Amarsir

It's actually a big topic of discussion in marketing circles about brand loyalty for millennials and how it has changed since past generations, though they all agree diversity of devices plays a role. The CEO of McDonalds said a few years ago that "Millennials are promiscuous in their brand loyalty and make us work harder to earn it". In recent surveys they mark themselves higher than other generations for being "brand loyal" but much lower for actually caring about ads. So everyone is trying to figure out the magic combination that can get them a customer for the next 40 years. https://www.inc.com/geoff-smith/millennials-becoming-more-loyal-in-era-of-consumer-choice.html

Yeah, blood clot in 2014. I didn't hear about it until long afterwards either. I guess fame is relative, because I've heard a lot more about deaths of celebrities less "famous" to me. Hope he's enjoying a buffet with no lines in heaven.

https://shopsiloett.com/ Time might fix that, as Google needs time and links (like the one I just inadvertently created) to realize that people do actually want that word instead of autocorrecting it. However, if "Silhouette Suits" is an actual brand name and not just a descriptive term, this does sound like a strong trademark case for "brand confusion". I don't think he wants an expensive lawsuit, even if his pockets are no doubt deeper than the plaintiff's.

I'd sum his point up as the stories being "tell, not show" about the intelligence of Sherlock (and the super villains). That often manifests in not giving clues to the viewers to deduce alongside. But it also includes (for example) how Moriarty is treated as an icon, named in the pilot and then continually mentioned even post-death, yet doesn't really do that much in the grand scheme. (And isn't even beaten actually, but basically just gives up because he loves Sherlock too much.) There is a lot about other Moffat works, and if someone was inclined to watch but not down for a 2 hour video, they could skip the first half hour until the dissection of Sherlock really starts.

Well that had less family drama than I expected, which is a good thing. Even the suspense over how big of a fuck up was the son (Charlie?) wasn't really that bad. And as a result there was a lot of focus on business improvements, which I think is what we all tune in for. Marcus doesn't have an assistant, OK. But he has a partner now. Is she going to show up at all? Perhaps in a follow-up episode, though we don't seem to get those anymore.

At the risk of being overly generous, Danushka is an acquired taste. At first I disliked her, then I got the character she's going for, and then I realized it's not really rounded out enough for her to be consistently entertaining. It's a tougher sell than Nadia G and she's not pulling it off as well, but I give her credit for the attempt. So I'm not at all surprised she was the last pick for guests, but I can also see why some would enjoy seeing her do something.

Overall an interesting enough season. No major takeaways, but it made me curious for more. Looking around at some of the other names that have come up, a lot of these "sustainable towns" seem to do it as a vacation thing. "Come enjoy nature, knowing (believing) you're living clean and using our wifi to work if you have to." That seems even more of a stretch to me. I can see the appeal of working remotely and living simply, but sure as heck wouldn't pay $50 / night to be a guest at Kalu Yala. At least as a "school" you can rationalize that the hard living is the benefit. Which is relevant because that's what Jimmy needs to turn his fiefdom into a town. He mentioned a couple times that he needs external businesses to come in so an economy can develop, which makes sense. But I can't in my wildest imagination see someone saying "Here's $2 million, build an office building for my software company." Pave the road and at least you could sell houses for commute to Panama City. So it might be 10 years before we can really see what happens. Will there eventually be a reason to live there, or will it just be churning interns via promises of building a future that doesn't come? At this point I find it plausible they will grow sustainable. Growing into a town is more questionable.

Helping Hands. Couldn't have a new episode without more Helping Hands. Ryan was on top of his game and Tony was a good guest, but come on. Is there some CW devotee focus group that's telling them they can't get enough of this? That aside, good show. I liked using the guest in Themed Restaurant. One might even argue it was good enough that they didn't need him for a 3rd scene *cough*. And I always love seeing Heather Anne Campbell and as with everyone in that chair I only wish we'd gotten to see more. BTW, CW lists this as episode 1213 for some reason. No idea their reasoning, but that may confuse people looking for 1301 at some point in the future.

Last Comic Standing was cancelled in 2004, brought back in 2006, cancelled in 2008, and brought back in 2010 only to be cancelled again after 1 season. Then 4 years later Wanda Sykes championed it for a return in 2014. It changed significantly for 2015 and then we haven't seen it since. So it's dead, but at the same time who knows? NBC retains the name and can always be desperate enough to think they want to have a Reality Show about comedy. I think it really needs a big name comic to pitch the executives and to try to get people to tune in. If none volunteer the show will stay dead.

Does he though? I respect his very different philosophy, but his plan doesn't really incorporate the billions of population growth. Josué is romanticizing the old ways. But those old ways included a small hut that gets water out of the river with 5 acres per person. Even setting aside the bias from my "capitalist American" upbringing that's not a reproducible utopia. I'm not saying he's necessarily wrong, but certainly the possibility is that he might be. And the show isn't challenging his point of view either. From the point of view of Jungletown: A bunch of people with different points of view meet, don't really discuss it, and walk away thinking the same thing they thought before. I think it's simply that they don't have any money, which might explain @biakbiak 's point about the bridge too. Jimmy wanted to do a big development, but fell millions short in fundraising. So he found this idea of "don't build until you find the people first" to cover the fact that he can't afford to build first, and created a "school" to cover that they're figuring this out as they go along. It's all marketing spin for the fact that they can't afford his plan A.

I guess the audience for this has dwindled a bit. Not too surprising. I was talking about this show elsewhere and it occurred to me that the problem with this show is a documentary setting but a reality-show edit. A documentary has an overall arc, building to a conclusion. Ideas are presented, come to a climax, and come to at least a tentative conclusion. A reality show is interesting bits pulled out as they happen, stapled together and trying to leave enough suspense to hook viewers for the next show. Kalu Yala is a project with big and somewhat conflicting ideas, and seeing it makes me want to know this story of what does or doesn't work and who learns what lessons. But Jungleland is just everything that happens over a semester. Jimmy Stice talking with Zach Bell was good conversation. It helped portray their vision for how they expect Kalu Yala to grow and exist. It was intercut with Josue getting poetic about old ways of life. Later there was a segment with Stephen Brooks who apparently created this competing place Punta Mona. And he apparently took a different approach, a little more infrastructure first. These are examples of different ideas that are philosophically in conflict but with no real comparison or resolution on the show. But reading into the show's background, I think they know that. The shooting was intended as a documentary and Viceland airing it as a show was just a way to bring in money. So maybe there will be a really good movie to come out of this in a few years.

Last night's show could have used a good drowning to liven it up. I actually think the projects of establishing internet and replacing store-bought feed show they're making progress, but that was a tiny portion. And I continue to like the staff pretty much every time I see them. But most of this was just the most predictable things on Earth: 20-year-olds wanting to make decisions without consequences and hippies being unhappy that Trump won.

I think the show's editors get that there's a lot of people from all angles to not like, so they juxtapose for comedy. Like Jimmy talking about his future plan while his dog is literally taking a shit. Or the girl saying "They're treating us like 4 year olds. ... Also if they try to kick me out I quit." (While complaining about sustainability and spending an extra 3 days at a resort.) My problem remains that they really don't want to take their own stance either. So there was a whole episode of talking about "shark meat ... shark meat!" and then not until the next episode was there even a chopped up response. I want someone to just lay out the truth: there isn't a guarantee of the fish you buy because you think it's romantic to buy from poor local fishermen. If I go to Walmart and buy canned salmon, I know 100% it's salmon because it was shipped in from a salmon farm in British Columbia. Local sourced and individual do not work well with consistency. This is my problem overall: idealists in direct conflict not with someone else, but with themselves. If you're feeling down it's more dramatic to say you're exploited to build the town. But then Cahill was annoyed because he's not building homes? So all the lofty bullshit is just that. The two people complaining from home was that they thought it was a commune, not private property. Well it isn't. Not sure whose fault it is you didn't know that, but the complaint as given is worthless. They either should have had more to say or less. That said, a little reality creeps in. The tilapia pond could be great if it works. I don't know if those "heads down" city plans will come to anything, but they were something. It's just not much, drizzled in to episodes filled with bluster.

I didn't even know there was going to be another season of that. At least they aren't rapid-fire anymore. At the link, did Jason always dress like that? I don't recall it, and as the folksy home baker I don't think he needs another gimmick. Cosmos-printed suits don't strike me as the key to winning.

5 reviews here, from 2014 to recent. All glowing: https://www.goabroad.com/providers/kalu-yala-1#reviews/0/0 A larger bunch, similar time range: https://www.gooverseas.com/volunteer-abroad/panama/kalu-yala/21283

Yeah, I think that was a good idea for a temptation but badly handled and edited. Giving one person a chance right at the end to take the biggest share AND leave early? That could be some nice drama. "Sympathetic" wouldn't by my word, but it is very interesting that the (self-labeled) partygoing college dropout who couldn't swim, couldn't light a fire, didn't carry anything, and was severely tempted to go home on day 1 - that SHE lasted until the end. My snark upthread was that the only reason she didn't leave is because firing a flare is too much work. But I honestly don't know. Did she just not want to make a decision if Alex wasn't? Was it loyalty to support him? Or was she really that committed? (By the way, her Twitter handle is "GinaPandaBaby". Factor that into your calculus.) Properly carried on the back, especially with hip support, is a lot easier than in the arms or even over a shoulder. But even so, yeah. Rule of thumb for hiking is keeping it below 1/3 of your bodyweight. She certainly exceeded that.

Oh, my interpretation of that phrase was that it means "You can't make side deals, like I'll give you $5000 out of my final total if you vote yes." But you're interpreting that as physically can't split the money into more than one container? Interesting. Maybe you're right?

I went back to get the link and can't find what I remember seeing. Either I misremembered the source or they've done some sort of purge. (Conspiratorial though that sounds.) Here's the link, but it's vastly briefer and more positive than I think I remember. And there's a separate Interns section with just 2 reviews: one long and negative, one short and positive. https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Kalu-Yala-Reviews-E946218.htm Also of interest, these are the expert architects Jimmy got to plan out their city. Hope they went into more detial than shown here: http://www.mparchitects.com/site/projects/kalu-yala

I think so. And that matches some of what I've seen online elsewhere. (Such as glassdoor reviews). One example I remember is someone saying that a community stage was built by interns, but fell into disrepair becuase no one maintained it after that group left. I believe Cahill's point is actually an even better one: that if interns are driving the projects, and they're only there for 10 weeks, nothing bigger than a 10-week project can ever be accomplished. You need staff buy-in like the Iguana Farm. I do think it's fair to some extent to say "You're an adult, initiating plans and pitching them is how the world runs. Get on it." But when it's a clearly necessary project like drainage, it's also fair to ask "what were you planning if I didn't show up?" Maybe that's a good word for it. But I thought we saw a plowhorse in an early episode. (I could be wrong.) If the plan is just token gardening then that's even less of a self-sustaining town. If Jimmy has a plan he isn't selling it to us via this show. I'm tempted to say he doesn't, but Cahill's criticism was "planning for the long term but not for the now". Which does imply a plan.

Nor do they have anything that looks like a salable house that I can see. That's kind of my point - this labor they're getting isn't moving them forward. We can say making people pay to build for you is a scam, except they aren't building for him. Everything they're working on will be gone in 6 months, replaced by the temporary labor of the next group. And the stuff the interns seem to have problems with is that it isn't in-the-moment enough. I totally get the complaint - if your intent is to be sustainable you don't want to be importing peanut butter and dumping soap in the river. But I'm saying that replacing those with other methods isn't going to be less work.

At the bottom of the interview Hiacios mentioned is a link to another RealityBlurred article. It describes alternative rules that would lead to a much more cooperative gamestate.

That was the old price. $6500 for Summer 2017, $7000 for Fall 2017, and $7500 for Spring 2018. Not construction labor, that I can see. That's the thing about their model of "sustainability" - if you aren't using tractors, it takes a ton of physical effort to grow potatoes. If you aren't running sewers you spend a lot of time literally shoveling shit. That's the real conflict I want to see more of. Some people get it, but a lot of others like the idea this living-off-the-land more than the reality. I don't think Jimmy would like Kalu Yala if he wasn't the top of the foodchain.

I think this was the best episode yet. I get what Jimmy thinks he's selling: "Come here for the opportunity to run experiments." And I get why interns are unhappy about it: "I think my experiment was totally awesome so who's going to continue it after I leave?" The build labor is an angle, but I kind of believe Jimmy when he says they aren't doing that much physical labor. (Mainly because the only people we've seen building anything structural are paid staff, mainly locals.) It makes sense to me as a summer camp model. As a kid I went to Scout camps. All cost money and there were chores and camp improvement projects. And I learned (e.g.) Lifeguard training from a kid 2 years older than me. It was a good experience for me and obviously for a lot of people. BUT I know first-hand a lot of people would look at that experience and not find it appealing at all. That said, who the hell is going to pay $1000 to build toilets in Montana? I can't even picture what she thinks she'd be selling there. I think her presence, and that of Jimmy's obviously-from-money high-maintenance ex, was to make him look good by comparison.

Interesting offer for the temptation, but overall a boring finale. The problem is that retrospective voiceovers and a waterfall rappel are happy celebration episodes to root for people. But as I've said, I wasn't rooting for any of them. The drama of a 41st night seemed completely phony and undermined everything as well. Well it was interesting while it lasted. I don't know if I'd ever want to watch another season, but at least they made something unique.

Knowing that the camps are pre-selected for them, I'm guessing they are limited to a very narrow area at each one. Crew can easily move around setting stuff up outside while the contestants remain "isolated" in their circle. (Which is also why "the" water source seems so limiting - they're not allowed to hike an hour back to the last site, let alone go search for a new one.) If you know precisely where they're going to be it's probably not too hard to set up. That said, no doubt there's some live camerawork too. And they aren't shy about using clips out of order, resulting in clean appearances or makeup from the first camp becoming talking heads at the 3rd or so. You only need 40 minutes every 4 days, so a brief period of active filming would still maintain the storyline and you get what you get for the rest.