oh, just one more thing...

        Columbo - the police detective Lieutenant Columbo has that tradition, when he visits with a suspect, as he is saying Good-bye and leaving, he stops, turns back around, and says to his quarry, "Oh, just one more thing..."

        Just - when the suspect thinks the interview is over and he or she is "off the hook," Columbo surprises them - catches them a little off guard, somewhat relaxed, with - one more question...just - one more thing.

The suspects are real convivial at first, and then, as the teleplay progresses, some of them start to become a little irritated, but they try to hide it.  You might say that Lieutenant Columbo sort of raises the passive-aggressive approach to new heights....

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a magnificent masterpiece - ?

 Sometimes you can see a movie and just be left with a feeling of - 'What was the point of that?'  And then go on You Tube and type in the movie, and in the Comments there are people saying, "It's magnificent!"  "A masterpiece!"

        At some point in time - I don't know when - I watched a movie called The Game.  Michael Douglas plays the main character; it came out in 1997.

some of the Comments:

--   There's just something I love about 90s - early 2000s atmospheric music for the movie trailers.  They just don't make trailers like they used to.  It's like an open book nowadays, but this movie is a gem.

--   David Fincher makes his own trailers, so that's why they're so good

--   that movie has always stayed with me.

            [not me - I cannot even remember it, except that I didn't get it...]

--   The definition of "it's just a prank bro"

--   ... Absolutely love this movie!  Older movies just hits different

--   Underrated masterpiece.  I saw this movie as a kid renting it from blockbusters based only on the cover art and the most cryptic plot summary.  One of the few times I saw a movie knowing next to nothing about it.  It was so so good.

--   It's ok but it isn't a masterpiece.  It's actually a bit weird and stupid

--   What a film.  You can only watch it once but it is a complete rollercoaster

--   One of the best movies.  You know it's good when you can watch it over and over again

--   This movie is surprising, suspenseful, and at times hilarious.  If you're bored with movies about cartoon characters that give away the entire plot in a 30 second trailer then give this film a try.  David Fincher makes some kickass movies.

Michael Douglas, promoting his autobiography (2026)

Karl Malden and Michael Douglas in Streets of San Francisco TV series  (1972 - 1977)

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in nature for a minute

 An expression that I have read and heard is "in nature."  Like - people saying, "I like to get out in nature."

        To me, the phrase sounds kind of unnatural - ironically. ...

"get out in nature" -- you mean - go for a walk?

        Or - sit out on the porch?

But then, sitting out on the porch, or cooking out in your yard or on the driveway, doesn't seem to fit in with the description "get out in nature."

        One kind of feels like to be 'out in nature,' one must be walking in the woods.

If we go for a walk on the sidewalk for a few blocks, were we "out in nature"?  We were definitely outside, but when we hear or read the phrase "out in nature" we don't really picture a walk in the city.

Earlier in my life, in past decades, I never encountered the phrase "in nature."  But now you hear it sometimes - it has come into usage, as a term.

        I recently noticed it in Bob Dylan's book, Chronicles, published in 2004:

--------------------- [excerpt] ------------- Al Capone had been a successful gangster and was allowed to rule the underworld in Chicago, but nobody wrote any songs about him.  He's not interesting or heroic in any kind of way.  He's frigid.  A sucker fish, seems like a man who never got out alone in nature for a minute in his life. ----------------------------- [end / excerpt]

        When I read this, it reminded me of the Nancy Guthrie missing persons case in Arizona: 

------------------ [Google excerpt] ----------------- The phrase "buried with nature" (or "buried in nature") was written by Nancy Guthrie's unidentified kidnapper or kidnappers in a second ransom note sent to media outlets (such as KOLD-TV) and the family in February 6, 2026.

* The Note:  The second ransom note (sent on February 6, 2026, from the same IP address as the first note) stated that the 84-year-old mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie had died shortly after her abduction - purportedly from heart-related issues - and that she was "buried with nature now."

* Investigation Status:  The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI publicly released details and excerpts of the ransom notes to seek the public's help in identifying the author's writing style and linguistic patterns, as no suspects have been named in her disappearance. ----------------------------

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a mysterious disappearance

        The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie makes me think of this movie title.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

1938

Screenplay written by Sidney Gilliat, Alma Reville, and Frank Launder

(Alma Reville was Hitchcock's wife.)

------------------------------------------------------

        Recently some podcasters have speculated that the puzzling event in Tucson was a murder, "staged" to look like a kidnapping.

        I have listened to some lengthy podcast conversations about the case on a You Tube channel called "The Interview Room."

The front door;

the back doors;

the porch guy;

Nancy's pacemaker;

Nancy's medications;

the reward money that has been offered;

a nine-second phone call to Nancy's son-in-law;

the hoax-y ransom notes...

        The commentators on The Interview Room go over and over these things and trade ideas back and forth.  It makes me think, maybe this is one of the ways crimes get solved - just keep going over it and going over it, analyzing possibilities, until something pans out.

The sentence, "It doesn't make sense" has been said - multiple times, on all the podcasts, and in the Comments.

Rincon Peak Sunrise, Tucson, Arizona

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the lady vanishes

TUCSON - month 9.  It was at the beginning of February of this year when Nancy Guthrie disappeared.  Still no answers.  And the latest thing is, people seem to be under some kind of direction to Not Talk About Nancy.  

        From Kathie Lee Gifford to the local church ladies in Tucson, people answer, "I can't talk about that."  Or, "We've been asked not to talk about Nancy."  Or, "That door is closed."

And Sheriff Nanos showed up at a press conference with a piece of paper in his hand, and opened by saying, "I have some talking points from the family.  I'm not very good with a script..."

Since when do civilians dictate "Talking Points" to law enforcement?

Well - Nancy Guthrie, a widow, has a son and two daughters - one of those daughters is Savannah Guthrie, who is on a morning show on the NBC network.  Because she has a TV job, she is rich and famous, in addition to that, she is married to a man who worked in public relations for Bill Clinton.

        So there is a sense, among podcasters who comment and speculate on the case, that there are concerted efforts to "control the narrative" because Savannah and her husband together have knowledge and "clout" in the area of narratives.

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over in Palm Beach

 

"that big society murder over in Palm Beach"

eight words

        Referring to it as that big society murder brings the idea of the subject close to the listeners, implying their pre-existing familiarity with it.  ("you know the one!")  Capturing their interest.

        Calling it "big" communicates that it's an important murder; and using the further modifying word "society" says it's a classy murder.

        The word "murder" is powerful by itself - shocking, attention-grabbing.

And then the remaining four words:  "over in Palm Beach" -- Palm Beach means it's a classy and important location, as well as wealthy and glamorous.

        The words "over in" tells the listener that this glamorous, classy murder location is away from us, (over in; over there), but simultaneously lets us know that although this mysterious, scary, rich place is away from us, it isn't that far away, 'cause it's - right over there....

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that big society murder over in Palm Beach

 On Monday when I re-printed that Comment about The Golden Girls here, the reason I liked it was the way the speaker used the English language.

...when one of his uncles "traveled to the US for his higher studies"

his uncle was "excitedly talking" about his life in the United States

"Cut to 13 years later" (!)

..."to my luck, the show was aired..."

"Oh! How excited I was"

        excitedly talking

        to my luck

        higher studies

        cut to 13 years later!

I just love this guy's enthusiasm - both expressed and implied.

-----------------------------------------------------

As I was reviewing that Internet comment which I just had to sit down and type out, I noticed a three-by-five index card where I had noted a phrase from the show:  Blanche Devereaux hurries into the room with a newspaper in her hand, telling the other ladies about a local report on "that big society murder over in Palm Beach."

        That phrase packs a lot of information and atmosphere.

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