So, at the end of Murder on the Orient Express, Branagh-Poirot is summoned immediately to Egypt, because “There’s been a death on the Nile”. But the plot of Death on the Nile relies on him being around to witness the events leading up to the murder, and observing all the suspects and victim prior to the crime. He…

Not sure which is scarier - being mauled by a bear, or finding out that bears use the postal system. The former is obviously more painful, but the latter raises some disturbing questions. Why do the bears need to communicate across long distances? Why have they kept this a secret? Where are they getting the stamps?

The P. Terry’s creep in Austin is starting to disturb me. They’re advancing north up 183 like some sort of fungus. I’m also convinced they are responsible for putting Terra Burger out of business.

My parents official line was that stocking presents were from Santa, the stuff under the tree was from them or other relatives. Under-the-tree presents accumulated all month, but stockings only appeared on Christmas morning. When sis and I got to be teenagers, we had a lot of fun sneaking around getting our parents…

I grew up in a two-story house, my sister and I on the upper floor, parents on the first. Items were allowed to sit at the bottom of the stairs awaiting redistribution for 24 hours, then Dad got creative about distributing them all over the steps so we couldn’t walk. It was pretty effective at both inconveniencing us…

What books are you asking for, goddess? (I’m doing a big Thursday Next re-read right now, but I’m gonna need new stuff after that)

Oh god, I love the Soviet version. VINNIE POOH!!! Imma get drunk and watch those on youtube tonight.

I had a Dad Vader with a very small Leia this year and it was awesome.

Are they sort of phobic about making a mess? I’ve kind of caught myself doing this. I’m hungry, maybe I’ll do a sandwich instead of dinner, honey, do you want a sandwich? no? Maybe I’ll just wait - no point in messing up the kitchen twice and dirtying more utensils and counterspace if you’re going to fix a real…

This is cold, but if you have no entitlement to his property after he dies, you also have no responsibility towards the funeral. His next of kin are on the hook for that. Don’t take this the wrong way, I am a 25yo in a long-term, live-in relationship with someone I’m not married to - pretty much exactly the same.

Bioshock - probably my favorite video game

My issue with the Girl Scouts is that the individual troops are totally subject to the whims of the troop moms, who run the show. There are a very few things each troop is required to do to remain a part of GSUSA (meet a certain number of times per month, the cookie sale), but after that it’s up to the troop leaders.…

Sorry about the job, but... that is stone-cold badassery. I bet that woman still sometimes wakes up in a sweat thinking about that interview with you and how glad she is that she’s never seen you again.

Stig... I really doubt you are one of the dudes being discussed here. I’ve mostly seen you pop in to make a pun, or advise on cars. I have never felt that you want dominate discussions in the way a few of our male friends like to (and for the most part, I do consider the vocal Dude Commenters of jez friendly people -…

J&T is Flying Squid! This is my own personal conspiracy theory. I just feel like the MO and timing is suspiciously similar.

That guy has been bothering me for ages (I mean, he’s never talked to me, I’ve never talked to him, but his posts about his daughter really disturb me). I genuinely think he’s the return of Flying Squid.

Hey, Renard. As a woman who has occasionally been annoyed by the ubiquitous-ness of a few of our regular male commenters, you’ve never been one that bugged me and I always appreciate your perspective on articles involving legal matters. I think you’re doing well.

Oh, I think it would definitely have impacted his career, Marchant seems super vicious. But I don’t think that this was his decision to make, and he didn’t make it. At what point do you have an obligation? When you are asked to step in, when the victim is not capable of deciding for themselves, when the victim is in…

Oh yeah, the “THERE WILL BE NO MORE UPDATES UNTIL I GET 50 REVIEWS ON THIS CHAPTER!!!” hostage-taking. That’s what happens when a culture is run by teenagers.

On the other hand, if he decided to report the abuse as a third party, it could have torpedoed her career just as quickly as if she reported it herself. Given that she chose to endure the abuse and get tenure before filing a complaint, I’m not convinced she would have thanked him. I think he’s doing the right thing…