, encouraged Peter Ridsdale to walk away when the bidding reached double figures. It was, he said, a crazy price, but on November 29 the deal was done.] If they had been a bit tougher in the transfer market, they could have got me for half that, ... It was crazy and maybe typical of what was going on. |
[At the same time, company officials at the lifestyle media and merchandising giant announced a series of changes that indicate they are backing off the Martha Stewart name to focus on non-eponymous products. Everyday Food, a monthly magazine whose circulation has risen 50 percent in the year since it was launched, will no longer carry the tag line] From the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living. ... Living. |
[Aziz's patrol continues on past one of the two main mosques in Karmah. Over the past few days, the Iraqi soldiers have told the Marines what the imams have blasted over loudspeakers—calls to rise up and attack the Americans. But, under strict orders, the Marines may not enter mosques or schools. They don't like it.] What I'd give to be able to look in there, ... You know they're hiding something. |
[By Wednesday morning, the Arkansas Times had changed its tune, calling for a massive federal response.] For the living, the prospects of homes, power, water, phones, jobs, ATMs, medical services, food — any semblance of normal life — are only the most distant dreams in New Orleans today. The 1927 flood seems to have been eclipsed in scale of destruction, ... A massive federal response is imperative. |
[It could be argued that the Johnstown flood of 1889 wasn't a natural disaster at all, but the inevitable consequence of humans thinking they could control nature. Whatever the cause, the day after a dam burst, unleashing 20 million tons of water on the residents of Johnstown, Pa., and its neighboring boroughs, the area looked like] a vast sea of muck and rubble and filthy water, ... The Johnstown Flood. |
[Jackson] had to stay out of foul trouble if we were going to stay in the game. The calls [against Jackson] weren't the difference in the game, but they were the difference in his being out of the game. We had to take a risk and put him back in there, and when I took him back out with a minute and 40 to go, that was the difference in the game. It was a four-point game and just like that, it went to nine. |
[Johnson allowed home runs to three consecutive batters for the first time in his major league career and four in all during the fourth inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 6-2 to stop a seven-game losing streak. Johnson allowed the homers over a 16-pitch span.] How do you explain something like that? ... It's the one thing that I'll walk away from this game not really understanding. |
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[That women have developed a preference for large lips reflects changing notions of beauty. Thirty years ago Cheryl Tiegs was the cover girl ideal with her blond hair, blue eyes and relatively thin lips. But the population has become more racially diverse, and ethnic beauties now grace magazine covers.] Once upon a time we used to write a story about minimizing your lips, ... Now that would never happen. |
[The company contributed six pairs of a $600 brown suede pump for a crucial scene in which Maggie breaks the heel of one of Rose's favorite shoes.] Curtis is not a fan of product placement unless it's for a reason, but as a costumer you have to use it a certain amount to stay within budget, ... We needed to use an expensive name brand in that scene, so when it breaks the audience knows how much it costs. |
[The Howling Commandos are a top-secret unit that's been running clandestine operations in the Marvel universe for quite awhile.] It's a lot like 'Men in Black,' ... If you ever wonder where all the old Marvel monsters went S.H.I.E.L.D. has been rounding them up and saying stuff like, 'Hi. You're a vampire. Here's your choice you either join the Howling Commandos or we're going to throw you into the sun. |
[There is no cure, but there are ways to deal with the problems caused by dyslexia. Jeremy's parents, Rebecca and Jerry Gray, want other parents to know that dyslexia is not uncommon. It's also an inherited trait and doesn't have anything to do with intelligence.] My advice to other parents is to talk to their kids, ... Talk to their teachers and see what they're saying and what they're doing in schools. |