I've sworn that next year, I'm just going to build a shack in the park and stay in SF for two weeks so I don't miss anything. SO many great acts. It's comedy nerd heaven.

San Francisco Sketchfest! Thursday was Rifftrax, with a miraculous assortment of instructional filmstrip shorts that had us in tears. Friday was U Talkin' U2 2 Me?, which was inspired and stupid (and even had a little U2 in it), and then off across town to see the Dead Author's Podcast with Lauren Lapkus as Beatrix…

Ooh, good tip. I'll try that.

The Chemex brews a very nice clean cup of coffee. Good flavor, and yes, it makes you feel like you're a part of the process to be doing the pour. It does tend to filter out most of the oils of the coffee, though, so if full body is part of your favorite cup, the Chemex might not be to your liking.

If you're not used to that sort of drug, four could be pretty potent, esp combined with an edible. Don't do it, though, seriously. Much better drugs out there, and Vicodin contains tylenol, which is significantly toxic to the liver, even in relatively low doses.

Those ninjas were just the best. I want Andy to be escorted by tiny ninjas all the time.

Sounds like you're a natural teacher.

Thank you for leading me to that; I hadn't read it. Devastating, and so fucking true.

Yeah, I started to worry about George at the judges' table, he was in full bloom. I was wondering if he had a small drug problem, or medical condition—or maybe just really, really inconvenient glands. Either way, the poor guy was about to float away.

Very common psyche terminology.

Don't really have a dog in this fight, but I'm not sure that his being willing to trade other people's rights and safety for a few extra bucks is much of an endorsement. Certainly not an argument to warm the average progressive's heart.

Robot King: you're onto something with going to the gym more. Having dealt recently with panic attacks, and seeking non-prescription relief, my doc told me about a couple of recent studies indicating that aerobic exercise (20 min/day) was as effective in eliminating anxiety/panic attacks as benzos. That, and…

Unfortunately not, since they had the logical and meaningful opportunity to do so last season, and chose instead to invent a wad of horseshit to rescue him from death. Frank will be around as long as the series is around, unfortunately.

Shameless is very good on a lot of counts. Emmy Rossum (and most of the cast, actually) is doing stellar work, largely ignored, and it gets a lot right about the way addiction and history are always lurking to drag you backwards if you're not careful. It's funny and dark and is a really effective picture of how love…

Agreed about the point of the Serial podcast, though I don't know about believing Jay. Harping on Koenig's personal involvement completely overlooks that she is an audience surrogate, and the podcast is about this woman seeking truth in this case where pretty much all the evidence rests on one guy. I don't believe…

Slightly embarrassed to say I have a t-shirt with "Transponster" on it. Only slightly, because I'm old and nobody cares anymore. But every now and again it gets a smile from another old person, and then I'm happy.

Ditto. Therapy. Been depressed most of my life, sometimes catastrophically so, and have seen easily over a dozen different shrinks of varying stripes. Most were "fine," which unfortunately, where therapy is concerned, is the same as being useless. You need the right chemistry and the right approach. One in my 20's…

It was a moment of damned good writing.

Summation of your argument: "I listened a bit."

Roughly the same number who got "Ignatiy" right on the first swing.