blackwing
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Posts posted by blackwing
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I finished Ken Follett's The Armor of Light, the latest entry in the Kingsbridge series that began with "The Pillars of the Earth". This book takes place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It's a typical Follett cast of characters, done in his usual style. The bad guys are cunning and crafty and vicious. The good guys are trying to survive and promote order and justice.
As is typical, the amount of attention to historical detail is fantastic. My only complaint is that I have kind of lost track of the characters from the previous books and who are the ancestors of the characters in this book. We get a passing reference to "red hair" and another to "striking green eyes", but that's the only clues we get as to who is descended from whom. Some of the characters might even have no relation to prior characters.
At close to 800 pages, this book is a tome, but it is a fairly fast read, I took it with me on an overseas trip and finished it in a week.
I read Blood Lines by Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille. This is the second book co-authored by this father/son team and features the two lead characters from their first book together, "The Deserter". Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor are Army Criminal Investigation Department agents who are assigned to investigate the murder of a colleague in Berlin. I thought this book was a bit boring. At close to 500 pages it's too long. The mystery was simple, predicatable, and uninteresting to me. I felt relieved when I finished.
It seems common these days for children to continue their father's legacy. Felix Francis taking over for Dick Francis has worked well. Dirk Cussler is a pale imitation of Clive Cussler, who I never thought was that great of a writer to begin with.
Now we have Alex DeMille, who seems poised to take over for his father, although Nelson had a solo book just last year ("The Maze", the latest John Corey book). It seems to me that this book was almost entirely written by Alex. I didn't see much of the Nelson DeMille plotting. There were a few zingers in there that I knew were contributed by Nelson. However, the acknowledgements at the end of the book seem to suggest that Alex wrote it... he thanks his in-laws for letting him stay in their fancy retreat house where he could write the book.
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I think it was the right time for the Pink Ladies to go home. None of the coasters failed and their build was the least technical. I don't understand why they wouldn't even attempt a loop? The loop piece was a pre-designed piece. They literally could have just stuck it on just after the end of their drop. As long as they weren't trying to do a tough turn, I don't see why it would have caused problems. If they put even one loop in, I think Paul and Nealita would have gone home.
I like Paul and Nealita but they seem by far to be the weakest of the finalists. Many of their builds look very blocky. I still think Aubrey and Ryan should have been in the finals.
It seems really obvious that this entire season has been leading up to a Christopher win... so he can take his $50,000 and stuff his basement even more with cluttered Lego sets. I didn't like their build as much as the BMs did, I thought it was boring and the theming wasn't great. 90% of the time was spent watching the car circle up. It was a great engineering feat but it came at the expense of other elements of the coaster. He had to explain the concept of a baby dragon going up into the sky to see the adult dragon, otherwise it would have been lost.
I'm still finding Christopher really annoying. He is always "on" and always mugging for the camera. Like when all the teams were looking at the Pink Ladies exiting. Then Will says something, and Christopher does this overly dramatic superhero turn and pose. Why?
Neena and Sam's build was great. The Kraken sculpture was really detailed and I thought the moving waves was a great touch. I would have given them the win.
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I'm glad Gazelle was saved, I think she performed way better than Cow. Cow's "Ring My Bell" was like two verses and then just repeating "you can ring my belllllll" ten more times. Gazelle's "I Will Survive" had much more emotion and style than Cow's. I found his version to be very pedestrian.
I hope Ken didn't save her thinking it was his "dear friend" Constance Wu, because I don't think that is Constance at all.
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I have decided that I like Blue and I'm glad she got the permanent job (which was obvious from the start that she would get it, this is a TV show). But the whole "I'm so intimidated and flustered by Mackey" bit was overdone. Mackey talking about how Blue's personality wasn't really fitting in, I'm assuming that's supposed to be irony because I think Mackey's "tough hardass exterior" has also gotten old.
Do we need to have so many stereotypical tropes on this show? I know that these types of procedurals tend to have these characters (tough as nails boss, quirky tech person, handsome leading man, weird coroner, fish out of water guy, beautiful young female agent who holds her own against the men) but for once I'd just like a team that is competent and solves cases without all the extra "personality" bits. I know it will never happen, but still.
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28 minutes ago, chaifan said:
In this interview, Robbin was unavailable. In Andrea & Malania's interview, Malania was unavailable. I find that so weird. Parade interviews every team post-exit. You know for a year this is coming up, you know exactly what week they'll be contacting you, and you can't schedule in a 30 minute phone interview?
One thing that popped out for me in the interview. Chelsea commented that the elimination happened on her birthday, but she had a "36 hour" birthday due to the time difference and got to spend her birthday with her family. I'm surprised they send the teams home that quickly! I guess the sequester location truly is a thing of the past?
That is weird... even if they were at work or something, why not find another time for a phone interview that week?
It's interesting that there is no more sequester... I thought part of the reason for sending all the eliminated teams to a resort was so they wouldn't get home early and their family etc would know when they had been eliminated? Are there still nondisclosure agreements? Wouldn't the family be able to count the days and know they didn't make it to the end?
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26 minutes ago, sara416 said:
I loved Robbin and Chelsea going out at the end and saying "Our kids will be proud. And they'll see Rob and Corey, and Greg and John, and know that we never had a chance!" it was a good note to go out on.
It was Chelsea that said that. Chelsea seems to be the more down to earth and realistic one in that pair. Even when they were dead last and obviously outclassed, Robbin had to tell the cameraman that when they started the race, she thought that they would be consistently at the top of the pack. I have no idea what kind of water she is drinking. Kudos to them for getting as far as they did, since to me they looked like one of the obvious cannon fodder teams from the start.
Also, she mentioned that she is 40. She's only 40? I would have thought she was easily pushing 50.
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13 hours ago, fishcakes said:
The other problem for me is that the tasks, especially the detours, don't seem as well thought out as they used to be. Phil has long since stopped giving the, "a detour is a choice between two tasks each with its own pros and cons" because while in the past they worked hard to make one side of the detour be more complicated/difficult but potentially fast if teams figured it out and the other option straightforward but grueling and inevitably slower, now they just throw up two pretty equal options like make marionettes or complete a mural, and teams just pick whichever one seems easier or closer. There's very little strategy involved in their choice. Greg and John talking about how doing the mussels and the buoys was a good choice for them because they were in first feels like the first time in ages I've heard anyone weigh out the pros/cons.
There are times when the choices seem about equal. I would agree with you that there doesn't seem to be as many obvious "physically strenuous but fast" vs "easy but steady and slow" choices. I think maybe the producers wanted to make the choices less obvious? There have been many times in the past when no team chooses one half of the detour.
This season, though, there are still times when the tasks turn out to be unequal, even though it's hard to tell just from reading the clue how or why. The dolls/diorama choice is a good example. I would have chosen diorama in a heartbeat, because arts and crafts and making dolls seems like a pain to me. But the dolls turned out to be way faster.
I get why teams chose the mussels, like Greg (or John) said, it's like needle in a haystack and can be done quickly if you're one of the first teams there. I was confused by the other task... take some ropes/chains and just go around the ring, pull the ropes back and forth to remove the barnacles? I wanted to know how the lady knew they were done or that all the barnacles had been removed, it seemed to me like she barely even looked. I'm curious as to how long the average completion time was for each task, because the barnacles task didn't seem that strenuous, especially if both team members were working at the same time.
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Another fantastic performance by Greg and John. I like Greg/John and Rob/Corey the most, this is one of the rare seasons where I still have two favourites left at this point in the race. I can't decide who I would rather win. Both are great. The brothers are great examples of 100% sibling trust, while I love the way Corey obviously loves his dad and was happy that his dad got to experience the glider.
On 11/23/2023 at 4:58 PM, Guiaoshi said:I think this leg just prove we need to be carefull before judge a team based on edit, specially If they are not show alot. We had this impression that Robin and Chelsea (Chelsea in particular) were cold/ unable to enjoy the race till their last leg were producers couldnt ignore them. I dont think they chanced this leg, It was just a case of they not bickering enough, not be loud, and not be in the final 5 teams that producers didnt bother to show more of them.
I think they are exactly who they were portrayed to be. The fact that they stated they wanted to enjoy the race and appreciate each other shows that they know exactly how they are and how their relationship is. They wouldn't have needed to have said that if they weren't aware of how they (well, Robbin) treat each other. This relationship was formed when they were teens and Robbin was really bitchy and nasty to Chelsea. Doesn't seem like much has changed.
When Robbin is stressed, she is nasty. When they knew they were eliminated, they seem to have talked to each other and vowed to be nice to each other. I'm glad for them that they had their zen happy "we love each other sooooo much" moments on their last day on the race. But I don't think there's going to be any lasting change in Robbin, she is who she is.
On 11/23/2023 at 8:41 AM, Silver-hyren said:Speaking of Todd, what was with him refusing to look at the clue while trying to find the Pit Stop (I think)? "Don't show that to me because I already took the wrong exit once before so it's your responsibility to make sure I don't do that again." Sure...
It's because this couple bickers a lot and Ashlie very obviously seems to always criticise him and yell at him. He decided he already messed up once so he was going to let her make the decisions. She doesn't seem like a very supportive person. She expected him to do all the driving and navigating and decision making but then relentlessly badgers him when he makes a mistake. It's no wonder why he didn't want to make the decision. Just like with Robbin and Chelsea, this team explained their dynamic to us clearly, Ashlie said that they fight a lot but they understand each other. Ok.
On 11/22/2023 at 11:48 PM, PurpleTentacle said:Caves really aren't my thing, but this was spacious enough that I don't think I would have had a problem. From behind a screen it certainly looked beautiful.
I'm claustrophobic and caves creep me out. Especially the ones with water. Years ago I went with my family to this cave in Pennsylvania where the whole thing seemed to be an underground lake. The tour was conducted in these boats. So dark, so creepy. The river that Greg (or John) pointed out reminded me of this cave.
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I thought this was a solid and enjoyable second episode. The team is starting to gel together. Evie and DeShawn are working well together, and the beginnings of mutual respect are forming between Mackey and JD. I do think the quirky tech person is a staple of these types of procedural shows, but this one is growing on me, especially after "Mackey dumbass".
Mackey herself does give slight indication of being less uptight, she was able to laugh at the parrot in the closing moments of the episode.
I think this show is doing a great job of incorporating Australian culture. I learned about a snake I had never heard of before. And I always love hearing the word "kookaburra", it has to be one of the more fun words to say in the English language. "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra, gay your life must be." Always reminds me of my mother.
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On 11/17/2023 at 6:26 PM, EtheltoTillie said:
Most watched debut? Low bar. It’s almost the only debut.
Hah, yep, exactly my thought. I'm trying to figure out how this show got around the actors/writers strike? Was it already in the can and ready to go?
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I just found out the show has been cancelled. So sad, I thought it was doing well. It's a very unique show. I love the mystery aspect and the clues hidden within each episode. And the fact that each episode is told in the style of a different movie genre really made it a great series. I hope it gets picked up elsewhere.
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Luis and Alex overall have better skills than Emily and Karen, but they really blew it in this episode. Their croqueta was nothing more than a taller, shorter version of the original sandwich submarine. And it was so big and top heavy that they finished the race in last place. They were an easy choice to go home.
I know they said the best aesthetic build would automatically get into the top 2. Was the other top 2 slot reserved for the first place finisher? If so, then Christopher and Robert won both, so they win the challenge.
I agree that aesthetically their build looked the best, but structurally their car was the weakest car. It was the only car that significantly fell apart. Their car lost both the mouth and the tailfin. It was smaller to begin with, so it was a lot lighter so of course it could move faster and win the race. I feel like they should have lost points for having the only car that fell apart. They were warned by the BMs about it being weak and unstable, and it proved to be exactly that. Past contestants have been sent home for not heeding the warnings of the BMs.
I would have given the win to Paul and Nealita. Their swamp car was fun and pleasing to look at. Nealita was a great driver.
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Ugh, I didn't realise that this episode was the season finale. Annoying that it ended on a cliffhanger and that there are so many unresolved/open issues. Now we have to wait for over a year to determine which Nathan survived.
On 11/11/2023 at 11:17 AM, Affogato said:Earlier in the show, didn't people at Lakeview who ran out of money slow down and end up in the basement, living on crumbs of electricity? That puzzled me. Unless Ingrid had paid in advance for Nathan's room, so there is no money for 'food' but there is still the bedroom? The money thing would seem to be a problem for most people, since who has the money to keep the lifestyle going? Very very few rich people, and it goes down the toilet if your family suffers a revesal of fortune. Why would your great great great grandaughter care if you are eating sushi off a fat man's feet? Also, ew.
Yes, Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger with Nathan running out of money or data, and then he was frozen in black and white.
Wasn't there an Asian woman who was living in the basement on the slow data plan? I thought we saw her in some kind of window/hatch on this episode or one of the recent ones. Luke was talking with her? I can't remember what the storyline with her was.
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5 hours ago, Ancaster said:
I wouldn't go so far as to say it's my favourite since I pretty much despise most ads, but there's one airing right now with three older ladies sledging and remembering their childhoods, with the flat Beatles cover music, that's kinda sweet. It's for Amazon so there's that too, even though I do use them and feel bad about it.
Ah, the existential angst advertising can cause.
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/5NnD/amazon-holidays-joy-ride
I absolutely love this commercial, I think it's perfect. The three old ladies sitting in the village square and watching all the young folks sledding. One of the ladies orders butt pads from Amazon and then those three are having the time of their lives going sledding down the hill.
I particular love the shot from behind of them going down this huge hill into the downtown area. That village looks perfect, straight out of a Currier and Ives print.
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31 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:
Like I said, I think the race should actually loosen some of those rules again, instead of introducing new ones. Allow Ferns again, who can show the teams around, make the clues harder in turn, etc.
Another big part would be editing. Don't edit out the parts that made this show feel like a race around the world, instead of a generic gameshow set in multiple countries, just because you think these parts aren't high drama enough.
No, that was like a decade ago. I'm not sure why they made the rule. I think the speculation was that some teams became too pushy in trying to get locals to come with them. But production never actually said anything about it. We only know through the grapevine (past racers) that it isn't allowed anymore.
I think teams being pushy is a corncern here, but I also think here a rule of "you can only ask a person once" would be easily enforcable.
I was never a big fan of Ferns. I am not sure about the timing, but I think one of the reasons why Ferns might be banned now is because of Rob Mariano. I think he said that locals would recognise him and Amber from "Survivor" and want to help them and show them around. I remember thinking that was really unfair, so maybe TPTB banned Ferns just to level the playing field more? If it wasn't because of him, later on, more and more reality show teams started getting cast, so some teams might have more of an advantage in attracting Ferns than others.
I think it's a good rule, it's not interesting to me to watch someone local lead a team around and help them and show them exactly where to go. Same as paying a taxi to drive somewhere while teams follow on foot.
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14 hours ago, Grizzly said:
It could have been worse. I had to really concentrate to understand the lines from the Australians. Gee, could they have made Mackie any more like Gibbs? The break in the actress's eyebrow was so distracting. So the nuclear experts they flew in from San Diego was the sleeper cell? And the blonde created the radioactive incident so that the cell would be called in? Shouldn't Tennant have been Mackie's boss? I liked the junior partners and the forensic intern. The doctor needs work.
I agree, it could have been worse. But I'm starved for new scripted network content so I'm willing to give it a chance. I like NCIS Hawaii, and I'm sure that if this Sydney show survives, there will be a crossover during its second season.
I like Olivia Swann from "Legends of Tomorrow", but the prickly, bristly agent in charge is a little tired. I haven't seen Todd Lasance since he was a young Julius Caesar on the last season of Spartacus, I'm assuming he's been working on Australian shows in the intervening years.
I hope Mackey defrosts a lot. I do like the junior people (although it's already telegraphed that Evie and Jackson will get together) and I don't care for the medical examiner.
This kind of show seems like it would have been the perfect show for Australian Luke Mitchell. Poor guy can't catch a break, it seems every show he becomes a part of either gets cancelled quickly or his character gets killed.
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I'm curious if any of the Gen V characters will appear on The Boys Season 4. I would be surprised if any of them actually join the Seven, since they've already announced a Gen V Season 2, and it would be odd to have the same characters starring on both shows. Unless the intent is to have some "graduate" to the main show and have Gen V focusing on those still connected to the school.
I don't find Sam interesting at all. Cate is unlikeable, which ironically makes her a perfect fit for the Seven. But what about the two losers from that reality competition? One was called Silver Kinkaid, she appeared to be Muslim. The other was a black female, I forget her name. I don't think they explained their powers but I'd like to see more of these two.
On Gen V, they act like this black female finalist isn't in contention anymore, because they tout Marie as the possible first black female member of the Seven.
I thought I read somewhere that Black Noir comes back in Season 4 as a new version, or something like that.
Gen V clarified that Victoria Neumann's powers are blood-based, just like Marie's. So her power seems to be a lot more versatile than just making heads explode.
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3 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:
Blame it on Wayne Newton. He did a popular song called "Dankeschon." I always thought that's how you say "thank you" in German. Thanks for letting me know otherwise.
I always thought "danke" was "thank you" and "danke schon" or "danke schoen" was "thank you very much". It was always explained to me that "danke schoen" was a more formal version of "thank you". It's not?
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4 hours ago, iMonrey said:
(I also got a kick out of Todd admitting choosing the wrong Detour was a "husband fail.")
1 hour ago, dgpolo said:I did not, only because it seemed he was putting all of the blame on 'my wife couldn't do it' and didn't seem to acknowledge that he barely hit the target either.
I agree that Todd was just as bad as his wife at it. It seems that he thinks of himself as a "former professional athlete" and that defines his persona to the point where he thinks he is so athletic that they will automatically choose any sports task. I was happy to see that he was pretty much as bad as she was. But at least he did more or less acknowledge that he picked the task without considering her. He wanted to show off on TV, and instead, he looked like a fool.
10 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:That's nice in theory, but how would that work in practice? Especially in countries where there is a communication barrier.
Teams typically don't have issues finding people who can speak English who can talk with them. I think the Race could be designed so that teams would have to find different ways of getting the information they need. They could be supplied with a map, or told where to go to buy a map. Or they resort to finding an internet cafe, if those still exist.
In the olden days of the Race I seem to recall many teams purchasing guidebooks or maps at the airport. I'd like to see some more "old school" racing instead of just having teams automatically looking for the easy answers. I guess I just miss the old days of the Race when I felt like teams had to be more self-sufficient, or at least had to ask questions of locals who wouldn't just automatically whip out a cell phone to look up answers.
I guess times have changed and technology has advanced since the Race first debuted 20+ years ago. I also don't like how I don't think we heard any of the Racers say please or thank you, unless I missed it. It was just "can I use your phone" or "do you have a phone". What happened to general politeness?
I'm rooting for Greg and John or Rob and Corey. The beard guys, I'm indifferent. I slightly dislike Todd and Ashley and I outright dislike the bickering sisters, Robbin, and Anna Leigh.
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Hibiscus was so far below the other three, if anyone had gone home but her it would have been a joke. Also, I don't understand, this woman is supposed to look like Sharon Stone? Even if she died her hair blonde, she doesn't look anything remotely like Sharon Stone.
On 11/10/2023 at 6:44 AM, jah1986 said:As long as Hibiscus went home I was okay.
When I heard the sitting up in my room clue for Candelabra I thought of Brandy, but I don’t think that’s her voice. My thoughts then went to either Monica or Ashanti.Did the panelists even comment on the "sitting up in my room" clue? I didn't think it was Brandy's voice and that did make me think Monica. I thought Monica was the Night Angel for the longest time and she seems like someone that the show would want to be on the show. The show has done these "connection" clues before, like the Kardashian clues and it was someone who had babysat for the Kardashians. So I could see how a reference to Brandy could lead to her "The Boy is Mine" partner Monica.
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I liked Andrea and Malaina, and their navigation issues took all the suspense out of this episode. I did like their continued positive attitudes and I felt bad for them when Malaina was saying "maybe we're in first". They didn't argue with each other or blame each other at all. The strength of their friendship really shone through despite their troubles.
On 11/9/2023 at 1:27 AM, Lantern7 said:Anna Leigh . . . I bet she's a real sweetheart in real life. With the pressure of the show, however, she's a bit too much. It didn't help that even her father is getting fed up. I did enjoy them trying to pronounce that one German mustard for what seemed like an eternity.
On 11/9/2023 at 8:23 AM, chaifan said:I know we only get short snippets of what's going on, but Steve didn't look like he was even trying to navigate. I get why AL was snippy with him. And for him to tell her to shut her "smart ass mouth"??? Wow. Dude, she's been carrying you for most of this race. Also, never an appropriate thing to say to your daughter.
Anna Leigh is a real peach. I don't think she's a sweetheart in real life. Someone else upthread said that it's Steve's fault because he basically raised her like a man, which I don't agree with. The Type A aggressiveness that she exhibits isn't limited only to men.
People on these threads have been commenting about the nasty way she talks to her father and bosses him around, so I was glad to see him stand up for himself and tell her not to talk to him that way.
I don't agree that she's been carrying him for the race, only in the sense that I get the feeling that if she could have run the race solo, she would have. She clearly thinks her father is an incompetent, slow, lazy boob. So why did she pick him for a race partner? Did she want to race with her husband or a friend and they couldn't get the time off? It seems obvious to me that her father likely wasn't her first choice but either he was the only one available, or the producers really wanted a father/daughter team. The way she treats him is abysmal.
Even with the mustard, she has to be difficult. The name was meritalling or something like that. It had an R in it. She said a number of times that there is no R, it's a D, or something like that. Even to the German guy himself. Finally he said there is an R and she didn't even acknowledge that she had insisted there was no R. Anna Leigh seems to be a person who is unable to acknowledge that she is ever wrong.
On 11/8/2023 at 10:04 PM, tracyscott76 said:Morgan & Lena are such a mess, I love it. "Slow downnnn!" as she's running after Morgan on the big horse bike 😆
You can sooo picture what they were like as kids, it's hilarious.
On 11/9/2023 at 7:52 AM, PhD-Purgatory15 said:Everybody keeps hating on Ana Leigh, while I'm over here watching the older of the two sisters in horror. She hates, no loathes her little sister with a passion. It literally drips off her every time she belittles her.
I'm not sure which one is which. Is the little sister the one that was driving and doesn't know her left from her right? She is also the one that was screaming at the other one at the dolls and almost got poked in the eye with a needle? That is the one I can't stand. She's bossy and controlling and always telling her sister what to do.
On 11/9/2023 at 7:03 AM, Ancaster said:I cannot for the life of me understand why teams don't take the divide and conquer approach for task such as the mustard tasting - you have 9 flavours: one of you learns four and one of you learns five, instead of both of you trying to learn 9 each. Doh!
I don't think that would be the best approach since the tasting was blind. When they go to taste a pot, one says "this one wasn't mine", the other says "no it wasn't mine either". I think the best approach would be for both to taste them all, but perhaps one person make sure they learn the name and pronunciation correctly.
On 11/8/2023 at 11:08 PM, Jodithgrace said:Who was the racer who didn’t bother doing the written math, but instead brought different numbers of coins to the counter until she got it right? Pretty smart.
I thought it was lazy and terrible. I wish there had been a ten minute penalty in between wrong guesses. As it was, because she was the only one there, she didn't even have to wait in line for others to take their turn. She just walked back and forth.
On 11/9/2023 at 1:04 PM, Tango64 said:Loved this episode, but I don't like how much they relied on asking people to use their cellphones. I know it's nothing new, but it still seems to take away from the spirit of the task. If they had asked passersby, "Hey, do you know of a cologne from here whose name is a four-digit number?" that would have been better. It would have taken more time probably, but just using someone's cell phone is an easy out and not much fun to watch.
But then again, I guess if you ask people, they're just going to whip out their phones anyway. So maybe it's better not to have a clue that relies on internet research.
I agree, I hate the lazy use of cellphones. If I were in charge of the race, I would specifically state that you are not allowed to get help from anyone who uses a cellphone otherwise there is a penalty.
At least one local knew the cologne answer without looking it up, so I would say they should just keep asking around until they find someone who knows. And I would ban asking for directions through maps on the phone. Go back to using an actual map.
I think back to TAR Classic when the teams got a Tunisian flag and had to keep asking around until they found someone who knew what it was. I miss the days where Racers didn't automatically just get help from someone's phone.
On 11/9/2023 at 10:34 PM, bunnyface said:I'm not going to go back and watch, but I seem to remember Robbin and Chelsea being fairly okay in the beginning. I think Robbin is sucking all the fun out of Chelsea. She's very snappish and churlish with Chelsea at times. I think Chelsea is tired of it and if it were me, I might have kicked Robbin in the neck by now.
I can't stand Robbin. It seems she's been dealt a rough lot in life, with her brain tumor and dead husband, so I want to cut her some slack. But she seems like a thoroughly miserable person. She and Chelsea got four of the 9 U-Turn votes. Some may say that they were targeted by the trailing teams as someone to try and get out of the race, but why them? Why wouldn't others have targeted the sisters, or the hapless brothers, or someone else? I can only think that they got four votes because they are unlikeable.
I agree that Chelsea looks miserable, but I chalk that up to having to be with Robbin every single minute of the day.
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On 11/9/2023 at 10:51 PM, mertensia said:
That was a really nice purse; I'm not surprised Christopher and Robert won. I did think the background color was all wrong though; it blended into the background in the photo.
Wasn't surprised Team Liza Lapira left, though.
So happy to see that at least one other person here thinks she looks like Queen Latifah’s friend!
I don’t like Christopher and Robert but their bag looked the most like a bag. However, I feel like the instructions should definitely have said to design a handbag if that’s what the judges were really looking for.
The box looked terrible, the BMs warned them about it looking like a cooler, and it ended up looking like a cooler on wheels.
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I'm bummed that Aubrey and Ryan went home. The screen on their TV wasn't great but even the Brickmasters admitted that it was almost impossible. Aubrey and Ryan should have at least gotten more credit for it. Their TV looked great, notwithstanding the screen. There were lots of other details in it.
The chair should have gone home. It was a terrible choice. The colour was completely off (granted, there probably weren't any burgundy bricks), but apart from that, it was a completely blocky and monochromatic and boring build.
On 11/2/2023 at 11:54 PM, mertensia said:Okay, that was so nice seeing everyone helping build the rug. That said, what were they thinking choosing that!?
20 hours ago, JH Lipton said:I hated that. They should have received a massive penalty for not following the "one-for-one" rule -- it's unfair to teams who do follow the rules (I see this All The Time on Chopped: "You didn't use all the basket ingrediants but we like your sob story better..."). I don't think they deserved either Golden Brick and it makes it difficult to watch the show.
Count me among those that hated the help on the rug. They chose poorly, and if they hadn't used the Golden Brick and gotten bailed out, I would have been upset.
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I have to confess I'm a bit confused as to how many Nathans there are and which one is with whom. It shouldn't be so hard, but...
Can someone please correct my understanding?
1) Original Nathan died in the car crash. They uploaded him to Lakeview, where Ingrid was paying the bill.
2) Ingrid pretends to die and upload to Lakeview so she can be with Nathan. But it turns out she's just in a hug suit in a bathtub.
3) Last season, Nathan and friends discovered some kind of body printing farm where someone (who? was it Ingrid?) was creating a body of Nathan (which apparently still has a huge penis but is about 10 pounds fatter than the original upload).
4) Uploaded Nathan was downloaded into new body Nathan in the real world. So Uploaded Nathan left Lakeview.
5) In Season 3, Downloaded Nathan is having nosebleed problems and possible impending head explosion. He meets Nora in real life and they start dating.
6) Angel who replaced Nora is obsessed with Nathan, and creates a backup upload of him. So there is now an Upload Copy of Nathan in Lakeview.
7) Hug Suit Ingrid is aware that real life Download Nathan is now with Nora, and is determined to still be with Upload Copy Nathan.
8) At some point, Obsessed Angel thought that Upload Copy left Lakeview (he was in the Grey Zone with Downloaded Nathan) and created a second copy. But I think she cancelled that copy.
9) Ingrid shows up at Downloaded Nathan's apartment in real life, all drunk and trying to get back together.
Someone please correct any errors.
Things I am confused about:
1) Choak is/was the head of ____________. Is he dead and uploaded to Lakeview? Downloaded Nathan in the real world had his file which he threatened to destroy.
2) Choak worked with Ingrid's dad (who is or is not alive?) to kill Nathan. Ingrid's dad said he wished Ingrid had died too. How can Choak have killed Nathan if he was dead and in Lakeview?
3) If Choak is dead, how was he in that holographic meeting somewhere? What were those people doing?
4) What is Downloaded Nathan and Nora doing with his mom and her boyfriend? Why are they staying in some dumpy place and sharing a bed?
5) What is the storyline going on with AI guy and Alicia?
I feel like this show was a lot better in the first season when it was simply about a guy who died and went to some kind of digital afterlife. As you can see, I am so confused now.
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S06.E03: Dis-Moi Oui
in The Crown
Spot on. I know that a lot of this episode had to have been fictionalised, but overall, the entire episode just made me angry. At one point, Diana says to William that she doesn't even know what she is doing in Paris or how she got there. Yep.
As depicted in this show and this episode, Mohamed's relentless campaign to make sure that Dodi marries Diana was absolutely disgusting. He showed us from the start that he is a very small, petty and overly sensitive man. He has all this money but his money cannot buy him respect in England. He is desperate to be accepted .
Having been unsuccessful, he decides that the way to win acceptance is by marrying his son off to the most beautiful and famous woman in the world. And that's what it comes down to... Dodi isn't even a son at this point, he's a business asset that Mohammed is trying to use to gain the most advantage for himself.
It was all about Mohammed. Mohammed doesn't give a shit about his son's happiness. He was just using his son for his own benefit. He emotionally blackmails Dodi, telling him that he will finally gain his respect and a 50% partnership in the business if he can seal the deal with a woman that he literally JUST MET and threw away his engagement for.
Given all the moving around between places, I don't know why Dodi wouldn't have told his driver that he needed to be on call the rest of the evening, in case plans changed. I would surmise he was distracted by the impending engagement and didn't think of it. They should have just stayed at the Ritz and sent a staff member to go get her clothes and toothbrush.
Me too. I hated the character of Dodi. He is a complete doormat in both Seasons 5 and 6. He knew she just wanted to go home and see her boys. When they were in St. Tropez she tells him she needs to leave because her boys are coming home the next day. He won't let her fly home on her own arrangements. He insists that they take his jet and he will take her home. Oh, but wait! First we have to stop in Paris because we have to "do something". Utterly selfish. His little detour made her miss the phone call with her kids. Then the detour ultimately cost her her life.
I agree. He was forcing Dodi into marriage and I think he expected Dodi to use similar tactics to force Diana. And Dodi actually tried, but Diana was too smart to fall for it. She said to him something like "me marrying you isn't going to make your father love you any more". He says "well, actually..." and she cuts him off. He was basically saying "marry me, if you don't marry me then my father will disown me". Assholes. Both of them.
I was completely unimpressed with this actor. I didn't know he was English, that would explain the weird, flat American accent. I think the real Dodi was born in Egypt, went to school in Switzerland, and then lived in London. There's absolutely no reason why he would have spoken English in an American accent. I don't know if this was a choice by the actor or by Peter Morgan, but it was a terrible one.