Four-ish cultural artworks to answer Why Are You Like This: -The Muppet Show (1976-81) -The Nine Nations of North America -Incredibly Strange Films -East Side Story (1997)

A phrase my wife has never heard before, and yet won't be surprised by: "Sorry I was late getting the lunch you made. I had to look up how to say 'in the grocer's freezer' in French."

Uh... (attempts thought and/or snarky remark) (fails miserably) Uh...

Quote with a fictional band that is not Spinal Tap.

QRP with the doctor you'd trust leading the hantavirus response instead of RFK Jr.

After a quiet few weeks for bishop appointments for the USCCB, this fortnight (-ish) brings quite a few updates to the spreadsheet at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... -Congratulations to Bishop Godfrey Mullen on his installation as Bishop of Belleville, IL.

🎵 Whatever it is, I'm against it! 🎵

There have been no new appointments or installations among U.S. Catholic bishops in the last two weeks, so the spreadsheet at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... is unchanged. But with Pope Leo XIV approaching the first anniversary of his election, this is a good time to examine the data.

Small repertory movie theater with my own obscure choices of programming. Plus affordable concessions pricing.

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, Disney, or Ghibli.

Here's a question for everyone: out of the hundreds of people reading sections of the Bible at this event this week, how many are Catholic priests or bishops. Post your guesses below. I'll provide the answer late this evening.

Ever seen a DEFA film?

Without saying your age, post your favorite film that released the year you turned 18. (This shows in Portland at least once a year; later this month it's the Academy Theater's turn.)

I'm about a week late with my biweekly update to the spreadsheet of US Catholic Bishops at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... , but there's only been two changes: -Congratulations to James Golka on his installation as Archbishop of Denver, and happy retirement to Archbishop Emeritus Samuel Aquila.

Depluralize a movie. The Murderer Is With Me (1946) (And, inevitably, Revenge of the Cheerleader (1976).)

A day late with my usual biweekly update, and there have been some new appointments and installations added to the spreadsheet of US Catholic Bishops at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... : -Congratulations to Bishop-designate Godfrey Mullen, OSB, on his appointment as bishop of Belleville, IL.

Pitch an unnecessary sequel Emanuelle and the Cannibals We Found That Turned Out To Be the Actual Last Cannibals (As Far As We Know)

Pitch an unnecessary sequel The Eleventh Through Twentieth Commandments

No new appointments but one new installation on the spreadsheet of US Catholic bishops at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... : -Congratulations to Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodriguez on his installation as Bishop of Palm Beach, and happy retirement to Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barbarito.

At the Portland Pilots baseball game: Batter: (hits foul ball behind stands into parking lot) Joe Etzel Field audio system: (car crash noises) Me: (quietly) "Longshot!" (Yes, this is how my brain works. No refunds.) #GoPilots

How I arrived on Bluesky

Share a TV show that raised you.

No new appointments in the last two weeks in the spreadsheet of US Catholic bishops at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... , but there have been changes: -Congratulations to James Checchio on his installation as Archbishop of New Orleans, and happy retirement to Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Aymond.

I'm dozing off to this and it's only 8:40pm in Portland... #RexComus

"Comus's identity is always a mystery." Yeah, but that's because this year it's Brian Kelly... #RexComus

I'm guessing the Andrew B. Wisdoms aren't related to the late 5th Circuit Judge John Minor Wisdom? #RexComus

Maybe it's just my YouTube feed, but the voices aren't matching the mouth movements in this interview...

I've seen dorm rooms smaller than those trains... #RexComus

Once again, I couldn't find a bookie to take my bet on a #RexComus maid or debutante going to Macalester College. Sooner or later, I'll win this bet and be set for life!

Advertise your account with a gif

@ustinoff.bsky.social if you have some leftover "Kaffee Mix" there might actually be a market for it now. Wonder how (or if) it works in Keurigs? 😆

My first DEFA film in a theater at the @cstpdx.bsky.social Clinton Street Theater! #DEFAcember

Age verification? The route from the airport to my grandparents' house: after leaving the Blue, Red, Gold, or Green Concourse, north on MN 5, east on MN 110, east then north on I-494, east on US 12... (Plus, I've seen movies both at the Cooper in St. Louis Park and at Galtier Plaza.)

For those of you who guessed that my closest neighbor on the Bluesky user map would be the unofficial mirror account for the National Weather Service in Columbia, SC, I'm impressed but I do have a lot of questions...

Normally I do updates every two weeks to the spreadsheet of Catholic Bishops at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... , but this was an important week: -Congratulations to Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York on his installation, and happy retirement to Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

As a Louisiana Republican might (but probably won't) say of this result, "Où le yikes!"

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work. "What's your computer number?"

Portlanders, cancel any plans you have for Wednesday, February 11th, because the Clinton Street Theater @cstpdx.bsky.social is showing DEFA's "The Singing, Ringing Tree" (1957) at 7pm that evening! Come for the Grimm Brothers story, stay for a lot of weirdness! (Plus Christel Bodenstein!)

Definitely worth seeing when it shows on PBS on Monday the 9th! Come for the inspiring librarians, stay to learn more about Patriot Mobile (the ones who lost the Texas state senate race last week) than you wanted to know. (You can stream the Olympic luge events afterwards.)

Here's the latest bi-weekly update to the spreadsheet of US Catholic bishops at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... : -Congratulations to Bishop Mario Avilés on his installation as Bishop of Corpus Christi, and happy retirement to Bishop Emeritus William Mulvey of Corpus Christi.

Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college: Urban Geography Television and Religion 16mm Filmmaking Introduction to Chemistry American Politics (Yes, I ended up with an individually designed major in Demography, Political Analysis, and Film; my parents still wince.)

It looks like a two-week cycle works best for updates to the spreadsheet of US Catholic Bishops at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... . -Congratulations to Auxiliary Bishop John S. Bonnici on his appointment as Bishop of Rochester, NY. Once new bishops are installed, predecessors will be removed.

Introduce yourself with 5 facts. 1) Open the door, you find a secret 2) To find the answer is to keep it 3) You'll believe it when you find 4) Something screaming 'cross your mind 5) Green Slime!

Updates for the last two weeks to the spreadsheet of US Catholic bishops at docs.google.com/spreadsheets... : -Congratulations to Bishop-designate James Misko of Tucson. With his appointment, four US dioceses are sede vacante: Belleville, IL; Joliet, IL; Metuchen, NJ; and Steubenville, OH.

#DEFAcember will return in the spring, though I'm not sure of the topic yet; it could be based around @deafcrocodile.bsky.social 's planned Märchenfilme set coming out this year, but I've got another idea in mind as well; if I do that, it'll be in April. Etwas Später Frohes Neues Jahr!

#DEFAcember and the 11th Plenum: I decided to watch this series of films not only for the 60th anniversary of the 11th Plenum, but also because of a statement in Jim Morton's @popvoid.bsky.social "Movies Behind the Wall" that the 11th Plenum seems like the point at which the soul of the GDR died.

#MST3K and Joel Hodgson, call your lawyers! You clearly came up with the concept first back in 1993! youtu.be/dUh85A4M4Ds?...

Merriam-Webster is a great provider of dictionaries and other reference books, but I could not pull this word off if my life depended on it. (I do have droopy eyelids, but I don't look sultry, I just look asleep on conference calls.)

Finding your Christmas films have too many reindeer and snowmen and not enough stolen washing machines? Then check out the fun "Der Weihnachtsmann heißt Willi" (1969), which also features the beloved Clown Ferdinand, interesting Leipzig scenery, and Fred Delmare. No subtitles, but you'll get by.

#DEFAcember 43: There can't be many films that were banned even before being completed, but the 11th Plenum managed to do so with "Miss Butterfly" (1965). It was filmed during the fall of 1965, with filming completed just days before the 11th Plenum started, and it was banned based on a rough cut.