aghst

They were talking like this was the last episode. Some were talking about learning stuff this year. All they did was go on MTV-paid trips and then have little confrontations over nothing. Yeah they learned if they can fake it enough, they collect some reality TV money. Guess the only real thing that happened was Brandon's girlfriend was willing to appear on TV but then decided she didn't want to be with him so she skipped out on this last trip. Oh and Brody noticing that he and Caitlyn were together for 6 years, with her constantly after him to get married and have children and they break up and in a matter of months, she's pregnant! Guess her biological clock was ringing off the hook.

Steve was really into the Zaha Hadid brand just because she was famous architect. Interior finishes are nice but yeah it's a specific look from the outside. What is crazy is you can spend millions to buy an apartment and then you're on the hook for $5k or far more a month for the property taxes and the common fees. The advantage of owning vs. renting is writing off mortgage interest and property taxes and building up equity, potential for appreciation. But the caps on SALT pretty much took away the advantage of high-value real estate and in NY, they're talking about people barely getting their money out or taking a loss if they bought at the peak of the market a few years ago. So maybe that's Steve's calculation, doesn't want to buy at prices which he may think could still fall. If he puts that money in the stock market, either the whole price or the down payment, it could appreciate faster than the real estate market might. That place that KJ was trying to sell, the seller says he can just rent at $30k a month but even then that may be like the sellers trying to get the same price which properties were getting in 2017, at the peak of the market. There may not be so many people willing to spend over $350k a year on rent. Wouldn't be surprised if KJ got them to drop the sales price and she tells them they may not get the same rent they have been getting.

I thought Amsterdam Alison had a great attitude about the house boat but she was talking too much about iconic and Dutch charm. Those tall canal houses are picturesque but unless you have a big budget, you have to deal with cramped spaces and steep stairs. In other European countries, they retrofit these tiny elevators into tall buildings from 19th century or older. But the canal houses in Amsterdam are narrow so there's really no space to put in more shallow stairs or an elevator. IIRC, they were taxed on width so they kept them narrow. The two times I've been to Amsterdam, I've stayed in vacation rentals and in one, they said not to flush anything but toilet paper because they were beneath the water line. But they had some other funky features like a WC with a very tiny sink. I think the $100 was worth it to get what most of what she wanted and she said she got a job to cover it. I didn't think there were travel blogs any more. Seems like that's been supplanted by IG and Youtube channels featuring attractive young women being photographed in scenic locations, often in bikinis or with professional hair and makeup and nice photo lighting. Seems like there are a fair number of them who make good money doing that so maybe Alison will look at monetizing travels. Though if she gets a good degree, that's a worthwhile path.

So I've been enjoying the series so far. It was hard to tell what the show was about, whether it was about one particular individual wishing to die or it's several variations on suicide and euthanasia. Seems to be trending towards the latter after a half dozen episodes. The pilot showed Edie's attempt to end herself, in a comic way. She tried to asphyxiate herself in sleep but finds herself tearing the plastic bag off her face. But she also set up her fireplace to burn her house down yet she decides to jump from the second floor bedroom window, only succeeding in breaking her wrist. She survives all these attempts and tells her daughter Kate that she plans to try again. Kate puts her in a swanky seniors condo while Edie warns her not to let Kate's children get too close to her since she doesn't plan to be around much longer. Edie is a breast cancer survivor with double mastectomies, a loyal wife who discovers her late husband has been unfaithful to her for years before his demise. Meanwhile, Kate is surrounded by death at work, where as a doctor, she deals with more than a few terminal patients. One of them kills herself, after Kate refuses to administer narcotics which the boyfriend has acquired. The boyfriend blames Kate for allowing his girlfriend to die in pain but then asks her to help him euthanize some other terminal patients he'd met in a support group. In one case, he botches some pharmaceutical cocktail and Kate has to help to put the patient out of his misery. Then Edie prevails on Kate to help Art, one of her neighbors, die in dignity before his disease -- maybe Alzheimer's -- takes away his wits. It also turns out that one of Kate's children is trying to transition into a boy and Kate worries that she may also try to kill herself. Edie is trying to compile a list of the pros and cons of living and as she makes friends with a social circle of other seniors, the list is balanced. But Edie and Kate now openly talk about "helping" people die by the end of the sixth episode. I wonder if the show wouldn't be better off evolving the characters away from death, have Edie find reasons to live rather than searching out others who want to die, like she did. If they plan to have more than one season, it might be difficult to sustain -- Kate is taking a big risk if she continues to euthanize people and it would be strange if Edie's newfound reason for living is to help others die.

If a guest was on his or her first luxury yacht charter, they may have more modest requirements and demands. So maybe producers tell them they can make all kinds of requests or raise their expectations that the crew will cater to their every whims and desires. So a given BD guest may have been coached to ask for certain things, both before and after they get on the yacht.

Maybe but Armand is recklessly poking the bear. Any guest could get him in trouble but he's actively trying to provoke a guest who's shown that he won't let things go. Yes of course the drugs are causing him to get out of control. He must have gotten in trouble from drugs before his sobriety but he doesn't care. I don't know how lucrative the job is. Maybe he doesn't have as much to lose, though you'd think a manager at a large Hawaiian resort would have a lot to lose financially.

To their credit, Lexi and Mat did well during this charter with these guests -- demanding is not even the word. And they refrained from taking shots because they didn't want to get in trouble again from another crew's night out. It just seems forced for most of the crew to take shots, dance in front of each other. Except for Courtney and Mzi kissing a bit, there doesn't seem to be hookup potential so why are they making them act like it's some prelude to an orgy? Malia really tried to let David down easy. OK, he may not be the most handsome guy but that other Brit cook she was engaged to was no prize either. Or maybe chefs make way more money than deckhands. That main charter guest who kept pestering Mat, shouldn't she have gone through Kate? In any even, all her clients? were happy with the food and the cakes. In fact they probably cared more about quantity than quality. People who say they want to get their grub on may not care that much about refined dining. TBH, I wouldn't either, in hot weather get dressed up for a sit down dinner. If you're burning calories swimming and doing water sports, probably you want to eat often and a lot rather than waiting for multiple courses to come out. You might prefer some smaller meals or snacks during the day. But this is supposedly a luxury charter so the food is suppose to be gourmet? Yet often they're just giving them large amounts of steak.

John Oliver said no way SATC reboot can work without Samantha. Charlotte and Miranda depended too much on their takes and reactions to things Samantha would say. I don't think it's a hardcore serious criticism by Oliver, he was trying to be amusing.

I think that's true but I thought they bought up air rights maybe to keep certain properties clear? At the height of the bubble, I think the were building taller and taller condo towers on "Billionaire's Row" which is like Central Park South, like 57th street or thereabouts. But they made them skinny towers, so maybe easier and cheaper to build them skinny and tall.

Well it was just renewed for season 5. Man the worst thing to happen to the show was that actor who played Brandon getting fired for sexual harassment. The actress who played Brandon's gf also left the show and she had been harassed as well. They had no choice but to fire him but that character anchored the show towards better stories. Now they have to give a lot of screen time to unlikeable characters and dubious stories.

There are actually things called air rights in NYC.

Yeah Ronita looked good, maybe lost some weight. How does she build up a team? She must have gotten Luis' client list and probably worked up her own clients?

Single woman looking for a modest apt. in the Italian riviera. They had to break format and have the realtor actually show her the apartments, rather than having the people walk through the apartment themselves, so this could have been a HHI episode. $600 apartment with sea views from on high, wow what a bargain. Tiny place, maybe she would need a car to go to store or restaurants.

Producers may have decided they don't want Lexie to leave right away. So Sandy was telling them to work it out, even if it meant Katie had to room with her. Who knows, they could have told Lexi's mother to convince her to stay for all we know. I remember an old Kurt Vonnegut novel, where one of the characters is a psychopath and there were hints of it when he was a boy and he would put natural insect enemies in a bottle and shake it up to get them to fight so that he could watch. Sometimes I wonder if these producers have similar god complexes, getting off on watching people fight. Or at least they think it makes them more money through better ratings, more social media engagement, etc.

It's a noble endeavor but the bang for the buck doesn't seem that great, spend $4.5 million to house 20 teens. Surely there must be more kids in need? And if they spent that money in another borough, they might be able to get twice the space. Though maybe there's a need for those kids to be in Manhattan, like finish schooling there. Is this typical of the charitable work Frederick does or was this for the show?

For a larger island like that I'm sure it's not a problem. They have enough residents to run lines out there. IIRC cell coverage was good too, though I only went to the popular ones like Mykonos, Santorini and Crete. The last property with the best views is tempting but sounded like they'd have to drive long ways to the beach or to the main village/town so it would be a PITA. When HHI go to the Caribbean islands, it's similar, the properties way above the rest of the island have stunning views but they're isolated and the roads to go up to them could be treacherous in bad weather. I guess being able to spend $120k on a home lets them have a lot of time to themselves? She wasn't going to work any more and he got to work from home so they could go down to the beach all the time.

Apparently that little IG sales session solved all their financial woes. Now it’s all about Speidi having another child. Again. Once again a big weekend getaway, a spiritual and wellness retreat at a posthumous Palm Springs resort. Yeah I’m sure the Pratt’s are picking up the check as hosts. How many of these people actually go away on weekends together? Brandon was rolling his eyes the most at the crystals and the other spiritual voodoo. Some of the others seemed skeptical but played along for the show The supposed awkwardness about Caitlyn telling Brody also is scripted. They ended on it with a cliffhanger. People would generally congratulate each other, not whine about not being told earlier but apparently on this show they will make it a thing. Also this supposed beef between the couples, it’s easy to imagine them concocting this scenario just to have some conflict on the show. This show is often about boobs. Heidi was popping out one of hers a few eps. back and the other cast members are often in swimsuits or other low cut tops. Then they were ribbing Caitlynn on how big hers had gotten. Do pregnant women get larger breasts before their tummies protrude noticeably? Anyways maybe MTV is paying them well enough to portray this glam, sexy image. In general people in LA show off their fit and sexy bodies so that must be what the show is going for?

They're not going to be brawling like before nor go out in public, especially during a pandemic, where they might be accosted by others. Mike used to be probably the top driver of conflict in the OG show but obviously he's mellowed and changed himself for the better. Jenni isn't the angry young chick either, ready to fight anyone and everyone. Back in the day they probably wouldn't have sat for the etiquette coach or the sexed-up Newlywed Game. Also they have to integrate the SOs, who are not the young and aggressive either. If they weren't being paid to be together on these "family vacations" would they spend time with each other? Some of them certainly seems to, were friends before (Deanna and Nicole) or have become friends since (Jenni and Nicole). Maybe they wouldn't go out of their way to hang out though. They live in different parts of the country and several of them have families so their children are going to drive what they do. I guess the TV show lets them not work though, so once it's over they'd have more time on their hands.

Probably is. Pat boasted that her products are higher end than Craig's. Doesn't mean they won't look for lowest costs and pocket the higher profits if she can maintain high prices. The stuff Craig makes, I think there used to be textile manufacturers in North Carolina but they're long gone. Even US minimum wage is much higher than what they pay in the Far East. If there are still artisan workers making nice goods by hand, they'd earn enough to make profits difficult without high prices. I remember seeing wool goods in New Zealand where they boasted of using NZ wool. But it wouldn't surprise me if they used NZ wool but factories in China to turn out sweaters, slippers and so on, because those are still labor-intensive.

Maybe they're maintaining their home back in Virginia. And by the housing market in VA, the $2400 they're paying is probably a lot lower than what they were paying back home, unless they've paid off that home already. They'd have to pay utilities, property taxes and other incidentals to keep a home back in the US. Or maybe they're helping out their kids too. They said they'd stay one year and then think about applying for citizenship so this could just be a trial for them. Especially if he has to come back to see his doctors in the US to check up on his cancer. But the home they chose, seems to be more for the longer term, with her plans to have her whole family over. If they were staying one year, the children would visit them maybe once or twice at the most? If they stay longer than a year, then the bigger space would make more sense. I suspect they had better resources than he let on, so they can easily afford this apartment. Plus they're not talking about living an expensive lifestyle like traveling every weekend or every other weekend, like some other HHs have talked about doing once they're in Europe. The home they chose is a great value for the money. Thing that would add costs is getting a car for frequent road trips, because the parking in the center of an old European city can get very expensive. It's interesting that many of the Spain episodes seem to gravitate to Valencia. Probably more affordable than Madrid and Barcelona, better weather than Madrid, maybe not as convenient for flying in and out of, especially from the US, as those other cities.

As horrible as Malia was in the previous season, what has she done this season that would be deserving of the same level of opprobrium?

I tend to think BD does too many stunt firings. But if there was anyone who had to go it was Lexi. She burned her bridges with everyone that night and told Malia “sorry not sorry” and told Katie “FU take this job and shove it.” Her mother talked her off the ledge, probably thinking she should finish what she started. But the crew is wary of her so there’s likely more meltdowns coming. The absurd thing is, all of her behavior is taped so Sandy could have seen what happened, which included her rubbing her tits in one guys face and shoving another one. So it was more than drunken words. She said she was brought up to be forgiving but must have hated that notion. How did she compile a burn list because she doesn’t seem capable of holding back. Or has she done these things before but still plan to get more revenge?

Yeah I have episodes 7 and 8 on my DVR but not even looking forward to them. Instead I find myself watching other things. Even The End, which Showtime seems to be burning off, seems more interesting after the first two. I think this show has a following on social media. They must also have noticed the change s8nce the first two seasons?

They finally showed that the suite has a view. What caused Armond to spiral, because Shane was badgering him or just because he came across the drugs? I don't get the monkey theme, other than Mark said they're all animals, like monkeys, as he tried to deal with the revelations about his father's secret life and then he tried to sex up Nicole as he crawled up on her in that big bed. Maybe Shane's appetite for Rachel? But as you heard those jungle noises playing while they had various montages, it seemed like a heavy-handed way to belittle the characters on the screen, like they're simple animals. But the monkey is out of place in Hawaii so I don't really follow. Tanya tried to speak well of her mother and then it became a comic monologue, talking about how she was a nympho and had BPD. She seemed to realize, in her stream of consciousness, that her mother was a horrible person, maybe not deserving of this tribute. Yeah I guess Olivia is jealous or wanted what's her name. They don't seem to miss the drugs any more. I don't think they're going through all those books either.

Hmm, that's quite a commitment if he's willing to pay for her housing and food. What about her school costs, tuition, books, etc.