PikaScrewChu

Annnnnnd I'm out. I was hoping this was financial. Not this.

I want the lot of them to go down. The entire extended fundie universe. Guess I have to settle for Smugs right now.

Well well well... One of these fundie assholes is finally getting their comeuppance?

But does that help the people who were doing "all the right things" and still get COVID anyway? It may be cathartic to yell into the internet void about COVIDiots but it's not quite changing things in the real world. I TA'd for a prof my very first year of grad school who could be a bit overzealous about policing language but there was a specific incident in her class within the first two weeks that sticks out in my mind. A student said that something was impossible to get rid of, just like herpes and laughed. Oh my goodness. That prof turned it up to an ELEVEN. She went on a tirade about how we stigmatize illness and make diseases/illnesses a moral issue. And it is not okay to make light of it nor is it okay to make disease moral. She reminded them that you can do everything "right" and still contract herpes. You can also do everything "wrong" and never contract it. I dread the day if one of the Duggars ever discloses they had COVID because there are going to be an awful lot of people that say "HAAAAAA THEY HAD IT COMING!". There. I said it.

You have to make sure you have a GOOD lawyer on your side though. Family friend canceled her wedding and had an elopement instead. She had every clause known to man listed in all the contracts because she was so wishy washy about the whole big white wedding thing. The venue steadfastly refuses to refund her. She will be taking legal action shortly. If there's no orders in place or the orders are loosely worded in that weddings aren't explicitly banned, the couple has to make a choice. Go ahead or cancel and lose a lot of money. There was a huge deal because one of the luxury venues where I live is "allowing" rebookings but everything has to be paid in full in advance. And if you booked on a Saturday in 2020 (which was a premium fee), sorry. There were no more Saturdays left in 2021 and they will not refund you the difference if you hold your wedding on a Thursday night in March versus a Saturday in June. Which a June booking was yet another premium fee but sorry, we're being kind in letting you reschedule. It's just unfortunate all around. I have friends and acquaintances who are in the wedding industry. A lot of my dance friends are working for other dance companies until they're able to start their own. There is always one thing in the industry. For every gig you turn down, there are a dozen more dancers that are willing to take your place. The head of your dance company can make or break your reputation so you better get your little butt out to that wedding regardless if it is sunny, rainy, or a virus is out there. I've said from the beginning that physical distancing is a luxury for a good segment of the population. It's painfully apparent that this is going to further increase the wealth gap. The stigma around it too is frustrating. I really wish the phrase "COVIDiot" would disappear. As much as the Duggars and their ilk may not be taking it seriously, there are a lot of people out there that simply don't have the luxury. Your grocery store cashier may be working two jobs to make ends meet and caught it at work. Now they're painted with the same brush as the "COVIDiot influencer" on the internet. That really doesn't help anyone. In fact, it's making the lives of contact tracers and other public health workers worse because if people are stigmatized for having an illness they're a lot less cooperative and in some instances downright hostile. You cannot get accurate, quality information from someone who thinks you're going to judge them for getting COVID. It's easy to go "Oh but YOU weren't being a COVIDiot" but that's not how the person who contracted it sees it. I don't think we've quite learned our lesson around how language matters from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. And relatively speaking, that wasn't all that long ago. That's my Ted Talk. I know people probably disagree but I will take my lumps.

Let's be fair. No one knew Justin existed until now so no one noticed he was in Texas all this time.

Justin accidentally leaked the courtship earlier this year. So... Uhhh. Ok. Also that was back in January. My goodness 2020 has been too long of a year.

Sam.has the best facial expressions out of the grandDuggars. I remember watching the whole Izzy's first day of school video and Sam's expression as he was throwing the underwear at Jill was hilarious. He reminds me of a real life Stewie Griffin. "WOMAN! I am tired of these diapers! It is big boy underwear from now on!" He's probably quite the little imp in real life.

Yeah that's just my paranoia talking. A few of my acquaintances that were inadvertently exposed to chickenpox and had it as infants got shingles in their 20s and 30s. My mom had shingles in her 30s and has permanent damage from it. So I'm very wary. Maybe treating it has come a long way since she had it. All I remember is she was sick for a very long time and my dad had no idea how to take care of my sister and I. My deal breaker if I ever have kids is that the father has to know how to brush hair and at least do a proper ponytail if it's a girl. *shudder*

Yeah scripted programming is more strict from what I've heard second hand. Most of the scripted shows are working on tight timelines and can't afford to have one of the leads take time off to isolate. I know the new show Cecily Strong is on had to work fast, especially Cecily had to get back to SNL by a certain time. Granted it seems like we've moved to talk shows and reality shows because $$$. Between her crush on Justin, being starstruck by the D-list Duggars, and thirst she's the most entertaining Duggar adjacent. The rest are just THE SAME. If she remains this thirsty I will watch next season and create a Mrs. Spivey montage to Mrs. Robinson. I need an awkward look between Justin and Claire tho.

I would have to look up what was going on but everyone was speculating the Kardashians were going off TeeVee because of Kanye but the industry insiders were saying Kris and co were asking way way way too much. It's always fascinating to watch how this goes. My mom was asking if Lip Sync Battle was canceled because she loved that show. Nope. Turns out The Paramount Network is being rebranded as a movie channel and LSB is being moved to a different channel under CBS Viacom. I never thought I would see the day that the Spike Network became a channel that showed movies with gay lead characters.

I've been begging for the vaccine for the past several years because I had chickenpox when I was 5-6 months old. Since I'm nowhere near 50 I've been told no since they have no idea the efficacy of it of those under 50. My generation was the start of varicella vaccinations which may reduce the risk of shingles anyway. I was told to hug people with chickenpox. I asked where do I find these mythical people with chickenpox?

A lot of it depends on the jurisdiction you're filming in and abiding by their requirements. Also depends on the network so YMMV. Whatever Arkansas has mandated under their laws is what the filming crew has to follow. I imagine they were filming the engagement party in Texas (if Mrs. Spivey is to be believed) so whatever was allowed under Texas law, they had to follow. And I looked up the Texas orders, they're pretty loose to say the least. I don't know about industry-wide but most production staff on scripted TV shows are tested regularly. If they can refuse work, probably. But the one thing I remind myself is that us critiquing on the internet is much different than in real life. There's a lot more people out there like the Duggars than we'd like to admit. I'm too tired to take the rest of my thoughts over to small talk. I will fall asleep here.

Didn't they sign a deal with Hulu or one of the other streaming services? The rumor mill is that Kardashians were asking way more than what E! was willing to pay when they were negotiating. E! is in a sorry state as it is, although a lot of TV channels are in the process of rebranding right now. My point in the Claire and Justin thread is every network has their limit and every reality TV family will either have to make concessions or walk.

Justin is just an interchangeable J'boy. The only thing most people would remember him for is that he was the last Duggar kiddo that wasn't featured on a birth special. If that. He would have been the wee tot when Jackson was born. He may also be remembered for making sure Jordyn had some breakfast. It'll be telling once the Howlers get married how their lives play out. From Joy on down they were "parented" by their respective sister-moms (some more than others). Do they follow the script or go off key? Who knows. Justin might have a leg up on his brothers with regards for working for the Spiveys in construction. He may actually be able to eventually transfer those skills to a certified trade if he's ambitious enough. I'm unsure as to what the other Howlers actually DO. They all train as pilots but are these pilot skills going to translate into actual job jobs down the line? My bet is on Justin and Claire getting back to Texas as soon as they can. I would not be the least surprised if being featured on Counting On post wedding was contingent on moving back to Arkansas. TLC having to film over three states for the foreseeable future is probably less than ideal, especially if they're even half assing the COVID precautions (constant testing of crew, etc). This isn't 90 Day Fiance. The Duggars are no longer their cash cow. TLC isn't going to add another expense for the Duggars. Even E! finally said no to the Kardashians (allegedly).