EVERYONE KNOWS NESSIE'S A SHE: In little less than two weeks, this blogger (accompanied by a few occasional ThingThrowers) will be journeying to Edinburgh for 3 days, followed by a week in London. Having previously been to London, I'm quite comfortable knowing what I'm doing there, but none of us have ever been to Scotland. Thoughts from the ThingThrowers on the subject of Edinburgh and exciting things to do there that don't involve drams of scotch are appreciated.

EMPIRE: A PLAY IN THREE ACTS:

Act I:

Eight Hundred Five Eight Eight Two Three Hundred!
Empire!

Act II:

Eight Hundred Five Eight Eight Two Three Hundred!
Empire!
Eight Hundred Five Eight Eight Two Three Hundred!
Empire!
Eight Hundred Five Eight Eight Two Three Hundred!
Empire!

Act III:

Save big money at Menard's!

exeunt.

LISTEN, ABOUT YOUR FATHER: Last night's Sopranos finale nicely coincides with the fact that Emmy nomination ballots are now in the television academy's hands, so it's time for ThingThrowers to make their recommendations and pleas.

I'll start with a few that shouldn't be too surprising -- Robert Iler did some really complicated work on this final Sopranos season, and that growth deserves recognition with a nomination at least. That Best Supporting Actor/Drama category will not be complete, however, unless Lost's Michael Emerson is also included. Flipping over to comedy, 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin both deserve props, and it's about time that Kevin Dillon, not Jeremy Piven, got the Entourage nod. Playing that dumb is hard.

I have no idea which actors from The Office should fill out that category, so let me just offer up a futile prayer for recognition for Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson, who wakes up every morning in a bed that's too small, drives his daughter to a school that's too expensive. Then he goes to work, to a job for which he gets paid too little. But on Pretzel Day -- well, he likes Pretzel Day.

Also, hopefully, this is the year that The Amazing Race finally doesn't win for best reality competition series; it doesn't even deserve the nomination. That's all about Top Chef 2 and Project Runway 3 as far as I'm concerned.

Finally, veni, vidi, vici -- season two of Rome came, we (okay, some of us) watched it, and it kicked ass. It'd be nice to see Ray Stevenson (Pullo), Kevin McKidd (Vorenus), James Purefoy (Antony), Lindsay Duncan (Servilia) and the series as a whole all get recognized with nominations, but I doubt it will.

You can review last year's nominations and winners over here.

ADVENTURES IN LIBERAL ARTS: American philosopher Richard Rorty and Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène both passed away over the weekend. There's nothing really that unites their deaths other than the fact that I learned who both of them were during my freshman year in college, and that I never really invested enough time to truly understand what either of them were doing, except that Sembène's film Xala was both funny and compelling. Beyond that? You tell me.

AND THE MOVIE NEVER ENDS, IT GOES ON AND ON AND ON...: I don't want to spoil the Sopranos finale here. To the comments, to Sepinwall, etc., and to Dylan, as quoted in the music-filled episode:

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not fergit
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

Man, nothing good happens in SUVs on this show.

MAKE THAT SIX DIRTY WORDS: Apparently taking advantage of the recent FCC ruling on what you can say on television, apparently, the cast of Spring Awakening will apparently perform part of their showstopper "Totally F***ed" (in somewhat expurgated form) during tonight's Tony Awards (after 10 PM, to keep in that safe harbor)--which will make the show well worth watching. Other performances will include a pre-taped bit from The Apple Tree (likely Kristin Chenoweth doing "Gorgeous"), Audra McDonald performing "Raunchy" from 110 In The Shade, Raul Esparza performing "Being Alive" from Company (which will lose some its power divorced from the show), and Christine Ebersole performing "Revolutionary Costume" from Grey Gardens.

Jack McCoy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

DUN DUN: People of Manhattan, it's time to take a stand: your next (fictional) district attorney could be someone who once said that "Justice is a by-product of winning" and who has conducted notorious affairs with his female assistants, while pushing the ethical envelope repeatedly during his tenure as Executive Assistant District Attorney. You need to call Mayor Bloomberg and reject the scheduled promotion of Jack McCoy to the top job; he isn't the prosecutor Manhattan needs. If Ben Stone's willing, offer him the job.