[BlogEntry] A tiny literary Picasso

Tonight over dinner, Katherine asked me if I'd noticed anything unusual about the front door. I asked if she'd made a decoration that was hanging on the door. "Yes," she said. I told her that I would look at it after dinner.

What I found was an erasable slate hanging from the doorknob with, as best I can tell, the following:

   T
T2I04H
 I  S

I told her that it was very impressive, and asked her what it said.

"Night is the beautifulest," she said proudly and went off to play.

[BlogEntry] Dancing with the Stars : Vincent Pastore is Out

Scratch one charismatic old guy from the roster. Unlike John O'Hurley, George Hamilton and Jerry Springer, Vincent Pastore has decided that the rigorous training needed for the dancing program is too much for him, and he's bailing out.

Master P, you listening?

[BlogEntry] American Idol : Antonella is Staying


Word from producer Nigel Lythgoe is that Antonella Barba will not be kicked off the show for her dirty pictures. If you listen carefully you can hear Frenchie Davis swearing.

The decision is an interesting one. You have to figure that either they're thinking she's a bad enough singer that she'll be gone this week anyway, or else they're thinking that now she'll survive much longer than she should have since people will be voting for her in the hopes of more pictures coming out. Nigel even mentioned that AI is just as much a popularity contest as a singing contest. So did he tip his hand there? He expects her to last a few weeks now?

More American Idol stories…

Technorati: American Idol

[BlogEntry] How I Met Your Mother : Prisoner's Dilemma

Was I hearing things Monday night, or did Robin actually tell Lilly not to "go all Prisoner's Dilemma on me" when she was about to confess something about Marshall's car? The line was delivered so quickly and quietly, with no reaction at all, that I'm left wondering if I just misheard it and the geeky part of my brain filled in the rest.

Prisoner's Dilemma, for those who've never heard of it, is something of a logic game where you have to figure out the optimal strategy for winning over time. The general idea is that two prisoners have been sentenced, and are offered a deal – if one of them betrays the other, then he goes free and the other one gets 10 years. If they both betray each other, they both get 2 years. But if they both stay silent, they both get 6 months. So it's a cooperation game. If they both go for the benefit that is best for them (potential freedom by turning the other guy in), then they both lose and end up with 2 years. But if they both stay silent, knowing that they could be on the hook for up to 10 years, they could end up winning and getting out with just 6 months.

Since the game is about betraying and not just about confessing, I'm not really sure that Robin's prisoner's dilemma reference was accurate. Anybody? Did I just imagine it?

Update: It was still on my Tivo, and yes that's absolutely what she said: "Don't you go all prisoner's dilemma on me." So hey, if one of the writers of this episode is out there trolling the blogs, I just want to say "Noticed it. Nice."