Calvada

There was a lot crammed into this. I too wondered whether PBS cut something regarding Cyril & the letter. That could be an interesting plot, whether Lucille and Cyril split up, given his role as a minister. I'm assuming he would be conflicted about the prospect of divorce. But I agree with @debraran, they need to do something to resolve this. At least it was Reggie who had gone missing, and they didn't return once again to the "OMG Sister Monica Joan has wandered off!" story line. I had read an article previewing this Christmas special and Heidi Thomas teased a cliffhanger ending. What was that? The future of Nonnatus House and whether the midwives and nuns would continue in Poplar? Hasn't that been an ongoing story line? I'm not sure that qualifies as a cliffhanger to me. Or was it supposed to be whether Nancy's new guy is too good to be true? I need to watch this again, when I'm not wiped out after a large family gathering. I usually watch CTM with the captioning turned on, since I often miss what someone says, but I forgot to turn on CC and I was too tired to get out of my chair and find the remote on the coffee table about three feet away! I got distracted at one point by some pictures my niece was sending me of her daughter and I completely missed how Nancy's guy got hurt. I could have rewound to see that, but again, the remote was soooo far away.

Thanks for pointing out my spelling error - I was posting that and simultaneously watching Monday Night Football. I have corrected it.

Canada? Greenland? Panama? George Conway on Bluesky asked "What's with all this expansionist rhetoric all of a Sudeten?" and "Instead of the Monroe Doctrine, we now have the Moron Doctrine." This history major in me got a chuckle out of both those comments. Especially since I'm sure neither Trump nor Musk got either reference.

I don't know if McCarthy wants to stay in Dallas or if he feels it's time for a fresh start elsewhere. The team playing strong even when eliminated from the playoffs may mean Jerry Jones has to pay more to keep him, since McCarthy being a coach the team wants to play for could make him more attractive to Oakland, Chicago and other teams that will be looking for a coach. Perhaps other teams might enjoy taking Jerry's coach from him, or at least drive up the price he would have to pay to keep Mike. Mike McCarthy as a hot coaching commodity is not something I had on my bingo card.

I also thought it was unlikely but it is listed on my DVR and the online schedule for my local PBS station as the Holiday Special 2024. I hope it's accurate, since I often don't watch it until the day after Christmas. I'm usually home from my family gathering in time, but too tired to watch! And if the Christmas Day schedule is not accurate can I trust the schedule for any repeat showings?

Update for me - both the local online listings and my DVR guide now have a two hour block on Christmas Day. No mention of part 1 or part 2, it's listed as the Holiday Special 2024. If they are showing both parts on the 25th, this would mean part 2 is airing in the US before it airs in Great Britain.

That's been corrected - it was a second grade teacher, not a second grade student. The call log was misread. Still horrific. I know someone who has a family member who works construction jobs. A few years ago they were working on renovations to the executive offices in a large health care corporate office. They were putting bullet resistant panels in the walls. I'm not sure who they feared more, their employees or members of the public. Before long there will be hotlines set up for people to report suspicious looking persons in their communities that they are positive are in the US illegally. What could go wrong? But the Republicans/MAGA crowd won't mind anyone being illegally detained, wrongfully deported, killed by a vigilante, right? They don't give a damn about women bleeding to death from miscarriages, why should they care about anyone else? All those so eager to call 1-800-GESTAPO to report someone at Costco who was speaking a language other than English ought to look at Rudy Giuliani. You just might be targeting the wrong person and get sued for everything you own.

I have a overwhelming fondness for this movie due to the fact that it was the first I ever saw at a movie theater. I was 6 years old. The tickets were a very unexpected gift from my great aunt for me and several of my siblings. We brought our own popcorn, popped at home especially for the occasion, something that would result in being tossed from the place now. (Aunt Mary brought her BIG purse to stow the bag of popcorn.) I remember being enchanted by all of it - seeing a movie on a big screen, how amazing the tiered seats were (and wishing we had that at home, so my siblings didn't block the TV), all the singing, the humor that even a 6 year old could appreciate ("Reverend Mother, I have sinned"), the gorgeous Christopher Plummer, and the incandescent Julie Andrews. It was a great introduction to movie-going.

The Packers' offensive line had kept Strahan away from Favre all game, obviously it was a matter of pride to them, and then good ol' Brett gifted him that sack. I remember linemen being interviewed after the game and saying things like "it is what it is," but it was obvious they were not happy with what Favre did. Something I always remember is that the Packers weren't supposed to play the Giants in the final regular season game. That was supposed to be a Week 2 game, all of which got postponed due to the September 11 attacks. If that hadn't happened, the Giants would have finished at Philadelphia. If all things had been equal, I doubt the Eagles would have gifted Strahan as Favre did. They would have made Strahan earn the record.

Because the past few weeks haven't been horrible enough, now there's been a school shooting in my area with multiple deaths/injuries. The shooter, apparently a student at the school, was reported to have killed him/herself. When will America ever take meaningful action against gun violence? Any politician posting "thoughts and prayers" can just go fuck themselves. My heart breaks for the families.

Nothing is as bad as the Seattle uniforms.

I'm a season football ticket holder for a Big Ten university. At senior day every year, it always seems there's a couple players who majored in biomedical engineering or were working on a master's in applied economics among the sport management, communications, and exercise physiology majors. College athletes do get a lot of help, especially with tutors. The daughter of a friend of mine was a tutor for football players at a university that usually has a top-10 team. She tutored some guys who are now in the NFL, but a lot of guys who didn't make that next level. I hope all the student athletes who go to the school I follow (in all sports) take advantage of the scholarship, tutors, etc. and get their degree.

How much do NYC police officers make? How can Kaya afford that roomy apartment/house, pay for extensive renovations, and then go on a cruise?

IMO that's not controversial, it's factual. LBJ used the murder of JFK to make passage of the Civil Rights Act a priority. In his first address to Congress less than a week after the assassination, Johnson said there could be no greater honor in JFK's memory. Kennedy had been a incrementalist in terms of civil rights, taking very slow and small steps. LBJ used the assassination as a way of putting a foot on the gas, so to speak, as he used Selma to urge passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

My mother must be rolling over in her grave. She once told me how it felt when shortly after giving birth to her second child, it was announced that there was an effective polio vaccine. She said the relief she felt was indescribable. People have no idea how terrified parents were of polio. I bet most people 55 and older know of someone who had polio. For me, it was a neighbor on the street where I grew up, who was confined to a wheelchair due to polio as a young man. He died of post polio syndrome about 30 years after being stricken. My mother would also be horrified by people who don't vaccinate their children against measles, mumps, etc. Born in the 1920's, she knew people who were affected lifetime by these diseases. People think they are mild childhood diseases that cause a couple days of discomfort. However some people suffer long-term consequences. For example, measles can cause vision loss (as it did for a first cousin of my mom's) and it can weaken the immune system, making people more vulnerable to other illnesses ranging from ear infections to pneumonia. This is what historian Kevin M. Kruse posted on Bluesky: "The Trump crowd wants to kill FDIC, install tariffs *and* bring back polio? I guess all this time the magical past of American Greatness they’ve been aiming for has been the banner year of 1930. Can’t wait for the soup lines! Wheee!"