ChelseaNH

I keep tuning into Burlesque whenever I come across it in the listings. It must be the Cher factor, because I'm not a great fan of what Christina Aguilera does with her mutant lungs.

Buffalo to Baltimore -- She was an entitled princess. He shouldn't feel guilty about having to live there during construction; that was something she inflicted on herself. The tedious island drama was obviously scripted. Any professional designer can show how the space will work: graph paper, masking tape on the floor...

Clean-shaven, Eric Bana doesn't really stand out. But living in the wilderness in Hanna -- he made a mountain man beard more than acceptable.

@stafford -- Try watching with the sound muted.

Then you might enjoy this interpretation: http://tomandlorenzo.com/2009/05/musical-monday-mary-poppins/

My pick for substitute host would be Sam Bee. Jessica is best with monologues and Jason plays well with others, but Sam seems to have more of a balance of skills.

I'm confused: Do we want to declare war on Putin or elect him? "We need Putin to be our president so he can declare war on himself and everybody else."

There are many things about the Lord of the Ring movies -- or, more specifically, the scripts -- which make me cranky, but the one that really ticks me off comes in The Return of the King, when Denethor sends the knights to recapture Osgiliath and Pippin is singing in the throneroom. It's supposed to be all deep and meaningful, but it's just so incredibly STUPID that I can't stand it. Denethor might have been a bad father, but he was not an utter bozo who would squander valuable resources in a hopeless and pointless assault because he was throwing a snit fit over Boromir's death and Faramir's continued existence. Which makes the "poignant" music so much more manipulative, because it emphasizes the utter wastefulness that THEY INVENTED THEMSELVES. Sorry, my brain just went to a "Hulk SMASH" place.

*shock* You can't cook a Thanksgiving turkey in a toaster oven!

I think Winter Soldier was a better movie, but this was more fun. My biggest problem was that I kept waiting for a Gamora twist to show up, because the way her plot played out was far too straightforward.

I saw the episode with the woman looking in the Dallas area -- it looked like she worked for a broadcasting company, doing events. She looked in South Dallas, West Elm and The Colony with her two bossy friends. My family moved to The Colony back when it was maybe 100 houses and a Stop 'N' Go, so the idea that it could be an up-and-coming area is kind of boggling. Also, The Colony is well north and west of Dallas, so wherever she worked, there's no way it was convenient to both South Dallas and The Colony. Oh show, how you lie to us.

This is why you never let architects design a kitchen -- they're entirely too conceptual. (Except for my brother, because he comes from a long line of practical people.)

The image with that article is a clear example of black people as set decoration, so that's not exactly helping his case.

I'm not convinced that Ofelia's mother was in a position to refuse her new husband's attentions. I'm more inclined to see her as a woman trying to make the best of some very bad circumstances -- a flawed person, but hardly a monster. Ofelia's stepfather, though, was a monster.

I believe they started with a budget of $130K for renovations, and I recall them being about $55K over at the end (with more work to do). Wonder if they've finished yet...

I saw this over the weekend. It was good and I'm glad I saw it, but I couldn't really sink into it. The train felt like too much of a constructed exercise, which is why I wasn't surprised that Wilford offered to make Curtis his replacement. But why did he believe that Curtis would buy into the world he created? The biggest sticking point was that the train made sense as an expression of one person's philosophy, but it was an incredibly stupid response to the survival of mankind. For one thing, why would a closed ecosystem have room for a bunch of self-indulgent hedonists? What did they contribute to compensate for all they consumed? In a closed ecosystem, why let things get so out of balance that a 74% adjustment is required? Why was it necessary to travel, instead of staying close to the equator? And if travel is required, why choose something that is tied to tracks and stops moving if tracks aren't available? I think my sense of "this is no way to sustain humanity" was helped along by the fact that we didn't really see the third or second class passengers. That exaggerates the stratification, which just emphasizes the whole thought-experiment aspect of it.

Sean is a saint -- not only does he put up with Debbie's stubbornness, but he actually seems to be good-humored about it. Debbie doesn't know construction, but she's sure that the bids she's getting are "ridiculous." Although I can imagine tradespeople applying a "Pain in the Ass" charge, so she might actually be right...

"Eeeek, gold-colored faucets!" Yes, too bad they're soldered directly to the foundation so they can't be changed... Even high-end faucets cost a couple hundred dollars. Likewise toilets. Countertops and appliances are easy changes, for the most part. Flooring changes are a piece of cake if you do them before you move in. I get that house hunting can be overwhelming, but try not to be quite so helpless.

How is it that the protesters are trying to silence the parents, exactly?

They've shown it maybe twice, but I liked the way that Trip interacted with Coulson. Trip was studying the man and had a pretty good bead on how he operates. Not too surprising, given what his previous boss had just done, but I found it interesting. Too bad we're not going to get to see more of it.

I remember the designer saying that blue was more appropriate to the character/history of the house, which I have to wonder about. Still, these designers are assigned to the homeowners by the show. In real life, designers are much more invested in paying attention to what their clients want. It's just that designers have more options to offer than people can get for themselves.

"Thief Juice!" The whole team reset and new HQ was loads of fun.

I have not forgotten all of Shrub's claims of "executive privilege" or how much the Republicans enjoyed a strong executive when it was one of their guys. To quote Parker (of Leverage): "Sucks to be on the wrong side of that for a change."

I liked the Seattle to Barcelona family. It's always nice to watch an episode and not worry about the couple's marriage...

Deferring pension contributions is stupid. Companies will have to make up the payments later, and I can just hear the "oh noes, that's too much money, the company can't survive that" petitions to keep deferring contributions, and retirees get shafted once again.