I love The Lion in Winter! It's my favorite Xmas movie!

I'm also baffled by the people who suddenly decide to play when it's reached a huge payoff amount. People! Many more people are playing. Your odds have gotten even worse.

I don't think it's about odds, it's about the fantasy of winning.

Some people watch porn; I play the lottery. I'm okay with that. It's actually one of the cheapest forms of entertainment out there.

Calli, that reminds me of the Tom Paxton song "Thank you Republic Airlines(for breaking the neck of my guitar)", at least the subject matter does.

Never piss off a bard.

I love The Lion in Winter! It's my favorite Xmas movie!

Totally!

When Lord Marshall shows up at Salisbury Tower to collect the Queen, she's doing needlepoint with her maids.

All he has to do is open the door and step inside; Eleanor is so smart (and, well, has 10 years' practice), that she says, "There's to be a Christmas court."

Lord Marshall says, "At Chinon," and her face lights up like she's been...made Queen again?

I *adore* this move. (*cough* I think that's pretty obvious.)

Done now. (Maybe.)

United Airlines broke a musician's guitar. After getting told it wasn't United's problem too many times, the musician did what they do—he wrote a song.

Hee! It's a very amusing song. Everyone's been complaining about United lately! I think I've generally had good experiences with them.

Four years later and three hundred miles away, the brown recluse spiders have found me again. No more Mr. Nice Guy -- after I saw the first one I put glue traps in my HVAC closet, behind my desk, and under my bed. Now four days later, here are the results: [link]

Damn. You'd think they'd stay true to their names and hole up with J.D. Salinger or something.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Natter to bring you this amusing video of a cat:

Chilling

Turkish TV gameshow looks to convert atheists

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?

Turkish television station Kanal T hopes the answer is a ratings success as it prepares to launch a gameshow where spiritual guides from the four faiths will seek to convert a group of non-believers.

The prize for converts will be a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen religion -- Mecca for Muslims, the Vatican for Christians, Jerusalem for Jews and Tibet for Buddhists.

But religious authorities in Muslim but secular Turkey are not amused by the twist on the popular reality game show format and the Religious Affairs Directorate is refusing to provide an imam for the show.

"Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs," High Board of Religious Affairs Chairman Hamza Aktan told state news agency Anatolian after news of the planned program emerged.

The makers of "Penitents Compete" are unrepentant and reject claims that the show, scheduled to begin broadcasting in September, will cheapen religion.

"We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God," Kanal T chief executive Seyhan Soylu told Reuters.

"We don't approve of anyone being an atheist. God is great and it doesn't matter which religion you believe in. The important thing is to believe," Soylu said.

the Vatican for Christians

Is the Vatican considered a holy site for non-Catholic Christians?