aghst

It was a voter suppression law. They cut down the number of polls in certain districts so that the queue is long and people have to wait hours in the hot weather to vote. Larry making a political comment?

Kate was trying to sweet talk Hank, calling him Henry. Hank said he’s not a murderer but the sweet talk must have worked, he was all in on taking out Otis.

I'm at a hotel now, not a 5-star. But you rarely see the drain stopper down or closed so that if you run the water it pools up. In decades of travel, I've maybe seen it a handful of times. But most people won't care either way unless it's broken and you can't open or close it. I rarely close and let water pool up on the sink. Once I tried hand washing some clothes, didn't work out too well, so I'd rather go to a laundromat even if it takes time out of my vacation.

Wow, can't complain about this one being boring. I knew it was trouble as soon as Liz took off her gun and holster while Otis was getting high in her bathroom. Hank says he's not a killer but instead of just making Otis disappeared, he executes him in front of Liz, whom he would have killed next. Like after being scammed on the Russian mail order bride thing, he no longer GAF? Singing sad songs didn't soothe the heartbreak? Liz should have hooked him up with Tinder, though maybe in some remote Alaskan village above the Arctic Circle, the ration of men to women is astronomical. Damn, Danvers and Navarro didn't cover their tracks too well, didn't notice he was left-handed. And Pete doesn't know about data security. So Liz was always wary of Hank, who was obviously obstructing justice, stashing case files in his home. How did she know to trust Pete in the first place? Then she had him move into her shed rather than stay with Hank. That place looked uninsulated and unheated! The True Detectives had a moral dilemma here but they didn't deliberate too long. They want to find the truth of Annie's murder and the Tsalal case. Not sure if they're interested in brining people to justice though. Yet of course, they're technically obstructing justice, destroying evidence by getting rid of Hank and Otis' bodies. So they're pursuing a truth in one case but hiding the truth in this new crime. They really want to uncover the conspiracy so greater good and Pete doesn't deserve to go down? Actually what Pete did was defensible, Hank would have shot Liz. Navarro and Danvers to a lesser extent, want to know what happened to Annie K. -- and believe that will lead to finding out about Tsalal as well. Navarro really obsesses over it but maybe I missed where Liz decided that Connelly is not going to blackmail her or stop her from pursuing the case. Maybe when she realized Pete gave the game away about Wheeler, which they were using to try to make her back off. She told Navarro that it's over, that they know about Wheeler, then went and got Otis, got smack for him to get intel, then called Navarro over to her place.

Yeah they padded out the series with an episode where a few things happened but didn't need a whole episode to move the story. Just want to get this over with and start on Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which is has apparently got a much bigger viewership as well as better reviews. They have two ends of the expat experience. I know the story (and the book) isn't trying to represent what like if like in HK for expats living there but this story could have been set elsewhere. Why did NK choose this project? It's not even being shown in HK or I would imagine mainland China. So it's not tapping into some vast Asian audience. Not sure Americans can relate as they may not be familiar enough with HK either.

Ontario to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. This is a real move, they sold their home, cars and bought a business, seems like a beach shack serving American foods. They'd never visited previously, just bought the business first, before supposedly even renting a place to live. High school sweethearts, now with a couple of kids. They cite weather. For instance, would rather put up with tropical storms than snow. They're both tanned and fit so they must have spent a lot of time in sunny places. Want 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, with pool, near the beach or town, for $1200. I forget all the details of the choices but one was 40 minutes away from their little lunch place so that is what they eliminate. The real nice place is $1500 with a jacuzzi, which the husband pretends to like. But they choose the one close by and closest to their budget. Even if they never visited, they must have been assured the place would grow with expats and tourists so the business would be sustainable. Forget what they did previously, they seemed to have a similar business before but he has training as carpenter too. It's kind of a real-life Mosquito Coast situation? They're not escaping the rat race per se but the parents are towing their kids to a place far away from where they were born and grew up, though the kids are very young. But they might want the kids to grow and have more options. Like where would they be educated, home-schooled and no chance of university if they happen to show academic aptitude? They might for instance want to become an engineer or maybe a hockey player. Not likely to happen in Costa Rica, in some small coastal tourist spot. Maybe they grow to love the oceans and jungles and the wild life there and aspire to become marine biologists or something in that vein. Maybe despite having sold everything, they plan to go back to Canada in a few years when the kids are ready to go to school.

That suggests to me he doesn’t have a particular standard, just making things up, like who cares about sink stoppers?

But we're talking about Larry's personality. It's totally in character that he'd get overly emotional with technology. Or if it worked well, LD would quibble and nitpick, since a lot of CYE and Seinfeld was about picking nits.

I was really surprised by the audience reaction at the Grammies to a now gray-haired Tracy Chapman performing Fast Car with Luke Combs. I got the CD, liked it enough at the time, though I chose it as one of many free CDs for joining Columbia House. Tracy was one of many new “alternative” artists who hit big at the time. There were some cynical takes that she got a contract because she had an alternative look but not too alternative. Dreads weren’t as common back then and hers were short. Song got a lot of airplay and the video too on MTV and VH1 — remember when they played music videos? It didn’t resonate deeply with me, just mostly liked the tune and her vaguely plaintive vocals. Never thought much about the lyrics but now see this as yearning, to change her relationship, her life, a fast car being a metaphor for making this change. Or the singer wishing just to get on a car and start again, reset. The reaction in the audience and online was surprising. It was a big hit so maybe some nostalgia? The other part of it is that Combs cover alienated people, a white male country singer expropriating? So Tracy singing with him on stage was suppose to be a kumbaya moment? Country music hasn’t been particularly friendly to women or people of color in recent years so Combs covering this song from a black woman, who hasn’t discussed her sexual orientation but Alice walker said they were in a relationship in the 1990s. So the politics of alternative and country artists would seem to be diametrically opposite each other. Or she didn’t mind the cover because it probably brought her a lot in royalties? So she was happy to perform with him, giving her blessing to the cover, which could make it more popular and bring more royalties?

I was really surprised by the audience reaction at the Grammies to a now gray-haired Tracy Chapman performing Fast Car with Luke Combs. I got the CD, liked it enough at the time, though I chose it as one of many free CDs for joining Columbia House. Tracy was one of many new “alternative” artists who hit big at the time. There were some cynical takes that she got a contract because she had an alternative look but not too alternative. Dreads weren’t as common back then and hers were short. Song got a lot of airplay and the video too on MTV and VH1 — remember when they played music videos? It didn’t resonate deeply with me, just mostly liked the tune and her vaguely plaintive vocals. Never thought much about the lyrics but now see this as yearning, to change her relationship, her life, a fast car being a metaphor for making this change. Or the singer wishing just to get on a car and start again, reset. The reaction in the audience and online was surprising. It was a big hit so maybe some nostalgia? The other part of it is that Combs cover alienated people, a white male country singer expropriating? So Tracy singing with him on stage was suppose to be a kumbaya moment? Country music hasn’t been particularly friendly to women or people of color in recent years so Combs covering this song from a black woman, who hasn’t discussed her sexual orientation but Alice walker said they were in a relationship in the 1990s. So the politics of alternative and country artists would seem to be diametrically opposite each other. Or she didn’t mind the cover because it probably brought her a lot in royalties? So she was happy to perform with him, giving her blessing to the cover, which could make it more popular and bring more royalties? I was really surprised by the audience reaction at the Grammies to a now gray-haired Tracy Chapman performing Fast Car with Luke Combs. I got the CD, liked it enough at the time, though I chose it as one of many free CDs for joining Columbia House. Tracy was one of many new “alternative” artists who hit big at the time. There were some cynical takes that she got a contract because she had an alternative look but not too alternative. Dreads weren’t as common back then and hers were short. Song got a lot of airplay and the video too on MTV and VH1 — remember when they played music videos? It didn’t resonate deeply with me, just mostly liked the tune and her vaguely plaintive vocals. Never thought much about the lyrics but now see this as yearning, to change her relationship, her life, a fast car being a metaphor for making this change. Or the singer wishing just to get on a car and start again, reset. The reaction in the audience and online was surprising. It was a big hit so maybe some nostalgia? The other part of it is that Combs cover alienated people, a white male country singer expropriating? So Tracy singing with him on stage was suppose to be a kumbaya moment? Country music hasn’t been particularly friendly to women or people of color in recent years so Combs covering this song from a black woman, who hasn’t discussed her sexual orientation but Alice walker said they were in a relationship in the 1990s. So the politics of alternative and country artists would seem to be diametrically opposite each other. Or she didn’t mind the cover because it probably brought her a lot in royalties? So she was happy to perform with him, giving her blessing to the cover, which could make it more popular and bring more royalties?

Usually they show people who get injured. Broken ribs would require medical attention. How did they get out of the water if they were hurting so bad or Colleen with a concussion. I thought Jay would win. He’s into extreme sports, holding himself up with mostly arms and upper body. He won the previous Daily and I figured he’d win this, which favors men with upper body strength. Michelle not running was a strange choice. Wow these friends sure take it personally. Nurys the only one to solve the slide puzzle. She better hope for puzzle-heavy Final but looks like a lot of endurance portions with maybe eating challenge.

Never saw either film but both grossed hundreds of millions, way above expectations, especially the first one. Interesting premise but if the monsters can hear you, would side language be enough when you can make involuntary noises -- your digestive system or sneeze and coughs? Or just getting winded for some reason and gasping for air?

Andy Greenwald and Amanda Dobbins discuss the ending and whether they stuck the landing, https://www.theringer.com/2024/2/7/24063112/girls-finale-latching-did-it-stick-the-landing I don’t recall the finale too well but a lot of it was about Hannah trying to get her baby to latch, how Lena seems so preoccupied with a conservative concern for a progressive person. They said she took off her clothes a lot, both literally and metaphorically, over the course of the series. I recall in the forums people would get pissed with her nude scenes and the show in general.

I don't recall him being like that in BD Adventure. In fact he was hands off until something blew up and he seemed highly annoyed that he had to deal with it. Checking toilet paper corners after saying he knew what the deck crew should be doing? He must have gotten a bump in pay and promise of a higher profile. But I bet they offered it first to Jason.😊 Yeah looks like he's about to pull the plug on the new chef, who complains about having to stock all the provisions himself, up and down the ship. You see other chefs busy cleaning up before and after they cook. He talks up the art and everything but these guests at least, they don't care about plating. They're too busy making uncreative lewd comments about being moist. Ben's already scoping things out, like a predator. He had his heart broken by Camille but he's ready to jump back on something. Lead deckhand so he can get with the female deckie, whom he would be supervising, no problem there in the BD world.

The only way I could see her agreeing to give up her career and move would be that this start up job for the husband could lead to a big windfall, a lucrative IPO or something. Of course the cover story is that they want to have the experience of living abroad. But even if she wanted that, she might not have wanted to give up her career for this dream. But you can't always tell with HHI, whether this is a real move -- they have every intention of staying at least for a couple of years, not some extended vacation -- or they got people who want to be on TV to pretend that they're moving abroad.

I mean she's not coddling him. She really tests his loyalty. Her own son didn't seem to have gotten old enough that she piled chores upon chores on him. So on Christmas Eve she sends Pete and Navarro on a possibly dangerous mission while she gets drunk and goes out for a booty call. Hank was played but did he really expect his Russian bride to get busy with him in the bed full of rose petals on the very night she was suppose to arrive after some intercontinental flight? Well maybe she was from the part of Russia that some people in Alaska could see. Yeah I get that the TD formula is to delve into the personal lives of the detectives but it's a difficult balance, between the case plot which draws in the viewers and the personal, soap opera-ish stuff. Maybe the point of all this angst and loneliness of Navarro and Danvers is that they're still driven to put the case down, when they easily could have let it go, just shrug or dump it on some other agency in Anchorage or call in the FBI.

Maybe because she had to give up her career. She mentioned more than once that she'd always worked. So understandably, if she was going to be a SAHW, she was going to want the conveniences. I forget if she wanted the modern design and he wanted character or vice versa.

This show is not available in Hong Kong itself, unless people know how to jump through some hoops to get access. Apparently it will depict The Umbrella Revolution which occurs later in 2014. So speculation is that the government didn't want to show that event because it could put them in a bad light. But the HK govt denies it's blocking the show. https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3250766/perhaps-tv-show-expats-did-not-portray-hong-kong-it-likes-so-what?module=top_picks&pgtype=article

How many seasons of reality TV has he done. Did he win money on Survivor?

Maybe they planned to stay long term, so the boys would grow into their rooms for a few years? Or maybe they scoped out the market, decided how big a place they wanted and what they were willing to pay. Lisbon's rental market has been exploding in recent years because Americans and some UK people discovered how affordable Portugal was compared to other European markets and how great the weather and food was. But it's a problem for locals, who get priced out of the market with the rapid price increases. So this family may be grabbing a bigger house than they need but can afford so much more than local renters that they're contributing to the unaffordability problems. Though they are somewhat outside of Lisbon. One of the homes was said to be not too far from Caiscais, which is a coastal town west of Lisbon, not even a suburb.

I heard in the book that Margaret meets and gets to know Mercy for awhile before they go to the night market. They've made some changes and kind of compressed events or timeline it sounds like.

Why would Annie film a selfie video of her reacting to whatever she was seeing, telling whoever was suppose to watch the video that it's bad? Instead of switching the camera and actually showing what she was seeing? Also, something happened to her after she made the video so how did the phone survive whatever happened to her? Interesting use of technology as a storytelling device. I guess it was suppose to build up a sense of dread or horror at what they will eventually discover. She wasn't live streaming so recording the video does what exactly? She was counting on the police to get into the phone and see the video, which doesn't seem like it would advance the case.

That Siri bit got me. So obvious yet comically effective, at least to me. i don’t ever recall Larry doing anything for money. He’s got Seinfeld money and he does a spite cafe, sparing no expenses. He can be a cheapskate sometimes but to actually do something for a big payday?

Well so far they're only going after strategic targets, like U-boat pens to save ships from being sunk in the Atlantic and this one was to knock out factories building parts for the Luftwaffe. Best laid plans for orchestrating attacks but this division in episode 3 was out on their own and only 11 of 21 survived. Brutal ratio but the cold reality is that the planners probably expect that only some percentage of the planes will survive the onslaught. I guess they're trying to show how heroic these men were in the face of dangerous missions where they risked getting killed or captured. Other than talking about defeating the "krauts" it doesn't show what drives them. Were these mostly conscripts or did they enlist. They must have enlisted to go through the training and knowing what their duties would entail, including the risks? What were their backgrounds? IIRC, in BoB, a couple of them were college graduates or students when they joined the war effort, so it was interesting to see why they'd risk their lives. So far in this show they haven't developed the motivations of the characters.

What does David do for work? He's spending all his time in a bar when he isn't banging Mercy and avoiding Hilary. Someone is paying him a lot of money but he doesn't seem to be spending most of his time working. I'm not sure what they're trying to show with Mercy eavesdropping on other people's conversations. Trying to improve her Cantonese? She probably wouldn't have befriended that HK girl on her own. Margaret is now obsessing over finding her son until the grim reality seem to hit at the end. In episode two before Gus went missing, she wanted to get out of HK, so she could resume her career, before Clark persuaded her that his new contract is too good to pass up. In episode one, she was insisting that HK was their home to her in laws. Did she change her mind just because she still held out hope of finding Gus?