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Well some theaters these days would have fancier chairs. Not that I'd know, I haven't been in at least a decade probably. But Larry missed a chance to do a callback to the first episode of the season when he lost it cursing Siri out. In the theaters these days, the issue isn't people encroaching in other people's space with their coats hanging. It's people looking at their phones all the time, so that you see these bright spots distracting your attention on the main screen.

Well when Fraser got into the latest tiff with Barbie, they flashed back to the last season with Camille, defying him and drinking on the job. Is it a fair edit? Barbie clearly triggers him. Maybe not as blatantly defiant but still challenges to his authority. Respect Ma-h Authori-ay! /Cartman. Jared is spiraling when he can't call his daughter or when Barbie ignores him. So his go to is his drink. And now he said he felt good about the docking when he wasn't giving Kerry the information he wanted. Why did they not repeat the previous docking? In any event, he seems to be the sacrificial lamb firing, which they hinted at in the season premier and have been dropping breadcrumbs in every episode since.

Maybe Elena would get bored of Zubak if they slept together a few times. So Elena is well-educated and politically savvy. She dismisses the message Holt is delivering and sets Zubak on her to break her confidence. Well after this episode, as with the pilot episode, you have both Winslet and Will Tracy saying how politically sophisticated, more than any of the Americans they’ve introduced. If they have to keep saying how brilliant the Elena character is, maybe the story isn’t as well told as they think it is. Maybe we’re suppose to get what this small country is suppose to be in real life, from things like potato steam and black beets? And how deftly it’s playing the Americans off vs. the Chinese?

Again, Larry probably isn't going to an all you can eat buffet in real life. Looks like he watches his diet so probably has a private chef and goes to expensive restaurants. At some point, they were talking about someone having $1 billion in wealth. LD may not be far off from that, unless he was really generous in his divorce.

I guess these actresses really want to be on CYE. Lori Loughlin being depicted as a cheat, especially after Larry had to adopt the Gettysburg Address to get her admitted to his club despite the infamy she acquired for the college admissions scandal involving her daughter. Siena Miller wearing those ridiculous wigs and stuffing her out with bites of fruit and then the billboard graffiti. Good to know Larry gets story inspiration from online porn. Jeff and him were riffing on porn scenario ideas to depict on the billboard. Each of these subplots all lead to good comic payoffs but they don't really go along with each other. They're like parallel plots and they each have their own endings. They could be like different sketches from a sketch-centric show like SNL. They're not like the best of CYE with episodes like the Palestinian Chicken or or even Pants Tent, where everything converges at the end of the episode on the one punchline. Still, Pretty Pretty-tay good!

Watched the first two episodes of season 2. He's doing Europe, from top to bottom as he says. No longer talks about being "out of my comfort zone" as much as he did in the first season. They're not abandoning that he hasn't traveled much. The photography is great, especially in north Sweden near the Arctic Circle. Interesting choice, to go there rather than Stockholm, but it lets them film these gorgeous outdoor scenes. So much brilliant color for people who enjoy scenery porn. He's game for pretty much everything, with few complaints. They paddle up a creek and he says "I've been up a creek before but at least I have a paddle this time." They go try to spot a moose in a forest, doesn't work. But he seemed to really enjoy paddling on a serene lake. Scotland is where his mother was born and raised until she eventually moved to Canada with her family. But he notes that at 76, he's finally visiting the birthplace of his mother. He starts off at a $12,000 a night castle in the Highlands, which has hosted Hollywood celebrities and the Royal Family. Yeah the place in Sweden was expensive too, about $1000 night to be in the middle of nowhere. So the show continues to choose these unique places out of the reach of most of its viewers but which photograph well, including the surroundings, especially from the air. His mother's family emigrated from Poland, lived in some crowded tenements for about 30 years, eventually moved to Canada. They show what these places look like, a dozen people crammed into one room with beds in the same room as the kitchen and the tub underneath the beds which they'd bathe in maybe once a week. They could have done more with the interesting contrast between the lifestyles of Polish immigrants in the early 20th century with the fancy castle attracting the international rich and famous clientele. But they mostly had Eugene sipping fancy scotch and getting a custom kilt made for them. I learned that the plaid patterns used for almost everything in Scotland is called tartan. Eugene seems much more relaxed, convivial with the folks he meets, though I would suspect most of them are associated with these fancy places and their job is to entertain clients who pay a lot of money for these bespoke experiences. I think it would be interesting if they have him stay at nice hotels but which would have a greater mix of clients. No travel show really has the host interacting with random people. Even if they tried, they might not get interesting footage worth airing. So usually they meet up with people in the hospitality business, like concierges, tour guides, restaurant owners, museum docents, etc. I don't know if Eugene is always affable or gets on with common folks but compared to other travel show hosts, it seems like he'd most likely be able to pull it off. In any event, the scenery is great on this show and the host seems to be settling into a groove. Probably they shot this over a 3 or 4 week period and he hit all the countries at once so maybe towards the end or the last-shot episodes of the season, he won't quite have the same energy.

A retired American couple sailed their boat to Grenada from Washington DC or something. Somehow, some escaped prisoners got on their boat, brutalized them and now the couple are presumed dead, probably thrown overboard. The prisoners were caught when they sailed to nearby island. So Grenada looks beautiful but maybe not so safe.

She was clearly playing for the cameras, repeated the line about bringing Sammy back and she can take her out again. Did that twice while looking straight at the camera. Sammi was playing along so they'd have a little confrontation. It wasn't going to be some low drama return to Seaside so they ginned up something out of nothing. And it was the producers and MTV who pushed to get Sammy back. Angelina has nothing to do with the big salary Sammy must be getting to buy a new home right away and a new Mercedes SUV -- maybe that's a lease. Yeah I'm sure the camera crew just happened to be at Mike's home when Laurens decided to do a pregnancy test. They knew she was pregnant so they re-enacted the little testing scene. Do Vinny and Pauly not get paid when they're AWOL in this episode? Snookie has a much nicer shore house so the women weren't going to sleep in that house, though that black light to look for stains was schitk.

I remember at the time it aired, fans were annoyed, because it was just soap opera, unworthy of the gangster plots they'd shown. Very little sympathy for Carmela. She was crimping Tony's style, according to the viewers who thought it's been too long for some whacking.

So black pilots fly smaller planes, don't get promoted like their white counterparts, are sent out in small groups of 4 planes where they're easily outgunned. Then on missions where they know they're going to run out of fuel before returning so they're told to blend in with the local people. That's around Italy and France. So of course the German interrogator is going to talk about how they're being mistreated by America. At first, the black POWs keep to themselves and the white POWs don't even engage with them. Then for their escape plan, they realize they need them so Buck makes an overture.

On the 25th anniversary of the debut of Felicity, a podcast looking back at the series, presumably to track a rewatch. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dear-felicity/id1734828150 Starts March 13th.

They could be parked in some generic bar and they wouldn't know the difference. Time on a luxury yacht, in a very beautiful setting, is wasted on them. But this is the kind of guests they want on the show, because when they can't think of better things to put on TV, they can always get "good TV" by putting on people acting out while drunk. It's really a double standard, when Hannah on BDM got in trouble for having some drugs which supposedly could make people impaired when performing duties which involve safety. But the crew is going out every couple of days and getting absolutely plastered and then showing up the next morning, most of the time just cleaning the yacht. Would be a good option if passengers and crew just smoked marijuana in places where it's legal instead. But stoned people aren't likely to say dumb things or act out, like hook up with people, get into fights as often as drunk people.

Ethan was definitely an annoyance but there were a couple of tense scenes where he'd interject himself and I couldn't help but to laugh. Somehow, Elliot and Helen managed not to lose it with him hovering over them.

Did they say whether they got a car? Looked like al the places required 10 or 15 minute drives. Wife wanted to be in the center, live in a walkable place. Supposedly the husband agreed they'd live in a city, after living in more suburban or rural place in the US. The southern coast of Spain does have a lot of homes overlooking the ocean from hills. I think there have been previous HHI episodes with such homes and also in the Mediterranean Life show. It seems one of the most affordable places for homes with sea views. In CA, homes with ocean views would be millions.

Ramy is coming back on TV, Ramy Youssef that is, not Ramy Hassan, the character he created for his Hulu show. HBO comedy special which is part of a tour, called More Feelings. I don't know if he's done with the show. Otherwise, the next project he seems to be working on is an animated show about a Muslim-American family in the early 2000s, trying to "code-switch" in America. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18566094/?ref_=nm_flmg_unrel_2_act

You need to cut Elena a break. She's been breathing through a mask and breathing in all the mold spores!

So the cliffhanger at the end of the previous episode made it seem like Fraser and Barbie were going to butt heads again but she says she's spoiled and used to getting her way but she won't challenge his authority any more. Fraser is hopeful and does recognize that she's a great stew, especially in service. Of course at the end, when Fraser awards second stew to Xandi, who wants to fly under the radar, Barbie's glare gave away the game. You didn't have to see her saying "in my mind, I'm the real Second Stew." Barbie wants to eventually convert to judaism but is she talking about the religion or adopting the culture? One trip to Jerusalem did all that, give her the epiphany to change one's cultural identity? There was a time when some celebrities were dabbling with some Jewish mysticism. I forget what it was called but supposedly Madonna was into it and got all her trendy friends to get into it too, you know kind of like how young actors used to feign interest in Scientology to get cast in Tom Cruise movies. Otherwise, it just seems odd to talk about adopting a foreign culture like one might try on a shirt or something. Jared is easily set off, like he couldn't talk to his daughter at the appointed time so he gets drunk and is freaking out about not having cell service. Kerry is trying to be supportive, says if after this next charter, he can't deal, he'd understand if he had to leave. Meanwhile, Ben is looking at Jared having problems ordering towels and smirking, because he thinks it gets him closer to taking over. Cat doesn't give a fuck about folding the towels and bed sheets a certain way. But she doesn't care about actually cleaning the cabins either. So her problems fitting in may become moot soon enough. The preference sheet had some more fraud, another theme party and another guest with very particular demands. Why not get guests pretending that they're Van Halen and demanding M&Ms but not brown ones? But hey they can show a few scenes next episode of the demanding guest making the crew curse her out.

So this season, like the first is about discovery of Elliot's past life. He's a tourist in his own biography. Even the last scene of the season finale, he's discovering something about himself, like hearing Swan Lake brings out his love of ballet and he rediscovers the muscle memory. But the file that burns in the Dutch oven reveals another layer, another identity, than the one which unfolded in this season. The process involves both Elliot and Helen having doubts about his character, his core being, whether he was a monster, as his family and their arch rivals say that he was, as much of a gangster as they show themselves to be. They could have been content just being together, not learn anything more about his past. But Helen pushes or encourages him to go back to Ireland, based on the message, which turns out to be a ruse or bait to lure him back into a life he doesn't want to be a part of. The seasons are short so maybe they can do this for another season, maybe two at most to reveal more and more of his biography. If there are additional seasons, that would seem to be the plan. The supporting characters are crazy. Ethan actually provides comic relief at key moments and Ruairi, I guess it was suppose to be genuine grief and some emotional issues but in the end he didn't harm anyone. Both Elliot and Helen get abducted, could have been killed, but survive. Maybe that was the point of the Ruairi character, to show both of them enduring all kinds of stress and yet they return to each other? Helen apparently loved being a cop, even in the middle of nowhere in rural Australia and had aspirations to be a detective. So her inclination is to dig, to unearth things, like those letters which Niamh buried. So once they find out about this new identity from Elliot's past, she's probably going to be more driven than he is to find out more about it.

After the credits, they show some scenes from the rest of the season and then have some interviews with the cast and also the creator. They're juggling a lot of things. That state dinner was something, with her entrance. You can dismiss Elena as this loopy, hypochondriac authoritarian of some wannabe imperial Eastern European nation. She's not oblivious of geopolitics, the way she was telling the American businessman her POV. But then Zubak bends her to his will, looks like she's going to lean into the authoritarian, not the beloved leader she imagines herself to be. Maybe it's loosely modeled on Romania but there may be some Imelda Marcos as well.

It was great, so many elements that worked. But this season, he's really packing a lot in each episode. They don't necessary integrate with each other, they're like standalone bits, several of which hit. Freddie/Vince Vaughn being a snob about what kind of career the woman he dates has seemed uncharacteristic. Not even sure what his job is suppose to be but he seems to have a lot of free time yet he has a Porsche. Wasn't crazy about the exchanges with the Chinese waiter though, too much trading on stereotypes but does the fish stuck bit requires the waiter character to have poor command of English? Again with Larry acting like he doesn't have all kinds of resources to get his way. For instance, he could hire people to buy bricks and say whatever he wants, though of course, it's better comedically to have Cheryl, Ted and Susie refuse to do his bidding. Hobie Turner was the husband of the unprofessional psychiatrist who blabbed about all the things her patients told her, so Larry probably called her out on it and Hobie says that's being disrespectful to women. It takes some doing to antagonize Sean Hayes but OTOH, Daniel Levy is perfect for the character who easily takes offense.

I remember enjoying the book. I also read Tai Pan and maybe some other Clavell books. I have very little recollection of the mini series though. I remember Chamberlain and also that Mifune was a big deal casting-wise. I wonder how it would hold up to watch after almost 40 years!

Not surprising. If you think about the logistics of searching for and buying a home, it probably takes too long for a TV show to be involved from beginning to end. Even renting probably takes a long time to decide and actually finish the lease, especially for someone leasing a place in another country. In fact the analogy might be a cooking show, where they can't film in real time the preparation and actual cooking of a recipe so they show some parts but they had already started cooking before they start filming so that they can show the finished dish. Then the sheer volume of shows that HH and HHI put out, what is the likelihood of finding house hunters who are willing to go through being filmed from beginning to end? And from the production POV, the process is unpredictable so if they tried to film from beginning to end, they don't know how many would finish the process in time to complete a given episode. So they pretty much HAVE to find people who already have a place and then work backwards and come up with fake alternative choices. Most of us who've been watching for years know about the process being faked, about fake realtors, maybe house hunters not really making a big move but living for a year or even less but pretending to make a permanent or long-term move. Show is still very watchable and the house hunters can be entertaining for snark reasons if nothing else.

Who was financing these voyages? They had ships, dozens or hundreds of crew and provisions and ammo for intercontinental expeditions, with uncertain outcomes. Would it be a private company like the Dutch India Company? Or would it be the crown, as in the case of Columbus getting financial and political backing from Ferdinand and Isabella? It was a risky mission so which entity can and would be willing to risk the resources?

This BUS chick asking are we better off than 4 years ago but says are we better off than 2018. 4 years ago was 2020, first year of the pandemic, with MASSIVE job losses, because Trump bungled the response to covid. But sure let's compare to 2018. Way more new jobs created in the last 4 years than under Trump's first 3 years, before the pandemic. Unemployment rate under 4%. Unemployment rate wasn't that low back then. My savings and brokerage balances are at all-time highs. So should everyone else who has any kind of retirement savings like 401k and IRA, including this BUS person. As bill noted, US has recovered way better economically than the other "big boy" nations or the G8. Yes inflation has been bad the past 2-3 years but that was a GLOBAL problem and even there, we're doing much better driving down inflation than just about every other nation. BTW, the immigration "problem" is a fraud, amped up by Russian disinformation. In fact the CBO estimates that half of the economic growth in 2023 was due to immigrant workers, filling jobs that American workers were unable or unwilling to take on. That's all immigrant workers, both legally immigrated and undocumented workers. As Tim Ryan noted, a Republican senator wrote a new immigration bill which passed in the Senate with several Republican votes but the House refuses to take it up because Trump ordered the Speaker not to, so that he can use it as a political issue. Yeah Putin wants Trump to win because Trump will cut off Ukraine support, you know, the country that Putin invaded?

A retrospective of Richard Lewis' career, including some highlights of his interviews on Fresh Air. https://www.npr.org/2024/03/01/1234862319/remembering-richard-lewis-a-veteran-stand-up-comedian-with-a-caustic-wit So I'd forgotten that Richard starred in an ABC sitcom with Jamie Lee Curtis called Anything But Love which ran for 4 seasons. In fact it started in '89, the same year as Seinfeld. If the timing worked out differently, maybe Lewis and LD would have collaborated on a show. Richard started doing standup in 1971 and it would be about 8 years before he gained national prominence. He became a regular on late night talk shows, especially Letterman who had him on often. He cultivated this neurotic, hypochondriac persona, always wore black. That is what he played up on his Letterman appearances and his HBO specials were on the same theme such as "I'm Exhausted." It was a deliberate plan to keep up a national profile, which was great for his standup bookings but probably also angling for regular TV work. So when LD was finally available, Richard was on the very first episode of CYE or the special which spawned the series, in '99. Interesting that he really didn't play up his neurotic persona on CYE. Instead he was more of a foil, a buddy with whom LD would argue all the time.