And I thought that he was pretty darn cool. See, I'm connected to Mark via five degrees of separation! (... Oh, all right; you can do it with one, too. "We are both fans of Steve Brust and his writingses.") 1) My uncle Steve once tended bar at a country club in Hawai'i. 2) He poured (several very large) shots of whiskey for then-Veep Spiro T. Agnew during a golf tournament at said country club. (After the fourth shot, Uncle Steve says, Agnew hit a ball directly into the crowd, mildly bruising someone. Woo.) 3) Ted Agnew was half of the Conservative Bill & Ted, the other half of which was Bill "William" Safire, esquire. 4) William Safire writes a column hight "On Language" for the _New York Times_. 5. Dr. Mark A. Mandel is cited in Safire's book _Let A Simile Be Your Umbrella_, page 89 hardback edition. He wrote a letter informing dear Mr. Safire of another use of the term "show- stopper". YAY MARK! ¬ MJ, assuming she has the _correct_ Dr. Mark A. Mandel