die Frau

The Roop are performing. They are good at what they do, but it's not my taste. It will probably do well though. What ... likely won't: I live in Germany and I hadn't heard that until just now. Um.... I did like that it didn't sound at all like the other songs. It's easy to tell Jendrik has a lot of experience in musical theater. For it's message it was almost too cute, but I prefer it to entries like Cyprus, Serbia, and Israel. They sounded far too similar. Still, they will likely do better than Germany. Otherwise, I don't know. There's been worse years. I liked Albania for it's dramatic staging and music. Portugal was okay, but I've already mostly forgotten it. I liked Iceland well enough to maybe listen to it again and look into the band to see how their other music is. Curious about Italy and France, since they are favorites. Russia occasionally is treated as though it will do well and I didn't care for it at all. We'll see.

They sometimes mention where he is staying in the early episodes. In one episode he was staying with Amy Hearne(the old woman from season one with the ungrateful children) and I believe he stayed with Mrs. Whipple (before poor Granville returned.)

I just saw the Granville Whipple Episode for the first time in over a decade. It was better than I remembered, but also shorter. The version I watched did not include him having any nightmares. It was sort of okay, since I (vaguely) remember them being creepy. Still, it seems like an important detail to leave out. Also: I did see him scolding Mary for writing 8th notes incorrectly. Is that the only time he was less-than-nice to her or was there more? She told Pa that Granville "never wanted to see her again," and I wasn't sure if she was being melodramatic or if another scene got cut.

I finally braved A Matter of Faith, which I remember being terrified by when I was younger. It holds up better watching it as an adult. That music, though. Have aliens landed in Walnut Grove? The bleary vision actually wasn't as bad as I remembered. One thing I thought I remembered was Caroline reading aloud from the Bible before she looks like she's about to cut her leg off. She didn't though. I guess it showed the passage. Did my childhood self actually take the time to read it or was it edited out?

I just saw the episode about Graham and his father. I'm not sure I'd ever seen it in its entirety. Otherwise, I think I would have remembered Mr. Stewart hallucinating a bat... negatively. I thought I remembered Charles confronting Mr. Stewart and beating him up in a "pick on someone your own size" manner. Did he do that to somebody else in a similar situation in another episode or was that my hallucination?

Pretty sure I just caught the last minute or so of the Bello Sisters auditioning for Germany's version of "Got Talent," of which they easily advanced to the next round of. Strangely they were acting as if they hadn't performed on a stage since before Corona. Either this audition must have been filmed before they advanced in "AGT or they were using the word stage very literally....

I "had" to watch Bad Mom's and I was... not a fan. I especially hated how the reactions to the character of Gwendolyn. The PTA at a middle school would not have any influence in hiring or firing people, deciding which kids played in the soccer game, etc. "At least" the staff members were sort of... half-hearted, but it was still absurd. What can be expected from a movie where a PTA election is treated like an actual election? Even the average PTA member could probably not care less who the president is. I don't care if Amy was not taking it as seriously as some (I'm surprised she didn't promise better cafeteria food.) It wasn't written well enough to come off as satire. If I was supposed to love Amy and think she was some breath of fresh air, I did not. Her daughter calling her selfish was one of the few moments I enjoyed. Nearly every character was selfish, including the ones who "weren't supposed to be," like Kiki. It's pathetic for a husband to ask a wife to come back home because he can't handle his crying kids. It's worse for the wife to (obnoxiously) refuse without even looking further into the situation because she's going to accompany her friend (who she'd been spending a lot of time with, meaning her stupid husband must have been taking care of the kids) to the PTA election. Did any of her kids even go to that school? What if there actually had been something wrong with the kids at home?

This is a very belated response, but I just saw this today, but I 100% agree!

I fast forwarded every single intro. Did one of the Diablo guys really talk about being bullied in school? They look we'll into adulthood... Their tricks were alright, but I actually agreed with Heidi. They shouldn't get that close to other people. They're good at what they do, but what if they had made a mistake? What exactly does the choir have for sob stories? Their song choice was okay (and I really appreciated that none of the featured ones showed off), but that was such a safe, low-key choice. I can't imagine the choir even likes singing it all that much because it's so slow and (for them) repetitive and half the time they're just singing "oo." In other words, without the gripping sob stories, the "top two finalist" speculation seems odd (no disrespect.) It was an okay performance, but somehow I don't even see them considering it their best number.

I'm not exactly sure if it makes my blood boil, but my husband and I are currently and randomly watching a movie called The Games Maker featuring a not-very-likeable main character named Ivan Drago. No, it's not some Rocky spin-off. This Ivan Drago is a kid and he surely won't grow up to be an overly aggressive boxer. I guess it's not a copywrtten name, but could the writers have chosen something a little less recognizable? It makes it hard to get into this movie...

I check this about once a week, which is why I am only now seeing that Rutger Hauer died. :( I'd just been thinking about him recently, realizing it had been awhile since I'd seen him in anything. It's easy to think that these guys are always going to be around... Bladerunner is not my favorite movie, but he is such a standout in it. He was also great in a variety of WW2 TV movies. If I can find my copy of Escape From Sobibor I'll have to watch that. I'll also have to give Spetters a re-watch. It's a somewhat strange, but entertaining coming-of-age Dutch movie. Rutger Hauer has a small, but amusing role as a conceited race car (?) driver. He was such a diverse actor. What a sad loss. P.S. As a Disney fan, I am also sad to hear about Russi Taylor. The original Ducktales was my first favorite show, and I always found it cool knowing how much she contributed.

I actually haven't watched it yet, but was it mentioned that Lukas and Falco won Germany's version of “Got Talent“ when he was 16?

The performers are done and there is so much filler! Why does Madonna need to be there? As for the performers, it's hard to know if I'll remember any of them next year. I didn't care for Spain's staging. The puppet almost looked like it wandered on stage by mistake. The song seems like it might grow on me though. Norway was also kind of catchy, but the bald guy lost me a bit at the end. Denmark and Russia were alright to watch. Denmark's song didn't sound like the rest and the Russian singer had a nice voice. I'm not sure if I would need to hear the songs multiple times, though. The Israeli singer was fantastic, but I don't remember the song besides the clip. As for the “favorites“ to win, I would prefer The Netherlands. It wasn't my favorite entry from them. I still listen to “Birds“(2013) and “The Calm Before the Storm“ (2015), so my expectations for them are pretty high. Speaking of ...low expectations, I hope Germany doesn't come in dead last, but I don't see it placing well. The German competition was really weak. The male competitors and female competitors all sounded alike and cancelled each other out. Sisters won for being “different.“ I hope the competitors are more diverse next year. Why is Madonna wearing an eye patch? I hope the voting results begin soon.

I also suspect that Stevie the Regurgitator is some sort of magician for the same reasons that bluepiano gave. He was also on a German TV show “(Showdown der weltbesten Magier“)that showcased magicians so somebody must be identifying him as one. And speaking of him being on German TV, he was back on Germany's version of “Got Talent“ and actually won. That was in late December, which is why it wasn't mentioned on this show. Maybe Heidi likes him for his German TV connections....

I sometimes checked out Christian books from the library that tended to be part of a series. A couple of different ones have crossed my mind for whatever reason. They are likely from the 1990s. -a bland, nice girl and her friends had a "book club" at their high school. It was really more of a youth group, but calling it a book club was a way to get it approved by the school. Some popular girl was interested in the bland girl's boy friend who was also a member of the book club so she wanted to join. They were reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and the popular girl sneered over the name of the character "Wormwood." That is all I remember of this book. -for all I know this was the same book, or it at least had a somewhat similar conflict. A bland, nice girl and her friends go to a Christian camp. A popular girl comes along. I don't know if she first pretended to be nice to the other girls or not. I remember the girls receiving some kind of beaded necklaces and the popular girl really wanted one. They had some special reason for getting them, but I don't remember what. Anyway, the popular girl (gasp) lied in order to get her necklace. This was found out about and she was confronted and I think acted similar to Suzanne Hanlon in the Sweet Valley High books. Does anybody know what these (?) are?

I read a news story about a lady who had such a fear of heights that she was unable to drive over a bridge and a police officer had to do it for her. That made me think of a movie I saw once, but I can't remember what it is. I don't remember if it is English, German or German-dubbed from some other country. I also don't remember if it is live action or animated. Let's see if anybody else can figure it out from the following: a male(?) character I do not remember liking very much had a fear of driving* over bridges. He would get to the bridge and then freeze and have to turn around. Of course there was some conflict that eventually forced him to have to face this fear and drive over the bridge. I think the fear came from him being in some sort of accident with one or both parents (?)in which they fell from the bridge into water. I think he had occasional flashbacks of this. I think I at least found the character otherwise so annoying that this attempt at making him sympathetic did not work for me. That may be why I don't remember the movie. Does anybody else? *It's possible that he had to walk over the bridge rather than drive.

I'm happy that Germany did so well. Nobody expected it to come in first. That it placed as well as it did is a win. Apparently Austria was even less expected to do well and they nearly won. Strange. I guess the song was inoffensive enough, but I forgot it almost immediately. That was the case for quite a few of the songs, such as Bulgaria. Every time they played their clip I felt like I was hearing it for the first time... I appreciated Denmark's staging, but the singer strangely wasn't dramatic enough. I wonder if he was having an off night. I wanted to like The Netherlands' song once I found out he was from The Common Linnets. It sounded authentically like country music. I don't really like country music. I might see what else the singer has to offer. Otherwise the only ones I might listen to again would be perhaps Italy, Germany (maybe for sentimental reasons, but it was okay) and the winner from last year. His performance style is odd, but entertaining and I actually liked both of his songs.

There is a new talent show in Germany called It's Showtime. Its first episode was last Sunday and featured Steven Brundage, Vello the contortionist and a 66-year-old pole dancer named Greta Pontarelli, who I swear was also on AGT. All did somewhat okay but some run-of-the-mill Austrian dance group ended up winning the episode. I'm not sure how many episode it has, but it looks like Kenichi Ibara (hope I got the name right) will be in an upcoming episode. If it's not him than somebody is seriously ripping off his act. The show itself is no masterpiece, but I do like that at least last weeks episode had no children and no singers!

I never finished Alice in Wonderland and even deleted it from ny Kindle, because I found Alice so incredibly annoying that I just didn't care anymore. I tried Cold Mountain but didn't get very far into it. The lack of punctuation drove me crazy.

I don't know if I would go so far as to say I hate the book Heidi but I'm no fan of the main character. I'm sure she's probably supposed to be full of “child like innocence,“ but she comes off as moronic, especially when she's in Frankfurt (the kittens, hoarding the white rolls, giving Peter's mother her hat, as if it would really fit, etc.) While I know that she was not brought to Frankfurt under the nicest of circumstances, she could have been nicer there. It wasn't Klara's fault (I remember preferring Klara even when I was younger.) I also hate Peter's Grandmother and her constant complaining and passive aggressive put-downs toward Peter and his mother (“I'm glad you can read, Heidi. If only Peter had learned....“) She so did not deserve her white rolls. I think the Alps are great, but not nearly as much as the author, who apparently thinks that they are full of healing powers. The Alps and dear little St. Heidi as well. “Fun fact:“ The English translation is...not perfect. They have Heidi's full name as Adelaide instead of Adelheid. How would the name “Heidi“ come out of Adelaide? It also puts in the word “gape“ instead of “yawn“ (Klara “gapes“ when she is bored in school.) Additionally stupid things are added like a mention of Heidi's “angel face,“ which is absolutely not in the German edition.

I was going to say that. I just realized it was him last week. He looks and sounds so different. I know this is far-reaching, but the same episode also had a character named Lucy Fernandez. It is filmed in Toronto. Shout out?

What was I saying about Germany not coming in last? Why is Sweden doing so well? Ugh.

The Netherlands Entry was an absolute masterpiece compared to the rest. I can imagine it getting overlooked though. As usual Germany won't win, but probably will do better than last year. Did not get the appeal of Australis and found Sweden to be the "worst"

When was this in? It sounds interesting. I can say from having Seen the German Version, "Das Supertalent" that it, at times, makes "AGT" look like an absolute masterpiece!

I'm a week behind the times. Was there even an episode today? Anyway, enough with the opera singers! I don't care if they're children or adults. It's old and tired! As for the "hyperactive" Tortoise, I have one at home, and he could probably do that same trick, but I know better than to put him on TV. The poor thing looked scared. The trainer did herself no favors. Why was she just holding the strawberry? She should have walked with it and the tortoise might have actually performed. Also, I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to be eating strawberries. What was the point of the "stripping" dog?