Mannahatta

Fun fact: I once had a cat who absolutely loved water. He would jump up on the bathroom sink and purr in gratitude as I poured water over his little head. Such a weirdo. I miss him. However, it is true that most cats don't like water. Plus they're pretty good about keeping themselves clean, so the cat washing station was about as odd as the alligator pits. I have to say that while I do enjoy this show, between the laughs there are some moments of absolute horror. It's like witnessing a perfect storm of bad architectural choices, ultra tacky interior design, and a complete disregard for safety. But at the same time you know that the previous owners were probably having the time of their lives as they manifested their "vision" - for lack of a better word.

I can - because I was traumatized! I don't know what the housekeeper did next as I was able to watch only the first 10 minutes of last night's show. Good Lord! The sight of Larry engaging in oral sex just about wiped out whatever is left of my libido. No, no and just no. That was not a sight I needed to see....However, when I am fully recovered I will go back to watch the rest of the episode.

I had read "Answered Prayers" a few years ago. (I had wanted to read it, couldn't find it anywhere, but lo and behold, I found it in Brooklyn in a pile of books that someone had thrown out.) Anyway, I found the book to be so mean spirited that I really wondered about the writer. Was he a sociopath? Plus the writing wasn't so great. I had read In Cold Blood and was riveted by it, so I expected more - just like I did of this show. Anyway, today I read an essay in the NYTimes, written by Babe Paley's granddaughter, Belle Burden. She writes: "I can accept that details are changed when real people are fictionalized. I know it is hard to capture the ineffable magic of someone’s presence. There are no live recordings of Babe, no way for an actress to know how she moved and spoke. What I cannot accept is the theft of my grandmother’s narrative." She describes Babe as an affectionate, brilliant, funny, well-read, charismatic, and having a "steely strength". She outlines all the falsehoods in the show, and adds that no one in her family was consulted "to lend color or truth to Babe’s portrait, to her strengths and struggles, her complexities and contradictions". And this passage I found especially poignant: "My grandmother was wounded by Capote taking the things she told him, changing them, betraying her confidence and her privacy, which she guarded fiercely. Now her life has been stolen and twisted again, posthumously, by the creators of “Feud,” including the executive producer Ryan Murphy, the writer Jon Robin Baitz and the director Gus Van Sant. In the show, Babe is drawn as the ultimate victim: of her husband’s infidelity, Capote’s betrayal, her failing health. In victimhood, in her constant suffering, in the dramatic fabrications, she becomes one-dimensional, a woman defined by surfaces — a woman defined by men, reconstructing her life to suit their needs." I thought her critique was pretty brilliant. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/opinion/feud-swans-paley.html

For anyone interested in reading more about the Vanderbilt family, "Fortune's Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt" by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II, published in 1989, is a fascinating, well researched page-turner told with wit. The extent of their wealth, and some of the massive egos is mind-boggling. After that I then went on to "Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt" by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart, published in 2005. But I found reading it to be a bit of a slog, a dry recitation of facts and some odd asides. It made me appreciate Vanderbilt's book even more.

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/the-gilded-age-back-third-season-expected-film-18571278.php In addition to making viewers happy, having a season 3 should help the local economy.

I can appreciate your point. But if there's one thing I've learned from watching Dateline it's that being able to light up every room you enter is also a risk factor.

I've gotten to the point where I just proceed to the last 8 minutes or so. In fact, lately I've been toying with the idea of putting them on mute....I think they did a nice job with the bones of this last house. And the tiles were more subtle than usual. Plus the sellers seemed like fun. However, I could do without all the close-ups of the inevitable baskets on the wall, the excessive amounts of pillows on the beds, the fake plants that continually pop up in the unlikeliest of places, the often cheap looking faucets, and the ever-present macrame. But who am I to complain now that I've learned to fully embrace the magic of fast-forwarding!

I think the same could be said for their clothing choices.

https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/feud-season-2-capotes-women Frome the article: "...Variety reported that the show had found its Capote, too: Pride & Prejudice and The White Lotus’s Tom Hollander had snagged the part of the prolific novelist who became a pariah when he published a story which exposed the shocking secrets of his most powerful confidantes. Joining him? Eternal New York It-girl Chloë Sevigny as CZ Guest, a cover girl and muse to Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí; Diane Lane as Slim Keith, the former wife of Howard Hawks who was credited with discovering Lauren Bacall; Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill, Jackie Kennedy’s radiant younger sister who married a Polish prince; Molly Ringwald as Johnny Carson’s second wife Joanne Carson; Treat Williams as William S Paley; Chris Chalk as renowned author James Baldwin; and Ella Beatty as Kerry O’Shea, the daughter of Capote’s lover John O’Shea." What a cast! I am looking forward to this like a kid looking forward to Christmas. Hopefully the wait won't be much longer.

There's a great commercial for Discover's cash back debit card with Jennifer Coolidge. She's so so disappointed to learn from her waiter (who's patiently sitting at her diner booth trying to get her to hand over her card) that it's not just her - everybody gets cash back - even Debbie John: "All those years that I couldn't find my bike and it was in her garage." The acting, the lines, the setting and the camera angles are perfection. It's hysterical. I usually fast forward most commercials (especially the ones where people are so gosh darn happy about their medications), but this one I had to rewind and watch twice. (Well, this one and the Temptations ad with the disdainful cat in the limo who's out clubbing.)

My DVR didn't record the latest one! So I just finished watching S4:E11 (according to my guide). Well, I didn't actually watch it as much as fast forward to the finish line. The house was unsellable for $405,00, was renovated for $100,00, listed for $550,000, and received an offer of $580,000. They did a nice enough job but I was baffled by their decision to remove the doors off the bedroom closet. That's an even worse idea than open shelving in the kitchen. I would love for HGTV to have a show highlighting designs that tackle the practical issues of storage, privacy, accessibility, ease of cleaning, and ways to lower the cost of heating and cooling. It would be a very reality based show with ceiling fans, window screens, TVs, shades, curtains, and maybe even the latest in security systems. There would be no white furniture. I think I would enjoy such a show.

Wow. Those first 2 properties had me wondering how was it even legal to sell them as residential homes. And why would anyone buy them? I looked up real estate in Christiansburg, VA, and for just a little bit more that couple could have bought a 3 bedroom townhouse in great condition with more square footage. So I'm guessing they were more interested in being quirky than raising a family in a safe environment. Plus the only curb appeal those brick yurtas had were that they might make passersby laugh. The 2nd homeowner was amusing and I get that she loved the trees. But she had to be bat-shit crazy for thinking that collection of ramshackle structures has potential. And the 3rd couple were complaining about things they could have at least started to repair. Anyway, don't these homeowners know by now that the winning home is always the one that needs the least amount of work? But I'm enjoying this show - mainly due to Retta. She's hilarious. Of course, I think I would enjoy it even more if there was another designer waiting in the wings.

I barely got through the first episode and had to fast forward through the second. Way too much time letting that idiot Lentz babble on. He repulsed me from the beginning with that sermon where he claimed that the NYPD had marveled that his home hadn't been shot up. On the face of it that was nonsense. Why would a cop think it amazing that 100% of a given area wasn't affected by an alleged shoot-out. So that was a lie right there. Plus I also doubt that a shoot-out occurred. It was just an excuse to make it seem like 1) he's so cool and street-wise, and 1) he's so pure and rightious bullets can't touch him and his family. Ugh. Who falls for that crap? Well wonder no more as there were also way too many talking heads of people who want someone charismatic to spoon feed them the meaning of life while also entertaining them and making them feel so so special. What could possibly go wrong there? I would rather read an article about this church or watch a Frontline style documentary with a just the facts approach. This documentary annoyed me.

Aside from the kitchen (and Michel's suit), I was very disappointed by the big reveal. The dining and living rooms looked so dark that they seemed smaller. That didn't make any sense to me since the owners had said they had whitewashed the brick of the fireplace because they wanted the family room to look lighter. So it would seem that light and airy was the overall look they wanted. The family room turned out bright but also looked very impersonal. I actually preferred the room before. Plus, I'm over shiplap as fireplace trim or any othe trim. It's just going to become another feature that will date a home. I also didn't like the minimal amount of art on the walls. However, the home owners and everybody else seemed happy - so maybe you just had to be there. Speaking of features that will date a home - when I moved to my current home a little over 20 years ago, I watched HGTV religiously for ideas. And I never got one idea that I could use. Good thing because when I started to watch it again a few years ago they were disparaging all the ideas they had been promoting. 10, 15 years from now what will they be saying about today's trends?

And it's not just the father. It's an entire family of psychopaths! Alex and Paul are prettty obvious cases; Buster is rumored to have been involved in the death of Stephen Smith; and both Maggie and Paul seemed pretty damn chill when they called 911 about Gloria Satterfield "falling". That poor woman. She practically raised Paul and Buster and they couldn't have cared less that she was severely injured. I just hope this jury has more brains that the the ones from Casey Anthony's trial. That one always stands out to me as a particularly flagrant miscarriage of justice.