EVS

I mentioned this in another thread (or maybe it was upthread here), but I am currently reading Tony Ortega's book, "The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How The Church of Scientology Tried to Destroy Paulette Cooper". Paulette was a writer in the 1970s who wrote an article and then a book criticizing Scientology. The "church" then went to unbelievable lengths to ruin her life. Even though I have read a lot about Scientology lately, these stories blew my mind. It also gets into LRH's life and how the "church" infiltrated governments around the world and organizations like the FBI. It isn't quite as fast a read as Leah's book. It sometimes gets a bit bogged down in details and it jumps around a bit too much for me, but it feels like you are reading a more in depth spy novel. (It's written in the third person.) I recommend it because it is very different from anything else I have read on the subject of Scientology. Eta: Apparently I mentioned it earlier in this thread. Sorry for the repeat, but since people were discussing books, I'll leave this second post.

I thought the same thing about LRH vs Miscavige, and maybe it is true to some extent, but I am in the middle of reading Tony Ortega's book about how the COS tried to destroy Paulette Cooper in the early 70s. It is jaw dropping. It reads like a John Grisham novel and, imo, is far worse than anything Leah has talked about so far. It doesn't talk about the financial aspect of being in the COS though, so I'm not sure if/how much that has changed. I have no doubt however, that LRH meant serious harm to those he perceived as enemies.

I agree with Sakura12 about Jimmy. Jimmy reminds me of Kelso from that 70s show. Fernando reminds me of Fez.

One more post explaining the title. I must be in the age range where the American Pie movies were popular. In the first movie, after an embarrassing incident, the main character (Jim) could only get a date to the prom with this girl in the band. In the weeks leading up to prom, she constantly told Jim these really boring stories that always began with her saying, "This one time at band camp..." with a weird inflection to her voice. Near the end of the movie, she surprisingly followed up "This one time at band camp" with a crude comment/story. At Jim's shocked expression, she said that band camp was basically sex ed.

Regarding the themes, I wouldn't mind them so much if Jeff didn't bring the theme up constantly and keep trying to use it to perpetuate stereotypes. I get that that is basically the point of the themes, but it gets old quickly especially, imo, after there is a tribal swap. One thing I did find interesting: I was watching the season 1 reunion recently and Bryant Gumbel questioned someone (maybe Joel?) about a comment he made comparing gen-x to the older players. He asked Joel if it was a generational difference and Joel said he thought it was an age thing. He referred to the older players as more "corporate". I can't remember his exact comments about the gen-xers but it was basically the same as Jeff's description of the millennials this season-more "go with the flow" etc. That is why I found this season's theme annoying. It's really an "older vs younger" theme, imo, as opposed to a specific generational thing but that doesn't sound as interesting so it became millennials vs gen-x.

28 years later, I still haven't gotten over my disappointment at the St Elsewhere finale, (It was my favorite show back then.), but given all the speculation through the years that Sheldon may be on the autism spectrum, your first option might be fitting.

My unpopular opinion is that I don't find Ken as attractive as many people seem to. I think he has a good body and is nice looking but not that great looking. Also, even before last night, his personality rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe that is influencing my opinion on his looks, but it is what it is.

I'm going to defend Maddie a bit. I think she is very similar to Kate personality-wise, so yes she is obnoxious and unlikeable and a control freak. She is also 16, with the arrogance of a lot of 16 year olds, which makes things even worse. But I also think she is pretty perceptive, especially when it comes to Kate, maybe because they are so similar. I think she knew, as soon as Kate told her to decorate however she wants, that Kate really meant "Do it my way". With 2 stubborn control freaks, there was bound to be a clash. I think when she criticizes Kate in her talking heads, her behavior and delivery is very off-putting, but she is usually not wrong in her observations. I do think, unfortunately, that as an adult she will be very similar to Kate. I respectfully disagree with Bronzedog however. I think that they are so alike that they clash most often, similar to a magnet where like charges repel each other. I could be wrong, but I could see Maddie as an adult storming out after an argument and then not speaking to Kate for a long time. Kate kind of set an example for her there with how Kate treats Jon. Also, isn't Kate estranged from a lot of her family? I could also see Maddie being the one to write the tell-all book, which would be one bitter "Mommy Dearest" book, but I'm sure very entertaining.

I have no idea. Someone with more figure skating knowledge would probably have better insights. To me it seems like Gracie has the talent, but is not in a good place emotionally. I think Ashley has always been somewhat inconsistent. I wish Mariah Bell could have skated in a second GP event. I was at Skate America and the reaction to her FS was so awesome. If she could have skated that well a second time, maybe she would have made the finals.

It was GP of China. She came in 6th overall-5th in the SP, 7th in the FS.

Thanks for sharing this info!

You are right. I should have said speech impediment instead of lisp.

I'm not sure if it will be a love story, but I was just happy to see a hot, popular guy interested in Alex, even if he was still in high school.

When my husband first saw Speechless, he was surprised the actor didn't have a lisp IRL.

My first thought was "what's wrong with him?" I doubt he wants to marry her, but I would think a guy with his money would have higher standards even for women he just fools around with.

I don't think Kim can afford an umbrella, let alone an umbrella policy.

In the Catholic high schools around here, below 70 is failing.

Michael Skupin was found guilty in 4 out of 6 child pornography charges: http://people.com/crime/survivors-michael-skupin-found-guilty-on-child-pornography-charges/

I can't stand her non-stop excuses.

If Kate called the police when John didn't return Hannah, why couldn't John do the same thing when she refused to send out Collin ( and apparently Alexis) on his visitation days? He complains about not seeing them and claims that he can't challenge Kate because he can't afford a lawyer. Thankfully, I know nothing about custody battles, but there has to be something he could do if he really wanted to.

My guess is that they are worried about Abby's sentencing on Jan 20th and how it will affect the show.

Lol, What was I thinking!

I didn't like the Raj/Isabella storyline because she seemed too mature for him and it wasn't just because of the age difference. I wouldn't be surprised if her 19 year old was more mature than Raj. Isabella seemed to good for him, imo. Also, the whole thing came across as Raj is lonely and an attractive woman walked into the room late at night and the mood was kind of romantic so he latched on to her. I don't see them having much in common to sustain a relationship, even if she turns out to be educated.

Regarding Eden, I don't think she is chubby, but I think she carries more weight in her face and upper body, if that makes any sense. I always thought she was a cute girl, more than a beautiful one. I also felt like her pageant success was because she was so well trained and had the best, most expensive costumes, props, hair and makeup people, etc rather than because she had that much of an "it" factor. This episode, she came across as a nice girl. I hope she is doing well.

Diamond is still doing pageants and she won a higher title! Hopefully it was for more than having her mom sell the most raffle tickets. She grew into a pretty young lady. For those who didn't watch the early seasons, she was in season 2. It was the competition where 3 generations of one family (not Diamond's) competed. I don't remember anything about Diamond in the episode, but her mom was memorable. When Diamond won for selling the most raffle tickets, her mom reacted as though Diamond had won the ultimate on her own merit.