If I recall correctly, Boulle got full credit for the “Bridge” screenplay, even though he spoke no English at the time -- because the writers who actually turned his novel into a screenplay were on the blacklist!

In happier news, there will soon be a new season of “Hanging With Doctor Z,” and if you didn’t see the first season, head to YouTube right this instant: https://www.youtube.com/c/HangingwithDoctorZ

From the original CNN story: “Costco rival Sam’s Club in 2017 streamlined its 21 private brands into its Member’s Mark brand.”

Walmart doesn’t use “Great Value” for everything, mostly for groceries. They have different store brands for, say, over-the-counter meds or men’s clothing. The whole idea of the piece is that Costco uses Kirkland for *everything* — I am sitting here with Kirkland Signature hearing aids in my ears. The other thing that…

A week and a half ago, I went to see the Mystery Science Theater 3000 live tour. This particular tour is based on a movie Emmerich made in the 1980s, “Making Contact.” Man, is it bad. It’s hard to even imagine that the director of “Making Contact” went on to make “Independence Day.” “Making Contact” is just a huge…

I remember seeing a dip recipe on Lucky Peach back in the day which referred to, if I recall correctly, a 10-ounce tub of sour cream, as if it were sold that way where the writer lived. Here, all I’ve ever seen are 8-ounce and 16-ounce tubs. I think I may have seen the stubby butter on some cooking show (probably with…

Not a problem here in rural Tennessee -- I find store-brand butter, national brand butter, and an increasing variety of cultured, European-style butters. I will sometimes buy the “regular” butter for cooking and something like Kerrygold or President for spreading.

No offense taken. I realize it sounds like an odd choice, but I was fascinated when I first heard about it — and I’ve spoken to other folks who’ve been there and enjoyed it. It’s well-presented, and really ends up conveying a lot about history and popular culture (for example, the evolution of country stores into…

I took a little two-night getaway just this past weekend to East Tennessee, about three, three-and-a-half hours’ drive from where I live in Middle Tennessee. There’s a convenience store chain in East Tennessee called Weigel’s — no idea where it’s based or how prevalent it is. They had huge billboards advertising…

Oh, sure -- I was not trying to negate what you said, which was really helpful.

Good information. Unfortunately, I live in a small town in a rural area — I suspect I would be able to pick up all the Nashville stations (and maybe Huntsville, Ala., as well) with a rooftop antenna, but I’m an an apartment. My indoor antenna, with a small signal-booster, gets two signals (one of which has multiple…

I told them not to pay the ferry man. “Don’t even fix a price,” I said. But did they listen?

I go through phases when I use my SodaStream, and then I go through phases when I get tired / annoyed with it and put it away. I live in a small rural town, and there’s no one locally who sells the flavor syrups and/or exchanges tanks. I use as mail-in tank exchange called Soda Sense — depending on your situation, you…

Patton Oswalt had better return as Dr. Demento.

I’ve heard some police officers who say that “Barney Miller” is still the most accurate depiction of police work on television.

I replaced my air fryer a few months back, and the new one was designed, not with a basket, but with a removable platform — and the holes in the platform are just barely large enough that some smaller or squished chickpeas could squeeze through. But recently, I found some great little parchment liners — cut to just…

I love Nutella as an occasional special treat. I did, however, get unreasonably angry in the days when they would position it as a nutritious breakfast food. I think, even today, they tout the fact that it has “skim milk” on the label -- never mind the palm oil, it’s made with skim milk! It must be good for you!

I want to see this, and I’m sure it will be worth seeing, but the José Ferrer version is one of my favorite things ever — and it fell into the public domain at some point, so it is legally and ethically available on YouTube.

There’s a wonderful book by Susan Tifft and Alex Jones (not THAT Alex Jones) called “The Patriarch,” about the Bingham family which once dominated Louisville, Ky., media, owning the newspaper, a TV station and radio stations, and becoming one of the predominant media companies in the South. Two of Barry Bingham Sr.’s…

Other musicians who’ve pulled double duty include: Chance The Rapper, Justin Timberlake, Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus, and Halsey. The most recent singer to do it was Nick Jonas.