Blergh

OK, here's one: while I have liked Julia Louis-Dreyfus's work in the past and like her as a person,I CANNOT stand "Veep". I couldn't make it through one episode and I don't care how big ratings or many awards it gets. . Yeah, I'm not naive enough to be shocked at the idea of folks in public office using profanities off camera [and I know it's a cable show] but she and the rest of the cast use them so much and so often, IMO, it's like trying to sift for a thimble full of water in a toxic landfill re discerning coherent, relevant convos. It would be one thing if Selena [or other characters] only used them in times of intense stress or slipped in an occasional one to punctuate a point but these folks use them so much and so often that I have to wonder what they'd have left to do to get others' attention if they truly were upset - shoot their heads off?! And, everyone is expected to think that she and the others are supposed to be cool and witty by using them but IMO they just show how nasty,dehumanizing and unpleasant they are as people who don't have the excuse of ignorance re non-profane terms to fall back on re their vocabulary options-to say nothing of demonstrating how unimaginative and unoriginal they are in their thinking.

True, but what also would have rank close would be Hank telling Sarah she was the 'best thing that ever happened to[him]'! If Sarah's the best thing not only is that a lower bar than polevaulting over a dime but I'd hate to find out what the worst thing was!

How about not letting the youngest generation get away with stuff just because they got emotional. With the exceptions of Haddie, Victor and Jabbar, it seemed virtually every time a Baby Braverman got upset, angry or cried, the Middle Generation Bravermans would immediately leap in and try to use their emotional outburst as an excuse for not holding them accountable for whatever they did. Max, Amber and Sydney are the worst examples but just once I'd have liked their parents/aunts/ uncles,etc. to have said 'I understand you're upset but that doesn't give you the right to pull [whatever]'

Agree with everyone else re the Kristina/Max epic fail and how Dylan seemed needlessly persecuted by both. I'll just say I got annoyed by Amber constantly dumping on Crosby and Drew's attempts to have 'day jobs' in lieu of constantly building castles in the air. Someone needed to tell her that the 'don't give up the ship' deal was no good re the 'Titanic' after the iceberg. Oh, and why did Amber [and Crosby] have to go to that club so late at night to try to sell that group a Luncheonette gig? Couldn't they have texted or Skypped a good pitch? And if they were going just to sell the group the gig at their studio why was Crosby so insistant on bringing his stash inside? Did he honestly think smoking his stash inside would have somehow helped tip the scales re them buying his and Amber's pitches?

In addition to what everyone said re Kristina's sudden 180 re Dylan and wanting to semi-adopt her, how is it she [as Headmistress] had no previous clue to Dylan's parents' dysfunction? Interesting how Drew has given lots of deep thought re how he needs to have a somewhat reliable means to support himself and help the family. No surprise self-absorbed Natalie would dis that and I hope he considers that she'd likely bail first time he had any tough times. Surprised that Adam and Crosby gave the opposite expected advices to Drew re future planning [and I wonder if the performers might have asked if the writer had switched their lines]. Can't say I missed Sydney or Zeek.

Quite a moving plea from Ben Jealous's ancestor Peter G. Morgan declaring his wife and children who had been legally his slaves to henceforth be free. I was not only moved emotionally by the passion and force of the plea itself but by how verbose and meticulous the content was -especially considering how it had been illegal to teach slaves literacy AND even as a freedman cobbler, there would not have been much motivation on others' part to have wanted him to have been educated so he must have had extra determination to have somehow overcome this to be educated. Somehow this reminded me of how shocked Huck Finn was when Jim confessed that it was HIS dream that once he was free, he'd be able to go back and PURCHASE his family- and I can't help but wonder if this may have been based on an incident from those times that had happened to Mark Twain himself as a youth. Miss Alexander's great-grandfather's death was quite ghastly and I can see why his widow and children would have tried to keep it quiet. Still, he did accomplish a great deal at a young age for that time and place [ though, that may have contributed to why he may have been targetted]. I wonder if it wasn't just white Southerners who dissed Miss Alexander's mother for have a more noticably darker complexion than Miss Alexander's father. Could it have been other African- Americans including Mr. Alexander's own family who were furious re the union - and that may be why she had little if anything to do with them? Interesting account of Ben Affeck's Revolutionary War ancestor who lived to resemble a very ancient toadstool- and I always thought he and Matt Damon were cousins but didn't think they were so distant. LOL

I know! That was awesome to see! Would it be too much to hope or ask for if, before the show ends, Drew calls out Amber in front of Sarah for her offering him booze and pot -knowing (and endlessly regurgitating) their dad Seth's deal? Of course he should own his own choices here but for Amber to do that was far worse than anything Seth pulled on them, IMO so Amber can't get too righteous re Seth again! Relieved Amber saw Drew's point and they seemed to have gotten out of there before they had to deal with Ryan's pill of a mother but still don't see why neither of them bothered to at least phone Sarah or Camille re Zeek's status. Also join the others in being relieved at no sign of Kristina, Max or Sydney. Anyway, IMO, it's ironic that Drew and Amber are able to see Ryan for what he is and not getting upset he can't be different and not pinning any hopes on him becoming different so why is Hank's ex still trying to guilt him to change from a leopard to a butterfly after all these years? Yes, Ruby needs a father but the one she has isn't able to wave a magic wand and make all Ruby's probs vanish. Agree with everyone how great Camille was during this time- and I'm glad even when she was downright frightened of the idea of losing Zeek she still acknowledged that there had been 'bad times'. Yeah, relieved that Crosby seems okay [and thankfully Adam didn't get too upset over the tossed cell] but could he have gotten an unknown blood clot from the accident in addition to the limp.

Funny how both Anderson Cooper and Ken Burns cringed re the revelations of slaveholder ancestors but, if it's any consolation to Mr. Burns, his distant relative President Lincoln had quite a few slaveholder in-laws who were high ranking in the Confederacy. Good point Mr. Cooper made re why the bulk of soldiers who joined the Confederacy were not slaveholders in that they aspired to one day become that and wanted to have the 'right'. Also, I agree it's chilling that the slaves were listed only by ages and gender for legal purposes but NOT by name. It shows how the law [if not the slaveholders themselves] viewed slaves as being virtually equal to livestock (with the sole exception being that they could not be legally killed). As for Miss Deveare Smith's ancestor, Basil Biggs. What can I say but WOW! He lived an amazing and quite heroic life full of sacrifice and risk for his family, community and nation so I'm also puzzled as to why his story didn't get passed down to the present day! The only explanation I can possibly think of is that his direct descendents considered him TOO tough an act to follow and didn't want their offspring judging them by his watermark. And, I totally agree with Miss Deveare Smith that it was outrageous to be told that she didn't have a 'right' to comment on U. S. American history on more than the narrowest of scales and topics- especially since Mr. Biggs showed that minorities were directly impacted and participated in nation-altering upheavals. It reminded me of a 'Cosby' episode in which Claire was asked to participate in some panel discussion about historic topics and they wouldn't let her discuss the Depression saying that she was ONLY there for African- American and womens' topics. In any case, I hope Miss Deveare Smith [or someone] produces a dramatization of Mr. Biggs's life in the near future. Since he appeared to be quite light skinned [and was able to become a free man as well as a property holding veterinarian], I wonder if he may have been born of a union between a slaveholder and slave? Another great show by Dr. Gates.

Not that I missed him but why couldn't they have at least given some excuse for Drew not being there to help celebrate Zeek's birthday. Hello, the old man DID give Drew that classic car that he and Victor had worked so hard to restore! Also would it have killed them to at least say Haddie had flown back East? Oh, well. If Zeek's 72 now, if his mother Blanche's still living that means she's 89 which means she had him when she was 17. It wouldn't be the first time a very young new parent wound up [not exactly]growing up with their child. LOL

Breaking Bad-. Sorry, I don't care how hypped up it was or how many awards it won, I just could not bring myself to watch a show that glorified and conjured sympathy for someone who produced one of the nastiest mind altering substances ever concocted-to say nothing of all the poisons produced by the waste! No sale for me.

I agree! Even when he makes those hypotheses I don't agree with, I think it would be fascinating to discuss why- without having to worry about him biting one's head off for dissenting. I like and respect his work a great deal and I, especially, like how he presents the stories and detective work in a way to appeal to virtually anyone watching it to want to do their own investigations.

OK, forgive me for sounding this sour note to what had, otherwise, IMO been a good episode, but I can't say I was entirely comfortable with Dr. Gates's attempting to hypothesize that outstanding athletic performances might somehow innately be tied to genetic heritage. No doubt Dr. Gates himself has nothing more than benign intellectual curiosity re the hypothesis but, alas, there have been those who've actually used the concept of genetic disposition to manipulate and exploit others on a grotesque scale. Besides, it seemed to be that every one of the guest athletes appeared to have family support re their desire to be the best in their respective athletic fields even during times when society at large may have discouraged this [e.g. Ms. King's parents] so merely inheritting ancestors' physical building blocks wouldn't have been enough for them to have become phenomenal athletes had neither they nor their families had been interested or inclined.

Interesting how Dr. Gates uncovered Ms. King's grandmother's actual heritage but I wonder if 'Grammie' Moffet knew she was even adopted much less that her birth mother had been single at the time of her birth? Many adopted folks were NEVER told they were adopted or, if they were, their adoptive parents would just tell them that they didn't know what became of the bio parents and no way to find out- and it could be that 'Grammie' Moffet avoided discussing her family because she had a poor relationship with these adoptive folks. Still, it was amazing to see what Dr. Gates uncovered and 'Grammie's birth mother DEFINITELY had a strong physical resemblence to Ms. King. If I may digress, I know that Ms. King goes by the surname of her now-former husband and that's the name she became famous under but I wonder what if any effect on her fame it would have had had she kept her original name of Moffet? Interesting, too, about Derek Jeter's paternal grandma's side [and odd that that the great-great-grandfather was recalled as being a prominent person but NOT that he was a minister re family legend]. However; I wonder why wasn't there any effort made to find out WHO the 'unknown' paternal grandfather was. Had Mr. Jeter specfically previously said that he wasn't interested?

I always got a little scared of it because it sounded to me like it was a toy that was about to explode in our faces if we hung around much longer or got too close to it. LOL As for the 'Jessica' song in 'Santa Clause Coming to Town'? Yeah that was a weird one but I guess they put it in there so the tiny viewers' teen big sisters/babysitters would think this was too 'cool' to change the channel to something else before the show was over. LOL

How did Ruby go from an awkward 11-year-old to a pill of a 15-year-old over one summer? Oh well. Also, I agree that Zeek could be the red herring but instead of Camille I think they could have the really unexpected twist of it being Amber who dies perhaps in childbirth [not unheard of even these days]. Agree nice bonding with Amber and Haddie and am glad Amber finally told Sarah. Also, refreshing that, instead of Sarah doing her usual bit of either being totally gushy or going into a rage, she just was so stunned at the news that all she could do was say 'Oh,' With all that texting re Zeek's condition to the kids, I wonder if anyone thought to notify his mother Blanche [or are we supposed to forget she exists like we did Haddie for most of the last season]. Not exactly happy that Drew's with Natalie but, at least for now, she seems willing to be cordial to his family and even helpful so at least for the time being it's working. Also, while I agree that who Snowflake Academy deal was poorly pitched to Max [who likely viewed the late Gwen solely as someone who merely took away Kristina's time from HIM] , I did like that, after Adam's talk, Max FINALLY did something for another person's sake that he didn't see had any direct benefit to him or his hobbies.

No, you didn't. As what was presented here, the elder Mr. King had been born 'Donnal Pollock' but had, at an unknown time for reasons at this point lost to history, changed his name to 'Donald King' evidently informally and without legal sanction prior to meeting and marrying Stephen's mother. Dr. Gates displayed Mr. King's family tree which seemed to show a death date for the Donald King nee Donnal Pollock but it was shown at too wide a shot with the entire 'King/Pollock' tree for my nearsighted glance to pinpoint what it was. Still, I have to admit that I was very impressed at the scope of the geneaological research re that family by Dr. Gates as well as Mr. King's fascination to learn how his family had fared in the US having emigrated from Ireland after a mass famine. As to Gloria Reuben? Again, it was amazing to learn about her father's family having been Jewish though I'm not sure his earliest Jamaican ancestors were Sephardic Jews who'd fled Castille after the 1490's or Ashkenazic Jews who had fled Central or Eastern Europe shortly before being granted full citizenship by the British Empire in 1830. Also, what of Miss Reuben's paternal grandmother? Was she descended from French Creoles instead of being from that Jewish community? Also, fasicinating that they found Miss Reuben's original African ancestress on her mother's side but, sadly, we have no way of knowing what the woman known as Leonora was originally named or where in Africa she had originated [same with Phillis Wheatley re her original name and birthplace]. Lastly, quite an amazing tale Dr. Gates uncovered re Courtney Vance's tragic father's orgins. It seems his motherless paternal grandmother had been kicked from pillar to post back and forth from a tiny Arkansas town to Chicago when she met up with that Chicago minister and found herself pregnant at 16. Even though it turned out via legality and DNA, he was NOT Mr. Vance's actual grandfather, I think it must have taken some guts on that 17-year-old's part to have intiated that court case in order to try to provide for her impending son. Now why she went after him and none of the Arringtons [who seem to be paternally related to Mr. Vance], is a mystery. However; I think it's quite possible that she made sure she was close by to try to watch him grow up when she gave Mr. Vance's father to his foster parents. I wonder if Mr Vance's father knew this neighbor was his actual mother and, perhaps, had even heard whispers of the court case? Regardless, I'm very happy this series has returned and am looking forward to how next week's athletic guest will react.

Doctor Zhivago- liked the train ride, liked the scenery but hated how were expected to root for these two incredibly selfish folks who couldn't have cared less that the world was blowing up around them nor the slightest concern for even their own children- much less their loyal spouses who suffered via their selfishness. Oh and if I had to hear yet another rendering of that theme one more time, I'd have thrown something.

Moby Dick- The classic monstrosity that was foisted on me in high school which made me root for the whale because I knew with the whale's KO, it had to end ! I'm convinced that those 1850's readers and reviewers who HATED Mellville were absolutely RIGHT and that this only became a 'classic' after some Lit profs in Massachussetts in the 1920's were convinced that the current [1920's Jazz Age] students had it too soft compared to their WWI brethren so they unearthed it from its totally deserved obscurity to punish the students and too many teachers have wasted too much time on this doorstopper to not want new generations of students to be punished like they were. Oh, and it wouldn't surprise if Mellville's MO for writing this book came from Mrs. Mellville getting annoyed with him hanging around the house and telling him 'Herman, go to the study and write down that drivel but get out of my face!'

Once I attempted to fry chicken but wound up with a bunch of birds coated in with nothing but grease -and every morsel of batter caked at the bottom of the fryer. Oh,yeah, the fryer had to be pitched along with the chicken and it was an heirloom to boot.

Saw the one with the Romanian expats who now lived in Hawaii with their kids and her parents. Disappointed that they chose the place closest to the wife's fave beach instead of one of the two larger places because even though they all seemed to like the new place and appeared to get along, it was decidedly more cramped for the older couple- and the older couple didn't appear to speak any English so it's almost certain that they have no one besides their immediate family to interact with. Yes, the family has two live in babysitters who care for the kids while the parents work or surf and it's likely their Hawaiian home's more palatial than they'd have had in Romania but the parents appeared to be no older than their mid 60's so they must feel in an odd kind of limbo knowing they will have no autonomy or friends in a strange land for the rest of their lives.

I intitially thought the same thing, attica, but then it turned out her elderly half-cousin had had her paternal grandmother's [not grandfather's] original surname so if the brother passed that onto his own daughter, then it's almost certain that he himself had changed it for himself beforehand. Still, it's ironic that 'Driver' wound up becoming far more famous in acting circles than 'Stancliff' . Good point about Minnie's father being more involved in her life despite her being via a 'separate family'. Of course, it could be with her increasing fame and his increasing age towards the end he overhauled his priorities and also wanted to be a grandfather to her son.

I really liked the Minnie Driver episode. Yes, it was quite fascinating to learn about her father's hithero unknown aircraft heroics but I wonder if one possible reason he kept all of that hidden from Minnie was that he was ashamed of his times in the mental wards after what had happened. Also, while Minnie was open to the fact that her father was married to someone else when she was born [and even showed her father in a dress uniform on his wedding day], they didn't say what became of his father's wife nor whether they had offspring. Yeah, it seems Minnie's father himself was born of a nonmarital union that happened when Minnie's grandfather was married to someone else but it's unclear whether Minnie's grandmother was already widowed [ perhaps secretly divorced but they told the registar otherwise] and whether she may have had children by her first union. No doubt that Minnie's father knew about his older half-bro [the actor who evidently changed his legal surname to his own mother's maiden name which is a good indicatation how he regarded the mutual father] but did the half-bro know about Minnie's father? And how old did Minnie's paternal grandparents live to be? Well, better late than never that she was able to meet this previously unknown older cousins and they seemed quite simpatica. Ironic that she said she was undertaking this search for her son's sake because didn't want him to grow up not knowing his heritage but while she may have good reason for having never identified his father publically, how can she not see that she's hiding half of her son's heritage the same way half of her own was hidden from her? Yes, even if she's privately told her son who his father is , is that the same as having spent time with him, meeting his paternal grandparents or even seeing their photos before he's an adult? Even in the New Millenium, I wonder if her son won't eventually resent her for seeing to it that he was the third generation born of a nonmarital union. I stress that I think this was a very well done episode and I really liked her enthusiasm as well as having initiative re undertaking different aspects of the search.

When I'm online, I usually have it on for the many songs and soundtracks I like listening to. However; when I DO watch [instead of just listen to it], I'm partial to historic and nostalgic stuff that's been posted. As far 'contemporary' stuff, I have to admit to liking 'Depression Cooking with Clara' [a 90-something Italian-American grandma who reminded me of my late Nana in both diminuative size AND 'tude of embracing both the parental Old World Heritage yet having had to grow up in a big American city ] . Clara was chockful of good recipes and poignant stories and laughs and I was sad to hear of her passing last year even though she'd 'retired' a few years before. Oddly enough I've also started following Casey Neistat who reminds me of a friend I've long since lost touch with. While I can't say I always agree with his choices or 'tudes, it interesting to watch in that he [like Clara] invites the viewers to follow the steps of how/why he does stuff [in his case often travelling and racing]AND he beat amazing odds in that he was a high school dropout who ran away and got his girlfriend pregnant BUT he stepped up to the plate and has been a very hands-on dad to his now teenaged son [ long after he split with the girlfriend] and it's interesting to watch them together since Casey's so manic a force of nature while his son is so laid-back and more levelheaded. They balance out each other well and I think it's a safe bet that they will stay real friends after the boy has grown up. One very good vid is of them travelling to Machu Picchu a few years back with Casey not having planned out as much as he could have in retrospect and the two of them having to work out how to get from Points A to B despite stuff going against them. Oh, and now Casey's wed his longtime on/off girlfriend [not his son's mother] but I can't say I'm 100 percent sure that will last forever via the vids but they're interesting to watch together. Also, he made a good tribute video to his grandmother Louise -a onetime Rockette who taught tap dancing 6 days a week until very shortly before her own death at 92 [and it seemed he was closer to her than any other adult member of his family -she even helped him try to sell his car on one video]. Yeah, let others have dancing kitties and dumb stunts, this is what I like on YouTube.

Regardless of how Kelsey's youngest kids got here, those ARE their ancestors too so I thought it was perfectly relevent to show him in the pool with this child talking about the great-grandmother she will never be able to meet. Anyway, it must have been heartbreaking for Kelsey's grandma to have BOTH parents become alcoholics who showed little if any interest in parenting . If she had any inkling that Kelsey was developing an alcohol problem, it's a bit puzzling if she didn't consider begging him to get help due to her parents' fates. Fascinating though tragic was how his 3 X great-grandparents made it to Oregon via the Oregon Trail plugging on even after leaving their eldest son in an unmarked grave. I wonder if any of their 11 other children had progeny who still live in the area? Terrible irony is that it's a virtual certainty that Kelsey's grandma knew nothing of her Oregon Trail ancestors who made it despite the odds -just that her father was an alcoholic and not that there had once been something to be proud of via that line. On a somewhat puzzling programming note, was it just to spare Kelsey's feeling that they said his sister 'died at eighteen' instead of mentioning that she was murdered ? Not only is that public record but Kelsey himself made pleas at her convicted murderer's parole hearing just five years ago to keep him from being released. Although I'm not a fan of all of Kelsey's personal life choices, I like his work and, more importantly, I liked this episode and appreciate how he dealt with the information provided.

An interesting take! It may be Valerie might have uncovered an unprosecuted murder! I wonder if perhaps the law bought the great-grandmother's side due to past domestic violence calls, her husband having made threats against her life in the presence of irrefutable source/s [ e.g. police] OR if the husband had previously had a lengthy police record independent of anything to do with his wife and that is why they may have been willing to accept her acount and not prosecute . Also, interesting that just a week after her 2nd husband's violent death, she deeded over her property to her daughter and son-in-law [Valerie's beloved grandmother]. Could she have done so merely because she was so shaken by the events that she didn't think she could manage her property solo thereafter [in spite of having been the sole provider for her children during her first widowhood and even emigrating with them] OR could there have been collusion between the three re testimony and property? Also, it's interesting that she chose to emigrate a week after Italy entered WWI. Was it just believing that a New World could provide a better, more independent life for herself and her children that motivated her or was there something local that she felt compelled to flee with her children from? All that said, I DO agree that she must have been a strong woman to strike out solo at a time and place when few women did so.